Lafayette Vs Bison Preview

[HandoEX]

I am, to the best of my knowledge, the first person from Lafayette to post on this board, so good to make your acquaintance, and everyone in the Lafayette community is really looking forward to September 3rd in the Fargodome. I don't expect that many folks from back here will venture to Fargo for the game, but we will see it because Lafayette has marvelous TV coverage. Live or on TV, I haven't missed a game in 6 or 7 years.

Thanks to Scooter1 for his analysis. Kudos and a well done. I will now try to give you an up close and personal look at the Pards. (That's Pards as in LeoPARDS, and as shorthand for the College's original benefactor, Ario PARDee, a 19th century coal and railroad baron who fought in the Civil War and even has a small piece of the Gettysburg battlefield named after him.)

As Scooter1 pointed out, Lafayette went 2-9 in 2010. It was unexpected but not undeserved, as the Pards had more holes than a Wisconsin Swiss cheese. Many of those holes persist into 2011 as questions, so let's get started.

The biggest problems are in the lines – on both sides of the ball. Coach Tavani was “tired of being pushed around” and has apparently opted for wide bodies on the offense. At one point in the spring his OL 2-deep (that's 10 guys) averaged – averaged! - over 310. OL coach Stan Clayton (a member of Penn State's first national championship team, and a veteran of 4 years in the NFL) has his work cut out for him, but some solid recruiting means that he probably has the raw material. Unfortunately this takes time and it is a bit too much to ask for real results in game one. In the DL both ends seem to be quality but the rest is a question mark.

AT QB, last year's starter, Ryan O'Neil is back. Forget the statistics, he was mediocre last year. The OL problems were undoubtedly a factor, but the coaching staff did not seem to trust him, calling an endless stream of outs, dumps and flat passes. Word is that O'Neil is worlds better this preseason, but that remains to be seen. His backup, Andrew Shoop, has the best arm on the team, but has spent 2 years with a reputation of being unable to grasp the system but has supposedly had an epiphany within the past two weeks. Another we shall see.

The running backs are talented but, in my opinion, undersized and injury prone. The starter will be Lilliputian senior Jerome Rudolph, but hopes are high for sophomore Patrick Mputu and freshman Ross Scheuerman. Tavani is old school and likes to run the ball. His offensive coordinator, Mickey Fein, on the other hand, is a former QB who is schooled in the spread. I don't know what that means. Just sayin'.

Wide receiver is one of the true strengths of this team. Last year's corps of receivers was perhaps the best in school history – and was wasted. If there's a drop off with the 2011 group, it isn't by much.

Lafayette has produced top flight linebackers for most of the last 10 years with one currently in the NFL. This year's group is talented and deep, but without that single awe inspiring performer that Leopard fans are used to seeing.

The DBs are another strength for this team. They are experienced and talented. The corners are supposedly “lock down.” The problem with this group has been the coaching where receivers have traditionally been given a huge cushion. As a result this group has recoded lots of tackles and few interceptions.

Special teams was a disaster last year. Don't know what to expect in 2011 with both the punter and place kicker graduated. The biggest problem last year was kick coverage with opposing teams consistently given fantastic field position beyond the 40.

That's it. A quick and dirty summary. Hope it helps.

Oh yeah, a prediction. Frankly, I don't see the Pards solving their line problems in the first game – particularly not against a quality opponent. I see this one being over early and often as Lafayette begins a month of on the job training.

One last point to take issue with something Scooter1 said. He mentioned that something like 42 players are juniors, seniors or 5th year players. I'm sure his numbers are correct, but the heart and soul of this team is in the sophomore and freshman classes. They may not get the starts on Saturday and may not even get the lion's share of the playing time, but they will become more important with each passing week. There was apparently a real disconnect between the athletics department and the admissions/financial aid people for a few years and that was the primary cause of the talent gap that led to 9-2. (Remember: no football scholarships!) That has been corrected.

Great post, we appreciate the insight. There have been a few Pards fans posting on here as of late. Nice to see opposing fans active on Bisonville.

[Scooter1]

One last point to take issue with something Scooter1 said. He mentioned that something like 42 players are juniors, seniors or 5th year players. I'm sure his numbers are correct, but the heart and soul of this team is in the sophomore and freshman classes. They may not get the starts on Saturday and may not even get the lion's share of the playing time, but they will become more important with each passing week. There was apparently a real disconnect between the athletics department and the admissions/financial aid people for a few years and that was the primary cause of the talent gap that led to 9-2. (Remember: no football scholarships!) That has been corrected.

Thanks for your input. I believe one of your colleagues posted that you use needs based financial aid which would be the equivalent of about 50 scholarships. Is this correct?

Sorry you took issue with something I wrote, I was pointing out the fact that this team isn't young. To the best of my knowledge, it appears that you will have 15 seniors, 4 juniors and 3 sophomores starting on offense and defense. I sure hope you are wrong that the heart and soul of this team is in the freshman and sophomore class because if that is true, they won't be able to do much good standing on the sidelines. This senior class for Lafayette needs to take complete control of the team if you want success this season.

You have a ton of seniors. Like it or not, it's their team and you will go as far as they will let you.

[tjbison]

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/lafa...ebacker_t.html

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/lafa...1_footbal.html

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/lafa...pes_for_2.html

Some articles

[Tatanka]

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/lafa...ebacker_t.html

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/lafa...1_footbal.html

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/lafa...pes_for_2.html

Some articles

Sounds like there may be a decent showing of Lafayette fans at this one. Hope they stop by the tailgate before the game to talk football!

[KSBisonFan]

Good analysis from both sides. Thanks, guys.
I believe this Bison team will enter this season on a mission with confidence sky high from last year's playoff run. The level of competition we faced last year will show this year and it starts in week 1.
Bison 40, Lafayette 16.

[carney2]

Just a note that it's a different FCS football world in the east than in the midwest. Lafayette traditionally plays its 6 Patriot League opponents and 3, sometimes 4 Ivy League opponents each year. That leaves room for only one or two games such as Saturday's encounter in Fargo. The Ivy League gets bad football press in areas where they are not well known. For reasons of their own the Ivies choose not to participate in the FCS playoffs, and many people see that as somehow making them athletically inferior. Not so. The top tier of the Ivy League, in my opinion, is a match for most of FCS. At the moment both Pennsylvania and Harvard would be a very tough nut for any of the FCS teams on NDSU's schedule to crack. The Ivies have a huge recruiting advantage over almost any other school. Although it's true that they don't give athletic schools, many of them compensate in other ways. Harvard, for instance, guarantees a 100% free ride to any student whose family income is under, I believe, $200,000. If that isn't a scholarship, what is? In addition they ask a recruit which name he would rather have on his diploma (besides his, of course), Harvard or Anyplace U. It is very difficult to recruit against them.

[tony]

Not likely to affect the game much since the players are backup and only one is on their two-deep roster, but 3 Lafayette players have been suspended and won't make the trip.

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/lafa...pends_thr.html

The only suspended player on the two-deep is Mputu, the backup RB. Kind of interesting that the Panther's leading rusher from last year was their 3rd string back until this happened.

[dackienhan]

Ray for the Orange and the Blue!

GO BISON.