Time to be frank about reality...

[OBUGrad]

(3) Well aren't we talking about the playoffs as a whole, not just opening round games?

I think he was just pointing out that when Harding has made the runs it's not been when they have played elite competition in the first or even second rounds. Walnut will have to weigh in to be for sure, but that's what I took it as.

Hard to come on here and them completely knock Ouachita for losing to NW Mo when they haven't ever won that game either. Back to my point long ago...easy to make potshots when sitting at home.

[Brandon]

Hard to come on here and them completely knock Ouachita for losing to NW Mo

Might be interesting to look at the results minus games against NW.

[walnut100]

I think he was just pointing out that when Harding has made the runs it's not been when they have played elite competition in the first or even second rounds. Walnut will have to weigh in to be for sure, but that's what I took it as.

Hard to come on here and them completely knock Ouachita for losing to NW Mo when they haven't ever won that game either. Back to my point long ago...easy to make potshots when sitting at home.

That’s exactly what I meant. Harding faced some stiff competition as they went deeper into their runs, but the years they had their deepest runs, but they have had (in my opinion) some fortuitous draws for their opening round competition.

I could just be underestimating some of the field here too, I’m happy to admit if I’m wrong.

[LeftSider]

Bottom line is it’s easy to take potshots when your team is sitting at home.

I’ll sit up and notice when Harding beats NW Mo.

OBU is sitting at home…

[grlafxr]

GAC Playoff Results
SPACER

Harding
2021	Washburn	W 30-14
	Northwest Missouri	L 28-9
2019	@ Northwest	L 7-6
2018	@ Ferris State	L 21-18
2017	@ Indianapolis	W 27-24
	@ Ashland	W 34-24
	@ Ferris State	W 16-14
	@ A&M-Commerce	L 31-17
2016	Central Missouri	W 48-31
	@ Sioux Falls	W 27-24
	@ Northwest Missouri	L 35-0
2014	@ Pittsburg State	L 59-42
2013	@ Northwest Missouri	L 35-0

SPACER

Ouachita
2022	Northwest Missouri	L 47-17
2019	Lindenwood	L 41-38
2018	Indianapolis	W 35-7
	Ferris State	L 37-14
2017	@ Ferris State	L 24-19
2014	Minnesota Duluth	L 48-45

SPACER

Henderson
2015	Sioux Falls	W 23-16
	Emporia State	L 29-3
2013	St Cloud	L 40-35
2012	Missouri Western	L 45-21

Thanks Brandon. I didn't realize Harding had made a couple deep runs.

[Divisiontwo]

Thanks Brandon. I didn't realize Harding had made a couple deep runs.

I think they win the whole thing in 17 if QB doesn’t get suspended week before commerce game.

[LeftSider]

I think they win the whole thing in 17 if QB doesn’t get suspended week before commerce game.

Pretty much every playoff game Harding lost had a huge injury or multiple of them. It’s hard to win a game if your QB or #1 slot is sitting on the bench holding their knee. Not an excuse or saying we would have won- just an observation.

[Argonut]

GAC Playoff Results
SPACER

Harding
2021	Washburn	W 30-14
	Northwest Missouri	L 28-9
2019	@ Northwest	L 7-6
2018	@ Ferris State	L 21-18
2017	@ Indianapolis	W 27-24
	@ Ashland	W 34-24
	@ Ferris State	W 16-14
	@ A&M-Commerce	L 31-17
2016	Central Missouri	W 48-31
	@ Sioux Falls	W 27-24
	@ Northwest Missouri	L 35-0
2014	@ Pittsburg State	L 59-42
2013	@ Northwest Missouri	L 35-0

SPACER

Ouachita
2022	Northwest Missouri	L 47-17
2019	Lindenwood	L 41-38
2018	Indianapolis	W 35-7
	Ferris State	L 37-14
2017	@ Ferris State	L 24-19
2014	Minnesota Duluth	L 48-45

SPACER

Henderson
2015	Sioux Falls	W 23-16
	Emporia State	L 29-3
2013	St Cloud	L 40-35
2012	Missouri Western

With only one team from GAC making a deep run in the playoffs this makes the case for abandoning the silo schedule and taking on OOC teams as much as possible to prepare for postseason. As I suggested in another thread, take one conference champion (flip a coin or draw straws if there's a tie) and fill rest of 32 PO spots using strength of schedule and playoff eligibility requirement of 1-3 OOC games. You can start at one OOC game to get the silos attention and it would only take one year of 10-1 second place silo teams being left out for a 3 loss non-silo team to open up scheduling for benefit of all teams.

[Predatory Primates]

Thanks Brandon. I didn't realize Harding had made a couple deep runs.

Their D was legit in 2017.

[Predatory Primates]

Part of it is the offensive scheme. If you can't throw, and keep a D off balance, you better have, either the best OL in D2, and a superstar type ball carrier and/or a world class Defense or you are dead in the playoffs.

That brings it back to recruiting. Winning OOC games helps with that, but if you can't recruit Nationally, use the portal to fill holes, and get good local/regional talent, the playoffs will show you a talent gap. The days of recruiting half of the state all star team and riding that to the NC are over.

Pitt is where the GAC schools are at. Still trying to figure out how to get back there. I think they're on their way, but honestly don't know if they are there yet.

[yote_7]

The reality is that the GAC as a whole is just a weak conference

[jimbo slice]

NattyStateFan to attempt to answer a couple of your questions.

1) Why does HU have their worst game against NW everytime? Simply put, NW is very good at defending what HU does offensively. I think HU needs to develop a supplemental pass game to go along with that rushing attack of theirs, if they are ever going to get past NW. In fairness to the Bisons, their Ds have been PO-caliber, they have outplayed FSU both times they played (though the series stands at 1-1) and in recent times have beat just about anybody they play not named NW--and even then, the last two games were no picnic for the Bearcats.

to be fair, UNK runs a VERY similar offense. it's not like NW has never had to play a team like Harding. anyone who has coached any amount of time will know how to beat a Harding team. it's just the execution. load the box (because it a very compressed formation) overpower them at the line and stay disciplined on the outside and You'll do well enough to keep them down on offense. once that happens, you just have to score at that point.
i know, easier said than done but the offense has hardly changed in 80 or so years and the way to stop it hasn't either. just execution.

it doesn't happen very often but, when a team manages to neutralize that offense, it's basically a war of attrition. which battering ram will give up first.

also of note...pulling lineman will surely take you to the ball. all about playing disciplined defense.

[northwest missouri state]

After several years of watching Ouachita not get it done come PO time, here are my thoughts as to why Ouachita Baptist is 1-5 in the POs and will not likely have success in the playoffs anytime soon...

1) Portrayed Mentality/Outlook. Todd Knight said in an interview on Inside D2 Football show earlier this season that he believes National Championships come by winning Conference Championships first. That is demonstrably untrue because TAMUC in '17 & UWF in '19 won national titles, but did not win conference titles. Frankly, that kind of talk sounds like a team that in more interested in conference titles than national titles, or in other words is just happy to be in the playoffs as opposed to wanting to be a serious contender. Not a good look. HC shouldn't be talking about GAC titles when asked about what his team needs to do to improve their PO performance. He should be talking about what he's going to do to take that next step towards being a PO contender.

2) De facto Defensive Philosophy. The whole Bend-but-don't-break + Opportunistic style D doesn't work well in the POs, especially SR3, when combined with a Power Running O. Those kinds of defenses only work well in POs if a team is running a Spread, RPO, Air Raid+, etc., type offense. Also, during the regular season these kinds of defenses when used in a silo schedule can look like a dominating D when it is playing familiar weaker teams in conference play. Either Ouachita needs to change how they approach D or they need to change how they approach O.

3) Familiarity/Lack of Familiarity with opponents. As for regular season, because the GAC plays in a silo-schedule, i.e., the same 11 teams every year, Ouachita knows those teams tendencies very well. However, after compiling a 1-5 record, it is pretty clear that the Tigers struggle to prepare for teams they don’t see year-in & year-out. A couple of non-conference games against quality opponents every year would probably go a good ways towards helping to fix that problem.

4) Recruitment. Two-thirds (2/3rds) to Three-fourths (3/4ths) of every signing class for Ouachita comes from Arkansas. Arkansas has some great high school talent, but it doesn’t have enough talent to field a D2 PO-caliber D by using mostly Arkansas recruits, it just doesn't. I realize there may be a financial reason behind why Ouachita recruits this way, but at some point you either have to find a way to get it done or admit defeat and stop pretending to be a PO contender.


Okay, melt down by certain Ouachita fans is about to commence in T-minus 10 and counting...

P.S. feel free to agree/disagree in a civil manner.

P.S.S. if you act like a snowflake or cupcake, I'm gonna treat you like one.

it's point 4. you don't have the talent found in the top leagues. the rest is immaterial to the initial question. also disagree re: winning the league. just b/c you can find exceptions doesn't invalidate the point. if you go back most champions are also league champions, same as d1a, d1aa, d3, & the super bowl (wild card vs div winners) b/c more often than not the best team performs the best throughout the season.

[northwest missouri state]

to be fair, UNK runs a VERY similar offense. it's not like NW has never had to play a team like Harding. anyone who has coached any amount of time will know how to beat a Harding team. it's just the execution. load the box (because it a very compressed formation) overpower them at the line and stay disciplined on the outside and You'll do well enough to keep them down on offense. once that happens, you just have to score at that point.
i know, easier said than done but the offense has hardly changed in 80 or so years and the way to stop it hasn't either. just execution.

it doesn't happen very often but, when a team manages to neutralize that offense, it's basically a war of attrition. which battering ram will give up first.

also of note...pulling lineman will surely take you to the ball. all about playing disciplined defense.

the biggest problem is the one dimensional nature of their offense aw alluded to

lots of teams run option, nobody completes 27 passes in a season like hu did this yr playing them is like taking a trip back to the 70s.

there will always be a "nwms" otw to the title who can stop it. kearney throws it a lot more than harding does, it's comparatively viable although i don't really like what they do either, still not enough balance.

i liked your post, just needed something to reply to

[GorillaTeacher]

to be fair, UNK runs a VERY similar offense. it's not like NW has never had to play a team like Harding. anyone who has coached any amount of time will know how to beat a Harding team. it's just the execution. load the box (because it a very compressed formation) overpower them at the line and stay disciplined on the outside and You'll do well enough to keep them down on offense. once that happens, you just have to score at that point.
i know, easier said than done but the offense has hardly changed in 80 or so years and the way to stop it hasn't either. just execution.

it doesn't happen very often but, when a team manages to neutralize that offense, it's basically a war of attrition. which battering ram will give up first.

also of note...pulling lineman will surely take you to the ball. all about playing disciplined defense.

In reality, every team, middle school up, knows how to beat option teams. Discipline and execution. When we played Triple Option teams (poorly), we always tackled the dive, the qb, and pitch. Whether they had the ball or not. Conceptually, not hard, but if you miss that tackle, your team doesn't have athletes, or you don't team tackle, it can go way south.