FB: New Jersey Athletic Conference

[MRMIKESMITH]

Looking at current brackets and projected brackets, here are teams that Salisbury and CNU could potentially play in the first 2 rounds.

Salisbury (#3/#4/#5/#6) - Cortland, Endicott, Eastern, Union, F&M, Muhlenberg, Springfield, John Carroll, Susquehanna, W&J, Grove City, and Curry
CNU (#1/#2) - R-MC, Muhlenberg, F&M, Eastern, W&J, Susquehanna, Grove City, Chapman (travel bracket), Willamette (travel bracket).

CNUs 3rd Quarterfinal game will probably require a flight from or to many of the potential 1 to 2 seeds, unless its a team aforementioned or potential game with Mount, Johns Hopkins. Many of the other #1/#2 seeds can not get to CNU by bus.

Salisbury will most likely face a Hopkins or Mount Union in the S16 if they were to win their 2nd round matchup.

As I predicted, Salisbury will face a Top 10 Johns Hopkins team. To succeed, Salisbury must be at its best in all three phases of the game.

Hopkins has had two weeks to prepare for the triple option, having just faced Springfield's iteration. While Salisbury's specific execution of the offense has evolved drastically over the years from the traditional Springfield approach, Hopkins' defense will still require high discipline against Salisbury Spread-Option.

While two weeks of preparation is often seen as a significant benefit against the option, option OCs must sometimes adjust on the fly when defenses change their approach from their defenses. Salisbury's offensive coordinators (OCs) now have film of how Hopkins defends the option, which will aid their preparation—every coin has two sides.

Defensively, this is a great opportunity for Salisbury's defense to prove critics and statisticians wrong. All season, Salisbury has struggled against the pass, particularly when opponents abandoned their run game. They will face a high-powered, dual-faceted, but patient offensive attack from Hopkins, widely considered one of the best-balanced attacks in DIII. Salisbury can learn from its prior game against Endicott, which successfully used a tempo-based scheme to achieve over 200 passing yards. Salisbury has talented players; it is up to the staff to put them in the best position to succeed. The players must execute the calls, recognize formations quickly and plays, and MAKE THE PLAYS. Salisbury will still need to stop the run first, as Hopkins will maintain its rushing attack to keep the defense honest and create opportunities for downfield passes.

Special teams and turnovers have been Salisbury's Achilles' heel in big games. The special teams unit must be disciplined, sound, and execute the little things correctly (make the chip shots). This will either maintain field position or put Salisbury in a strong position to succeed.

Salisbury also has to protect the ball (no fumbles or BAD interceptions). Self-inflicted, untimely penalties and turnovers have given opponents sparks to stay in games (e.g., Endicott) or win outright (e.g., CNU). If Salisbury plays a clean game, avoids 15-yard defensive penalties that help the opposing offenses move chains, and the offense avoids penalties that put them behind the chains, Salisbury will be very successful (I know cliche).

Remember folks, Salisbury has playoff experience, and opponents have to prepare to play against them, too.