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Post by longsuffering on May 30, 2022 15:16:51 GMT -5
My memory was that projected inconveniences with having FW at Polar were expressed on Crossports before the game but no actual horror stories emerged after the game.
But memories made on campus, like with graduation probably bond families to the college more than off campus experiences.
Wouldn't hate HC and Bucknell baseball teams giving the fans a home run derby before the Polar game if they can fit that in around FB warmups. The pitcher's mound would probably be flat but a HR derby is not about strikeouts. Free slice of pizza for every fan who catches and returns a ball.🙂
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Post by midwestsader05 on May 31, 2022 14:46:45 GMT -5
Fordham and Colgate are the two PL games that make me the most nervous. I think Colgate will be markedly improved and they get us in Hamilton (although one could argue Chesney era HC teams have played more consistently and at a higher level on the road than they have at Fitton) In addition to DeMorat and Greenhagen, Fordham returns Carter and Kokosioulis at WR (Both excellent) and 2 more than capable RB's. Their Offense will be stacked. On D, most forget they were missing 2 of their starting D-lineman in addition to Greenhagen against us. I think we still wear them down in the 2H last year if they were healthy but the 52 we dropped on them was not indicative of the talent they have that roster. This game will be a battle.
I think our schedule is sneaky tougher this year and perhaps considerably. Merrimack obviously has the talent to hang with and beat us if we don't show up, Buffalo is 3 TD's better than UCONN, Bryant is rising to have the talent pool approaching Monmouth IMO and we won't catch Yale on their first game in 2 years. And of course Harvard always being loaded.
This HC team has the opportunity to be special but it's going to be a tough road. Also need to keep our streak of relatively good fortune re. minimal injuries to key players. Although, I don't discount Coach G's training on injury prevention so it's more than just luck.
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Post by bfoley82 on May 31, 2022 14:57:32 GMT -5
Fordham and Colgate are the two PL games that make me the most nervous. I think Colgate will be markedly improved and they get us in Hamilton (although one could argue Chesney era HC teams have played more consistently and at a higher level on the road than they have at Fitton) In addition to DeMorat and Greenhagen, Fordham returns Carter and Kokosioulis at WR (Both excellent) and 2 more than capable RB's. Their Offense will be stacked. On D, most forget they were missing 2 of their starting D-lineman in addition to Greenhagen against us. I think we still wear them down in the 2H last year if they were healthy but the 52 we dropped on them was not indicative of the talent they have that roster. This game will be a battle. I think our schedule is sneaky tougher this year and perhaps considerably. Merrimack obviously has the talent to hang with and beat us if we don't show up, Buffalo is 3 TD's better than UCONN, Bryant is rising to have the talent pool approaching Monmouth IMO and we won't catch Yale on their first game in 2 years. And of course always Harvard being stacked. This HC team has the opportunity to be special but it's going to be a tough road. Also need to keep our streak of relatively good fortune re. minimal injuries to key players. Although, I don't discount Coach G's training on injury prevention so it's more than just luck. Remember the grad transfers at Bryant and Merrimack especially. None of us know who is coming in and how they will change those teams.
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Post by longsuffering on May 31, 2022 16:10:50 GMT -5
Lehigh is starting the season with momentum from last year.
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Post by hcpride on May 31, 2022 16:29:12 GMT -5
I think our schedule is sneaky tougher this year and perhaps considerably. Merrimack obviously has the talent to hang with and beat us if we don't show up, Buffalo is 3 TD's better than UCONN, Bryant is rising to have the talent pool approaching Monmouth IMO and we won't catch Yale on their first game in 2 years. And of course always Harvard being stacked. This HC team has the opportunity to be special but it's going to be a tough road. Also need to keep our streak of relatively good fortune re. minimal injuries to key players. Although, I don't discount Coach G's training on injury prevention so it's more than just luck. Good point about the Yale circumstances last year. Of course, I do like when we play them this year (their 1st game, our 3rd game).
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Post by Ignutz on May 31, 2022 21:36:20 GMT -5
I think our schedule is sneaky tougher this year and perhaps considerably. Merrimack obviously has the talent to hang with and beat us if we don't show up, Buffalo is 3 TD's better than UCONN, Bryant is rising to have the talent pool approaching Monmouth IMO and we won't catch Yale on their first game in 2 years. And of course always Harvard being stacked. This HC team has the opportunity to be special but it's going to be a tough road. Also need to keep our streak of relatively good fortune re. minimal injuries to key players. Although, I don't discount Coach G's training on injury prevention so it's more than just luck. Good point about the Yale circumstances last year. Of course, I do like when we play them this year (their 1st game, our 3rd game). I always disliked that we were typically Harvard’s first game, but that they were able to scout us prior thereto. I’d be interested in hearing posters’ thoughts re: which team is perceived to be at an advantage in “We’ve seen you, but you haven’t seen us” vs. “We’ve had live-game experience, but you haven’t” scenarios.
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on May 31, 2022 22:09:04 GMT -5
This is a good question, worthy of a discussion for sure. I'm not a coach and I was not a player, but if I were a coach I think I'd prefer to have one game under my belt: I'd take the experience of the tape study
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Jun 1, 2022 5:37:09 GMT -5
Film availability aside, I firmly believe having a game under your belt puts you at an advantage. To some extent, it depends how that first game goes.
UCONN played Fresno State "Week 0" last year on August 24th and lost 45-0. They got beat up so bad that they didn't have a chance to find any rhythm whatsoever. So less of an advantage when the Crusaders came to East Hartford the following week.
Over the years, we've frequently played Harvard when we were battle tested but when it was their first game. And I do believe it has typically given us an advantage. That being said, I don't recall too many bad losses from good Ivy teams early in the year. Dartmouth did get a road scare against a really bad Valpo team last year in game one before getting it together and going on to win the Ivy League Championship.
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Post by hcpride on Jun 1, 2022 6:09:51 GMT -5
/\Gotta agree, and this year we’ll have two complete regular season games prior to meeting Yale. We’ll know our lineup, we’ll know game speed, and we’ll know our offense and defense with game-tested tweaks in place. Of course there are factors in the other direction but those are outweighed IMHO. (Last year was an extreme version of that since Yale was essentially coming off a two-year layoff.)
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Post by sader1970 on Jun 1, 2022 7:09:56 GMT -5
Yale doesn’t like to lose, especially to non-Ivies and especially Holy Cross. If we beat them again, which I hope we do, don’t be shocked if that long term contract gets canceled.
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Post by bfoley82 on Jun 1, 2022 7:44:10 GMT -5
Yale doesn’t like to lose, especially to non-Ivies and especially Holy Cross. If we beat them again, which I hope we do, don’t be shocked if that long term contract gets canceled. I don't think Yale cares what they do out of conference. They care about beating Harvard more than anything else.
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Post by sader1970 on Jun 1, 2022 8:16:46 GMT -5
As your teacher here ( ), I will give you partial credit while marking your last test. While you absolutely nailed the beating Harvard as Yale's #1 desire, I can assure you that Yale does NOT want to lose to Holy Cross either at the Bowl or Fitton. Taking you back to yesteryear, in case you forgot, we had a series contract to play Yale. We were getting too competitive with them: 2005 we beat them at the bowl 22-19 2006 no game scheduled 2007 we lose at Fitton 38-17 2008 we lose a close one in the Bowl 31-28 in double OT2009 contract to play at Fitton . . . . Yale cancels at the semi-last minute (believe Sacred Heart added to the schedule) 2010-2016 no evidence Yale going to play HC ever again 2017 rather than renew the games starting at Fitton that they "owed" us from 2009 per the cancelled contract, the up years are behind us and we renew the series in the Bowl and lose 32-0 in what I call the "no-show" game for Holy Cross that was the last straw for Tom Gilmore.
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Post by Sons of Vaval on Jun 1, 2022 8:16:59 GMT -5
Fordham and Colgate are the two PL games that make me the most nervous. I think Colgate will be markedly improved and they get us in Hamilton (although one could argue Chesney era HC teams have played more consistently and at a higher level on the road than they have at Fitton) In addition to DeMorat and Greenhagen, Fordham returns Carter and Kokosioulis at WR (Both excellent) and 2 more than capable RB's. Their Offense will be stacked. On D, most forget they were missing 2 of their starting D-lineman in addition to Greenhagen against us. I think we still wear them down in the 2H last year if they were healthy but the 52 we dropped on them was not indicative of the talent they have that roster. This game will be a battle. I think our schedule is sneaky tougher this year and perhaps considerably. Merrimack obviously has the talent to hang with and beat us if we don't show up, Buffalo is 3 TD's better than UCONN, Bryant is rising to have the talent pool approaching Monmouth IMO and we won't catch Yale on their first game in 2 years. And of course Harvard always being loaded. This HC team has the opportunity to be special but it's going to be a tough road. Also need to keep our streak of relatively good fortune re. minimal injuries to key players. Although, I don't discount Coach G's training on injury prevention so it's more than just luck. I agree with all of this. We don't lose much from last year's great season and there's no reason we shouldn't be even better this year, especially with Sluka having a full year under his belt. That said, we are still a couple of ticks below the truly elite in the FCS. Lest we forget that last year we were 1) handled by an average Merrimack team at home, 2) throttled by Harvard at home, 3) led a not-so-good Lehigh team 14-12 early in the 4th, 4) tied with Fordham at the half (I think the weather delay at DeMorat getting banged up really changed the game), and 5) needed a miracle to beat Sacred Heart at home in the playoffs Good teams find ways to win. And Chesney-coached teams have the moxie and intangibles to just plain get it done. But, I get the impression that we sometimes think we're better than we are.
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Post by midwestsader05 on Jun 1, 2022 8:33:12 GMT -5
As your teacher here ( ), I will give you partial credit while marking your last test. While you absolutely nailed the beating Harvard as Yale's #1 desire, I can assure you that Yale does NOT want to lose to Holy Cross either at the Bowl or Fitton. Taking you back to yesteryear, in case you forgot, we had a series contract to play Yale. We were getting too competitive with them: 2005 we beat them at the bowl 22-19 2006 no game scheduled 2007 we lose at Fitton 38-17 2008 we lose a close one in the Bowl 31-28 in double OT2009 contract to play at Fitton . . . . Yale cancels at the semi-last minute (believe Sacred Heart added to the schedule) 2010-2016 no evidence Yale going to play HC ever again 2017 rather than renew the games starting at Fitton that they "owed" us from 2009 per the cancelled contract, the up years are behind us and we renew the series in the Bowl and lose 32-0 in what I call the "no-show" game for Holy Cross that was the last straw for Tom Gilmore. Have such fond memories being in the stands at the 2005 game. Watching Steve Silva seal the game with an amazing 100 yd kick-off return. Yale Coach in Post game interview saying something to the effect of “we were debating weather to kick it deep or not, recap of the game is pretty simple, they had the best player on the field and he beat us today.” Our Defense also played lights out that day.
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Post by Sons of Vaval on Jun 1, 2022 8:43:28 GMT -5
That 2005 team was a good squad! It's a shame we lost three of four to end the season. After beginning the season 5-2 with great wins over nationally-ranked Lehigh (in the top ten, I think), Dartmouth, and Yale, and two close losses to Delaware and Harvard, it seemed like we were in prime position to win the league.
This is when the PL was actually pretty good. Lafayette that year went to Boone, NC and gave App St a great game in the first round of the playoffs. In a 16 team field, the PL had two reps, with Colgate receiving an at-large bid.
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Post by bfoley82 on Jun 1, 2022 8:45:21 GMT -5
As your teacher here ( ), I will give you partial credit while marking your last test. While you absolutely nailed the beating Harvard as Yale's #1 desire, I can assure you that Yale does NOT want to lose to Holy Cross either at the Bowl or Fitton. Taking you back to yesteryear, in case you forgot, we had a series contract to play Yale. We were getting too competitive with them: 2005 we beat them at the bowl 22-19 2006 no game scheduled 2007 we lose at Fitton 38-17 2008 we lose a close one in the Bowl 31-28 in double OT2009 contract to play at Fitton . . . . Yale cancels at the semi-last minute (believe Sacred Heart added to the schedule) 2010-2016 no evidence Yale going to play HC ever again 2017 rather than renew the games starting at Fitton that they "owed" us from 2009 per the cancelled contract, the up years are behind us and we renew the series in the Bowl and lose 32-0 in what I call the "no-show" game for Holy Cross that was the last straw for Tom Gilmore. It is like UNH and Dartmouth which played twice from 2009-2021. No-one was crying at Dartmouth about playing UNH and vice versa.
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Post by Sons of Vaval on Jun 1, 2022 8:56:04 GMT -5
As your teacher here ( ), I will give you partial credit while marking your last test. While you absolutely nailed the beating Harvard as Yale's #1 desire, I can assure you that Yale does NOT want to lose to Holy Cross either at the Bowl or Fitton. Taking you back to yesteryear, in case you forgot, we had a series contract to play Yale. We were getting too competitive with them: 2005 we beat them at the bowl 22-19 2006 no game scheduled 2007 we lose at Fitton 38-17 2008 we lose a close one in the Bowl 31-28 in double OT2009 contract to play at Fitton . . . . Yale cancels at the semi-last minute (believe Sacred Heart added to the schedule) 2010-2016 no evidence Yale going to play HC ever again 2017 rather than renew the games starting at Fitton that they "owed" us from 2009 per the cancelled contract, the up years are behind us and we renew the series in the Bowl and lose 32-0 in what I call the "no-show" game for Holy Cross that was the last straw for Tom Gilmore. It is like UNH and Dartmouth which played twice from 2009-2021. No-one was crying at Dartmouth about playing UNH and vice versa. I just assumed Dartmouth decided to pull out of the series and only resumed it once they get their football program back on its feet. There were some pretty ugly scores from 2003-09. UNH won each game by about 30 points during this stretch.
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Post by longsuffering on Jun 1, 2022 14:30:07 GMT -5
The Ivies will challenge themselves, but they'll be nobody's patsies. HC could get beat by Harvard ten years in a row and still keep showing up, imo, and there are sports in which that has probably happened or come close to happening. But if HC beat the Johnnies under Tim Murphy (who is an excellent coach) four or five years in a row I think he would discover he had to sort his sock drawer on that Saturday the next year.
The exception that might prove the rule would be the Frank Sullivan coached Harvard basketball teams. I think we beat them fairly regularly. But that was when BB was a minor sport in Cambridge behind FB and Hockey.
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Post by breezy on Jun 3, 2022 7:33:14 GMT -5
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Post by sader1970 on Jun 3, 2022 8:02:59 GMT -5
Lots of respect from the author.
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Post by HC92 on Jun 3, 2022 9:53:10 GMT -5
Not sure I’ve ever really thought of Sluka as a “game manager.”
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Post by hchoops on Jun 3, 2022 17:54:29 GMT -5
Not sure I’ve ever really thought of Sluka as a “game manager.” Well, he certainly manages to win most games.
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Post by longsuffering on Jun 3, 2022 18:04:36 GMT -5
And not in a boring way.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Jun 3, 2022 20:34:46 GMT -5
Not sure I’ve ever really thought of Sluka as a “game manager.” Never really liked that term. Seems like it's a generic tag typically applied to relatively mediocre, athletically unspectacular quarterbacks on good teams. The requirements to be considered a "game manager" are roughly as follows: - Average no more than 275 passing yards / game - Possess a TD:INT ratio of at least 1:1 and complete at least 50% of pass attempts - Must not be able to throw the ball more than 65 yards on the fly - Being able to run the ball somewhat effectively is OK but must not be a threat to ever run for 100 or more yards in a game - Team should be .500 or better NFL Examples: Chad Pennington, Jay Fiedler, Trent Dilfer, Matt Cassel Holy Cross examples: Connor Degenhardt, Brian McSharry, Geoff Wade
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Post by longsuffering on Jun 3, 2022 20:59:33 GMT -5
The positive connotation is the QB is steady, savvy, experienced and can be depended upon to not turn the ball over in crucial situations. The opposite of Cam Newton.
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