South Dakota - Homecoming

[fourthandshort]

Big win .. sometimes youve got grind out an ugly one. So what .. USD is tough team and we beat em.

Good day for Redbirds, even if it wasnt a great day,

Homecoming win .. even better !!!!!!!

 

[fourthandshort]

SDSU has beaten NDSU 3 straight games .. just not in playoffs.

There are many SDSU fans who want Stig fired.

Perspective matters .. grass aint always greener.

 

[MadBird]

A few quick thoughts about the victory:

On the road back to Madison, somewhere around Mendota, I said to my old roommate Larry, I feel like I should have been enjoying that game more. Birds played pretty good, held off a decent team - but I found myself sitting there sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for the Coyotes to make the big play, go down and score and wreck our karma, etc. Sort of said to myself, gotta start "believing" in this team. I spose that could all come crashing down next weekend in Terre Haute, but, you know . . . .

Annexstad is a fine QB, finest we've had obviously in a few years. I'd take him over Brady Davis, spose that's a matter of opinion with some, but the fact is he's got a nice arm, for the most part is on target, and he seems to have limited that thing from earlier in the season where he tried to make something happen in a spot where it wasn't gonna happen.

The O line rotation has changed some due to injury, but we've got a pretty good group there I think. Kobe Rios appears to be a pretty tough customer, Bones is a solid veteran at center. They're trotting out some pretty young talent too - Zambrano is a Soph as is Jake Pope, Forestyk and Gudaitis and Bromagen Redshirt Freshmen, Rios and Asche and Bussone juniors who've got another year to shine. Seems like it's taken awhile to gel, to get the right guys out there, but I feel good about that group.

Nigel White started yesterday, don't suppose with the way the backfield has operated this year that's that big of a deal, but nice to see him get that status. He looks much better this year. Wenkers Wright is gonna be a fine back by the time he leaves. If he could put on 15, 20 pounds and keep his quicks, that'd be something. Pha'Leak still searching.

Love our D, for the most part. I wish our D backs were a little "tighter", but like the O line, there's a nice rotation there and lots of guys to come in and fit situations.

Lots of PT yesterday for soph Lavoise-Deontae McCoy at LB - Campos got hurt? - but he looked pretty solid, as far as I can tell. Good for the future. Also on the D line, Redshirt Fr. Transfer from Cincy Jalen Monrrow get some early PT and played quite a bit all game.

Okay, from the get off my lawn department, at half time, they bring out the Hall of Fame inductees, and start the introductions so they can step out and get a hand, and the GD yo-yo who runs the sound system starts playing some music which basically drowns out the announcer making the introductions. The guy/person who runs it should be forced to sit out in the crowd and listen to what comes out of that sound system, the volume, the "quality" of the music (I get that that's subjective), the timing, etc.

Pretty decent crowd, west side wasn't full really, but spread out enough that it looked like most sections were "pretty full". Hard to tell from the east side how full it looked, probably not all that full, but box score says 9300+, so not all that bad. But Homecoming, sunny, 60 degrees, would like to see it SRO. Good tailgating under the water tower.

Okay, see you in a couple weeks vs. the Penguins, hopefully there's still something to play for!!

 

[Bird Friend]

A few quick thoughts about the victory:

On the road back to Madison, somewhere around Mendota, I said to my old roommate Larry, I feel like I should have been enjoying that game more. Birds played pretty good, held off a decent team - but I found myself sitting there sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for the Coyotes to make the big play, go down and score and wreck our karma, etc. Sort of said to myself, gotta start "believing" in this team. I spose that could all come crashing down next weekend in Terre Haute, but, you know . . . .


Pretty decent crowd, west side wasn't full really, but spread out enough that it looked like most sections were "pretty full". Hard to tell from the east side how full it looked, probably not all that full, but box score says 9300+, so not all that bad. But Homecoming, sunny, 60 degrees, would like to see it SRO. Good tailgating under the water tower.

Okay, see you in a couple weeks vs. the Penguins, hopefully there's still something to play for!!

Completely with you on waiting for the other shoe to drop. Other than the 2 pass plays (that seemed to come out of nowhere) in the 3rd quarter, I had little faith in the offense to score when necessary. Then missing the PAT . . . uggh.

Watching the game on TV, the east side seemed light. And the section reserved for major donors was practically empty in the 2nd half.

 

[Virginia Redbird]

SDSU has beaten NDSU 3 straight games .. just not in playoffs.

There are many SDSU fans who want Stig fired.

Perspective matters .. grass aint always greener.

Unless you are going undefeated almost every year and winning championships every year (only one team in that category) there are almost always some fans that want the coach fired. Just the way it is in fandom! I remember when the Buffalo Bills went to four straight Super Bowls and lost all four. There were some fans calling for Marv Levy's head as not being able to win the one that mattered.

I kind of look at ISU in the same manner. Mainly mediocrity between Rod Berry and Coach Spack (48-54 with Denver). In a pretty short time, Spack took ISU to the National Championship game and came so close to a National Title. Once you get that success a winning record does not make people happy anymore. They remember the last loss in the playoffs. Having said that most coaches are usually on a short leash. They have to produce every year, the nature of the job.

A little trivia, Levy's playoff record with the Bills was 11-8, four of those losses were in the Super Bowl. OUCH!

 

[Total Red]

Okay, from the get off my lawn department, at half time, they bring out the Hall of Fame inductees, and start the introductions so they can step out and get a hand, and the GD yo-yo who runs the sound system starts playing some music which basically drowns out the announcer making the introductions. The guy/person who runs it should be forced to sit out in the crowd and listen to what comes out of that sound system, the volume, the "quality" of the music (I get that that's subjective), the timing, etc.

+1 Less is More

 

[Virginia Redbird]

Annexstad is a fine QB, finest we've had obviously in a few years. I'd take him over Brady Davis, spose that's a matter of opinion with some, but the fact is he's got a nice arm, for the most part is on target, and he seems to have limited that thing from earlier in the season where he tried to make something happen in a spot where it wasn't gonna happen.

Nigel White started yesterday, don't suppose with the way the backfield has operated this year that's that big of a deal, but nice to see him get that status. He looks much better this year. Wenkers Wright is gonna be a fine back by the time he leaves. If he could put on 15, 20 pounds and keep his quicks, that'd be something. Pha'Leak still searching.

I agree with you on Annexstad (QB). I think he was anxious to do well early on and probably pressed too much. He has seemed to improve every game. The thing with Brady to me was he was inconsistent. He would play great one game and not so great the next. I think Annexstad is benefiting from better coaching. The new OC has made a difference in offensive play. Taula is having a good year and before this season the tight end seemed to be the loneliest man in town.

Funny how a position that pre-season seemed to be very deep is getting pretty shallow, running back. Mueller goes down and then Wright gets some bumps and bruises. White has done a pretty good job. Pha'leak still waiting for that sort of breakout game. Maybe it comes next week!

 

[Virginia Redbird]

SDSU has beaten NDSU 3 straight games .. just not in playoffs.

There are many SDSU fans who want Stig fired.

Perspective matters .. grass aint always greener.

Sorry for the double post but I just took a quick look at the NDSU Bison Forum. Quite a few derogatory posts about Coach Entz. One eloquent poster commented "F**k Entz". Another fan, obviously just as eloquent in the use of the English language posted, "Fire the mother f***ker now!" (Not an exact quote but I chose to use some discretion on the Redbird board). This is from Coach Entz's bio on the NDSU Athletics page:

"Entz guided North Dakota State to two Missouri Valley Football Conference championships and two NCAA Division I FCS national championships in his first three seasons as a head coach. He enters the 2022 season with a 37-4 overall record and 20-3 in the MVFC."

Still, some fans are calling for his head because they lost a game and maybe are losing some dominance. It is just the nature of fandom.

 

[Total Red]

There was some hope that our aerial attack had turned a corner at N. Iowa last week. Now we know that the uptick in passing was mainly attributable to the loose Panther coverage, and it is not likely to be repeated this season. We struggle with getting vertical in the passing game. There was the 41-yarder to Buckner when he came back for the ball but other than that not much. Taula got a good gain when he fought for yardage after the catch. I didn't see J'Kalon Carter out there and he may be our best hope for a deep threat. Annexstad often quickly checked down to receivers that had taken a few steps and then turned to face him. Even if you complete those passes you don't get much.

Once again we put the game on the defense and special teams and they provided just enough to win. I would give Wilhoit the defensive MVP but several players stood out. Dabney and Lamont were active tacklers. It's a thin line between nickel back and outside linebacker but Lamont looked like he was playing LB'er yesterday. We need Okolo back full time. He played only briefly but he came up with a big stop. Lewan also made a key tackle as Camp left the pocket. That's a play we've missed too often in past. Ian Wagner won the FG battle for us.

Last year we beat UNI and SD with defense. We did it again this year. It's great to beat those programs back-to-back but unless we start throwing the ball better, we won't run better and we're pretty much the same team we have been.

 

[fourthandshort]

There was some hope that our aerial attack had turned a corner at N. Iowa last week. Now we know that the uptick in passing was mainly attributable to the loose Panther coverage, and it is not likely to be repeated this season. We struggle with getting vertical in the passing game. There was the 41-yarder to Buckner when he came back for the ball but other than that not much. Taula got a good gain when he fought for yardage after the catch. I didn't see J'Kalon Carter out there and he may be our best hope for a deep threat. Annexstad often quickly checked down to receivers that had taken a few steps and then turned to face him. Even if you complete those passes you don't get much.

Once again we put the game on the defense and special teams and they provided just enough to win. I would give Wilhoit the defensive MVP but several players stood out. Dabney and Lamont were active tacklers. It's a thin line between nickel back and outside linebacker but Lamont looked like he was playing LB'er yesterday. We need Okolo back full time. He played only briefly but he came up with a big stop. Lewan also made a key tackle as Camp left the pocket. That's a play we've missed too often in past. Ian Wagner won the FG battle for us.

Last year we beat UNI and SD with defense. We did it again this year. It's great to beat those programs back-to-back but unless we start throwing the ball better, we won't run better and we're pretty much the same team we have been.

Good post .. the pass game did feel claustrophobic most of the game outside of the opening series and the late drive with the 2 big pass plays. And same for run game outside of the first and the final series where Wrights got us our of trouble when their punt pinned us inside the one.

As for our defense .. anytime your offense gets just 264 total yards and 2 real drives all game, holding your opponent to 11 1st downs and 250 total yards is impressive.

Random observations ..

• Nigel White got the first few carrries of the game. Wenkers Wright played and wound up with more carries - so he's probably still not 100%. And he didn't really get any big chunks like he normally does. But he did help us get a first down on the last drive, to then runout the clock - so we didn't have to punt up just 2. But we're averaging 98 rush ypg .... we missed Mueller a lot, and also need a healthy Wright.
• Ian Wagner kicked a 45 yard FG into the wind and easily cleared .. impressive leg. But he missed the XP .. though not sure if it was snap, hold, or kick issue.
• Agree offense didn't show nearly as much this week. Need to do some more fine tuning. Need some receivers to show some development soon. Taula is a stud at TE, but still not seeing much after that.
• Our defense has returned to top 3 in MVFC form .. equally strong against run and pass. Though we still have to play the top 2 teams on our schedule ... oh, and in FCS.

Win is a win is a win ... good day for the Redbirds. USD is a very solid team even at 1-5 .. played the #1, #2, and #3 FCS teams, plus #17 Kansas State.

We play at Indiana St next week .. also sitting at just 1-5, but played UNI, NDSU, and YSU all within a TD. Seems like some kind of smoke and mirrors because they don't do anything particularly well from a team stat perspective .. they just hang tough. We need to ignore their record completely and walk in there assuming they will be tough and hang around until the last play.

Go Redbirds ... we're in the playoff hunt, but with very little wiggle room.

 

[MadBird]

Another mention for our game in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, pointing out stats for "ex-Gopher" Zach. For a guy that never got much PT there, the paper is sure taking an interest in his progress. Well, helps playing a Dakota school, with lots of Twin Cities guys, but still . . . .

 

[CCRedbirds]

Anybody catch the date for the 2023 homecoming game?

 

[fdbird83]

50 years ago​

Oct. 16, 1972: "The Roaring Twenties: Fun, Sin and Bathtub Gin" is the theme of Illinois State University's 51st annual homecoming celebration. A Saturday afternoon football game with Western Illinois University's Leathernecks and a 9 a.m. Saturday homecoming parade will highlight the weekend's festivities. George Carlin, night club comedian and television guest personality, will be featured in a program at 8:15 p.m. Friday in Horton Field House. The Chi-Lites, a contemporary music group, will appear with him. Read the story.

That is an odd combination. George Carlin and the Chi-Lites together.

 

[Dmills]

Anybody catch the date for the 2023 homecoming game?

October 9-15th. Opponent is Indiana State.

 

[fourthandshort]

So the USD defense ranks 6th in MVFC in yards per game (399 ypg) and 4th in total yards per play a little behind us. This despite having played the top 3 teams in FCS (SDSU, Montana, NDSU), plus FBS # 18 Kansas St. This is easily the # 1 SOS in all of FCS so far. So much so they will still be #1 SOS by end of season per Massey.

So that our struggling offense struggled to gain 264 yards is not necessarily a big surprise against USD.

InSU defense is not nearly this strong statistically adjusted for SOS. So we should hope to get our offense a little more on track next week. BUt still expect tough game on road against InSU .. they are competitive in their losses.

 

[ISUBU]

We're pretty beat up on the OL.

The O line rotation has changed some due to injury, but we've got a pretty good group there I think. Kobe Rios appears to be a pretty tough customer, Bones is a solid veteran at center. They're trotting out some pretty young talent too - Zambrano is a Soph as is Jake Pope, Forestyk and Gudaitis and Bromagen Redshirt Freshmen, Rios and Asche and Bussone juniors who've got another year to shine. Seems like it's taken awhile to gel, to get the right guys out there, but I feel good about that group.

Zambrano left the game - not sure if he came back. Bussone and Pope were in street clothes. Mueller had a hand wrapped up like a club.

I agree that we're young and I hope we continue to improve on the line.

Our QB took a bunch of hits. He made some good decisions to throw the ball away to avoid others. It just didnt seem that we could get guys open in the right places quickly enough. USD defenders were often tight on the receivers.

 

[Redbird15]

So the USD defense ranks 6th in MVFC in yards per game (399 ypg) and 4th in total yards per play a little behind us. This despite having played the top 3 teams in FCS (SDSU, Montana, NDSU), plus FBS # 18 Kansas St. This is easily the # 1 SOS in all of FCS so far. So much so they will still be #1 SOS by end of season per Massey.

So that our struggling offense struggled to gain 264 yards is not necessarily a big surprise against USD.

InSU defense is not nearly this strong statistically adjusted for SOS. So we should hope to get our offense a little more on track next week. BUt still expect tough game on road against InSU .. they are competitive in their losses.

Good post .. the pass game did feel claustrophobic most of the game outside of the opening series and the late drive with the 2 big pass plays. And same for run game outside of the first and the final series where Wrights got us our of trouble when their punt pinned us inside the one.

As for our defense .. anytime your offense gets just 264 total yards and 2 real drives all game, holding your opponent to 11 1st downs and 250 total yards is impressive.

Random observations ..

• Nigel White got the first few carrries of the game. Wenkers Wright played and wound up with more carries - so he's probably still not 100%. And he didn't really get any big chunks like he normally does. But he did help us get a first down on the last drive, to then runout the clock - so we didn't have to punt up just 2. But we're averaging 98 rush ypg .... we missed Mueller a lot, and also need a healthy Wright.
• Ian Wagner kicked a 45 yard FG into the wind and easily cleared .. impressive leg. But he missed the XP .. though not sure if it was snap, hold, or kick issue.
• Agree offense didn't show nearly as much this week. Need to do some more fine tuning. Need some receivers to show some development soon. Taula is a stud at TE, but still not seeing much after that.
• Our defense has returned to top 3 in MVFC form .. equally strong against run and pass. Though we still have to play the top 2 teams on our schedule ... oh, and in FCS.

Win is a win is a win ... good day for the Redbirds. USD is a very solid team even at 1-5 .. played the #1, #2, and #3 FCS teams, plus #17 Kansas State.

We play at Indiana St next week .. also sitting at just 1-5, but played UNI, NDSU, and YSU all within a TD. Seems like some kind of smoke and mirrors because they don't do anything particularly well from a team stat perspective .. they just hang tough. We need to ignore their record completely and walk in there assuming they will be tough and hang around until the last play.

Go Redbirds ... we're in the playoff hunt, but with very little wiggle room.

Agree with majority of your post. Taula is doing Great and has save Zach on a few throws. As you mention in a few of your post in the past. I would like to see maybe big WR or TE go to slot positions and put your speed guys like Buckner or Carr as Wideouts. Those two guys are short but possible the fastest guys on the entire squad. We only seen QB throw deep ball to Sobkowicz deep ball sideline this season. Others its middle when attempted usually penalty on other team over or under throw on deep ball. Maybe its a WR * Slot QB timing is the reason we have not seen it or staff feels better with Zach throwing certain routes on route tree. He does distribute the ball very well. So if the OL can give QB enough time to zip it down the field with some touch it would open up the Run game and short pass and middle because no LB would be able to cover Taula or Sobkowicz. Defenses would have major adjustments to make on the spread with that type of combination on the field. Crowd/students surprise me in a close game stands empty after half. 1st Home Game and Family day had more excitement !

 

[Virginia Redbird]

50 years ago​

Oct. 16, 1972: "The Roaring Twenties: Fun, Sin and Bathtub Gin" is the theme of Illinois State University's 51st annual homecoming celebration. A Saturday afternoon football game with Western Illinois University's Leathernecks and a 9 a.m. Saturday homecoming parade will highlight the weekend's festivities. George Carlin, night club comedian and television guest personality, will be featured in a program at 8:15 p.m. Friday in Horton Field House. The Chi-Lites, a contemporary music group, will appear with him. Read the story.

That is an odd combination. George Carlin and the Chi-Lites together.

That was my first year at ISU. Not a strange combination, something for everybody! George was funny as hell by the way.

 

[Total Red]

We're pretty beat up on the OL.

Zambrano left the game - not sure if he came back. Bussone and Pope were in street clothes. Mueller had a hand wrapped up like a club.

I agree that we're young and I hope we continue to improve on the line.

Our QB took a bunch of hits. He made some good decisions to throw the ball away to avoid others. It just didnt seem that we could get guys open in the right places quickly enough. USD defenders were often tight on the receivers.

I didn't see Zambrano return. Guard Mueller played some snaps with his hand/wrist heavily wrapped.

 

[DaveBird10]

Agreed. I think the odds at 4th and 15 are still better than the odds of holding us to a 3 and out, receiving the punt with at best a minute to go with no time outs, and moving into scoring position.

He's an experienced coach, but I also didn't understand why he didn't call time after we ran it...must have lost nearly 40 seconds there alone.

This was my head scratcher where I was wondering what Nielsen was doing. I agree with punting on 4th n 15 probably aren't going to pick up a 1st down with that yardage. We got the ball back with 2:06 left and USD having 2 timeouts left, I said why are they not calling a timeout now? It seemed like Nielsen let extra time run off the clock. It didn't matter as we picked up the 1st down anyway I just wasn't sure why not use the timeouts after 1st and 2nd down.