114th Annual Monon Bell Game

[DPU3619]

I saw a dude decked out in DPU gear at the Wooster game...I can't imagine he just happened to be in the area. 

Yes.  Exactly.  Because we would sure send a scout over there and dress him in head to toe in DePauw gear.  Perhaps that's S.O.P. at Wabash, and that's fine, but those of us who wear Ralph Lauren and live in Geist didn't get this far on our old man's money by doing something that stupid.

It was an alum/parent who went.  He emailed me about the column.  I can forward that email to you, if you like.  You'll be pleased to know he went for the simple purpose of putting your britches in a bunch.  It seems to me that he was correct in his assumption that you would be freak out about it and accuse DPU of shady "Belichickian tactics" (his term not mine).

[wally_wabash]

Easy, Wes.  I'm not bothered by it all.  Any sort of gentlemen's agreements we may have had about live scouting and such went out the window about ten years ago.  Whether he was there simply as a football fan or if he was there to take notes really doesn't matter and I don't think it really matters if he's being subtle about it or not either.  Scouting is a big part of getting prepared...I'd expect DePauw to have eyes on more Wabash games than not and I'd expect that Wabash has had some eyes on the Tigers over the course of the season as well.  It's the nature of the beast these days. 

[Li'l Giant]

DePauw hasn't had anything else to play for since the Trinity game

And this differs from every other year how? Well, except 2005 of course. 

[DPU3619]

I am being easy.   

What?  Everybody else gets to tell jokes and I don't?

[billrt66]

Dude, read the entry....... didn't say it was a more historical rivalry, just made the point that Wabash clearly has the upper hand in talent and should keep the Bell easily. No homer goggles needed to easily see that.  Learn to accept a compliment from a competitor.....it will help with the blood pressure this week!

[Ryan Tipps]

Dude, read the entry....... didn't say it was a more historical rivalry, just made the point that Wabash clearly has the upper hand in talent and should keep the Bell easily. No homer goggles needed to easily see that.  Learn to accept a compliment from a competitor.....it will help with the blood pressure this week!

Billrt66,
I think people jumped on you mostly because of the "most exciting game each season" part. Save for getting to someday play at the Stagg Bowl, Wabash fans will never get as excited about a game as they do about the Bell Rivalry. And that's a big maybe seeing how much the Bell means to people. I can't speak for DePauw, but I'm guessing they feel about the same way.

But to that end, even last year after playing Franklin very hard, Wabash still had to bring 110% to beat DePauw. Save for 2002, if I remember correctly, recent years of the Bell Game have always been separated by 10 points or less. It doesn't get more competitive than that.

[cave2bens]

Wes Anderson
Starter


Karma: 33
Offline

Posts: 416


     Re: 114th Annual Monon Bell Game
« Reply #18 on: Yesterday at 06:02:47 pm »   

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I am being easy.   

What?  Everybody else gets to tell jokes and I don't?

No one would want you to compromise your journalistic integrity with flippant, sophomoric humor, Wes.  BTW, kudos on a very enjoyable, weekly read.  8)

Personally impressed that your DPU contact braved the undesirable elements at Wooster.  Without the crustless watercress sandwiches, chablis, or bleacher-side crumpet preparation sans linen and silver tea service availability of the concession menu at Papp, it must have been less than satisfying.   

[DPU3619]

No one would want you to compromise your journalistic integrity with flippant, sophomoric humor, Wes.  BTW, kudos on a very enjoyable, weekly read.  8)

Thanks much!  I do appreciate it.  We'll try to have something special tomorrow afternoon. 

Probably not much in there that us faithful followers don't already know, but we'll do our best.

[wabco]

I look for Hard Hat D to bring their A game.  Believe they will concentrate upon removing Marks as a factor (as much as possible).  This may provide an opportunity for the Dannies to Dick around a little with the pass ... but a Dick is a Dick is a Dick and ain't no H & H (Huff or Hudson).

What needs to happen is for Wabash running game to get going ... GO YOU Penn and Ben Davis! 

PLUS:  special teams special teams special teams.  Loved seeing Wabash hit those extra points vs. Denison.  If we can stop run backs of punts/kick offs ... and keep the field long rather than short, Hard Hat D will will out.

Can't stand those Dannies (except for the one I married and she now wears the red.)  Look for them to bring trick plays, no huddle, anything ... some of which will work.  They have nothing to lose by a fake punt or statue of liberty or lateral pass etc.   Wabash needs to be vigilant for this type shanigans.  Wabash needs to adopt the same "nothing to lose" attitude and take it to them.  The times I recall we struggled was when we were the better team (as is now) and played NOT to lose rather than play towax the S%$T out of them.

Just remember:  DePauw blood does make the grass grow greener.  There is free beer just beyond the endzone (at the Wabash tailgates), and  the referees in fact have no father.

OOOOOoooooo WWWWAaaaaa WWWWWWaaaaa

[BashBacker#16]

I don't know a lot about the DPU O line but who do they have on the front that can keep Darryl Kennon in check?  Spud is not super mobile and I think the Bash D will definitely get pressure on him.  Just noticed today that Kennon is in the top 5 in D3 in QB sacks...  They'll have to double team DK and then Bubba can get loose.

Can the DPU D slow the Wabash O?

I just think this game comes down to experience and talent and Bash has the edge in both categories. 

[DPULefty22]

Hasn't been much (any, really) DPU participation in this thread yet - thought I'd change that while I have a spare moment (which have been few and far between lately).

BB#16 - In regards to Kennon, I figure DPU will either keep a TE in to double him or keep Marks back in pass protection. 31's actually really good in pass protect - DPU was able to virtually eliminate the SCAC's sack leader (D. Hendricks of Rhodes) last week because they kept Marks back on a lot of pass plays.

Kind of an interesting matchup in this one - Wallies are 9-0 without having played anybody over the last eight games (the win over Franklin was quality, but as I recall, you had a different QB that day), while DPU is 7-2 with losses to the only two 'somebodies' on their schedule (though the Millsaps game was close w/o Marks until the D ran out of gas in the fourth quarter, which was an indirect result of Marks' absence). Does that make it tough to get a feel on exactly how good either of these teams is? I'll go out on a limb and say that if these two teams traded schedules, they'd also trade records. So I'm not gleaning much from SoS or the records or anything like that in this one.

Early-week gut feeling: this smells like another 3-7 point game, decided by turnovers and special teams.

My two chief concerns as a DPU fan: can they continue to improve against the spread passing attack? (They struggled to contain it early on but showed marked improvement when Rhodes tried it out on them last week.) And will inconsistency in the field goal kicking game come back to bite them?

I'm fairly confident DPU will be able to move the ball on the ground. The o-line's been great all season. DPU's gotta shorten the game with long drives, even if they don't lead to points. Think Tony Dungy's strategy against the Pats yesterday, starring our 31 as their 29 (and hopefully with a different end result).

Should be another excellent game - I've seen three great ones so far in my time at DPU and am looking forward to this one. That's the one thing we can all agree on - you gotta love this game!

[wally_wabash]

Kind of an interesting matchup in this one - Wallies are 9-0 without having played anybody over the last eight games (the win over Franklin was quality, but as I recall, you had a different QB that day), while DPU is 7-2 with losses to the only two 'somebodies' on their schedule (though the Millsaps game was close w/o Marks until the D ran out of gas in the fourth quarter, which was an indirect result of Marks' absence). Does that make it tough to get a feel on exactly how good either of these teams is? I'll go out on a limb and say that if these two teams traded schedules, they'd also trade records. So I'm not gleaning much from SoS or the records or anything like that in this one.

I'll choose to disagree here, Lefty.  If we traded schedules, Wabash would have at the very least split with Trinity and Millsaps, primarily because those were home games. 

Franklin is a better win than anybody on DPU's schedule (remember that Wabash had the enormous disadvantage of having to open with Franklin who had already had one game under their belt...the whole biggest improvement is from the first to second game theory) and Witt is a better win than any of DPU's seven wins.  No doubt Wabash has more than their fair share of cupcakes on the schedule, but we really can't force Denison and Earlham to get good.  They have to want to do that on their own.   

As far as DK goes...you can double him or chip him or whatever, but then who's got Bubba or Gangloff (I'm hoping Gangloff is ready to go on Saturday) or the occasional blitzing All-American linebacker?  Wabash will be in the DePauw offensive backfield, it's really just a matter of how DePauw wants to let it happen. 

[DPULefty22]

As far as DK goes...you can double him or chip him or whatever, but then who's got Bubba or Gangloff (I'm hoping Gangloff is ready to go on Saturday) or the occasional blitzing All-American linebacker?

The other five offensive linemen, presumably.

In all seriousness - DPU will probably throw short slants and hitches if the pressure gets to be a factor. That's something they've done all year.

Fair point on Wittenberg - but I'm still not sure you could have beaten Trinity or Millsaps at home, on the road, or on Mars. But that's really not relevant, is it? Just something fun to ponder while we wait for the actual game.

[wally_wabash]

Fair point on Wittenberg - but I'm still not sure you could have beaten Trinity or Millsaps at home, on the road, or on Mars. But that's really not relevant, is it? Just something fun to ponder while we wait for the actual game.

No, it isn't really relevant but what is relevant from those games (and now is as good a time as any to start talking about past performance and stats and such), is that Trinity and Millsaps shredded DPU's defense.  Wabash comes to town with a more efficient passing game than either of those two teams.  I would have to think that this is concern A-1...far more than Wabash's defensive line is because if you can't keep the other guys out of the endzone it really won't matter if you're blocking Kennon or not. 

I'm definitely not going to count chickens here and assume that Wabash is going to throw all over the Tiger D.  DPU did an awesome job on Harbaugh in '05 who was flat out surgical that season (some wind and some kid named Hertel had a lot to do with that), so it isn't a given that Hudson is going to come in and have his way.  But this matchup looks like it favors Wabash in a pretty big way. 

[BashBacker#16]

DPULefty,

"In the Millsaps game until the D ran out of gas???"  Are you being serious?  528 total yards for Millsaps & 475 of that through the air.  Yikes.  Wasn't it 28-3 at one point?

Playing the Marks injury card...how about losing Dustin Huff for 8 games, how about not having Mike Russell for the first half of the season, losing our starting OT, losing a starting OG...would a, could a, should a......

Comparing Chris Creighton's Wabash Offense to Rhodes is a bit of a reach.  Rhodes averages 13.8 points per game.  Wabash averages 32.4 points per game and just under 400 yards per game in total O.

Who would have the better WR corps....Wabash, Millsaps, or Trinity???  I know who I would take.  I see another area of concern with regards to mismatches.

Didn't you barely beat Colorado College 41-40 in double OT?  Millsaps blasted them 68-6?  You guys play the weak schedule justification every year...who have you played?  Anderson?  Austin?  1-6 Birmingham-Southern was tough as nails in your decisive 28-24 win.

The swapping records statement is also a bold, very bold statement.

What's your ALL TIME playoff record?