Sacred Heart 9.12.15

[VULB#62]

Well, the first game of the 2015 season is history.  Despite the score, there were some things to be positive about. The EKU thread is the place for that. 

Now it's on to Sacred Heart at home.  The SHU Pioneers are located in Fairfield, Connecticut.  They won the NEC last year and went to the FCS playoffs, losing to Fordham of the Patriot League 44-22.  The NEC is an FCS scholarship program, but SHU might not be at the maximum 65 scholarship level yet like EKU.  They wee picked 3rd this year which means they could have lost a l;to of talent from 2014.

And I don't see where they are taking in loads of transfers from FBS programs like a former Big 10 All-Conference  player or a transfer from U of Kentucky (who we held to 7 yards on 6 carries  ).  So, if what I said about the FCS advantage for EKU was 3 out of every 5 plays, in my view, SHU might have a 2 out of 5 advantage. 

With game two, we get back our suspended players and both Dalton and Scott have a game under their belts.  We also have 10 days to lick our wounds and prepare.  Sacred Heart opens at home Saturday against D-II St. Anselm College, Manchester, NH, who were 6-5 last year.  Former VU FC coach and Valpo grad Bob Muckian was on the staff last year but is no longer with the program, but he posted on Twitter that St. A's is going D-III. 

Anyhoo, I think we will be ready and look forward to a more competitive match-up.  I will be at Brown Field for this one.

FROM THE SHU WEBSITE:  http://sacredheartpioneers.com/sports/m-footbl/indexEAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The two-time defending Northeast Conference champion Sacred Heart Pioneers were picked to finish third in the 2015 NEC football preseason coaches' poll, released on Thursday at the conference's inaugural Social Media Day at MetLife Stadium.

The Pioneers garnered two first-place votes, with Bryant topping the poll with four first-place votes. Duquesne was picked second and had the last first-place vote.

Six Pioneers were selected to the 2015 Preseason All-NEC Football Team. Sacred Heart's passing connection of quarterback RJ Noel (Lowell, Mass.) and wide receiver Tyler Dube (Southington, Conn.) were selected on offense, as well as lineman Nick Bartoli (Falls, Pa.). Noel led the NEC with 2,477 passing yards and 23 touchdowns last season. Dube had a conference-high 79 receptions and 16 touchdowns, as the duo both appeared on the All-NEC First Team in 2014.

Three Pioneers appear on the Preseason All-NEC team on defense. Linebackers James Rentz (St. Augustine, Fla.) and Connor Candito (Shrewsbury, Mass.) were selected as well as defensive lineman Connor Caveney (Fitchburg, Mass.). Rentz led Sacred Heart in 2014 with 12.5 sacks and 19 tackles for loss to earn First Team All-NEC honors. Earlier this month, Rentz was named to the STATS FCS Preseason All-America Third Team. Both Candito and Caveney were All-NEC Second Team picks last season. Candito tied for the team lead in interceptions last season while also recording 58 tackles. Caveney had 9.5 tackles for loss and three sacks a year ago.

Sacred Heart has reached the NCAA FCS playoffs in each of the last two seasons. The Pioneers finished the 2014 season nationally-ranked for the first time in program history. Sacred Heart opens the 2015 season on September 5 against Saint Anselm at 6 p.m. at Campus Field.

[covufan]

We'll be a little more competitive in this game, although the outcome will be the same.  We'll still have some players that need to serve their suspension. 

Sacred Heart  34
Valpo             13

[IndyValpo]

Interesting tidbit, Sacred Heart has played football since 1991 and has never played west of Pittsburgh, PA.

[covufan]

Interesting tidbit, Sacred Heart has played football since 1991 and has never played west of Pittsburgh, PA.

Announcers were saying last night that in the 130 year history of Michigan football, Michigan had never played in the state of Utah.

[VULB#62]

And we've been flying coast to coast and in-between forever it seems.

[VULB#62]

Interesting tidbit, Sacred Heart has played football since 1991 and has never played west of Pittsburgh, PA.

Tend to generally agree on the score with maybe an extra 7 for us based on the fact that both QBs were getting the ball out quickly against a superior team last night.  It could be lower scoring too, but a 14-21 point spread is a good early starting point.  As we get closer into next week and see how SHU did against St. A's we can refine.

[VU2624]

We'll be a little more competitive in this game, although the outcome will be the same.  We'll still have some players that need to serve their suspension. 

Sacred Heart  34
Valpo             13

Sure about that? I'd heard that all of them were being served vs. EKU.

[VULB#62]

We'll be a little more competitive in this game, although the outcome will be the same.  We'll still have some players that need to serve their suspension. 

Sacred Heart  34
Valpo             13

Sure about that? I'd heard that all of them were being served vs. EKU.

Yeah.  It was a one game suspension for FB players. I wouldn't' think that Cecchini would split the suspensions between two OOC games and weaken his team twice.

[VULB#62]

Here are the results of WEEK #! games of interest to us (underlined are 2015 opponents):

#17 Eastern Kentucky 52, Valparaiso 10
Campbell 41, Pikeville (NAIA) 20
b]Jacksonville [/b] 20, Delaware 14 
Dayton 27, Robert Morris, 24
Indiana State 52, Butler 17
James Madison 56, Morehead State 7
The Citadel 69, Davidson 0
Bucknell 17, Marist 0
Drake 44, William Jewell, 30
Stetson 42, Webber International 13
San Diego State (FBS) 37, San Diego 3 
and...
SHU 43 St, Anselm (D-II) 19
McKendree (D-II) 68 - College of Faith 0

[usc4valpo]

SHU 35, Saders 13....


then the true ham and egger game

[VULB#62]

I'm wondering if they (C of Faith) might cancel.  Really, I'm serious.

[crusadermoe]

First year program.    Definitely a "breather" game like IU-South Bend in hoops for us.     

I like the SHU game on the schedule and hoping the new coach's rep gets us more matches like that one..   Hope we got good money for the EKU game.   

[VULB#62]

Here are the results of WEEK #! games of interest to us (underlined are 2015 opponents):

#17 Eastern Kentucky 52, Valparaiso 10
Campbell 41, Pikeville (NAIA) 20
Jacksonville 20, Delaware 14 
Dayton 27, Robert Morris, 24
Indiana State 52, Butler 17
James Madison 56, Morehead State 7
The Citadel 69, Davidson 0
Bucknell 17, Marist 0
Drake 44, William Jewell, 30
Stetson 42, Webber International 13
San Diego State (FBS) 37, San Diego 3 
and...
SHU 43 St, Anselm (D-II) 19
McKendree (D-II) 68 - College of Faith 0

Some thoughts from the scores above.

Davidson is in trouble.  Check that --Big Trouble.  They are in the Carlson death spiral.
We've got two legit killers on our schedule:  Jacksonville and USD (Homecoming  )
Butler, Morehead and Drake might actually be competitive games.
Stetson:  Where to begin.  Webber is a Christian NAIA college that flies all over the country to play.  They have 715 students.
SHU will be our next major test.  Appears they are not the team they were last year but they haven't lost that much.
Dayton winning by only 3 over RM means that maybe we will be within 2 TDs.

[vu72]

Here are the results of WEEK #! games of interest to us (underlined are 2015 opponents):

#17 Eastern Kentucky 52, Valparaiso 10
Campbell 41, Pikeville (NAIA) 20
b]Jacksonville [/b] 20, Delaware 14 
Dayton 27, Robert Morris, 24
Indiana State 52, Butler 17
James Madison 56, Morehead State 7
The Citadel 69, Davidson 0
Bucknell 17, Marist 0
Drake 44, William Jewell, 30
Stetson 42, Webber International 13
San Diego State (FBS) 37, San Diego 3 
and...
SHU 43 St, Anselm (D-II) 19
McKendree (D-II) 68 - College of Faith 0

Some thoughts from the scores above.

Davidson is in trouble.  Check that --Big Trouble.  They are in the Carlson death spiral.
We've got two legit killers on our schedule:  Jacksonville and USD (Homecoming  )
Butler, Morehead and Drake might actually be competitive games.
Stetson:  Where to begin.  Webber is a Christian NAIA college that flies all over the country to play.  They have 715 students.
SHU will be our next major test.  Appears they are not the team they were last year but they haven't lost that much.
Dayton winning by only 3 over RM means that maybe we will be within 2 TDs.

That may be a realistic assessment of out talent but I'm still a little surprised.  You must think we are weaker then last year.  My big concern was at quarterback and I'm confortable that as we progress we will be as good as last year at quarterback.  Sure got whipped last week but how many starters and backups were out?  A lot!!  We had San Diego on the ropes and lost on a miracle play.  They won't take us for granted like last year but we have them at home.  Should be a very good season.

[VULB#62]

My reluctance to be optimistic at this point is all the new kids (talented or not) cuz it takes time to meld the pieces and parts into a truly cohesive unit.  I am not without optimism but I would rather go conservative. To tell the truth, if our QBs could get passes off against a B1G  all conference DL there is much promise.

But Jacksonville beating a D-1AA legendary program on their field and USD losing to a FBS program by "only" 34 points says they are solid. 

Whatever wins we get will in all likelihood come from a PFL pool of MSU, Davidson, Butler, and Stetson.

Upset wins IMO might come from (in order)  Drake more likely and remotely possible, Dayton.

Remotest chances are USD and Jacksonville.  Actually I hope we just stay with them.

In truth it will not be until after SHU that any of us will have a good enough sample to predict anything.  I am both anxious and excited about the next game on Saturday. My avatar says it all about what lies beneath but .........

I know this is blasphemy, but College of Faith, is a bye week in my opinion and it will give a lot of our backups valuable minutes while we rest first teamers for USD the following week.

[usc4valpo]

62,


I would not say USD gave San Diego State a challenge based on the score. Who knows what the Aztecs were doing on that game, and 37-3 is still a blowout win. As for Jacksonville, congrats on an outstanding win for the Pioneer conference, perhaps the biggest win in the history of the conference.


I cannot believe we scheduled a game against College of Faith, which in reality is not even a true college. They are not accredited and have 2 majors - ministry and ministry in athletics. I am cracking up about the articles about this school, it's as if they were written by the Onion. This is similar to Rocky and Bullwinkle playing for Whatsamatter U.

[VULB#62]

I checked the USD/SDSU press coverage.  They were throughly beaten.  No question.   BTW 48,000 were in attendance. Must have been special for the USD kids.  However, just giving up 37 to a FBS school, despite some poor play while losing BOTH of their top RBs in the process says something for their defense.  On the other hand vs. FCS teams (none ranked in the preseason except for us against EKU), PFL teams gave up:  69, 52, 52  and 56. Interesting that USD last year played 2 FCS schools: Cal Poly and Montana (in the playoff) and gave up 34 and 52 respectively.

[usc4valpo]

62,

USD also gets some decent football talent in the SoCal region, significantly more than most areas (definitely including Indiana and Illinois) in the US. Also, USD has some football success, more attributed to Jim Harbaugh's success.

[VULB#62]

Definitely

[VULB#62]

We are still #251 on Sagarin's latest ranking at 16.50.  Wish I had trapped the initial rating score but I'll try to check and record the rating and score each week.   Stetson (17.24) is still #250 and Davidson has sunk to a score of 6.87 at #253. [Click to expand spread]

BTW In beating D-II St A's last week Sacred Heart dropped 3 places from 200 to 203.

[valpotx]

Sacred Heart 42
Valpo 13

[bbtds]

Valpo    24
Sacred Heart    34

[VULB#62]

The pregame notes with 2-deep has been released for the SHU game.  http://www.valpoathletics.com/football/news/2015-16/14831/valpo-sacred-heart-clash-for-first-time-in-program-history/#.VfIBC7S4ko8

Some observations:

Senior LT Sam Manternack along with Jr. RB Grayson Bastin are back on the 2-deep after serving their suspensions -- Sam as #1 LT and Grayson as #2 RB. Absent from the 2 deep at RB is Brandon Hall.  I hope Brandon did not re-injure that ankle. Punter Alex Kozlowski is also back though he was mistakenly listed last week.  So we still have 4 freshman starting on offense if you consider RS-Fr QB Stokes.  Sr. DT Nick Scoville has moved into a starting role from backup a week ago.  No other changes that I could see.

From the notes:

Scouting Sacred Heart: Sacred Heart head coach Mark Nofri has had the King Midas touch since being named the permanent head coach two seasons ago. The Pioneers enter 2015 as back-to-back NEC champs. Sacred Heart has suffered just one loss in the month of September during its recent title runs. SHU's top two playmakers on offense are in their final season.

Senior quarterback RJ Noel is the engine of the Pioneer offense. The two-time All-NEC First Teamer will most likely hit two career milestones Saturday. He needs just one completion to eclipse 400 for his career and 79 passing yards to reach 5,000. Noel's legs force opposing defenses to remain honest as well. In addition to throwing for a pair of TDs, Noel also scampered for two in last Saturday's opener. He rushed for over 100 yards twice in 2014 while completing exactly 16 passes in five different tilts. Fellow All-NEC First Team recipient Tyler Dube is Noel's most utilized target. Dube hauled in 79 passes for 960 yards and an eye-popping 16 TDs. He recorded a touchdown reception in all but one game last season (at Wagner), and his aforementioned season total of 16 were the second-most in the country. Dube lit up the St. Anselm secondary for 155 yards on eight catches, including a score, last week. Three different Pioneers logged 130 rushes or more in 2014, but it appears as though Noel and junior Ose Imeokparia will shoulder the majority of the running load this fall.

Sacred Heart boasted a top 10 defense last season, finishing 8th in total defense (294.5 yards/game), 1st in red zone defense (47.1%), 3rd in defending the rush (86.3 yards/game), 2nd in 3rd-down conversion percentage (26.3%), and tops in 4th-down conversion percentage (23.1%). The Pioneers' defensive unit got off to a bang in 2015 with a pair of safeties in the season opener. Sophomore DE Dylan Ackerson had a monster performance in SHU's win over St. Anselm, racking up 3.5 tackles for a loss, including two sacks. Senior James Rentz (19.0 TFL, 12.5 sacks, two forced fumbles in 2014) was named an FCS Preseason Third Team All-American, but did not appear in Week 1.

[VULB#62]

Based on the Scouting Report below, I'm in line with BBTDS.  SHU 34 - Valpo 24

[usc4valpo]

Is it me, or are there an insanely large number of freshmen on the football roster? Are players giving up football to study?