FB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[HSCTiger fan]

You guys have mentioned playing on high school fields a handful of times.  I'm curious- does that really matter?  I've seen plenty of high school fields that are better (by a lot) than some D-III fields.  I don't think the schools involved would go play at a high school if the playing surface is considerably worse than an on campus facility.

This past weekend's game was played a newly installed turf field.  It was a "home" game an hour from campus. Not too many students will travel that far to sit in the rain to watch a game. I think the point is that the Tigers have had to play in less than college quality facilities, without chanting students and the general buzz around the game. Which kinda stinks. They have not played at home since the Wabash game. A game in which our a Tigers were beaten badly in front of the home crowd. I hope they'd think they have a little something to prove.

[HSCTiger fan]

Jk

i don't think there is a Tiger fan anywhere that would offer up 10 points, well let me speak for myself ... no way.
if we ditch that 3 man DL front, maybe, but not until than. the #1 option does pretty damn well against the 3 man front and if you can't stop the #1 option, it could be a long day for the defense.

They seldom played base defense the last few years. Last year maybe but not in 2012 or 2013. Here's a highlight video from 2012 4OT game. You can see that there are more than 3 guys on the LOS in nearly every clip.
http://youtu.be/KRnYsXOA0KQ

[tigerFanAlso2]

I can't look at the video but I'll bet the 4 on the LOS were not shooting the gaps, in fact I bet one of the 4 was a walk up safety which does not clount as a DL.

[HSCTiger fan]

I can't look at the video but I'll bet the 4 on the LOS were not shooting the gaps, in fact I bet one of the 4 was a walk up safety which does not clount as a DL.

I did not look that closely. What I do know is WL's Luke Heinsohn has graduated. That guy made lots of defenses look bad.

[tigerFanAlso2]

I can tell you the # of the walk up safety without looking at the tape, and again, that does not count. to stop the first option we need 4 down lineman, shooting gaps and protecting the lb's, preventing at least 2 ol from getting into them, quickly. need to force the ol to play honest as the 3 man front requires no double teams which spells trouble for our lb's, particularly as the game gets into late 3rd quarter. They take a beating and get tired and they are not very big to begin with.
I know I'm suggesting the coaches get out of their comfort zone, but the 2nd & 3rd option can be defended with 7, when u consider W&L will not throw the ball. Stop option # 1, force the qb to pitch, now u have a CB, saftey and outside backer to defend with, hopefully a DE as well. That is 3, maybe 4 to defend 3rd option. I like our chances when u consider how athletic our DB's and outside backers are. It all starts by stopping the first option, fail to do that and it could be a long day.

[wally_wabash]

You guys have mentioned playing on high school fields a handful of times.  I'm curious- does that really matter?  I've seen plenty of high school fields that are better (by a lot) than some D-III fields.  I don't think the schools involved would go play at a high school if the playing surface is considerably worse than an on campus facility.

This past weekend's game was played a newly installed turf field.  It was a "home" game an hour from campus. Not too many students will travel that far to sit in the rain to watch a game. I think the point is that the Tigers have had to play in less than college quality facilities, without chanting students and the general buzz around the game. Which kinda stinks. They have not played at home since the Wabash game. A game in which our a Tigers were beaten badly in front of the home crowd. I hope they'd think they have a little something to prove.

Got it.  Was the CUA game scheduled to be played at Everett and moved because of the weather?  That does stink to lose a game in your own stadium because of rain, but I can understand why you'd move the game.  Play that game on the grass field and you'll probably ruin the surface for the rest of the season.  That happened to Wabash back in 2006 and that was kind of the last straw before the decision was made to install turf.  The Monon Bell game that year was a big, sloppy mess and I think we've moved past the days where mud games are "cool".  They are not cool. 

[hscathletics]

You guys have mentioned playing on high school fields a handful of times.  I'm curious- does that really matter?  I've seen plenty of high school fields that are better (by a lot) than some D-III fields.  I don't think the schools involved would go play at a high school if the playing surface is considerably worse than an on campus facility.

This past weekend's game was played a newly installed turf field.  It was a "home" game an hour from campus. Not too many students will travel that far to sit in the rain to watch a game. I think the point is that the Tigers have had to play in less than college quality facilities, without chanting students and the general buzz around the game. Which kinda stinks. They have not played at home since the Wabash game. A game in which our a Tigers were beaten badly in front of the home crowd. I hope they'd think they have a little something to prove.

Was it raining during the game? I was in Lynchburg from Thursday - Sunday, and most of the afternoon it was barely doing anything if anything at all.

[hscathletics]

I can't look at the video but I'll bet the 4 on the LOS were not shooting the gaps, in fact I bet one of the 4 was a walk up safety which does not clount as a DL.

Nearly every single play had at least three down linemen with several other players that started at or very near the line of scrimmage

[HSCTiger fan]

You guys have mentioned playing on high school fields a handful of times.  I'm curious- does that really matter?  I've seen plenty of high school fields that are better (by a lot) than some D-III fields.  I don't think the schools involved would go play at a high school if the playing surface is considerably worse than an on campus facility.

This past weekend's game was played a newly installed turf field.  It was a "home" game an hour from campus. Not too many students will travel that far to sit in the rain to watch a game. I think the point is that the Tigers have had to play in less than college quality facilities, without chanting students and the general buzz around the game. Which kinda stinks. They have not played at home since the Wabash game. A game in which our a Tigers were beaten badly in front of the home crowd. I hope they'd think they have a little something to prove.

Got it.  Was the CUA game scheduled to be played at Everett and moved because of the weather?  That does stink to lose a game in your own stadium because of rain, but I can understand why you'd move the game.  Play that game on the grass field and you'll probably ruin the surface for the rest of the season.  That happened to Wabash back in 2006 and that was kind of the last straw before the decision was made to install turf.  The Monon Bell game that year was a big, sloppy mess and I think we've moved past the days where mud games are "cool".  They are not cool.

Yes it was scheduled for Everett. It actually did not rain much at all on Saturday. But as late as Thursday night they were calling for several inches of rain. The field turf made for a better on the field game for sure. It was just not the same as being at home.  HSC is the only ODAC team with a grass field. The field would have been a disaster had the game been played at Everett.

[HSCTiger fan]

Tiger2 I'm not going to debate you. I will say that Coach Dodson's defense is 5-2 in the last 7 seasons against WL's veer option. I did not look but I doubt there's another ODAC with a record close to that. Both of those losses were on the road against the eventual conference champs.  I like HSC just played another option team in Ferrum. I think whatever scheme the coaches dial up will be thoughtful based on the best possible personel available.  I don't see them trying to teach a new defense on four days practice.  But I would expect some wrinkles. I'm not sure 4 guys in 4 point stances is the recipe for success. Wabash many times had all 11 in a 2 point stance. They play against the run better than any team I've seen. 

[wally_wabash]

Tiger2 I'm not going to debate you. I will say that Coach Dodson's defense is 5-2 in the last 7 seasons against WL's veer option. I did not look but I doubt there's another ODAC with a record close to that. Both of those losses were on the road against the eventual conference champs.  I like HSC just played another option team in Ferrum. I think whatever scheme the coaches dial up will be thoughtful based on the best possible personel available.  I don't see them trying to teach a new defense on four days practice.  But I would expect some wrinkles. I'm not sure 4 guys in 4 point stances is the recipe for success. Wabash many times had all 11 in a 2 point stance. They play against the run better than any team I've seen.

Easily my favorite D play call.  Love when the LGs stand everybody up and make the other side guess who's coming. 

[tigerFanAlso2]

tigerFan

just pushing, looking for a response. i like coach dodson, like his defense, but i'd debate the 5 man front. we can do that saturday with a bloody in our hand !!!!

i'm concerned about w&l, i think we can score on them and them on us, ball control is going to be important and so will special teams. Jk is looking for a 10 point spread. are u willing to give up 10 ?

[jknezek]

It's kind of interesting. Since Coach Abell arrived in 2008 the Generals have scored at least 30 on H-SC every year except 2008 and 2013. The problem for W&L hasn't been scoring on H-SC, they've done that. The problem, like most teams when facing H-SC, has been stopping the Tigers' offense. Even last year's team, statistically the worst offense W&L has had since Coach Abell arrived, put up 445 yards on the Tigers.

So I'm not convinced the Tigers can stop W&L. They haven't had much luck with it in the past. However, W&L has had even less luck stopping H-SC. Only once over the same span has W&L held H-SC under 30 and 3 of the last 4 years W&L has conceded 40+...

[tigerFanAlso2]

Like I said W&L concerns me; each team will score on the other, the question which team will be able to slow down (not stop) the other. I have that feeling that special team play might have something to do with the outcome and I usually don't have that concern. In fact that was the ultimate factor in the 4 OT game.

Looking to forward to a home game against a really good team. Has the potential to be a barnburner !!!

[D-BAT]

IMHO ... looks like a new indoor athletic arena center and any improvement of a shared baseball facility at Bridgeforth field just took a major hit as something else has moved in front as #1 priority.

SU Proposes On-Campus Dorms For 120 Students

Posted: October 7, 2015
By DEREK GOMES
The Winchester Star
WINCHESTER — Shenandoah University has commissioned plans to build five apartment-style dormitories on its campus that could accommodate up to 120 students.

The site plans show the three-story buildings clustered on land just southeast of the Aikens Athletic Center on the campus' eastern edge. Six, four-bedroom apartments would fill each of the buildings.

Ron Mislowsky, with Pennoni Engineering in Winchester, presented the plans Tuesday to the city's Planning Commission for a pre-application discussion.

Because university officials want one of the buildings ready for the start of the 2016 fall semester, and a second shortly after, Mislowsky hopes to have a city-issued land-disturbance permit in hand by November, he told the panel. The development would not require a rezoning application, he added.