Here is a question for the board. Do PAC teams typically stay in hotels the night before the games?  Ie: SFU to CWRU is about 3.5 hours drive.
I know the NEC at one time had a rule that teams couldn't fly to away games and could only stay one night in a hotel, as to not give an advantage. Is there anything like that?  Are they allowed to, but is it uncommon?

Quote from: HCAlum86 on September 28, 2026, 11:31:40 AMAnyone have a take on SFU? I know they had a 30 point loss, but there's some decent teams that could find themselves down to GC by 4+ scores...

I watched the entire game.  I would assume SFU would be better than Oberlin, but if I had to bet I would put my money on Hiram.  SFU's offense didn't make a ton of mistakes and did pretty decent on pass blocking which was a positive. They didn't run the ball well and the line couldn't open up holes.  Qb play was ok and the WRs were ok too. Nothing catastrophic, just a bunch of 6 play 15 yard drives and a punt.

Defense came out slow but was decent after the first two series (10 points).  I was surprised how well GCC passed on us as I figured that would be our strong suit.

SFU just released their 2 deep.
4 of 5 starting O-linemen are freshmen.  The one returner played a decent amount last year. Some players on the line are playing on both sides of the ball. They have two good receivers/TEs that both played on last year's team and one is a 5th year senior.  Starting QB is apparently a Clarion transfer.

The defense looks pretty good, actually.  For sure some of those guys are on scholarships.  DL has a returning starter (Brown). Lewis at Safety started the first four games and got hurt.  A couple other guys that were reserves/ played special teams last year.

I think we will be fine until we lose a lineman to injury. As soon as that happens, we are in trouble. The defense should be good and the skill players on offense should be fine. If we had a couple more linemen we could compete, but I can't see us winning a game this year....best case scenario 1-7

Quote from: ADL70 on September 20, 2026, 11:47:17 AMAre you a D3 alum or have another local team to support?

Do you know if the Flash/Wolves have been able to scrimmage anyone?

I have some connects to Westminster so I went to a bunch of their games but mostly am just a football fan. They did have a scrimmage. I feel like they could be competitive this year if only they had like 4 or so more offensive linemen. They only have maybe 10 or so players over 250 lbs, which is a big problem.

So what do you guys think about SFU being competitive going forward?  I feel like we have a pretty nice campus and a great coach but I really don't know.  Is it hard to recruit good athletes to places like Thiel and Hiram?  Also, is SFU kind of in the same boat?  We have probably good facilities for D3 but I see that St. Vincent's made a big upgrade and are better than our's at this point and our campus is pretty rural.

I wanted to make sure that you guys realize that I watch more D3 football than probably 99% of football fans.  I swear I was like one of the first five followers of the Third Division on IG LOL. 

Quote from: ADL70 on September 05, 2026, 08:14:03 PMIt's criminal that they couldn't find a game for this week. Play Keystone and let W&J find a more competitive game.That would have allowed them two more weeks of practice before facing Gove City, their PAC debut.

I don't think they looked. I hope they do next year but they are trying to do D3 sports as cheaply as possible and don't want to spend the money on overnight stays. I was told through the grapevine that they didn't think they would have enough players for the year so they didn't want non conference games but even now they have more players than Oberlin, who scheduled 10 games. Going forward I bet they schedule like Juniata and Lycoming to avoid spending too much $$$.

Quote from: ADL70 on September 05, 2026, 08:14:03 PMWelcome to the PAC

Do you know if practice began this week? As I understand the rule they could have begun on the 3rd.

Yeah they just started last week. They do have a couple scholarship players returning. I would guess less than 10. I think I am going to try and check out a practice to see what they look like. The O line seems to be pretty inexperienced based on the roster and the D line seems to have the most depth.

SFU fan here.  I'll try and post a little this year.  It has been rough so far and I can't imagine we win any games this season with a dozen returners.  Going forward I think they will be fine as coach V is a great coach but that might be a few season from now.  The university has some pretty serious financial issues and it appears they are making some massive cuts so don't expect SFU to raise the PAC's profile.  They even changed the mascot but don't have the money to change the signage so I am told we will be Red Wolves/Flash for a while longer LOL.  Let me know if anyone has any questions and I can give you the scoop and my opinions.