Beat Western - before they ride off into the sunset

[Redbird82]

Special teams still suck, can’t kick, return punts or stop returns

 

[Redbird]

At this moment ISU is winning 20-15 with 13:45. If ISU loses Spack HAS to go

 

[Manchester Matt]

Same conservative play calling when protecting a small lead.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Can’t believe we are trying to hold on against a program like this.

 

[Redbird15]

Blakemore- AKA GAME CHANGER !

 

[RedbirdFanatic32]

There we go

 

[Manchester Matt]

Thought we were going to punt in the end zone. Two plays and 96 yards later and we have a two score lead. Love it.

 

[Bird Friend]

You know . . . Getting a two score lead doesn’t mean it’s okay to give up a score right away . . .

 

[Bird Friend]

You know . . . Getting a two score lead doesn’t mean it’s okay to give up a score right away . . .

Thank you for listening!

 

[Redbird82]

Overall not a good game, but both offense and defense with huge series there

 

[RedbirdFanatic32]

A win is a win. Ugly though it was. Plenty to work on

 

[Dmills]

Game went exactly as expected in Macomb. Leathernecks have been bad as of late, but they have always been scrappy. Usually have a slinger for a quarterback that can make enough plays to keep them in games they have no business being in. Not pretty, but I will always take a 16 point win on the road in the MVFC. 16 points is the biggest margin of victory in Macomb since 2012 when we won 23-3.

Defense looked pretty good based off the stats. Held them under 200 yards thanks to 7 sacks. We have only let up 1 big play defensively all season with the 43 yard reception today. There was a few stretches where we were getting beaten up on 3rd downs. This remains a concern for me as we get later into the season. This may not be a top 3 MVFC defense, but if it can be a top 6 MVFC defense, we have a chance to make some noise. Just need to keep building chemistry and improve tackling.

Definitely a different tune offensively. Room for improvement for sure, but it sure is different seeing us finish both halves with big plays. Nice to see them put the game away in the end. Still hopeful to see more from Cole over time, but Blakemore has been huge for us.

Not a great game for special teams. 2 big returns, a missed PAT, 1 turnover, and a botched punt.

 

[SgtHulka]

Thought this thread was an ad for Best Western at first. Sad. Interesting game to say the least, but they covered so it’s all good. Let their kickoff returner get loose too much or it’s over sooner

 

[Virginia Redbird]

This was a frustrating game to watch. A win is a win but this was not a great game by the Birds. I posted earlier that time of possession is not a big deal if you are scoring. Today they went tempo early but did not score. The defense was on the field an awful lot in the first half. Special teams have a lot of work to do, a lot of work. Still some sloppy tackling. I was obvious they could not get a pass rush without blitzing. That will be a problem against some of the tougher MVFC teams. I have not looked at the stats but the Redbird defense was not very good on third down today. There seemed to be a lot of third and longs that WIU picked up. The Birds made some big plays when the needed to. The biggest to me of the entire game was the pass to Sobkowicz that got them out of their own end of the field and the big TD run next. The bulk of the passing game was tight ends. I was not very impressed with the air attack today. It was Deja Vu when with an 11 point lead late in the 3rd it appeared that Spack was going to just try to sit on that lead. Maybe it was just me but it sure seemed they were trying to just kill off the game. Way too early to do that.

Okay, a win is a win. BTW, what the hell was that punt from WIU's 30 yard line? Why not try a field goal? Never mind...on to Eastern Illinois. I watch the first half of the EIU game against Bowling Green. The Panthers took a beating from the MAC team but they looked improved from last year to me.

 

[cpacmel]

Special teams still suck, can’t kick, return punts or stop returns

Absolutely mind blowing bad. Cost us points and field position. Got to get better in that phase of the game. Seems we say that most every year.

 

[fourthandshort]

. Still, I see a Redbird road win around low 30's to high teens .. going with 34 to 17.

Let's go Redbirds

 

[cpacmel]

Regarding the kicking game.....Wagner missed the first XP. Then Jasek came in to kick the next 4 XP"s. Wagner punted and boomed most of his kick-offs too. Later in the game we by-passed another FG on a 4th and 3 and went for it. So it seems like Coach Spack didn't have confidence in the place kicking game today when it came to Field Goals.

 

[fourthandshort]

Regarding the kicking game.....Wagner missed the first XP. Then Jasek came in to kick the next 4 XP"s. Wagner punted and boomed most of his kick-offs too. Later in the game we by-passed another FG on a 4th and 3 and went for it. So it seems like Coach Spack didn't have confidence in the place kicking game today when it came to Field Goals.

yep, not a good sign to get pulled after 1 XP, especially after a very solid first week. Kid has a great leg, but clearly needs some work on technique/consistency.

 

[Total Red]

Somehow Western always manages to get a good QB. Morrissey is a N. Iowa transfer. He was stuck behind Theo Day at UNI. I would say the two QBs are very comparable with Day getting better protection. The 'Birds dialed up a variety of blitzes with the Keondre Jackson Safety blitz working particularly well. You have to finish the job when you find an opening and Jackson is athletic enough to keep the QB from slipping through his grasp. We only play 3 down linemen and sometimes it drops to just 2 in passing situations. At that point we keep the offense guessing on who will blitz the QB and who will drop into coverage.

Coach Spack began the season saying we have three #1 running backs. I had Mueller at 1A, Wright at 1B and Blakemore at 1C. Blakemore is now 1A, you go with the hot hand. Blakemore has good speed but there are faster RBs, and he good size and strength but there are bigger, stronger backs as well. I have a hard time pinpointing what has made him effective so far but when he gets the ball, the holes are there.

I'll take the 16 pt. win. Western will beat someone.

 

[Total Red]

The Redbird Defense and the front seven passed a second consecutive test. WIU could not run the ball. I took out the QB rush attempts and the negative net yardage for the QB because that skews the rushing totals. With that removed WIU rushed 21 times for 50 yards against FBS New Mexico St. That's 2.38 yards per carry. Against the Redbirds that fell to 14 carries for 17 yards and just 1.21 ypc.

 

[Total Red]

Who did we lose then? The future schedules show no openings.

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