#18 WIU at #13 ILLINOIS STATE Noon Kickoff

[cpacmel]

ESPN3

Family weekend at ISU. Tickets are very hard to come by, looks like lawn is available thru ISU. WIU sold out their allotment several weeks ago.

Weather is iffy right now. 55/45 with a 60% of showers at this time. Wind out of the east 10-15 mph.

WIU comes in at 5-3 and 2-3 in conference play. Started out their season 5-1 before losing their last 2.

Jaelon Acklin (58 catches for 1002 yards) is their main weapon on offense. Steve McShane and Max Norris are their main running backs. Looks like McShane (5'8 /180) is their speed guy, while Norris is their between the tackles guy at 5'10/210. Their QB is a JR and has started for the better part of his last 2.5 years.

Defensively they are lead by all everything MLB Brett Taylor. He has 118 tackles on the year. To put that in perspective, the next closet in the MVFC is at 84 tackles. Their defense is 2nd in interceptions as well.

Their kicker is 8/8 on fg's but has missed 3 XP's. Their punter only averages 34.7 yards per kick, which is worst in the conference. Their punter returner leads the conference in returns, averaging almost 17 yards a return.

Illinois State - 2.5
Over / Under 52.5

 

[chuckie1980]

BIRDS: 27
Necks: 0

I doubt if a shutout occurs but here's hoping.

 

[DannyCooksey]

Birds 34
Necks 18

This will be a very physical game as all games with WIU seem to be.

 

[Phantom]

Whatever jolt we got before the SD game definitely carried over to YSU and hopefully remains for this one.

Big game for both teams, should be a lot of hittin' out there.

Redbirds 24
Leathernecks 20

Get it done.

 

[Total Red]

Western Time - somebody cue ST Lawson for his entrance stage right.

We he gets here I'd like Lawson to comment on their coaching situation. It looks like former WIU HC Nielson is doing a great job at South Dakota. How do you feel about losing a coach to a conference member and what does that say for the future of WIU football? Are you mad at Nielson? Do you think you got a good replacement in Charlie Fisher?

Should be a big crowd and a great game. Both teams have had ups and downs this season. Western got an impressive win at FBS wannabe Coastal Carolina.

The Redbirds have a 7 game winning streak in what has been a very competitive series in the longer term. Many of the games have been close including 37-34 battle with our Frisco team of 2014.

I think our good fortune will hold out another year. The Redbird running game will break through and pull this one away.

 

[fourthandshort]

Lawson was posting on AGS for help getting tickets since it is sold out other than Lawn. A redbird fan helped him out. I also invited him to tailgate - will see if he shows. Good man .. too bad, we're about to put a serious beating on his team

 

[ST_Lawson]

Western Time - somebody cue ST Lawson for his entrance stage right.

We he gets here I'd like Lawson to comment on their coaching situation. It looks like former WIU HC Nielson is doing a great job at South Dakota. How do you feel about losing a coach to a conference member and what does that say for the future of WIU football? Are you mad at Nielson? Do you think you got a good replacement in Charlie Fisher?

Should be a big crowd and a great game. Both teams have had ups and downs this season. Western got an impressive win at FBS wannabe Coastal Carolina.

The Redbirds have a 7 game winning streak in what has been a very competitive series in the longer term. Many of the games have been close including 37-34 battle with our Frisco team of 2014.

I think our good fortune will hold out another year. The Redbird running game will break through and pull this one away.

Seriously...I'm that predictable, eh? Well....I guess I'm here, might as well answer your questions

Coaching situation - So, obviously Nielson is doing an excellent job at USD...you can't deny that. Am I mad at him leaving?...yes and no. I'm not mad that he left. I understand that he got a bump in salary, nicer facilities, and knowledge that the school is interested in supporting football at a high level (although I find it interesting that he went from one of the most "rural" and isolated of the FCS college towns to one of the other most "rural" and isolated FCS towns...I ran the numbers a couple of years ago and in a 20 mile ring around schools, USD has the #2 fewest number of people and Western is #6). What I was mad about and what fuels my animosity towards him is HOW he left...or more specifically, how he communicated with the players about it. Essentially getting them together, telling them repeatedly that he wasn't going anywhere, and then taking off a few days later. I would rather he have been honest with the players, either not telling them anything, or telling them that he doesn't know what his future may hold, or something. But he outright lied to many of our players about it. I also was very upset with how our own administration handled the process immediately following Nielson's departure as well, but the people in charge of that were fired shortly afterwards, so I can't really blame our current administration for that now.

How do I feel about losing a coach to a conference member and what does that say for the future of WIU football?
Not that worried, honestly. It's happened before actually...many of you probably were around or have heard about Randy Ball. He was a really good coach for Western from '90-'98. He went .608 (64-41-1) in that time, finishing up with two conference championships and three trips to the playoffs in his final three years with us. He then went to Missouri State (SW Mo State, at the time, I believe). I didn't really blame him for it since that was essentially "home" for him and was kinda his "dream job". We replaced him with Coach Don Patterson, who got us two more conference titles and three more trips to the playoffs (plus a fourth if you include the 2010 season when we were technically coached by Patterson's OC Mark Hendrickson with primarily Patterson's players after Patterson stepped down due to a bout with tonsillar cancer). Coach Ball would end up coaching at MSU for 7 years, compiling a 34-42 record (.447) overall with only 1 winning season and no trips to the playoffs.

Obviously Nielson is doing a better job at USD than Ball did at MSU, but the point for me is that Western has been through this before and come out of it just fine. Which brings me to...

Do I think we got a good replacement in Charlie Fisher?
Abso-freakin'-lutely. I love the new fan/community engagement stuff that Fisher has done...I love how he interacts with players...and I love the way he coaches. With Nielson, we were always worried that he'd get super conservative at playcalling in the second half, let teams back in, and lose the game (ahem...ahem). Fisher doesn't do that. We are generally a much stronger second-half team, which means that he's really good at making adjustments and getting the guys to come out of halftime strong and do what needs to be done. If we're just talking in terms of the game itself, I think that Fisher and Nielson are actually pretty comparable. One is a second-half coach, the other a first-half coach, but I think both are pretty good recruiters, both can call plays pretty well...both have a few weaknesses though. But for me, the big thing is how well Fisher interacts with everyone else...fans, alumni, the community...which is HUGE for working to bring in donations. Nielson did practically nothing with the football alumni in terms of bringing them back and getting them involved in the team, but Fisher has done that in spades, from turning our Spring Game into a football alumni reunion weekend, bringing back well-known and respected WIU Football alumni to speak to the current team, and renewing connections with football alumni who are now involved in performance training and HS coaching in the Chicago area to get a better read on potential recruits in that area.

Overall, I didn't like the situation when it went down, but I think both WIU and USD are better off with the coaches we have now, and WIU football is going to be here for a long time.

Now, this weekend's game. I don't think we're as bad as the SDSU game made it seem. We don't match up well with really good passing teams, and SDSU's offense decided that this was the game they'd actually start playing back at the level that they did most of last year. We have a pretty good run defense, having not allowed a 100+ yard rusher all season (best was NDSU's Bruce Anderson who had 93 on us). Everyone knows about Brett Taylor, who you can find very near the ball on nearly every play, but I'd also like to point out #99 DL Khalen (pronounced like Colin) Saunders. Saunders is 310 lbs, but is the most athletic and quick man of that size that I've ever seen (dude had an offensive rushing TD for pete's sake...he played FB in HS) and can get to or near the QB very quickly (9 TFL, 5.5 sacks, 3 QB hurries...pretty close to Dalton Keene numbers). DBs Justin Fitzpatrick and Tyrin Holloway have been really good at nabbing any errant passes, picking up 4 and 3 INTs respectively.

On offense, of course there's Jaelon Acklin, who can make some pretty insane catches and Sean McGuire who is solid at throwing the ball and can run fairly well when needed. Also already mentioned in the earlier post, small and quick RB Steve McShane and the larger and more "straight up the middle" RB Max Norris who are both averaging over 50 ypg (Norris with just over 60). McShane also is a decent receiver with over 200 yards and 1 TD receiving this season. One big change that we've seen since Fisher took over is getting the TEs involved a lot more in the receiving game, which helps open up the offense when you've got like 3 guys on Acklin. One of the years of Nielson, we had all of our TE's catch a grand total of 3 passes for like 14 yards. We now have two TE's averaging over 10 ypg and have 3 TDs between them...not huge numbers obviously, but they are capable when needed.

On special teams, our punter...well...he's pretty "meh", but we have two FG kickers who are both perfect on the season. "Short" PK Sam Crosa is 6/6 with a long of 41 and our kickoff guy/"Long" PK Nathan Erickson is 2/2 from 45 and 52 yards out. Erickson is also really good at getting TBs on kickoffs.

So, that's us. Although it hasn't been the case the last couple of games, we are, in general, a strong second-half team, putting up quite a few more points in the 3rd quarter than we do in the first half.

I think this game will really come down to the run game...your rushing offense vs our rushing defense. Whichever side is able to do more will win the game.

Anyway, sorry about the novel. Despite the game being sold out, I will be there. I'll be in the middle of ISU fans (I was gifted tickets from an ISU season ticket holder who isn't able to attend the game), but I'll be there. So if you see two dots of purple in amongst the sea of red on the home side...that's probably us.

Happy 100th Game, Redbirds.

 

[ST_Lawson]

Lawson was posting on AGS for help getting tickets since it is sold out other than Lawn. A redbird fan helped him out. I also invited him to tailgate - will see if he shows. Good man .. too bad, we're about to put a serious beating on his team

I'll try. If we can get to town early enough, I do plan on stopping by before the game. If not, then we'll see how we're feeling after the game (if I'm "rage-flipping-tables" mad like after the SDSU game, then we may just head home).

 

[MadBird]

I'm just glad that Lenoir guy isn't back for his 7th varsity season. I thought he'd NEVER graduate!!

 

[StLRedbird]

I'm just glad that Lenoir guy isn't back for his 7th varsity season. I thought he'd NEVER graduate!!

:text-+1:

 

[ChiRedbirdfan]

Lawson was posting on AGS for help getting tickets since it is sold out other than Lawn. A redbird fan helped him out. I also invited him to tailgate - will see if he shows. Good man .. too bad, we're about to put a serious beating on his team

A good man indeed. Though a WIU fan I offered the tickets to Scott Lawson since he is such a class act in many ways and, in part, to reward him for his time and efforts in writing the FCS Wedge articles pertaining to the MVFC. Articles that I enjoy reading. He wanted to pay for the tickets but I said no thanks. Alternatively Scott, on his initiative, made a $50 donation to ISU's Weisbecker Scholarship Fund. How about that one!
Thank you Scott!.

 

[ST_Lawson]

I'm just glad that Lenoir guy isn't back for his 7th varsity season. I thought he'd NEVER graduate!!

If you're missing Lance at all, don't worry...Acklin is better
(although he's a Senior already, so you only get one year of him).

Acklin has 1,002 yards so far this season, which is already the 8th best single-season performance in WIU history. He's 182 yards behind the school record set by Lance in 2015. He's currently averaging 125 ypg and has games against you guys, Indiana State, and Southern Illinois left in the regular season...so, barring injury, he should get past it pretty easily before the final game of the season (even if he doesn't do well against the Redbirds, I'd imagine he should be able to put up some decent numbers on the Sycamores).

Also, any recommendations on where to park for the game? I usually buy a pass for the North University Garage, but forgot to get one in time this time around. Should I shoot for G82 or G81, or are those likely to be packed as well: https://parking.illinoisstate.edu/downloads/Football%20Map.pdf
Or do I need to park out in Funk's Grove and hitchike into town

 

[RedbirdSoxFan]

I'm just glad that Lenoir guy isn't back for his 7th varsity season. I thought he'd NEVER graduate!!

If you're missing Lance at all, don't worry...Acklin is better
(although he's a Senior already, so you only get one year of him).

Acklin has 1,002 yards so far this season, which is already the 8th best single-season performance in WIU history. He's 182 yards behind the school record set by Lance in 2015. He's currently averaging 125 ypg and has games against you guys, Indiana State, and Southern Illinois left in the regular season...so, barring injury, he should get past it pretty easily before the final game of the season (even if he doesn't do well against the Redbirds, I'd imagine he should be able to put up some decent numbers on the Sycamores).

Also, any recommendations on where to park for the game? I usually buy a pass for the North University Garage, but forgot to get one in time this time around. Should I shoot for G82 or G81, or are those likely to be packed as well: https://parking.illinoisstate.edu/downloads/Football%20Map.pdf
Or do I need to park out in Funk's Grove and hitchike into town

Do they do the shuttle busses from the motorcycle training lot like they do for basketball games?

 

[fourthandshort]

Lawson .. I think you said, you're getting there around 10 or 10:30am .. right ?? Parking will be tough on Family Day with noon game.

Anyone got any suggestions for Lawson parking ?? Will S103 couple blocks north have anything ? Or will he have to find side streets ?

 

[ST_Lawson]

Ok, we'll just try to get there as early as we can and find something. It's a ~2 hour drive, so it won't be real early either way. Hopefully we can at least beat the people that wait to show up until 30 minutes until kickoff.

Also, here's the kind of stuff that McShane can do, just FYI:
https://twitter.com/NCAA_FCS/status/925166848458584064

 

[BEAT THE BISON]

Scott,

Look for a middle school parking lot on Kingsley & Hale St.

You run the MVC Pigskin Parlay? :text-+1:

 

[crazzymark]

a 35-40 point win will be needed to to move up in the polls....plain and simple..

 

[ST_Lawson]

Scott,

Look for a middle school parking lot on Kingsley & Hale St.

You run the MVC Pigskin Parlay? :text-+1:

Will do, thanks.

I don't run the Pigskin Parlay game, but I do host it on my Leathernecknation.net site. It's put together, run, and funded by a very technically knowledgeable and generous Leatherneck alumni who lives out on the east coast. Currently it's run using scripting in google apps, but as those of you who play it may have noticed, it's running particularly slow this year (was never intended to manage as many players as it currently has). He's planning on creating a new version using much more modern frameworks and database structures to make things MUCH faster, more accessible, and generally more usable by a larger pool of players. We're hoping to be up and running with that by the start of next football season.

 

[DaveBird10]

I'm just glad that Lenoir guy isn't back for his 7th varsity season. I thought he'd NEVER graduate!!

If you're missing Lance at all, don't worry...Acklin is better
(although he's a Senior already, so you only get one year of him).

Acklin has 1,002 yards so far this season, which is already the 8th best single-season performance in WIU history. He's 182 yards behind the school record set by Lance in 2015. He's currently averaging 125 ypg and has games against you guys, Indiana State, and Southern Illinois left in the regular season...so, barring injury, he should get past it pretty easily before the final game of the season (even if he doesn't do well against the Redbirds, I'd imagine he should be able to put up some decent numbers on the Sycamores).

Also, any recommendations on where to park for the game? I usually buy a pass for the North University Garage, but forgot to get one in time this time around. Should I shoot for G82 or G81, or are those likely to be packed as well: https://parking.illinoisstate.edu/downloads/Football%20Map.pdf
Or do I need to park out in Funk's Grove and hitchike into town

My parents park just down the street from the north parking garage at the Bone Student Center and on certain days it's free. If nothing else there are student lots across the street that are also free on game days.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Tapatalk

 

[McHalesNavy]

Birds-24
Necks-17

This Redbird train stays on the tracks