WIU Game (10/19/2019)

[DecBirds08]

Big score and pick, now finish this game off

 

[fourthandshort]

yeesh their camera crew is having a bad day ...

 

[DecBirds08]

Not pretty, kinda the story of the season, but another W, 5-2 with two big home games looming, prob take that at the start of the season

 

[Manchester Matt]

Not easy to win on the road in the Valley.
Ask Youngstown how difficult it is.

Ugly for the most part, but was pleased how we stepped on their throat after they cut it to 14-7.

 

[Virginia Redbird]

Fall-Trees.jpg

I am going to be watching from the patio here in SE Virginia...68 degrees and sunny! I am going to bring the TV out and stream the game...don't miss Illinois weather at all!
Go Redbirds!

Yo Virginia weather snob ... also going to be high of 68 and partly sunny in Normal, IL today, Macomb to reach 65 degrees .... and our trees look like this ... whatcha got now ??

:mrgreen:

Let's talk in January Fourth! :lol:

 

[Virginia Redbird]

I am off the patio for the moment...some observations. WIU has to be the absolute worst student game broadcast with the most self-serving, pat me on the back, commercials promoting that inept broadcast group. I know they are students but they were really, really bad. Missed several plays as they showed nothing or were again self-promoting. Awful...the worst of the season so far on ESPN+.
A win is a win and let's take it and get the heck out of Macomb. Not an impressive game today against an 0-6 team. Congrats to the Leathernecks for playing hard until the end. The Redbird defense was not very good on 3rd down today. Their pass rush was not very impressive. The tackling was not there at times today. On the offensive side, it was not impressive either. But they won. For all the bad press about the WIU offensive line, I thought they played pretty well today. Better than our O-line.
I don't think the Redbirds played all that well today but good teams win when they don't play well. It was a good effort by the Leathernecks.

 

[MadBird]

Multi-multi tasking today - Birds on the laptop and/or internet radio, DIII St. John's vs. St. Thomas on the laptop and/or internet radio, Wisconsin taking it in the shorts from Lovie U. on the cable then Minnesota vs. Ruggers. Quite a day, all my teams won, more or less. Can anyone help with the effin' Bears tomorrow???

As Lawson promised, WIU hung in there. Don't know that the Birds played their best game today, but good enough.

 

[Virginia Redbird]

Multi-multi tasking today - Birds on the laptop and/or internet radio, DIII St. John's vs. St. Thomas on the laptop and/or internet radio, Wisconsin taking it in the shorts from Lovie U. on the cable then Minnesota vs. Ruggers. Quite a day, all my teams won, more or less. Can anyone help with the effin' Bears tomorrow???

As Lawson promised, WIU hung in there. Don't know that the Birds played their best game today, but good enough.

I was scrolling through the scores for today and saw the U of I score...I thought it had to be a mistake. I guess not. How the heck did Lovie and crew beat the Badgers? You have to come to play every Saturday!

 

[StLRedbird]

I guess the cup-half-full perspective would be that this is the type of game we would have lost the past few years

 

[SoCalRedbird]

Only legitimate gripe is Spack not going on 4th and 4 from WIU's 37 yard line late in the second hald. Could have kicked a field goal and gone ahead three scores.

Good coaches win, but great coaches cover the spread for their backers.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[SoCalRedbird]

I am off the patio for the moment...some observations. WIU has to be the absolute worst student game broadcast with the most self-serving, pat me on the back, commercials promoting that inept broadcast group. I know they are students but they were really, really bad. Missed several plays as they showed nothing or were again self-promoting. Awful...the worst of the season so far on ESPN+.

Agreed on the A/V quality and self-promoting commercials. Ugh.

Mildly related question, but why is the ESPN+ audio such a disaster? Is it a skill-related problem or equipment? Our audio broadcast, like WIU's today, sounds like AM radio. Basketball audio isn't perfect, but it's a step up from football.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[saxman210]

Only legitimate gripe is Spack not going on 4th and 4 from WIU's 37 yard line late in the second hald. Could have kicked a field goal and gone ahead three scores.

Good coaches win, but great coaches cover the spread for their backers.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Wasn’t the line 13.5? Or did it change closer to game time?

 

[StLRedbird]

We lost this game in most statistical measures, save two important ones: points and turnovers. But nearly everywhere else, there is bad news...

1st Downs: ISU 15 WIU 24
Total Yards: ISU 279 WIU 375
Offensive Plays: ISU 58 WIU 86
3rd Down Conversions: ISU 4 of 11 WIU 11 of 20

 

[Virginia Redbird]

We lost this game in most statistical measures, save two important ones: points and turnovers. But nearly everywhere else, there is bad news...

1st Downs: ISU 15 WIU 24
Total Yards: ISU 279 WIU 375
Offensive Plays: ISU 58 WIU 86
3rd Down Conversions: ISU 4 of 11 WIU 11 of 20

Thanks for the numbers St. The game felt this way to me but I did not have stats. The Redbirds D 3rd down performance was really surprising to me during the game. The Redbirds D had a difficult time on 3rd down yesterday giving up quite a few big plays. Then again the D was on the field a lot since the Redbird offense did what it had to do but did not sustain many drives to give the D a break.
So much was talked about with regard to the WIU offensive line and I thought they played pretty well yesterday. The Birds did not have a field day sacking the QB and their runners did pretty well with some holes opened and tough running after the first contact. The D's tackling was not great yesterday either. WIU did themselves no favors with the first fumble, which was a gift and had nothing to do with the Redbird D, and that stupid gimmick play at the goal line. I guess when you are 0-6 you have to do something but that play seemed unnecessary to me. The receiver was open and if the passer gets a decent ball off it is a TD but they had a good drive to get down there and the score was not out of hand at all. Coming away with no points had to be a downer. IMO just a dumb call by the WIU coaching staff.
It has been this kind of season so far. The Redbirds have a game with quite a bit of offensive production and then kind of go into a shell a bit. No real consistency on the offensive side this year. Wonder what we will see next week?

 

[DaveBird10]

That was a strange game yesterday!! WIU came completing 23% of their 3rd conversions and giving up the most sacks in fcs. WIU hasn't really been blown out of any game except the Colorado State game is. Yesterday WIU completed 11-20 3rd conversations and it was the opposite of their entire season. If not for turnovers or the stupid trick play they might have won.
All that said our offense couldn't sustain drives and get in s rhythm as the defense couldn't get off the field.

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[DaveBird10]

With regards to WIU offense I will say the referees were pretty bad. I was there and there appeared to be a few holds that the refs swallowed their whistles on.

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[DaveBird10]

Only legitimate gripe is Spack not going on 4th and 4 from WIU's 37 yard line late in the second hald. Could have kicked a field goal and gone ahead three scores.

Good coaches win, but great coaches cover the spread for their backers.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Wasn’t the line 13.5? Or did it change closer to game time?

Some ppl said the line jumped to 16. But I saw on ESPN that the line was -13.5 so idk.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[Virginia Redbird]

I don't follow WIU so I did not know that their high tempo fast-paced offense was just put in this week for the Redbird D. It seemed pretty effective. Of course, it was a surprise to the ISU coaching staff if it was just put in for this game but I wonder if the Birds can expect to see more of that type of offense in the weeks ahead.

https://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/football/no-illinois-state-football-cashes-in-on-turnovers-downs-western/article_8d5c1b7d-2c72-55bb-a11d-080e371e1fd7.html

 

[StLRedbird]

I don't follow WIU so I did not know that their high tempo fast-paced offense was just put in this week for the Redbird D. It seemed pretty effective. Of course, it was a surprise to the ISU coaching staff if it was just put in for this game but I wonder if the Birds can expect to see more of that type of offense in the weeks ahead.

https://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/football/no-illinois-state-football-cashes-in-on-turnovers-downs-western/article_8d5c1b7d-2c72-55bb-a11d-080e371e1fd7.html

I saw that comment in the Pantagraph too, but I also read this comment on the leathernecknation board before the game:

The necks need a big upset today. They are not getting beat bad just keep getting beat. They are a terrible second half team. They need to get off that hurry up offense it aint working. Take your time on every play and shorten the game. The short passing game is your best bet with offensive line woes. The qb needs to get rid of the ball in a hurry. The defense played good enough to win against indiana state. Good luck today and go necks.

 

[Total Red]

Jeff Proctor is emerging as a RB. We knew about the speed but he's making good cuts and he's showing a lot of tenacity finishing runs. WIU was able to run a lot of plays including a lot of short passes as expected. That put a lot of pressure on our defense to make tackles and not give up any long plays. The tackling wasn't perfect but overall not too bad. Corners Taylor and Woods did better this week and the Redbird D didn't give up a play longer than 22 yards. That was critical.

Outside of a few botched plays that I'm sure Western would like to have back they played really well and the stats favored them in some respects as StL noted. I'm not overly concerned about that. Western hasn't won but they've played other teams tough. We're seeing some midseason upsets in College Football. Despite a determined effort by the 'Necks the Redbirds stayed in control by limiting big plays for them and turnovers of our own. Just win and advance towards the playoffs.

I had an enjoyable walk around the Western campus before the game but I've always felt that people make a place and we know that Western has some outstanding people. Their band certainly was involved in the game and energetic.

5-2 and now we turn the page and prepare for the Blue Meanies.