#18 WIU at #13 ILLINOIS STATE Noon Kickoff

[Manchester Matt]

Well we knew Fourth would come here and rip those who were embarrassed by the effort today.

Maybe, just maybe, some of us want more than a 7-4 season. Efforts like today SHOULD NEVER happen at home. Ever.

Sugar coat it all you want with the fact we have two games left and can still get to 7-4. Yawn. I expect a little more from this program than possibly sneaking into the playoffs at this point. This is the third time this season the team stopped competing and was embarrassed.

To me, this program is regressing when others like Western are getting better. Excuse me if that bothers me.

 

[saxman210]

To me, this program is regressing when others like Western are getting better. Excuse me if that bothers me.

I don’t know how you consider 3 years straight of playoff appearances, including our first national championship game appearance in 2014 and one round shy of that in 2015 as a regression. Does it suck we lost today, especially in the manner we lost? Absolutely. But 6-3 with a decent shot to make the playoffs for a 4th straight season sure as hell beats the Red Boots era when we were satisfied with a winning season. I don’t think it’s fair to say that the program has regressed.

 

[StLRedbird]

It doesn’t appear this group has the upside we thought it might. Striking how far the expectations for Redbird football have come in four years. A team that’s fighting to get into the playoffs is always something to get behind

 

[RollBirds2002]

To me, this program is regressing when others like Western are getting better. Excuse me if that bothers me.

I don’t know how you consider 3 years straight of playoff appearances, including our first national championship game appearance in 2014 and one round shy of that in 2015 as a regression. Does it suck we lost today, especially in the manner we lost? Absolutely. But 6-3 with a decent shot to make the playoffs for a 4th straight season sure as hell beats the Red Boots era when we were satisfied with a winning season. I don’t think it’s fair to say that the program has regressed.

2014 13-2 (playoffs)
2015 10-3 (playoffs)
2016 6-6 (playoffs)
2017 ?-?

If they end up 7-4 or 8-3 and make the playoffs this season then they rebounded from an underwhelming season last year. If they end up 6-5 and don't make the playoffs you could call that regressing...

 

[Birdfan 4Life]

We beat SDSU next week...book it. The casual fans that just think it’s easy to win in the MVFC are used to playing Drake and Bradley in basketball.

Football is played in the trenches and the guys learn another lesson today. Sorry a bunch of RS Freshman and Soph OL got outplayed in the 2nd half...we will learn and win at least 1 more game this year.

Our main position guys on offense are still underclassmen...ups and downs.

Robinson having a total of 16 carries for the entire game seems light I will give the haters that but nothing else. We lost Big Mo and snow balled.

 

[fourthandshort]

Well we knew Fourth would come here and rip those who were embarrassed by the effort today.

Maybe, just maybe, some of us want more than a 7-4 season. Efforts like today SHOULD NEVER happen at home. Ever.

Sugar coat it all you want with the fact we have two games left and can still get to 7-4. Yawn. I expect a little more from this program than possibly sneaking into the playoffs at this point. This is the third time this season the team stopped competing and was embarrassed.

To me, this program is regressing when others like Western are getting better. Excuse me if that bothers me.

as if no other good team has bad days. by your standards, no teams would have any fans ... I prefer not to panic after a bad day. you prefer to thing the world is coming to an end and all hope is lost. In meantime, ISU has NEVER had this good of a run going back to 2011 ... none, never, not close.

but if you're happier panicking, being perpetually frustrated, and thinking all hope is lost ... good luck with that.

yesterday was pretty plain and simple, we got outcoached 2nd half, and game still turned on just 2 bad plays. Not sugar coating it, just saying what I think happened.

sun came up today .. at leastI I presume so, it was a pretty foggy. we have 2 games left .. 1 win should put is in playoffs. We had no chance against USD .. right ? A year ago we had no chance against SDSU .. right ?

Welcome to MVFC .. tough conference .. get used to this.

 

[Chi-bird]

Personally, I don't get too high with these wins and too low with the losses. We are not that good, or that bad. The difference between great and average in college football (MVFC) is not much. All teams are getting good players out of high school, have good coaches, enough resources, and practice and train throughout the year, etc. Some have a little more resources and prestige, which helps in the long run.

It would be nice to see more level-headedness after a win and after a loss.

 

[MadBird]

I'm with fourthandshort, come down from the ledge folks. Bison lost. USD lost, again. Ohio State lost, got hammered. Penn State lost. It sucks that we lost to WIU, especially the way we did. But we're still regarded as one of the top FCS programs in the country. It'll all get better, you'll see!

 

[fourthandshort]

This and this to the prior 2 posts. Criticise and analyse what went wrong .. but to act like all hope is lost is over-reacting and just plain destructive .. panicking accomishes nothing .. in fact, it usually makes things worse.

So I'm not disagreeing with specific issues cited .. just the notion that all hope is lost with this team.

 

[RBFANTOO]

I don't think this Board is giving WIU the respect they deserve. They are moving up in the polls with ISU-blue and SIU their only remaining (and winnable) games. Also, I would take their QB over Kolbe any day of the week (although our OL sure didn't give him much protection). WIU could make some noise in the playoffs and their coaches really reacted well to the game situation and frankly out coached us. They are real.

 

[Chi-bird]

Since Denver Johnson's last season at ISU (2008, where we went 2-6 in conference), we have never finished a season with more conference losses than wins. Let that sink in. A program that previously had never been taken too seriously around campus, let alone around the country has held its own in this very, very good conference.

ISU's MVFC conference records under Spack, staring in 2009:

5-3
4-4
5-3
5-3
4-4
7-1
7-1
4-4
This year.....we are currently 4-2

It would have been nice to be 6-0 or even 5-1 going into these last two games...and for that, it is a little bit of a bummer, but we still have the opportunity to win this conference, and if not, we still have the opportunity to make the playoffs. To me, another playoff appearance is a successful season. You cannot assume it's a given. Making the playoffs needs to be celebrated. Sure, there are a bunch of teams in FCS that make it, but there are far more that do not. We've done it 3 seasons in a row. For too many years, this program was dead and the laughing stock of the school. It is different.

So, stay positive. Don't get too high when we beat USD or YSU, and don't get too low when we lose one to NAU or WIU (although that SIU still has me scratching my head).

Winning a National Title is an incredible feat...and one that NDSU has made seem simple. But, the reality is that it might not happen at this school in any of our lifetimes. it's just not all that common.

We have a chance to win the MVFC and a chance to make the playoffs. The task is going to be very difficult, but we control our own destiny.

If we end up winning one or both of these next two games, there will be talk about how we have the best defense ever at ISU, about how our two running backs are the best in the country, yada, yada, yada. Similarly, if we lose, there will be talk about how bad our offensive coordinators our, how we need to make a change at quarterback, and how bad our defense is compared to the elite teams that we're facing.

The truth is likely somewhere in the middle - regardless of outcome.

I'll go on record as saying that I don't think we are at the same level of the Jackrabbits or the Bison, but we never really were supposed to be in this conversation to begin with. I think we were picked to finish 5th or 6th, right?

 

[dpdoughbird06]

This and this to the prior 2 posts. Criticise and analyse what went wrong .. but to act like all hope is lost is over-reacting and just plain destructive .. panicking accomishes nothing .. in fact, it usually makes things worse.

So I'm not disagreeing with specific issues cited .. just the notion that all hope is lost with this team.

Wofford and Elon - two notional top ten teams according to the FCS reveal last week - nearly lost to Chattanooga and Towson, both vastly inferior to Western.

Just a reminder that all top teams struggle, but anyone outside the Valley has the luxury of being able to recover against lesser teams, while the entire Valley appears to be devouring itself whole this year. YSU and USD were ascendant until they weren't; UNI knocked SDSU off their pedestal; Rabbits then pierced the immortality veil surrounding the Bison...

While the Birds won't likely be favored in either of the last two games, only a fool would predict with any confidence how the Valley will shake out this year. To think: we still control our destiny for Valley crown, strange as that feels to say.

Final thought: if we get true mid-November Redbird weather vs NDSU (or up in Brookings, for that matter), we get to play a one-dimensional run game that plays to our strengths on both sides of the ball. Relatively balmy and calm conditions yesterday did us no favors against an explosive offense.

I'll take the Birds at home against a dome team in the elements every day of the week until proven otherwise. And let's hope for sloppy, cold weather at SDSU next week.

 

[saxman210]

For what it’s worth, extended forecast shows partly cloudy and 47 degrees at home vs NDSU.

 

[Manchester Matt]

Well we knew Fourth would come here and rip those who were embarrassed by the effort today.

Maybe, just maybe, some of us want more than a 7-4 season. Efforts like today SHOULD NEVER happen at home. Ever.

Sugar coat it all you want with the fact we have two games left and can still get to 7-4. Yawn. I expect a little more from this program than possibly sneaking into the playoffs at this point. This is the third time this season the team stopped competing and was embarrassed.

To me, this program is regressing when others like Western are getting better. Excuse me if that bothers me.

as if no other good team has bad days. by your standards, no teams would have any fans ... I prefer not to panic after a bad day. you prefer to thing the world is coming to an end and all hope is lost. In meantime, ISU has NEVER had this good of a run going back to 2011 ... none, never, not close.

but if you're happier panicking, being perpetually frustrated, and thinking all hope is lost ... good luck with that.

yesterday was pretty plain and simple, we got outcoached 2nd half, and game still turned on just 2 bad plays. Not sugar coating it, just saying what I think happened.

sun came up today .. at leastI I presume so, it was a pretty foggy. we have 2 games left .. 1 win should put is in playoffs. We had no chance against USD .. right ? A year ago we had no chance against SDSU .. right ?

Welcome to MVFC .. tough conference .. get used to this.

Don’t question my fanhood. Nobody is abandoning the team/program. I’m upset and I’ve got the right to be upset when this team gets blown out in three games.

Asking the team to compete, which they didn’t in the second half, is not much, IMO.

To each their own.

Here’s hoping the team that beat South Dakota and YSU shows up in Brookings.

 

[Birdswin]

Yesterday's second half was an embarrassment - How can a team be so flat and lifeless. We looked like a team that did not know what was going on - just pathetic. Our offensive playing calling, and blocking schemes are terrible. Then on defense - how can so many receivers get so OPEN and get behind our DBs so often?? Do we have a DB coach??? Terrible.

 

[ChiRedbirdfan]

This and this to the prior 2 posts. Criticise and analyse what went wrong .. but to act like all hope is lost is over-reacting and just plain destructive .. panicking accomishes nothing .. in fact, it usually makes things worse.

So I'm not disagreeing with specific issues cited .. just the notion that all hope is lost with this team.

I don't believe most feel the sky is falling or the Redbirds have officially been eliminated for the playoffs. Rather I feel you are the one most often out of touch with reality. Sorry but your all world quarterback Jake Kolbe has not been playing anything near all world and ISU is likely to end up as either the 4th or most likely the 5th best team in the MVFC vs ending up in 1st or 2nd place. Hoping for a third place finish is the best realistic outcome..meaning we go 1 and 1 and somehow win a tie breaker for 3rd place. I hope I am wrong but these next two games for this very good defensive/weak offensive ISU team looks more likely to be Ls vs Ws. Depending on how USD performs we could even end up in 6th place if we lose both games and USD splits their last two games. Not taking care of business down in Carbondale is looking to be problematic for ISU's playoff chances.

 

[Total Red]

In all 3 of our losses this season the opposing QB has been able to make accurate throws under pressure so credit Sean McGuire and WIU for an impressive performance. It was good to have Gibbs back and looking fit. Great int by Glass. We have some seniors playing like seniors.

 

[StLRedbird]

If we manage to sneak into the playoffs and survive into the second round, we'll likely be headed to Macomb for a shot at revenge. Just sayin'.

 

[Total Red]

Since Denver Johnson's last season at ISU (2008, where we went 2-6 in conference), we have never finished a season with more conference losses than wins. Let that sink in. A program that previously had never been taken too seriously around campus, let alone around the country has held its own in this very, very good conference.

ISU's MVFC conference records under Spack, staring in 2009:

5-3
4-4
5-3
5-3
4-4
7-1
7-1
4-4
This year.....we are currently 4-2

It would have been nice to be 6-0 or even 5-1 going into these last two games...and for that, it is a little bit of a bummer, but we still have the opportunity to win this conference, and if not, we still have the opportunity to make the playoffs. To me, another playoff appearance is a successful season. You cannot assume it's a given. Making the playoffs needs to be celebrated. Sure, there are a bunch of teams in FCS that make it, but there are far more that do not. We've done it 3 seasons in a row. For too many years, this program was dead and the laughing stock of the school. It is different.

So, stay positive. Don't get too high when we beat USD or YSU, and don't get too low when we lose one to NAU or WIU (although that SIU still has me scratching my head).

Winning a National Title is an incredible feat...and one that NDSU has made seem simple. But, the reality is that it might not happen at this school in any of our lifetimes. it's just not all that common.

We have a chance to win the MVFC and a chance to make the playoffs. The task is going to be very difficult, but we control our own destiny.

If we end up winning one or both of these next two games, there will be talk about how we have the best defense ever at ISU, about how our two running backs are the best in the country, yada, yada, yada. Similarly, if we lose, there will be talk about how bad our offensive coordinators our, how we need to make a change at quarterback, and how bad our defense is compared to the elite teams that we're facing.

The truth is likely somewhere in the middle - regardless of outcome.

I'll go on record as saying that I don't think we are at the same level of the Jackrabbits or the Bison, but we never really were supposed to be in this conversation to begin with. I think we were picked to finish 5th or 6th, right?

:text-+1: Yes to all including the last two games. We won't be favored and shouldn't be but we know anything can happen on any given Saturday. We want to play highly ranked teams and we'll get our chance.

 

[crazzymark]

Spitting mad over this loss, I was coaching during the game and watched it last night...all I saw was Kolbe locked in every pass and I just had one thought......next season.....ugh...unless the boys can go back to the dorms and find their passion to not be left behind and a lost season.....