Hi all. I'm sorry if the game previews are a little slimmer than usual, but I have a really busy schedule this week so I want to get this posted now while I can. Also, I'm sorry for the MEC crowd. If I can make some time later this week, I'll post another blog but can't promise it. Remember, we have an early start to the weekend with more Thursday night action.


Edinboro (1-6, 1-5) at Mercyhurst (3-4, 3-3) (Thursday)

Last week: Heading into last week, it looked like Mercyhurst was just tagging along with Slippery Rock on the trip Michigan, but The Lakers put together a big second half and stunned the Rock with a convincing victory in the Big House. Edinboro was unable to create any momentum with their win over Clarion and turned in a dismal performance at home against Gannon last Thursday.

After the first month of the season, Mercyhurst looked lost and hopeless. They were 0-4 with only a few glimmers of competitive form and looked like they might be headed towards a 2 or 3 win season. But, boy have they turned it around. Few teams have been more impressive over the past three weeks. The earned their first win of the season in a shutout of Clarion, uspet rival Gannon, who was 4-1 at the time, and pulled away from Slippery Rock. The offense has improved by miles under the direction of QB Brendan Boylan, who has earned PSAC West offensive POW honors for the last two weeks. In the last two weeks he has thrown for over 800 yards.

By contrast, Edinboro looked downright awful last week. Maybe it was the short week. I don't know. But it surprised me to see a Scott Browning team look so inept with fundamentals. Missed tackles, dropped passes, poor angle...the list goes. They just didn't look good. They really need a breakout performance to salvage their season (like Mercyhurst) but I just don't see it happening. They are capable of playing a lot better than they did last Thursday, and I expect that they will. But that alone won't be enough. They'll have to make some more plays on the offensive side of the ball and they'll need to find a way to slow down the Mercyhurst offense that is now playing with loads of confidence. I don't like their chances.

Mercyhurst 38 Edinboro 20


Seton Hill (2-5, 2-4)) at Gannon (5-2, 4-2) 12:00

Last week: Seton Hill earned the program's first ever PSAC West division victory with a victory over Clarion. Gannon embarrassed Edinboro on their home turf in a Thursday night visit to the Boro.

After two straight losses, Gannon got back on track a week ago with a dominating performance over Edinboro. The Golden Knights re-established their running game with Brock Jones and also got back to winning the battles at the line of scrimmage on defense. That's where this game should be decided as well. Seton Hill is definitely improving, but they are still not able to control the line of scrimmage against stronger teams. As most teams have been, Gannon will be tested by Seton Hill's vertical passing attack. The Griffins have proven that they can toss the ball on just about anybody. But they have not been able to be consistent enough yet and still are unable to establish much on the ground. Gannon should be able to take away the rush without being too aggressive and that will allow them to have a lot of options for how they want to defend the pass.

I will also be surprised if Seton Hill has any success stopping Gannon's run game. Brock Jones has been a workhorse all year and Liam Nadler times the read option so perfectly that once the defense starts worrying about Jones, he keeps it himself for a long gains.

Gannon 35 Seton Hill 17

Cheyney (0-7, 0-6) at Shippensburg (3-4, 2-4) 12:00

Last week: Cheyney had one of their few remaining shots at victory when they hosted Lock Haven, but they were not very competitive, even with the winless Bald Eagles. Shippensburg struggled with an inexperienced QB and was unable to keep pace with West Chester. The Raiders slipped below .500 again.

Shippensburg is a struggling team right now. They are young on defense and the offense has not been able to compensate for that as well as I expected. The good news is that they're getting what all struggling teams need...a date with Cheyney.

The Raiders had an uneasy quarterback situation last week with Chris Lawshe missing most of the WCU game with an injury. If Lawshe is back to full strength, this game should be over quickly. If not, the Raiders may struggle with some mistakes but still should have no problems with the Wolves. Cheyney's offense is among the worst in the country and should provide Ship's defense with an opportunity to gain some confidence and momentum.

It hasn't been a good year for Ship, but certainly not bad enough to lose to Cheyney.

Shippensburg 56 Cheyney 13

Slippery Rock (5-2, 4-2) at IUP (5-2, 4-2)1:00

Last week: Both teams are coming off a loss. Slippery Rock was surprisingly upset by Mercyhurst in the Big House Battle at Michigan Stadium. IUP outgained California in total offense but turned the ball over five times in the loss to the Vulcans.

Both teams are all in a pretty tight spot. California has a full game lead in the PSAC West and has the head-to-head tie breaker over Rock and IUP. They need to help win the division and certainly cannot afford another loss if they want to stay alive for the post season. The losses from last week were very different. Slippery Rock was just outplayed. Simple as that. They were not the better team that day. IUP really could have won their meeting with Cal. The defense did a very good job against a Vulcan offense that has been gaining momentum every week. If the Crimson Hawks' own offense had finished some of their drives and cut down on the turnovers, they probably would have won.

Slippery Rock seems to have lost their way offensively. The running game hasn't produced as much in recent weeks and they resorted to changing quarterbacks last week to try to ignite the offense. In a curious move, The Rock coaching staff replaced Zack Newsock with Jared Buck, who made his first time since 2012. Buck was okay, but I don't know if provided the lift that the coaches were hoping for. So now this week they have more decisions to make, and I think this plays right into the hands of IUP. The Hawks' defense is playing very well right now. I was really impressed with how well they played against Cal and if the Rock still looks unsettled on offense, I think IUP will handle them.

Honestly, For IUP, I think this game is more about the offense not losing it than the defense winning it. The Hawks can move the ball and the Rock defense has been so-so in recent weeks, so I think IUP will have a chance to be successful. But they cannot be as sloppy as they were last week. If they clean up the messes they made at Cal, I think they can win this game by double digits.

IUP 31 Slippery Rock 21

California (6-1, 5-1) at Clarion (2-5, 2-4) 1:00Millersville (0-7, 0-6) at Lock Haven (1-6, 1-5) 2:00

Last week: Millersville turned in a respectable performance against East Stroudsburg but went down to defeat for the seventh straight week. Lock Haven notched their first win of the season at Cheyney.

This is an interesting match up. Lock Haven is on the board with a W this year and two in a row would look very good for them right now. Overall they have been more competitive than Millersville in most games, but this will be the most favorable match up that Millersville has had since week 1. The Marauders have seen several teams that solid defensive units in recent weeks and a match up with Lock Haven's relatively young unit is just what they need to try to get something going. Millersville has some talent at the skill positions that I think could cause some problems for the Bald Eagles. I think it could be a good day for the Ville offense. The question will be, can their defense do enough to help them out? Lock Haven's offense isn't great, but they have had more success than Ville's defense and they are capable of throwing the ball pretty well.

This game could go either way and it does help Lock Haven to be at home. But last week's effort against East Stroudsburg showed the Marauders are still pulling together as a team and are ready for their best day of the year.

Millersville 24 Lock Haven 20


Kutztown (3-4, 3-3) at East Stroudsburg (6-1, 5-1) 3:05

Last week: East Stroudsburg got a battle from Millersville, but still won comfortably on the road. Kutztown was handled at home by Bloomsburg.

Kutztown has had a tough two weeks, going against two highly ranked and undefeated teams in West Chester and Bloomsburg. Things don't get a whole lot easier this week as they hit the road to East Stroudsburg. The Warriors have won five straight to run their record to 6-1. Their only loss came in week two against Slippery Rock. Kutztown has a couple of things that theyr'e doing well, but this is going to be another very difficult match up for them. West Chester and Bloomsburg were able to move the ball very effectively through the air. The Golden Bears were tough against the run at times, but also gave up big plays to both teams. With where they are right now on defense, I think slowing down ESU's passing attack is going to be hard. The Bears have been effective at getting pressure on quarterbacks this year and if they can do that, they could be able to stay in the game for a while.

Offensively, the Bears have to get back into a rhythm throwing the ball. West Chester and Bloom took away nearly everything the Bears tried to do and although ESU isn't quite as good as either of those teams on defense, they're not bad. Kutztown should be able to do a little more on offense this week, but still not enough, especially if the Warriors are clicking with their passing game.

East Stroudsburg 45 Kutztown 28

PSAC Game of the Week

West Chester (7-0, 6-0) at Bloomsburg (7-0, 6-0) 2:00

Last week: Bloomsburg took care of business at Kutztown in a game in that was more dominant than the 31-13 score would indicate. Likewise, West Chester handed Shippensburg their fourth defeat in a fairly comfortable afternoon at Farrell Stadium.

We've been building up to this game for several weeks. The two teams that have controlled the PSAC East for the better part of 20 years will have their annual meeting on Saturday afternoon and as usual, the stakes are high. Neither team has faced 6-1 East Stroudsburg yet so this is by no means a championship game. The Warriors will undoubtedly have something to say about who faces the West champ for the conference crown. But it is, without question, a hugely anticipated game and with two highly ranked and undefeated teams going at it, should be the biggest regular season game of the year in SR1.

The two teams have been somewhat similar this year. They've gotten to 7-0 through grit, determination and rock solid defense. West Chester has been the more consistent offensive team, but the Huskies have been getting better each week. They may be only 10th in total offense per game in the PSAC, but they are doing what they have to do. The question now will be how will they do against the #2 scoring defense in the league? Its going to be hard to run the ball. Aside from the Ship game, which was a little unusual in the way it played out, West Chester has been very good at defending the run and they do know how to game plan for Bloomsburg. Bloom's offense is normally built around running to set up the pass. But they've had some struggles with establishing the run this year and in recent weeks, they flipped their strategy and have successfully thrown the ball to set up the run. That's actually wha t they did at West Chester last year as well, and it worked very well early in the game. I think this will be critical again this year if the Huskies are going to take down the undefeated Rams.

For their part, West Chester's offense, which has been among the best in the PSAC all year, will also face significant challenges. Bloomsburg is first in the PSAC in scoring defense, fifth in rushing and fourth in passing. Naturally, WCU's passing offense will be hard to defend. But, Bloom has stood up well to the passing styles of Shippensburg, Kutztown and California. They will be the toughest challenge West Chester has faced. I believe pretty strongly that the key to the game for Bloom is getting pressure on the QB Sean McCartney. If has time with every drop back he will do a lot of damage. He is way to accurate to leave unharassed. The Huskies cannot afford to let him stand in the pocket. McCartney can be deceptively mobile when he finds space but can also be a little stiff if the pressure is consistent. Bloomsburg is not usually a defense that brings heavy blitzes so pressure will have to come from the front four.

Although I mentioned it a few times, it should go without saying that this is the toughest test of the year for each team. They're both 7-0, they know each other well and they're both playing better each week. The only that is a given is that is should be a hell of a game.Bloomsburg has been exceptional on defense all year. If they create a couple of turnovers and win the TO battle, they'll win the game. It's a toss up, but I think West Chester is a little more adaptable on offense and that will be the key.

West Chester 34 Bloomsburg 28

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