FB: Old Dominion Athletic Conference

[Snakehandler]

But we haven't played anybody that's any good.

True, but did we last year during the regular season?  I think it's a fair comparison.

McDaniel - better last year
Shenandoah - Not much difference. Against us, last year they came out throwing and surprised us. This year they tried to run unsuccessfully. They are probably a little better this year.
LaGrange (this year) Hanover (last year) No comparison - Hanover in a landslide
Hampden-Sydney - better last year by a lot.
Guilford - Better this year
Emory & Henry - better this year

[Bangwell]

It's going to be awfully tough for Bridgewater and/or Emory & Henry to beat Washington & Lee.  Since the F&M loss to begin the season, their numbers have been staggering...

• W&L has held opponents to 6.8 ppg, and a combined 13 points in the first half
• Their defense has forced 20 turnovers while their offense has committed only 4
• They've scored at least three TDs in every game
• Jack Martin (WR) has four TDs in the last two games for an average of 35.5 yards per reception
• Their freshman QB has completed 63% of his passes

When you have that kind of defense, consistency and big play ability ... you deserve being conference champions.

"You said it mon..."

Gentlemen, BEWARE...The Gennies have that swagger baby...anyone who saw that ruckus up in Lexington knows it too.  Have heard some mention but clearly not enough of what the Generals D did to the nations top passing offense and to the formerly almighty Vogelbach (25-56, 3 picks, 218yds - very surprised to see he even had that)...after that opening drive it was all Generals.  Micah Rushing showed some wheels both running the ball and catching it out of the backfield but the Quakers clearly relied too heavily on their downfield passing game against a Gennies secondary that is straight NASTY (They only gave Rushing 9 carries out of the backfield in which he did pick up 69 yards - and looked good doing it...).  Meanwhile Coach Bert O'Neill and company are putting up sick numbers...With a healthy Sitterson back next week, a freshman QB that has the poise and ability (did anyone see how pretty that ball was on Martin's 2nd TD grab??) to haunt the ODAC for years, Jack Martin, and COLTON WARD (289 all purpose yds!) watch out....this is gonna be a BATTLE next week against Bridgewater and W&L has plenty of favors to return - mutual HATE. I LOVE it...

[Matt Barnhart (kid)]

Eh-You,

Not quite sure what you're trying to say.  If you mean that Colbert coming and leaving had an affect on the football program, I'm pretty sure no one has denied.  If you're saying Clark is nothing without Colbert, then you're just plain wrong.

Clark went 0-9-1 in his first year (1995) after the team he inherited went 0-10 in 1993 and hadn't won more than four games since 1980. After that, he went 7-13 in 1996 and 1997.  Then Coach Colbert came on in 1998, and we went 0-10 that year.

We had a special group of players around the 1999 season that took us from the bottom to the national scene in 2000 and 2001.  Did Colbert have anything to do with it?  Absolutely.  Could Clark have done it without him?  We have no way of telling.

What we do know is that it took some growing pains in Clark's first year as HC and in Colbert's first year as an assistant.

You are right about one thing ... time will tell whether Clark can make it without Colbert.  I, however, have confidence in Coach Soltis (who is in his 10th year on the football staff) that his system will work.  But as I've stated before, we lost 30+ seniors to graduation the same year Colbert left.  It's not like Soltis has a lot of experience and depth in his first year.  Growing pains ... pretty common.

[algernon]

The record of BC's opponents to this point in the season is not good .... the opponents' combined W-L record is 17-32 (15-27, if you don't include the BC games).  In contrast, the record of Guilford's opponents is 25-23 and the record of HSC's opponents is 28-21.  I haven't looked at the other teams.  Opponents' records only says so much, for sure, but it doesn't seem good that the Eagles start off the season with such a weak set of opponents.

The combined W-L record of the 5 teams the Eagles have beaten:   9-26.  In contrast, the combined W-L record of the 4 teams that the Quakers have beaten is 11-16 ......  and the combined W-L record of the 3 teams that HSC has beaten is 11-10

The combined W-L record of the 2 teams that have beaten BC:   8-6.  In contrast, the combined W-L record of the 3 teams that have beaten Guilford:  14-7 ..... and the combiined W-L record of the 4 teams that have beaten HSC:  17-11.

[Matt Barnhart (kid)]

"Bangwell,"

Welcome to the board!  Glad more gennies are coming out (that was for you, wrighthall220).

Anyway, yes, I think what W&L has done thus far has been impressive.  Had it not been for the F&M hiccup, I'm sure you'd be getting more national attention at 7-0 with a defense playing as well as it has.  It seems like the offense gets better every game.

I wouldn't say, however, that there is mutual hate.  Seems a bit harsh.  I have no problem with any W&L people ... it was a pleasure to meet Forma80 last year, and I hope to meet a couple more of you all this weekend.

Everything seems to be in W&L's favor.  Six-straight losses to the Eagles (some VERY close), BC on an uncommon two-game skid, the Generals in the drivers seat for the ODAC crown.  Should be interesting to see how the Eagles react.  I know W&L will be pumped!

[Llamaguy]

Llama,

I took a look at the first game of the year (McDaniel) and most recent game (Emory & Henry) when it came to first downs.

In our 29 first down attempts against the Green Terror, we threw 11 times and ran for the other 18.  In the 11 passes, four were incomplete (leaving 2nd-and-10s) with the seven completions averaging 12.3 yards.  With the 18 rushes, 14 went for 3-plus yards while all 18 averaged a gain of 7.6 yards.

In our 21 first down attempts against the Wasps, we threw 6 times and ran for the other 15.  In the 6 pass attempts, two were incomplete while the other four averaged 23.8 yards a completion.  The 15 run plays only gained 2.8 yards a carry, while nine went for 3-plus yards.

Clearly a big change in what we gained on the ground from the first game to the last one ... but we still run nearly 70% of the time and pass the other 30% on first downs.  We do spread the ball around, though, with five different rushers and five different receivers being used during the McDaniel and Emory & Henry games.

But lets look at the true story, two completely different games. The McDaniel game was a blowout and I doubt we threw as much in the 4th quarter, thus padding our run plays on firstdown. I didn't check those stats tough. In the E&H game we threw on firstdown 6 times the entire game as you noted. Once in the 2nd quarter for a 57yrd TD, twice in the 3rd quarter, one was incomplete and one went for a 17yrd gain to Young. The final three firstdown throws came out of necessity since we were down 4pts with less than 1:30 to go in the 4th quarter.

What I'm saying is, "What team wouldn't stack the box with 9/10 players on firstdown if they knew you would only throw on them once or twice a half?" Its too predictable and thats why our yrds/rush have dropped, because they know we aren't going to pass.

[Bangwell]

"Bangwell,"

Welcome to the board!  Glad more gennies are coming out (that was for you, wrighthall220).

Anyway, yes, I think what W&L has done thus far has been impressive.  Had it not been for the F&M hiccup, I'm sure you'd be getting more national attention at 7-0 with a defense playing as well as it has.  It seems like the offense gets better every game.

I wouldn't say, however, that there is mutual hate.  Seems a bit harsh.  I have no problem with any W&L people ... it was a pleasure to meet Forma80 last year, and I hope to meet a couple more of you all this weekend.

Everything seems to be in W&L's favor.  Six-straight losses to the Eagles (some VERY close), BC on an uncommon two-game skid, the Generals in the drivers seat for the ODAC crown.  Should be interesting to see how the Eagles react.  I know W&L will be pumped!

Apologies...perhaps I was a little harsh  ...Forma and I played together and lets just say on the field "there will be no love lost"...I look forward to a hard hitting dogfight out there. Trust me, there is no team in the ODAC the gennies want more than the Eagles and im sure the Eagles know this and will be ready.  I sure wish I could make it up there to see this one...

[Matt Barnhart (kid)]

Llama,

Valid point.  But I wouldn't push the "too predictable" reasoning too much.  In the past for the Eagles, and for other teams, running the ball 70% of the time on first time has worked.

Take for instance W&L this year...

vs F&M: 18 1st downs (12 runs) - 67% run
vs Sewanee: 23 1st downs (17 runs) - 74% run
vs Centre: 30 1st downs (20 runs) - 67% run
vs R-MC: 24 1st downs (18 runs) - 75% run
vs CUA: 32 1st downs (23 runs) - 72% run
vs H-SC: 27 1st downs (23 runs) - 85% run
vs GC: 22 1st downs (17 runs) - 77% run

For the season, they have run the ball 74% of the time on 1st downs.  In the two games they ran the ball less than 70%, they lost one by 14 points and won the other by only nine.

So yes, you make a valid point that the difference in the McDaniel and Emory & Henry games was that at the end we had to pass more ... but I still think that good teams can and should run the ball on the first down the majority of the time.

W&L is "too predictable" with running on first down, but it seems to be working.  So I don't think that is the issue for Bridgewater.

[Forma80]

"Bangwell,"

Welcome to the board!  Glad more gennies are coming out (that was for you, wrighthall220).

Anyway, yes, I think what W&L has done thus far has been impressive.  Had it not been for the F&M hiccup, I'm sure you'd be getting more national attention at 7-0 with a defense playing as well as it has.  It seems like the offense gets better every game.

I wouldn't say, however, that there is mutual hate.  Seems a bit harsh.  I have no problem with any W&L people ... it was a pleasure to meet Forma80 last year, and I hope to meet a couple more of you all this weekend.

Everything seems to be in W&L's favor.  Six-straight losses to the Eagles (some VERY close), BC on an uncommon two-game skid, the Generals in the drivers seat for the ODAC crown.  Should be interesting to see how the Eagles react.  I know W&L will be pumped!

Apologies...perhaps I was a little harsh  ...Forma and I played together and lets just say on the field "there will be no love lost"...I look forward to a hard hitting dogfight out there. Trust me, there is no team in the ODAC the gennies want more than the Eagles and im sure the Eagles know this and will be ready.  I sure wish I could make it up there to see this one...

Oh, god. "Bangwell" is on the loose. Got your vm, and glad to see you on the board.

Hope we can all get some good banter moving this week. I don't think there's any denying the skill of the General's secondary, but I think Bangwell touched on some possible weakness which is in the straight ahead running game. Bridgewater, in recent years, has been able to wear the Generals down through superior size and strength, leading to the 'Water pulling away in the 4th Q. We'll see if that holds true this year in a few days.

This year the General's have more athleticism on D, and more depth than ever, but I don't think anyone in Lexington is counting on you guys rolling over on Jopson Field.

On Offense, when you have a freshman QB gaining experience, the playbook gets bigger every week. We saw that last week with the reverse flee-flicker to Martin, and I would expect to see some further trickery this week.

Is there any way we can get more ODAC games on live feeds as we did last week? That would really add to my Saturday morning (yeah, the games come on at 10 AM, it's awesome).

Prediction: W and L   27
            Bridgewater 20

[Llamaguy]

Llama,

Valid point.  But I wouldn't push the "too predictable" reasoning too much.  In the past for the Eagles, and for other teams, running the ball 70% of the time on first time has worked.


W&L is "too predictable" with running on first down, but it seems to be working.  So I don't think that is the issue for Bridgewater.

I agree with you on W&L's & BC's run stats but does that tell the whole story? W&L's runs on firstdown consist of: handing off to RB, WR handoff's, QB option, Reverses, etc.. W&L's smoke and mirror run game causes a team to defend the entire field, not just between the tackles. Point being BC's 70% run on firstdown consists of handing off to Young or Carter, "Up the gut" 90% of the time. If we are running option, or opening the field with the run then thats a different story. How successful has running up the middle been for BC in the two losses? I have a theory why the sweeps haven't worked either and I understand why they have been limited also. If the run game works early against W&L then stay with it, but if it doesn't like E&H atleast have a backup plan. I'm all for establishing the run but we are 7 games into the season and obviously ODAC teams have a formula to beat BC, load the box and make them beat us passing. I think its time to call their bluff and start taking that challenge.

[miz]

My take on the "BC is too predictable on offense" and "we simplify our offense to keep Highfill from getting hurt" discussions:

First, I agree with both statements (not in principle, but I agree that's what we are doing).  I think it is the wrong approach, and something we need to change now if we don't want to be staring at 7-3 or 6-4 season. 

Second, the option has always been a staple of our offense.  It keeps defenses honest by making them pay for the run blitz, and also forces them to practice and play assignment football.  The option puts a lot of pressure on the preparation and game planning of a defense, especially if an offense can do other things well also. 

Third, the "keep the QB healthy" arguement vs. running option is troublesome to me.  I mean, at what cost?  We have just lost two very winnable games and have only a remote chance at accomplishing our goals for the season.  What if he did get hurt in the 2nd or 3rd game.  Would we really be any worse off at this point?  One of Jeff's biggest strengths is his running ability and we don't even force teams to take that away.  I mean, Nick Lincoln can hand off two time and throw on third and long.  In reality, that's all we're asking from the QB position right now. 

Forth, Highfill is pressing right now and seems to be trying to be perfect on every play.  Putting him in situations where the majority of his passing attempts are on 3rd and long is only going to add to the pressure he is already putting on himself.  Not to make a direct comparison, but Jason Lutz was the same way.  He would often get off to slow starts in games, and he was always at his best when he was involved in every phase of the offense.  The coaches need to take the reigns off of Jeff and let him play.  I have a feeling the results will be very positive.  IMO the playcalling that is aimed at "protecting" him is only adding undue pressure and stunting his development as a player. 

My thoughts.........

[amused]

Matt ... I am in awe of your ability to research and crunch obscure grid stats ... and your willingness to share them with the rest of us dough brains is admirable ... thanks

[Llamaguy]

  Would we really be any worse off at this point?  One of Jeff's biggest strengths is his running ability and we don't even force teams to take that away.  I mean, Nick Lincoln can hand off two time and throw on third and long.  In reality, that's all we're asking from the QB position right now. 

I agree we wouldn't have been any worse off, but I feel like the coaches thought we could win that way. With better execution I also think we possibly could have as well.
In the Words of Ralph Turner, "+1 Karma Miz"
BINGO, on the QB handing off twice and throwing on third and long. Highfill may not have been accurate so far this year but the more chances he has to get involved and succeed on 1st and 2nd down, the less pressure he will have on 3rd and long.

[Snakehandler]

miz, I have no Karma to give you. You'll have to settle for a........

[tigerfanalso]

I wouldn't be too tough on Coach Clark. His accomplishments speak to his coaching ability. What he has done for Bridgewater football is beyond what anyone could have invisioned. I wouldn't second guess his program or his play calling; in fact if I was an Eagle fan I'd pray that he stays. He has been good for your school and good for ODAC football.

Good luck this weekend. Your game against W&L could be the best game played in the ODAC in many years. Enjoy and may the best team win !!!