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Post by crusader12 on Sept 11, 2021 20:41:03 GMT -5
A bit of a rant here but curious what people’s thoughts are. Even though we have won the PLC two years in a row I’m beginning to think it’s not because we are that good but that the entire patriot league absolutely sucks and we are an ok program. I think FHCTG could have won at HC with how bad the rest of the league is. Don’t get me wrong I’m glad we have Chesney now but I just think the league is so bad that it’s making our coach look/feel like a savior of the program.
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Post by longsuffering on Sept 11, 2021 21:02:28 GMT -5
A bit of a rant here but curious what people’s thoughts are. Even though we have won the PLC two years in a row I’m beginning to think it’s not because we are that good but that the entire patriot league absolutely sucks and we are an ok program. I think FHCTG could have won at HC with how bad the rest of the league is. Don’t get me wrong I’m glad we have Chesney now but I just think the league is so bad that it’s making our coach look/feel like a savior of the program. I think we are a good team that had a let down. One poster noted the team has been grinding since the winter with only a couple of weeks off. Payback will be an itch next week. I think Yale will get both barrels. But I don't know about both QBs. It will be interesting to see which one Coach settles on to start and nice if we can get out to a lead and not look back. The announcers noted that the coaches don't want Sluka to use the full slither, rather run out of bounds or slide more. And they pushed the pass in the game plan early. He may have been overthinking instead of reacting on instinct and giving it the full Sluka Duka. Also, the decision to call a long pass on fourth and short was the turning point. Sluka appeared to be able to get the first down easily on the ground but perhaps wanted to comply with the game plan that used this game to work on passing. HC can present a more cohesive offense by either letting Sluka be Sluka or starting another QB with a game plan that plays to his strengths.
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Post by hc2020 on Sept 11, 2021 21:30:46 GMT -5
I’m perhaps more concerned with our defensive effort today. The defense has been touted as our strong suit, but in my opinion, our flaws were exposed. I have been saying on this forum for some time that we are rather undersized, both on the defensive line and especially in the secondary. I noted that teams would eventually exploit those weaknesses and this is exactly what happened today. You can’t expect to play well against a decent rushing team with 180lb safeties in the secondary. We have a few bigger and athletic options on the roster, but they are being relegated to watching instead of playing. Dobbs can’t do it all, and our failure to set the edge resulted in easy running lanes on the outside where are small DBs were exposed.
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Post by dharry13 on Sept 11, 2021 21:56:17 GMT -5
I’m sorry. I just don’t see it this way. Maybe today but overall the Achilles heel of the D isn’t run D. It’s pass D and 6’0 215 Safeties aren’t going to defend the pass better. I disagree with this point. Run D had a bad day but in my opinion larger safeties just won’t make this D better.
They need more pash rush and better cover corners. IMO
Their pash rush is poor from their front 4 and their cover guys get exposed. It’s been like that for a while. I’m sorry - Whitley is NOT the guy they make him out to be.
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Sept 11, 2021 22:06:25 GMT -5
Some thoughts on teams
We may not be as good as we thought we were coming out if the UConn win
Guessing that UConn is even weaker than we thought-a really weak team
In addition to not being as good as we thought, we didn’t play our best today and made an unbelievably bone headed play on the punt. The game turned on that play
Merrimack is likely dramatically better than we thought prior to today’s game. The QB is outstanding
Our pass defense needs to improve a lot
EDIT: I'm still optimistic that we will have a successful season and win the PL. We'll make adjustments and maybe we've just had our worst game of the season.
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Post by kaftan12 on Sept 11, 2021 23:10:41 GMT -5
Some thoughts on teams We may not be as good as we thought we were coming out if the UConn win Guessing that UConn is even weaker than we thought-a really weak team In addition to not being as good as we thought, we didn’t play our best today and made an unbelievably bone headed play on the punt. The game turned on that play Merrimack is likely dramatically better than we thought prior to today’s game. The QB is outstanding Our pass defense needs to improve a lot 264 total yards, 130 yards passing (non garbage time) against this team is unacceptable. Rest of opponents will stop the run and force us to throw ball down field. Defense played terrible lots of things to clean up, offense did not help out at all and merrimack defense was not good plus best d linemen kicked out after 1st series. Missed opportunity today and if you take away pick 6 this is a tied ballgame. Keep it positive!!
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Post by timholycross on Sept 11, 2021 23:35:30 GMT -5
...tough to subtract that pick 6 and the fumbled punt w/o subtracting the foolish INT they threw up 21 and the garbage time td.
I'll stay positive but there's a lot of work to do here. Hopefully they recruited with the weaknesses in mind (which you're not usually going to see evidence of after two games).
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Post by hc87 on Sept 12, 2021 0:27:01 GMT -5
This was a very depressing loss today....all credit to Merrimack who outplayed and outcoached us in every phase of the game.
Just depressing in the sense that I really thought we were "turning the corner".....good coach, scholarships back, a win ovah an FBS program etc....watching in person, we really are no bettah than we were during the non-scholarship PL era.
Everything was in place today: home openahh, great weather, new amenities at Fitton etc and we laid about the biggest egg possible.
I really don't know where we are or where we are headed as a program at this point....as I said, it's just very depressing.
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Post by hc6774 on Sept 12, 2021 6:44:38 GMT -5
Merrimack O line was the major difference; the coaching used it very effectively; kicking the ball OB twice helped
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Post by mm67 on Sept 12, 2021 7:28:13 GMT -5
Where we stand? Where will we stand? 6Ws - 5Ls. FU easily defeats HC for the PL Championship.(HC's continued poor pass D, FU's stronger line play and their QB DeMorat may be the best player in the league.) Sounds about right. Quite frankly, I might be optimistic. Our record may very well be worse. This is cold hearted, clear eyed realism, not panic.
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Post by purplehaze on Sept 12, 2021 7:30:01 GMT -5
I don't have any hope in the PL improving its standing among FCS leagues and that bothers me a lot - with our facility and geography we belong in the CAA as a football only member (they have a few of them already) - the CAA shellacked PL teams yesterday with the 4 losers managing only 3 points each - Someone with much influence (give me another EB Williams please) should insist on such a move - who cares if the PL implodes, it's not working out with the present formula for producing good football
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Post by hcpride on Sept 12, 2021 7:36:46 GMT -5
Where we stand? Where will we stand? 6Ws - 5Ls. FU easily defeats HC for the PL Championship.(HC's continued poor pass D, FU's stronger line play and their QB Morant is the best player in the league.) Sounds about right. Quite frankly, I might be optimistic. Our record may very well be worse. This is cold hearted, clear eyed realism, not panic. Fordham’s Ryan Greenhagen may be the top rival to DeMorat as the PL’s best player. He had another great game yesterday - I watched the game and he is as advertised. I thought he had an identical twin out there. If those two are still healthy it’ll be a tough day for our squad.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Sept 12, 2021 7:43:13 GMT -5
My sense is that Sluka will not be viewed a passing threat by most teams. His passing is markedly better than in the spring, but he still tends to throw a wobbly ball. He is a scampering, running QB at heart, and I assume that was what he was in high school. (I remember not being able to find his high school passing yardage.) Was he not more highly recruited for lacrosse than he was for football?
Sluka as an 'unknown' is a potent QB; Sluka as a 'known', not so much.
And remember BC's first PL championship was won after the greatest comeback in HC football history, and the second secured even though Fordham had 200+ more yards on offense.
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Post by timholycross on Sept 12, 2021 7:53:03 GMT -5
My sense is that Sluka will not be viewed a passing threat by most teams. His passing is markedly better than in the spring, but he still tends to throw a wobbly ball. He is a scampering, running QB at heart, and I assume that was what he was in high school. (I remember not being able to find his high school passing yardage.) Was he not more highly recruited for lacrosse than he was for football? Sluka as an 'unknown' is a potent QB; Sluka as a 'known', not so much. And remember BC's first PL championship was won after the greatest comeback in HC football history, and the second secured even though Fordham had 200+ more yards on offense. Do you have your years mixed up? I assume you're talking about the win at Georgetown, which was in 2018. HC won the title in 2019 and 2021 (2020 season). Or maybe there was a second big comeback I'm forgetting. At Fordham in 2019 we scored a ton of points late; but were behind by 2 scores at the half and one score in the 4th quarter.
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Post by timholycross on Sept 12, 2021 7:56:42 GMT -5
It wasn't that the defense was bad yesterday, it was HOW they were bad.
Nothing more deflating than holding a team to 2 so so plays on first and second down, then giving up the first down; time after time. Clock keeps running, defense stays on the field, offense tries to do too much when they get back on....good formula for losing.
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Post by mm67 on Sept 12, 2021 7:59:58 GMT -5
Since Sluka appears to be the guy at QB why not build an offense around his skill set? He is most effective as a scrambler with some passing skills. (cf. Jack Lentz) Doubt Sluka was recruited as a drop back in the pocket passer. Possibly work with him on his scrambling to use techniques which may limit his potential for injuries. But, keep the core of his game intact. Then, let it roll. Over the years I've seen too many coaches try to change the game of players in order to fit their concepts. Invariably this approach by coaches fails.
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Sept 12, 2021 8:11:55 GMT -5
My sense is that Sluka will not be viewed a passing threat by most teams. His passing is markedly better than in the spring, but he still tends to throw a wobbly ball. He is a scampering, running QB at heart, and I assume that was what he was in high school. (I remember not being able to find his high school passing yardage.) Was he not more highly recruited for lacrosse than he was for football? Sluka as an 'unknown' is a potent QB; Sluka as a 'known', not so much. And remember BC's first PL championship was won after the greatest comeback in HC football history, and the second secured even though Fordham had 200+ more yards on offense. Do you have your years mixed up? I assume you're talking about the win at Georgetown, which was in 2018. HC won the title in 2019 and 2021 (2020 season). Or maybe there was a second big comeback I'm forgetting. At Fordham in 2019 we scored a ton of points late; but were behind by 2 scores at the half and one score in the 4th quarter. Yes, I erred. My memory failed me. If I had used YouTube as my memory-bank, I would not jumped a year. Nov. 17, 2018. A PL Network Classic
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Sept 12, 2021 8:17:12 GMT -5
I don't have any hope in the PL improving its standing among FCS leagues and that bothers me a lot - with our facility and geography we belong in the CAA as a football only member (they have a few of them already) - the CAA shellacked PL teams yesterday with the 4 losers managing only 3 points each - Someone with much influence (give me another EB Williams please) should insist on such a move - who cares if the PL implodes, it's not working out with the present formula for producing good football And what does that solve? There are two private schools -- Elon and Villanova -- in a league of large public universities. And Villanova and Elon have 2+ times the undergraduate enrollment of HC.
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Post by trimster on Sept 12, 2021 8:49:27 GMT -5
I don't have any hope in the PL improving its standing among FCS leagues and that bothers me a lot - with our facility and geography we belong in the CAA as a football only member (they have a few of them already) - the CAA shellacked PL teams yesterday with the 4 losers managing only 3 points each - Someone with much influence (give me another EB Williams please) should insist on such a move - who cares if the PL implodes, it's not working out with the present formula for producing good football And what does that solve? There are two private schools -- Elon and Villanova -- in a league of large public universities. And Villanova and Elon have 2+ times the undergraduate enrollment of HC. There is a school of thought that if you truly want to be competitive in a conference, regardless of public or private, size of school, location, etc. you can do it without giving up your academic soul. See Davidson in the A 10. I believe they are ranked around 15 in recent USNWR rankings of national liberal arts colleges. What has being in the PL done for Holy Cross in the 35 years HC has been in it? Athletics on the revenue sports side of the house, are a shadow of what they were and our academic ranking has slipped.
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Post by thecrossisback on Sept 12, 2021 8:49:31 GMT -5
I just feel that you cannot take away from winning 2 championships in a row. Whatever the league is and whatever the sport is that is an accomplishment.
If HC comes back and upsets Yale. All the fans will be back.
PL is bad right now but my hope is HC can continue to win PL championships and make some noise in the playoffs which will be very tough but you never know.
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Post by hcpride on Sept 12, 2021 8:50:06 GMT -5
I don't have any hope in the PL improving its standing among FCS leagues and that bothers me a lot - with our facility and geography we belong in the CAA as a football only member (they have a few of them already) - the CAA shellacked PL teams yesterday with the 4 losers managing only 3 points each - Someone with much influence (give me another EB Williams please) should insist on such a move - who cares if the PL implodes, it's not working out with the present formula for producing good football And what does that solve? There are two private schools -- Elon and Villanova -- in a league of large public universities. And Villanova and Elon have 2+ times the undergraduate enrollment of HC. ? Richmond, a highly regarded private school with 3100 undergraduates, is a CAA football member.
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Post by HC92 on Sept 12, 2021 9:04:29 GMT -5
I think this Saturday will tell us a lot. We know Yale is going to be very good. We should be motivated after a humbling loss. By Saturday night, I think we’ll have a much clearer answer to the question of where we stand. Hope we’re all talking about how amazing we are again at that point. If not, I may need a little hiatus from Crossports (and maybe HC sports).
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Post by hcpride on Sept 12, 2021 9:08:57 GMT -5
I think this Saturday will tell us a lot. We know Yale is going to be very good. We should be motivated after a humbling loss. By Saturday night, I think we’ll have a much clearer answer to the question of where we stand. Hope we’re all talking about how amazing we are again at that point. If not, I may need a little hiatus from Crossports (and maybe HC sports). Yale should also be very, very rusty. Their last game was November 2019. I like our chances.
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Post by longsuffering on Sept 12, 2021 9:18:32 GMT -5
What a way to kick off this century's in-state non-league Catholic College Football Rivalry.
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Post by HC92 on Sept 12, 2021 9:18:55 GMT -5
I think this Saturday will tell us a lot. We know Yale is going to be very good. We should be motivated after a humbling loss. By Saturday night, I think we’ll have a much clearer answer to the question of where we stand. Hope we’re all talking about how amazing we are again at that point. If not, I may need a little hiatus from Crossports (and maybe HC sports). Yale should also be very, very rusty. Their last game was November 2019. I like our chances. Do you not believe in jinxes??? Because I do. Yale is super amazing and we’ll be lucky to come within 4 TDs.
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