DA v. USJ for the DII-A Gold Ball

[BigEdMo]

1 hour ago, fish4 said:

For the USJ fans who complain about cowbell at the NCS game How about that siren that was coming from y’all side when Da had the ball on offensive under center bush league 

Hmmmm.  Will they come after you for that kind of talk?

[tradertwo]

There are many small complexities to every game, but to simplify it, USJ missed the long ball by a foot or two when going over the top on multiple occasions (that they usually hit), and the DA back popped too many long runs. There was a huge hole on the 1'st play for him to run through... looked (in person) like USJ had players in position to make the play on the rest of the big gains, just couldn't finish after first contact. Most glaring deficiency that sealed the Bruins' fate... two possessions inside the Bears' 10, and zero points. Bottom line is, DA's line controlled the game, and the team that does that almost never loses. Just got home and started the video of the game, but I doubt that I see much from the video that changes my way of thinking.

Congrats to both teams. It was a hard fought game for the championship, and I thought that both teams played well... I also thought that the ref's called a pretty decent game, the better team today won, and everyone finished standing up... can't ask for more than that.

  

  

[Bruin6311]

7 hours ago, fish4 said:

For the USJ fans who complain about cowbell at the NCS game How about that siren that was coming from y’all side when Da had the ball on offensive under center bush league 

This time I can complain about your run-on sentence post with terrible English!  Haha.  I watched the  game on TV and heard the siren a handful of times.  At first I thought it might be an escort for CPA or ECS arriving to the stadium, but it was definitely not every play DA had the ball.  No matter, you are right, USJ should not have had the siren.   DA's run game was just too much in the end.  They stuck to what they knew would work and that was just pound the ball with power formations.  

 

[Bellsburg2]

As far as the game goes, the Bruins love to dig themselves a hole early and today was no exception. Aside from the first play from scrimmage, I thought the first half was well schemed and executed. DA made halftime adjustments and the Bruins did not respond well on either side of the ball. Swinea was a workhorse and seemed to only get stronger as the game went on. USJ offense just could not find a rhythm in the second half and some untimely penalties kept us behind the sticks. There were a handful of near miss plays but we can play the "what if" game all day. USJ had a great season and they left it all on the field today, just came up a little short.

I'll have to plead ignorance on the siren issue. I was in the middle of the USJ fan section and never heard it, maybe because it was in front of me? I do know the hand-crank air raid siren that was used sparingly at NCS was left in the owner's truck today, so at least you can be grateful for that. The Bruins certainly traveled well and there was plenty of good old-fashioned crowd noise to go around. At any rate, "bush league" seems a little strong and if there's anything worse than a sore loser, it's a sore winner. Congrats to the Bears on hoisting another gold ball. 

[CougarDadx2]

Congrats DA ~ west folks never gave the east a chance.

[CFAfan]

30 minutes ago, CougarDadx2 said:

Congrats DA ~ west folks never gave the east a chance.

Very true. I found that odd that so many picked against DA. They were the defending champs and had won the regular season meeting. Too many chalked that up to weather I suppose. DA was simply too physical for USJ in both meetings. 

[tradertwo]

13 hours ago, Bellsburg2 said:

As far as the game goes, the Bruins love to dig themselves a hole early and today was no exception. Aside from the first play from scrimmage, I thought the first half was well schemed and executed. DA made halftime adjustments and the Bruins did not respond well on either side of the ball. Swinea was a workhorse and seemed to only get stronger as the game went on. USJ offense just could not find a rhythm in the second half and some untimely penalties kept us behind the sticks. There were a handful of near miss plays but we can play the "what if" game all day. USJ had a great season and they left it all on the field today, just came up a little short.

I'll have to plead ignorance on the siren issue. I was in the middle of the USJ fan section and never heard it, maybe because it was in front of me? I do know the hand-crank air raid siren that was used sparingly at NCS was left in the owner's truck today, so at least you can be grateful for that. The Bruins certainly traveled well and there was plenty of good old-fashioned crowd noise to go around. At any rate, "bush league" seems a little strong and if there's anything worse than a sore loser, it's a sore winner. Congrats to the Bears on hoisting another gold ball. 

I can add to the siren issue... I was away from the student section pretty much alone in the stands (pretty quiet), and never even heard it at all. I doubt that it could have been a distraction.

[BigEdMo]

57 minutes ago, CougarDadx2 said:

Congrats DA ~ west folks never gave the east a chance.

Wasn’t DA in the west division ?

[CFAfan]

16 minutes ago, BigEdMo said:

Wasn’t DA in the west division ?

Correct. I think he meant from a pure geographic standing. Once USJ beat NCS they became everyone's favorite it seems. 

[GTfanTN]

31 minutes ago, CFAfan said:

Correct. I think he meant from a pure geographic standing. Once USJ beat NCS they became everyone's favorite it seems. 

I don't think he was talking geographically.  He made a post on another thread taking about FC and DA not getting a chance from the east.  Must be confused between DA and DCA.  

Congrats to DA.  They played a very physical game and ended up the better team yesterday. Even though the Bruins were getting pushed around on defense; we still had a very good chance to win the ball game with 3 mins left to go.  There were 2 tough calls that didn't go our way.  First was the missed FG towards the end of the 3rd quarter.  I have watched the video about 4 times and it is 50/50 if it was good or not.  One official thought it was good and the other said no good.  Could have gone either way; just some bad luck on that call.  The 2nd tough call was the personal foul with 3 mins left to go in the game.  Have watched the video and seen a still camera shot of the play from the end zone.  Our defender jumps to block the ball and the QB jumps to throw the ball.  Both players are in the air at the same time and our defender falls on the QB.  That was a call, in that situation, that the referee needs to shallow the whistle.  The game basically ended with the flag.  Just another bad luck situation for the Bruins.  

Both teams played very hard and it was a really good game.  I'm a USJ guy so this is a little of a homer pick.  However, I would be surprised if USJ and DA aren't playing in Cookeville again next year.  

[chainsaw2]

No disrespect intended here but when a team gets to the playoffs and especially the finals, skill players are awesome but size is needed on the line to win those games. From what I saw USJ had the line last year but had some bad luck and a tough division. Will the line next year be sizable and can dominate to the point of returning to the finals and winning?

[BigEdMo]

Hmmmmm. Do tell. Inquiring minds want to know. Wallace, Carlock, Willis , Taylor, Smith and I believe a couple more  seniors are gone now.  That is a whole lot of football to replace. I mean No disrespect but that is a lot of leadership gone to return to the title game next year. Again no disrespect but what do you have coming up. I hear That a few studs left for another school.