FB: Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference

[GRIZ_BACKER]

What I'd like to see is Franklin schedule some of the semi-elite teams of the region. It's nice to play a team like Mount Union to see a top team, but I think it would be much more beneficial to play teams like Wabash, North Central, Wittenberg, etc which are still solid programs but are games that would be competitive and Franklin might actually win.

I agree with your comments above. Competitive winnable games in Region would also be more fun and would give FC a chance when they run the table of a good seed etc. The GRIZ will be lucky to get a 6 if they get in and the two losses were self inflicted IMO. 

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Big upset with Manchester holding on to beat Hanover. With a win next week over Anderson they would finish above .500 for the first time this millennium. Add in a Franklin win over Hanover and they would finish 2nd in the conference. Not bad for a team picked 7th by the coaches.

[crimsonace]

What I'd like to see is Franklin schedule some of the semi-elite teams of the region. It's nice to play a team like Mount Union to see a top team, but I think it would be much more beneficial to play teams like Wabash, North Central, Wittenberg, etc which are still solid programs but are games that would be competitive and Franklin might actually win.

I do like FC's willingness to schedule both of the purples in back-to-back years (and playing Butler/Valpo actually gives you the ability to play a quality foe with no penalty in the rankings since it's a non-D3 foe). But the Griz have played some of those teams in the past -- home-and-homes with Wabash, Trine in the Watt years, playing Baldwin-Wallace, for example. The HCAC rarely gets a Pool C bid (although MSJ did a few years back), so scheduling "up" is a pretty solid strategy. Although both Butler & Mt. Union in the same year is pretty brutal, FC was much more competitive in the UMU game than the score might have indicated. 

[crimsonace]

Big upset with Manchester holding on to beat Hanover. With a win next week over Anderson they would finish above .500 for the first time this millennium. Add in a Franklin win over Hanover and they would finish 2nd in the conference. Not bad for a team picked 7th by the coaches.

Manchester has very quietly had a very nice season, but today was a big eye-opener. Hanover has had some huge comebacks this year -- the RHIT game so far has kept them in contention -- and nearly pulled it off today. MC led 35-14 midway through the third, then I looked back at the score and it was 35-34 in about 5 minutes of clock time. Next Saturday's Franklin-Hanover tussle is going to be fun, especially with the quality of the two offenses.

[BUBeaverFan]

10/10/12

Mt.St. Joe @ Thomas More (last chance for an OOC win for the HCAC)   
Earlham @ Rose-Hulman
Hanover @ Franklin      
Defiance @ Bluffton (good clean game please!)   
Manchester @ Anderson

[Thunder44]

Big upset with Manchester holding on to beat Hanover. With a win next week over Anderson they would finish above .500 for the first time this millennium. Add in a Franklin win over Hanover and they would finish 2nd in the conference. Not bad for a team picked 7th by the coaches.

Nice win for the Spartans yesterday.  The Panthers made a good game of it near the end, but it proved too little, too late.  The Hanover O missed a lot of opportunities in the first half, and was lucky to only be down by 7.  The second half started nicely for the O, but a few missed tackles by the D gave Manchester some long gains and scores.  Throw in a blocked XP and missed XP, and you get the final outcome.

As discussed earlier in this thread, this was a potential trap game for Hanover.  You can't expect to go on the road and play a team like Manchester and not bring your A game.  I am hopeful this game irritates the Hanover players and they practice with a renewed intensity this week.

If the complete Hanover shows up on Saturday, the Victory Bell game is going to be one for the ages.  Hoping that is the case!

[GRIZ_BACKER]

Big upset with Manchester holding on to beat Hanover. With a win next week over Anderson they would finish above .500 for the first time this millennium. Add in a Franklin win over Hanover and they would finish 2nd in the conference. Not bad for a team picked 7th by the coaches.

Nice win for the Spartans yesterday.  The Panthers made a good game of it near the end, but it proved too little, too late.  The Hanover O missed a lot of opportunities in the first half, and was lucky to only be down by 7.  The second half started nicely for the O, but a few missed tackles by the D gave Manchester some long gains and scores.  Throw in a blocked XP and missed XP, and you get the final outcome.

As discussed earlier in this thread, this was a potential trap game for Hanover.  You can't expect to go on the road and play a team like Manchester and not bring your A game.  I am hopeful this game irritates the Hanover players and they practice with a renewed intensity this week.

If the complete Hanover shows up on Saturday, the Victory Bell game is going to be one for the ages.  Hoping that is the case!

The game should come down to how well the Hanover O line can handle the GRIZ D line and linebackers.  Unlike previous years, the GRIZ have a very solid defense and can keep the ball on the ground if needed on offense. Only 72 points given up in the conference this year and only 23 in the last five weeks. Less than 50 points in conference against the starters all season.  Anything can happen though. (ask Wabash about Oberlin).  I am confident the GRIZ will be focused and ready and in reality the playoffs start this week.

[crimsonace]

Shameless plug; Watch Franklin-Hanover live at GrizzlyBall.com on Saturday. Just don't beat up the play-by-play guy too much .

[Thunder44]

Big upset with Manchester holding on to beat Hanover. With a win next week over Anderson they would finish above .500 for the first time this millennium. Add in a Franklin win over Hanover and they would finish 2nd in the conference. Not bad for a team picked 7th by the coaches.

Nice win for the Spartans yesterday.  The Panthers made a good game of it near the end, but it proved too little, too late.  The Hanover O missed a lot of opportunities in the first half, and was lucky to only be down by 7.  The second half started nicely for the O, but a few missed tackles by the D gave Manchester some long gains and scores.  Throw in a blocked XP and missed XP, and you get the final outcome.

As discussed earlier in this thread, this was a potential trap game for Hanover.  You can't expect to go on the road and play a team like Manchester and not bring your A game.  I am hopeful this game irritates the Hanover players and they practice with a renewed intensity this week.

If the complete Hanover shows up on Saturday, the Victory Bell game is going to be one for the ages.  Hoping that is the case!

The game should come down to how well the Hanover O line can handle the GRIZ D line and linebackers.  Unlike previous years, the GRIZ have a very solid defense and can keep the ball on the ground if needed on offense. Only 72 points given up in the conference this year and only 23 in the last five weeks. Less than 50 points in conference against the starters all season.  Anything can happen though. (ask Wabash about Oberlin).  I am confident the GRIZ will be focused and ready and in reality the playoffs start this week.

The Griz D Line will be a real test for Hanover's young O Line.  They haven't faced the kind of opponent that they will this Saturday since very early in the season, and I expect the game plan for Franklin to be built around various stunts and blitz packages to attempt to confuse the Panthers O Line.  If the O Line can keep Dexter Britt upright and give him time to pass, this will be an interesting game.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that Franklin is playing one of their Offensive Tackles on the D Line.  Am I just making this up, or is this really the case?  Is the D Line rotation for the Griz dealing with a lot of injuries or just a weak part of the D?

[GrizFan]

Junior Colin Gallagher is a two-way lineman for the Grizzlies.  He is a three year starter on offense and is in the DL rotation this season.  He leads the team with 7 sacks.  Not bad since the Grizzlies use constant rotation on the D-line.

[SaintsFAN]

As discussed earlier in this thread, this was a potential trap game for Hanover. You can't expect to go on the road and play a team like Manchester and not bring your A game.  I am hopeful this game irritates the Hanover players and they practice with a renewed intensity this week.

After being on this website for 13 years --- I can barely believe that I'm reading this and that its not a tongue-in-cheek post.  Unbelieveable how Manchester has come up from the basement... even worse than the basement, being compared to Man U Football Club in Manchester, England. 


SF was in South Bend for the 3 OT thriller this weekend.  Could not believe what I was seeing quite a few times on Saturday.  If you were at the game, I was the fan yelling "NEVER A DOUBT" on the way out of the stadium. 

If you ask me, they are definitely on a Magic Carpet Ride this year.  Look for them in the Title Game..

Side note:  It was my wife's first trip to a ND home game and needless to say she's hooked.  I did tell her that not every game will end like that. 

[panthersfan]

After being on this website for 13 years --- I can barely believe that I'm reading this and that its not a tongue-in-cheek post.  Unbelieveable how Manchester has come up from the basement... even worse than the basement, being compared to Man U Football Club in Manchester, England. 


SF was in South Bend for the 3 OT thriller this weekend.  Could not believe what I was seeing quite a few times on Saturday.  If you were at the game, I was the fan yelling "NEVER A DOUBT" on the way out of the stadium. 

If you ask me, they are definitely on a Magic Carpet Ride this year.  Look for them in the Title Game..

Side note:  It was my wife's first trip to a ND home game and needless to say she's hooked.  I did tell her that not every game will end like that.

I knew since their opening game against Trine they'd be a team to be wary of, especially at home on Sr Day.  Very well could be the best thing that could've happened to Hanover before the trip to Franklin.

It has been several years ago now but I finally made the trip to South Bend for a ND game.  It is truly an awesome experience.

[formerd3db]

As discussed earlier in this thread, this was a potential trap game for Hanover. You can't expect to go on the road and play a team like Manchester and not bring your A game.  I am hopeful this game irritates the Hanover players and they practice with a renewed intensity this week.

After being on this website for 13 years --- I can barely believe that I'm reading this and that its not a tongue-in-cheek post.  Unbelieveable how Manchester has come up from the basement... even worse than the basement, being compared to Man U Football Club in Manchester, England. 


SF was in South Bend for the 3 OT thriller this weekend.  Could not believe what I was seeing quite a few times on Saturday.  If you were at the game, I was the fan yelling "NEVER A DOUBT" on the way out of the stadium. 

If you ask me, they are definitely on a Magic Carpet Ride this year.  Look for them in the Title Game..

Side note:  It was my wife's first trip to a ND home game and needless to say she's hooked.  I did tell her that not every game will end like that.

SaintsFAN:

Glad you and your new wife had a chance to enjoy the game and the trip.  Obviously, it was an exciting game.  I don't want to put a damper on your enthusiasm, but right now at this point, I think that USC will come back and spoil ND's magic carpet ride - although I could be wrong.  ND could just pull that one off too.

Also, as you mentioned, nice to see Manchester improved (kind of like our Olivet was for a while back).

[SaintsFAN]

As discussed earlier in this thread, this was a potential trap game for Hanover. You can't expect to go on the road and play a team like Manchester and not bring your A game.  I am hopeful this game irritates the Hanover players and they practice with a renewed intensity this week.

After being on this website for 13 years --- I can barely believe that I'm reading this and that its not a tongue-in-cheek post.  Unbelieveable how Manchester has come up from the basement... even worse than the basement, being compared to Man U Football Club in Manchester, England. 


SF was in South Bend for the 3 OT thriller this weekend.  Could not believe what I was seeing quite a few times on Saturday.  If you were at the game, I was the fan yelling "NEVER A DOUBT" on the way out of the stadium. 

If you ask me, they are definitely on a Magic Carpet Ride this year.  Look for them in the Title Game..

Side note:  It was my wife's first trip to a ND home game and needless to say she's hooked.  I did tell her that not every game will end like that.

SaintsFAN:

Glad you and your new wife had a chance to enjoy the game and the trip.  Obviously, it was an exciting game.  I don't want to put a damper on your enthusiasm, but right now at this point, I think that USC will come back and spoil ND's magic carpet ride - although I could be wrong.  ND could just pull that one off too.

Also, as you mentioned, nice to see Manchester improved (kind of like our Olivet was for a while back).

We'll see but I think ND is alot like Stanford (very physical) and I think that USC is in trouble with Kiffin.. they aren't disciplined like USC under Carroll.  Plus, playing in LA is basically another home game for ND.  I think ND's defensive line will be the key.  If they can pressure Barkley without blitzing (like they've done all year), USC will have trouble getting the ball out to those WR's.

[SaintsFAN]

ADAM SAYER --  BRIDGE BOWL XVII

I know you're reading this.  See you Saturday.  First team to complete a pass wins!!!

It will be interesting to see how TMC handles the RB for MSJ.  Do you put everyone in the box and take a chance on him breaking one?  Does MSJ take a chance on throwing the ball to Autenrieb in the TMC secondary?  Which TMC QB plays.. the freshman or the sophomore? 

Does the TMC defense need to score for TMC to have a shot?


Lots of questions.