ISU vs WIU game time.....sets go REDBIRDS!!

[Phantom]

Robinson was FANTASTIC. However, don't overlook the performance of JT Bohlken the punter.
His effect on field position in this game was major.

Very true. He was excellent and really helped the defense. Typically though, it's not a good sign when your punter is the best player on your team for 3/4 of the game But we'll take it. It was a big win.

As for the last TD, it was a margin of victory thing. 33-16 carries more weight than 26-16 in a conference game come playoff selection time.

 

[PurpleRedbird]

Right now our vaunted offensive line is HORRIBLE

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Going to soften a bit after watching replay of game. Tough to block all those defenders in the box.

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[Birdswin]

I am agreement - Davis needs to tuck and run the ball more - that is a killer on a defense. Why did we not call more roll outs?? Those were good plays versus Colorado State.

As ekeyfanclub pointed out - we had tight formations and tried to the run the ball WAY to often. I would love to see our receivers at least split our to the numbers if not further. Most of the time, our wide receivers are inside the numbers and where you would normally find slot receivers.

I would love to see us throw more swing passes to both Robinson and Smith - but only when our receivers are going downfield and to throw to the side of the field against the flow of the lineman - to have as few people as possible by the back. Nothing is more irrigating than to attempt to have receivers attempting to block, only to have a DB slip through and hit a back for a loss.

 

[MadBird]

Was in attendance yesterday, a good day for football (not necessarily for tailgating tho!).

A few thoughts:

fourthandshort, if ever there was a day that Kolbe "should" have been sent in for relief, it was yesterday, and the fact that he didn't go in seems to indicate Davis is "our" man (Spack and Beathard's man) for better or worse. I was thinking, well, at the period where our offense was "stagnant", we were down only 1 or 3 points so they're not worried. Sticking with Davis.

I won't call out any players specifically, but our kick return game stinks. They took out Birch after the first one or two. No one "hits the hole". One of those guys runs standing up, was kind of "offering himself up" for tackling. The contrast with WIU/Tate seemed huge. The stats don't totally bear out my "expert" observations, but pay no attention to the stats.

Okay, I have to call out a player specifically - anyone see McKnight get totally lost in pass coverage? Doesn't appear to be his forte. Not sure what can be done.

At one point, probably late 3rd quarter or early 4th, Davis took a sack on third down. They came off to the sideline, and unseen by me but called to my attention by Mrs. MadBird, she says Davis went up and pushed Markel Smith, and some guys stepped in and cooled it off. The offensive team was gathered on the bench, but Markel was standing off to the side and not in there. Later he went in and played and all seemed okay. Anyone else see anything, or think it was nothing more than just heat of the moment?

Folks are gushing about JRob and rightly so. The thing I really appreciate is that he punishes the opposition, he dishes it out. One time right in front of us, going out of bounds, he delivered a forearm shiver to some Leatherneck that was awesome. He drops that shoulder and delivers when he's hit, and just keeps driving. Fun to watch.

Lacale London was one of the fireplugs in the middle of the WIU D line, who made it tough for quite a while. Wasn't he one of ours at one point? Did he commit and then not come and transferred to JC? Or come and not qualify, or . . . . ?

Davis was/is inconsistent. Half the time he's high or wide or late. And then he burns one over the middle, or delivers a sweet bomb, and you think okay there it is. For now I'm chalking this up to the "haven't played for a while" excuse, but hopefully he'll find his groove when he gets used to his receivers, etc.

During the unproductive third period, I was sure wishing for a few "swing" passes to the RBs.

I really like our defensive front 7 (including subs like Powell, Georgie, Kelly-Martin, etc.).

WIU killed themselves with penalties. Bailed us out a few times. Whatever it takes.

I like this team, but they've got some rough spots that need some cleaning up. Hope they can get it done.

 

[fourthandshort]

Was in attendance yesterday, a good day for football (not necessarily for tailgating tho!).

A few thoughts:

fourthandshort, if ever there was a day that Kolbe "should" have been sent in for relief, it was yesterday, and the fact that he didn't go in seems to indicate Davis is "our" man (Spack and Beathard's man) for better or worse. I was thinking, well, at the period where our offense was "stagnant", we were down only 1 or 3 points so they're not worried. Sticking with Davis.

I won't call out any players specifically, but our kick return game stinks. They took out Birch after the first one or two. No one "hits the hole". One of those guys runs standing up, was kind of "offering himself up" for tackling. The contrast with WIU/Tate seemed huge. The stats don't totally bear out my "expert" observations, but pay no attention to the stats.

Okay, I have to call out a player specifically - anyone see McKnight get totally lost in pass coverage? Doesn't appear to be his forte. Not sure what can be done.

At one point, probably late 3rd quarter or early 4th, Davis took a sack on third down. They came off to the sideline, and unseen by me but called to my attention by Mrs. MadBird, she says Davis went up and pushed Markel Smith, and some guys stepped in and cooled it off. The offensive team was gathered on the bench, but Markel was standing off to the side and not in there. Later he went in and played and all seemed okay. Anyone else see anything, or think it was nothing more than just heat of the moment?

Folks are gushing about JRob and rightly so. The thing I really appreciate is that he punishes the opposition, he dishes it out. One time right in front of us, going out of bounds, he delivered a forearm shiver to some Leatherneck that was awesome. He drops that shoulder and delivers when he's hit, and just keeps driving. Fun to watch.

Lacale London was one of the fireplugs in the middle of the WIU D line, who made it tough for quite a while. Wasn't he one of ours at one point? Did he commit and then not come and transferred to JC? Or come and not qualify, or . . . . ?

Davis was/is inconsistent. Half the time he's high or wide or late. And then he burns one over the middle, or delivers a sweet bomb, and you think okay there it is. For now I'm chalking this up to the "haven't played for a while" excuse, but hopefully he'll find his groove when he gets used to his receivers, etc.

During the unproductive third period, I was sure wishing for a few "swing" passes to the RBs.

I really like our defensive front 7 (including subs like Powell, Georgie, Kelly-Martin, etc.).

WIU killed themselves with penalties. Bailed us out a few times. Whatever it takes.

I like this team, but they've got some rough spots that need some cleaning up. Hope they can get it done.

Good post .. it is interesting Kolbe did not got the call. I think the presumtion was we could win this game with our run game alone ... until WIU stacked the box and our OL was suddenly feeling overwhelmed .. hence the 2 TEs. To me, it would make a lot of sense to work Kolbe into 1st string mix with more reps planned for SIU game. We need to prepare for possibility Davis isn't quite ready to take the reins. He hasn't played in 3 years, and he's brand new to this system.

Here is our remaining schedule:

- SIU at home .. must win game; seems like our defense is more prepared after yesterday
- NDSU on road .. tough to expect a win, so figure a loss
- SDSU at home ... would be nice to win this, but will be tough the way were playin right now
- UNI on road .. starting to find themselves, so will be a tough win on road
- InSU on road .. no longer a pushover, we better be ready on offense
- YSU at home .. must win game, and we match up very well

So we're sitting 4-1 overall, 1-1 in conf ... going 3-3 would make us 7-4 and 4-4. This will make us a bubble team at 6-4 since STX doesn't count. FBS win combiend with 4-4 MVFC record should have us in, but is is 60/40 chance at best if you ask me .. so then it depends on the other bubble teams.

So we need 3 wins to be on bubble, 4 wins to lock a playoff spot. That means, we have to beat SIU, YSU, InSU (all doable if we show up) .. then just need to beat 1 of 3 against NDSU, SDSU, UNI. We usually play SDSU very tough, same usually for UNI .. so we should compete in both games .. but we need to have resolved QB situation.

Do note, all 3 of them play very tough defense and are always top 4 in MVFC defense. Scouting reports are starting to build on our offense and our SOS is about to get a whole lot tougher in 2 weeks. Obvious question is ... how will Davis do against very good defenses if he struggled against WIU and MoST ??

 

[MadBird]

Yeah, well, there's good news and bad news from South Dakota:

The good news, South Dakota State only beat Indiana State, at home, by 3 points in OT. The bad news, InSU took SDSU to OT on the road and put up 51 points!! Geez, Louise!

So, while we may be able to square up to the Jackrabbits, it looks like the Sycamores won't be a pushover.

 

[Total Red]

And he can not run like everyone presumed .

not everyone

 

[GratefulRed]

Was in attendance yesterday, a good day for football (not necessarily for tailgating tho!).

A few thoughts:


At one point, probably late 3rd quarter or early 4th, Davis took a sack on third down. They came off to the sideline, and unseen by me but called to my attention by Mrs. MadBird, she says Davis went up and pushed Markel Smith, and some guys stepped in and cooled it off. The offensive team was gathered on the bench, but Markel was standing off to the side and not in there. Later he went in and played and all seemed okay. Anyone else see anything, or think it was nothing more than just heat of the moment?

I saw the scuffle on the sideline. Markel came off and someone(#36 or 39 I think) said something to him and Markel went after him. Davis tried to get Markel under control and Markel shoved him and tried to get back after the other guy. Not sure what was said but Markel definitely did not like it. Looked like a circus down there for a minute.

 

[Total Red]

Others may have gotten involved to break things up but on the radio postgame show they said the altercation was between Spencer Schnell and Markel Smith. Coach Spack downplayed the incident.

 

[TIMMY]

And he can not run like everyone presumed .

not everyone

So this is what's weird about that. He can run. I've seen it. But not on Saturday.

 

[MadBird]

Was in attendance yesterday, a good day for football (not necessarily for tailgating tho!).

A few thoughts:


At one point, probably late 3rd quarter or early 4th, Davis took a sack on third down. They came off to the sideline, and unseen by me but called to my attention by Mrs. MadBird, she says Davis went up and pushed Markel Smith, and some guys stepped in and cooled it off. The offensive team was gathered on the bench, but Markel was standing off to the side and not in there. Later he went in and played and all seemed okay. Anyone else see anything, or think it was nothing more than just heat of the moment?

I saw the scuffle on the sideline. Markel came off and someone(#36 or 39 I think) said something to him and Markel went after him. Davis tried to get Markel under control and Markel shoved him and tried to get back after the other guy. Not sure what was said but Markel definitely did not like it. Looked like a circus down there for a minute.

Thanks for clearing that up - I was thinking poorly of Davis who should be a leader at QB, sounds like he was trying to get his guys together after all. Not good to see guys get after each other, hopefully no lasting effects.

 

[Total Red]

So this is what's weird about that. He can run. I've seen it. But not on Saturday.

I don't know if I would call it weird. Roberson was listed at 6'0 205 and Tim Tebow at 6'3 233. Those were QB's that ran because they were built like a halfback and a fullback. Davis is listed at 6'4 210. He has good legs but he's really not built to be a runner.

 

[TIMMY]

So this is what's weird about that. He can run. I've seen it. But not on Saturday.

I don't know if I would call it weird. Roberson was listed at 6'0 205 and Tim Tebow at 6'3 233. Those were QB's that ran because they were built like a halfback and a fullback. Davis is listed at 6'4 210. He has good legs but he's really not built to be a runner.

I really don't want him to be a runner. But I want him to run. Aaron what's his face up north isn't a runner. But he runs. I want Brady to take what he's given. Every play doesn't need to be a home run. Sometimes 5 and a slide is just fine. Or hitting Robinson in the flat when he's wide stinkin open and it'll get you at least 25 is just fine. That's my only criticism. Play within yourself and take what they give you because you're damn good and home runs will take care of themselves.

 

[Hamdonger]

Aaron what's his face up north isn't a runner.

:lol:
In the words of Mike Shannon...hehehe.

 

[JHBird]

We have a long way to go. We pulled this out, but didn’t really deserve to. Our defense was stout for 3/4 of the game. I’m glad Davis can scramble, but so far...for what, if he can’t see the flat or people standing wide open underneath?
Good win....get your head out of your asses.
Great game for our punter!!

The biggest thing with Davis is he doesn't turn over the ball much, of course he's been lucky on some bad throws. But when he gets hit in the backfield he doesn't cough it up. That happened a lot in recent years. A couple of turnovers and we lose this game. But yeah, he seems to have regressed in his passing. For a while it looked liked last year's offense, completely stuffed and out of answers. But our defense seems to be better ... that's the shocker for me. All those good players gone, like Keane and Harris. Boy, that Ridgeway's a real beast in there. What kind of monster will he be three years from now? Romeo on the end is getting a lot of sacks too. This D is going to bet better. I'd like to see Broadnax in there some more. That guy really hits. I saw him smoke somebody on special teams. Every week he creams somebody.

 

[Birdswin]

Now that you mention Ridgeway - two games in a row - 15 yd penalties after the play. The one at Mo State sustained a drive and turned the game around for awhile. On Saturday - that helped lead to the first touchdown. When the whistle blows - STOP and get back to the huddle - very simple.

 

[fourthandshort]

Was in attendance yesterday, a good day for football (not necessarily for tailgating tho!).

A few thoughts:

........................................

Lacale London was one of the fireplugs in the middle of the WIU D line, who made it tough for quite a while. Wasn't he one of ours at one point? Did he commit and then not come and transferred to JC? Or come and not qualify, or . . . . ?

...............

Madbird ... good catch, sounded familiar to me too. Not sure what happened, but he was on the Feb 2015 signing day list

https://goredbirds.com/news/2015/2/3/GEN_0203150958.aspx?path=football

 

[ISUBU]

Was in attendance yesterday, a good day for football (not necessarily for tailgating tho!).

A few thoughts:

........................................

Lacale London was one of the fireplugs in the middle of the WIU D line, who made it tough for quite a while. Wasn't he one of ours at one point? Did he commit and then not come and transferred to JC? Or come and not qualify, or . . . . ?

...............

Madbird ... good catch, sounded familiar to me too. Not sure what happened, but he was on the Feb 2015 signing day list

https://goredbirds.com/news/2015/2/3/GEN_0203150958.aspx?path=football

Didn't qualify. Played juco in Iowa. I kept watching to see if we'd recruit him the 2nd time. Never saw any sign of that.

 

[bb fan]

Robinson was a beast Saturday. As he has been, and just keeps getting better. #25 single handedly brought us back. For the most part, the D was good. One the downside, too many penalties -- again. And Davis has serious issues running the ball. He has been very timid the last two games. That's a concern. Teams are going to know that he won't run. I hope that changes.

 

[DannyCooksey]

i was pleased by this W Saturday.

defense was stout in the 2nd half.

James Robinson is excellent.