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Post by BearDownMU on Sept 14, 2014 21:52:27 GMT -5
Well, that was a dominant performance from the Bears.
I'll get into some of the game specifics, but honestly my biggest takeaway from the whole thing was the chasm of difference between us and Stetson. We both started out football programs at the same time and we are light years ahead. I don't know why that is, but I can speculate.
I have to say this just further impresses me about the way in which Mercer the institution decided to handle their business putting this whole thing together. Stetson is playing in a municipal stadium and look at what Mercer did. Amazing facilities on our campus. I think that is a big deal and a big difference.
Granted, we are now scholarship football and have a class of players that came in on scholarship, but we handled them last year too. Considering they are in the middle of Florida, which is an amazing recruiting spot, we have clearly out recruited them. Again, speculating, but I feel that is a big hats off to Coach Lamb and his staff.
Again, we all want this to keep going. But I'm more and more leaning toward Mercer having created a great blueprint for how to get a program going.
Now the game. Alex Lakes was a monster. And they took their foot off the gas pedal. He ended up with around 150 yards and 3 TDs. I'm confident he could have gone for 200+ if they wanted him to. Kudos to the O Line.
On defense, a shut out is a shut out. They don't happen much this day and age. So major props for the D for locking it down.
On the negative side (and I don't want to pick nits) but it still seemed like, especially early, there we still some pretty big gaps in pass defense in the middle of the field. Even later in the game, receivers were open but their QB wasn't making the throws any more. These are just the little things that matter a lot in tougher games.
Also, I really like the fact that we play with an edge, but we definitely get chippy. We have got to watch the personal fouls. Also, it's important to note that the SoCon has a different suspension rule than the NCAA. If you are disqualified from a game for fighting or targeting, you are suspended for the whole next game. Also, I haven't confirmed, but I heard a rumor that Mercer President has also said that any ejection from a game, Mercer will double the conference suspension. If that's true, he's clearly not down with people getting tossed. I love that the guys are aggressive, but we need to play smart.
Welp, that's all I got for know. What choo guys think?
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Post by mumd on Sept 14, 2014 23:01:30 GMT -5
Ditto. As I said yesterday, "My guess is that at this point the Stetson people are wondering why they couldn't do things "The Mercer Way". The 2 programs are miles apart."
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Post by FUBeAR on Sept 14, 2014 23:04:27 GMT -5
I'm going to get a little technical here, so BEAR with me...
I THINK WE MAULED 'EM!!!
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badnewsbear
Penfield Bear
"May they defend this house like and angry bear defends its den." - C. McMahon
Posts: 51 
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Post by badnewsbear on Sept 15, 2014 8:15:46 GMT -5
I definitely noticed the "chipiness" in the Furman game that it didn't seem we had last year. I thought it was Furman initiating it and us fighting back, so I am a little surprised if it carried over to the stetson game (I didn't see it- how did you guys get the broadcast?). All in all, I do think it is better to have that edge than not- although it might not be popular it is typically in the recipe of success. Great job to our team all around- seeing how all of the other Ga teams lost (UGA, Braves, Falcons, Southern,and it felt like GTECH lost), it's nice to have a beacon of hope...
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Post by BearDownMU on Sept 15, 2014 8:37:33 GMT -5
Stetson streamed the game. I try and post the links on here when we are away if there is some way to watch the game online. Keep your eyes open on game weeks and if I can find a streaming option, I'll put it on the board.
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Post by bear38 on Sept 15, 2014 10:50:45 GMT -5
The Mercer coaches were clearly upset by the penalties and several players were getting an ear full (and then some) on the sidelines. The Bears have to clean this up.
I do wonder if having a female referee affects how the entire referee team calls the game. I noticed one play in the first half when the Mercer running back was pushed out of bound on the Stetson sidelines right into the Stetson Assistant Coach. The Coach got on the field and into the face of the female ref and was blasting her out. The male back judge came up and went chest to chest with the Stetson coach protecting the female ref and chest bumped the Stetson coach back away from her. The Stetson coach flails his arms out and accidentally hits the Mercer running back as he gets up and trots back on the field. No flags were thrown. I could not see what upset the Stetson coach so much either.
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Post by FUBeAR on Sept 15, 2014 11:39:43 GMT -5
The Mercer coaches were clearly upset by the penalties and several players were getting an ear full (and then some) on the sidelines. The Bears have to clean this up. I do wonder if having a female referee affects how the entire referee team calls the game. I noticed one play in the first half when the Mercer running back was pushed out of bound on the Stetson sidelines right into the Stetson Assistant Coach. The Coach got on the field and into the face of the female ref and was blasting her out. The male back judge came up and went chest to chest with the Stetson coach protecting the female ref and chest bumped the Stetson coach back away from her. The Stetson coach flails his arms out and accidentally hits the Mercer running back as he gets up and trots back on the field. No flags were thrown. I could not see what upset the Stetson coach so much either. The Stetson coach (small "c" intentionally used in this case - I always try to capitalize Coach...for a reason), one of their Defensive coaches (DC, DL or LB) actually put one heck of a forearm shiver into our WR's head on that play. Most people probably just saw it as him 'defending' himself from a play coming at him on the sidelines, but I watched it closely...he made no effort to move and followed thru with his forearm to the head. If anyone had a close-up video of it, I would hope they would send it to Stetson's Athletics Department and/or the NCAA. Perhaps they would take some type of action against him. It didn't work out so well for Woody Hayes; maybe this guy deserves the same. As much as you may want to, you just CAN'T clock the opposing players when they come to your sideline. He was upset about what he thought was a block in the back by Mercer's other WR, who was blocking their DB from the front, initially...and then the guy turned to chase the play. The Mercer player who was still 'engaged' with him bumped him lightly in the back and then visibly disengaged...but the guy stumbled...and this is why the coach was upset. Pretty sure the rule is that if a player is engaged from the front and the other player turns his back, no blocking in the back should be called. It COULD have been called here, I guess, but it wasn't really a big play that changed the outcome of the game or even, at the time, appeared as if it would. It was a 9 yard gain on 1st down at midfield early in the 2nd quarter with the score already 21-0 BEARS. The guy was way, way, way out of line. |
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Post by bear38 on Sept 15, 2014 13:01:38 GMT -5
The Mercer coaches were clearly upset by the penalties and several players were getting an ear full (and then some) on the sidelines. The Bears have to clean this up. I do wonder if having a female referee affects how the entire referee team calls the game. I noticed one play in the first half when the Mercer running back was pushed out of bound on the Stetson sidelines right into the Stetson Assistant Coach. The Coach got on the field and into the face of the female ref and was blasting her out. The male back judge came up and went chest to chest with the Stetson coach protecting the female ref and chest bumped the Stetson coach back away from her. The Stetson coach flails his arms out and accidentally hits the Mercer running back as he gets up and trots back on the field. No flags were thrown. I could not see what upset the Stetson coach so much either. The Stetson coach (small "c" intentionally used in this case - I always try to capitalize Coach...for a reason), one of their Defensive coaches (DC, DL or LB) actually put one heck of a forearm shiver into our WR's head on that play. Most people probably just saw it as him 'defending' himself from a play coming at him on the sidelines, but I watched it closely...he made no effort to move and followed thru with his forearm to the head. If anyone had a close-up video of it, I would hope they would send it to Stetson's Athletics Department and/or the NCAA. Perhaps they would take some type of action against him. It didn't work out so well for Woody Hayes; maybe this guy deserves the same. As much as you may want to, you just CAN'T clock the opposing players when they come to your sideline. He was upset about what he thought was a block in the back by Mercer's other WR, who was blocking their DB from the front, initially...and then the guy turned to chase the play. The Mercer player who was still 'engaged' with him bumped him lightly in the back and then visibly disengaged...but the guy stumbled...and this is why the coach was upset. Pretty sure the rule is that if a player is engaged from the front and the other player turns his back, no blocking in the back should be called. It COULD have been called here, I guess, but it wasn't really a big play that changed the outcome of the game or even, at the time, appeared as if it would. It was a 9 yard gain on 1st down at midfield early in the 2nd quarter with the score already 21-0 BEARS. The guy was way, way, way out of line. Yep. I just rewatched the play. First the coach is in front of the chain officials and it should have been at least a side line infraction. Then, he makes no effort to get out of the way, but gets in an athletic stance, brings his forearm up, leans in and clocks Jordan Marshall in the head (face mask). Probably could have been a block in the back, but even so that is way beyond acceptable and looks even worse the second time I watched it. |
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Post by FUBeAR on Sept 15, 2014 17:53:35 GMT -5
The Mercer coaches were clearly upset by the penalties and several players were getting an ear full (and then some) on the sidelines. The Bears have to clean this up. Well...here's an interesting set of SoCon stats... | Team | G | Pts/G | Yds/G | PassYds | RushYds | 1stD/G | 3rdM | 3rdD% | 4thM | 4thD% | Pen | PenYds | | Virginia Military | 3 | 32.3 | 478.7 | 1023 | 413 | 25.7 | 22 | 46.8 | 1 | 50 | 15 | 121 | | Mercer | 3 | 38 (1) | 428.7 (2) | 614 (3) | 672 (1) | 22.3 (3) | 15 (5) | 45.5 (4) | 3 (1) | 50 (2T) | 23 (1) | 214 (1) | | Western Carolina | 3 | 37 | 414.7 | 750 | 494 | 23.7 | 16 | 47.1 | 2 | 66.7 | 22 | 199 | | Wofford | 2 | 30.5 | 389.0 | 170 | 608 | 20 | 9 | 45 | 1 | 33.3 | 11 | 101 | | Citadel | 2 | 14 | 349.5 | 91 | 608 | 21.5 | 16 | 53.3 | 1 | 20 | 6 | 50 | | Samford | 2 | 33 | 317.5 | 254 | 381 | 17.5 | 13 | 38.2 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 131 | | Furman | 3 | 15 | 303.0 | 591 | 318 | 16.3 | 17 | 36.2 | 1 | 33.3 | 16 | 127 | | Chattanooga | 3 | 27 | 239.3 | 420 | 298 | 14 | 9 | 23.1 | 1 | 50 | 13 | 134 |
Love that the Bears are leading the SoCon in Points/Game & Rushing Yards (though not per game - ElCid & Woofy have that; both @ 304 ypg)...but I REALLY don't like that the Bears are leading the SoCon in Penalties and Penalty Yards (leading in 'Per Game' in both of those as well). I know how my 'old ball coach' used to 'remind' us not to get penalties...it involved lots of EXTRA running and a very steep hill. ANY Unsportsmanlike Conduct penalty was 100 of those (had to be completed before Friday or no uniform for that player on Saturday), and the rest of the penalties 'carried the debt' of the total number of yards penalized during the game for each player who rec'd a penalty. I would be very surprised if those teams weren't the LEAST penalized Team in the Conference EVERY YEAR. We seem to have a case of the "DAP's" (you can figure out what that means) this year and we need to cure it starting this week. |
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Post by BearDownMU on Sept 15, 2014 18:20:20 GMT -5
I'm guessing that's Dumb Ass Penalties. lol
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Post by bear38 on Sept 16, 2014 8:57:24 GMT -5
Mercer was second in the PFL in fewest penalties last year, so this seems to be a new issue. I am sure that the coaches will clean this up.
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MU22
Baby Bear
Posts: 38
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Post by MU22 on Sept 16, 2014 17:33:11 GMT -5
Mercer was second in the PFL in fewest penalties last year, so this seems to be a new issue. I am sure that the coaches will clean this up. Probably nothing different on the players and coaches part, in all honesty. IMO it's two things: 1) Different league = Different officials (SoCon doesn't care much for the showboating & loose style of play) 2) Welcome gift from the league to the newbies. We may enjoy this gift for a long time. We're in a conference with a distinct pecking order, and the old guard doesn't take kindly to the apple cart being rearranged. |
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