East Region Playoff Discussion

[labart96]

I was more than impressed by the Hobart defense.  And I agree with the statement in your broadcast (not sure who made it) that the Hobart defense was a national title contending unit but that offense isn't anywhere close.

That was me coach.  Thanks and k+ for the additional feedback and props.

[HScoach]

I was more than impressed by the Hobart defense.  And I agree with the statement in your broadcast (not sure who made it) that the Hobart defense was a national title contending unit but that offense isn't anywhere close.

That was me coach.  Thanks and k+ for the additional feedback and props.

Sorry I didn't realize it was you.  Excellent job with the ITH thing.  Very cool!

[clandfan]

Thats nice to know.  I have scene Cortland a few times this year, and know IC was the best team they played on the season at that point.....but that game was a disaster.  They appear to be peaking at the moment.  I would like to think that they could have beaten IC if they came to play as they clearly did not.  That beat down has provided a reality check and it looks like the Dragons are playing their best football.  Hopefully they can give MUC a decent game!

I brought this up on "In the HuddLLe" last night (http://blogtalkradio.com/LLRecap for the archive), but I'll bring it up again briefly here.

In calling the game on Saturday, my biggest concern about Cortland is their rush offense.  In order to beat Mount Union, you need a really good balance on offense that will allow you to potentially take an early lead on the Raiders -- and then hold them off for the remainder of the game.  When looking at the Cortland statistics, they represent Saturday's scenarios well -- Cortland yards were about 80/20 in favor of the passing game.  Curry's defensive line, while large and somewhat imposing, should not have had the success they had (especially early) in beating down the running game up the gut if Cortland's run offense was a real highlight.

This proves problematic -- we all focus on the offensive highlights of Mount Union, but their defense may be the true show-stopper this year, averaging just under 2 points per first half in points allowed this year.  The balanced offense with the ability to take a lead on Mount Union is how UW-Whitewater beat Mount Union in the Stagg Bowl last year (yes, Beaver was a force as running back -- but without balance with a decent passing attack, Beaver's performance would've been muted).  Hobart proved that a decent defense can quell the offensive attack of Mount Union for some period of time.  So, to me, it becomes a major question of the opponent's OFFENSE and their capabilities of breaking down the 800-pound gorilla the Raiders' defense has become.

While I appreciate the 42-0 win by Cortland this past weekend, I didn't see much that would make me believe that Cortland will be able to shock Mount Union unless the team plays a perfect game while the Raiders have an extremely off day.  However, this is why we play the games.  Good luck to both teams.

Frank,

Nice job on the radio show last night.  It was very entertaining hearing about Mount Union from an outsider's position.  I agree with many things that were said in yesterday's discussion about the Hobart game. 

The Bart defense played very well, especially the secondary.  That was the first set of DB's that didn't get toasted by Cecil Shorts and company.  As a MUC broadcaster that has seen every game for the last 10+ years, I thought the pressure from the front 4 was decent to good, but the difference was making Micheli go thru his progressions and therefore giving time for the rush to get to him.  The reason I think the Hobart pass rush was only "decent to good" and not "great" is because this isn't a very good Mount offensive line and the amount of pressure was simliar to what Micheli saw from numerous OAC teams this season.  The difference is that he couldn't hit a wide open primary or secondary target without hesitation like he could in the regular season. 

I was especially impressed with the freshman Drake Woodard.  He played great against Cecil Shorts whereas Shorts made the entire OAC look absolutely silly.  That kid has a bright future.

ILB Hager was also very good.  A sure tackler that moved well sideline to sideline.  Overall the Hobart defense tackled well.  Which is why it took Kmic 37 carries to get his 200+ yards.  Poor tackling teams like a Marietta or Randolph-Macon got ripped for 200 with half the carries that he had against Hobart. 

I was more than impressed by the Hobart defense.  And I agree with the statement in your broadcast (not sure who made it) that the Hobart defense was a national title contending unit but that offense isn't anywhere close.

I thought the Hobart O-line was pretty good, Doyle displayed good decision making, but Hobart lacked the speed at WR or RB to make plays.  Based on what I saw Saturday, Hobart is a couple WR's and a stud RB away from competing at an elite level on offense.  There were quite a few times the Mount DB's were beat on the initial move, but had the closing speed to break up the pass.  If the Hobart WR's were faster, they might have hit some big plays or at least forced Mount to respect their ability to get deep and make them soften their coverage up.  After the first couple series, the MUC DB's got very agressive in run defense and jumping the short routes because they knew they couldn't get burnt deep.

To the Hobart team and fans, you have nothing to be ashamed of.  They played hard, played to win and made Mount work for everything they got.  Congrats on a great game and good luck next season.  Hope you again next December!

Hi Frank:  I think you make an important point but I think some of what you saw was the result of guiliano taking a cheap shot to his legs  away from the play. (personal foul was called)   He came up a little gimpy and saw limited time after that.   He is a very stong back with big play potential which we did not see Saturday... so rush ydg was down.  On the other hand...Miles could have thrown all day so we didn't really need guiliano...hence pass ydg was up and you saw the ratio that you did.   Historically we also tend to have a couple of big pass ydg plays per game which may skew the passing yardage a bit.  I think saturday was a bit of an anomaly with your ratio theory.   I think we generally try to achieve that 50/50 yardage ratio.  Season statistics may not bear that out but I think that is the result of a couple of big passing yardage games where we stuck with what was working.  I also think that the true 50/50 ratio is sometimes skewed when you have a scrambling QB who will pick up rush ydg.  Miles isn't going to give you many rush yards.  His mobility, or lack thereof, concerns me a little in this game.

Clearly though, to have a chance, we need guiliano healthy and need to establish some success running the football.

[theaprof]

Posted this on the NJAC page but thought i would add it here in case more fans are following this thread:   
   
Re: New Jersey Athletic Conference
« Reply #5830 on: Today at 09:44:42 pm »    

Safe travels to all the Red Dragon faithful this weekend.  I have been trading hats/t-shirts with parents/fans for the past couple of years and would love to add a Red Dragon to my collection.  Anyone interested in a trade for something Purple Raider themed?

At this point my collection includes items from Bridgewater, UWW, Christopher Newport, Hampton Sydney, Heidelberg,...

I'd love to make a trade this weekend--and meet some of the Cortland faithful before, after, or during the game.  Contact me via email or PM if you are interested.

Good luck to all--and here's to an injury free game for both teams.

theaprof

[cstate19]

I think it comes down to taking what the defense gives you.  It seems like Curry wanted to focus more on stopping the run (as they run a base 4-4 anyway) and force Cortland to throw the ball.

I think the key to beating MUC is stopping them on offense.  Cortland is not going to rush the ball on this team.  Like frank said, you need some sort of balance but I think it is a lot easier to throw than pass against MUC.  It was last year anyway.
 

$40,000 a year and the FDC couldn't even teach you the difference.  You guys must have spent all four years on the color of the grass, IC football jerseys, and footballs.

[Jonny Utah]

I think it comes down to taking what the defense gives you.  It seems like Curry wanted to focus more on stopping the run (as they run a base 4-4 anyway) and force Cortland to throw the ball.

I think the key to beating MUC is stopping them on offense.  Cortland is not going to rush the ball on this team.  Like frank said, you need some sort of balance but I think it is a lot easier to throw than pass against MUC.  It was last year anyway.
 

$40,000 a year and the FDC couldn't even teach you the difference.  You guys must have spent all four years on the color of the grass, IC football jerseys, and footballs.

Dammit. 

But I still don't know what your last sentence means.

[cstate19]

I think it comes down to taking what the defense gives you.  It seems like Curry wanted to focus more on stopping the run (as they run a base 4-4 anyway) and force Cortland to throw the ball.

I think the key to beating MUC is stopping them on offense.  Cortland is not going to rush the ball on this team.  Like frank said, you need some sort of balance but I think it is a lot easier to throw than pass against MUC.  It was last year anyway.
 

$40,000 a year and the FDC couldn't even teach you the difference.  You guys must have spent all four years on the color of the grass, IC football jerseys, and footballs.

Dammit. 

But I still don't know what your last sentence means.

Meant you spent all fours years on the color system and never got to the difference between passing and running.  Guess it could have been worded better.

[Jonny Utah]

I think it comes down to taking what the defense gives you.  It seems like Curry wanted to focus more on stopping the run (as they run a base 4-4 anyway) and force Cortland to throw the ball.

I think the key to beating MUC is stopping them on offense.  Cortland is not going to rush the ball on this team.  Like frank said, you need some sort of balance but I think it is a lot easier to throw than pass against MUC.  It was last year anyway.
 

$40,000 a year and the FDC couldn't even teach you the difference.  You guys must have spent all four years on the color of the grass, IC football jerseys, and footballs.

Dammit. 

But I still don't know what your last sentence means.

Meant you spent all fours years on the color system and never got to the difference between passing and running.  Guess it could have been worded better.

I still don't know what your talking about.

[DanPadavona]

I understand what offense Cortland runs based on my research before and after the game -- and by watching 60 minutes of it Saturday.  You guys read into my post something that wasn't there:

I said that the production on the pass was high -- as in an 80/20 pass yards to rush yards ratio.  I didn't say play selection was that lopsided.  That was closer to 50/50 -- if we throw out garbage time, it was likely 60/40 in favor of the pass.  That's a very important differential to examine when looking at a game like Saturday's game -- you would hope your ratios in play selection would be somewhat similar to the ratio for yardage, with a slight advantage to the run (since pass plays can go more minimal or zero yards more than 50 percent of the time, while rushes tend to gain yards more often than not).

My point is this:  how did Curry, the team that lost 42-0 Saturday, stop Cortland's run so well?  If CURRY can do that, then Mount Union probably could do that in their sleep.  I don't think Cortland's philosophy was to pass as much as they did in the first three quarters -- I think that became the determination after Curry snuffed the run.

If you care to, please respond to that central point I was trying to make earlier.

It was pretty clear how Curry did it.  They kept overloading the box, daring Cortland to throw over them.  The only question I had once I saw them start to stack the box was whether or not their corners were talented enough to stay with Guaragno and Hajnos.  They couldn't stay with them, particularly Guaragno, and Miles kept torching them deep.

[DanPadavona]

Posted this on the NJAC page but thought i would add it here in case more fans are following this thread:   
   
Re: New Jersey Athletic Conference
« Reply #5830 on: Today at 09:44:42 pm »    

Safe travels to all the Red Dragon faithful this weekend.  I have been trading hats/t-shirts with parents/fans for the past couple of years and would love to add a Red Dragon to my collection.  Anyone interested in a trade for something Purple Raider themed?

At this point my collection includes items from Bridgewater, UWW, Christopher Newport, Hampton Sydney, Heidelberg,...

I'd love to make a trade this weekend--and meet some of the Cortland faithful before, after, or during the game.  Contact me via email or PM if you are interested.

Good luck to all--and here's to an injury free game for both teams.

theaprof

Sounds good Theaprof!  I'll be shooting the game from the sidelines for Cortlandfootball.com.  I'm the short guy with the Canon equipment...get my attention if you see me. 

Dan

[theaprof]

Posted this on the NJAC page but thought i would add it here in case more fans are following this thread:   
   
Re: New Jersey Athletic Conference
« Reply #5830 on: Today at 09:44:42 pm »    

Safe travels to all the Red Dragon faithful this weekend.  I have been trading hats/t-shirts with parents/fans for the past couple of years and would love to add a Red Dragon to my collection.  Anyone interested in a trade for something Purple Raider themed?

At this point my collection includes items from Bridgewater, UWW, Christopher Newport, Hampton Sydney, Heidelberg,...

I'd love to make a trade this weekend--and meet some of the Cortland faithful before, after, or during the game.  Contact me via email or PM if you are interested.

Good luck to all--and here's to an injury free game for both teams.

theaprof

Sounds good Theaprof!  I'll be shooting the game from the sidelines for Cortlandfootball.com.  I'm the short guy with the Canon equipment...get my attention if you see me. 

Dan

I'll find you--I assume you will be on the Cortland side of the field??--Do you want a hat or a t-shirt?

[DanPadavona]

I move from sideline to sideline depending on the sun angle, and where I anticipate the action to be.  With everything being equal, I might be on the Cortland side of the field a little more often. 

A t-shirt sounds great.  I can trade you either a Cortland football hat (never worn, but its been bouncing around in my car trunk all season) or a medium Cortland lacrosse shirt (arguably our #1 sport along with baseball).  I have several Cortland hats, a few I wear when it rains but rarely otherwise.  At least 2 of them are new that I can think of.

We can try to meet up at half-time.  I'd love to discuss Mount Union football, as this will be my first chance to see them in person.

[theaprof]

I'll take a hat--nothing medium sized has fit me since I was 12!!  What size t-shirt do you want?

See you at the game.

[SJFF82]

Now that 3 of the 4 number 1 seeds lost in Round 2 this year, is it fair to state that next season, there should be no talk of the East not getting its own number 1 seed?  It seems the majority opinion has been that only an undefeated East team would deserve a Number 1, otherwise, MUC gets imported.  Well Cortland is still playing at 11-1, and I think would be a favorite to go to the final 4 against anyone other than MUC, had MUC not been imported.  Anyone of the other 3 number 1's apparently did not deserve the number 1 anymore than a one loss Cortland team did, and that should be remembered next year.

[cstate19]

Pat's playoff thought on Cortland so far.

Week 1: "running on fumes" Dragon win!

Week 2: predicted to lose to Curry (despite him bashing Curry 10 days earlier) Dragon Win!

Week 3: MU 52-17 Dragon???

Pat, if we pull the shocker off tomorrow can you please continue to pick against us?