The League Loves Alex Gross
I've been impressed with freshman linebacker Alex Gross so far this season, but not as impressed as the folks in the league office who have made Alex their Ivy League Rookie of the Week
for the second time this year.
Andy Shalbrack, Craig Hormann, and Austin Knowlin got honorable mentions in the weekly release.
Gross' play and the play of all the talented freshmen and sophomores on this Lion team is why player retention is so very important right now. Coach Wilson and his staff are making great strides in keeping all the players on the roster and that has to get people excited about the future.
posted by Jake @ 2:50:00 AM
11 comments
11 Comments:
Jake, is Gross a LB or a DB? He is listed at 187 pounds, which is DB size. Or is he playing one of our hybrid positions?
I thought Gross was listed at 201 on the roster I looked at. The week before he was listed on the two deep as backup spur. This week he was backup inside linebacker but it appeared he started the game and played the whole way.
Alex was a fill in for Drew Quinn who was still recouping. Matt Moretto moved to the other side to fill in for Bayo Aregbe who was reouping from injury also/
Gross and Moretto did a fantastic job filling in for Quinn and Aregbe. Gross accelerate quickly and hits hard. Moretto strikes me as a very good all-around linebacker with good speed and smarts. If everyone gets healthy quick, we're going to have an outstanding group of linebackers
Jordan Davis' TD tailback option pass was beautifully executed and caught Princeton completely by surprise. It was a perfect spiral from a former high school quarterback. Very nice play. My compliments to the coaches.
That Jordan pass will pay future dividends by making defenses more respectful the rest of this season and next. Everyone had forgotten he was quite a good high school quarterback. Even if it hadn't worked this time, it adds a weapon to an offense that needs more threats. I wonder what his range is.
Injuries are part of the game and hats off to Gross and Moretto for stepping up so impressively. Still, too bad we didn't have the more experienced Aregbe and Quinn when the defense is struggling a bit. I hope they're back next week. Gross by the way was listed at 5 11 and 190 on the Princeton game two-deep.
I was pessimistic about this game following Fordham and Marist, and am so impressed with the overall performance of the team. I never would have predicted 32 points. The running game was the best news.
I do think Princeton took us a bit lightly. That won't happen the rest of the way.
Leonidas
According to Bengal Princeton didn't take us lightly at all. Princeton expected a tough game and was worried about our big three on offense: CH, JD and AK. Princeton comments after the game also centered on the vastly improved O Line. We have amuch better offense than we have had since J Reese's junior year. Now all we need is defensive consistency and sure tackling. I am not all that happy about playing at night in Easton but expect us to rise to the challenge. We have a lot of guys from Pennsylvania who will want to show their hometowns what we can do. We can beat this Lafayette team!
I too think Lafayette is beatable. Even at night in Easton. Good luck finding anyplace to eat other than fast food downtown, however, it really is a pretty depressing place. Once there on a pst-New Year's Sunday to watch a basketball game, the daughter and I wound up in the only place open in town, a Perkins, and sitting next to the only 2 other Lions fans in town.
But I also think, Jake, that you're overdoing the player retention stuff a bit. These guys were recruited to play football, to be student-athletes. They understand what that entails, really, and that it entails four years. And via this site and lots of other ways, they're learning, on the job, so to speak, that their team is getting better on a game-by-game basis. So why not drop the remarks about retention and "trust in the tacit" (a phrase I first heard in Advanced Infantry Training in the Army) understanding they have between each other that they're going to see this thing through for four, ultimately successful, seasons?
rs
There are two excellent stories on Columbia Football in today's issue of the Columbia Daily Spectator. The first is an interesting feature on center Mike Partain and the offense line. The second discusses how the Lions used a two-tight end formation against Princeton. I enjoyed reading these articles. Congrats to the Spec sports writers for a job well done!
My mistake on Gross; I see that he is bigger than I had thought. He and Moretto and both hybrid type LBs/SSs. As for Lafayette, I agree that it is a beatable team. I also agree that Easton is a dump. My own view is that Lafayette schedules so many 6 PM games TO KEEP AWAY VISITING FANS. While Lafayette might have a spiffy new ballpark NOBODY WANTS TO GO TO EASTON AT NIGHT. Open message to Dianne: if you wnat to keep playing Lafayette, please insist on afternoon games.
"My own view is that Lafayette schedules so many 6 PM games TO KEEP AWAY VISITING FANS."
Don't overthink it. Night games are all the rage, particularly at this level where attendance keeps sagging.
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