CAA Scrimmage/Practice Notes

[jstclmet]

I saw 5 schools in 4 days. The following are some brief notes;

Thu - UNH
The offense looks good, Toman looked sharp, the RB's looked good, the OL looked and played well.

The defense did not have a good day.

Speaking with Coach Mac at the end of practice, he said some days the offense had good days, and some days the defense has good days. On those days, the other side of the ball will always not look so good. He wishes he could bottle a formula for both sides to have good days on the same day. I asked does UNH playing @ the FBS level ever come up in discussion, and he replied "No". We have to crawl before we can walk. One interesting note is that UNH until last Dec, never had to play in the snow. They've played in heavy rain and wind, but last Dec at Nova was the first time they played in those type conditions.

Fri - URI
The URI defense played well against the run, but were content to play back in coverage allowing the URI offense to pick up 5 - 7 yards underneath and move the ball down field. URI did not play the pass well. Chris Paul-Etienne had his left knee wrapped and did not participate, but will be ready on opening day. Steve Probst (QB xfer from HU) and Billy Morgan (WR xfer from HU) played well. Coach Trainer is excited about the Ram's progress, and passionate about playing in the CAA. I didn't have the heart to ask him about URI possibly moving to the NEC.

Sat a.m. - JMU
JMU has always been built on speed. The 2010 team is no different. I don't know why I was surprised, but JMU can and will get after you all over the field. The whistles were quick, so there were few opportunities for the Dukes to finish tackles, but you have to assume they would have as they were there on practically every play. Ronnell Brown did not participate, thus there was no real noticeable pass rush. However, on one occasion when Dudzik rolled left, and OLB was there to tap him on the shoulder, but pulled up and allowed Dudzik to make the throw.

The surprise of camp has been WR #23 Kirby Long. Coach Matthews stated that both Long and #29 Lee Reynolds could very well make people forget about Scotty McGee. There is no clear cut starter at RB. RB will most likely be by committee. The only time the JMU defense got really beat was when Dudzik and Thorpe pulled the ball down and ran. After practice back in the Coach's office, the OC told Coach Matthews that Dudzik will have to play better. Dudzik played with the 1's and looked better than Thorpe who played with the 2's. The offense is not yet where it wants to be.

Re: JMU going FBS, Coach Matthews is content with the rivalries and the conference the Dukes are currently in. The Administration would have to find a conference for the Dukes to play in before JMU would move to FBS which is not out of the question.

Sat p.m. - UR
UR's defense had the better of the day, and IMHO, UR's defense will have to carry the team this year. If the defense can keep the opposing offenses down, keep the opponents scoring to the 10 - 14 pt range, and provide some points on defense or TO's giving UR a short field, this may be enough of a boost for the UR offense. Neither QB looked very effective, nor did the OL blocking. RB will be by committee. UR will live and die with it's defense.

Sun - Nova
Whitney did not participate in the live action drills. MLB Kirkland also did not participate due to illness. Nova's concerns are on the DL. They have some athletes, but they appear to have trouble bending as the OL would get inside their pads neutralizing any type of rush. The Nova OL would make any DL look average though. Fr QB, Dustin Thomas looks to be Whitney heir apparent, and Nova looks to be in good hands in the future as they also just rec'd two high profile QB commitments. Winning a NC along with BEC discussions can't hurt recruiting.

Coach Talley confirmed that he did not know what was in the future for Nova, that he wanted to focus on the 2010 season, but Nova could be playing in the BEC next year.

I'm going to try and get to UD and TU this week.

[UNH_Alum_In_CT]

For the record, UNH played in snow at Maine in the season ending game of 2008 and to a certain extent during the 2005 playoff game vs. Colgate.

That Maine game had a snow covered field for the duration of the game. I'm guessing it was a drier snow than the slop I recall enduring at Villanova, but YorkCounty, Wren or 05 will have to confirm since I was in Florida that day (watched part of the game on Channel Surfing). The UNH offense struggled that game as well, but the Wildcats managed to win the game down the stretch. (Villanova 2009 > Maine 2008)

The Colgate playoff game was played in minor snow squalls and flurries. The field was never covered in snow, but there were patches that were covered and/or frozen. Cowell still had natural grass at that time.

[JMUpurplehazed]

Dude, you have a lot of time...wow, one helluva fan

[PenthouseClosedEnd]

Did you get any feedback on whether URI or Richmond were looking to move up?

You should totally ask Towson and Delaware if they are looking to move up too.

[State Line Liquors]

Were you able to find out how much Villanova was going to pay UD to play at the Radnor roller rink?

[Tribe4SF]

Dude, you have a lot of time...wow, one helluva fan

In the interest of full disclosure, he should make it clear that he covers the CAA for College Sporting News. His son is the anchor of the Villanova defense this year. I'm not sure where the boundaries of journalistic ethics come into play here, but his coverage this season is going to be very interesting, as his conversations with his son may be after having access to the practices of CAA opponents. I assume opposing coaches are aware of the relationship, and manage his access. The shrewder ones may engage in some disinformation.

[Fact]

Dude, you have a lot of time...wow, one helluva fan

In the interest of full disclosure, he should make it clear that he covers the CAA for College Sporting News. His son is the anchor of the Villanova defense this year. I'm not sure where the boundaries of journalistic ethics come into play here, but his coverage this season is going to be very interesting, as his conversations with his son may be after having access to the practices of CAA opponents. I assume opposing coaches are aware of the relationship, and manage his access. The shrewder ones may engage in some disinformation.

Oh come on.. Like Villanova really needs any extra information. It's not like anything you see in August would be any more useful than a couple weeks of game film..

[PenthouseClosedEnd]

In the interest of full disclosure, he should make it clear that he covers the CAA for College Sporting News. His son is the anchor of the Villanova defense this year. I'm not sure where the boundaries of journalistic ethics come into play here, but his coverage this season is going to be very interesting, as his conversations with his son may be after having access to the practices of CAA opponents. I assume opposing coaches are aware of the relationship, and manage his access. The shrewder ones may engage in some disinformation.

Oh come on.. Like Villanova really needs any extra information. It's not like anything you see in August would be any more useful than a couple weeks of game film..

I don't know man. I'm completely uncomfortable about the amount of conjecture being thrown around here.

Regarding the other poster, how many can the bowling alley in Radnor hold? Will real tailgating be permitted outside the bowling alley?

[State Line Liquors]

In the interest of full disclosure, he should make it clear that he covers the CAA for College Sporting News. His son is the anchor of the Villanova defense this year. I'm not sure where the boundaries of journalistic ethics come into play here, but his coverage this season is going to be very interesting, as his conversations with his son may be after having access to the practices of CAA opponents. I assume opposing coaches are aware of the relationship, and manage his access. The shrewder ones may engage in some disinformation.

Regarding the other poster, how many can the bowling alley in Radnor hold? Will real tailgating be permitted outside the bowling alley?

Basically all of UD's practices are open to the public, so we're not hiding anything anyways. In the interest of full disclosure, it'd be hard for an employee (I use that term loosely) of CSN to even confirm if CSN qualifies as journalism. Ethics? Those are for the professionals.

In response to the the bowling alley questioner, the occupancy of the Radnor bowling alley is really a rather 'fluid' measure. It typically depends on who's deejaying, whether or not they have the late night laser skate going on, if it's two for one Elio's pizza and root beer night, or if it's just a regular old Saturday afternoon on the Main Line. HOWEVER, that all changes now. With the subsidy that the BEC is willing to offer the wildkitties, they're talking about replacing the old gravel roof they put on in the 70s, raising the rafters, and adding at least another 300-400 bleacher seats in the mezzanine for the increased demand that Nova is sure to get with the realignment. Parking is completely up in the air at this point, but if you're looking for some tailgating the best we can offer is the 15 year old in the back alley selling the oregano he lifted from mom's spice cabinet.

[jstclmet]

In the interest of full disclosure, he should make it clear that he covers the CAA for College Sporting News. His son is the anchor of the Villanova defense this year. I'm not sure where the boundaries of journalistic ethics come into play here, but his coverage this season is going to be very interesting, as his conversations with his son may be after having access to the practices of CAA opponents. I assume opposing coaches are aware of the relationship, and manage his access. The shrewder ones may engage in some disinformation.

Everyone who is relevant is aware of my status. The schools are notified in advance when I'm visiting. Some see it as an opportunity to sell their program. At each visit, they're more than eager to set up interviews. Obviously, what's shown on the field is vanilla, but nonetheless blocking and tackling is still blocking and tackling. You either have speed or you don't. You either execute routes or you don't. You catch catchable balls or you don't. Execution is execution even in vanilla schemes.

UMass was closed to the media last Thursday. Their Media day is today, which I couldn't make. W&M conflicted with UR last Sat, thus I chose to visit UR and the new stadium, plus it was easier for me to make the drive from JMU to UR and witness both practices.

All of the Coaches appear sincere and passionate about their teams. I appreciate their candor. They realize who and what they are. I can't say that I feel that there is any disinformation coming from them. If there was a subject or concern, I'm sure the coaches would choose to not discuss it or simply say it's something internal that they're going to work on. As for concerns that were voiced, IMHO, they were sincere and the respective coaching staffs are working diligently to cover/hide those areas.

I'm just sharing my observations. Take it for what it's worth.

[ur2K]

Were you able to find out how much Villanova was going to pay UD to play at the Radnor roller rink?

Fact wrote:

Tribe4SF wrote:
In the interest of full disclosure, he should make it clear that he covers the CAA for College Sporting News. His son is the anchor of the Villanova defense this year. I'm not sure where the boundaries of journalistic ethics come into play here, but his coverage this season is going to be very interesting, as his conversations with his son may be after having access to the practices of CAA opponents. I assume opposing coaches are aware of the relationship, and manage his access. The shrewder ones may engage in some disinformation.


Oh come on.. Like Villanova really needs any extra information. It's not like anything you see in August would be any more useful than a couple weeks of game film..



I don't know man. I'm completely uncomfortable about the amount of conjecture being thrown around here.

Regarding the other poster, how many can the bowling alley in Radnor hold? Will real tailgating be permitted outside the bowling alley?

Wait, I'm confused. Will they be playing at the bowling alley or the roller rink? Or is it a multipurpose arena? Is there a track?

[State Line Liquors]

Wait, I'm confused. Will they be playing at the bowling alley or the roller rink? Or is it a multipurpose arena? Is there a track?

The occupancy of the building depends entirely on which day/night of the week you show up. The only thing we know for sure at this point is with all the Benjamins the BEC is dangling in front of the rink's proprietor, he's going to move the arcade games to another area of the facility to accomodate Nova Football's locker room. Big Buck Hunter and Golden Tee fans BE ADVISED.

[Observer2]

Wait, I'm confused. Will they be playing at the bowling alley or the roller rink? Or is it a multipurpose arena? Is there a track?

The occupancy of the building depends entirely on which day/night of the week you show up. The only thing we know for sure at this point is with all the Benjamins the BEC is dangling in front of the rink's proprietor, he's going to move the arcade games to another area of the facility to accomodate Nova Football's locker room. Big Buck Hunter and Golden Tee fans BE ADVISED.

I'm assuming that the playing surface in this "new" facility will be of the "roll-up" variety. I cannot imagine that bowling, roller skating and football could all be played on the same turf. This should also bring an end to the confusing set of lines on the current field. Hopefully, the lacrosse, soccer, field hockey and tennis programs will remain where they are.

[State Line Liquors]

The occupancy of the building depends entirely on which day/night of the week you show up. The only thing we know for sure at this point is with all the Benjamins the BEC is dangling in front of the rink's proprietor, he's going to move the arcade games to another area of the facility to accomodate Nova Football's locker room. Big Buck Hunter and Golden Tee fans BE ADVISED.

I'm assuming that the playing surface in this "new" facility will be of the "roll-up" variety. I cannot imagine that bowling, roller skating and football could all be played on the same turf. This should also bring an end to the confusing set of lines on the current field. Hopefully, the lacrosse, soccer, field hockey and tennis programs will remain where they are.

Soccer is moving to the Philadelphia Union's stadium, lacrosse will be playing at Franklin Field and sharing lockers with UPenn, and Tennis will be moving to the parking lot at Citizens Bank Park. However, with the financial incentives/subsidies from the BEC, they've begun moving forward with a VU light rail system that should lighten the burden on fans and student athletes.

[Fact]

How did this automatically come back to Villanova going to the Big East?

[89Hen]

How did this automatically come back to Villanova going to the Big East?

And why did Richmond build a track around their new field?

[ur2K]

I saw 5 schools in 4 days. The following are some brief notes;

Sun - Nova
Whitney did not participate in the live action drills. MLB Kirkland also did not participate due to illness. Nova's concerns are on the DL. They have some athletes, but they appear to have trouble bending as the OL would get inside their pads neutralizing any type of rush. The Nova OL would make any DL look average though. Fr QB, Dustin Thomas looks to be Whitney heir apparent, and Nova looks to be in good hands in the future as they also just rec'd two high profile QB commitments. Winning a NC along with BEC discussions can't hurt recruiting.

Coach Talley confirmed that he did not know what was in the future for Nova, that he wanted to focus on the 2010 season, but Nova could be playing in the BEC next year.

I'm going to try and get to UD and TU this week.

He started it

[State Line Liquors]

How did this automatically come back to Villanova going to the Big East?

Exactly. The only explanation I can think of is that there must be at least a 50/50 chance that Nova realigns sometime within the next 2 weeks.

Oh yeah, and....

I asked does UNH playing @ the FBS level ever come up in discussion, and he replied "No".

Re: JMU going FBS, Coach Matthews is content with the rivalries and the conference the Dukes are currently in. The Administration would have to find a conference for the Dukes to play in before JMU would move to FBS which is not out of the question.

Winning a NC along with BEC discussions can't hurt recruiting.

Coach Talley confirmed that he did not know what was in the future for Nova, that he wanted to focus on the 2010 season, but Nova could be playing in the BEC next year.

[PenthouseClosedEnd]

Any truth to the rumor that KC Keeler is a lousy tipper at Combination Bowling Alley/Roller Rink/Football facilities...?

[State Line Liquors]

Any truth to the rumor that KC Keeler is a lousy tipper at Combination Bowling Alley/Roller Rink/Football facilities...?

Much like JMU, KC Keeler has always been built on speed (at leaving when the check/bill arrives). At the Combination Bowling Alley/Roller Rink/ Football facilities, he'll be no different.

[PenthouseClosedEnd]

Alright, we've gotten a little silly and off track here.

Back to topic. T, ... any word if URI is looking to move up?

[ur2K]

How did this automatically come back to Villanova going to the Big East?

And why did Richmond build a track around their new field?

What track? That is just additional space for team stretching.

Do you think the multipurpose arena/roller rink/bowling ally would be a good time to try something new and fresh out - like yellow turf?

[WrenFGun]

For the record, UNH played in snow at Maine in the season ending game of 2008 and to a certain extent during the 2005 playoff game vs. Colgate.

That Maine game had a snow covered field for the duration of the game. I'm guessing it was a drier snow than the slop I recall enduring at Villanova, but YorkCounty, Wren or 05 will have to confirm since I was in Florida that day (watched part of the game on Channel Surfing). The UNH offense struggled that game as well, but the Wildcats managed to win the game down the stretch. (Villanova 2009 > Maine 2008)

The Colgate playoff game was played in minor snow squalls and flurries. The field was never covered in snow, but there were patches that were covered and/or frozen. Cowell still had natural grass at that time.

...Indeed I will confirm that it was snowing at the Maine game, and it was pretty bad. I'd say it was probably 15-20 degrees and it'd been snowing for the entire drive up to Orono. We didn't sit at any time because there was really no point, and I recall jogging along the sideline for much of halftime so as not to freeze. Easily one of the best games I've ever been to, though. Mike Boyle scored late in the fourth and then when Terrance Klein had the game winning INT the UNH players actually came to the fence and gave some of us high fives on the sidelines. Excellent.

[jstclmet]

Saw UD & TU practice today;

Re: UD, their practice began @ 8:15. I arrived @ 9:15, and it rained continuously. I stayed under a tent and took photos from afar. I could see QB's (Sasek & Burns) throwing passes to WR's on a field to my right, completing most of them. I saw one get picked, and several others knocked down, but the WR's got the better of the matchups.

On the middle field Devlin and the 1's were executing the running game against a Def 7 from about the 20 in. As they were on the opposite 20 going in that direction, I could not tell how effective they were at creating holes.

UD had pretty much been the walking wounded on defense since the Spring. They're almost 100% healthy with some issues remaing on the DL. While they're capable of playing in the first game against WCU, Several of the DL starters may be held out in order to have them ready for SDSU. SDSU plays smashmouth football, and the UD coaching staff wants to have its full contingent of DL available for that game.

Re: FBS, UD has its eye on the FCS and CAA landscape, and is very well aware that some schools are positiioning themselves for a move to FBS, while others are doing their very best to keep a grip on their position in the CAA. UD does not want to be left in a conference that is no longer the #1 conference in FCS. Long range goals include wrapping the stands around the endzone where the scoreboard now resides.

The question I was asked is "WHAT IS NOVA DOING??" There is a hope that Nova does go FBS as this might be the domino that pushes UD into making that same decision.

Re: Towson;
Towson practiced in uppers today, and while the defense did tackle the offense on occasion, the coaches did their best to keep everyone up. The TU skill players appeared to be a step or 2 faster than the defense. In fact, IMHO, the offense had the better of the day. Didn't realize how small QB Athens was (Pat Haden like). Coach Ambrose said he appeared much taller last year, but this year TU has some bigger OL, and now Athens looks small compared to them. Athens also looked small compared to the other 4 QB's. Coach Ambrose told me in June and he mentioned it again today that on both sides of the ball, the lineman are 15 - 20 lbs heavier and stronger. IMHO of the 7 teams I saw over the past two weekends, TU has the smallest OL/DL. Coach Ambrose admits they're still a couple of players short, but they're getting better.

Re: FBS, TU also has their eye on that prize. First things first, they must win games and fill their stadium. In 10 years, TU will be a different program.