FB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[rmc1982]

The last play was at the other end so we really couldn't see that but by the reaction of the defense plus the fact that the Hobart people didn't vehemently argue it makes me think he DID in fact fumble it. Didn't know the official ruling was that he didn't make it But that PI call WAS right in front of us and I'm telling you it was an awful call by the side judge!

[rmc1982]

I wonder if that was an ODAC officiating crew or one from Hobart's conference? I don't know if they even do that in DIII- just wondering out loud. Whatever conference they were from they were not a very good crew. The PI was not the only call they got wrong/ missed. It was bad both ways.

[Macon]

Wasn't able to watch the RMC game, and I can never find the on-demand broadcast.  Oh, well. 

Not surprised by the RMC start this season.  Last year's team was special and will be hard to replicate this year.  RMC returned only 2 starters on offense, so not surprised they're somewhat inconsistent.  But, I do think they have some good talent and will continue to improve.  The QB has been very efficient, and I think they should throw more.  The key to this offense improving is the O-line which has mostly new starters.

Unlike the offense, the defense returns 9 starters and so far has played very well.

Let's also note that RMC's OOC is much better this year, not the likes of SVU and NCWU.

Bottom line:  This team will improve as the season progresses.  So goes the O-line, so goes this team.

[y_jack_lok]

^^^ Saturday's game does not seem to be archived at the moment. It's possible to find archived ODAC broadcasts by going to the ODAC website then, on the far right of the blue banner at the top of the page click on "ODAC Sports Network", then scroll down to "Recent" and scroll through those broadcasts to see if you can find what you are looking for. Only two of Saturday's football games are there at the moment -- W&L vs Apprentice and Bridgewater vs Southern Virginia. Maybe others will get archived later.

[Macon]

Wasn't able to watch the RMC game, and I can never find the on-demand broadcast.  Oh, well. 

Not surprised by the RMC start this season.  Last year's team was special and will be hard to replicate this year.  RMC returned only 2 starters on offense, so not surprised they're somewhat inconsistent.  But, I do think they have some good talent and will continue to improve.  The QB has been very efficient, and I think they should throw more.  The key to this offense improving is the O-line which has mostly new starters.

Unlike the offense, the defense returns 9 starters and so far has played very well.

Let's also note that RMC's OOC is much better this year, not the likes of SVU and NCWU.

Bottom line:  This team will improve as the season progresses.  So goes the O-line, so goes this team.

Lok and '82, any thoughts about these comments?  Wondering how you think about this year's team.

[rmc1982]

I think its really early but we didn't play particularly well last weekend- hoping we will play better this coming weekend. Pedro ran it looked like the same running play up the middle numerous times with no noticeable gains. Running back Mitchell Johnson (#20), who ran very well for us last year, got ZERO snaps in the first half and we were wondering if he was even back this year but we saw him on the sideline. Then he started him the 2nd half on the first possession and he ran the ball down the field on a number of carries then when we got inside the red zone he took him out and didn't put him in again until it was 4th and 1 on the goal line and he was stopped cold. Then he played him sparingly after that.We thought he must be in Pedro's "Dog House". We had A LOT of 3 and outs and we didn't have a lot of diversity in the run or pass game. On Defense we looked pretty good but we still lost the yards for/ against game against Hobart. Not taking anything away from them- they took it to us- but if we are going to beat Berry this weekend we must play better. This is a different team-we aren't as good as last year. We don't have a deep threat without David Wallis- we have receivers just not a "burner" like him. Kids like him certainly aren't a dime a dozen and he stretched the field for us and opened the running game up by doing so. He and JoJo Marianella were a terrific 1-2 punch, along with Nick Hale and Kwesi Clarke running.Plus the QB isn't as good as we had last year and he tends to force throws into traffic but he made some very nice throws-the one to win it was CLUTCH! Now-can we develop into a potent offense?? Sure we can
but it probably won't happen overnight. We need to tighten some things up on defense also.One reason I think Cortland took it to us so bad last year was that we didn't run any stunts or blitzes and last Saturday we didn't either- at least not that we could see but a lot of the action was at the scoreboard end( we were on 3rd floor Birdsong in YJ Club)All in all we have our work cut out for us but we can definitely get much better! It is early and Pedro has done an excellent job of scheduling tough teams EARLY so we can expose our weaknesses and we have won so far so thats GREAT.Sometimes we set the bar so high that when we don't look like world beaters we think the sky is falling- its NOT! We have room to improve but the future looks BRIGHT!

[y_jack_lok]

Wasn't able to watch the RMC game, and I can never find the on-demand broadcast.  Oh, well. 

Not surprised by the RMC start this season.  Last year's team was special and will be hard to replicate this year.  RMC returned only 2 starters on offense, so not surprised they're somewhat inconsistent.  But, I do think they have some good talent and will continue to improve.  The QB has been very efficient, and I think they should throw more.  The key to this offense improving is the O-line which has mostly new starters.

Unlike the offense, the defense returns 9 starters and so far has played very well.

Let's also note that RMC's OOC is much better this year, not the likes of SVU and NCWU.

Bottom line:  This team will improve as the season progresses.  So goes the O-line, so goes this team.

Lok and '82, any thoughts about these comments?  Wondering how you think about this year's team.

I appreciate those insights. I knew the QB and receivers had changed and, except for Hale, the RBs were mostly back. Didn't know so much of the OL had changed.

Rushing defense looks good so far. Pass defense can improve, especially on long passes.

I think it's premature for '82 to say the QB isn't as good as last year, given it's his first year at RMC and with less talented receivers, while Campanale was in his second season with Wallis, Marinella, Bowman, and Woolridge to throw to.

I think the linebackers are a strength. Seems like good depth. Reyes, who was great last season as replacement for the injured Eliasek, started and played well against Dickinson, but appears to now have been replaced by Eliasek and thus saw little to no action against Hobart. Eliasek proved himself big time.

Definitely a different team this season, with a tougher OOC schedule. Probably not a good idea to compare them to last season, just like it wasn't wise to compare the 22-23 men's basketball team to the 21-22 team.

[Macon]

Thanks for your thoughts, guys.  This week's game may tell us a lot.  Very good program in Berry, even though they slipped last week.   They'll be looking to bounce back in a big way.  Could be a very tough game, the Jackets need to get better quickly.

[rmc1982]

I think it's premature for '82 to say the QB isn't as good as last year, given it's his first year at RMC and with less talented receivers, while Campanale was in his second season with Wallis, Marinella, Bowman, and Woolridge to throw to.

Maybe but I don't think so. Campanele , although he had better receivers, also had better arm strength and had more ZIP on his passes. He also made better decisions and didn't often throw into coverage. Thats my current assessment and also most of the football alumni I was sitting with. After only two games in Pedro's system it IS probably unfair to say he's not better but, like Wallis, a QB like Drew Campanele isnt a every year kinda thing- even though we picked him up from a D1 school. Comparing kids isn't really fair- just like you said about teams. Each has his own strengths and teams have their own chemistry. He also looked uncomfortable when they flushed him out of the pocket but that could also be experience, or lack of it with his line etc. Fair enough Y_Jack_Loc......lets just say we'll see!!
 

[y_jack_lok]

^^^ Well, I respect your opinion and that of the football alumni. The ultimate authority on this would be the coaching staff, and I'm sure the football alumni have at least some communication with them, thus they know much more than I do, since I can only watch online. Just hoping for a successful season.

[rmc1982]

^^^ Well, I respect your opinion and that of the football alumni. The ultimate authority on this would be the coaching staff, and I'm sure the football alumni have at least some communication with them, thus they know much more than I do, since I can only watch online. Just hoping for a successful season.

This weekend should tell us alot! Its HOF weekend this weekend. HOF Breakfast is Saturday 8 am with new inductees, including '84 Football player Jay Pitts, who leads all RMC Players in INT for a career. A bunch of guys from the '84 team will be there, so I'll have a bunch of friends at my tailgate and see more in YJ Club! My Dad's cousin Bunky Keeton'58 who was a football /baseball star at R-MC in the 50's gets to go up in the '84 Team box in the New Duke Hall with his buddy and former RMC assistant on the '84 team Russell Gray. My buddy Tom "Jungle Boy " Shaw, an All American on the '84 team, arranged it for them!! All in all it should be a GREAT DAY!! Hope our team plays well and we see significant improvement! I took Bunky to the game last week- hes 92 and really spry and in great shape for his age ! He had a blast! He lives over in Montpeiler about 15 minutes from the COTU! I've gotten him re-involved with R-MC Sports and Y J Club,too! He's a HOOT!

[Macon]

'82, I've got a question for you over on the basketball board.

[Ron Boerger]

I'll be interested to see (1) if R-MC can stifle the prolific Berry running attack as well as DePauw and (2) if Berry's QB is as ineffective as he was in the same game (6-29 for 73 yards, 1 int and several more that could easily have been picks).  The two go together because as Brandon Cade goes, so do the Vikings.

[rmc1982]

I'll be interested to see (1) if R-MC can stifle the prolific Berry running attack as well as DePauw and (2) if Berry's QB is as ineffective as he was in the same game (6-29 for 73 yards, 1 int and several more that could easily have been picks).  The two go together because as Brandon Cade goes, so do the Vikings.

Im quite sure Pedro has been stressing stopping the running game this week and we're well aware of the All American RB! How we handle things on the defensive end may be the key to this ballgame for us but equally of importance is how well our offense bounces back from a sub par performance last week also.We have to run the ball more effectively than we did last week- part of that was the Hobart defense but we need to mix it up a bit more.How well we do on pass defense is also in play, but that should be a strength with most of our secondary returning from last year! Should be a good crowd, weather looks good, so it's shaping up to be a good game !

[jknezek]

I am very much looking forward to some non-traditional games this weekend.

R-MC has never played Berry to my knowledge. Couldn't confirm on either team's website

W&L has never played Trinity

H-SC has played Centre many times, but the last time not in the playoffs was 1992. They did face off in the first round in 2011, a 10pt Centre win.

Shenandoah takes on Rhodes but I don't know if they've ever played. Can't confirm.

Sewanee and Guilford have never played --- which seems very odd to me but they are 7 hours apart.

Regardless, it seems like only 1 of these matchups has ever been played before. W&L has had significant experience with Centre, Rhodes and Sewanee, though it has been almost 50 years since they played Rhodes, 10 since they played Centre for the last time after an almost unbroken 50 years run, and 2 since the almost unbroken 70+ year series with Sewanee died.

I think it will be a fun weekend. Personal favorites are R-MC at home, Trinity at home, Centre on the road, Shenandoah at home, and Guilford at home. 3-2 for the ODAC wouldn't be a bad result.