East Region Playoff Discussion

[wesleydad]

maxpower, honestly, no.  they were a good team when i saw them.  i wish i had seen the wesley game, sorry the great american beer fest in denver got in the way, to see how poorly wesley played.  i think 6 turnovers and they still held delval to 17 points.  they have a tough defense, but i dont think they are deep so 2 or 3 players out could hurt.  still you dont lose to a widener team that was trounced by several teams earlier in the season.  it is a rivalry game, but you still cant lose it if you want to challenge mount or uwww.  i think salisbury has a real good chance to win if delval is missing anyone, and a chance if they are all healthy.  the triple option is tough to deal with when you dont play against it.

[clandfan]

Cortland is very overrated. I see them beating Endicott, but barely in a hard fought game.

So true

I don't drink this Kool-Aid at this point.  What can we judge this on?  They lost a nailbiter to Rowan and took care of everyone else on their schedule.  They had a big comeback against a huge rival(not to mention a fairly good team) to finish the season.  I think this year Cortland could surprise a few people.

Personally, I think Cortland has the easiest road to Alliance.  That being said, our offense must play better and get back to a more balanced attack.  

Technically, St. Lawrence has the easiest road to Alliance.

lol....very good. +k

[AUSaxons]

Did you see the game? The Alfred Oline and Dline's both had a field day. Dwyer had 275 rushing yards, Ithaca had 64. AU outgained Ithaca by over 150 yards on offense. This is WITH almost 100 yards in penalties by AU. And lets not forget that the TV replay showed that Clark never fumbled it on the goalline so really the score should have been 38-17. Yes, Alfred dominated Ithaca. Anybody who saw the game would tell you it wasnt even a game.

In comparison, Ithaca outgained Cortland on offense. And if not for a mishandled snap IC may win that game. That is not saying Ithaca should have won, they made a mistake and Cortland capitalized. Still, Cortland was on the ropes down 17-3 in the 3rd quarter to an Ithaca team that, lets be real, is an average team. AU didn't get up for the RPI or Rochester games, it was not a matter of being beaten up by a better team as much as it was AU not showing up to play. They will be up for Maritime and most definitely Cortland....I dont see Cortlands 1 dimensional offense being able to penetrate the AU run D

If it happens, i'll say AU 34 Cortland 17

Cortland St. - 20
Endicott - 14
-I believe after seeing an Ithaca team that got dominated by Alfred play cortland to the final whistle, Cortland is very overrated. I see them beating Endicott, but barely in a hard fought game.

Alfred "dominated Ithaca"? After the first quarter it was even steven. The First Quarter sucked though.

Seriously, though, this is quite a leap in logic. I still can't figure out why there is so little concern in the AU camp that this team is capable of losing to RPI and UR at any given moment....

[Jonny Utah]

Did you see the game? The Alfred Oline and Dline's both had a field day. Dwyer had 275 rushing yards, Ithaca had 64. AU outgained Ithaca by over 150 yards on offense. This is WITH almost 100 yards in penalties by AU. And lets not forget that the TV replay showed that Clark never fumbled it on the goalline so really the score should have been 38-17. Yes, Alfred dominated Ithaca. Anybody who saw the game would tell you it wasnt even a game.

In comparison, Ithaca outgained Cortland on offense. And if not for a mishandled snap IC may win that game. That is not saying Ithaca should have won, they made a mistake and Cortland capitalized. Still, Cortland was on the ropes down 17-3 in the 3rd quarter to an Ithaca team that, lets be real, is an average team. AU didn't get up for the RPI or Rochester games, it was not a matter of being beaten up by a better team as much as it was AU not showing up to play. They will be up for Maritime and most definitely Cortland....I dont see Cortlands 1 dimensional offense being able to penetrate the AU run D

If it happens, i'll say AU 34 Cortland 17

Cortland St. - 20
Endicott - 14
-I believe after seeing an Ithaca team that got dominated by Alfred play cortland to the final whistle, Cortland is very overrated. I see them beating Endicott, but barely in a hard fought game.

Alfred "dominated Ithaca"? After the first quarter it was even steven. The First Quarter sucked though.

Seriously, though, this is quite a leap in logic. I still can't figure out why there is so little concern in the AU camp that this team is capable of losing to RPI and UR at any given moment....

If Aflred didn't show up against RPI or Rochester, then Ithaca didn't show up against Alfred.

[AUPepBand]

If Aflred didn't show up against RPI or Rochester, then Ithaca didn't show up against Alfred.

Pep remains cautiously optimistic. As has been stated by others, Murray's boys have controlled Springfield's triple option sufficiently to win four straight from the Pride. The Saxons have an advantage in that they've seen that offense before, although Maritime will have a few different wrinkles (more motion).

There is always the question of which Alfred shows. AU's offense has had games in which they've been prone to turn it over and as a result, repeatedly put the defense on the defense. Such was the case at RPI and against an upstart UR squad.

Alfred is capable of putting together a near-perfect game, which it needed to defeat both Fisher and Ithaca this season. Alfred is also capable of looking like dog poop on the new FieldTurf.

Pep will be at Merrill Field with a boisterous band, hoping there will be no droppings on the turf on Saterday when the clock says 00:00.

On Saxon Warriors!

[pg04]

Just for the heck of it...

Montclair 9
HS   23

Hmmm, I keep seeing predictions that Montclair State is going down.   When I looked at their season compared to Hampden-Sydney's I was pretty confident MSU was the favorite.  Even on the road.  Plus for the last couple weeks I've read a ton of stuff about how tough the NJAC is (which I agree) and how all three of the 9-1 teams should get in the playoffs.    Plus how Cortland & Montclair were just inches away from being the East legit #1 seed.  Now I see you guys saying MSU is losing to HSC.    If nothing else, I thought 9-1 in the NJAC was better than 9-1 in the ODAC.

Hopefully I'm not on glue, but I was pretty comfortable with this spread:
#5 Montclair State at #4 Hampden-Sydney (+6.5)

I'm really curious to hear the East's opinion on why? 

THANKS in advance for the insight.

While obviously I could be way off, I've been following MSU closely for the last 6 or so weeks, (listening, looking at stats, etc) and there is just something "Off" to me about this team.  They just don't put games away.  Their offense has been horrible at times.  I guess my prediction is based all of this and my gut feelings.  I do hope that MSU proves me very wrong! 

[CstateFB]

Cortland St. - 20
Endicott - 14
-I believe after seeing an Ithaca team that got dominated by Alfred play cortland to the final whistle, Cortland is very overrated. I see them beating Endicott, but barely in a hard fought game.

Alfred "dominated Ithaca"? After the first quarter it was even steven. The First Quarter sucked though.

Seriously, though, this is quite a leap in logic. I still can't figure out why there is so little concern in the AU camp that this team is capable of losing to RPI and UR at any given moment....

In rivalry games such as Cortaca anything can happen. Cortland is definitely not overrated and their defense is as good as advertised...if not better.

[pg04]

Cortland St. - 20
Endicott - 14
-I believe after seeing an Ithaca team that got dominated by Alfred play cortland to the final whistle, Cortland is very overrated. I see them beating Endicott, but barely in a hard fought game.

Alfred "dominated Ithaca"? After the first quarter it was even steven. The First Quarter sucked though.

Seriously, though, this is quite a leap in logic. I still can't figure out why there is so little concern in the AU camp that this team is capable of losing to RPI and UR at any given moment....

In rivalry games such as Cortaca anything can happen. Cortland is definitely not overrated and their defense is as good as advertised...if not better.

I'm just not going to do it...

[AUKaz00]

And lets not forget that the TV replay showed that Clark never fumbled it on the goalline so really the score should have been 38-17.

I think a thorough review of the tape showed that Clark was running parallel to the goal line when he was stripped.

[rams1102]

Just for the heck of it...

Montclair 9
HS   23

Hmmm, I keep seeing predictions that Montclair State is going down.   When I looked at their season compared to Hampden-Sydney's I was pretty confident MSU was the favorite.  Even on the road.  Plus for the last couple weeks I've read a ton of stuff about how tough the NJAC is (which I agree) and how all three of the 9-1 teams should get in the playoffs.    Plus how Cortland & Montclair were just inches away from being the East legit #1 seed.  Now I see you guys saying MSU is losing to HSC.    If nothing else, I thought 9-1 in the NJAC was better than 9-1 in the ODAC.

Hopefully I'm not on glue, but I was pretty comfortable with this spread:
#5 Montclair State at #4 Hampden-Sydney (+6.5)

I'm really curious to hear the East's opinion on why? 

THANKS in advance for the insight.

While obviously I could be way off, I've been following MSU closely for the last 6 or so weeks, (listening, looking at stats, etc) and there is just something "Off" to me about this team.  They just don't put games away.  Their offense has been horrible at times.  I guess my prediction is based all of this and my gut feelings.  I do hope that MSU proves me very wrong! 

I can't disagree with what you said. There is talent there and something tells me, something special is going to happen. Just call it a hunch with the "O". There is talent there, just get it together.

[CstateFB]

MTU has only allowed 7.9 pts per game including 4 shutouts!.....#2 in the Nation in scoring defense!

#2? Who is the #1 scoring defense? 

[pg04]

MTU has only allowed 7.9 pts per game including 4 shutouts!.....#2 in the Nation in scoring defense!

#2? Who is the #1 scoring defense? 

It must be all that time they spend on D3boards.com !

[CstateFB]

MTU has only allowed 7.9 pts per game including 4 shutouts!.....#2 in the Nation in scoring defense!

#2? Who is the #1 scoring defense? 

It must be all that time they spend on D3boards.com !

[maxpower]

Oh man, I missed it? What IS it with these Cortland kids? I think Gatto may be off the hook...

[DanPadavona]

If Aflred didn't show up against RPI or Rochester, then Ithaca didn't show up against Alfred.

Yep.  Could also argue that IC whipped Springfield, which in turn put on a show against Fisher.  Which suddenly makes a Cortland win over IC look good.  Anyone can cherry pick a result or two to make their argument with.