Comprehensive Guide to Week 1 opponent - Dayton Flyers

[dpdoughbird06]

Passing game timing looked better- I’d guess that opponent defenses will be preparing for the corner fade during ISUr week. After seeing how good the WR-pass worked, hated that they showed it in a game like today. Kicking game distance and accuracy helped keep the Birds in good field position today. Nice to get back to football- I feel a lot better than I did last year after Valpo.

I rarely have a game management gripe but why do they have the drinking fountains shut off? Typical hot- sunny Labor Day weekend that could have been even worse. Appreciate the one water bottle refill station down at the south end of the east side. It was a long walk and some folks said it was ice cold until it ran dry during halftime with a big line of fans including yours truly. I have no problem with prohibition on outside food-drink but seems like having drinking fountain water turned off goes a little far on the “concessions to the concessionaire” scale.

At Arch Madness you have to really hunt to find the one public drinking fountain at Enterprise Center. It’s usually hidden behind some promotional display.

The Corn Crib had theirs off all summer, but that was because they were broken: you could reach underneath - which I did - to turn them on, but then they’d stay running until you close the valve again.

Maybe ours were broken, too; I’d be curious to hear the explanation for why they were turned off.

 

[fourthandshort]

I can see a game in the 40+ to 10+ ... given first game for mostly new defense, I'll go with 42 to 17.

well ... I got it half right !!

Nice job, Redbirds !!!!

 

[fourthandshort]

Happy about the win. Defense has a lot of room for growth. Need to improve tackling. Our pass rush seemed decent, but once we got past their blocks they seemed slow to chase down the quarterback. Dayton moved the chains too easily for my liking. The outgoing transfers will be missed.

Offense was good, but our line was no match for them. I'm not a huge fan of the roll out flip pass from Zack. That's what led to the fumble. Flip pass as Nelson is turning up field on a play like that is a nightmare waiting to happen. I'd rather Zack keep it on those plays because he has full vision of the field. I don't like the play design and I think some blame has to go to OC Peterson for the turnover. Overall, pretty happy with the offense. Great game for Kasper.

Good to see some consistency from the kicking game. Wagner has a huge leg. His run up seems a little slow on field goals and I can't help but worry when we face stronger, quicker teams.

Couldnt watch game, but very gald to hear about kicking game !!!

 

[fourthandshort]

Illinois State -21

Over / under 46.5

For entertainment purposes only

Vegas had us at 21, Massey had us at 29, but the players and coaches had us at 41 .. me likey !!!!

 

[MadBird]

At Arch Madness you have to really hunt to find the one public drinking fountain at Enterprise Center. It’s usually hidden behind some promotional display.

The Corn Crib had theirs off all summer, but that was because they were broken: you could reach underneath - which I did - to turn them on, but then they’d stay running until you close the valve again.

Maybe ours were broken, too; I’d be curious to hear the explanation for why they were turned off.

I wasn't looking for the fountains, but I gotta wonder if it is/was a remnant of the pandemic? Shut off the fountains due to COVID and just never got around to turning them back on, forgot to turn them back on, still holding on to a policy that fountains are "unhealthy"? Or something?

 

[CB2K]

Agree with others that the kicking game looks solid. I was pleasantly surprised by that and was hoping this was addressed this year.

I liked how the ball was spread around for both receiving and running. Of course the Redbirds would move the ball quickly and with big plays so it rather reduced the chances for the backs to rack up a lot touches. Plus the passing game was very good and working as well. The short passing game was fluid and I hope that continues especially as they face better defenses. RPOs would work well for this offense because I think they have the personnel to scheme for it and run these types of plays.

Great start and confidence builder.

 

[MadBird]

It was a funny game to watch. We sat there thinking Dayton was pushing around the defense, then realized, well hey, it's a shutout, they're doing something right. Sat there and watched 3/4 of the game and never really focused on Niekamp making all the tackles cause I was too worried that they were 5 yards downfield and not in the backfield.

Is it just me or does it seem that somehow, over the last season or two and yesterday, the Birds have a problem containing the QB? I just have these memories of QB's slithering out of the grip of our guys, or just taking off and no one being home to tackle while they run for first downs?

I thought QB Zach looked sharp, as mentioned, receivers were where they were supposed to be. 12 guys caught passes?? Wow. Missed most of Rittenhouse's performance, but his stats look very nice. Zach's post game interview he mentioned spending time with OC Peterson over the summer and how beneficial it was, watching film together, getting on the same page. I'm sure Peterson is more comfortable with Zach and what his capabilities are.

I was somewhat skeptical of what Blakemore was going to give us, stats not that impressive at NIU, and then there he goes and cracks off a 70 yard TD! The three headed RB committee looked pretty damn good yesterday.

And of course we have to remember, it was against a non-schollie Dayton, so we can't get too puffed up, but much better than 28-21 vs. Valpo. Let's get ready for the Leathernecks.

 

[Total Red]

I feel a lot better than I did last year after Valpo.

This. Last year we started the season with Wisconsin and Valpo. Both games were predestined. We were expected to lose to Wisconsin and beat Valpo and we did. Some people say you don't learn anything about your team in those types of games. I disagree. We didn't score at all against Wisconsin, and we only scored 28 against Valpo in a game where our starters were forced to go the distance. Those games foreshadowed weakness in the offense that dogged us all season. 31 first half points against Dayton IS a positive.

Eddie Kasper is going to be an exciting player to watch this season. Everybody wanted the ball yesterday because we were just plain better and everybody that got a touch had a chance of making a big play. 5 RB's carried the ball with Blakemore and Wright breaking off long runs. 12! different players caught passes. Is that a team record? Annexstad/Sobkowicz were able to go over the top of the defense. Almost everyone was in on the action, except I was disappointed that Presson didn't get in until very late and he was never targeted. I guess we'll save that weapon for another day.

The Redbirds won all 3 phases and took care of business. One dominating win against a Pioneer conference team doesn't mean everything but it does mean something.

 

[Phantom]

Nice W. Could've been a little tighter early but Dayton was having an awful day on Sp. Teams and couldn't do anything with the turnover they forced. Thought it was interesting that both offenses came out with tempo. Game had a good energy to it. Only real gripe is there were a few drops. Zach had some breadbasket throws in the end zone that weren't handled. Coverage was good on most of them, but there were some catchable passes that slipped through. Oh well, no biggie with a 41-0 final...all that matters.

On to the next.

 

[Total Red]

I gotta think Spack gives a rat's patootie about Dayton knowing his 2 deep.

I agree in that I can't think of any logical reason why Coach Spack would waste 2 seconds worrying about Dayton knowing his 2-deep and yet both the GoRedbirds game notes and the Pantagraph article had Connor Leyden as the starting MLB. Leyden had a knee injury and he did not dress for the game. I don't think Leyden injured his knee the morning of the game. Football coaches can be paranoid. For some, withholding information or allowing a false narrative to be printed is just a defensive reflex. You're never 100% certain what might be useful information to your opponent so when in doubt you muddy the water.

It's interesting. Tye Niekamp started the game at Mike linebacker and he deserved the start. If you go back to the end of last season Niekamp would have been no better than 4th string. Kenton Wilhoit was supposed to return to that position but he left in the transfer portal. Then Cade Campos took over but he suffered an ACL injury. Next up was Leyden but he injured his knee. Niekamp got the job and he led the team in tackles and I don't think he even played his best. He's had some very good scrimmages. There has been some handwringing over the front 7 on defense. It's true that some players like Niekamp lack game experience, and it's true that we don't have the NFL prospect star power of a Zeke Vandenburgh, but the front 7 does have depth. The inside linebackers have already proven to be exceptionally deep. Niekamp and Bellizzi looked good at the MLB and McCoy and Walker got it done at the WLB. Superstars? No. But you can call out "Next Man Up" and it means something. There's not a lot of drop off in the front 7.

 

[crazzymark]

Great game, but I think 51 points was necessary when it comes to selection committee at the end of the season. When teams might be 7-4 or 8-3.

 

[fourthandshort]

Great game, but I think 51 points was necessary when it comes to selection committee at the end of the season. When teams might be 7-4 or 8-3.

Dude, you've got some impressive swagger ....

 

[fourthandshort]

Stat of the game offensively .. QB Annexstad played just 3 qtrs. During that time, the offense average right about 10 yds per play.

 

[TIMMY]

Is it just me or does it seem that somehow, over the last season or two and yesterday, the Birds have a problem containing the QB? I just have these memories of QB's slithering out of the grip of our guys, or just taking off and no one being home to tackle while they run for first downs?

It's not just you. When we're in the TITE 3-4 and we drop the Jack or outside LB we end up with no leverage on that side. It cost us the 2020 game at NDSU before the pandemic when we failed to set the edge. I understand taking away the B gaps against the spread and the TITE front does that but geepers you have to maintain leverage outside.

Watch the game again. It shows up clear as day I believe it's Dayton's first drive. They're going left to right.

 

[MadBird]

It's not just you. When we're in the TITE 3-4 and we drop the Jack or outside LB we end up with no leverage on that side. It cost us the 2020 game at NDSU before the pandemic when we failed to set the edge. I understand taking away the B gaps against the spread and the TITE front does that but geepers you have to maintain leverage outside.

Yeah, what you said!!

 

[TIMMY]

If the J drops there's nobody home.

 

[Dmills]

Larry Ross appears to have suffered a season/career ending injury. Larry was a transfer from Stony Brook who joined the team in the spring. Was expected to be a solid contributor on the offensive line.

 

[DBird]

It's not just you. When we're in the TITE 3-4 and we drop the Jack or outside LB we end up with no leverage on that side. It cost us the 2020 game at NDSU before the pandemic when we failed to set the edge. I understand taking away the B gaps against the spread and the TITE front does that but geepers you have to maintain leverage outside.

Watch the game again. It shows up clear as day I believe it's Dayton's first drive. They're going left to right.

 

[MadBird]

Quote from Coach Brock Spack in the Pantagraph report on the game. Should make quite a few on here happy. Pulling it off all season, let's see. Modern football!!

“It's time for us to get into modern football," said ISU coach Brock Spack of the new "tempo" system. "I thought we handled ourselves pretty well. Our offense executed a different package, and it was what we hoped it would be."

Illinois State hurries its way to lopsided season-opening win

ISU posted its first shutout since 2018.

pantagraph.com

 

[Total Red]

Quote from Coach Brock Spack in the Pantagraph report on the game. Should make quite a few on here happy. Pulling it off all season, let's see. Modern football!!

Illinois State hurries its way to lopsided season-opening win

ISU posted its first shutout since 2018.

pantagraph.com

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