FB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

D3Navy · June 17, 2010, 02:45:17 AM

Hungry for anything anyone can provide about TU outlook for this season. Been overseas and underway for a couple years. Hard to keep up. Thanks!

evacuee · June 19, 2010, 09:54:19 PM

Welcome back, Navy. It turns out that you picked two of the best years to miss, as Trinity has not won the SCAC in 3 of the last 4 seasons. That isn't to say that they've bottomed out or anything, but the potency and the clear athletic superiority is pretty much a thing of the past. The Tigers win most of their games because of very good preparation and the fact that they are good about getting their best players in position to make plays.

The punter (Trellas) is amazing as is the kicker (Biel), and the return game seems like a real threat these days (Urban).

Defensively, TU loses some good players but most of them are back from what was last year a functional though not stellar unit. That said, Coach Inco doesn't have much size in the first two levels. There are guys on the defensive line that in previous years may have better suited as linebackers. Experience is in the Tigers' favor, and the players are pretty doggone smart, so the group should be enough to give them the upper hand in most of their games this fall. Centre's running game should not be a very good match up for the Tigers with their big ball carrier, Pinque, but the conference isn't really full of guys like him.

Offensively, they'll try to get the ball to Caleb Urban in as many ways as possible. He takes handoffs, he catches passes, he throws passes and he is faster than the wind. The running back, Al Furlow, is very good despite not ever really having carried the load before. The Tigers will definitely miss Chris Baer at that position, but Furlow is a little quicker with more of a breakaway burst. Three guys started at quarterback last year, but none of them has the position locked up. Bert Davidson finished the season well and I think threw only one interception, but none of them are as gifted as some of the guys we've seen in the past. The O Line has some young guys and hopefully they've gained some size because they were not an intimidating bunch on sight, but seemed to control the LOS in most of the games last year. Tito Hong, I believe his name is, started every game as a freshman, which could be a good or bad indicator.

In short, we are not head and shoulders above the rest of the league anymore. Every game is a fight, but with Millsaps and DePauw having had some key losses, it's not unthinkable that Trinity could run the table again. It's going to be very competitive and we'll get a great look at what kind of fight the Tigers have in them.

frank_ezelle · June 21, 2010, 06:01:30 PM

That was an excellent post. The SCAC is going to be a real dogfight next year with at least half of the teams having a legitimate shot at the top spot.

etg · June 23, 2010, 08:58:02 PM

(El Tea Gray---re: D3Navy and TU2698)

NSF: Navy and 2698

How many times do I need to say it? Not-So-Fast. If either or both of you are near campus on Aug. 12th, stop by for Reporting Day and some real surprises. IMHO it's way more than just re-loading; it's re-claiming lost territory (lots of it). As I have mentioned several times before; Saint Nick will be there (should be fun).

D3_DPUFan · June 24, 2010, 07:01:21 PM

With the caveat that pre season polls mean little...DePauw is #25 in the USA Today Sports Weekly DIII poll.

etg · June 24, 2010, 08:39:33 PM

(El Tea Gray---re: frank_ezelle)

Frank,
I forgot your comment; how could I? My comment: "Frank for 2010, guess again".

Ron Boerger · June 25, 2010, 12:11:55 AM

Anyone hear anything about whether the SCAC will count DPU's 2011 games as in-conference ?

Pat Coleman · June 25, 2010, 12:31:06 AM

I've heard nothing official but I would personally be surprised if the SCAC allowed DePauw to stick around and compete for its 2011 football title. It's a shame the NCAC football schedule is such a mess that it can't integrate DePauw sooner.

D3_DPUFan · June 25, 2010, 08:58:40 AM

BTW, Pat...nice job (as always) with the preview piece you wrote for USA Today Sports Weekly.

Tacttm1 · June 25, 2010, 11:03:41 AM

Any link to that piece?

Pat Coleman · June 25, 2010, 11:44:33 AM

DPUFan: Thanks.

Tacttm1: No, I don't believe USA Today puts the contents of its preseason college football publication online. It's in stores now. (Typically I've found it's easiest to find these things at gas station/convenience stores.)

D3_DPUFan · June 25, 2010, 12:45:37 PM

QuoteTacttm1: No, I don't believe USA Today puts the contents of its preseason college football publication online. It's in stores now. (Typically I've found it's easiest to find these things at gas station/convenience stores.)

I think that's correct. Here in Indiana, CVS stores typically have them, usually in the newspaper rack along with USA Today and local papers.

Ron Boerger · June 25, 2010, 01:01:03 PM

Expecting people to pay for content ... how 20th century.

Seriously, glad to see that. Too many media outlets give everything away and then wonder why they end up going out of business.

Tacttm1 · June 25, 2010, 02:20:25 PM

I ain't bein' cheap...just tryin to get a quicker view.

I'll look for a 'hard copy' at the newsstand later this evening!! Pat, can you sign my copy? lol!

Pat Coleman · June 25, 2010, 02:26:14 PM

I could if you were really interested in devaluing it.

The ranking has been posted already. USA Today doesn't do an All-American team, so it's just a handful of players to watch. There's a feature story (how did D3 get so purple? -- an examination of how the rich keep getting richer, with input from UWW, MTU and more) and capsule previews on a handful of teams, then the ranking.