Midseason CSFL Recap

Cole Jacobson: With four of the eight weeks of the CSFL regular season having been completed, we’re at the midpoint of the season, meaning it’s time to take a look back at our preseason predictions. 

I’ll start off with the MVP race. I predicted that Mansfield QB Cahsid Raymond would take home the award for the first time in his career, but to this point, that does not look like it will be the case. Raymond has only completed 33.8 percent of his passes, while his rushing average is at a strong, but still human, 5.1 yards per carry (compared to being north of 8.0 in both 2021 and 2022). Raymond also missed the team’s loss against Navy, which would’ve been a great opportunity to boost his candidacy. Of course, it must be pointed out that Mansfield has faced the league’s most difficult schedule to this point, with the Mounties’ three games having come against Caldwell and both service academies, so Raymond’s stats can and should take a turnaround with a lighter slate in the second half. But nonetheless, based on what we’ve seen so far, it wouldn’t be fair to call him the leader in the clubhouse.

If he’s not, then who is? If you’re voting today, I don’t see how it’s for anyone besides St. Thomas Aquinas QB Ryan Kenny. Kenny leads all starting QBs in passing yards (769), yards per attempt (9.2) and passing TD (nine), being the centerpiece of what has been the CSFL’s most surprising team so far. STAC has never had a winning season in school history, with last year’s 3-4 record being the best the program has ever seen. But thus far in 2023, STAC holds a 2-1 record and has clearly been the third-best team in the league. The Spartans’ lone blemish was a 27-14 season-opening loss to Navy, and even that represented the only time any team has lost by fewer than 24 points to either of the academies this season (besides when they played each other). Going 15-for-21 against the Midshipmen with 192 yards, a TD and an INT, Kenny has been the only passer to get anything going against a talented Navy defense, and his production has only improved in his team’s two wins. The race is far from over, as Navy QB Brandon Atwood and Army QB Mikal Willeke have also both had strong starts to the season, while running backs Devon Turner of Caldwell and Henry Beck of Army have puncher’s chances as well. But if STAC can finish off its first winning season in school history, and if Kenny’s numbers continue to pace all QBs in the league, it would be hard to vote for anyone else.

At the team level, though STAC has been an impressive story so far, it still seems that the service academies are well above the pack. I took Army to win it all in my preseason predictions, and that pick looks strong with the Black Knights being the league’s lone undefeated team, but it’s far from a lock. Army beat Navy, 10-3, in last week’s “Star Game,” and as is usually the case between these teams, it was an evenly matched defensive slugfest, one that didn’t feature a TD until the final minute of the game. Neither passing attack got much going, but Army did rush for 161 yards, ultimately outgaining Navy by a 4.8 to 3.6 margin in terms of yards per play. As I mentioned in my preseason predictions, Army returning 19 of its top 21 tacklers from the 2022 season meant that it could have a sincerely dominant defense, and with the Black Knights having only allowed 16 points through three games, that has been the case so far. While both teams still have to handle business in their remaining division games, it looks extremely likely that we’ll see a rematch in the CSFL Championship in November, and anything can happen when it comes to a winner-take-all game.

Elsewhere in the league, while I already cited STAC as the most surprising team, Cornell and Chestnut Hill also deserve credit for being improved. These were the league’s two worst teams a year ago, with Chestnut Hill going winless and Cornell’s lone win being over the Griffins. And while Cornell is the CSFL’s only winless team so far in 2023, its losses have at least been competitive, with the Big Red’s two defeats coming by a combined 14 points (in contrast, last year’s team lost four games by at least 28 points). For Cornell, the addition of new head coach Nick Quartaro has made an impact, as it appears the program is heading in the right direction after some very poor recent years. For CHC, Kyle Johnson-Hackett would have a better idea than me about what’s led to the program’s improvement, but regardless of the cause, the Griffins have already won as many games this season as they did in 2021-22 combined.

As for the biggest disappointment, I’d have to go with Caldwell. After a pair of impressive 5-2 seasons in 2021 and 2022, the Cougars appeared primed to become the first team to take down either of the academies since my Penn teams in the mid-late 2010s. But Caldwell has taken a slight step back this year, currently on a two-game losing streak to STAC and Mansfield. With its only two remaining games coming against Navy and Army, Caldwell will finish 2-4 unless it upsets one of them, which would be the program’s fewest on-field wins in a season since going winless in 2018.
Speaking of Penn, I would say my preseason prediction for my former program has been on the dot so far. I wrote in September that “a realistic best-case scenario here is that the Quakers ride their defense to a .500 season,” and that’s certainly still in play. Penn would need to beat two out of STAC, CHC, and Navy to get to .500, which, while not easy, is attainable. The Quakers’ front seven has been the strength of the team as expected, with Penn impressively accounting for five of the CSFL’s top 17 tacklers (Charles Tauckus, Gavin Griswold, Jake Inserra, Ryan Horvath, Cameron Janock). The offense has struggled in the post-Andrew Paolini era, but if the program can avoid a second consecutive losing season, that would be a salvageable outcome — not to mention that each Penn win makes the Alumni squad’s victory last month look more impressive.