Former Yale RB and All-American selection Calvin Hill will be Yale’s honoree at the Ivy Football Association Dinner on Feb. 7 in the Broadway Ballroom of the New York Marriot Marquis.
A reception begins at 5:30 p.m. and a black-tie dinner begins at 7. The dinner will feature former Yale defensive star and master of ceremonies Jack Ford. The event chairmen includes former Yale RB William Primps. For more information on the event, go to ivyfootballassociation.org.
Hill, a 1969 graduate, was a two-time All-Ivy selection and broke Albie Booth’s record for career touchdowns. He was selected in the first round of the 1969 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. He earned NFL Rookie of the Year and All-Pro honors that year. He spent six seasons in Dallas and became the team's first 1,000-yard rusher. Hill's career continued with the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Browns. He was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1969, 1972, 1973 and 1974.
He has been a consultant to the Cowboys since 1997.
(HT: SiC. He wasn't sure of original creator of this little piece of brilliance as it arrived in his inbox. So if you know, let us know and we'll pass it on)
UPDATE: U-M QB-to-be Shane Morris tweeted this after the M/OSU game. Again, don't know if he's creator, but it's the earliest version of the joke I can find.
(I)t appears now that the vagabond bug has bitten the Ivies, too. In an announcement expected to come by Christmas — talk about a special holiday gift — Harvard University will declare its intention to leave the comfy confines of the Ivy League and join the newly minted North East Royal Division. According to the columnist, if Harvard goes, Princeton and Yale
This is a short video built around Harvard, but it's pretty special stuff. Click here to watch it after a short commercial.
• The Morning Call has a an interesting look at former Dartmouth assistant Pete Lembo, who, after posting a 9-3 record in his second season at Ball State, is being talked about as a candidate to be the next coach at Purdue. Lembo had successful stints at Lehigh and Elon
This week Uncle Jake is standing in for George, who is on a week long sabbatical, with some unpredictable predictions.
Saturday 1 December 2012
West Ham United 1 v Chelsea 1 Manchester City 2 v Everton 1 West Bromwich Albion 1 v Stoke City 0 Fulham 1 v Tottenham Hotspur 2 Arsenal 1 v Swansea City 1 Liverpool 3 v Southampton 1 Queens Park Rangers 1 v Aston Villa 2 Reading 1 v Manchester United 3 Sunday 2 December 2012
Philip J. Hanlon ’77, PhD, will be the next president of Dartmouth. Phil is a world-class academic, an accomplished administrative leader, and a passionate scholar-teacher. He now serves as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of Michigan, where he is the Donald J. Lewis Professor of Mathematics. Hanlon will take office July 1 but
UConn sophomore quarterback Chandler Whitmer has been cleared to practice but whether he starts in Saturday's game against Cincinnati is a game-time decision according to UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni.
Whitmer was knocked out of the Louisville game taking a crushing hit and he had to go through the protocol following head injuries before being allowed to return to practice.
Pasqualoni said that he will have to see how Whitmer looks in practice today and tomorrow before making a decision on whether Whitmer or Johnny McEntee gets the start against Cincinnati.
Whitmer has completed 58.2 percent of his passes and his 2,400 passing yards are the most for the Connecticut quarterback since Dan Orlovsky passed for 3,385 yards during the 2004 season.
Dartmouth receiver Bo Patterson has made a quick uniform change to become Dartmouth outfielder Bo Patterson and is in the Dominican Republic with the Big Green baseball team. He gets several mentions in the blog covering the Dartmouth trip.
• The Daily Princetonian writes about the Tigers' three NFL prospects on defense while noting that one of them, 6-foot-2, 305-pound defensive lineman Caraun
The New England Football Writers announced their 2012 FCS All-New England Team today, and senior Rob Bathe and junior Michael Runger of the Dartmouth Big Green were chosen for the squad. Click here for the story.
The Atlantic Coast Conference officially announced that it has invited Louisville to join the conference.
UConn was also in contention for the spot in the ACC which became available when Maryland announced it was leaving to join the Big Ten.
UConn released statements from university president Susan Herbst and athletic director Warde Manuel on Louisville's departure.
"I know this may seem like a tough moment for our fans, but we need to focus on the fundamentals of academic success across the university and in our athletic program as well," Herbst said. "We are winners -- we win, we like to win and we will continue to play the best possible opponents. We will be athletically successful, regardless of our conference, because of our successes in NCAA competition. We will keep building our winning record through the lens of a great university, that focuses on academics, not on the fluid and unpredictable nature of conference realignment. Again, I realize this is a difficult day, but when we focus on research, discovery, and student success, we'll never go wrong."
Now here are Manuel's on the record thoughts.
“Conference realignment is a prominent national issue in collegiate athletics and will continue to be so into the future. UConn has established a rich history as a very successful academic and athletic institution. We understand that because of that UConn will continue to be brought up in the discussion regarding potential schools considered in realignment.
“We have and will continue to monitor the situation regarding conference realignment and work to ensure that UConn is in the best position for the continued success of our athletic programs. We are proud of the success of our coaches and student-athletes and the tradition that has been established of winning conference and national championships.
“We are proud and appreciative of our great Husky fan base. Husky Nation is strong all over the country and the world. UConn has one of the most captive audiences of any school in the country and we have strong penetration in several of the nation’s largest television markets.”
The UConn men’s basketball program has won three national championships since 1999 – the only school to do so in this time period – and one of just seven programs in the history of the game to win three or more titles.
The UConn football team has made incredible strides since it moved to the FBS in 2002. The Huskies have won two Big East championships, played in five bowl games – including four over the past five seasons -- and became the fastest program to rise from FBS inception to an appearance in a BCS game in history.
The excellence of the women’s basketball program is unparalleled to any school in the country as UConn has won seven national championships and appeared in 13 Finals Fours, including five straight.
Olympics sports programs at UConn are successful and have competed in and won NCAA national championship play in a number of them.
UConn will further enhance its athletic program in the 2013-14 academic year as its men’s ice hockey team begins play in Hockey East, the premier league in the country for that sport. Connecticut will become one of just nine institutions nationally to play men’s basketball, women’s basketball, football and men’s ice hockey in a major conference."
Finally, here is a statement from Big East commissioner Mike Aresco.
"We enjoyed having Louisville in the Big East Conference and we wish them well.
"The Big East has anticipated the continuing realignment that is reshaping college athletics and has already made important additions as part of our vision for the future. We will continue moving forward to fulfill that vision, which includes a strong national football conference and a strong and storied basketball conference. Big East teams will continue to compete and succeed at the highest level and, as always, will combine athletic and academic excellence. With schools stretching from coast to coast and in many of the top U.S. media markets, the Big East has become a truly national conference with outstanding young men and women competing across a full range of sports.
"We are committed to a vibrant and dynamic future for the Big East Conference."
Here is the official release from the ACC;
GREENSBORO, N.C. - The Atlantic Coast Conference Council of Presidents has unanimously voted to accept the University of Louisville as its newest member. The vote followed the submission of Louisville's letter of application. "With the addition of the University of Louisville, the ACC continues to be well positioned for the future competing at the highest level in all facets of the collegiate experience," said the ACC Council of Presidents in a joint statement. "The ACC continues to be a vibrant conference that remains steadfast in its commitment to balancing academics and athletics." "The University of Louisville will be a terrific member of the Atlantic Coast Conference," said University of North Carolina Chancellor Holden Thorp, chair of the ACC Council of Presidents. "We welcome them as full partners into the ACC." "With its aggressive approach to excellence in every respect, the University of Louisville will enhance our league's culture and commitment to the cornerstones we were founded on 60 years ago," said ACC Commissioner John Swofford. "The University of Louisville is an outstanding addition to the Atlantic Coast Conference and I commend the Council of Presidents for continuing to position our league for the long-term future. If you look at what has been done over the last 15 months, the ACC has only gotten stronger with the additions of Louisville, Notre Dame, Pitt and Syracuse." "The University of Louisville is honored to join the ACC, a conference with a long history of excellence in athletics and academics," said Dr. James Ramsey, President, University of Louisville. "The ACC will be a great home for UofL and our commitment to great academics, groundbreaking research and top-notch athletic teams." "When it became apparent to us that we needed to make a move, the ACC is the perfect fit for us and we are so elated to be joining this prestigious conference," said Tom Jurich, Vice President and Director of Athletics. "Under John Swofford's leadership, the ACC continues to prosper. We sincerely appreciate this opportunity. This will open so many more doors for us both athletically for all of our sports programs, and academically for our university. What I really like about this move is it's terrific for our fans, with the proximity of the institutions and we never have to leave the Eastern time zone. This is a credit to everyone at the University of Louisville and our community, as we have all pulled together to position ourselves for this opportunity. It's amazing what has happened here over the last 15 years. We appreciate so much what the BIG EAST Conference has meant to us."
UConn commit Sha-ki Holines' Commerce High squad out of Springfield, Mass. lost to South Hadley 28-8 in the Western Massachusetts Division II semifinals on Tuesday night.
Holines had one reception for no yards in the loss as Commerce finished the season with an 8-4 record.
Speaking of recruiting, this is obviously a pretty big weekend since it is the Huskies' home finale. It is also a pretty unsettling time to be hosting recruiting targets with the news that the Huskies were passed over yet again by the ACC in favor of Louisville.
UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni addressed the potential impact of last week's win over Louisville could have when he met with the media yesterday.
"I think it certainly has an effect," Pasqualoni said. "A game like that against a top 20 team with the amount of exposure ... We knew it was on SNY but part of it went on ESPN at the end. A lot of kids saw the game. You get facebooked after the game, 'congratulations Coach, great game.' Kids are watching, prospects are watching, a lot of people are watching. People in football, some of the guys in the NFL were getting around getting ready and they are watching. Part of the group you feel good for are the guys from UConn who are in the NFL playing when they go into the meeting Saturday night, they can dish it out a little bit. That is one of the fun things on a Saturday afternoon or Saturday night when they show up at the hotel, they usually have their college sweatshirt on, their college hat on, they are bragging and giving each other a hard time on who won and who lost that is all part of it.
"There are still quite a few guys we are involved with. In recruiting there are a bunch of guys who make a decision and then there is another group that haven’t made a decision and want to take visits have top schools. We are involved with some kids who have some pretty high-level programs they are looking at."
When Pasqualoni mentioned that he was receiving congrats via facebook, I couldn't let that comment pass without asking a follow-up question. If I were to rank people I have encountered in terms of their social media prowess, I'm not sure I could come up with anybody on the list who is less likely to be captivated by the lure of facebook and twitter so naturally I asked him if he had dreams of one day being "facebooked" after a big win when he started his coaching career.
"When I started coaching there wasn’t even a computer," Pasqualoni said. "We got three channels in the state of Connecticut. You got Channel 3, Channel 8 and if you were lucky you had UHF and you got Channel 30. That is what you had. You had an antenna, you didn’t have cable, you dialed the phone etc. etc. That is the way it was so I didn’t envision anything. I got in this to teach. I was an elementary school teacher. If anybody told me I was going to be a coach after six years in the NFL when I was at Highland School trying to figure out how to get third graders organized, I would have told them they were nuts."
I also asked seniors Nick Williams and Ryan Griffin where social media interaction ranks on their head coach's priority list.
"I don’t know how into he is with the social media," Williams said. "He didn’t mention it to us about facebook. I don’t know how up he is on facebook, he is an old-time football kind of guy."
As for Griffin (who does not have a facebook account) he said "somebody must have signed up for him."
When word started to get out that Clemson and Florida State were pushing for the Atlantic Coast Conference to add Louisville rather than UConn in the latest raid of the beleaguered Big East, you kind of figured the Huskies would be left on the outside looking in once again.
With countless media outlets reporting that the ACC has voted to accept Louisville, that is exactly what happened.
Let's be honest, football is what drives the constantly changing conference landscape and that was what was behind Clemson's and Florida State's opposition to adding UConn.
Not only is UConn just 10-13 over the last two seasons but when the Huskies went to the Fiesta Bowl following the 2010 season, the UConn fan turnout was rather weak. Louisville was the preseason pick to the win the Big East and even with last week's loss to UConn, the Cardinals to claim the Big East' BCS bowl slot with a win over Rutgers tomorrow.
If there is a silver lining it is that the ACC may not be done yet. There were reports that FSU and Clemson were ready to leave if the ACC added only UConn so you have to wonder if this is a case of where there is smoke, there is fire.
One aspect that can't be overlooked is whether there is lingering resentment following then Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal's lawsuit against the ACC.
So while Louisville becomes the latest Big East school to abandon ship, the league further cemented itself as a mid-major football conference with the additions of Tulane (in all sports) and East Carolina (currently for football only).
UConn football coach Paul Pasqualoni was asked about the realignment issue at yesterday's press conference and here's what he had to say.
"(It) is not something we can control or something right now affects us. We have so much with this game trying to get ready to play Cincinnati, one of the top-level teams in our league. We just came off a very physical game, we had a very physical game before that. We are just trying to take care of our own business. This conference realignment thing, pretty soon it is going to be settled. Sooner or later it is going to be settled. Whenever that is it is and I know the people here, Susan Herbst and Warde Manuel are going to do everything they can to do what is in the best interest in the University of Connecticut. I know the Board of Trustees will do that. I like the people we have a lot and have a lot of confidence in them, people are on top of this making the decisions and doing those things."
Pemain Timnas Indonesia, Oktovianus Maniani (Kanan) mencoba untuk menembak melewati kiper Izwan Mahbud Singapura pada pertandingan Piala AFF Grup B sepak bola di Stadion Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur. (28/11/2012) Singapura kalah dan harus mengakui kehebatan Timnas Indonesia, lewat gol tunggal Andik Fermansyah. (AFP PHOTO/MOHD RASFAN) Foto: AFP/MOHD RASFAN
TRIBUNNEWS.COM – Timnas Indonesia membuka peluang lolos ke semifinal Piala AFF 2012, setelah di pertandingan kedua grup B berhasil mengalahkan timnas Singapura dengan skor tipis 1-0, dalam laga yang digelar di Stadion Bukit Jalil Malaysia, Rabu (28/11/2012).
Gol keunggulan Indonesia tercipta di menit ke-87, lewat tendangan bebas yang dieksekusi oleh Andik Vermansyah, yang tak mampu ditahan oleh penjaga gawang Singapura, Iswan Mahbud.
Di pertandingan melawan Singapura ini, timnas Indonesia tampil dengan formasi yang agak berbeda. Di laga kali ini pelatih Nil Maizar mencadangkan Bambang Pamungkas dan Andik Vermansyah. Sebagai gantinya, Nil Maizar menurunkan Elie Aiboy dan M. Rahmad untuk menyokong Irfan Bachdim yang menjadi striker tunggal di lini depan.
Selain itu nama Tonnie Cussel dan Jhonny Van Beukering juga tak ada di daftar susunan pemain. Satu-satunya pemain naturalisasi yang dimainkan di laga ini hanyalah Raphael Maitimo di posisi bek kanan.
Namun dengan formasi seadanya ini, tim asuhan Nil Maizar ternyata justru tampil mengejutkan. Sejak awal pertandingan, mereka lebih banyak menekan lini pertahanan Singapura. Di menit ke-6 Indonesia bahkan sempat meraih peluang emas, setelah Okto Maniani mencuri bola dari kaki pemain belakang Singapura. Sayangnya Okto memberikan umpan yang kurang cermat, sehingga kemelut yang terjadi di gawang Singapura itu gagal berbuah gol. Setelah itu Indonesia juga beberapa kali mengancam gawang Singapura. Namun lagi-lagi beberapa peluang yang tercipta, gagal dikonversikan menjadi gol.
Sementara itu Singapura yang dipertandingan sebelumnya melibas Malaysia dengan skor telak 3-0, di laga kali ini justru tampil kurang menggigit. Kerjasama tim yang mereka tampilkan di laga sebelumnya, kali ini kurang terlihat.
Namun demikian, Singapura bukan tanpa peluang. Duet striker Khairul Amri dan Shahril Ishak, beberapa kali mengancam gawang Indonesia yang dikawal oleh Wahyu Tri Nugroho. Apalagi para punggawa lini belakang Indonesia juga sempat beberapa kali melakukan blunder, yang kemudian justru mengancam gawang Indonesia. Hingga akhir babak pertama, skor tetap imbang 0-0.
Di awal babak kedua, Nil Maizar melakukan pergantian pemain. Elie Aiboy yang tampaknya kehabisan tenaga, digantikan oleh Andik Vermansyah. Kemudian Bambang Pamungkas dimasukkan menggantikan M. Rahmat.
Dua pergantian yang dilakukan Nil Maizar ini terbukti efektif. Andik Vermansyah yang ditempatkan di sisi kanan, berkali-kali melakukan tusukan dan aksi individu yang mengancam lini pertahanan Singapura.
Untuk menghentikan aksi Andik, para pemain Singapura terpaksa melakukan pelanggaran terhadap pemain Indonesia bernomor punggung 21 itu. Puncaknya di menit ke-66, Singapura terpaksa harus bermain dengan 10 pemain, setelah pemain belakangnya, Muhammad Irwansyah menerima kartu kuning kedua lantaran mengganjal Andik. Sebelumnya di menit ke-64 Irwansyah juga menerima kartu kuning, lantaran melakukan pelanggaran juga kepada Andik.
Unggul jumlah pemain membuat pemain Indonesia makin bersemangat. Mereka terus meningkatkan serangan. Usaha Indonesia akhirnya berbuah di menit-menit akhir pertandingan. Berawal dari pelanggaran yang dilakukan oleh pemain Singapura terhadap Andik, hingga wasit memberi hadiah tendangan bebas untuk Indonesia.
Andik yang menjadi eksekutor tendangan bebas tersebut, berhasil menjalankan tugasnya dengan sempurna. Meski jauh dari kotak penalti, tendangan keras pemain asal persebaya Surabaya itu meluncur keras ke pojok kiri gawang Singapura, dan mengubah skor menjadi 1-0. Skor ini bertahan hingga akhir pertandingan.
Dengan kemenangan ini, Indonesia sementara memimpin klasemen grup B dengan nilai 4. Sedangkan Singapura berada di posisi kedua dengan nilai 3. Untuk bisa lolos ke babak semifinal, Indonesia tinggal mencari hasil seri saat bertemu Malaysia di laga terakhir yang akan digelar Sabtu (1/12/2012) mendatang.
read more : http://m.tribunnews.com/2012/11/28/indonesia-vs-singapura-andik-gemilang-indonesia-menang-1-0
A September Where Are They Now catches up with a former Dartmouth standout who went on to do great things. Click here to see who it is.
• Jake Novak down at the Roar Lions 2012 blog discusses the finalists for the Bushnell Award and I have to agree with him that Penn quarterback Billy Ragone belongs on the list. Jake writes:
. . . Penn's Billy Ragone was the heart and soul of his Ivy
For most of my coaching career, I have been a 5-4-2 kickoff return guy. It's just what I was taught and how I did things when I got my chance to coach. Now I've had teams in certain years that had kickoff returns for touchdowns here and there, but the most in a single season was only two. There were several (and I mean SEVERAL) seasons where we had none! Anyhow, I went and watched a local high school play in a playoff game last season, and I saw something I had never seen before. They had eight guys on the line with only three guys being back deep! Now I thought maybe their opponent was known for onsides kicks or something. I watched the entire game as the opponent kicked the ball deep and gave up good returns for great field position. The average starting field position that particular night was the 38 yard line. Now these were on deep kicks too, the opposing team had a kicker that could put the ball consistently inside the five yard line, so as you can see the field position stat was pretty good (also considering one went for a touch back). Lucky for me I don't go to too many football outings without my handy flip video, and so I recorded these kicks. The following week this very same team was playing nearby so I traveled to see them again, and sure enough, they were still using the same kickoff return scheme. After that, I just knew I had to find out more about it, and I did what any good, persistent, nagging football coach yearning for more information did, and I called a member of the coaching staff. I ended up getting the specifics of the scheme and even got to look at (but unfortunately not keep) some more film of the scheme. So back home I go and I delve into making this thing work on my middle school football team. What sold me was when the coach told me they had been doing this for the past two seasons (now going on three), and their "block percentage" had increased almost three times! I asked "block percentage", what the hell is that?!". As it was explained to me, that is the number of your players making contact and maintaining contact during the kick return versus the total number of defenders being used on the kickoff team. He said prior to running this scheme, their average block percentage was around 25 percent. That means out of 11 players on the kickoff team, only three of them were being blocked. His team's average starting field position was the 26 yard line, and they had not returned a kick for a touchdown since the 2006 season. Upon installing the 8-2-1 scheme, here were the new numbers:
Block percentage went up from 25% to 73% in first season and 79% in second season.
Field position increased to the 32 yard line in the first season and the 39 yard line in the second season.
The first year they installed the scheme, they returned a total of four kickoffs for touchdowns and had 14 kick returns cross midfield that season. The second year of the scheme, they returned 6 kicks for touchdowns and had 17 kick returns cross midfield.
I was hooked, but was still unsure if it would work at my level. I brought it back to my head coach and he nixed the idea almost immediately. The reasoning he gave is that teams would pooch and sky kick you to death, which is a fair assumption seeing as how much open space there is. So we enter this season, with me being an interim head coach and after the third game of the season, I thought to myself, hell if this is my ship, I'm going to do things MY WAY! I installed this in one practice and we stayed in it the rest of the season. Here were our numbers for this past season:
Block percentage increased from 22% to 70%.
Field position increased from the 37 yard line to the 49 yard line (we don't get too many deep kicks).
One kickoff return for a touchdown increased to six kickoff returns for touchdowns (seven total on the year, a school record by three). We had 1 kickoff return cross midfield in the first three games (the one returned for a touchdown) and that number increased to nine by the end of the season.
Now that I've shared with you the numbers, let's talk about the scheme and installation.
Personnel
Most of us have grown out of having linemen on special teams (I'm not a hater, hell I'm a former OL myself), but for those that do, now's the time to evolve. This scheme is made for mostly defensive backs, linebackers, running backs, wide receivers and the occasional athletic defensive end. The front eight need to be able to run and cover a guy man to man, but only for a short period of time. The upbacks need to be fearless guys who are not afraid to catch a kick in traffic. A good idea here is to think punt returner. The upbacks do need to be able to block in space, but don't sacrifice blocking for being able to catch the football in traffic. The returner, can be your typical kick returner, but he doesn't need to be a "missile", he needs to have the ability to read "cloudy" and "clear" and know how to run to daylight based on the blocks occurring in front of him.
Alignment
8-2-1 Alignment
Ok, the front line is a mirror of four players, there are two guards, two tackles, two ends and two wings. They align about two to three yards off the 50 yard line and are facing forward looking at the kicker and the football. There are two upbacks, whose depth depends on the kicker's ability and whether or not the opposing team likes to sky kick or not. As a base rule at the junior high level, I aligned my guys and the 35 yard line (this is assuming we knew nothing about our opponent's kicker). The middle returner aligned at average kick depth based on film or pre-game scouting. If we didn't know anything about the opponent's kicker then we aligned him at the 25 yard line. Remember, you will have to adjust these some for high school ball, so bear with me.
Width alignments had the guards between the hash mark and the middle of the field with both tackles aligning on the hash marks. The ends would align halfway between the hash and the bottom of the numbers. The wings would align just off the bottom of the numbers. The Upbacks basically stacked behind the ends, splitting the difference between the hash and the bottom of the numbers as well. The returner would align in the middle of the field, splitting the hashes.
Assignment
Blocking assignments were VERY simple. The blockers would begin their count from the closest sideline(this is assuming a middle return, which is all we ran last season, however the sky is the limit when it comes to the types of returns you can run), and would count until they got to their number. The way it worked was this, since the the right tackle for instance (RT in the diagram) was the fourth player from the right side, he counted out four men and that was his man. So for the Right wing, he would have one, the right end would have two, the right tackle would take three and the right guard had four. We did not count the kicker in this scheme, the returner has to make the kicker miss. Now I know what you are saying, that leaves, two players unaccounted for, well how this works is that the upbacks are always responsible for the fifth guy from their respective sideline. Here is how it looks on paper.
Middle Return
Technique
The technique the front wall blockers use is very similar to the shuffle technique used by defensive backs or basketball players. The player will open in the direction of his man (or zone if using a zone scheme) and will shuffle out, staying low and keeping a good wide base and low center of gravity. As the defender "eats up" the blocker's cushion, and declares which side he is going, the blocker will then turn and run with the defender. If the defender decides to try to switch lanes, the blocker will simply flip his hips, much like a defensive back doing a zone turn would and then "wall off" the defender from the other side.
Blocking is not a great word for the exactly what the blockers do. These players are quite simply put, "in the way". I coached my guys this past season, to get on a hip and stay on a hip, but most importantly "be in the way" during a return. In some of the video clips you will see, we don't do a very good job of blocking, but we are in the way enough the defender loses lane integrity and a seam is opened up for the returner.
Speaking of the returner, when teaching this guy how to return, patience is key. He needs to have a good burst of speed, but does not need to be a "bottle rocket". I link the type of running he does to that of a good zone tailback, in that he gets the ball and lets the blocks set up and lets the defenders declare where they are going to be. Once this occurs the returner simply "runs to daylight", finding a seam and exploding through it.
Other types of Returns
Two other returns are left and right, and are blocked in this manner. The side away from the call will block as they would in a middle return (shown above), and the call side, will begin their count in negating the first two men from the sideline.
As you can see here's how the new count works for a return called to the right. The right wing (RW) is going to block number three, the end has number four and so forth, while the upbacks pick up the one and two on the called side.
There are also zone returns, where each player blocks a gap in one direction much like a slide protection would work with the upbacks blocking the first defenders to show. The possibilities are endless here as you can have the front eight block the gap to their right, left, inside or outside, depending on how you want to handle the return. The zone returns are a great way to handle teams that like to cross their players to confuse the man scheme and it is recommended to have both schemes in place.
Dealing With the Bunch Attack
What do you do when dealing with the bunch attack? This is pretty simple, and is handled by the front eight as well as the two upbacks. The upbacks and wings drop back 10 yards off the ball, the wings are centered between the hash mark and the top of the numbers,while the upbacks are inside the hash marks. The front eight, will align over the ball, but now the guards and tackles will be inside the hash marks, with the ends aligning on the hashes.
If the kickoff team then spreads out, the kickoff return team will simply align as they normally would against a regular kickoff. It should be noted that when facing teams that do this type of kickoff scheme, it is better suited for a zone blocking scheme rather than man.
Concerns about the 8-2-1
Some concerns many coaches have about the 8-2-1 is all the open field that it presents when you look at it on paper. Many coaches elect to sky or pooch kick to try and put the 8-2-1 in a bind, however this is easily negated. First, the upbacks handle all sky kicks, and they do so by giving a "sky" call to the front line. Once a sky call is heard by the front line, they quit dropping and put their foot in the ground and begin to block. Now the returner does not have a defender bearing down on him while trying to receive the football. When in doubt the upback should always fair catch any sky kick. I made this mandatory last season, and it worked quite well for us. Later in the season, I gave my guys a bit more freedom to do what they wanted with the ball and it worked quite nicely. One thing to note is that when an upback gets the football, the returner should replace him in the blocking scheme.
Advantages of the 8-2-1
Players seem to "fit" better into this scheme more than any other I've run. I always seem to have a bunch of leftover defensive back/wide receiver type players who one way or the other don't get much playing time. Here is a way to get those guys on the field. Remember the blocks are the greatest and all they have to do is "be in the way". Most of those kids can and will do that job quite effectively.
It makes the "wedge buster" obsolete. No longer can guys run down field and simply "tee off" on your wedge players. This in turn could help lead to a reduction in concussions (Thanks Coach Hoover), which as we all know in college and the NFL this has been a serious issue that has changed the standard kickoff over the past few seasons. When I asked my guys at the end of this past season what they liked about the 8-2-1, the majority said that they no longer felt like a "target", which made enough sense to me to stick with the scheme.
Onside kicks are immediately negated. First you are basically playing with your hands team out there. Since most guys are skill position, handling the football is the least of their worries. The eight men on the line also immediately reduces the kicking team's chances of a successful recovery.
The kick returner can treat the return similar to a zone tailback. No longer do you need to look for that kamikaze returner who is fearless and will run full bore into traffic. Now all you need is a runner who has good vision and can cut off blockers.
Sorry it has been so long between posts, I'm still trying to get my ducks in a row, and really hitting the book hard after such a grueling season. I do have a request to make, if anybody can give me a hand with wanting to share any of their 46 defense resources, please hit me up at footballislifeblog@yahoo.com. I'm in need of some major improvements coming into next season, and I'm always willing to look at new ideas. Hit me up and we can talk. Hope all that are in the playoffs are still working hard and motivating those young men to do their best. This can be one of the most trying times of the season, but remember...IT'S WORTH IT!!!
Johnny McEntee, UConn's starting quarterback during the 2011 season, has been pushed into the background as junior-college transfer Chandler Whitmer wrestled the starting quarterback spot away from his during spring drills.
When Whitmer was knocked out of Saturday's game at Louisville after taking a vicious shot, McEntee was asked to lead the Huskies to its first road win against a ranked opponent. While his numbers weren't gaudy, he did throw a TD pass to Shakim Phillips in the second overtime.
McEntee, who could be pressed into duty again on Saturday when the Huskies host Cincinnati in a game UConn needs to win to become bowl eligible, just viewed his role in overtime as simply needing to deliver when given the opportunity.
“It was just a big win for the program and I was happy to be a part of it,” McEntee said.
“It was a good feeling,” McEntee said. “You don’t know if you are helping the team at all or what your role is. To be able to contribute something, the whole offense did a great job during that overtime scoring drive and it was just a great feeling.”
McEntee’s teammates jokingly called him “Johnny Football” which is the nickname of Texas A&M’s Heisman Trophy candidate Johnny Manziel. McEntee was having none of that but it was a sign of the level of appreciation his teammates have for the way McEntee handled losing his starting job.”
“Johnny has handled everything terrific,” UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni said. “Johnny is a team guy. Johnny is interested in doing whatever is in the best interest of the team so Johnny hasn’t been anything but a team guy from day one. He is a senior, this is his senior class and it is a program he has worked at for four years. To go on the road in the Big East against a top 20 team and win the game in the end, that is something that is an achievement that is a memory that this team, Johnny McEntee and seniors will have forever. That is something they will never forget ever. They may forget their wife’s birthday but they will never forget that win in Louisville.”
McEntee has toiled in relative obscurity behind the scenes, not making waves even when Whitmer was named the starter on the eve of the start of fall camp.
“At first it was a little tough but I just accepted it,” McEntee said. “I just wanted to have fun with my fellow seniors and guys I came in with.”
Pasqualoni didn’t have much of an update on Whitmer’s status and he would not even confirm if he was diagnosed with a concussion.
“Chandler Whitmer is doing pretty good,” Pasqualoni said. “We are really going to limit his work (Tuesday) and reevaluate it each day and we are optimistic as we go through the week that Chandler will be available. It will be a day to day evaluation process.
“We are going to cut Chandler’s down so at least (Tuesday) Johnny will get reps and of course Scotty (McCummings) will get reps. Chandler will make most of his work (as) mental reps. As we go through the week, we have plenty of time. Chandler has gone through this stuff over and over again and we are just going to work through it and see how it goes during the week and make a decision.”
UCONN PRESIDENT ADDRESSES BIG EAST RUMORS Following a press conference announcing women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma’s partnership with the university’s school of business for a leadership conference held at Mohegan Sun Casino on Apr. 29-30, UConn president Susan Herbst was asked for an update on the conference realignment rumors.
Herbst had no comment was asked whether the Atlantic Coast Conference was closing in on making an offer for the Huskies to become an ACC school and also offered a no comment when pressed to see if UConn would accept the invite from the ACC.
Herbst talked in general terms about putting the interests of the student-athletes first. “They are there to work hard, have fun and give us a lot of joy especially in the rough winter and we want (them) to be a success academically,” Herbst said. “I think my role is to try to keep perspective on the student-athletes.
“I don’t know how realignment is going to end or how it is settled but we have to focus on the students and they really everything is going to be OK.”
Princeton DL Mike Catapano, Harvard QB Colton Chapple, Brown DB AJ Cruz and Cornell QB Jeff Mathews are the finalists for the Bushnell Cup, the Ivy League’s Player of the Year.
Mathews is just the second player to be twice named a Bushnell Cup finalist. He won the award last year. The winner of the Bushnell Cup will be announced on Monday at 12:30 p.m. and will be streamed live FootballFoundation.orgwith access on IvyLeagueSports.com.
The Ivy League has named the four finalists for the conference's offensive and defensive players of the year and none should be a surprise. The presentation will be made Monday. From the Ivy release:
Princeton senior defensive lineman Mike Catapano, Harvard senior quarterback Colton Chapple, Brown senior defensive back/return specialist AJ Cruz and Cornell junior quarterback Jeff
Were you curious when you read about Columbia playing a 227-pound offensive lineman this fall? In another informative and interesting blog post titled Season Review and Sticking With the Plan, Lions coach Pete Mangurian addresses the size of his linemen this way:
We remain committed to our standards for body composition. We will not carry fat as a substitute for muscle mass. Our players will
24/11, Pkl. 16:30: Vietnam vs Myanmar, Rajamangala 24/11, Pkl. 19:20: Thailand vs Filipina, Rajamangala 27/11, Pkl. 16:30: Vietnam vs Filipina, Rajamangala 27/11, Pkl. 19:20: Myanmar vs Thailand, Rajamangala 30/11, Pkl. 19:20: Filipina vs Myanmar, SCG Stadium 30/11, Pkl. 19:20: Thailand vs Vietnam, Rajamangala
Grup B: di Malaysia
25/11, Pkl. 17:00: Indonesia vs Laos, Bukit Jalil 25/11, Pkl. 19:45: Malaysia vs Singapura, Bukit Jalil 28/11, Pkl. 17:00: Indonesia vs Singapura, Bukit Jalil 28/11, Pkl. 19:45: Laos vs Malaysia, Bukit Jalil 1/12, Pkl. 19:45: Singapura vs Laos, Shah Alam 1/12. Pkl. 19:45: Malaysia vs Indonesia, Bukit Jalil
Semifinal
Leg 1 8/12: Runner-up Grup A vs Pemenang Grup B 9/12: Runner-up Grup B vs Pemenang Grup A Leg 2 12/12: Pemenang Grup B vs Runner-up Grup A 13/12: Pemenang Grup A vs Runner-up Grup B
Final
Leg 1 19/12: Pemenang Semifinal 1 vs Pemenang Semifinal 2 Leg 2 22/12: Pemenang Semifinal 2 vs Pemenang Semifinal 1
Senior defensive end Trevardo Williams was named the Big East's Defensive Player of the Week after recording three sacks and four tackles for losses in the win over Louisville. Junior kicker Chad Christen, who kicked three field goals including the game-winning 30-yard in the third ovetime, early Special Teams Player of the Week recognition from the conference.
Both players were also honorable mention picks by the College Football Performance Awards site.
The season may be over but I'm in the midst of two "wicked" busy weeks without much time to devote to the blog so . . .
Check out ESPNBoston for a high school report on Dartmouth-bound Lucas Bavaro, who tells the site he's ticketed to play safety with the Big Green. Bavaro chose Dartmouth over Colgate. He is the son of Mark Bavaro, the former tight end best known for his play with the New York
Former UConn star Jordan Younger had two tackles as Toronto defeated Calgary 35-22 to win the Grey Cup title.
It was the second Grey Cup title for Younger who was a member of the last Toronto team to win the Canadian Football League title back in his rookie year of 2004.
Another former Husky (Danny Desriveaux) is also on the roster but is on the injured list.
Former Husky Larry Taylor had a 42-yard reception, a 4-yard run, returned eight kickoffs for 208 yards and added 29 yards on three punt returns for Calgary.
Just where the upset of nationally-ranked Louisville will go down in UConn folklore figures to be determined by just what happens in Saturday's regular-season finale.
If UConn wraps up the regular season with a win over Cincinnati, the Huskies will have secured a bowl bid which is something that seemed like a virtual impossibility following a loss at South Florida on Nov. 3 and that will make what transpired in Louisville all the more important. A loss to the Bearcats, especially a lopsided one, and it will be merely a footnote in a second-straight losing season.
“What it did for us is it makes this one (against Cincinnati) the most meaningful game we’ve played,” UConn coach Paul Pasqualoni said. “The next game you play is always the most important one because it is the next game but obviously it is a game where we could become bowl eligible. It is the last game the seniors will play here at the Rent (Rentschler Field) so that Louisville game put us in position to have a pretty exciting game.”
Pasqualoni said that Christen was given the special teams’ game ball while the offensive game ball went to sophomore tailback Lyle McCombs, who ran for 133 yards. In a rare gesture, Pasqualoni said that the entire defensive unit was awarded the defensive game ball.
“It was very clear on the film how many guys (on defense) contributed to the win,” Pasqualoni said. “It started with doing a very good job on run defense, constantly putting them in second down and third down and longs where you kind of knew it was going to be a drop back type of thing instead of a play-action type of pass. They threw the ball 65 times in the game and that required us to use a lot of people. Guys like Julian Campenni came in and got a sack. B.J. McBryde came in and did a good job in the pass rush. Tim Willman came in and did a good job with the pass rush and Kenton Adeyemi came in and gave us a couple of rushes. I thought the guys inside did a good job of trying to keep (Louisville quarterback) Teddy Bridgewater in the pocket. It was an overall good team win. Obviously Blidi (Wreh-Wilson’s) play at the end was just a huge play to make that interception in the end zone.”
In UConn's triple-overtime upset of Louisville, two of the Huskies top playmakers went down with injuries.
UConn football coach Paul Pasqualoni said on Sunday's call with the media that he is hopeful that both quarterback Chandler Whitmer and defensive end Trevardo Williams will be able to return to practice on Tuesday.
Whitmer suffered an apparent concussion after taking a vicious hit leaving last year's starter Johnny McEntee to finish the game.
"He (Whitmer) will be out of practice today," Pasqualoni said. "We have a very light walkthrough today. He won’t be involved in that today. We will be off (Monday) so we will have two days and then we will see how he is. We are optimistic but we will see how he is.
"I would rather wait until Tuesday and get the absolute definite (update) on it because I want to be sure about what I am saying."
Williams had one of the best games of his collegiate career highlighted by three sacks and four tackles for losses. But he had a walking boot protecting an injured right ankle.
"We will go very light with Trevardo today and like the other guys we will reassess where he is on Tuesday. He is already in the training room being aggressive with his treatment so we are optimistic there."
Pasqualoni said that running back Lyle McCombs received the offensive game ball, the game ball for special teams went to kicker Chad Christen while the entire defensive unit received the defensive game ball.
