FB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[hasanova]

Officials may not have been very good but they did not give up the 8 sacks and throw the 3 INTs.  Last year the loss to SU was actually a turning point for HSC.  That loss seem to strengthen their resolve to prove what a talented team they had. It will be interesting to see how Quakers respond this weekend against BC (who beat SU last week). That game will most likely eliminate the loser from having a shot at the ODAC championship.   

EH is the big surprise for 2014. Next week they are at HSC. HUGE game on "The Hill".  The winner will be all alone in first place.

I never said the officials were the OL.

[tigerfanalso]

hasa

Tough loss. Sounds like SU has a pretty good DL.
We're in for a dog fight this coming week vs. E&H. Never a dull moment in the odac !!!!

[D-BAT]

IMHO, everyone within the ODAC is seeing what Coach Yoder and his quality staff has done in running a program the right way and getting more selective on their recruits.

[HSCTiger fan]

IMHO, everyone within the ODAC is seeing what Coach Yoder and his quality staff has done in running a program the right way and getting more selective on their recruits.

I'm sure he's a great coach.  How exactly is he "running a program" different than the other really good coaches in the ODAC. I think that most ODAC coaches do it the right way and are selective with recruits.  It's a really well coached football conference. 

[D-BAT]

IMHO, everyone within the ODAC is seeing what Coach Yoder and his quality staff has done in running a program the right way and getting more selective on their recruits.

I'm sure he's a great coach.  How exactly is he "running a program" different than the other really good coaches in the ODAC. I think that most ODAC coaches do it the right way and are selective with recruits.  It's a really well coached football conference.

Chk that ... the previous SU coach who basically drove it into the ground IMHO after Coach Barr started the program and left it in good standing but once the program became the 2nd coaches after a few years ... all they did was lose.  IMHO ... a lot of wasted years for SU football.

[jknezek]

Jk

Your Generals are the best 0-5 team in the country. Their defense really struggles but our defense struggled most of the afternoon against a W&L offense that I thought is the best we've played against all year. If they can hold it together considering the horrible start to the season, they will beat some teams in the second half of the season.

What is deal with E&H ? Evidently HSC is in for a dog fight this coming weekend. I certainly was not expecting E&H to be a factor this year, in fact I had them finishing last in the odac. What the heck do I know ?

Was the GC result a fluke or did SU just hand them a beating ? If HSC beats E&H on Saturday, they turn around the next week with a visit to SU. It should not be easy to win an odac championship, and will not be easay again this year. Which ever team pulls it off will have earned it.

The Generals are growing up a bit. It's nice to see in the recaps, though I haven't seen much of it. The last few years I got to watch a lot of football. This year it seems every Saturday I'm tied up with something. So I guess if there was a year for W&L to lay a turd, this is a good one for me. The offense is still missing a bit, but it is miles better than the first few games of the year. Sadly the defense the last two weeks has taken it on the chin. The opponents have been better, but the defense hasn't really risen to the occasion. There is a lot of work to do for W&L, and I expect they won't lay a bagel in the win column this year, but we will see.

E&H and Shenandoah. I've said from about half way through last year that Coach Yoder had his team moving in the right direction. I still think they are playing spoiler, not really a threat to HSC, but you have to take that game seriously. As for E&H, it's year 1 with a new coach. How much of what they are doing is because teams aren't sure what to expect? The question will be after everyone has seen the new look Wasps once or twice, and Coach Newsome has his own guys in there, will they keep moving forward?

There is some really good coaching in the ODAC right now. The teams seem to be getting stronger as a whole. But the conference can only go .500 against itself. So if Shenandoah and E&H are going to be players, that means the rest of the conference has to drop off relative to them. The next couple years are going to be interesting.

[HSCTiger fan]

Jk

Your Generals are the best 0-5 team in the country. Their defense really struggles but our defense struggled most of the afternoon against a W&L offense that I thought is the best we've played against all year. If they can hold it together considering the horrible start to the season, they will beat some teams in the second half of the season.

What is deal with E&H ? Evidently HSC is in for a dog fight this coming weekend. I certainly was not expecting E&H to be a factor this year, in fact I had them finishing last in the odac. What the heck do I know ?

Was the GC result a fluke or did SU just hand them a beating ? If HSC beats E&H on Saturday, they turn around the next week with a visit to SU. It should not be easy to win an odac championship, and will not be easay again this year. Which ever team pulls it off will have earned it.

...Coach Newsome has his own guys in there, will they keep moving forward?

It looks like his own guys are making a huge impact. The starting QB and 2 leading rushers are freshmen. Time will tell.

[tigerfanalso]

we'll know alot more about the odac race around 4pm on Saturday. I'm thinking HSC is facing it's first playoff game this week because a loss to E&H eliminates HSC unless E&H losses two of it's last four games. That could happen but I would not bank on it. The loser of the BC vs. GC game is facing possible elimination as well. CAU and W&L are already eliminated (probably) everybody else is still fighting it out for the odac playoff spot. I guess this is what makes following the odac so much fun. Would hate to be a HC in this league.

[jknezek]

we'll know alot more about the odac race around 4pm on Saturday. I'm thinking HSC is facing it's first playoff game this week because a loss to E&H eliminates HSC unless E&H losses two of it's last four games. That could happen but I would not bank on it. The loser of the BC vs. GC game is facing possible elimination as well. CAU and W&L are already eliminated (probably) everybody else is still fighting it out for the odac playoff spot. I guess this is what makes following the odac so much fun. Would hate to be a HC in this league.

I don't know. I'd rather be an ODAC HC than a lot of other places. Think about being an OAC HC not named Kehres, or an ASC coach not UMHB. Even a LL or CC coach for the most part has meant playing for second place. At least in the ODAC you know you aren't preparing your boys to be annual sacrificial lambs.

I think being a HC in the ODAC is a pretty good gig. Sure winning the conference is challenging, but the facilities are good, the schools are generally pretty good institutions, the locations are good, the travel schedule isn't too onerous, the local recruiting areas are strong, and there isn't a "win now or get fired" mentality. Not sure about the relative compensation, but given the longevity of many coaches it can't be too bad.

Sure you can do enough to get asked to leave eventually, but most ODAC schools will put up with up and down years around .500 so long as the young men are doing the right things off the field. I think being an ODAC head coach is challenging, but probably a pretty good gig compared to a lot of places.

[tigerfanalso]

Jk

My point is there are few layup games in the odac and the coaches need to have the kids ready to play each and every week with few exceptions, very unlike some other conferences. all the positive things you pointed out about the odac, i totally agree with. look at hsc's last 5 games; E&H, @SU (beat us last year at our place), @Bc, GC & RMC. Absolutely no layups. all 5 teams are capable of beating hsc. that is what i refer to when i say being a hc in the odac is tough. 2014 is different in that the odac has two teams in it this year that absolutely could not have beaten hsc and that is unusual.

[jknezek]

Jk

My point is there are few layup games in the odac and the coaches need to have the kids ready to play each and every week with few exceptions, very unlike some other conferences. all the positive things you pointed out about the odac, i totally agree with. look at hsc's last 5 games; E&H, @SU (beat us last year at our place), @Bc, GC & RMC. Absolutely no layups. all 5 teams are capable of beating hsc. that is what i refer to when i say being a hc in the odac is tough. 2014 is different in that the odac has two teams in it this year that absolutely could not have beaten hsc and that is unusual.

No I get that. I just think that makes the ODAC more attractive to coaches rather than less. There is no insurmountable mountain to climb. Just about everyone can get a shot among well-matched institutions. Catholic is a size outlier, W&L is an endowment (and probably admittance) outlier, HSC is a co-ed outlier, but generally the ODAC schools are pretty comparable. The ODAC has a top, middle and bottom like most conferences. It just seems a bit tighter and a little more fluid between the levels. It's a tough conference, no doubt. But if I was an HC I'd rather have a job in the ODAC than most other conferences.

[tigerfanalso]

Jk

Some big games in the odac this week. Your insights will be appreciated. odac race could be narrowed down to three teams after play on Saturday (i think).

[jknezek]

Let's start with the less important games. I think W&L has a chance to pick up their first win of the season. At home, against an unconvincing RMC team. The Generals seem to be starting to gel on offense, but they have to do better on defense. I don't think RMC is as powerful offensively as Guilford or HSC, so I wouldn't be surprised to see the Generals win this by a couple so long as they can hold RMC under 30 points. Again, the Generals have to get out front. It hasn't really happened this season, so the key will be a good start.

Shenandoah at Catholic. Catholic isn't good. Shenandoah is better. Coming off the big win, I expect Shenandoah to get their first ODAC two game winning streak. It's Shenandoah's shortest road trip and I expect them to come through. Shenandoah by 10.

Guilford gets Bridgewater at home. This should be a good chance for Guilford to bounce back. One thing we all missed last week was Shenandoah was the first away game for the Quakers and they did not respond well. They played SVa in a neutral site and labored heavily, so the warning signs were there that the Quakers could have some road jitters they still need to work on. Bridgewater at home should be more like business as usual as I don't think Bridgewater, despite the easy h2h comparison with Shenandoah, is good enough to stop the Quakers. Guilford by 14.

HSC hosting E&H. You'd think this game would be more interesting if it was at E&H, but the Wasps have 4 of their 5 wins coming on the road so far. Only RMC has visited Selfe so far this season. Despite that, I think E&H is in trouble. HSC's offense is just better than anyone else they have faced. This ODAC season is in HSC's hands. If they beat themselves, then they deserve to lose. But no one has more talent or ability than HSC. I expect a good game, but HSC will be the first team to hang 30+ on the Wasps and win by 10.

[tigerfanalso]

So if your predictions hold true RMC, W&L, BC are basically eliminated unless what happened in 2008 playes out again.
It appears playoffs begin in week 7. Any team losing going forward will be at peril of missing the playoffs. Still lots of football to be played and I see all kinds of possible outcomes. The team that approaches each game with the "one play at a time" mentality and avoids turnovers will find themselves in the drivers seat. As always, odac is in yet another fist fight. 

[jknezek]

So if your predictions hold true RMC, W&L, BC are basically eliminated unless what happened in 2008 playes out again.
It appears playoffs begin in week 7. Any team losing going forward will be at peril of missing the playoffs. Still lots of football to be played and I see all kinds of possible outcomes. The team that approaches each game with the "one play at a time" mentality and avoids turnovers will find themselves in the drivers seat. As always, odac is in yet another fist fight.

I don't much worry about it. The ODAC winner will be the ODAC winner at the end. Who is in and out as of week 3 doesn't really interest me. I don't expect W&L or BC to be contenders, and RMC certainly hasn't convinced me they will be there yet.