New Haven @ Slippery Rock.

[cwfenn]

Chargers get to the Rock 35 but the drive ends on downs. 6 minutes left and Rock wants to run clock.

[cwfenn]

That dropped screen pass was big. That could of been a huge gain.

That and the fumble.

[cwfenn]

Rock runs the clock down to the 2:41 mark and punt. Chargers ball at their 7 needing a TD, 2 time outs and the 2 minute time out.

[cwfenn]

2 minute timeout, Chargers have fourth and 10 and punt. Rock ball with 1:51 left and Chargers have 2 timeouts.

[cwfenn]

New Haven has it back at their 12 with 42 seconds left.

[cwfenn]

Menard takes a sack on his last down as a Charger. Rock wins 14-7, and New Haven once again is so close but not nearly enough in a big game. Couldn’t establish the ground game and needed too much from the pass. The fumble out of the end zone killed them too.

Rock did what they had to do to win and best of luck to them against Kutztown.

[BigCatcirca73]

I realize everyone holds - but the Slippery Rock left side was a little excessive. I saw some grabs that would have been 3-pt takedowns if it was wrestling season.

[cwfenn]

I guess the big question is how New Haven and the NE10 can stop getting pushed around in these big games? Is it a location thing? Is it an NE10 thing?

All I know is the New Haven offense looked slow and sluggish both times they played Slippery Rock. Very few holes for their rushers, and what holes they had were either closed fast or the Chargers got called for holding. They just can’t physically match up with these teams out of conference. Look at what the best rushing team in the country (Harding, another small private school) did against a top-10 rushing defense (Pitt State) - 518 yards!

It’s nice to make the playoffs, but being good enough to barely get out of the NE10 isn’t enough for me, and I’d like to think it isn’t enough for the fans of the rest of the league either.

[NewHaven Alum]

I guess the big question is how New Haven and the NE10 can stop getting pushed around in these big games? Is it a location thing? Is it an NE10 thing?

All I know is the New Haven offense looked slow and sluggish both times they played Slippery Rock. Very few holes for their rushers, and what holes they had were either closed fast or the Chargers got called for holding. They just can’t physically match up with these teams out of conference. Look at what the best rushing team in the country (Harding, another small private school) did against a top-10 rushing defense (Pitt State) - 518 yards!

It’s nice to make the playoffs, but being good enough to barely get out of the NE10 isn’t enough for me, and I’d like to think it isn’t enough for the fans of the rest of the league either.

Very valid points. Like I said earlier, New Haven can not be a one dimensional football team when playing a team like Slippery Rock. The Rocks just shutdown what New Haven does best and that is the running game by putting at least one or two players on the running backs at all time. It is frustrating to say the least that this New Haven football team is not what it used to be and I think I might want to add coaching to the list.

[cwfenn]

Very valid points. Like I said earlier, New Haven can not be a one dimensional football team when playing a team like Slippery Rock. The Rocks just shutdown what New Haven does best and that is the running game by putting at least one or two players on the running backs at all time. It is frustrating to say the least that this New Haven football team is not what it used to be and I think I might want to add coaching to the list.

The defense - they’ve played amazing the past few years. I think you’re right about the offense. It’s almost like the offensive play calling is designed to protect the defense from being on the field too much more than it is to score points. When it works, it’s great. When it doesn’t work, you have last Saturday.

But even if you’re a running team, there are a lot of ways you can run the ball. They seem to be happy with just running shotgun draw plays most of the time and on the same downs, and that’s easy to defend if you can match up physically, which Rock could. The only time I thought the Rock defense wasn’t comfortable and dictating the game was on the long pass that ended up getting fumbled out of the end zone, but that was just one play.

I’ll need to refresh my mind about the 92 and 93 teams - they ran the ball a ton but had no trouble scoring against anyone…of course, they had the GOAT too.