FB: Liberty League

[UfanBill]

1999,2009,2019...Those are the years Union beat Ithaca in their 20 previous match-ups. Every 10 years. That bodes well for the 2029 Garnet but what about THIS year?  Oh yeah, Union also beat the Bombers in 2005...so maybe it's not just every 10 years maybe it's every 20 too. Hey, I'm grasping for something!  

Union 20 - Ithaca 10...Why not? In Patch we trust. Flanagan leads the Liberty League in both passing and rushing. He'll find a way...I'm always wary of ghosts this time of year. One haunts that stadium. The Union defense has gotten better every week and holds back the weird stuff Saturday.

RPI 55- Hilbert 0...The Hawks will win some week. They may even score THIS week. Probably not.

Hobart 30 - St. Lawrence 17...The Statesmen had to have taken a hard look in the mirror on their bye week. Fortunately the mirror is in their home locker room.

Rochester 33 - Buffalo St 20...The Yellowjackets are gathering the pieces while the Bengals remain in pieces.   

[Bartman]

Union fans should enjoy the passing of Patch. Since Drach took over the reigns he has really improved Patch's passing(his running is natural).Drach is a great QB coach and Patch was so much more accurate and aware of evaluating his progressions against Hobart. Patch may be the difference tomorrow, but his running is always a risk for injury....so good luck tomorrow.....Bartman is very jealous you have the opportunity in front of you.

[UfanBill]

Union fans should enjoy the passing of Patch. Since Drach took over the reigns he has really improved Patch's passing(his running is natural).Drach is a great QB coach and Patch was so much more accurate and aware of evaluating his progressions against Hobart. Patch may be the difference tomorrow, but his running is always a risk for injury....so good luck tomorrow.....Bartman is very jealous you have the opportunity in front of you.

In his weekly Union Sports podcast "Parting Schotts" Schenectady Daily Gazette sportswriter Ken Schott interviews Union H/C Jon Drach and asks him this specific question concerning Patch: "Do you think he's running too much?" to which Drach replies tursely "that's NOT a concern." Drach explains Flanagan runs 13-16 times per game with half improvisations and half called plays. He calls his veteran QB tough, dynamic, celebral and a true leader. I only hope this doesn't jink him... Drach's coachspeak includes saying the Garnet must win the line of scrimmage and praises his O-line and D-line and how far his defense has come. The Podcast opens with talk about Union hockey and the Drach interview comes in at about the 25:00 mark. There's also a bonus interview with Don Brewer of Grand Funk Railroad... https://the-parting-schotts-podcast.castos.com/episodes/union-mens-and-womens-hockey-talk-drach-on-union-football-special-guest-don-brewer-of-grand-funk

[Bartman]

UFAN, I'm not trying to jinx Patch, but I looked at the stats from the Hobart game and Patch was involved in either passing(197) or rushing(116) for 85% of Union's yardage. he is , no doubt , the OPY in the LL. The Ithaca defense has some very hard hitters , just play smart.

[IC798891]

Flanagan is certainly in line to be OPOY for the conference. Ithaca routinely struggles with running QBs.

I like Union today, 23-14

[IC798891]

Ithaca briefly saved their season at Rochester with a halftime QB switch, but this week it was too late.

Union prevails 19-14 (what a prediction by me)

Ithaca may have to deal with the reality that for the second straight season, a winnable conference game was left on the table due to suboptimal quarterback play. Ultimately, they'll need to start and finish a season with the same QB1 if they want to return to the playoffs.

Congratulations to Union on the win.

[Bartman]

Congrats to Union beating the Bombers at home. Patch was the difference and this sets up an awesome Shoes game , assuming neither team falters down the stretch. Ithaca was gettable this year and I was not surprised by this result today(awesome prediction by IC7).
  Hobart finally played well for a whole game and monkey stomped the Saints as Jeremy Weiss passed for over 300 yards with 4 TDs(one a record setting 96 yarder), EJ Taylor ran for over 100 yards again and passes Patch to become the leading rusher in the LL. I think Hobart will need to give QB Jeremy Weiss a wide berth for the rest of the season to develop him for next year as he seems to have the support of the team and the receivers are starting to develop well. There is talk about finishing strong and potentially having a chance for a post season game with a 5-5 record. A decisive win over a tough Rochester team would help the resume . It sure feels good just to win.

[UfanBill]

I've been trying to leave a response for well over an hour but every time I was about to post it disappeared.  Not sure if the site was just gummed up, overwhelmed or a couple of you guys are responsible. In the meantime I've rewritten this about 4 times.

First in response to 79,88,91 while I commend you for going against your heart and picking Union it was me that predicted the Garnet victory first and by a very similar score.

Now to the game. That was the battle I thought it would be. In the first half Ithaca's D bottled up Flanagan's rushes and were tough to move the ball on. But Patch found a way...Hitting a long pass deep into Bomber territory and finishing the 19 play, 9:27, 80 yard drive with a touchdown. It was methodical but Patch found a way. Later Ithaca had their own 11 play drive but the Union D forced a missed FG. (Patch had nothing to do with it  )  Lots of good defense and punting...7-0 Union at the half.

The second half started with what was nearly the deciding factor. Ithaca made a QB change inserting Michael Reed and he almost single handedly moved the Bombers to the tie...7-7
The Ithaca staff found a way.

Union responded and another long drive resulted in a Patch Flanagan TD pass. Way to go Patch...14-7 U

The QBs took turns with each having 2 series stifled by great defense until with 7:20 left Reed bullied his way play after play for the tying score...14-14 under 2 minutes left...Way to go Michael. It looked like overtime loomed but...

Patch found a way... A late Francesco Pileggi FG gave the win to the Garnet Chargers.

Look, Ithaca did a great job focusing on Flanagan and making the mid-game adjustments that almost won them a game that they never led. Kudos to that team and their great coaching staff but today Union just had the difference on their side. #2     

 

 

[XREDDRAGON77]

Some ending to IC and Union!

[IC798891]

The Liberty League title, just as the coaches predicted, will come down to the Shoes game.

Yes, technically, Ithaca may still be alive in a few scenarios in which they beat RPI, and if you're an Ithaca fan, you're probably trying to talk yourself into the scenario in which the 2nd half of the Union game is going to be the offense we see going forward.

While I suspect Michael Reed will indeed be QB1 from here on out, I remember touting Colin Schumm's late season 2023 performance against Cortland after A.J. Wingfield's injury as being a harbinger of things to come, and also seeing the spark the switch to Parker seemed to provide the offense last year. None of those stuck. I'll eat the crow if proven wrong, but I think IC's got fundamental issues, and a QB switch isn't going to fix them all.

The longest run by an IC running back this year is 23 yards. Nicholas Lang is the only player with  reception of 35 yards or more. That's just not going to get the job done. They need to generate more explosive plays, but that's on more than just the QB.

Right now, Ithaca seems to be staring at another 6-4 season. It's going to be interesting to see what changes are made next year

[unionpalooza]

The Liberty League title, just as the coaches predicted, will come down to the Shoes game.

Yes, technically, Ithaca may still be alive in a few scenarios in which they beat RPI, and if you're an Ithaca fan, you're probably trying to talk yourself into the scenario in which the 2nd half of the Union game is going to be the offense we see going forward.

While I suspect Michael Reed will indeed be QB1 from here on out, I remember touting Colin Schumm's late season 2023 performance against Cortland after A.J. Wingfield's injury as being a harbinger of things to come, and also seeing the spark the switch to Parker seemed to provide the offense last year. None of those stuck. I'll eat the crow if proven wrong, but I think IC's got fundamental issues, and a QB switch isn't going to fix them all.

The longest run by an IC running back this year is 23 yards. Nicholas Lang is the only player with  reception of 35 yards or more. That's just not going to get the job done. They need to generate more explosive plays, but that's on more than just the QB.

Right now, Ithaca seems to be staring at another 6-4 season. It's going to be interesting to see what changes are made next year

I think you'll beat Cortland.  I know Union lost to them but we played our worst game, turning the ball over 5 times (mostly in the red zone), committing 100+ yards of penalties, and had our TE playing his first week of OL at left tackle, and yet somehow were still only down a point heading into the fourth quarter before melting down.  Your D matches up well against their running attack, and while their secondary is elite, I think you can probably run on them.

PS:  If Reed isn't your starter for the rest of the season, your coaches are crazy. 

[Machiavelli]

RPI finally broke into getting a few votes in the Top 25 poll. To be honest, I was almost expecting Union to get those votes, but RPI definitely deserves them. Can make a similar argument with Union now with last week's win.

Hilbert was as bad as advertised. Probably worse. I don't really care about the Hilbert TD in the 2nd half with a lot of reserves in, but that early long TD run feels an awful lot like the Buff St. long TD early last week. Against better competition, those early breakdowns are gonna hurt a lot worse. Aside from that, RPI is doing everything they need to do heading into the Ithaca and Union games after next week.

I did watch the Union/Ithaca game as well and it was a good one. Both teams battled but it felt like Union's game to lose right from the kickoff though they did match up pretty evenly. It's gonna be a fun last couple weeks of the season, that is for sure.

Glad to see Hobart get a W as well. They should win out and get to .500.

[Bartman]

Congrats to Mach's RPI on getting votes this week. It's not much , but hey it's all the LL has. RPI has two tough games in front of them with Ithaca(at Troylet) and the Shoes game. It should be a fun ending. Hobart has the Yellowjackets this week, but after the bye the team seems psyched to finish by winning out and scoring many, many points.The frustration of the early losses and injuries should be focused on performing in the remaining games:My LL rankings:

1. RPI
2.Union
3.Ithaca
4.Hobart
5.Rochester
6.SLU
7.Buffalo ST.
8.Hilbert

At this point I see RPI getting the only NCAA slot. But, they gotta win the games.
 

[IC798891]

Agreed on RPI, which has found another gear offensively. Union (and certainly not Ithaca) do not have the horses.