115th Monon Bell Classic

[big_bash]

If you want to see something priceless...

http://www.thedepauw.com/poll/index.cfm?event=displayPollResults

Sometimes they say it best themselves...

[BayernFan]

http://media.www.thedepauw.com/media/storage/paper912/news/2008/11/14/News/Monon.Locomotion.A.Year.In.The.Life.Of.The.Bell-3544808.shtml

Luggage compartment!?!?!

Note how they don't even capitalize the word "Bell".

Dannies just don't deserve the Bell on SOOOO many levels.

[Joe Wally]

This is great:

http://media.www.thedepauw.com/media/storage/paper912/news/2007/11/13/Opinion/Dear-Wabash.I.Hate.You.Love.Depauw-3097367.shtml?reffeature=recentlycommentedstoriestab

Check the poll results - 86%, not interested.

[wabndy]

Just because:

[DPU92]

Neither of these articles surprise me at all.  To be honest I always like to go to games in Crawfordsville because the atmosphere was so much better (probably because its a mostly dude crowd).  The student body and fans 'get it' more.  Only someone who has been to several games and palyed in one know what 'it' is.

At home in Greencastle if we are not in the game everyone leaves which always pissed me off.  I think if you look at the game tape, during the tip game in 01 our student section was fairly empty.

Wish I could be there but i get to watch a much better game...Tulane University vs. University of Alabama Birmingham.

DePauw Never Quits!

[big_bash]

At home in Greencastle if we are not in the game everyone leaves ...

DePauw Never Quits!

[BashDad]

This is great:

http://media.www.thedepauw.com/media/storage/paper912/news/2007/11/13/Opinion/Dear-Wabash.I.Hate.You.Love.Depauw-3097367.shtml?reffeature=recentlycommentedstoriestab

Check the poll results - 86%, not interested.

Wow. Surely like six people have voted, right? I mean I hate depauw as much as anyone else, but I don't want to be punching a pillow. If that's representative of the community at large, it's worse than I thought. I hope Wabash gets to take over those tickets...

Ugh. That effin' place.

[DPULefty22]

At home in Greencastle if we are not in the game everyone leaves ...

DePauw Never Quits!

Yeah, I wince a little when I see stuff like that internet poll. But actually that's one of the many pleasures I do take from DPU winning the Bell - it completely robs your lives as Wallies of all but the scarcest meaning, while win or lose, we Tigers still know we attended a superior academic institution and enjoyed a superior college experience.

Now are there going to be any predictions about this game or what? I think my DPU 28, WC 21 might have been 'closest to the pin' last year.

BYRON P HOLLETT STADIUM WILL BE A MORGUE IF:
-Spud Dick completes 60% or better of his passes.
-DePauw wins T.O.P. by a sizeable margin.
-The apparent maturity of the secondary since the Trinity game is no mirage.
-Wabash completes no offensive plays over 30 yards (the deep pass has been a part of seemingly every single Wabash scoring drive in the last two Bell games).

OH WELL, WE'LL STILL BEAT YOUR ASSES IN BASEBALL IF:
-Wabash runs for over 150 yards as a team.
-Wabash proves to be the more physical bunch in the trenches.
-DePauw's occasional (and inexplicable) turnover woes come back to haunt them.
-Juan Joseph is traded to the LG's for a player to be named later.
-Wabash leads by at least 10 at the halftime break.

And in the spirit of my prediction last year - three more hyper-specific predictions:
BOLD: The weather turns this one into a muddy, snowy slugfest.
BOLDER: Dick - 23-30, 206, 2 TD, 1 INT.
BOLDEST: Though it won't come in dramatic fashion, a Havercamp FG will be the difference... again. And I will laugh and laugh and laugh...

FINAL SCORE: DPU 17, WC 14

I'm sure I'll be back around to defend myself, but in the meantime, I'll say this now: here's to another well-played, hotly contested game that reminds all of us why we love football and our alma maters so damned much. Safe travels to everyone who will be attending - I'd give anything to be among you.

[DPU92]

Who would a sloppy field favor?  I would guess DePauw, but am not for sure.  I dont see either QB going 20/30 passing for 200+ yards in poor conditions. 

I know what the numbers say, but how do each teams running games matchup against the others defense?

How is the surface at Byron P Hollett stadium?  I remember it being okay in 04 which was the last time i was at a game in Crawfordsville.   

[Werner99]

Time for me to jump in the fray...

This game is going to be won by the big uglies up front.  DPU returns 4 out of their 5 OL that pushed the alleged Hard Hat D all over the Blackstock turf last year (not too bad for a school full of pansies, huh  ).  We had a horse in Marks running behind them who is obviously not playing this year.  At the same time, Wabash lost their stud, Adi.  The DPU OL must play as well as last year to win this game.  DPU also returns the rest of their "skill" positions, but I don't know what the passing game is going to look like if there are 20mph winds tomorrow.

On the other hand, the amount of youth in the DPU defensive back 7 could be scary.  We have 6 sophomores and freshman starting on the defensive side of the ball who will be tested.  If the DPU veterans haven't prepared them for what to expect, then it could be a long afternoon.

Can the Wabash front 4 rebound from last year's performance?
Can Ellis or Karazsia step up in the biggest game of their life?
Will the Wabash air assault shred the DPU secondary?
How much pressure can the DPU front bring?

I can't wait to stand for three hours in beautiful football weather to find out.

Safe travels.

[Joe Wally]

But actually that's one of the many pleasures I do take from DPU winning the Bell - it completely robs your lives as Wallies of all but the scarcest meaning

Now THAT'S funny!

[BashDad]

Prediction time.

On paper, Depauw's passing game seems to match up well against Wabash's cover 2 and all week I've been thinking Depauw's 3-step game could bleed long drives from that hard corner, middle open defense-- keeping the ball out of bash's hands for long periods of time and keeping the game relatively close. However, against that two-safety shell, the balls that kill us (and Wooster certainly attacked it) are the ones thrown in those pockets between corner/safety and safety/safety; slants are harder to hit, because of the face-up corner, and hooks don't gain much ground ( also, Spud's pretty effin' short and Kennon has been a monster at getting his hands up; I wouldn't be surprised to see several balls batted down when dick's not looking toward either sideline). I think, with the weather, those balls over our corners heads and the big play opportunities between the safeties-- I think those will be taken away unless Spud has hands that are twice as big as they should be (or if the weather forecast is wrong). I think if those throws are indeed gone, Depauw's options fall dramatically. I think we'll see a lot of screens, a lot of tailbacks trying to sit under the linebackers drop, etc. and I think that's when, if those plays start getting blown up, depauw will be in trouble.

So anyway, I don't think the weather bodes well for Depauw's offense. I think we'll see a couple picks early as the tigers try and run a game plan that doesn't take into account the weather ('cause I don't know what else they would do. try and run the ball early? Maybe, but that won't take...).

I think Wabash will run early and often, or at least I hope so. Hudson showed last year at UW-WW he can still throw beautiful deep balls in awful weather and I'd look for a couple of those shots as well.

Dick: 13-32 147 0 tds 3ints
Hudson: 12-20 245 2tds 0ints

WABASH 31 DEPAUW 7

[Joe Wally]

Predicition Time

Wabash controls the clock with a dominant ground game.

Wabash 17
Depauw 13

[wally_wabash]

How is the surface at Byron P Hollett stadium?  I remember it being okay in 04 which was the last time i was at a game in Crawfordsville.   

Good in '04, yes.  It was craptacular in '06 (I'm being nice).  They were showing a huge reel of the Monon Memories that Ken Owen has put togeter during dinner at the Stag last night and when it got to the '06 game I cringed because that was downright embarrassing.  I know the weather had been bad (not too different from this week) that year, but even so the turf at Little Giant Stadium was wrecked before that game even started.  In '08, the turf at the Hollett has looked simply outstanding.  Augusta greenskeepers would be proud.  How it holds up after what has been a pretty steady soak over the last day and a half remains to be seen.  I'm guessing that it'll land somewhere between '04 and '06.  It won't be ideal, but there isn't a grass surface anywhere that would be ideal given this week's precipitation. 

[wally_wabash]

Can the Wabash front 4 rebound from last year's performance?

I don't think there's another unit on the Wabash team that is looking forward to this game more than the front 4.  I'll go ahead and say it....they got abused last year and as hard as it was to watch it had to be even more difficult to actually go through it.  I think that for some reason the coaches swapped Kennon and Lange last year for the Bell game (Kennon moved outside, Lange came inside) and that just didn't work at all.  That group has as much or more to prove than anybody tomorrow and I expect that they'll be bringing it with a renewed sense of purpose.  That will definitely be a fun matchup to watch.