FB: North Coast Athletic Conference

[CollegeGolf18]

This board used to be one of the most active, looks like even the Wabash fan base has given up.

I think a lot of the Wabash faithful on the board have either passed (RIP) or when COVID hit kind of fell off. I know myself and a few other posters who used to be active stay in touch and life just got busy.

With that being said, yeah - the game went pretty much as expected today. Offensively, Wabash was just not very good this year.

[WLG Old Historian]

I am getting tired of beating of an old "dead horse." Here are some things to consider. Wabash did not give up on football. Raeburn left us so late in the recruiting season that we could not launch a national search. By him leaving so late, we also lost a potential in-house next head coach (Hammer) to another school. Of the remaining asst. coaches, Morel was chosen. Now all you haters are still blaming Morel for what this year's team did in the Monon Bell Game. Look at the history books and first year Monon Bell Game coaches don't have great records. DePauw's coach has won 4 in a row, yes. He lost his first Monon Bell Game. Finally, if we have "given up" on football, why did we have 156 players on the roster to start this year. The most ever in modern Little Giant history and among the 156 are some of the best high school players of 2024.

Yes, some of us old-timers have passed away, but as for me I quit posting because of the constant sour grapes coming the Wabash "not-so-faithful."

[WabashBob]

Observations from today's game:

-first half of the first quarter was everything a Wabash fan could want. Long drive that took a ton of time off the clock, score a touchdown, force a 3 and our defensively... then the pick. Which it wasn't even a terrible call per se: just a little under thrown and the DPU kid got a good jump on it and under cut it.

-For the most part, and I know how this sounds when you give up 41 point, I honestly think the defense held up their end of the bargain. 3rd downs, especially 3rd and longs, were a bit of an Achilles heel, but not a ton of big big plays, force them to drive, and they executed.

-Offensively, it honestly doesn't seem to complicated. When we had success on 1st down, we moved the sticks, when we didn't, we didn't.

I hate it for this group of Seniors, but I trust Gilbert moving forward 100%, absolutely no doubt there.

A couple of odds and ends, especially for those who watched from home. Not that any of these changes the outcome:

-WTH was with the 10ish minute delay in the 1st quarter? Seemed like something with DPU headsets? It seemed like their coach was looking down at his comm box a lot during the conversation.

-Just how bad was the fumble recovery that wasn't on the opening kickoff? Looked really bad from the grandstand.

Either way, WAF!

[Whitecarrera]

I'll be very curious to go back and watch the replay. A lot of questions, but I'll hold my tongue for now.

[WLG Old Historian]

TV ran the replay a couple of times. By my eyes, it appeared Wabash had control just before going out of bounds. I believe it was Steve Hoffman in the booth also said it could have been ruled a recovery by Wabash. But it was also mentioned that the officials may not have had a clear view of the recovery because the Wabash player rolled over the ball as he went out of bounds.

[WabashBob]

Hmm... interesting. That play could have been massive, but alas, 90-something yards later...

Some additional context to add a bit to what WLG Old Historian said: I cant speak about anyone else, but I was on that 1st team of Raeburn's tenure. We had just come off the Havercamp game and chief among the things that ER emphasized all year was his philosophy that you have to win your rivalry games... and we got absolutely rolled at home. The next year, we started a streak of 7 straight. Also, with a new head coach comes a new staff. Gilbert was a first time coordinator under that first Raeburn year and even with a couple years experience at this level as a position coach, it's different when you're in that seat. There were definitely times today (and other weeks where I've been able to plug in and watch) where I scratched my head and went "huh," but that happens every time I turn any game on.

Secondly, as to the idea that Wabash has somehow "given up" on football: not only the roster numbers, which are insane, but the transformation that the Armory has undergone has been beyond comprehension. Additionally, some of the upgrades that have been made to the weight room are fantastic.

Today, and the last 3 years, have been a tough watch at times for sure, but I think it's hard to look at what is going on behind the scenes and not be encouraged.

[WabashBob]

For the second year in a row, Wabash will play in a post-season bowl game, which is still hard to wrap my mind around.  Ohio Northern in the Forever Lawn Bowl.

[FCGrizzliesGrad]

Former Wabash coach Greg Carlson passed. He compiled a 112-57-2 record in 18 seasons from 1983-2000.

[WabashBob]

I'll be very curious to go back and watch the replay. A lot of questions, but I'll hold my tongue for now.

I just watched the replay, the endzone angle makes that call egregiously bad... Does it change the ultimate outcome? Likely not, but still, it was really, really bad.  A great play from Wabash's #42, I don't have a roster handy, but a great punch out.

[WAF-WDE]

I am delighted that Wabash gets to play in a bowl game.  Any postseason action is a recruiting draw.  Plus, it delays the players' Thanksgiving break by only a few days.

I am too busy with end-of-the semester duties to make it to Canton, but I think I'd rather stream the Wabash-ONU game than attend the Auburn-Mercer game.

[JCUStreaks70]

Really would love to see Wabash beat ONU, and beat them comfortably... Call me vengeful, but my visceral hatred for Baldwin Wallace still exists, and their whole "we would've gone to the playoffs too, if we were in the NCAC" is arguably one of the worst takes the delusional fan base has made. the OAC losing JCU has made it a glorified "mid-major" conference, surviving on the backs of Mount (while that is quite the team to carry a conference). They claim we "fled" because we couldn't beat Mount; because you know D3 schools make conference decisions based on one sport; when the reality is, multiple schools in the OAC are struggling financially and will probably see one or two of them close within the decade. Couple with the fact that the NCAC is a MUCH BETTER fit academically for JCU, and it was a no brainer.

But back to my rant, the current NCAC, in my opinion, is better than the OAC because you have three solid programs, and a 4th coming next year, not to mention if Wittenberg goes back to their standards. So please Wabash, for the sake of my sanity, please please please beat ONU, so I can trash talk that glorified Jr. College in Berea.