@ SIU 10/12/19

[fourthandshort]

Offensively: Get JR the ball, teams will stack the box but we can run the ball. The o-line with Himmelman and Solomon on right looks pretty solid. BD played with confidence and got started early. Love that he spread the ball around a little. Jacob Carl with his 1st career reception then you go to receivers and Haley needs to continue to play like that with Kacper continuing to develop. With Rogers, kacper, Nagle, Edgar and others we have 5 receivers who are sophomores or younger. That should be really solid coming up and in the next few years. We need to keep any playd where JR is throwing in the playbook tho.

Defensively: The front 7 brought again. Clark and Romeo now have 5 and 7 sacks on the year, that's impressive. The secondary covered well and got hands on a lot of balls but didn't tackle good and the stupid penalties needs to stop. We had a drive where we just kept them going, it eventually got stopped bc siu was equally dumb but good teams take advantage of that.

Overall: Good win that we needed. I thought siu was trying to pull all the stops with the fake field goal, onside kick and so on but we regrouped and hung in there with the win. Need to stop some of the penalties that kept siu around but a win is what we needed after last weekend.

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Agree on pass game opening up run game more than it would have been. Davis came out sharp and confident. He was 9 of 12 in 1st half before we went more conservative with 14-0 lead after half. He only threw 7 passes in 2nd half finishing 13-19. That is completely Spack's style with a lead .. I would like to get to point we don't play so conservatively so early .... because next thing you know they break off a 75 yd run and onside kick, and you have a football game. And our pass offense loses their rhythm thinking conervatively .. though we had the one nice 2nd half drive with a couple good passes.

Specifically yesterday and even in general, we need to come out 2nd half more agressively, especially in the situation we were in yesterday .... need to keep mixing it up, spreading the field, and throwing the ball to keep defenses more honest ... AND AND AND .... to continue developing our inconsistent pass game. We need to get better and more consistent in this one phase, more than any other phase. This is why we keep going 6-5.

Yesterday was encouraging even though we never pulled away. But we need to keep developing our pass game and young receiver group. We have 2 easier games coming up before we hit the heart of the MVFC gauntlet .... Davis is finally beginning to develop "true confidence" the last 3 games ..... KEEP THROWING THE BALL !!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Virginia Redbird]

That was a perfectly executed onside kick ... unexpected and blooped it less than 15 yards to far sideline. Virtually unstoppable if you dont expect it ... give their kicker some credit .. he kicked it perfectly. Nothing we could have done about it unless it were obvious inside kick situation .. it was not.

Yep, I believe I said it was a great call and executed by their kicker perfectly.

 

[Virginia Redbird]

Offensively: Get JR the ball, teams will stack the box but we can run the ball. The o-line with Himmelman and Solomon on right looks pretty solid. BD played with confidence and got started early. Love that he spread the ball around a little. Jacob Carl with his 1st career reception then you go to receivers and Haley needs to continue to play like that with Kacper continuing to develop. With Rogers, kacper, Nagle, Edgar and others we have 5 receivers who are sophomores or younger. That should be really solid coming up and in the next few years. We need to keep any playd where JR is throwing in the playbook tho.

Defensively: The front 7 brought again. Clark and Romeo now have 5 and 7 sacks on the year, that's impressive. The secondary covered well and got hands on a lot of balls but didn't tackle good and the stupid penalties needs to stop. We had a drive where we just kept them going, it eventually got stopped bc siu was equally dumb but good teams take advantage of that.

Overall: Good win that we needed. I thought siu was trying to pull all the stops with the fake field goal, onside kick and so on but we regrouped and hung in there with the win. Need to stop some of the penalties that kept siu around but a win is what we needed after last weekend.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Agree on pass game opening up run game more than it would have been. Davis came out sharp and confident. He was 9 of 12 in 1st half before we went more conservative with 14-0 lead after half. He only threw 7 passes in 2nd half finishing 13-19. That is completely Spack's style with a lead .. I would like to get to point we don't play so conservatively so early .... because next thing you know they break off a 75 yd run and onside kick, and you have a football game. And our pass offense loses their rhythm thinking conervatively .. though we had the one nice 2nd half drive with a couple good passes.

Specifically yesterday and even in general, we need to come out 2nd half more agressively, especially in the situation we were in yesterday .... need to keep mixing it up, spreading the field, and throwing the ball to keep defenses more honest ... AND AND AND .... to continue developing our inconsistent pass game. We need to get better and more consistent in this one phase, more than any other phase. This is why we keep going 6-5.

Yesterday was encouraging even though we never pulled away. But we need to keep developing our pass game and young receiver group. We have 2 easier games coming up before we hit the heart of the MVFC gauntlet .... Davis is finally beginning to develop "true confidence" the last 3 games ..... KEEP THROWING THE BALL !!!!!!!!!!!

Yep, I felt like the Birds started the 2nd half on such a great note. Fumble recovery deep in SIU territory but no points. Then the long run and on-side kick had them reeling. Seems like they went into conservative mode not wanting to make the big mistake when SIU was starting to roll. This was a game that felt like they should have put SIU away but did not. So many penalties by both teams in the 2nd half also kept things interesting. SIU kept fighting until the end but they self-destructed with all those chop block penalties. Their QB is probably pretty sore this morning. They knocked him to the turf quite a few times. I did not look at the stats but it seemed that the Birds O line gave Brady pretty good protection and he rolled away from their rush effectively a few times. Real stupid play by the Saluki's DB on the late hit. If there was a chance for them to make the miracle comeback he took that opportunity away by letting the Birds have another set of downs with just a few minutes left. I fully agree, keep throwing the ball...just do it smartly.

 

[TIMMY]

I get the feeling our conference is really starting to break off into Haves and Have Nots and we're sitting somewhere in the middle. The Big 10 shares TV revenue and that helps teams like Northwestern remain competitive. I'm not sure what if anything will keep the bottom of the MVFC competitive with the top and if you have a lot games decided by halftime that's bad for your conference.

Spot on again. There's really a problem here and it's going to get worse. UND joins the fray next year and join the haves. The Dakotas and everyone else, I said at the time expanding up north was a boo boo. They should have done everything they could to get EIU and left it at 8. Now it's going to 11 and it might be one louder, but it'll also be more lopsided.

 

[MadBird]

I'm not sure about the haves and have nots. I mean, there's no question that SDSU and NDSU have both had a pretty good run. SDSU has never finished worse than 4th in the Valley. USD has been pretty good, but not in the consistent class of SDSU and NDSU. UND, it remains to be seen how they fare in the Valley but they've been middle of the road the last 5 years. UNI has been a playoff team pretty consistently, but was under .500 as recently as 2016. Make your own judgement about ISU.

YSU - the record under Pelini isn't great, but I wouldn't classify them as "have nots".

WIU - hard times last year and this, but they went to the playoffs in 2015 and 2017. I'm not ready to call them "have nots".

InSU - here and there competitive, but not very consistent. Prolly "have nots".

SIU - hard times the last few years, no doubt. Not sure I'd call them "have nots", they've beaten us, but not "haves" for sure.

MSU - also hard times, prolly "have nots".

So, you know, even if you put SDSU and NDSU in a "have" category, seems to me there's a pretty good size "middle" and only a couple that have been really not competitive in the last 5 years or so.

 

[ChiRedbirdfan]

I get the feeling our conference is really starting to break off into Haves and Have Nots and we're sitting somewhere in the middle. The Big 10 shares TV revenue and that helps teams like Northwestern remain competitive. I'm not sure what if anything will keep the bottom of the MVFC competitive with the top and if you have a lot games decided by halftime that's bad for your conference.

Spot on again. There's really a problem here and it's going to get worse. UND joins the fray next year and join the haves. The Dakotas and everyone else, I said at the time expanding up north was a boo boo. They should have done everything they could to get EIU and left it at 8. Now it's going to 11 and it might be one louder, but it'll also be more lopsided.

I have trouble believing that ISU athletics would be better off if they were deeper in bed with more Illinois based regional unis. Sorry Timmy but I just do not see the addition of the dakotas as a problem for the conf. Good competition breeds good results. Alternatively ISU could join EIU in the OVC and be a big fish in a small muddy pond which is what the MVFC would be closer to without the dakotas and the addition of EIU? That is unappealing too

edit...I would like to see ISU trying to compete with stronger universities and athletic programs and growing their program than be a part of a weaker group.

 

[Chi-bird]

Offensively: Get JR the ball, teams will stack the box but we can run the ball. The o-line with Himmelman and Solomon on right looks pretty solid. BD played with confidence and got started early. Love that he spread the ball around a little. Jacob Carl with his 1st career reception then you go to receivers and Haley needs to continue to play like that with Kacper continuing to develop. With Rogers, kacper, Nagle, Edgar and others we have 5 receivers who are sophomores or younger. That should be really solid coming up and in the next few years. We need to keep any playd where JR is throwing in the playbook tho.

Defensively: The front 7 brought again. Clark and Romeo now have 5 and 7 sacks on the year, that's impressive. The secondary covered well and got hands on a lot of balls but didn't tackle good and the stupid penalties needs to stop. We had a drive where we just kept them going, it eventually got stopped bc siu was equally dumb but good teams take advantage of that.

Overall: Good win that we needed. I thought siu was trying to pull all the stops with the fake field goal, onside kick and so on but we regrouped and hung in there with the win. Need to stop some of the penalties that kept siu around but a win is what we needed after last weekend.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Agree on pass game opening up run game more than it would have been. Davis came out sharp and confident. He was 9 of 12 in 1st half before we went more conservative with 14-0 lead after half. He only threw 7 passes in 2nd half finishing 13-19. That is completely Spack's style with a lead .. I would like to get to point we don't play so conservatively so early .... because next thing you know they break off a 75 yd run and onside kick, and you have a football game. And our pass offense loses their rhythm thinking conervatively .. though we had the one nice 2nd half drive with a couple good passes.

Specifically yesterday and even in general, we need to come out 2nd half more agressively, especially in the situation we were in yesterday .... need to keep mixing it up, spreading the field, and throwing the ball to keep defenses more honest ... AND AND AND .... to continue developing our inconsistent pass game. We need to get better and more consistent in this one phase, more than any other phase. This is why we keep going 6-5.

Yesterday was encouraging even though we never pulled away. But we need to keep developing our pass game and young receiver group. We have 2 easier games coming up before we hit the heart of the MVFC gauntlet .... Davis is finally beginning to develop "true confidence" the last 3 games ..... KEEP THROWING THE BALL !!!!!!!!!!!

Agree. I understand that we are playing to win, and I have no problem with going conservative...but we take it to the extreme.

 

[Birdswin]

I agree with fourth on his thoughts on the passing game - do not shut it down like we do. As good as our defense is - just a couple more plays from the SIU offense and it is tied up. I would like to know how many of our "sacks" are on second down vs third down? Seems like we are good on second down, then ease up on third and give up the 15-20 yd pass.

As for the passing game - Why do we have no drag routes?? Why is it we rarely throw to a back in the flat as a check-down option?

 

[TIMMY]

I get the feeling our conference is really starting to break off into Haves and Have Nots and we're sitting somewhere in the middle. The Big 10 shares TV revenue and that helps teams like Northwestern remain competitive. I'm not sure what if anything will keep the bottom of the MVFC competitive with the top and if you have a lot games decided by halftime that's bad for your conference.

Spot on again. There's really a problem here and it's going to get worse. UND joins the fray next year and join the haves. The Dakotas and everyone else, I said at the time expanding up north was a boo boo. They should have done everything they could to get EIU and left it at 8. Now it's going to 11 and it might be one louder, but it'll also be more lopsided.

I have trouble believing that ISU athletics would be better off if they were deeper in bed with more Illinois based regional unis. Sorry Timmy but I just do not see the addition of the dakotas as a problem for the conf. Good competition breeds good results. Alternatively ISU could join EIU in the OVC and be a big fish in a small muddy pond which is what the MVFC would be closer too without the dakotas and the addition of EIU? That is unappealing too

edit...I would like to see ISU trying to compete with stronger universities and athletic programs and growing their program than be a part of a weaker group.

That's great. This spring will be my 40 year ISU reunion. Let me know when this happens. Let me know when we start trying to compete with the Dakotas. Our competitive spirit starts with our student/athletes and ends with our coaches. Above that.........40 years and still waiting. At some point water seeks it's own level.

 

[Total Red]

I have the same thoughts as I did after the Eastern game. I don't have a problem with the lack of passing. If you have a really good defense and you get the lead you protect the football. That's job 1. We didn't have any turnovers in either game (SIU/EIU) so that was key. Nothing uplifts the trailing team like a turnover unless it's a turnover for a score.

I was doing some research on MVFC have nots like Mo. St., SIU, WIU and Ind St. I'll save that post for the end of the season but the last time any of those teams beat North Dakota St. it was Ind St. pulling off the upset in Fargo in 2012. Ind St. had two pick sixes in that game to win 17-14.

 

[Total Red]

Let me know when we start trying to compete with the Dakotas. Our competitive spirit starts with our student/athletes and ends with our coaches. Above that.........40 years and still waiting. At some point water seeks it's own level.

If you're talking about competing with them on facilities then no, we aren't going to be at their level anytime soon. But again there are disadvantages and advantages. They have facilities but the Dakota schools also have to travel a long way to find a population base to recruit.

We've competed against better facilities and winning traditions before and remained highly competitive. Youngstown State has the Ice Castle (Stambaugh) and for many years and it dwarfed Hancock 1.0 but Coaches Heacock, Berry, Johnson and Spack have helped compile a Winning 15-13 lifetime record against the Penguins.

Timmy you and I won't be around to see it but empires don't always last. I don't think the DeBartolo family is still donating to Youngstown St. so now they're a FCS team in the rust belt of NE Ohio and Illinois corn will outlast North Dakota state oil as a valuable resource.

 

[TIMMY]

Let me know when we start trying to compete with the Dakotas. Our competitive spirit starts with our student/athletes and ends with our coaches. Above that.........40 years and still waiting. At some point water seeks it's own level.

If you're talking about competing with them on facilities then no, we aren't going to be at their level anytime soon. But again there are disadvantages and advantages. They have facilities but the Dakota schools also have to travel a long way to find a population base to recruit.

We've competed against better facilities and winning traditions before and remained highly competitive. Youngstown State has the Ice Castle (Stambaugh) and for many years and it dwarfed Hancock 1.0 but Coaches Heacock, Berry, Johnson and Spack have helped compile a Winning 15-13 lifetime record against the Penguins.

Timmy you and I won't be around to see it but empires don't always last. I don't think the DeBartolo family is still donating to Youngstown St. so now they're a FCS team in the rust belt of NE Ohio and Illinois corn will outlast North Dakota state oil as a valuable resource.

You are correct. You and I won't be around.

 

[Total Red]

Let me know when we start trying to compete with the Dakotas. Our competitive spirit starts with our student/athletes and ends with our coaches. Above that.........40 years and still waiting. At some point water seeks it's own level.

If you're talking about competing with them on facilities then no, we aren't going to be at their level anytime soon. But again there are disadvantages and advantages. They have facilities but the Dakota schools also have to travel a long way to find a population base to recruit.

We've competed against better facilities and winning traditions before and remained highly competitive. Youngstown State has the Ice Castle (Stambaugh) and for many years and it dwarfed Hancock 1.0 but Coaches Heacock, Berry, Johnson and Spack have helped compile a Winning 15-13 lifetime record against the Penguins.

Timmy you and I won't be around to see it but empires don't always last. I don't think the DeBartolo family is still donating to Youngstown St. so now they're a FCS team in the rust belt of NE Ohio and Illinois corn will outlast North Dakota state oil as a valuable resource.

You are correct. You and I won't be around.

On second thought Timmy maybe we WILL be around that long. People are still eating during the Coronavirus so farm revenues should hold steady but driving/flying and oil revenues are way down.

https://www.startribune.com/north-dakota-expects-big-downturn-in-oil-industry/568875002/