FB: Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference

[DPU3619]

You know, that's the age old debate - do you want a really favorable draw in Round 1 before you get sent to slaughter at Whitewater, or do you want to play that tougher game early and try to make a run at it.  I thought if they could have pushed Mount, UWW, or Wesley off on the horizon a ways, they'd have a chance to play for more than a couple of weekends.  That's not in the equation anymore.

They'll have a good shot on Saturday.  About as good as DePauw could have hoped for, I think.  Probably won't have any shot if they get by Trine.

EDIT: Apparently I'm in the dissenting opinion, though:

Trine got an easy first round draw with Depauw. Looking forward to seeing something new in two weeks since I'm going to assume Trine and UWW will win rather easily. Now we'll show you how an elite WIAC team plays. 

EDIT 2: I'll say this: there were only two teams I really thought DePauw could beat in this region that they had the opportunity to be matched up against.  Those are Franklin and Trine.  I didn't want Witt.  I didn't want ONU.  I didn't want Thomas More.  I think DePauw is lucky to get this draw this year, like they were lucky to avoid one of the big ones last year when they went to Thomas More.  I don't think they'll win easily, but they'll have a better shot to win that game on Saturday than a lot of other opponents they could have been paired with in this tournament.

[D3_DPUFan]

just watched the game on dvr from hdnet.

wow.

worse than in person.

gotta make quicker reads...and stand in.

[DPU3619]

This is going to be a long week if I have to hear that guy from Trine talk about how they're going to beat DePauw worse than Wabash did.  Trine beat two teams by more than 47.  Those teams combined to go 6-14.  That's an outrageous assertion.

I thought DePauw hadn't played anybody.  Then I looked at what Trine did.  220th in the country, which is sixth worse.  .360 OWP.  Trine's schedule makes DePauw look like they play in the AFC North.

[SaintsFAN]

give 'em hell, DePauw... was hoping to see a rematch of last year as you have classy fans and a team which plays hard. 

Was shocked to see the Wabash final, but hey that $hit happens sometimes when events start to come together.

[Uncle Rico]

The poster "MasterJedi" referenced below is not from the MIAA or Trine.  He is from Whitewater.  Trine fans are expecting this to be a very tight game.  Both your team and Trine played Adrian very similiarly so I suspect it will be a close one on Saturday!  As noted, the Trine strength of schedule was low this year.  We are anxious to see how we can do against a playoff team such as DePauw.  

[DPU3619]

Spent a somewhat sleepless night last night considering why, exactly, the NCAA would set this bracket that way.  It hit me about 4:45 that Wittenberg & Ohio Northern had to be too far away from Whitewater to bus.  What a great solution!  Make DePauw/Trine go play UWW because it's too far.  Somebody HAS to be the 3 then if you're going to make Whitewater the 2.  Then the argument just becomes if 9-1 DePauw > 10-0 Trine with crappy SOS.

Turns out, though, it's not too far for Witt or ONU to bus.  I'm stumped. 

[Ralph Turner]

Spent a somewhat sleepless night last night considering why, exactly, the NCAA would set this bracket that way.  It hit me about 4:45 that Wittenberg & Ohio Northern had to be too far away from Whitewater to bus.  What a great solution!  Make DePauw/Trine go play UWW because it's too far.  Somebody HAS to be the 3 then if you're going to make Whitewater the 2.  Then the argument just becomes if 9-1 DePauw > 10-0 Trine with crappy SOS.

Turns out, though, it's not too far for Witt or ONU to bus.  I'm stumped. 

Geographic proximity!       It is almost 100 miles closer for DePauw to go to Whitewater.   

Also the South Region is feared for its depth and strength as a region. 

As a #3 seed, the alternative would be playing Wesley or UMHB in the second round.  Both of those are plane flights, tho'.     

[wabco]

Enjoyed the game Saturday ... obviously.  While don't even like the Dannies when we play them in any sport or contest ... still ... they are family ... no matter how distant ... and I think I speak for most at Wabash when I say we will root for them against the likes of a Trine.  The conference of which Trine is a part is simply terrible ... so the Trine record means nothing.  Drawing them makes DePauw a "2 and done team" ... unless, of course, they cannot figure out a way to avoid the blitz and/or find cannot find a snapper who can snap other than to Andre the Giant.  Good luck Dannies ... you only need to lose your last game next year as well ... but then comes 2012.  The "Ws" await.

[Ron Boerger]

Joe White steps down as Rhodes head football coach

[DPU3619]

Early thoughts on Trine:

Spoke to a couple of my friends in the MIAA and one in the CCIW that have seen Trine this year.  This kid at QB, Eric Watt, is the real deal.  Great arm, good legs, great leader.  DePauw has been subject those players this year.  Frankly, they've kinda always been subject to those dual-threat guys.  Osterman from Centre carved the Tiger D in Week 2.  Perkins from Rhodes had some success.  Obviously Belton & Burke had their way.

Very balanced football team. 247 thru the air & 268 on the ground.  Defense is giving 10 per, but like I said earlier, how good is that defense?  Maybe they shove it DePauw's ass for 60 minutes like Wabash did, or maybe they're just not that good of a unit who has faced inferior competition.  Hard to say, I think.  They played Adrian similar to what DePauw did. 

I think DePauw's offense is better than any offense on Trine's schedule by a mile, regardless of what you make of the unspeakable disaster on Saturday.  I guess I think the same thing I thought about Monon before Saturday.  DePauw's sending their darn good offense up against another darn good offense.  Can the defense hold?  I'm a lot less confident about both of those issues than I was 4 days ago.

[wabashcpa]

Wes,

I think this game is a push.  I expect the effort will be there Saturday (I can't imagine practices being much fun this week), and it may come down to special teams.  We didn't get a chance to see your kicker Saturday - if the game is on the line, can he nail a game-winner?

Do you know if there will be a video feed for the game?

[DPU3619]

Trine hits another big pass play.  59 yards.  Get the 2 pointer.  35-28 now.

EDIT: Alex Koors is happening. 35-35.

EDIT 2: DePauw can't get a stop.  42-35.  11 left.

EDIT 3:  Turnovers in shootouts are bad.  Engle picked.  Trine gets a FG. 45-35.  DePauw's in trouble with 3:30 left.

[DPU3619]

DePauw is done.  Engle picked for a 3rd time.  4 turnovers today to go with the 2 60 yd TD passes allowed, a fumble returned for a TD & a big kick return.  DePauw can't continue to make mistakes like this against good football teams.  They've done it against Wabash the last two years.  They did it against Thomas More in the playoffs this LAST year, and they did it again today. 

Heckuva effort to rally from a big deficit.  Dunno what Robby said in the locker room, but it worked.  That said, without the mistakes, there's no deficit to come back from.  Really, really frustrating.

[Uncle Rico]

A very exciting game yesterday.  The changes in momentum were incredible.  To come back from that early defict and take the lead showed great character.   

[frank_ezelle]

Congratulations to all who were honored in the SCAC all-conference voting.  The top four awards were all repeats with Alex Koors (DePauw) for Offense, Will Hawkins (Millsaps) for Defense, Michael Galatas (Millsaps) for Special Team and Coach Rob Long (DePauw) as the Coach of the Year.  For Galatis, this was his third straight year to win the special teams award.

The newcomer of the year, obviously not a repeat winner, went to kicker Jordan Gay of Centre.  The full list of honorees can be found at this link:

http://www.scacsports.com/sports/fball/all-SCAC/2010allscacfootball.pdf