FB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[jknezek]

I agree, I probably won't even check the score.  No offense to MU but I really don't care about the DIII playoffs... this is just a weekend for the guys to have one more game and another road trip together.  I gave up on the NCAA two years ago with an undefeated Generals team playing on the road.

If it makes you feel any better, they put 10-0 Case Western Reserve on the road this week, also.

True. Being 10-0 is never a guarantee of a home game. Though I will say W&L's SOS the year they went undefeated was in the top half of DIII and they were 1-0 against RROs. Two pieces of criteria Case can not claim this year. On the other hand, the Generals played Apprentice that year so were only 9-0 against DIII teams.

[tigerFanAlso2]

RMC2016

Slight understatement; HSC looked worse than bad in the 2nd half. Credit to the Jackets, that OL was really, really good.

On to next year !!!!

[Swish3]

HSC looked really bad in the 2nd half of "The Game". RMC enjoyed themselves

Nothing like a big rivalry win to bring fans out of the woodwork!

[jknezek]

I'll tell you guys what, regardless of what happens Saturday, and I'm sure we can all pretty much guess, I breathed a big sigh of relief this season. I have been really worried about recruiting the last 2 years for the Generals. And while there are a ton of impact FYs and Sophs that saw playing time this year, you still need some depth, and I think we see that on kick coverage.

W&L just needs a few more good bodies than they've gotten. And if this year hadn't gone well, and that was a serious possibility as injuries started to add up around the start of the conference season, it would have been just that much harder to push forward. But with another title, which is nice, and an 8 win season showing off what impact younger players can have, I hope W&L will get a few more kids through the admissions department the next few years. I start getting nervous when the numbers aren't real close to 30 consistently, and least years mid to high 20s paired with this years high teens was getting scary.

Hopefully the recruiting ship will get a little fatter, because there is nothing wrong with the scheme, facilities, or a decade of mostly good seasons and more than a few titles.

[MUC57]

jknezek

Sounds almost like you are forgetting the school itself. From what I've read, I would go to school at W&L in a heartbeat. Those of us that didn't play football, did not select our school because of the football team. W&L would have to be attractive to anyone. Now that the team has received some media coverage, that should help recruitment.
Bottom line-I like your school. Hope this makes some sense and is not construed as the ramblings of some old guy from Ohio.
Pomaika'i  (Hawaiian for good luck, and,no, I'm not).

[jknezek]

jknezek

Sounds almost like you are forgetting the school itself. From what I've read, I would go to school at W&L in a heartbeat. Those of us that didn't play football, did not select our school because of the football team. W&L would have to be attractive to anyone. Now that the team has received some media coverage, that should help recruitment.
Bottom line-I like your school. Hope this makes some sense and is not construed as the ramblings of some old guy from Ohio.
Pomaika'i  (Hawaiian for good luck, and,no, I'm not).

Thanks. It was a great place to spend 4 years. Beautiful, remote, challenging. Everything I wanted. We're pretty consistently the smallest squad in the ODAC, but the last 2 recruiting classes have been small even by our standards. I hope this title can turn that around a bit. W&L doesn't need 50 or more incoming freshman. But it would be nice to see more than 30.

[raiderpa]

Washington and Lee does appear to be a tremendous place to go to school.  Very impressive place.
A side note to add to my earlier post, there is a new Hampton Inn right down the street from Mount Union.

Did you senior QB get hurt midseason?

[jknezek]

Washington and Lee does appear to be a tremendous place to go to school.  Very impressive place.
A side note to add to my earlier post, there is a new Hampton Inn right down the street from Mount Union.

Did you senior QB get hurt midseason?

Sadly for Matt, yes. He was a faithful and more than capable backup for 3 years. If we hadn't had an excellent 3 year starter at qb playing ahead of him, he would have been a long term starter. Fortunately he got significant playing time in 2 of those years as Coach Abell knows very well you always need a back up option qb. Unfortunately he hurt his foot/ankle part way through our victory over Wash U. and when he tried to come back against RMC he only lasted one series. It's really sad for him because he was on track to have a monster year after being such a good teammate his whole career. And his injury was compounded by losing our senior running back, our other offensive captain, the week before against E&H.

That being said, the frosh and soph who have split every other series at qb since Matt went down have been phenomenal. And I can't say enough about frosh Josh Breece who has stepped into the featured running back role and has been unbelievable. Considering none of the three had played a collegiate snap coming in to the season, it's just been huge to have all those guys step up and play so well. This would have been a very different season if they hadn't.

When you have a small roster like W&L, those next guys up have to be good. This year we have had impact players on both sides of the ball from both the frosh and soph classes, and that has made all the difference.

[hasanova]

Washington and Lee does appear to be a tremendous place to go to school.  Very impressive place.
A side note to add to my earlier post, there is a new Hampton Inn right down the street from Mount Union.

Did you senior QB get hurt midseason?

Other than often getting beaten when we go there, I think every ODAC fan will sing W&L's praises for academic rigor, strong history and aesthetic beauty ... and this in a conference full of scholarly, old, historic and beautiful campuses.  And VMI is next door!

[Birddawg79]

Looking forward to the trip to Alliance and seeing MU campus. Not gonna have alot of free time but gonna try and spend a few hours Friday in Canton at the HOF.
If anyone wants to help change the weather forecast for Saturday that would be awesome.

From what I have seen at the games this year we have had a larger number of recruits come thru than last year. Even in California we had several West Coast kids travel to CMS and meet our family of Generals. How many apply and get in we shall see.

[jknezek]

Looking forward to the trip to Alliance and seeing MU campus. Not gonna have alot of free time but gonna try and spend a few hours Friday in Canton at the HOF.
If anyone wants to help change the weather forecast for Saturday that would be awesome.

From what I have seen at the games this year we have had a larger number of recruits come thru than last year. Even in California we had several West Coast kids travel to CMS and meet our family of Generals. How many apply and get in we shall see.

Always a challenge but happy to hear that. Have a good trip and Go Generals!

[WashJeff68]

jknezek,

Sorry to hear about your QB. Had the same thing @ W&J with Alex Rowse. Backed up one of W&J's best ever in Pete Coughlin, stuck with it, got his shot this year as a senior and was super, injured in OT win over Westminister, missed the last three games and no word yet on wether he will be able to play this weekend.  But he got the satisfaction of showing how good he is when he got the shot, and the admiration of his teammates for staying when he could have gone elsewhere. A first class young man.

Only up side to this is his soph backup showed he is the future QB for the Presidents.

I have a cousin who went to W&L and we are both rooting for a W&J/W&L game this year. Highly unlikely, but we can hope.

Jeff in East Tennessee

[MUC57]

Birddawg79 and all the W&L fans-

In spite of what you may hear on some other boards, we're really pretty nice. Bring lots of fans and enjoy yourselves. On cold days, I wait inside the MAAC Building lobby until it gets closer to game time. The MAAC is a large academic and athletic complex directly across from the stadium main gate. You can't miss it. I mention this in case you want to warm up a little. I'll be there and would love to chat with you all-or is that "y'all?
Have a safe trip. Go Generals.
Oops! That should be Go Raiders! 
How about good luck (mult noroc in Romanian) to both teams. And an injury free game.
See you in Alliance, I hope!!!!!

[jknezek]

jknezek,

Sorry to hear about your QB. Had the same thing @ W&J with Alex Rowse. Backed up one of W&J's best ever in Pete Coughlin, stuck with it, got his shot this year as a senior and was super, injured in OT win over Westminister, missed the last three games and no word yet on wether he will be able to play this weekend.  But he got the satisfaction of showing how good he is when he got the shot, and the admiration of his teammates for staying when he could have gone elsewhere. A first class young man.

Only up side to this is his soph backup showed he is the future QB for the Presidents.

I have a cousin who went to W&L and we are both rooting for a W&J/W&L game this year. Highly unlikely, but we can hope.

Jeff in East Tennessee

Football is a rough game for sure. I'll root for that match up too, but I'm not holding my breath. Good luck this weekend.

[raiderpa]

I think those that come to Mount Union will be happy they did, as Mount is a welcoming and friendly place.  Like many, we have our fools, but usually they are not suffered for long. 
That being said, if you attend, have a safe journey and I think you will find that Mount fans always hope your team gives its best effort and stays injury free.