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Subject: Mercer 34 P 7 Author: Bengal [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] Date Posted: 20:57:29 10/12/24 Sat Only saw the first half. The Mercer defense was as advertised. Pretty quick and smothering. P Offense continues to struggle. Where were Volker and Murphy? Our third string RB, Clark, had a good game after a slow start. 21 carries for 117 yards and a TD. A frosh got a couple of carries. Turnovers galore. The defense held them to a FG in the first half; the Mercer TDs in that half were a punt return and fumble recovery in the end zone. Lots of work needed. Brown on Friday night. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

[> Subject: Re: Mercer 34 P 7 Author: M3 [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 21:17:42 10/12/24 Sat Play Clark Get a new QB Beat Brown [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> Subject: Re: Mercer 34 P 7 Author: sparman [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 23:17:38 10/12/24 Sat Offense is a 6 cylinder engine running on 4 plugs and 3 year old gasoline. I know the receivers and the OL must take some of the credit, but it's discouraging to see the coaching staff doesn't believe any of the other 12 QBs on the roster could do better than 4 INTs/2 fumbles/ 8 of 21. Special teams is like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> Subject: Re: Mercer 34 P 7 Author: Bengal [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 23:29:48 10/12/24 Sat There are 5 QBs on the roster, one is a freshman. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> Subject: Re: Mercer 34 P 7 Author: P-Fan [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 07:52:11 10/13/24 Sun M3 is spot on. IMO Clark is already better than Volker. He hits the whole hard and is a stronger runner. Volker tends to dance too much and Clark seems to be better in short yardage. However, the QB spot is a big problem. The tigers were not going to beat Mercer for sure, but Hipa is not the answer. I don't see any progress since the Lehigh game. He already has 9 INT's. This stat alone will lose ball games. The first pass he threw should have been a touchdown, but that was his best pass all day. He throws into double coverage and a couple of times, triple coverage. I don't think he sees the field well either and many of his passes are off target when receivers are open. He just needed to lead Barber on that one that was intercepted in the endzone. Of course, not all of this is on him. Special teams were bad yesterday and I have no idea what #66 was doing when that fumble (by Hipa) went into the endzone. His effort was subpar at best. Coach Surace has to see the same thing at QB and I think he may make the change this week. I think this week's Brown game will determine whether the Tigers are still in the race, or whether they're playing for next year. Two losses are pretty hard to overcome. Should be interesting this Friday night. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> Subject: Re: Mercer 34 P 7 Author: Jerrylh [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 10:00:59 10/13/24 Sun I was pessimistic about this season when I saw the preseason all-ivy list. We were tied for last with six and one was our punter. In addition, we didn't have an experienced quarterback. The quarterback situation is a disaster so far. Hipa threw 4 interceptions and lost two fumbles. The defense did OK and in my opinion was due to playing some freshmen and sophomores. A.J. Pigford is a freshman and is already the best linebacker on the team. We will be underdogs in every game for the foreseeable future. We need to develop a quarterback. We also need to develop some young wide receivers as all of our current wide receivers are seniors. Clark is already one of the best running backs in the Ivy League. He gained 117 yards against a team that no one has been able to run on and it wasn't because the offensive line opened any hole for him. He made his own holes. Bottom line is that we need to develop our freshmen and sophomores. There is significant talent there. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> Subject: Re: Mercer 34 P 7 Author: HDallmar [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 10:19:53 10/13/24 Sun The Tigers only had 196 yards of total offense. Their top two running backs did not play. The Mercer Bears, a 14 point favorite, are now 6-0. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> [> Subject: Re: Mercer 34 P 7 Author: Jerrylh [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 10:54:39 10/13/24 Sun Respectfully, the Tigers top running back is Ethan Clark. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> Subject: Re: Mercer 34 P 7 Author: M3 [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 11:04:35 10/13/24 Sun Lets see how creative the coaching staff is When Cozza did not have a great passing QB he went to the I bone Think out of the box [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> Subject: Re: Mercer 34 P 7 Author: Jerrylh [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 15:02:28 10/13/24 Sun Good point. I think Surace is already thinking outside the box. In my humble opinion, this was an audition for Clark and Hipa. Hipa, while inconsistent, had shown that he could excel at times. Clark passed with flying colors, but Hipa was awful. Surace played several sophomores and freshmen, and the results were pretty good. I suspect we will see a new quarterback next week. Hopefully some of the younger receivers will get some time. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> Subject: Re: Mercer 34 P 7 Author: Bengal [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 22:07:44 10/13/24 Sun Pigford did play very well, nice to see in a frosh. Our best LB? I don’t know but the suggestion triggers my observation that the LB position is hurting. Sanker, the only returning LB starter from last year, has missed the last two games and Roland has missed the last 3. Robinson on the DL missed the Mercer game. On offense, Murphy hasn’t played since Howard and Volker didn’t play yesterday, and our TE has been out. This is all a relative thing; every team gets injuries, including to key players or accumulating numbers or both. But just focusing on the quality of our play the rest of the way we need many of these guys back asap. It’s great that younger players are getting some experience under the circumstances, but all of the missing players are contributors. Even if you want to rank Clark as our best RB after one start (Volker, btw, averages just over 5ypc) who would you want as his backup? We clearly need better QB play. It’s the first time in several years the QB transition hasn’t been smooth. I don’t know if one of the other 4 QBs is a better option, I trust Surace to determine that. I will note the backup is 5-21 on the season. I think letting Hipa start at Brown is ok. If nothing is working in the first half, bring in the other Blaine. But as I say, I trust Surace on this and I don’t know what the situation in the QB room is and whether starting a different QB is the answer. A tough start to the season which I hope we can turn around Friday night. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> Subject: Re: Mercer 34 P 7 Author: Jerrylh [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 07:54:46 10/14/24 Mon Sounds like you are a step ahead of me. As for Clark, he just looks so much better than Volker or Murphy. This is the first time that our running game has performed. Mercer came into the game ranked number 1 in the FCS in run defense. I don't remember that Sanker started last year. In my humble opinion, Christopher and Pigford were superior to Sanker. Our defense actually performed well for most of the game against a Mercer team that was clearly more athletic and talented. Like you, I trust Surace. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> [> Subject: Re: Mercer 34 P 7 Author: Lurker [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 10:53:03 10/14/24 Mon Fwiw I thought Volker looked good against Columbia [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> [> Subject: Re: Mercer 34 P 7 Author: Bengal [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 13:54:36 10/14/24 Mon I appreciate these comments and those of other posters in the thread. It may be that Clark is our best back; if Sanker didn't start last year I should have said he was our most experienced returning LB. You are right about the defense, but here is the thing: against Columbia we were up 10-6 at halftime. Second half was 28-7 the other way and the defense was on the field for over 38 minutes. Through 3 quarters against Mercer, we gave up 2 FGs playing defense and then gave up TDs in the fourth and again were on the field a long time. My main concern is that we need the return of our experienced depth in order to play better even if younger players merit more playing time than we might have expected at the start of the season. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> [> [> Subject: Re: Mercer 34 P 7 Author: Jerrylh [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 13:30:47 10/15/24 Tue Hey even a blind squirrel can find a nut. My comment about Freshman AJ Pigford may be our best linebacker. He was honored as Ivy League rookie of the week. I also think that Sophomore Chase Christopher is our second best linebacker. Time will tell. Now if we could find a quarterback and develop some young wide receivers [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> [> [> [> Subject: Re: Mercer 34 P 7 Author: Bengal [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 20:50:10 10/15/24 Tue Good call. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]

[> [> [> Subject: Re: Mercer 34 P 7 Author: P-Fan [ Edit | View ] Date Posted: 06:50:08 10/16/24 Wed Fix the QB and I think the rest falls into place. For the rest of the year, we just need a QB that can run the offense and minimize mistakes. Hipa's had three games but I don't think he's improved. And the only win was with the other Blaine. He wasn't spectacular but he did make better decisions. [ Post a Reply to This Message ]