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Post by Sons of Vaval on Sept 11, 2017 13:51:12 GMT -5
UNH is definitely legit; we are going to have our hands full this weekend. UNH will probably be the highest ranked team to come to Fitton since Towson in 2013.
I think we have the horses to compete, and I will be disappointed if we aren't in the game with a chance to win in the 4th quarter.
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Post by nhteamer on Sept 11, 2017 13:59:33 GMT -5
UNH is much better than UConn
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Post by hcpride on Sept 11, 2017 14:29:26 GMT -5
UNH is much better than UConn If they are much better than the UConn we saw in the 2nd half (with their quarterback captain from last year finally playing in the game) - wherein we were shut out when UConn was quickly scoring 20 - we are going down by more than 40 to nothing. Of course, UNH is a good CAA team in a very strong year in the CAA so they should be heavily favored against us. I am not certain they are better than they were last year. I also don't think they are at the level we saw at times v FBS UConn.
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Post by td128 on Sept 11, 2017 14:35:31 GMT -5
Last year's stats when the Cross lost 39-28. We came out like gangbusters in the first half. We still led the game 28-19 halfway through the 3rd quarter and then gave up 2 scores late in the 3rd quarter. Was still a 4 point game until we threw a pick six in the last few minutes of the game. Matchup HC UNH 1st Downs 29 22 3rd down efficiency 8-18 4-10 4th down efficiency 1-4 0-2 Total Yards 498 552 Passing 427 190 Comp-Att 42-64 11-18 Yards per pass 6.7 10.6 Interceptions thrown 2 2 Rushing 71 362 Rushing Attempts 28 52 Yards per rush 2.5 7.0 Penalties 3-32 8-61 Turnovers 2 3 Fumbles lost 0 1 Interceptions thrown 2 2 Possession 30:38 29:22 I am going to guess the Wildcats still put their pants on one leg at a time but we might want to check that.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Sept 11, 2017 16:02:07 GMT -5
Ok I deleted the salient points as well, based on in hoc signo's advice.
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Post by sader1970 on Sept 11, 2017 20:43:49 GMT -5
I've watched the last 3-4 games against UNH. We usually start out strong and then fade in the latter stages of the game.
Our teams seem to get up for the game knowing how good they are. We always have to play near perfect to be within striking distance of an upset. But I think we have some advantages that we have not had in every game. FIrst, it is a home game. Second, the guys will want to look their best in front of the Ring of Honor honorees. Third, we played well against a D-IA team, UConn, and then fairly easily beat Bucknell at their place despite not playing well on offense which should help the team's confidence level and, finally, I truly believe we have more depth than in prior years so that 4th quarter fatigue is less of an issue. The defense has looked uncharacteristically strong for a change. If I had to add another potentially positive factor, Peter P knows he didn't play up to his potential against the Bison and has something to prove on Saturday.
Of course, we could still lose 50-0 but while I did not see this as any chance for a win pre-season, I picked HC as an upset winner in our weekly guesses.
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Post by rgs318 on Sept 12, 2017 3:57:30 GMT -5
"Guesses "?! Surely you mean informed hypotheses, don't you?
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Post by sader1970 on Sept 12, 2017 5:16:54 GMT -5
That would be a most accurate description for posters like semi-professional prognosticator like KY75. However, for someone like me, quoting I think it was the late, great Howard Cossell who said about himself, "I never played the game," pretty much pure guess.
My observation, though, is that someone who always picks the apparently favored team doesn't usually do very well because there are always upsets. The trick seems to be to examine the entrails or shake and roll the bones for the occasional upset large or small.
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Post by HC92 on Sept 12, 2017 5:24:29 GMT -5
The fact that many here seem to feel we have a legitimate shot to pull off the upset seems to suggest that the CCI (Crusader Confidence Index) has improved dramatically over the first few weeks of the season due to our squad's strong performance to date.
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Post by td128 on Sept 12, 2017 7:37:57 GMT -5
This went out to "the faithful" this morning: Fellow Crusaders,
After shutting out Bucknell this past Saturday, our 2017 Crusaders are playing with abandon and bringing real pride to the Holy Cross Football Family. Major props to Coach Gilmore, staff, and team for displaying tremendous Purple passion in opening the season.
On that note, let's give our Crusaders a REAL home field advantage in the 2017 campaign's first home game this coming Saturday September 16th against the University of New Hampshire Wildcats. Having seen Fitton Field a few week's back for the Class of 2021 Mass of the Holy Spirit, the field and stadium have never looked so good. Major props to AD Nate Pine and everybody involved in dressing her up with the trappings related to the Ring of Honor and beyond that as well.
Speaking of the Ring of Honor, we have a Who's Who (Pete Kimener, Tom Lamb, Carlin Lynch, Pat McCarthy, Gordie Lockbaum, Joe Wilson, Eddie Jenkins and many other great Crusaders) already registered to attend the reception with remarks this coming Saturday morning in Hogan (9:15am- 10:30am) and then the subsequent tailgate on the baseball concourse preceding the halftime on field ceremony.
For those who may care to join the festivities, register here >> Ring of Honor Registration and join in the celebration of the greatness of All American Dave Murphy, legendary Coach Eddie Anderson, and Crusader's Crusader Denny Golden.
For those who would like to learn more about the accomplishments of these incredibly "honorable" Crusaders, we welcome sharing:
Dave Murphy
Denny Golden
Dr. Eddie Anderson
Let's make September 16th another great day to be a Crusader!! LD/Spense Chairs/Friends of Crusader Football
P.S. From the Holy Cross Magazine (spring 2012): Vince Promuto (HC RoH 2010), a Holy Cross Hall of Famer and former Washington Redskins All Pro, once said, "Someone or something has to touch an emotion within you - anger, pride, whatever - to make you play beyond your own limits. In my career only two coaches had the ability to reach that emotion. One was Vince Lombardi, the other was Doc Anderson."
How about that? Splash a little Vince Lombardi along with the Crusaders in your coffee to start your day!!
P.S.S. Sending sincere best wishes to Crusaders and their families who have been impacted by the hurricanes in Texas and Florida. You are all in our prayers.
#tradition #pride #LetsWin #12thMan #η ΤΑΝ Η ΕΠΙ ΤΑΣ
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Post by crossbball13 on Sept 12, 2017 8:06:41 GMT -5
UNH is much better than UConn If they are much better than the UConn we saw in the 2nd half (with their quarterback captain from last year finally playing in the game) - wherein we were shut out when UConn was quickly scoring 20 - we are going down by more than 40 to nothing. Exaggerate much?
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Post by hcpride on Sept 12, 2017 8:30:09 GMT -5
If they are much better than the UConn we saw in the 2nd half (with their quarterback captain from last year finally playing in the game) - wherein we were shut out when UConn was quickly scoring 20 - we are going down by more than 40 to nothing. Exaggerate much? Not in context with the original statement and my full response:
18 hours ago nhteamer said: UNH is much better than UConn
HC Pride: If they are much better than the UConn we saw in the 2nd half (with their quarterback captain from last year finally playing in the game) - wherein we were shut out when UConn was quickly scoring 20 - we are going down by more than 40 to nothing.
Of course, UNH is a good CAA team in a very strong year in the CAA so they should be heavily favored against us. I am not certain they are better than they were last year. I also don't think they are at the level we saw at times v FBS UConn.
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Post by rgs318 on Sept 12, 2017 8:31:15 GMT -5
Who was it who said UConn was going to score every time they had the ball?
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Sept 12, 2017 8:49:59 GMT -5
I think we are going to need to see significant improvement in our passing game to compete with UNH on Saturday. Last year Peter Pujals and our receivers (huge game for Richie DeNicola) were 42/64 (66% completion pctg) for 427 yards (6.8 yards per pass). We had 3 TD passes and 2 interceptions, one fatal. This year to date we are 49/89 (55% completion pctg) for 536 yards (6.1 yards per pass is, I think, sub-par) with 1 TD and 2 interceptions. New Hampshire has been outstanding defending the passing game in its two wins in 2017: opponents are 34/66 (52% completion pctg...weak) for 332 yards (5.0 yards per pass: stellar defense) for 3 TD. New Hampshire has picked off 3 passes.
I think our running game is improved (good line play? and/or better play calling?, and/or healthy RB's?) but we'll need, say, 350+ yards on 65% completion pctg with 7+ yards per pass yielding 3 TD's and no more than 1 interception to compete well with the Wildcats.
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Post by Sons of Vaval on Sept 12, 2017 8:54:20 GMT -5
Just guessing here, but I bet the guys out west will have UNH -6.5.
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Sept 12, 2017 8:55:59 GMT -5
Who was it who said UConn was going to score every time they had the ball? When we all made our game predictions, the most pessimistic poster had UConn winning 50-20
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Post by Sons of Vaval on Sept 12, 2017 9:07:19 GMT -5
I think our running game is improved (good line play? and/or better play calling?, and/or healthy RB's?) but we'll need, say, 350+ yards on 65% completion pctg with 7+ yards per pass yielding 3 TD's and no more than 1 interception to compete well with the Wildcats. We have done a really good job through our first two games on getting the defense off the field on 3rd down -- UConn and Bucknell were a combined 8 for 29 (27.6%) on 3rd down. Containing Trevor Knight will also be very important. He's not the most prolific passer, but may give us problems with his feet. UNH is definitely a run-oriented team, with 59% of their plays coming on the ground.
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Post by hcpride on Sept 12, 2017 9:20:49 GMT -5
Who was it who said UConn was going to score every time they had the ball? I didn't read his prediction literally, but to be fair many of us were way off. First half v UConn really gave me hope...
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Post by unhfan on Sept 12, 2017 19:15:28 GMT -5
The Cross has the potential to pull the upset. You have a veteran QB who will be the 2nd best QB we face behind JMU's QB. It's your opener, Ring if Honor Day I would assume the fans and kids will be pumped up. Cats can't afford to look ahead to CAA play need to give the Cross respect and bring it on Saturday. I'm confident Coach Mac will have them ready to go.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Sept 12, 2017 19:56:04 GMT -5
UNH is better than UConn RIGHT NOW (I wouldn't be surprised if Edsall produces very noticeable improvement from start to finish). Wildcats looking like a playoff team once again and probably on track for 8-9 wins in an excellent CAA this year.
One thought: UNH opened the season with their archrival Maine, who they usually play to end the season. Their second game was a road win over an FBS opponent. There is a CHANCE that UNH comes in flat while there is no way Gilmore doesn't get our guys fired up 100%. Something tells me this will be a terrific game. We are DUE for a big win against the CAA.
If UNH does manage to break our hearts once again, they then face URI and Bryant at home, followed by a road trip to Stony Brook and then a home game vs. Towson. They could very well start out 6-1 or 7-0 before heading to Harrisonburg to take on current #1 JMU.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Sept 12, 2017 20:00:06 GMT -5
UNH is definitely legit; we are going to have our hands full this weekend. UNH will probably be the highest ranked team to come to Fitton since Towson in 2013. I think we have the horses to compete, and I will be disappointed if we aren't in the game with a chance to win in the 4th quarter. Can't allow 300+ yards on the ground against these guys again.
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Post by hchoops on Sept 12, 2017 20:01:41 GMT -5
Not sure if being "DUE" to beat a CAA team means anything
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Post by hcpride on Sept 12, 2017 20:28:16 GMT -5
The Cross has the potential to pull the upset. You have a veteran QB who will be the 2nd best QB we face behind JMU's QB. It's your opener, Ring if Honor Day I would assume the fans and kids will be pumped up. Cats can't afford to look ahead to CAA play need to give the Cross respect and bring it on Saturday. I'm confident Coach Mac will have them ready to go. I was VERY impressed with the URI quarterback who led the team to a triple overtime loss v FBS Central Michigan opening week. He is UCF transfer Tyler Harris and has a gun for an arm. Here he is throwing a touchdown pass against Stanford. Yes, that Stanford. (Last week against an underrated and fast Stony Brook team he did not look quite as good as he did against Central Michigan.)
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Post by hc87 on Sept 13, 2017 0:22:05 GMT -5
UNH is good but they aren't unbeatable. UConn is probably bettah than Georgia Southern overall....I watched a lot of the GA So.- UNH game, UNH did a great job stuffing those guys for much of the game but GS wasn't the most dynamic offense. UNH basically sat on the lead in the 2nd half and ultimately held on.
Having said that, we'll be up against it Saturday....offense has to be bettah and we have to win the turnovah battle. Capt. Obvious statements I know....
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Post by Sons of Vaval on Sept 13, 2017 8:49:10 GMT -5
Just guessing here, but I bet the guys out west will have UNH -6.5. Boy, was I way off. UNH opens at -14.5. That's a whole lot of points.... Other games in the PL / Ivy for those interested: Princeton -12.5 v. San Diego Lehigh -13 v. Yale Brown -7 v. Bryant Georgetown -10.5 v. Marist Penn -14.5 v. Ohio Dominican (Really?) Fordham +20 v. Eastern Washington (Edmonds likely out for this one) Harvard -6 at URI Columbia -3 v. Wagner Cornell +17.5 at Delaware Lafayette +30.5 at Villanova Bucknell +13.5 at William & Mary Dartmouth -26 at Stetson Colgate +8.5 at Buffalo
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