FCS - Polls

[Cluck U]

When you think about the 2003 final season game at Villanova what are some of the thing that come to mind?

I just remember that Andy Hall gutted it out. Tough game, UD didn't have much to play for other than seeding, and I think nova was fighting for their playoff lives (which didn't work out for them, the loss to UD ended their season at 7-4).

Oh, and our flagpole (and two quality flags) got stolen from our tailgate. I partly blame BHBK for leaving the flagpole up during the game, but most of the blame goes to the ingrates at nova and the rent-a-cop Radnor police force.

Oh, and wasn't that the game where the drunk/soon-to-be-retired priest almost ran down a group of UD parents and supporters after the game? Good times.

Pretty much nailed it.

[HensRock]

Definitely a fun year…2003.

Strange, too.

We barely squeaked by UNH, crushed Rhody, edged both Navy and Maine, lost to NE, then barely got by UMass and nova.

Then, come playoff time, we blew the doors off the best I-AA had to offer.

That team was battled hardened by the CAA and then gelled at the right time for the playoff run.

But, one or two plays separated us from the rest of the pack in the CAA. Flip a game or two a couple points and we might not have made the playoffs.

Mind boggling.

It is literally mind boggling that anyone could say a 15-1 team that won a national championship was only “one or two plays separated from the rest of the pack in the CAA”. Teams don’t go 15-1 by accident.

2003 wasn’t a “strange year”. The 2003 Hens, a vey talented team, continually did whatever they had to do to win. And winning is what matters. That is what I hoped for against Elon after they fell behind. It is a great characteristic for a team to have. The Hens missed an opportunity to do it Saturday.

I wonder what is good enough for some folks? Geesh!

ehhh.... I'm kinda with Cluck on this one. Remember, we lost to Northeastern and needed overtime IN DELAWARE STADIUM to beat both Maine and UMass. And UMass was a TRIPLE OT game. I think part of it also is that we got HOT at the right time, but I do think the A10 schedule seasoned us for that playoff run. Even counting our blow-out wins against Richmond and URI, our average scores against A10 opponents during the regular season compared to playoff opponents is quite striking. I think our playoff opponents were not prepared for the physical style of play we had then in the A10.

2003 A10 Season Average win: 26.8 - 17.5 (9.3 point margin of victory)
2003 Playoffs Average win: 37.25 - 5.75 (32.5 point margin of victory)

[Hens79]

“A few plays go the other way and we aren’t even in the playoffs”. My gracious. Of course you double down.

But they didn’t Cluck. Good teams find ways to win. That is the point. Winning is what matters. I was hoping the Hens would do it against Elon. But they couldn’t pull it off no matter how much some say Elon “deserved to win”

[Caribbean Hen]

Cluck said

“UD 20-17 nova. Hall makes his signature TD run with less than two minutes left in the game…with a separated shoulder. A single play going the other way and we lose that game. “

Was actually thinking this could happen again this year…

I’m not saying Marker is dealing with a separated shoulder but he does have a shoulder issue and something about him reminds me of a righty Andy Hall type that could still win a game for us even if injured. Hall shoulder injury was non throwing shoulder. For Marker, the first injury at Penn State was throwing shoulder, when he was injured again at Towson the initial contact was to his left side, but the momentum of the dirty hit probably re-injured the right side

All guess work, speculation and astrology on my part

Beat Campbell first because it’s a playoff game

[Cluck U]

“A few plays go the other way and we aren’t even in the playoffs”. My gracious. Of course you double down.

But they didn’t Cluck. Good teams find ways to win. That is the point. Winning is what matters. I was hoping the Hens would do it against Elon. But they couldn’t pull it off no matter how much some say Elon “deserved to win”

Ahhhh…the result is all that matters. The journey matters not.

Good grief.

Actually, Elon deserved to win because…wait for it…they won. All the hoping in the world mattered not…Delaware was not a good team (because they lost). After each game, there is zero to discuss, because either we win or lose. Good team or bad team simply defined each game by the final score. Quadruple OT loss by a bad call in a national championship…bad team. Couldn’t find a way to win. Semi-final team? Bad team…only good teams find a way to win. Bad teams lose. Good teams win. No exceptions.

2003 Delaware was not a good team against Northeastern…because, by definition, they lost. But, suddenly, they were a good team the next game. So…we were a good team for 15 games and stunk up the joint as losers for one game.

Got cha’.

[tenn hen]

Cluck- that's a hell of a great post. as this season plays out we'll find out if we are a good team.

[Hens79]

Cluck, only you and maybe a few others would go back and “discuss” the almost loses in a 15-1 national championship season 20 seasons ago.

Good grief is right.

I hope Carty’s teams can find a way to win games at the end, including when they haven’t played a great overall game. That is what championship teams do. But before that, is not blowing games at the end they should win like last year against Richmond and Villanova.

We’ll see how the next two games play out.

[93BlueHen]

Stats Perform FCS Top 25

Hens up one spot to #7; Villanova up three spots to #10

1. South Dakota State (10-0, 7-0 MVFC), 1,400 points (56 of 56 first-place votes)
Previous Ranking: 1; Week 11: 34-0 win at then-No. 22 Youngstown State; Week 12: Missouri State

2. Furman (9-1, 7-0 SoCon), 1,309
Previous Ranking: 2; Week 11: 37-3 win over VMI; Week 12: at Wofford

3. Montana (9-1, 6-1 Big Sky), 1,301
Previous Ranking: 3; Week 11: 34-10 win at Portland State; Week 12: Montana State

4. Montana State (8-2, 6-1 Big Sky), 1,233
Previous Ranking: 5; Week 11: 57-14 win over Eastern Washington; Week 12: at Montana

5. South Dakota (8-2, 6-1 MVFC), 1,183
Previous Ranking: 6; Week 11: 14-10 win over then-No. 10 North Dakota; Week 12: at Western Illinois

6. Idaho (7-3, 5-2 Big Sky), 1,042
Previous Ranking: 4; Week 11: 31-29 loss at Weber State; Week 12: Idaho State

7. Delaware (8-2, 6-1 CAA), 1,029
Previous Ranking: 8; Week 11: 45-7 win at Campbell; Week 12: Villanova

8. Sacramento State (7-3, 4-3 Big Sky), 957
Previous Ranking: 9; Week 11: 41-30 win over Cal Poly; Week 12: at UC Davis

9. North Dakota State (7-3, 4-3 MVFC), 874
Previous Ranking: 12; Week 11: 34-10 win over then-No. 11 Southern Illinois; Week 12: at Northern Iowa

10. Villanova (8-2, 6-1 CAA), 792
Previous Ranking: 13(tie); Week 11: 33-10 win over Towson; Week 12: at Delaware

11. Florida A&M (9-1, 7-0 SWAC), 750
Previous Ranking: 13(tie); Week 11: 28-0 win over Lincoln (Calif.); Week 12: Bethune-Cookman

12. UAlbany (8-3, 6-1 CAA), 690
Previous Ranking: 18; Week 11: 38-20 win at Stony Brook; Week 12: Monmouth

13. North Dakota (6-4, 4-3 MVFC), 685
Previous Ranking: 10; Week 11: 14-10 loss at then-No. 6 South Dakota; Week 12: Illinois State

14. Western Carolina (7-3, 5-2 SoCon), 601
Previous Ranking: 17; Week 11: 58-7 win over ETSU; Week 12: at VMI

15. Austin Peay (8-2, 5-0 UAC), 556
Previous Ranking: 20; Week 11: 30-17 win over Utah Tech; Week 12: Central Arkansas

16. Southern Illinois (6-4, 3-4 MVFC), 507
Previous Ranking: 11; Week 11: 34-10 loss at then-No. 12 North Dakota State; Week 12: Indiana State

17. North Carolina Central (8-2, 3-1 MEAC), 489
Previous Ranking: 7; Week 11: 50-20 loss at Howard; Week 12: Delaware State

18. Chattanooga (7-3, 6-2 Southern), 481
Previous Ranking: 19; Week 11: No game; Week 12: at Alabama

19. UT Martin (8-2, 5-1 Big South-OVC), 475
Previous Ranking: 21; Week 11: 41-14 win over Southeast Missouri; Week 12: at Samford

20. UIW (7-2, 5-1 Southland), 464
Previous Ranking: 16; Week 11: Southland forfeit win vs. Northwestern State; Week 12: at Houston Christian

21. Mercer (8-3, 6-2 SoCon), 311
Previous Ranking: 23; Week 11: 28-21 win over Samford; Week 12: No game

22. Northern Iowa (6-4, 5-2 MVFC), 285
Previous Ranking: 15; Week 11: 35-16 loss at Missouri State; Week 12: North Dakota State

23. Harvard (8-1, 5-1 Ivy), 168
Previous Ranking: 24; Week 11: 25-23 3-OT win over Penn; Week 12: at Yale

24. Lafayette (8-2, 4-1 Patriot), 142
Previous Ranking: 25; Week 11: 24-16 win over Fordham; Week 12: at Lehigh

25. Youngstown State (6-4, 4-3 MVFC), 126
Previous Ranking: 22; Week 11: 34-0 loss to then-No. 1 South Dakota State; Week 12: at Murray State

Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): Central Arkansas (7-3, 4-1 UAC) 119; Tarleton (8-3, 4-2 UAC) 80; Richmond (7-3, 6-1 CAA) 77; Nicholls (5-4, 6-0 Southland, including forfeit win) 25; Holy Cross (6-4, 4-1 Patriot) 21; Gardner-Webb (6-4, 4-1 Big South-OVC) 8; UC Davis (6-4, 4-3 Big Sky) 5; Drake (7-3, 7-0 Pioneer) 2

https://theanalyst.com/na/2023/11/crowd ... p-25-poll/

[Caribbean Hen]

Thanks for posting 93

Idaho loses to Weber St and only drops 2 spots, these voters are head over heals for the Big Sky

I would love too see Delaware play Idaho or Sacramento State in playoffs

Avoid Brookings, SD like the plague

[Udforever1]

https://twitter.com/NCAA_FCS/status/1724094842173620359

6 in the Coaches.

[jd of de]

Saturdays Genie List.

Beat Villanova.

Hope Howard loses.

Let the #3 vs #4 loser have the #8 seed and go to Brookings. We’ve been there, done that.

That’s my 3 wishes.

[UDPat]

Cluck, only you and maybe a few others would go back and “discuss” the almost loses in a 15-1 national championship season 20 seasons ago.

Good grief is right.

I hope Carty’s teams can find a way to win games at the end, including when they haven’t played a great overall game. That is what championship teams do. But before that, is not blowing games at the end they should win like last year against Richmond and Villanova.

We’ll see how the next two games play out.

Agree 100%, are some starting to sound like Cowboys fans?????

In 20 years a lot of tarnish develops on those trophies. The future is all that matters and I hope it is a successful for the Hens.

[Cluck U]

Cluck, only you and maybe a few others would go back and “discuss” the almost loses in a 15-1 national championship season 20 seasons ago.

Good grief is right.

I hope Carty’s teams can find a way to win games at the end, including when they haven’t played a great overall game. That is what championship teams do. But before that, is not blowing games at the end they should win like last year against Richmond and Villanova.

We’ll see how the next two games play out.

Not one to look back and count your blessings? A lot can be learned from history…and people can be grateful for a few things going their way that changed the course of things.

And, how can one “blow a game” when the better team always wins? Richmond and nova won…they were better teams (according to the results) so we have no reason to look back and think we blew those games and “should” have won. We couldn’t have won…it is what it was…determined by fate…and the ranking of teams and their player’s abilities…by their victories. There is no looking back 20 years or even looking back to last year at almost victories or almost losses. Richmond and nova were better and nothing (except being a different, better, team, which we weren’t) could have changed that.

That’s how this works. Right?

Good grief, indeed.

[Hens79]

Cluck, only you and maybe a few others would go back and “discuss” the almost loses in a 15-1 national championship season 20 seasons ago.

Good grief is right.

I hope Carty’s teams can find a way to win games at the end, including when they haven’t played a great overall game. That is what championship teams do. But before that, is not blowing games at the end they should win like last year against Richmond and Villanova.

We’ll see how the next two games play out.

Not one to look back and count your blessings? A lot can be learned from history…and people can be grateful for a few things going their way that changed the course of things.

And, how can one “blow a game” when the better team always wins? Richmond and nova won…they were better teams (according to the results) so we have no reason to look back and think we blew those games and “should” have won. We couldn’t have won…it is what it was…determined by fate…and the ranking of teams and their player’s abilities…by their victories. There is no looking back 20 years or even looking back to last year at almost victories or almost losses. Richmond and nova were better and nothing (except being a different, better, team, which we weren’t) could have changed that.

That’s how this works. Right?

Good grief, indeed.

Do you wake up everyday thinking of new ways to throw up on the key board?

Anyway, there is no Webster’s definition for “blowing a game” at the end but most folks should agree that the Richmond and Villanova games last year would qualify. Hopefully, there is no repeat performance Saturday. But if there is, we won’t have to go back 20 years for an almost lost to find a comparison.

[Caribbean Hen]

This debate is easy

The 2003 Hens were great and won a national championship, but even Lennon/ McCartney needed a few breaks to make it out of The Cavern Club in Liverpool. Once they made it out of the regular season so to speak, the Beatles dominated the playoffs…