Quote from: Dr. Acula on September 07, 2025, 01:03:29 PMONU gave up an 84 yd TD pass on the first play from scrimmage against Franklin.  At one point they were down 27-6, but they battled back and cut it to 27-20.  Bears had the ball 1st and 10 on their own 44 at the 2:00 timeout so they had a shot to tie it. 

This was the most surprising result to me. ONU beat Franklin last season, 45-7. While ONU returns a lot of skill guys, it appears that most of their Oline graduated. They only put up 96 yards rushing on Franklin. Last season, they had 290 yards in the game! Will be a tough season if they can't get the running game going.

Quote from: D3fanboy on September 05, 2025, 01:32:39 PMwith Bluffton as the only other OOC game for Marietta, as long as the Pios dont really take a dive in the new OAC, they are looking like a playoff participant.  9-1 is basically a lock, 8-2 there's a chance.  The BW-Etta game is looking like a play-in game for the NCAA tourney

BW will be a big one. Will be curious to see if they easily handle Wittenberg this weekend. Lots of returning production for the Jackets. Certainly also can't overlook the game @ONU or Heidelberg at home.

Quote from: D3 Poster on September 04, 2025, 10:11:43 PMTitans had 77 yards rushing tonight and 78 yards rushing last year vs Marietta. Couldn't get the big turnovers this year.  Both teams look tough defensively, offenses works in progress.

It was funny how the stats between the two games mirrored each other. The only big difference was Marietta taking care of the ball. Both teams seemed to match up similarly, despite graduation losses.

Quote from: BergAlum2 on September 04, 2025, 10:37:37 PMMarietta's defense still looks great,  Westminiter went nowhere until like their last drive of the first half, I have them as the #2 OAC team this year 

Breaks me to have to pay to watch my OAC games, got the subscription 5 minutes before kickoff

Marietta defense hasn't missed a beat from last year, despite 4 new guys up front. Very similar story to what we've seen in that teams can generally not gain much of anything on the ground.

A bit concerned about our offense, but Westminster was a very good defensive team last year and returned a lot of guys. Marietta's senior QB threw 3 picks against them last season, so I think playcalling was intentionally to ground and pound.

Congrats to Heidelberg on the blowout. Was a bit surprised to see Hiram put up 400+ yards. Assuming most of that was against back-ups?

Quote from: Dr. Acula on July 28, 2025, 06:22:18 PMI was reading up on the Berg hire of Mike Summey and I'm not sure what to think.  Almost no HC experience, but a lot of D1 experience at a lot of places.  I guess we'll see how it goes.  Here's his resume I pieced together since the Berg bio has some holes in it: 

97-99  Graduate manager, NC State
99-03  Asst. coach, St. Francis (PA)
03-04  Asst. coach, Queens University
04-06  Asst. coach, The Citadel
06-08  Asst. coach, North Florida
08-09  Head coach, Bethany
09-13  Dir. of ops, Miami (FL)
13-15  Assoc HC, St. Francis (PA)
15-20  Asst. coach, BGSU
20-22  Asst. coach, NC State
22-24  Asst. coach, Campbell
24-25  GM, Utah

He's been placed in a difficult spot just trying to field a roster. Between transfers and graduation, there's not much left. Markell Johnson-Nichols appears to be staying. But otherwise, the team looks to be very young. Bucheit brought almost all of his freshman recruits to Marietta.

Bucheit has overhauled the Marietta roster in short order. Impressive list of incoming transfers that are now confirmed on social media (with some additional ones rumored):

BJ Busbee - Mount Aloysius to Marietta
Elijah Harden - Heidelberg to Marietta
Jaiden Guerra-Howard - Heidelberg to Marietta
Jackson Beasley - Heidelberg to Marietta
Kevin Reynald Jr. - Heidelberg to Marietta
Mason Wisniewski - Heidelberg to Marietta
Sky Thomas - Penn State York (USCAA) to Marietta
John Castrilla - Bryant & Stratton (JUCO) to Marietta
Deuce Blake - Iowa Central (JUCO) to Marietta

Social media confirmed incoming transfers to Marietta:

BJ Busbee - Mount Aloysius to Marietta
Elijah Harden - Heidelberg to Marietta
Jaiden Guerra-Howard - Heidelberg to Marietta
Jackson Beasley - Heidelberg to Marietta
Kevin Reynald Jr. - Heidelberg to Marietta
Mason Wisniewski - Heidelberg to Marietta
Sky Thomas - Penn State York (USCAA) to Marietta
John Castrilla - Bryant & Stratton (JUCO) to Marietta
Deuce Blake - Iowa Central (JUCO) to Marietta

Outgoing transfers:
Danny Flood - Marietta to Trine
Jayden Bradshaw - Marietta to Trine
Michael Roberson - Marietta to Trine

I truly do not understand the economics of this. $30,000 - even for the smallest of D3s - is not "game changing" money. Add in the possibility of increased production costs, and the net profit is even less. Is that worth alienating parents and donors, all while limiting the overall exposure for your program?

If we're talking $100,000/year, maybe I'd understand. But this is selling your soul for a ridiculously low price. The fact that entire conferences are willing to go along with this is mind-boggling.

If I were a president or AD, I would literally laugh at the offer.

Carter Reese from Ohio Northern transferring to D1 Ohio: https://x.com/WNWarriorHoops/status/1918736046671507503

Elijah Harden, Heidelberg (one year) in the portal after the coaching change: https://x.com/baller_harden23/status/1923013002288111960

Marietta fans keeping their fingers crossed...

Bucheit now official: https://pioneers.marietta.edu/news/2025/5/15/mens-basketball-marietta-college-names-andy-bucheit-mens-basketball-head-coach.aspx

The big question now...will there be any portal transfers to follow?

Bucheit has frankly out-recruited Marietta consistently over the last 4 seasons. Much higher talent level overall on those recent Berg teams. Will be curious if any of his guys hit the portal and follow.

It is a tough time for Berg to be looking. The dominos continue to fall from the Brooks Miller to CMU move. Would Keandre Graves be under consideration for the promotion?

The obituary for Marietta basketball was written a bit prematurely. Andy Bucheit is an OUTSTANDING hire.

Quote from: scottiedawg on May 10, 2025, 12:54:37 PMMarietta is in bad financial trouble right?

No more than most similar schools. I'd rather be Marietta than several others in the OAC (BW, Berg, Wilmington, etc.), if you look into the financials, endowment, etc.

18 years is a long time to be at the same place. One thing missing from this discussion is that the last 3 seasons for Vanderwal have not been good. 5-13 record in the conference last season. I think it's a case of get out before your stock gets too low and have a chance for a fresh start.

Honestly, it's probably best for both sides. Sometimes you just need a change of scenery. Marietta fans will be forever grateful for how he built the program. Rumors are there are some pretty big D3 names interested in the position. Marietta basketball will be just fine.

Quote from: Dr. Acula on February 10, 2025, 01:17:21 PMWhile I agree it's a strong hire, thinking the Pios may have upgraded is a bit of a stretch to me at this point.  His predecessor was hired away because he had built the program up and won games.  Maybe Kaufman will continue to elevate the program.  I just don't want to discount what Waddle did there.  There's a reason stuff like that has only happened a couple times in the past 30 years.

Fully agree. Kaufman has a great resume, but Waddle did the heavy lifting of building the program. Hopefully he can build on that success, but it's a lot easier to take over an 8-3 team than a 1-10 team.