Davis & Proctor out for season

[jamminjamarsmiley]

Thought this deserves it own thread**

Sad news coming from Randy Reinhardt this evening. Prayers to these guys and hope for speedy recovery

 

[isuquinndog]

https://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/football/illinois-state-football-team-loses-qb-brady-davis-rb-jeff/article_1463213a-6eac-5890-a804-7fe883d8c8da.html

 

[J0K3R2]

This is not ideal (duh) but time for Baltz and Jefferson to step on up. Get the win, get the bye, extra week to prepare for whomever we encounter.

James Robinson...here’s to hoping you have strong shoulders, because that’s where an entire offense sits right now.

 

[Chi-bird]

This is unfortunate news. I look forward to the day in about 20 years when schools do the right thing and make a move back to natural grass/dirt to decrease these types of injuries.

 

[jamminjamarsmiley]

This is unfortunate news. I look forward to the day in about 20 years when schools do the right thing and make a move back to natural grass/dirt to decrease these types of injuries.

I’ll be the first to say that I have no clue about the turf, if it caused injury or statistics on turf v grass. Tend to think it may have merit. However, isu will not pay maintenance costs of grass.

I love football on grass. Much more fun to watch IMO

 

[TIMMY]

This is unfortunate news. I look forward to the day in about 20 years when schools do the right thing and make a move back to natural grass/dirt to decrease these types of injuries.

Injuries. Little black pellets all over the house. And they won't let you spit seeds. That stuff sucks.

 

[Redbird15]

Praying for both guys to make it back in good health in the future ! Love the kid proctor he is special ! Injuries can happen at any moment via practice or game. But one thing that still get me with some HS coachs as well as college coaches is running kids into the ground . ISU only really use 2 backs . The #3-5 backs including the FB and WR's does not even have 30 carries for the YEAR ! Teams like ND and SD aka bama-GA-LSU still have there #1/#2 backs but you will not see imbalance of team work with the #1/2 backs carries with a ratio of 87% to 13% during the season like ISU if that the case its no player development/coaching trust. Just recently I read where NDSU had a freshmen who played weighs 153lbs ran for 195yards. Most teams are (65-70) vs (30-/35%) using good rotations . This even applies to WR's. Now when playoff time comes those top kids are fresh and the low tier kids are prepared/ready with game experience. Stats don't lie just go view other teams rotations. This is a reflection of the offensive coordinator !

 

[fourthandshort]

At this point, the Baltz redshirt decision is officially unimportant to the rest of this season. It is not practical to assume Jefferson will play the rest of the way, so why worry about the redshirt with a playoff season on the line ... so their decision makese sense .. it is officially no never mind.

Have packages suited to both skill sets. let them know they are both going to play, come up with game plans, and play them both as need for the situation. Just don't turn it into a big negative where you punish one guy for a mistake and then put in the other. You will need them both the rest of way .. coaches need to keep it as constructive as they can. They are inexperienced, they will make mistakes. Still need to be abale to mix it up some and pass the ball, but understandably not as much as with Davis.

Best wishes to Davis in his recovery ! I was harder on him than most here. But I thought he did a nice job after his very slow start. I also thought he properly humbled himself and put the team first with his play and newfound attitude. Football is like that .. unforgiving, and he adapted. Again, best wishes in his recovery.

 

[fourthandshort]

Our offense has been thru a lot this year .. injuries earlier in season to FB, top 2 starting receivers, and OL. Got the FB back, and soon getting 1 receiver back, but now lose starting QB and 2nd RB.

Yet here we sit 8-3 with a shot at top 8 seed. We can beat YSU with what we have ... but do need to come to play with so much missing on offense. It will be interesting to see how much Edgar sees field.

 

[Redbirdfan21]

Baltz can play 3 more games and still RS, I believe? He’s only played in 1, right? And you can play 4 or less? If this is true, I imagine they’d have no trouble burning a RS if he’s won us 2 playoff games...

 

[JHBird]

I used to have high hopes for Jefferson, although I think I only saw him play in the spring games. So is Baltz just that much better, or did Jefferson really fall down based on his own performance? I I do think they should use both as, Jefferson seems to be able to scramble better and has a couple of years in the offense. Baltz will probably look much better with a full week of practice with the first team, but that's a lot to put on a true freshman.

 

[Manchester Matt]

Baltz can play 3 more games and still RS, I believe? He’s only played in 1, right? And you can play 4 or less? If this is true, I imagine they’d have no trouble burning a RS if he’s won us 2 playoff games...

Baltz has appeared in three games.

 

[JHBird]

Baltz can play 3 more games and still RS, I believe? He’s only played in 1, right? And you can play 4 or less? If this is true, I imagine they’d have no trouble burning a RS if he’s won us 2 playoff games...

Baltz has appeared in three games.

I hoping one of those was the exhibition game, so maybe it's really just two.

 

[ThumbsUp_BloNo]

Losing Proctor is a bummer, he's been a great compliment to Robinson. But losing Brady feels like a death blow.

God bless our backups, but there's a reason Spack didn't even consider benching Brady even in the depths of his struggles. I'm afraid Baltz isn't ready for primetime and Jefferson might never be. Hopefully the coaching staff can get creative and find a way to win against YSU, but I doubt they'll be able to pull that off in the playoffs.

I didn't have any delusions of grandeur with this team, but it did seem they had a shot at a quarterfinal appearance, or maybe even a semifinal if a few things broke their way.

Here's a wild card. Any chance Trenton Hatfield picks up a football and starts tossing this week? He's physically more prepared than Baltz. He has the ability to run based on his stint as a running back. I'm sure he can throw the ball at least competently. Maybe that ship has sailed too far out of port, but I'm grasping as straws thinking of ways the Birds can find additional success this year.

 

[Virginia Redbird]

All the best to both Brady Davis and Jeff Proctor as they begin the recovery process and hope to see them back on the field at full strength as soon as possible.

Interesting to watch the ebb and flow of the different discussions on the forum as this all unfolded. Don’t burn Baltz’s redshirt! Burn Baltz redshirt! Batlz is not ready! Baltz is too light and needs to gain 40 pounds! Jefferson should be the guy because he brings another dimension to the offense! Jefferson has been in the program longer than Baltz!

Neither one may be ready but they are going to play evidently according to the quotes of Coach Spack. I never did understand all this he is not ready stuff. What true freshman is really ready? Still if you look around FCS and FBS there are a number of true freshmen in that position. Look at SDSU. They went to their Junior backup when Gibbs went down against NDSU. The junior went only 2-9 with 13 yards passing. They rather quickly turned to true Freshman Keaton Heide. Heide went 2-3 for 27 yards but threw a very costly interception as SDSU was moving to take the lead. That one miss was an interception which led to the winning score for the Bison in a 23-16 Bison win. The next week against a weak MO State team Heide was named the starting QB and he went 11-19 for 173 and one touchdown. The following week Heide ran into the brick wall that is the Redbird Defense and made a few mistakes that were critical in that game. Still his stats looked pretty good and I saw him throw some very nice passes that day. Heide had a big day last weekend against UNI (15-16 for 196 yards and 2 TDs) and the Jackbunnies are now a slot over the Redbirds on the ranking table.

My point is Heide was probably not ready when they called on him against the #1 ranked Bison. He led one TD drive to tie the game but threw a very costly interception. I would assume the coaching staff were trying to keep the ball on the ground as much as possible with only 3 passing attempts. Still 2 for 3 with a game losing interception did not probably light the SDSU fans on fire with their enthusiasm for the true freshman. I am looking forward to seeing which of our two young QBs will step up and take leadership of this team the rest of the way. If that means Baltz RS is burned then that is the way it goes.

I have been as critical of Brady Davis as anyone on this forum. My main target was his inconsistency with accuracy. As the season wore on he improved and I was optimistic that with Edgar returning the QB and offense would get a passing game going to complement their running game. It did not work out that way but I will say one more thing about Brady. I was watching him desperately trying to get himself back in the game last Saturday. He was obviously upset and frustrated he could not make a go of it. You could see it in his demeanor and body language. Even when he first signaled to the sideline that he needed to come out of the game it appeared he was trying to head back on the field before he finally went to the sideline and Jefferson replaced him. He showed a great deal of heart and I found myself thinking, “that is a guy I would love to have as my teammate.” Best wishes to the Redbird QB for a quick and full recovery.

As for Saturday, best of luck to both Baltz and Jefferson. Bring a Redbird victory back from Ohio! The good thing is you both have the best defense and the best running back in FCS (IMHO) to help you.

 

[StLRedbird]

Well, this sucks. Triple option, anyone? At least we get Edgar back

 

[ChiRedbirdfan]

Well, this sucks. Triple option, anyone? At least we get Edgar back

good point...the return of Edgar certainly softens the.blow.

 

[MadBird]

All the best to both Brady Davis and Jeff Proctor as they begin the recovery process and hope to see them back on the field at full strength as soon as possible.

Interesting to watch the ebb and flow of the different discussions on the forum as this all unfolded. Don’t burn Baltz’s redshirt! Burn Baltz redshirt! Batlz is not ready! Baltz is too light and needs to gain 40 pounds! Jefferson should be the guy because he brings another dimension to the offense! Jefferson has been in the program longer than Baltz!

Neither one may be ready but they are going to play evidently according to the quotes of Coach Spack. I never did understand all this he is not ready stuff. What true freshman is really ready? Still if you look around FCS and FBS there are a number of true freshmen in that position. Look at SDSU. They went to their Junior backup when Gibbs went down against NDSU. The junior went only 2-9 with 13 yards passing. They rather quickly turned to true Freshman Keaton Heide. Heide went 2-3 for 27 yards but threw a very costly interception as SDSU was moving to take the lead. That one miss was an interception which led to the winning score for the Bison in a 23-16 Bison win. The next week against a weak MO State team Heide was named the starting QB and he went 11-19 for 173 and one touchdown. The following week Heide ran into the brick wall that is the Redbird Defense and made a few mistakes that were critical in that game. Still his stats looked pretty good and I saw him throw some very nice passes that day. Heide had a big day last weekend against UNI (15-16 for 196 yards and 2 TDs) and the Jackbunnies are now a slot over the Redbirds on the ranking table.

My point is Heide was probably not ready when they called on him against the #1 ranked Bison. He led one TD drive to tie the game but threw a very costly interception. I would assume the coaching staff were trying to keep the ball on the ground as much as possible with only 3 passing attempts. Still 2 for 3 with a game losing interception did not probably light the SDSU fans on fire with their enthusiasm for the true freshman. I am looking forward to seeing which of our two young QBs will step up and take leadership of this team the rest of the way. If that means Baltz RS is burned then that is the way it goes.

I have been as critical of Brady Davis as anyone on this forum. My main target was his inconsistency with accuracy. As the season wore on he improved and I was optimistic that with Edgar returning the QB and offense would get a passing game going to complement their running game. It did not work out that way but I will say one more thing about Brady. I was watching him desperately trying to get himself back in the game last Saturday. He was obviously upset and frustrated he could not make a go of it. You could see it in his demeanor and body language. Even when he first signaled to the sideline that he needed to come out of the game it appeared he was trying to head back on the field before he finally went to the sideline and Jefferson replaced him. He showed a great deal of heart and I found myself thinking, “that is a guy I would love to have as my teammate.” Best wishes to the Redbird QB for a quick and full recovery.

As for Saturday, best of luck to both Baltz and Jefferson. Bring a Redbird victory back from Ohio! The good thing is you both have the best defense and the best running back in FCS (IMHO) to help you.

As always (pretty much, IMHO), VARedbird hits it on the head. Not only SDSU, but UNI pitched a freshman at us (believe he had a RS). I agree with the theory that at some points in this season, you would have thought some relief from the QB bench was in order and since no one was brought in, they weren't ready. Maybe not. But it's time. One or the other, or both, here's your chance. They wouldn't be here if they didn't have some potential.

 

[Total Red]

Virginia -long post but worth the time. Thanks. ThumbsUp- I was a Hatfield fan and I was surprised when he changed positions. I liked what I saw in a few snippets of action. I probably overrated him as a passer but I also liked his mobility and I know I didn't over rate that ability because he was a RB before moving to safety and he looked good there. But you're right that ship has sailed. We'll see what Baltz and Jefferson bring to the field. Rise Up Redbirds

 

[DannyCooksey]

Feel bad for Davis and Proctor. Bad luck. Hopefully both recover fully. Moving forward this season:

Construct a game plan that allows Baltz to have simple reads. Even half field reads. Start the game Saturday by throwing. Get him some good safe looks. Get the ball out quickly and build his confidence. He’s a better athlete than people might think. Get him on the move to throw to THE TIGHT ENDS!!!!!!

I’m more concerned with someone stepping up to help JR in the run game. I think Baltz will be ok. Having a full week of practice as the starter will help a ton. Which RB steps in to take the 8-10 touches that are needed?

Need to be flawless in the other 2 phases and limit penalties.