FB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[HSCTiger fan]

I guess there will be an ODAC meeting in the next week or two. Is it too early for our own predictions?

Here goes:

WL
HSC
EH
RMC
GC
BC
SU
CUA

I really like this HSC team. If they can win at WL they will IMO win the ODAC.

[tigerFanAlso2]

tigerFan

IF HSC were to beat W&L they will win the odac ONLY IF they don't blow it AGAIN the second Saturday in November.
Two pretty big IFs but I'm pulling for them to execute

[jknezek]

I tend to agree. I think W&L will be the class of the conference and gets a boost with their conference schedule. But we all know it is pretty rare for anyone to run the conference. If H-SC can win at W&L that would be as big a confidence boosting win as W&L winning at H-SC last year. I feel the same about R-MC however. I am having a tough time putting my conference thoughts in order after W&L though.

H-SC and R-MC both could be very good. H-SC tends to reload and hasn't lost 3 or more conference games two seasons in a row since 00/01 and haven't had 3 seasons in a row with multiple conference losses since 99/00/01. So if you think H-SC is going to lose 2 this year, you are betting against Coach Favret's entire stint with the Tigers.

That being said, I think R-MC is going to be a very tough out. They should start the season 5-0, and that's a lot of confidence building. After that, trips to E&H, W&L and H-SC make for a difficult back end. So I could see them wearing down. It'll be interesting to see if they can build on last season's 3 game winning streak to close out the year. Defensively I expect them to be very, very tough. Can they score enough points to be a player, especially on the road?

E&H. I just can't like this team. What I saw last year was a team with talented pieces, but no heart and cohesiveness. Once W&L started rolling, they started yelling at each other, pointing fingers, and getting ugly. Coach Newsome is going to need to figure that problem out before I think they stand a real chance of holding it together for a full season.

GC. I've already said I think they'll have pieces waiting in the wings for what they lost last year. I don't know if those pieces will have the experience to turn it on early. I don't see any reason they can't start 4-0, but that trip to H-SC followed by W&L's visit could provided a reality check to players that are key cogs for the first time.

BC. Never count out the Eagles, though 2 of the last 3 seasons have been historically bad for Coach Clark. Though I could easily see them starting 0-2, losses to Gettysburg and TMC, before visiting NNA. Home for H-SC and at R-MC is a tough way to start the conference season. Would anyone be surprised seeing them at 1-4 and pretty broken before half the season is over. I expect them to lose to TMC by 30+ if TMC is anything like the team that shelled W&L in the playoffs and just got pipped by Wabash.

I keep expecting Shenandoah to get better. Coach Yoder did good things with Hobart, but he just can't seem to put it together yet with the Hornets. Each of the last 3 seasons they've slipped one conference win. I don't expect them to drop that last win, even having to go to D.C. in order to get it, but I don't see any reason they can take a leap forward either. This is another team H-SC seems to lose focus against, with the Tigers barely eeking out a win last year and losing the year before, but barring someone else looking past them, I don't see much more than a conference win or two for the Hornets this year.

Catholic. New interim coach. Last year in the conference. W&L and H-SC both have to travel to D.C. but I think the gulf is just too wide. Hosting the Hornets and Eagles might be their best chances for breaking two years of 1-6 conference futility on their way out.

[Pat Coleman]

Hasa I will be pleasantly surprised if W&L starts 1-0. It's a tall task to win at JHU. They haven't lost at home in the regular season since 2010. W&L hasn't won a road opener since the 60s. I would be over the moon if they win that game, let alone the odds on running the table again.

I think a true Gennie fan would find a way to be in Baltimore on Sept. 3.  I believe you are right, JHU will be a good test for W&L.   I saw the GC at W&L game last year in person and it will be a tough pill to swallow for some time.  W&L earned the championship last year ... you have to take your hat off to any team that goes 10-0.

I wish I could, but it's just too far and too expensive for me. Especially given the other trips on the schedule this year.

If you're in Baltimore on Sept. 3, I hope it's to watch the Orioles-Yankees game. You'd be two days late for JHU-W&L.

[hasanova]

Hasa I will be pleasantly surprised if W&L starts 1-0. It's a tall task to win at JHU. They haven't lost at home in the regular season since 2010. W&L hasn't won a road opener since the 60s. I would be over the moon if they win that game, let alone the odds on running the table again.

I think a true Gennie fan would find a way to be in Baltimore on Sept. 3.  I believe you are right, JHU will be a good test for W&L.   I saw the GC at W&L game last year in person and it will be a tough pill to swallow for some time.  W&L earned the championship last year ... you have to take your hat off to any team that goes 10-0.

I wish I could, but it's just too far and too expensive for me. Especially given the other trips on the schedule this year.

If you're in Baltimore on Sept. 3, I hope it's to watch the Orioles-Yankees game. You'd be two days late for JHU-W&L.

You know, I should have known I'd get busted for not checking if it was a Thursday night game.  lol

[HSCTiger fan]

JK I agree with your analysis. But just to set the record straight- HSC lost to SU in 2013 not 2014.

[hasanova]

So, the team with 35th most votes in the National Poll is going to finish 5th out of 8 in the ODAC?  You guys may be right, but I see GC still having enough talent to be a top tier conference team.  Of course, given some of the parity in the ODAC, the difference between 2nd or 3rd and 5th or 6th might be one ODAC win.

[jknezek]

So, the team with 35th most votes in the National Poll is going to finish 5th out of 8 in the ODAC?  You guys may be right, but I see GC still having enough talent to be a top tier conference team.   Of course, given some of the parity in the ODAC, the difference between 2nd or 3rd and 5th or 6th might be one ODAC win.

This exactly. For all we know we could have a 3 way tie at the top. For me Guilford is a question mark. For national voters looking at 9-1 last year and not knowing the 3 and 4 year starters they lost it is easy to throw out a vote. Guilford could win the conference this year and it would just reinforce what I suspect. ThAt Coach R has been bringing in a ton of talent. But that is alot of untested talent right now. I wasn't really ranking my capsules but it pretty much ended up that way. However, if I was, the one change I'd have is Guilford over E&H. I also said that of the conference games, I think Guilford is the most likely to take out W&L. So I don't think I'm slighting the Quakers when I said I see them starting 4 and 0. After that it's a chance to show what they've got.

[HSCTiger fan]

So, the team with 35th most votes in the National Poll is going to finish 5th out of 8 in the ODAC?  You guys may be right, but I see GC still having enough talent to be a top tier conference team.  Of course, given some of the parity in the ODAC, the difference between 2nd or 3rd and 5th or 6th might be one ODAC win.

I see 3rd thru 6th as being a tie. So my putting GC 5th is not as much of a slight as you might think. I would not put much faith in the national poll in August.

[hasanova]

I want you guys to understand (and I think you do), I was just trying to create some discussion ... and some of you noticed my qualifier about 2nd or 3rd vs 5th or 6th.  Believe me, I truly understand the questions about Guilford with the talent that was lost to graduation ... a loss, as you say, that might be masked on the national front by last year's 9-1 record.  I do further believe, however, that Coach R is amassing talent capable of sustaining a winning, championship contending, program every year. 

[HSCTiger fan]

I want you guys to understand (and I think you do), I was just trying to create some discussion ... and some of you noticed my qualifier about 2nd or 3rd vs 5th or 6th.  Believe me, I truly understand the questions about Guilford with the talent that was lost to graduation ... a loss, as you say, that might be masked on the national front by last year's 9-1 record. I do further believe, however, that Coach R is amassing talent capable of sustaining a winning, championship contending, program every year.

[/b]

Agreed.

[tigerFanAlso2]

I think Jk's predictions are spot on, however, I think SU, BC and CUA are the only three teams that don't have a chance at winning the odac. All others will compete. Breaks, injuries, etc. will determine the winner with W&L being the only clear front runner at this point. If the odac can figure a way to slow down the triple option, W&L might be exposed. My memory is RMC was the only team to accomplish that in 2015 with W&L pulling out a victory in the 4th quarter. Also, W&L has fewer question marks as they are pretty much set, however a 1-2 ooc result could sit them back if that were to happen. Questions around HSC include the ol, questions around RMC will they be able to score, GC's QB will have no experience so how quickly will he adjust, E&H, can they play as a team ? Answers coming beginning first week of September

[jknezek]

Guilford actually held W&L to its lowest point total last year giving up only 20 points as opposed to RMC's and TMC's 21. But W&L still put up 485 yards on the Quakers while the Generals only put up 384 on RMC. While I have to give RMC's defense credit, it was the definition of a trap game. W&L just knocked off both Guilford and H-SC in the two preceding weeks before venturing to a 1-4 R-MC team. Before the game I even posted it was a very dangerous game for the Generals psychologically and they did just enough to win.

It's easy to look at W&L, bringing essentially everything back offensively from last year, and think a team that ran the table is a strong favorite. But it's also easy to see how close W&L came to being 7-3 and not 10-0 in the regular season. Guilford was a missed FG away from that being a tie game, not to mention losing the QB early. H-SC was a goal line stand away from overtime. And R-MC was a 4th quarter 97 yard Generals drive away from winning that game. I'm not calling this luck, the Generals were plenty good and a killer 97 yard drive when you need it is all the evidence you need of that, but some years close games go your way and some years you get that injury or that missed penalty or the gust of wind that kills your FG or the running back that doesn't stumble on his way to the end zone that allows for a goal line stand.

So while 10-0 looks dominant, it wasn't exactly that kind of season. It was an amazing season for the Generals and I'm thrilled to have witnessed it. But the difference between historical and simply good was pretty thin in some of those games.

[tigerFanAlso2]

well stated, I agree W&L was not dominant last year, and you have to have breaks AND take advantage of them to go 10-0.
W&L did that and hats off to them. Whereas HSC was their own worst enemy last year. Can HSC stop making those mistakes and better control the line of scrimmage ? As I said, answers coming but I do think W&L is in the drivers seat starting the season; if they stumble I think HSC, RMC, GC and maybe E&H will be around to benefit.

[jknezek]

Congratulations to W&L's Michael LaSalla. Named a D3Football.com first team pre-season All American at tackle. Nice to see another W&L O-lineman getting recognition. We all know how explosive that triple option can be, and it starts with the guys in the trenches.