FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[Crawford]

Wabash's Brody Rucker hit a 50 yard field goal!

[Crawford]

All four games this week ended in shutouts.  Can't remember that happening before.

[Whitecarrera]

Congrats to Brody! That ties a record that has stood since 1985.

[CollegeGolf18]

Hey Pat, Wabash moved up to #33 in my fictitious poll! 😉

Wabash up to #28

[Crawford]

Hey Pat, Wabash moved up to #33 in my fictitious poll! 😉

Wabash up to #28

If Wabash can pull off an upset this coming weekend my fictitious poll will have to be dismantled 🤣.

[WabashBob]

Wabash's Brody Rucker hit a 50 yard field goal!

And it looked like it had another 5-6 yards, if not more, of distance.

[maripp2002]

While not the D3football poll, Wabash is ranked at 25 in the AFCA poll. Which makes Wabash vs. JCU a ranked match-up. I'm really excited to see how both teams play. I got to watch JCU earlier in the season at JHU, where they looked a bit out gunned, more in depth than in talent - JHU is for real, but that means so is JCU.

They have an excellent wide receiver who is a FCS graduate transfer, and an excellent graduate student tight end who was an FCS transfer as well. I'm not sure if those are leftovers from the COVID years, or just a boon to having one of the few graduate schools in the conference, but both guys caught my eye in the JHU game - both can play.

Win, lose or draw, I'm excited to see the top of the conference get a few more tough games. That should help anyone who makes it come playoff/bowl game time.

Welcome JCU to a new NCAC rivalry!

[JCUStreaks70]

I am very interested to see how this weekend and then 10/18 at DePauw will play out. Historically, we ramp up as the year progresses, so even keeping it close to JHU for 50 minutes was big for me.

And as a NW Indiana resident (No, not Gary), I am very pleased the JCU will more than likely have one game in Indiana each fall.

[Crawford]

While not the D3football poll, Wabash is ranked at 25 in the AFCA poll. Which makes Wabash vs. JCU a ranked match-up. I'm really excited to see how both teams play. I got to watch JCU earlier in the season at JHU, where they looked a bit out gunned, more in depth than in talent - JHU is for real, but that means so is JCU.

They have an excellent wide receiver who is a FCS graduate transfer, and an excellent graduate student tight end who was an FCS transfer as well. I'm not sure if those are leftovers from the COVID years, or just a boon to having one of the few graduate schools in the conference, but both guys caught my eye in the JHU game - both can play.

Win, lose or draw, I'm excited to see the top of the conference get a few more tough games. That should help anyone who makes it come playoff/bowl game time.

Welcome JCU to a new NCAC rivalry!

I watched JCU's first game on the internet, I thought they looked a lot bigger and more athletic than your average NCAC team. I spent some time at Saint John's University in Collegeville, MN. JCU reminded me of the size and athleticism of the Jonnie's.

[maripp2002]

. I spent some time at Saint John's University in Collegeville, MN. JCU reminded me of the size and athleticism of the Jonnie's.

The MIAC is always a bit of a mystery to me. The top end of the conference (St. Johns and Bethel currently, and St. Thomas historically) are usually quite competitive on the national scene. But the bottom of the conference is so bad, it's really hard to get a feel for how good they really are. It's not all that different than the NCAC in some ways. I trust your gut on the size and athleticism of the team, but comparing them to Hamline or Augsburg is tough. Either way, if I were a betting man, I'd bet the Johnnies will be in the playoffs this year. They've got a tough matchup of their own this week against Bethel, maybe their only tough game this regular season.

[Dr. Acula]

I would be very surprised if coming from the OAC and already facing JHU this season that anything they see in conference will have JCU on their heels.  By no means saying they run the table in NCAC, there are quality teams for sure, just meaning if you're used to playing Mount annually and JHU already this year you've seen elite talent.  They also lost those games I mentioned so to my point not saying they run the table by any means.  Good programs that are very well coached stand in their way.

[ADL70]

Dr - that is a perfect example, as this Twitter post confirms. And if you look at the pictures you'll see two sets of hash marks (pic 1) and adjustable goalposts (pic 2).

https://x.com/ohiostadiums/status/690325494827474945?s=46&t=57Idl2kdBt4XRffKcNPGpA

Whitecarrera, Did you see both teams and the NCAC officials allowed the Oberlin / John Carroll game to have 12 minute quarters instead of 15 minutes?  Perfect example if both teams agree to a slight change from the normal NCAA regulations, it is fine.  The shorter game potentially hurt John Carroll players from making more yardage or setting records, and thus not getting potential awards or recognition.  But the shorter game was for player safety, so a good move.

The announcers stated that all NCAC coaches agreed that their games against Oberlin would be 12 min quarters.. I cannot confirm that is the case, but guess we'll see with each game for Oberlin moving forward? Either way, as a new member to the conference, I cannot help but wonder how long will Oberlin field a team? Is there a world where they drop football outright? Obviously one big reason schools have been fielding, or adding, football was for the enrollment boost; but with Oberlin being a school that has no worries of closing while only fielding 30 plus players, it does not seem that they need football? Just curious as the Newb to the NCAC

I think there is a legitimate concern that Oberlin doesn't even finish this season, much less field a team in the future.  Football hasn't been a priority for years, and they clearly aren't using football to help drive enrollment or raise money.  Tough situation but short of a seismic shift in their universe where somebody cares enough to make it viable, I fear the end is near for that program.

I'm not sure how one measures whether a sport is a priority. Oberlin built a new stadium in 2014. Oberlin has the heritage of being Heisman's first coaching stop. Their current coach is grandson of CFB HOF Coach John Pont. And they were the last Ohio team to beat OSU.

That said, I hope that they do drop football and NCAC invites CWRU as an affiliate like Wash U which was added to replace Hiram. CWRU was one of the charter members of NCAC (also OAC, PAC, UAA (like WashU), and MAC (Western Reserve).

[wally_wabash]

While not the D3football poll, Wabash is ranked at 25 in the AFCA poll. Which makes Wabash vs. JCU a ranked match-up. I'm really excited to see how both teams play. I got to watch JCU earlier in the season at JHU, where they looked a bit out gunned, more in depth than in talent - JHU is for real, but that means so is JCU.

They have an excellent wide receiver who is a FCS graduate transfer, and an excellent graduate student tight end who was an FCS transfer as well. I'm not sure if those are leftovers from the COVID years, or just a boon to having one of the few graduate schools in the conference, but both guys caught my eye in the JHU game - both can play.

Win, lose or draw, I'm excited to see the top of the conference get a few more tough games. That should help anyone who makes it come playoff/bowl game time.

Welcome JCU to a new NCAC rivalry!

Good synopsis and this is a huge game in the league.  JCU might be ok if they end with two losses, but they definitely don't want that loss to happen before they play DePauw.  Wabash looks great for the postseason if they can (at least) split the JCU/DPU games.  I think more importantly for Wabash this week is the chance to measure themselves halfway through Gilbert's first season against a bona fide playoff caliber team.  We'll get an idea of where the LGs are now and where they need to get to before Week 11. 

Semptimphelter and Montgomery are about as good as it gets at QB/WR in the Division, so this is a big challenge for a defense that has been playing really well.  I think if Wabash can stop putting the ball on the ground (really about the only sticking point for them through the first month), we've got a 4 quarter game here. 

I'm positively giddy about this, btw.  It's been a decade (or so) since we could look around the NCAC and say "there's a couple of teams here that could win some rounds in the tournament".  We've got that again and it's very, very cool. 

[JCUStreaks70]

While not the D3football poll, Wabash is ranked at 25 in the AFCA poll. Which makes Wabash vs. JCU a ranked match-up. I'm really excited to see how both teams play. I got to watch JCU earlier in the season at JHU, where they looked a bit out gunned, more in depth than in talent - JHU is for real, but that means so is JCU.

They have an excellent wide receiver who is a FCS graduate transfer, and an excellent graduate student tight end who was an FCS transfer as well. I'm not sure if those are leftovers from the COVID years, or just a boon to having one of the few graduate schools in the conference, but both guys caught my eye in the JHU game - both can play.

Win, lose or draw, I'm excited to see the top of the conference get a few more tough games. That should help anyone who makes it come playoff/bowl game time.

Welcome JCU to a new NCAC rivalry!

Good synopsis and this is a huge game in the league.  JCU might be ok if they end with two losses, but they definitely don't want that loss to happen before they play DePauw.  Wabash looks great for the postseason if they can (at least) split the JCU/DPU games.  I think more importantly for Wabash this week is the chance to measure themselves halfway through Gilbert's first season against a bona fide playoff caliber team.  We'll get an idea of where the LGs are now and where they need to get to before Week 11. 

Semptimphelter and Montgomery are about as good as it gets at QB/WR in the Division, so this is a big challenge for a defense that has been playing really well.  I think if Wabash can stop putting the ball on the ground (really about the only sticking point for them through the first month), we've got a 4 quarter game here. 

I'm positively giddy about this, btw.  It's been a decade (or so) since we could look around the NCAC and say "there's a couple of teams here that could win some rounds in the tournament".  We've got that again and it's very, very cool. 

Sorry, call me biased, but I really do not want to see a 4 Quarter game. I want us to score early, and often, enroute to a comfortable win.

[CollegeGolf18]

While not the D3football poll, Wabash is ranked at 25 in the AFCA poll. Which makes Wabash vs. JCU a ranked match-up. I'm really excited to see how both teams play. I got to watch JCU earlier in the season at JHU, where they looked a bit out gunned, more in depth than in talent - JHU is for real, but that means so is JCU.

They have an excellent wide receiver who is a FCS graduate transfer, and an excellent graduate student tight end who was an FCS transfer as well. I'm not sure if those are leftovers from the COVID years, or just a boon to having one of the few graduate schools in the conference, but both guys caught my eye in the JHU game - both can play.

Win, lose or draw, I'm excited to see the top of the conference get a few more tough games. That should help anyone who makes it come playoff/bowl game time.

Welcome JCU to a new NCAC rivalry!

Good synopsis and this is a huge game in the league.  JCU might be ok if they end with two losses, but they definitely don't want that loss to happen before they play DePauw.  Wabash looks great for the postseason if they can (at least) split the JCU/DPU games.  I think more importantly for Wabash this week is the chance to measure themselves halfway through Gilbert's first season against a bona fide playoff caliber team.  We'll get an idea of where the LGs are now and where they need to get to before Week 11. 

Semptimphelter and Montgomery are about as good as it gets at QB/WR in the Division, so this is a big challenge for a defense that has been playing really well.  I think if Wabash can stop putting the ball on the ground (really about the only sticking point for them through the first month), we've got a 4 quarter game here. 

I'm positively giddy about this, btw.  It's been a decade (or so) since we could look around the NCAC and say "there's a couple of teams here that could win some rounds in the tournament".  We've got that again and it's very, very cool. 

Sorry, call me biased, but I really do not want to see a 4 Quarter game. I want us to score early, and often, enroute to a comfortable win.

Call me biased but I'd like to see the same. A 42-7 Wabash win!