Orange & Black Attack

New home for the Orange and Black Attack

By BRIAN LESTER

The Orange and Black Attack's new home at Sports Buzz Ohio is starting to take shape and you can check it out by going to this link. I am still working on making it look sharp but the online staff here at the paper deserves a lot of credit for the work it has put into the new home of my blog.

Hopefully by the end of the week everything will be wrapped up and ready for the University of Findlay's first football game of the season.

Have a great day everyone.

Opening game will be huge for the Oilers

By BRIAN LESTER

If there is one thing the University of Findlay football team has learned to do over the last eight years it is to start its season on a high.

The Oilers have won their last eight openers, including a 37-34 win over seventh-ranked Indiana (Pa.) at Donnell Stadium in 2002, and there is no question that it is important for UF to run its season-opening streak to nine games next week.

UF opens against Tusculum (Tenn.), a team that struggled through a 3-7 season a year ago but appears ready to get back to its winning ways.

The Pioneers return 43 letterwinners, including 15 starters, and you better believe they will carry the pride of the South Atlantic Conference lead into Donnell Stadium on an early September afternoon for a noon non-conference encounter against UF.

The interesting thing about Tusculum is that it was an NCAA Division II playoff team two years ago. It won the SAC, a very good football conference, and played in the postseason for the first time in school history.

The Oilers are hoping to follow a similar storyline this year. They are hoping to win a conference crown in a league that one could argue is the best in the country and they are trying to make the playoffs for the first time at the D-II level.

Both are lofty goals, and yet, there is nothing wrong with dreaming big. Winning a GLIAC title isn’t impossible but it won’t be the easiest thing in the world to accomplish. A playoff berth is certainly within reach.

To keep it in reach, however, the Oilers need to start the season with a win. They need to prove that last season’s 7-4 record was no fluke and put themselves on a path toward more success this year.

Losing the game wouldn’t be the end of the world, obviously, but it would give the Oilers a bigger hill to climb if they ultimately want to make this season one to remember.

Notes on Tusculum:

Here are a few quick notes about the Tusculum, which opens its season this Saturday against Charleston.

The Pioneers are led offensively by sophomore quarterback Bo Cordell. The SAC Freshman of the Year threw for 3,458 yards, a D-II freshman record, and connected on 23 touchdown passes.

Senior wide receiver Calvin Britt will be one of his favorite targets. He caught 16 passes for 261 yards last season and scored 5 TDs. He has nearly 1,500 yards in his career and a total of 17 TD receptions.

Senior linebacker Zachary Norman will help anchor the defense. He made 69 tackles a year ago and has 111 in his career. Senior defensive lineman Jermaine Jennings made 33 tackles in 2009.

As a team, the Pioneers averaged 29.4 points per game and allowed 39.2. They averaged only 32.9 yards per game on the ground but put up 358.8 yards per game through the air.

The Pioneers fumbled the ball 11 times and had 17 passes picked off. They converted only 31 percent of their third down opportunities.

Changes for blog coming soon

By BRIAN LESTER

Lebron James decided over the summer that it was time for him to take his skills and talent to Miami after seven years of not winning a championship in Cleveland.

The good news for fans of the Orange and Black Attack blog is that you won’t have to watch a one-hour television special to find out that my blog is moving to a new home as well.

Like the Blanchard River Buzz, my blog is headed to SportsBuzzOhio.com in the near future. It will take time to make the move, but once it happens, I’ll be focused on making the blog better than ever in its new home.

I’ll continue to provide you with great coverage of the University of Findlay Oilers and hope to add a few new features to it as the fall rolls on. More on that later.

For now, you can continue to check out the Orange and Black Attack at its current home.

Exhibition Update:

I know a few people have asked me if the UF men's basketball team was going to schedule a second exhibition game this season. Rumors have swirled that Cincinnati or Xavier were potential candidates as opponents. I’ve been told, though, that the Nov. 6 encounter with Dayton at the UD Arena will likely be the only preseason game the Oilers play this year.

Like I said before, however, the game with the Flyers should be a dandy. UD won the NIT a year ago, knocking off 2009 national champion North Carolina to take home the crown. It should be a great game and a great test for the Oilers.

Oilers and Flyers will hook up in exhibition game

By BRIAN LESTER

The University of Findlay men's basketball team has an exhibition game on its schedule. The Oilers will play Dayton at 7 p.m. on Nov. 6 at the UD Arena.

I realize it's not the same as playing Duke. Not much can compare to that experience.

But there is nothing wrong with a game against the Flyers, who won the NIT championship in April with a 79-68 victory over 2009 NCAA champion North Carolina.

The Flyers finished 25-12 a year ago, the latest notch in their tradition of success, and will return a team that features NBA prospect Chris Wright.

Wright, the Flyers' leading scorer and rebounder from last season, pulled his name out of the draft this summer to return for his senior season

Wright has helped the Flyers win 75 games since his arrival on campus and NIT MVP Chris Johnson will be back as well.

UF, coming off a 24-7 campaign and ninth consecutive trip to the NCAA Division II tournament, lost only one starter from last season's team in point guard Marcus Parker and will have four seniors on its roster this year in Nathan Hyde, Tyler Sparks, Jason Wehri and Michael Agunga.

Not to mention the fact that Aaron Robinson and Jack Smith are coming off solid freshmen seasons and the Oilers have added a talented recruiting class and transfers Kyle Caiola and Brad Piehl to its lineup.

The bottom line is the game between the Oilers and Flyers may only be an exhibiton encounter, but it will definitely prove to be a valuable experience for both teams as they go forward into the 2010-11 season.

Both teams wil be tested and both teams will learn a lot about their strengths and weaknesses.

On a side note, it's too bad UF couldn't set up an exhibition game with Ohio State.

With Aaron Craft (Liberty-Benton) and Jon Diebler (Upper Sandusky) playing for the Buckeyes and Hyde (L-B), Wehri (Ottoville) and Justin Schomaeker (Ottawa-Glandorf) playing for the Oilers, there would have been a cast of local talent on the floor. It would have set the stage for a great draw for a weekend game at Value City Arena.

At any rate, the Oilers have scheduled a quality opponent for its their exhibition game and I'm looking forward to seeing how the game plays out in November.