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Post by Ignutz on Aug 29, 2024 15:20:59 GMT -5
All five of the Globe's sports prognosticators pick HC to win Saturday. BTW, if one doesn't like the Globe's political slant (which mirrors the State in which it is located), there is an alternative. Two words: H o w i e C a r r
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Post by drjack on Aug 29, 2024 15:41:00 GMT -5
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Post by longsuffering on Aug 29, 2024 16:54:39 GMT -5
All five of the Globe's sports prognosticators pick HC to win Saturday. BTW, if one doesn't like the Globe's political slant (which mirrors the State in which it is located), there is an alternative. Two words: H o w i e C a r r Three words: Bowtied Bum kissers. (Howie's description of the Globe). The Herald has done sports stories on HC in recent years which were unexpected but welcome. Perhaps more than the Globe. Both should step it up.
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Post by midwestsader05 on Aug 29, 2024 17:50:06 GMT -5
Zach McKinnell (2024 Prediction Record: 4-1 / 2022-23 Record: 207-75) of Bluebloods, SI and FCS Central picks for week 1. He’s one of about 6 football journalists that really knows FCS ball. www.si.com/college/fcs/week-1-fcs-football-preview-predictions Holy Cross at Rhode Island Kickoff: 6 p.m. CT (FloSports) It will be a new era at Holy Cross as Dan Curran replaces Bob Chesney as the Crusaders' head coach. Rhode Island is searching for its first FCS Playoff appearance since 1985 after adding some solid players from the transfer portal. The most significant question mark will be the quarterback play for each team after both programs lost longtime starters. Joe Pesansky led Holy Cross to wins over Fordham and Lehigh last season, passing for 499 yards and five touchdowns. Devin Farrell and Hunter Helms are both expected to see playing time for Rhode Island this weekend. Farrell made six appearances last season, while Helms played nine games at Clemson over the past three seasons. Holy Cross will be led by All-American running back Jordan Fuller, who holds the career record for rushing touchdowns (40). The Crusaders will need new faces to emerge at wide receiver but could rely on two-time All-Conference selection Justin Shorter to lead the receiving core. The defense only returns five starters, but expect a breakout season from Freshman All-American William Robinson and linebacker Frankie Monte. Rhode Island added former FCS All-American Malik Grant, who joined Gabe Sloat in the backfield this offseason. Grant recorded over 3,000 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns for the Pioneers. Freshman All-American Marquis Buchanan looks like a potential superstar after posting 638 receiving yards last season. Linebacker A.J. Pena is a name to watch after leading the Rams with 15.5 tackles for loss and nine sacks. The addition of Carson Primrose solidified the defensive line, which also features Westley Neal Jr. Both teams have some question marks entering this game, but Rhode Island's defense will be the difference. Pena and Westley Jr. should be able to take advantage of a revamped Holy Cross offensive line, while Grant and Sloat combine for an effective 1-2 punch offensively. Prediction: Rhode Island (28-24)
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Post by hartattack on Aug 29, 2024 18:38:24 GMT -5
If there’s any doubt about how OC Pat Murphy feels about this game, listen to his interview on the Jim Fleming Coaches Show (starts about the 29:30 mark: . At the end of the interview (a little after the40-minute mark) he said “I want to get after this one” three times when asked about playing HC. Bump - Keys to the game & Prediction to follow Anything jumping out to anyone else….I don't think Pat Murphy (URI OC) liked the way things ended at HC. Believe he felt like Chesney put the handcuffs on the offense he was trying to run, and he took a lot of the blame for offensive struggles during those first two seasons. He'd love nothing more than to put up 40+ points on us. I'm a little fearful of our secondary against their receivers. This is an area we struggled last year...and I'm nervous about our depth. Marquis Buchanan is really good. Big receiver. 6'4. We need Jarmo to step up and be a leader back there for us (I think he will be).
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Post by Sons of Vaval on Aug 29, 2024 19:36:35 GMT -5
Great find, attack.
The tone of Murphy's answer says it all.
Think the interviewer was leading him on with "friends at Holy Cross..."
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Post by cruskater31 on Aug 29, 2024 21:38:50 GMT -5
Forgot the Nordic Lodge is pretty close to URI. That would have been a good pairing. Indulge in their top-tier buffet and head on over to watch the Purple.
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Post by midwestsader05 on Aug 30, 2024 8:08:38 GMT -5
Scouting the Rams : URI’s 2-deep and game notes: 1) VERY heavy on 4th/5th and even 6th year players. Of the starting 22, they have 10 players (5 on O and 5 on D) that are some form of 5th/GR. They have an additional 4 on each side that are either SR or Red Shirt Juniors. Said another way, they are only starting 3 players on each side with less than 3 full years at URI or another D1 program. “Youngest” starters are a couple RS Sophs so still kids in their 3rd year of College Ball. 2) 15 new D1 transfers of which 13 are on the 2-deep. Headliners include obviously QB Helms (Clemson), starting WRs Greg Gains III (Iowa State - 4 star from Tampa), Shawn Harris (1,100 career yards at Stony Brook & UMASS) & Multi year all NEC RB Malik Grant (Sacred Heart). OL features multi year starters from Stonehill LG Buxton (6’5 330) and RG Robinson (6’2 295) who started all 12 games for Mercer last season. Defense brought in All NEC DL Primrose (6’1 280) from SHU, depth at Safety from Neal (Boise St) and States-Jones (South Alabama). Other URI Players to watch / Returning Starting Experience : Offense- QB RS-SO Devin Farrell (6’0 195) - Limited action last year as Hill’s #2. 2023 Transter from VA Tech. Dual-threat. How much will he play relative to Helms? - RB/PR RS-SR Gabe Sloat (6’0 205) - #2 RB last year (225 yds 2 TDs / 26 rec 216yds 1 TD) All CAA Punt Returner. 2024 Captain. - WR RS-SO Marquis Buchanan (6’4 175) - Freshman All-America in ‘23. 42 rec 638 yds 4 TDs. FBS type talent. Match-up problem. - LT RS-JR Brock Bethea (6’5 305) - Started all 11 games at OT in ‘23 - RB/KR SR Deon Silas (5’8 190) - 161 rush yds / 25.5 KR avg - TE/H RS-SR Brady Roark (6’2 230) - 6 starts in ‘23. 3 rec 25 yds Defense
- OLB JR AJ Pena (6’2 243) - All CAA in ‘23 and AA candidate in ‘24. Game wrecker Liam Anderson type. Will come from everywhere. 59 tackles 15.5 TFLs 9 sacks in ‘23 - NG Westley Neal (6’0 315) - 5 TFLs in ‘23. Captain in ‘24. Pre-season All CAA - CB SR Fredrick Mallay (5’9 175) - Preseason All CAA. 2 INT 8 PBUs in ‘23 - OLB SR Gabe Solomons (6’4 240) - 34 tack 1 sack 5 PBUs 4 QBH in ‘23 - SAF RS-SR Emmanuel Gomes (6’0 200) - 22 tack 3.5 TFLs - DL R-SR Malachi Burby (6’3 265) - 21 tack 2.5 TFLs K/PK - So Ty Groff (9-13 FGs / 5-5 40-49 yds 1-3 30-39 yds / 47 long) P - So Devin Walter (39.2 avg / 15 inside 20 / 4 > 50 yds) LS - Donato Crisanti - All CAA in ‘23 How to watch / keys to the game: When URI has the ball - Clearly much has been made of the 3 stud WRs for URI and rightfully so. The biggest athletic match-up advantage on the entire field on paper is Gains and Buchanan’s FBS size/speed and Harris’ 5 years of production v the youth across the Holy Cross secondary. Even Jarmo in his 3 full games last year (Merrimack, BC and Army) mostly flashed in run support and hasn’t really been repeatably tested over the top in a single game as a starting FS. However, I expect URI to try to establish the run game with their stable of 3-4 very capable RBs to allow both QBs to settle in. HC is starting 8 sophomores on Defense including Christian Ross as a Medical Redshirt Soph. E I G H T! How big a jump did these 8 make in the offseason? LB Drew Spins and CB Cam Jones will see their first ever action not just starting but playing the position. The young Holy Cross DL has the highest ceiling of any position group w/ Robinson, Stevenson, George and Ross (and include Reynolds rotating as a RS-SO) Are they a year or even a mid season away from being able to play with Top 25 Offensive talent (which I believe URI has) or do the reps as frosh have these guys looking a year ahead of where they would otherwise be as Sophomores. Biggest question for URI is obviously at QB - Was playing against some of the best athletes in the country every day for 4 years enough for Helms to start unfazed? Farrell as a dual-threat likely relies on his legs to settle himself down. The URI O-Line also returns only one starter from last year’s team (LT Bethea) BUT brought in 2 Guards with plenty of starting experience at other programs (Mercer and Stonehill). Can HC take advantage of an OL that has solid individual pieces but hasn’t worked together in a game yet? When HC has the ball - Similar to URIs OL, HC returns only 1 starter in Center Kelly but 2 5th years with valuable experience as multi-year reserves (Declan and Daddona). URI runs a 3-4 base Defense and their front is the strength of their D. URI will attempt to likely keep all 7 in the box to not allow HC to get its run game going. New staff or not, “run the damn ball” has been the identity of Holy Cross football for 5 years. This likely will create opportunities for HC WR’s in man coverage. Can anyone create separation besides Shorter? Can the OL give Joe P time to go through his progressions? Special teams - Clear advantage to URI as noted in the scouting report above. They return their very capable starting Kicker, Punter, Long Snapper and KR Silas. Big unknowns for HC across the board here. Field position is always a deciding factor but especially week 1. Prediction - URI 38 HC 28 - Tough to see HC getting this one unless some of those questions above are answered in the affirmative. HC has talent, but might just be a year away with so many new pieces both outside and inside the lines.
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Post by ndgradbuthcfan on Aug 30, 2024 9:17:15 GMT -5
With that analysis, I would expect your final score prediction to be more lopsided. You obviously know way more about football than I so no problem deferring to you. Just hope the young HC team over achieves tomorrow.
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Post by midwestsader05 on Aug 30, 2024 9:27:13 GMT -5
Final score is a snap shot in time but doesn’t always tell the story of a football game: Think about it this way:
2022 quarterfinals SDSU 42 HC 21. A 3 TD loss but everyone came away from that game very proud that HC had a chance to win until the wheels came off midway through the 4th quarter.
Compare that to last year’s Harvard (38-28 loss) and Lafayette (38-35 loss) where it felt like HC did not play particular well and was playing catch-up by more than 2 scores most of each game. Scored late in both games to make the final score “look” better. Fewer point losses but we all felt dejected post those L’s.
So very often - HOW you win or lose is more important than the final score on paper IMHO.
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Post by Sons of Vaval on Aug 30, 2024 9:31:32 GMT -5
Final score is a snap shot in time but doesn’t always tell the story of a football game: Think about it this way: 2022 quarterfinals SDSU 42 HC 21. A 3 TD loss but everyone came away from that game very proud that HC had a chance to win until the wheels came off midway through the 4th quarter.
Compare that to last year’s Harvard (38-28 loss) and Lafayette (38-35 loss) where it felt like HC did not play particular well and was playing catch-up by more than 2 scores most of each game. Scored late in both games to make the final score “look” better. Fewer point losses but we all felt dejected post those L’s. So very often - HOW you win or lose is more important than the final score on paper IMHO. Bingo. Not all scores are created equal. We could have been trailing SDSU 42-7 in the 4th quarter, they sub out their 1s, and we tack on a couple of cheapy touchdowns to make the score competitive looking. Pretty different game than Derek Ng attempting a field goal early in the 4th to put us up 24-21.
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Post by 78purple on Aug 30, 2024 9:50:47 GMT -5
Final score is a snap shot in time but doesn’t always tell the story of a football game: Think about it this way: 2022 quarterfinals SDSU 42 HC 21. A 3 TD loss but everyone came away from that game very proud that HC had a chance to win until the wheels came off midway through the 4th quarter.
Compare that to last year’s Harvard (38-28 loss) and Lafayette (38-35 loss) where it felt like HC did not play particular well and was playing catch-up by more than 2 scores most of each game. Scored late in both games to make the final score “look” better. Fewer point losses but we all felt dejected post those L’s. So very often - HOW you win or lose is more important than the final score on paper IMHO. Bingo. Not all scores are created equal. We could have been trailing SDSU 42-7 in the 4th quarter, they sub out their 1s, and we tack on a couple of cheapy touchdowns to make the score competitive looking. Pretty different game than Derek Ng attempting a field goal early in the 4th to put us up 24-21. Chesney might want that 4th and 3 decision back......
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Post by longsuffering on Aug 30, 2024 9:51:45 GMT -5
At this time last year fan confidence was through the roof. Just as exciting to be cautiously optimistic this year.
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Post by Sons of Vaval on Aug 30, 2024 9:55:00 GMT -5
Bingo. Not all scores are created equal. We could have been trailing SDSU 42-7 in the 4th quarter, they sub out their 1s, and we tack on a couple of cheapy touchdowns to make the score competitive looking. Pretty different game than Derek Ng attempting a field goal early in the 4th to put us up 24-21. Chesney might want that 4th and 3 decision back...... Probably. Wasn't Ng not 100% that day, too? The real killer that day was Asante not catching the ball at the end of the first half, and then SDSU getting a pick six out of it. Who knows how that game goes if we got into the half tied at 14, while getting the ball to start the second half.
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Post by sader1970 on Aug 30, 2024 10:01:19 GMT -5
Back to URI game. A couple of days ago, the weather report was 74% chance of rain. Now looks to be 24% and mostly cloudy (wasn't worried about the sun, anyway, at that hour).
To our resident experts: who would rain/wet ball favor? If either team?
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Post by sader1970 on Aug 30, 2024 10:06:00 GMT -5
Coach Curran:
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Post by longsuffering on Aug 30, 2024 10:06:57 GMT -5
Fuller's power wouldn't be effected by rain.
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Post by 78purple on Aug 30, 2024 10:38:58 GMT -5
Chesney might want that 4th and 3 decision back...... Probably. Wasn't Ng not 100% that day, too? The real killer that day was Asante not catching the ball at the end of the first half, and then SDSU getting a pick six out of it. Who knows how that game goes if we got into the half tied at 14, while getting the ball to start the second half. Completely agree........And, Ng was not 100 % and was inconsistent at the end of the season.......they were nearly in the red zone, and on the 1st play of the 4th quarter, I would have gone for it on 4th down
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Post by midwestsader05 on Aug 30, 2024 11:04:28 GMT -5
Back to URI game. A couple of days ago, the weather report was 74% chance of rain. Now looks to be 24% and mostly cloudy (wasn't worried about the sun, anyway, at that hour). To our resident experts: who would rain/wet ball favor? If either team? Conventional wisdom is inclement weather helps a team that relies on a downhill run game and traits are power/physicality. It hinders a team that relies on the pass and speed as its assets.
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Post by timholycross on Aug 30, 2024 11:18:34 GMT -5
Probably. Wasn't Ng not 100% that day, too? The real killer that day was Asante not catching the ball at the end of the first half, and then SDSU getting a pick six out of it. Who knows how that game goes if we got into the half tied at 14, while getting the ball to start the second half. Completely agree........And, Ng was not 100 % and was inconsistent at the end of the season.......they were nearly in the red zone, and on the 1st play of the 4th quarter, I would have gone for it on 4th down ...and had that situation come up in 2023 versus 2022, I'd triple down on going for it. A less-than-100% Ng was better than what Chesney had to go with last year.
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Post by timholycross on Aug 30, 2024 11:22:00 GMT -5
Back to URI game. A couple of days ago, the weather report was 74% chance of rain. Now looks to be 24% and mostly cloudy (wasn't worried about the sun, anyway, at that hour). To our resident experts: who would rain/wet ball favor? If either team? Conventional wisdom is inclement weather helps a team that relies on a downhill run game and traits are power/physicality. It hinders a team that relies on the pass and speed as its assets. I would imagine after all of this the field drains well.
"GM2 was lead designer for the University of Rhode Island Meade Stadium Field Turf and Stadium Light Project. The project included the removal of the existing grass surface of Meade Stadium and installation of a new synthetic field turf surface and a subsurface infiltration system to mitigate flood issues as well as stadium lights designed for televised nighttime events. The subsurface infiltration system including reservoir courses (17-inches of crushed stone and 18-inches of sand) below the synthetic turf membrane and included the removal of 48-inches of unsuitable underlying soils."
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Post by Sons of Vaval on Aug 30, 2024 11:24:34 GMT -5
Completely agree........And, Ng was not 100 % and was inconsistent at the end of the season.......they were nearly in the red zone, and on the 1st play of the 4th quarter, I would have gone for it on 4th down ...and had that situation come up in 2023 versus 2022, I'd triple down on going for it. A less-than-100% Ng was better than what Chesney had to go with last year. Speaking of FG kicking, this prompted me to look up Merrimack's field goals last year. Their kicker was 10-14 (an impressive 4-5 from 40-49). Wonder if Curran will look to attempt more field goals this year than Chesney last year. Of note, Daniel Porto is ahead of Luis P on the depth chart.
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Post by Crosser on Aug 30, 2024 11:35:25 GMT -5
I’m wondering whether tickets will be sold at the field in case I make a last second decision to drive down.
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Post by efg72 on Aug 30, 2024 12:13:51 GMT -5
For those who have FLO for the game tomorrow, the schedule for tonight includes some HS games and future HS players/recruits as well as the Colgate-Maine game
Don Bosco- Akron Hoban St Francis(MD)- St Joseph Regional NJ Gonzaga- Springfield OH Good Counsel-Columbus Florida
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Post by hc69 on Aug 30, 2024 12:14:03 GMT -5
Both AccuWeather and NWS say party cloudy, upper 60s, <10% chance of a shower. Nice night for a game.
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