OVC PREDICTIONS

[greenandwhiteboy]

four way split for 1st,i guess i left fairland out.what the heck the best player went to the tigers!

the transfer was no way our best player

[on a mission]

i think we'll have to agree to disagree onthat one.maybe not the best player but imo by far the best athlete

[fuzzhead]

Fuzzyhead,
You said, "...they just couldn't run that offense very consistently at all until last year and then (as I predicted) turnovers abounded...". I believe, in the last 4 years, they've scored twenty-some, thirty-some, forty-some & 50 on you guys. Pretty consistent, I think. Plus, in general, turnovers didn't "abound". Offense hasn't been the problem. They haven't been able to defend teams, which is a different issue.

If you've ever read any of my posts on the topic of Coal Grove/Fairland, you will plainly see that I have CONSISTENTLY called into question BOTH TEAMS' lack of defense, ESPECIALLY Coal Grove's. Coal Grove's defense has done fine as long as the other team runs right at them. They haven't been able to defend passes to save their lives and when another team runs a speed-designed play, Hornet fans hold their breaths. Yeah, Fairland's defense, until last year, consistently got plowed over by Coal Grove's power and if Coal Grove could consistently think outside the tackles, they would have made Fairland pay dearly for putting 8 and 9 men in the box last year. Also, I'd like to remind you that the 2 previous years before last year, the Fairland/Coal Grove games ended on Fairland turnovers. If I'm not mistaken, turnovers also doomed them against Rock Hill last year.

Don't use Coal Grove's inemptitude on defense to cover Fairland's offensive mistakes. You and I both know that Fairland/Coal Grove is an exception to any form of rationality and it's outcome is not a good predicter on how either team will finish. Last year proved that.

[OVCfan32]

and to boot. . .like I said before
CG had no athletes. .so who was gonna cover the recievers???

everyone's passing game worked on the hornets irrationalvoice

[bdawg1]

I played back in the early 90's. But I think the OVC is well better rounded than it has been in sometime. Even the bad teams can beat you on a good day. I don't know much about River Valley but the other schools have good coaches and there seems to be some talent. I think South Point got too agressive with it's schedule but maybe it will help them out down the road. I live in Cincinnati and do not get back much maybe two games a year. The football up here is unbelievable. The talent in Cincy/Northern Kentucky is crazy.

[greenandwhiteboy]

i think we'll have to agree to disagree onthat one.maybe not the best player but imo by far the best athlete

not even the best athlete i would say ward or boomer are the best athlete on our team and mike couldnt even come close to them

[bgmonster]

"Boy" you seem to have some sort of personal problem with Lamb. I keep reading all your negative comments on this forum and the basketball forum and I've got to wonder what your problem is? Since Lamb's received numerous conference and state awards, has started in both football and basketball since he was a freshman, was ranked among the top ten juniors in the state of Ohio in football, and hit his 1000th point in basketball during his junior year, your remarks seem unfounded and to be honest, rather ridiculous.

[on a mission]

GREENANDWHITEBOY,I'M SENSING SOME BITTERNESS.IT WOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH MIKE TRANSFERING WOULD IT?I BET IF HE WERE STILL AT FAIRLAND THAT YOU WOULD BE ONE OF THE FIRST IN LINE TO DEFEND HIM!I HAVE HAD A OPPURTUNITY TO WATCH HIM PLAY MULTIPLE TIMES AND I HAVE TO SAY THAT HE WAS THE ONE GUY THAT CONTINUALLY CAUGHT MY EYE.I BET IF YOU ASK ANY OF THE PLAYERS FROM I-TOWN THEY ARE GLAD TO HAVE A ATHLETE OF HIS CALIBER ADDED TO THE TIGER ROSTER.

[fuzzhead]

and to boot. . .like I said before
CG had no athletes. .so who was gonna cover the recievers???

everyone's passing game worked on the hornets irrationalvoice

I agree with the "no athletes" argument to a point, but sometime you need to show up to a Hornet practice and watch how much (or should I say "little") time and effort they devote to pass defense. You can tell they don't practice because they never do anything different when they play fairland. It's all about stopping up the middle.

[OVCfan32]

that can be a major disadvantage. .
I remember at peake we just never wanted teams to get a lucky strike or two on us deep. . and we liked to do it all the time. . I'm sure everyone involved in the ovc has seen that from us over the past 15 years
we practiced alot of pass coverage. . and may I say. . I think we pretty much dominated any type of pass oriented offense from 98-04, waverly did a good number on us in 02' which I still think was the best team they've fielded since then

[RationalVoice]

Fuzzyhead,
Only one of those two games you mentioned ended in a turnover. And you're correct, turnovers killed Fairland in the loss to Rock Hill. But, that's only ONE game where turnovers were the primary cause of the loss.
OVCjan32,
You said, "everyone's passing game worked on the hornets rationalvoice". Please try to stay focused on the topic at hand. While what you said may be true - within the context of this conversation - it is irrelevant. My point is not...since it worked against CG, it is therefore a good offense. My point is that the offense was more than fine virtually every week. It was the inability to play defense which cost them.

[greenandwhiteboy]

"Boy" you seem to have some sort of personal problem with Lamb. I keep reading all your negative comments on this forum and the basketball forum and I've got to wonder what your problem is? Since Lamb's received numerous conference and state awards, has started in both football and basketball since he was a freshman, was ranked among the top ten juniors in the state of Ohio in football, and hit his 1000th point in basketball during his junior year, your remarks seem unfounded and to be honest, rather ridiculous.

i do have a personal problem with him. he turned his back on us and he never started football his freshman year. ur a big ol suck up aint ya?

[greenandwhiteboy]

GREENANDWHITEBOY,I'M SENSING SOME BITTERNESS.IT WOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH MIKE TRANSFERING WOULD IT?I BET IF HE WERE STILL AT FAIRLAND THAT YOU WOULD BE ONE OF THE FIRST IN LINE TO DEFEND HIM!I HAVE HAD A OPPURTUNITY TO WATCH HIM PLAY MULTIPLE TIMES AND I HAVE TO SAY THAT HE WAS THE ONE GUY THAT CONTINUALLY CAUGHT MY EYE.I BET IF YOU ASK ANY OF THE PLAYERS FROM I-TOWN THEY ARE GLAD TO HAVE A ATHLETE OF HIS CALIBER ADDED TO THE TIGER ROSTER.

well im glad they like havin the traiter as a teammate. and i would never defend him

[on a mission]

I PERSONALLY DON'T SEE HIM AS A TRAITOR,I SEE HIM AS A YOUNG MAN THAT MADE A GOOD DECISION,TRYING TO BETTER HIMSELF!WITH ALL THE BITTERNESS TOWARD LAMB I THINK FAIRLAND WILL HAVE A LONG SEASON B/C YOU GUYS CAN'T THINK ABOUT FOOTBALL JUST THE "TRAITOR"

[bucking red]

I believe Lamb started on offense his freshman yr.

[bgmonster]

You couldn't defend him Boy. And I seriously doubt you could block, tackle, or juke him either. You're in for a long season - maybe even two if you don't learn how to spell.

[fuzzhead]

Fuzzyhead,
Only one of those two games you mentioned ended in a turnover. And you're correct, turnovers killed Fairland in the loss to Rock Hill. But, that's only ONE game where turnovers were the primary cause of the loss.
OVCjan32,
You said, "everyone's passing game worked on the hornets rationalvoice". Please try to stay focused on the topic at hand. While what you said may be true - within the context of this conversation - it is irrelevant. My point is not...since it worked against CG, it is therefore a good offense. My point is that the offense was more than fine virtually every week. It was the inability to play defense which cost them.

You're wrong. In the 05 season, Fairland was playing at Coal Grove. They were down but they were driving and the QB threw an interception to Adam Bare to seal the deal. I was a senior that year and I was on the sidelines (our defensive coordinator breathed a sigh of relief when it happened and our coach came up and patted him on the back, I'm guessing because he knew our coordinator was embarrassed).
In 06, the Newman boy from Coal Grove had two interceptions alone - that was the year one of the Fairland players got thrown out of the game as well. As you've already said, turnovers cost fairland last year against Rock Hill. Also, what was fairland's average score through the games last year? Their offensive production was no better than Coal Grove's throughout the year.

Here's my point (and people have been telling me this for YEARS and I've bought into it): Fairland's offensive schemes, for all of their originality in the OVC, will only work if you have the personel to use them effectively. Now when I get on here, all I here about from Fairland fans is how they "could have been good, if it wasn't for all of those injuries". That tells me straight up that Fairland is without much depth, they aren't taking care of themselves in warm-ups, or they're cursed - because we hear the same excuse on here every year. Now if it's a depth problem and they're only one-deep at every position, why run an offense that predicates itself on having its opening-day starters in the line-up every day?

I don't buy into this above argument. When you lose a football game, that means you score less than the other team. Thus, a loss is predicated on the assumption that your offense (for whatever reason) couldn't keep pace with another team. It can't be the defense's fault entirely or all the time that's certainly not the case at Fairland. They held Rock Hill close, they held South Point close, they held Portsmouth West close, etc...

Your rebuttal?

[bgmonster]

They had no depth at any position and not much size so they were limited as to what they could run. The spread offense was great for the talent Fairland's had the last couple of years but they were short on players and size on defense. If someone got hurt on either side of the ball it left a huge hole. I think Wilcoxen tried to utilize his strengths and the numbers put up by the offense reflected that. Fairland hasn't had the muscle the last couple of years (and they won't this year) to just run down everyone's throat.

[OVCfan32]

I'm gonna agree and disagree. .
I play in a college spread offense right now. .
and i haven't learned much since highschool. . basically stating I knew and understood the spread then.
during the past years. . I've watched fairland run a weird spread bunch of plays. . not an offensive scheme. .just random nonworking pass play after another. .
the spread works. .
fairland could have run a spread well. .
They just ran something that didn't tend do what its made for. . getting the ball in the hands of athletes in the open.
I say the coach just doesn't have it together

[bucking red]

Ovcfan32 you could be more wrong. Which explains why you have learned more in college . You can say a lot about coach Wilcoxen but to say he didn't no the spread is absurd. His offense wasn't the problem . No team in the OVC had the injuroes FHS did last year and if they ever do they will also have a difficulty winning. His offense was the only reason they stayed competitive in those games.Unless you went to all those games you don't have a glue what last years team went through.