FB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[hasanova]

Just returned from the Soup Bowl with the Quakers topping Greensboro 69-0 at Guilford.  Five observations:

1.  Karsten Miller is a good QB and, other than one INT, made solid plays.
2.  Guilford defense is stout.  I think the Pride were in our territory maybe three times.
3.  Guilford has many weapons at WR and RB ... the Quakers will score a lot of points this season.
4.  Greensboro is not very good again and may be in for another long season.
5.  Approximately 8,000 cans of nonperishable items were donated to local food banks.  Thanks!

[CMR]

RMC looked very good today, and HSC looked worse than I've seen in years.

Yes, the Jackets looked good, but I think it's often hard to tell how good a team is from that kind of game. The write up on the R-MC website mentions mostly sophomores who had good games or made big plays. If they keep up that level of play this season and stick around for two more the Jackets could make some noise in the ODAC for a few years.

With a common opponent in Averett, we'll know next week how to compare RMC and HSC.

[hasanova]

RMC looked very good today, and HSC looked worse than I've seen in years.

Yes, the Jackets looked good, but I think it's often hard to tell how good a team is from that kind of game. The write up on the R-MC website mentions mostly sophomores who had good games or made big plays. If they keep up that level of play this season and stick around for two more the Jackets could make some noise in the ODAC for a few years.

With a common opponent in Averett, we'll know next week how to compare RMC and HSC.

Quakers also travel to Averett on the 17th.  I have to say I was quite surprised by yesterday's 38-28 win over Hampden-Sydney.

[CMR]

RMC looked very good today, and HSC looked worse than I've seen in years.

Yes, the Jackets looked good, but I think it's often hard to tell how good a team is from that kind of game. The write up on the R-MC website mentions mostly sophomores who had good games or made big plays. If they keep up that level of play this season and stick around for two more the Jackets could make some noise in the ODAC for a few years.

With a common opponent in Averett, we'll know next week how to compare RMC and HSC.

Quakers also travel to Averett on the 17th.  I have to say I was quite surprised by yesterday's 38-28 win over Hampden-Sydney.

I watched most of the HSC game, HSC didn't look physical and looked to be slow compared to Averett.

[hasanova]

RMC looked very good today, and HSC looked worse than I've seen in years.

Yes, the Jackets looked good, but I think it's often hard to tell how good a team is from that kind of game. The write up on the R-MC website mentions mostly sophomores who had good games or made big plays. If they keep up that level of play this season and stick around for two more the Jackets could make some noise in the ODAC for a few years.

With a common opponent in Averett, we'll know next week how to compare RMC and HSC.

Quakers also travel to Averett on the 17th.  I have to say I was quite surprised by yesterday's 38-28 win over Hampden-Sydney.

I watched most of the HSC game, HSC didn't look physical and looked to be slow compared to Averett.

You can work on technique and execution in practice ... not much you can do about lack of speed.  CNU plays their first game today ... postponed due to storm.  It will be interesting to see how the Tigers match up with the Captains next Saturday.

[y_jack_lok]

RMC looked very good today, and HSC looked worse than I've seen in years.

Yes, the Jackets looked good, but I think it's often hard to tell how good a team is from that kind of game. The write up on the R-MC website mentions mostly sophomores who had good games or made big plays. If they keep up that level of play this season and stick around for two more the Jackets could make some noise in the ODAC for a few years.

With a common opponent in Averett, we'll know next week how to compare RMC and HSC.

Will have to factor in that for  H-SC it was a road game while for R-MC it is a home game.

[hasanova]

Two interesting notes from Ferrum's come-from-behind 39-38 win over E&H:

1.  New FC Head Coach Rob Grande was an assistant at E&H for the last 11 years ... think he knew the Wasps?
2.  The Panthers' 39 points were the result of 5 TDs ... they went for and made a 2-point conversion on their last 4 scores, including the game winner with 7 seconds to go

[CMR]

RMC looked very good today, and HSC looked worse than I've seen in years.

Yes, the Jackets looked good, but I think it's often hard to tell how good a team is from that kind of game. The write up on the R-MC website mentions mostly sophomores who had good games or made big plays. If they keep up that level of play this season and stick around for two more the Jackets could make some noise in the ODAC for a few years.

With a common opponent in Averett, we'll know next week how to compare RMC and HSC.

Will have to factor in that for  H-SC it was a road game while for R-MC it is a home game.

That's true, but there's not much home field advantage for Averett, the fans are a mile away from the field plus the travel for HSC is not that far.  Averett simply beat a weak HSC team.

[hasanova]

RMC looked very good today, and HSC looked worse than I've seen in years.

Yes, the Jackets looked good, but I think it's often hard to tell how good a team is from that kind of game. The write up on the R-MC website mentions mostly sophomores who had good games or made big plays. If they keep up that level of play this season and stick around for two more the Jackets could make some noise in the ODAC for a few years.

With a common opponent in Averett, we'll know next week how to compare RMC and HSC.

Will have to factor in that for  H-SC it was a road game while for R-MC it is a home game.

That's true, but there's not much home field advantage for Averett, the fans are a mile away from the field plus the travel for HSC is not that far.  Averett simply beat a weak HSC team.  As

I've been to Averett ... unless they've made some changes, it's one of the most disjointed "stadium" experiences you'll see.  As CMR said, not much of a home field advantage.

[Hawks88]

RMC looked very good today, and HSC looked worse than I've seen in years.

Yes, the Jackets looked good, but I think it's often hard to tell how good a team is from that kind of game. The write up on the R-MC website mentions mostly sophomores who had good games or made big plays. If they keep up that level of play this season and stick around for two more the Jackets could make some noise in the ODAC for a few years.

With a common opponent in Averett, we'll know next week how to compare RMC and HSC.

Will have to factor in that for  H-SC it was a road game while for R-MC it is a home game.

That's true, but there's not much home field advantage for Averett, the fans are a mile away from the field plus the travel for HSC is not that far.  Averett simply beat a weak HSC team.  As

I've been to Averett ... unless they've made some changes, it's one of the most disjointed "stadium" experiences you'll see.  As CMR said, not much of a home field advantage.

They have a new home grandstand on the north side of the field and the old press box and stands is now the visitor's side. I'm guessing they were really pumped up to be opening their new stadium but am not sure how much that had to do with the outcome. There are pictures on their website. Very nice.

[hasanova]

Thanks.  I'll take a look.

[HSCTiger fan]

The stadium was packed. No excuse for the performance. Hasa much improved facilities. Seats many more than GC. CRM Averett may have beaten a weak HSC team. But they returned all 11 on offense and played like a veteran team. Further HSC is young on defense. 7 sophomore, 1 freshman started. Averett may not win another game but they were very impressive last night.

Another note - 2 senior captains have been lost for the season with injuries. The ODAC's returning sack leader Ben Carson. Ben was hurt in training camp. The other is QB Edgar Moore. It's got to be tough for these guys. You're only a senior once.

[hscathletics]

RMC looked very good today, and HSC looked worse than I've seen in years.

Yes, the Jackets looked good, but I think it's often hard to tell how good a team is from that kind of game. The write up on the R-MC website mentions mostly sophomores who had good games or made big plays. If they keep up that level of play this season and stick around for two more the Jackets could make some noise in the ODAC for a few years.

With a common opponent in Averett, we'll know next week how to compare RMC and HSC.

Will have to factor in that for  H-SC it was a road game while for R-MC it is a home game.

And H-SC's starting QB, Edgar Moore, got knocked out of the game.

[tigerFanAlso2]

my how things can change. I did not see this one coming. Tigers have now dropped three in a row. time for the Tigers to put on their big boy pants and start playing with an attitude. plenty of time to turn this thing around and I'm pulling for that to happen.

[jknezek]

Well, I'm not going to lie. That was a dismal opening weekend for the ODAC.

Fan bases with reasons to be optimistic:
RMC looked good. Personally I think Dickinson is pretty bad, but RMC looked good making them look really bad.
Bridgewater went to Gettysburg and won. Not an outcome I'd expect from a team that can't contend in the ODAC.
Guilford looked very good. Sadly Greensboro is really bad, so it doesn't tell us much other than Guilford is reloading, not rebuilding.
Shenandoah looked good. Gallaudet is really, really bad.

Fan bases with reasons to be skeptical:
Catholic. McDaniel is really, really bad and it took OT, at home, to beat them
W&L. Too many mistakes for a team expected to be very good. Losing to a top 15 team on the road... not a big deal. Making so many killer mistakes? It's a problem.

Fan bases with reasons to be pessimistic:
E&H. Holy cow how do you let Ferrum come back from that hole in the 4th quarter? Not what I would expect to see from an ODAC contender.
H-SC. It's possible Averett is better than they have been in years. But when you get clobbered, 27 first downs to 16, 33% 3rd down efficiency, 93 yards rushing, and only 21 minutes of possession, something isn't right. Injuries are also an issue, and CNU looked formidable Sunday. It's possible H-SC is looking at an 0-2 start for the first time in a decade.

Conference wide problems. The teams ODAC teams beat went 13-36 last season. The only team an ODAC team beat with a winning record was Gettysburg who went 7-3. Thanks Bridgewater! Sadly the teams that beat ODAC teams only went 15-16 last season, and 11 of those wins belong to JHU. So we beat one team that had a winning record, and lost to one team with a winning record. Everyone else we beat or lost to was not good, at all, last season. I understand last season isn't this season, but that's not good any way you slice it.

This week will be interesting, as some of last week's winners face some stronger challenger.
Catholic at Rochester. I don't know much about Rochester, but they are traditionally middle of the LL. That should be better than an ODAC bottom feeder and, despite the win, I just can't think of Catholic as anything but a lamb to the conference slaughter.
TMC at Bridgewater. TMC is formidable. Not sure what happened the second half against Franklin, but Bridgewater is going to need to be on their game to compete.
CNU at HSC. See above. CNU looked good against Kean. H-SC looked bad against Averett. If something doesn't flip flop here, this could get ugly. Usually though, these teams play close games, even if it takes an All-American qb to throw 1000 picks to make it happen.
W&L at Sewanee. W&L should get back to winning ways though Sewanee usually plays W&L hard. I just don't think Sewanee has the horses to stop W&L's offense, unless the Generals stop themselves.
Brevard at E&H. No idea. Did E&H forget the game has 4 quarters? Sure looked like it.
Averett at RMC. Suddenly a really interesting game. Is Averett any good? How good is RMC?
Ferrum at Shenandoah. Can Shenandoah count quarters better than E&H? It wouldn't have mattered against Gallaudet but it might against Ferrum
Methodist at Guilford. Guilford continues their annual pre-season tour of patsies. Methodist scraped past Apprentice. Not exactly a resume booster.