Zach Rosenthal will be returning to Roanoke as he pursues an MBA.

The Eastern Mennonite roster shows 2 transfers from D2 Lesley:  Hezekiah Brown and Jelanie Morgan. 

Charlie Davis, the Roanoke linebacker and leading tackler, has big H-SC connections:  dad, uncle and grandfather.  He's doing a great job for the Maroons.  I saw a nice reel on social media where Jon Gruden got a big box of gear from Roanoke.  He fluffed up the Maroons as he did the opening.  Somebody at Roanoke had a great idea there.

A reasonably interesting game this week in an otherwise predictable schedule.  Can Shenandoah give the Jackets a competitive game?  Considering what the Tigers did to SU, I'm thinking they will not.  The current position of these teams in the ODAC standings does make it a significant game.  However, Hansen has Macon with an 88.8% win probability and 18 point spread.  Massey at 93% and 21. 

I'm looking forward to seeing the new, improved Tigers live for the first time this season.  This will be the first game with Roanoke since 1942; the first one was played in 1896.  I'm thankful the Maroons don't have an option offense.

It's also worth noting that the Commonwealth of Virginia has 6 teams in the top 20 with CNU and Mary Washington joining the 4 ODAC squads, including 3 of the top 10.  Yeah, it's only preseason, but that is still a healthy amount of respect for D3 hoops in the Old Dominion.

R-MC, Roanoke and VVWU are very deserving of those high rankings.  They have quality upperclassmen-loaded teams with strong coaches. Lynchburg, while unranked, also has a lot back.  Its going to be a tough league this year.

The ODAC is getting a lot of love in the Preseason Top 25: 4 teams in the top 20.  The Tigers ought to take some early season losses with that tough schedule, but, if the sophomore class shows the kind of talent expected of them, H-SC should be right in the mix in February.  Shane Fernald looks like he is ready to be the focal point of the offense; he can score and his passing is at an unusual level for a big.   6'9" Alex Cannon showed some improvement last year; I hope he had a good offseason and has an even stronger junior year.  The guards and wings should be fine - gotta have that rebounding and defense.  This is going to be an interesting season.

Southern Virginia, Mary Baldwin and Marymount come to mind.  Southern Virginia even has football; I bet they are chomping at the bit to get into the ODAC.  Come to think of it, they would be a great fit; they sure wouldn't add to travel costs.

Mary Washington wouldn't mind being an ODAC school.

H-SC is not slacking up on the non-conference schedule now that the Adam Brazil era is over. I can't say it's the toughest non-conference schedule in the D3 nation, but it must be in the running.  UW-Lacrosse, Redlands, Emory, Keene State or VWU, Pfeiffer and Maryville.  Gotta love it - the Tigers are scheduling as an elite program should.   I haven't looked but I bet Macon's is similar.

The ODAC schedule is going to be nasty. R-MC, Roanoke, Soon to be Batten U a/k/a VW, Lynchburg and H-SC are going to be tough.  W&L is going to be a tough W for anyone.  Judging from X, the Randolph coach has been a very energetic recruiter.  Guilford is a question mark.  They lost a ton of seniors and grad students, and a HOF coach.  The precarious Guilford financial and accreditation outlook has affected their football competitiveness and decreased their student body size, but it looks like they hired a winning coach, maybe basketball will continue its winning ways.

Well, at least we had September.

Big game coming up for the Tigers vs W&L.  The margin of victory in the last 4 games has been approximately 2 points, but wins have been hard to come by for H-SC.  They are 3-7 in the last 10 games against the Gennies. 
A former D1 player of my acquaintance saw the Tigers at practice and says that the difference in team speed and depth across the board from years past is remarkable.   They are particularly deep at receiver even after the transfer of All ODAC and All Region Ethan Dowdy to NC State. 

The Quakers looked pretty good in the early going against the Tigers.  They were stuffing Terry Hicks at the line and got to Carter Sido.  At 7-7 it looked like it was going to be a battle.  Then the sky fell in on the Quakers.  The Tigers win 69-14 with starters sitting for the second half.  GC continually shot themselves in the foot with penalties on 3rd or 4th down that extended H-SC drives.  There were 3 or 4 offsides penalties in those situations and a roughing the punter.  Combine that with some blown coverages in the defensive backfield and you get a blowout.  The Tigers looked strong, but were greatly aided by Quaker miscues.

On the flip side, I hope those commentators don't give W&J some of that extra motivation by suggesting that the Presidents are likely to start the season 0-2.  I want the Tigers to fly under the radar.

Woo hoo! The Tigers are receiving vote in this week's D3Football.com poll.  Coach Luvara and his staff have been doing tremendous work in recruiting.  Quite a change to see the Tigers getting physical and winning battles on the line of scrimmage.  I like the direction of this program.