fz
Senior
Posts: 46
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Post by fz on Oct 21, 2023 20:29:08 GMT -5
HC pulled out a win in the final seconds last year on the road in Easton. Laf QB this year looks to be very good in first year as a starter.Has a good touch on deep balls
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Post by sader1970 on Oct 21, 2023 20:30:01 GMT -5
As a running back? His first instinct is to run.IMO I’m not sure he is an NFL qb, but he is definitely an NFL player. RB, slot receiver…bulk up and receiving TE Jack Lentz made the Broncos on defense as those here of a certain age know he was QB too.
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Post by saderfan1998 on Oct 21, 2023 20:31:40 GMT -5
I believe efg was on the Zoom with me listening to Scott James and count on him and anyone else to keep my hearing and memory honest. i think Scott said that we would have 8 “first year players” on defense (not necessarily freshmen but includes them plus perhaps sophomores who hadn’t played last year). I believe he said they were the fastest group he’s seen at HC. BUT, a huge but, they are inexperienced big time. The hope was they were gaining experience sooner rather than later and they had been working on stuff during the bye week. If I heard all that correctly, the speed was less effective than the lack of experience plus nothing else they were trying to teach them during the bye week. And, “special teams” just isn’t special anymore. The days of blocked punts, big kick off and punt returns and stopping them when defending have been a distant memory this season. The Harvard opening kick return was devastating. Laffy had a big one too that almost broke for a TD. What happened?!!! What happened was an undersized D-line getting run over and a young secondary getting absolutely torched.
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fz
Senior
Posts: 46
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Post by fz on Oct 21, 2023 20:34:33 GMT -5
I believe efg was on the Zoom with me listening to Scott James and count on him and anyone else to keep my hearing and memory honest. i think Scott said that we would have 8 “first year players” on defense (not necessarily freshmen but includes them plus perhaps sophomores who hadn’t played last year). I believe he said they were the fastest group he’s seen at HC. BUT, a huge but, they are inexperienced big time. The hope was they were gaining experience sooner rather than later and they had been working on stuff during the bye week. If I heard all that correctly, the speed was less effective than the lack of experience plus nothing else they were trying to teach them during the bye week. And, “special teams” just isn’t special anymore. The days of blocked punts, big kick off and punt returns and stopping them when defending have been a distant memory this season. The Harvard opening kick return was devastating. Laffy had a big one too that almost broke for a TD. What happened?!!! Your ears heard it right.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Oct 22, 2023 6:15:57 GMT -5
Defensive play calling today was probably in the bottom three games of Chesneys career at Holy Cross. Our comers were getting burned early in the game especially on 3rd down. They continued leaving them 1 on 1 and blitzing safeties leaving them exposed. Lafayette QB sniffed out the blitzes with hard counts often and lit us up when it mattered. Whole scheme sucked. I believe at least 2 of the passes up the seam from the slot (at least one was TE) came off pressure. They knew we had to blitz to get any pressure and took advantage of it up top. I was not surprised with Laffy's rushing total, I was surprised with the passing TD's. Looking forward to a combined 100 pts at Fordham. 80-21.
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Post by sader1970 on Oct 22, 2023 6:40:39 GMT -5
Agree with the latter comment, not the former.
I double checked the two-deep for yesterday's game vs. the Merrimack game in 2022 (first one that I could find)
Interesting that the front 4 this season, 3 of 4 are larger. As for experience there, in 2022, 2 seniors, 1 junior, 1 sophomore vs 2023, 2 seniors, 1 junior, 1 sophomore. Dillon Springer was starter both seasons and the other 3 were the #2 back-ups. So it would seem that the front 4 is neither lacking size nor experience relative to 2022. It would seem that it comes down to quality.
In the secondary, a real sh!t show. Once you get past our linebackers, none was on the 2-deep last season.
Gone to graduation or injury: Haskins, Burns, Prince, Reynolds, John Smith. And their back-ups on the 2022 2-deep are gone too (Argys for example) or injured (Haskins)
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Post by trimster on Oct 22, 2023 7:15:03 GMT -5
I’m not sure he is an NFL qb, but he is definitely an NFL player. RB, slot receiver…bulk up and receiving TE Jack Lentz made the Broncos on defense as those here of a certain age know he was QB too. Being the athlete he is, I have no doubt Sluka could master the art of being a long snapper. It would be a way to get a foot in the door.
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Post by purplehaze on Oct 22, 2023 7:27:27 GMT -5
In retrospect I think we win yday's game on a dry field and a nice weather day - no doubt Laf handled the conditions better, esp in the 1st half. We have been a remarkably balanced offense between running and passing but not yday - I have to believe Sluka's subpar passing would not have been the case in better conditions. Also, the weather took away the home field advantage - I don't know if the school was realistically anticipating 15000 or so but I can tell you from last year's Fordham game, we have the best home field advantage in the league and we really missed that yday.
This fall's weather has been lousy and yday was very bad timing for us
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Post by hchoops on Oct 22, 2023 7:33:06 GMT -5
In retrospect I think we win yday's game on a dry field and a nice weather day - no doubt Laf handled the conditions better, esp in the 1st half. We have been a remarkably balanced offense between running and passing but not yday - I have to believe Sluka's subpar passing would not have been the case in better conditions. Also, the weather took away the home field advantage - I don't know if the school was realistically anticipating 15000 or so but I can tell you from last year's Fordham game, we have the best home field advantage in the league and we really missed that yday. This fall's weather has been lousy and yday was very bad timing for us We will never know what might have happened with better weather, but very good football teams find a way to win in every type of weather
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Post by Non Alum Dave on Oct 22, 2023 7:36:54 GMT -5
Thinking of this years team vs. last year - in retrospect, I wonder if the 2022 team with a healthy Jake Dobbs would have given them the most realistic shot at a national championship. Maybe SDSU doesn't wear down the D in the fourth quarter like they ended up doing.
I'm also wondering if the 5th year effect is going to totally flip next year.....with the D becoming the stronger unit.
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Post by trimster on Oct 22, 2023 7:38:58 GMT -5
In retrospect I think we win yday's game on a dry field and a nice weather day - no doubt Laf handled the conditions better, esp in the 1st half. We have been a remarkably balanced offense between running and passing but not yday - I have to believe Sluka's subpar passing would not have been the case in better conditions. Also, the weather took away the home field advantage - I don't know if the school was realistically anticipating 15000 or so but I can tell you from last year's Fordham game, we have the best home field advantage in the league and we really missed that yday. This fall's weather has been lousy and yday was very bad timing for us We will never know what might have happened with better weather, but good football teams win in every type of weather Not a cloud in the Worcester sky this morning.
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Post by kaftan12 on Oct 22, 2023 7:50:46 GMT -5
In retrospect I think we win yday's game on a dry field and a nice weather day - no doubt Laf handled the conditions better, esp in the 1st half. We have been a remarkably balanced offense between running and passing but not yday - I have to believe Sluka's subpar passing would not have been the case in better conditions. Also, the weather took away the home field advantage - I don't know if the school was realistically anticipating 15000 or so but I can tell you from last year's Fordham game, we have the best home field advantage in the league and we really missed that yday. This fall's weather has been lousy and yday was very bad timing for us We will never know what might have happened with better weather, but good football teams win in every type of weather
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Post by kaftan12 on Oct 22, 2023 7:51:02 GMT -5
In retrospect I think we win yday's game on a dry field and a nice weather day - no doubt Laf handled the conditions better, esp in the 1st half. We have been a remarkably balanced offense between running and passing but not yday - I have to believe Sluka's subpar passing would not have been the case in better conditions. Also, the weather took away the home field advantage - I don't know if the school was realistically anticipating 15000 or so but I can tell you from last year's Fordham game, we have the best home field advantage in the league and we really missed that yday. This fall's weather has been lousy and yday was very bad timing for us We will never know what might have happened with better weather, but good football teams win in every type of weather
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Post by hc2020 on Oct 22, 2023 7:58:23 GMT -5
Agree with the latter comment, not the former. I double checked the two-deep for yesterday's game vs. the Merrimack game in 2022 (first one that I could find) Interesting that the front 4 this season, 3 of 4 are larger. As for experience there, in 2022, 2 seniors, 1 junior, 1 sophomore vs 2023, 2 seniors, 1 junior, 1 sophomore. Dillon Springer was starter both seasons and the other 3 were the #2 back-ups. So it would seem that the front 4 is neither lacking size nor experience relative to 2022. It would seem that it comes down to quality. In the secondary, a real sh!t show. Once you get past our linebackers, none was on the 2-deep last season. Gone to graduation or injury: Haskins, Burns, Prince, Reynolds, John Smith. And their back-ups on the 2022 2-deep are gone too (Argys for example) or injured (Haskins) Don’t underestimate the loss of Chris Smith to the NFL. He was not only a great coach, but he was immensely popular with the players and his attitude and ability to relate to these young men, on and off the field, was an incredible asset in the locker room and on the field.
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Post by hcpride on Oct 22, 2023 8:11:24 GMT -5
Thinking of this years team vs. last year - in retrospect, I wonder if the 2022 team with a healthy Jake Dobbs would have given them the most realistic shot at a national championship. Maybe SDSU doesn't wear down the D in the fourth quarter like they ended up doing. I'm also wondering if the 5th year effect is going to totally flip next year.....with the D becoming the stronger unit. Last year seems to have been our peak. You have a good point in that we COULD lose a lot (QB and OL come immediately to mind) from the offense…so the offense may be down quite a bit. The big problem is the defense next year (losing Dobbs) may perform about the same as this year. Even those with purple vision realize it’s unlikely we’ll see another QB like Sluka show up on campus soon.
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Post by sader1970 on Oct 22, 2023 8:38:50 GMT -5
I would be one of the last ones to underestimate the loss of Chris Smith. As a matter of fact, I believe I mentioned this to NAD in the first half. And, I've mentioned it a number of game this season.
That said, it wasn't the scoring of 35 points on offense that lost the game, it was giving up 38 points on defense and no pick-6s to blame on the offense. This was a defensive loss but, almost as importantly, the lack of performance by special teams. That, to me, is almost as much a difference as the defense this season. Jake Dobbs just can't do it alone.
And, we have to absolutely stop these horrible first quarters/first halves that require us to come back. You can do it against some teams but not Lafayette or Harvard . . . . or BC. This is no secret. How many times have we heard Bob Chesney say that we need to get going right out of the gate . . . we don't and almost always spot the other team a 1 or 2 TD lead. Believe even Scott James said that in his Zoom.
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Post by hchoops on Oct 22, 2023 11:45:07 GMT -5
The nail in the coffin
Lafayette staged a nine-play, 75-yard drive over the next five minutes and 40 seconds, with Curtis eventually scoring on a 41-yard rush to regain a 38-28 lead.
Which means that 8 plays for 34 yards took about 5 minutes and 30+ seconds. I believe that every one was a rush.
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Post by rgs318 on Oct 22, 2023 13:54:25 GMT -5
I had a fellow coach who said "Could have + should have + would have = DIDN'T" As we have heard from Coach Chesney - look at the tape, then move on and go undefeated this week!
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Post by timholycross on Oct 22, 2023 14:38:36 GMT -5
In retrospect I think we win yday's game on a dry field and a nice weather day - no doubt Laf handled the conditions better, esp in the 1st half. We have been a remarkably balanced offense between running and passing but not yday - I have to believe Sluka's subpar passing would not have been the case in better conditions. Also, the weather took away the home field advantage - I don't know if the school was realistically anticipating 15000 or so but I can tell you from last year's Fordham game, we have the best home field advantage in the league and we really missed that yday. This fall's weather has been lousy and yday was very bad timing for us We will never know what might have happened with better weather, but very good football teams find a way to win in every type of weather I'll give LC an advantage for the crowd not being anywhere near what it might have been, but that's it. Wet field didn't favor anyone, if anything, that's an area HC should have had an advantage, being as it was Fitton.
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Post by rgs318 on Oct 22, 2023 14:42:52 GMT -5
Perhaps, but that (a wet fieldand pouring rain) is an area where experience can outperform speed...and did.
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Post by sader1970 on Oct 22, 2023 15:37:48 GMT -5
Sat through the entire, wet game, live. Just watched the entire game on replay.
We lost. The better team on Saturday won. Maybe another day, we win. That we could close from 17 down to losing by 3 demonstrates what we already know: our guys don't quit. Recover that onside final kick and perhaps the outcome would be different. Then again, if Matt doesn't step out of bounds at Alumni Stadium, the outcome there might also have been different. That didn't happen in either case.
Let's finish the season, however long it goes, on another winning streak.
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Post by longsuffering on Oct 22, 2023 16:00:36 GMT -5
Jack Lentz made the Broncos on defense as those here of a certain age know he was QB too. Being the athlete he is, I have no doubt Sluka could master the art of being a long snapper. It would be a way to get a foot in the door. Fumble it, pick it up and run it in for a touchdown.🙂
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Post by purplehaze on Oct 22, 2023 16:26:09 GMT -5
I thought our last 2-3 recruiting classes were clearly the best in the league - with so many frosh playing on D, can we conclude that some soph/juniors are behind schedule in their development?
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Post by rgs318 on Oct 22, 2023 17:14:06 GMT -5
Not really, if you look at the number four and five years players they were facing for Lafayette...and most of them were starters f0r all of part of last year. We'll know a lot more next yer when we see who develops and how far.
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Post by efg72 on Oct 22, 2023 17:16:17 GMT -5
We as alums might be disappointed, and foolishly like most of this country demand immediate gratification based on the outcome of the bounce of a ball or puck in our favor, officiating, and the opponent willing to concede before the kickoff, opening tap, the first pitch or the drop of the puck.
Yes, insanity exists in all aspects of sports and life. I tell my kids and grandkids the difference in winning and losing in life and sports is so small that you need to know when you are blessed and savor the moment.
The staff is building a program that will deliver success that is not only wonderful, but sustainable. Our football success has been a great motivator for each of our opponents, and the coaches and players deserve our praise and gratitude for being in every game. Heck, look at a team like Alabama, that is a really good football team, struggling to be a Top 10 team. That is what a program is, being there each and every year and competitive.
Some at the higher levels cheat, but we do it the right way. Look at what this program has accomplished over the last 5-6 seasons. Our school is blessed to have these players and coaches represent Holy Cross.
Let’s support the one game at a time approach the coaches promote, relish each moment of success, and help them with our support in each moment where we might fall short of a desired outcome.
When you get called on to support the NIL effort, the CAF Funding, or single events, do whatever you can to help and know your assistance makes a big difference in the lives of all members of the team and coaching staff.
God Bless
Beat Fordham!
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