Author Topic: The Western Illinois game  (Read 10482 times)

Offline Wick250

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The Western Illinois game
« on: October 07, 2014, 06:24:29 AM »
Can we stop this childish bickering and focus upon the task at hand?  Obviously, Western Illinois can play defense.  They proved that against NDSU and, for a half, against Wisconsin.  I am paranoid that we will see a repeat of past seasons under Wolford.  A good win followed by a lackluster effort from a poorly prepared team.  Let us hope that Wolford, his staff, and the players have evolved past that stage, and that they are prepared to play every down with the intensity that they demonstrated last Saturday.

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Re: The Western Illinois game
« Reply #1 on: October 07, 2014, 07:38:41 AM »
 This has the makings of the proverbial "trap" game for YSU. But, as you said, YSU has been in positions like this before. And, next week, YSU hosts SIU which is 5-1/2-0. That brings in to play the dreaded looking ahead to next week kind of game. That tends to turn out quite badly for the team looking ahead. I'm NOT saying YSU will lose, and if YSU plays anything close to a good game I think they can win by at least 10-14 pts.

WIU is 2-4/0-2, but they led NDSU 10-3 at the end of the 3rd qtr, and only lost 17-10. Any team that can hang like that with NDSU is a team that ought not be taken lightly. The other  losses were at Northwestern, at Wisconsin and at SIU(5-1/2-0). The wins are over Valpo and Drake, so it's hard to get a good read on WIU. They have had 4 tough games, and 2 of what you and others like to call "weenie games".

I have not watched WIU play, and while I am knowledgeable about football, I do not know the in's and out's of the X's and O's. I do know enough about sports and have been around sports long enough to be able to tell when a team or player/players have "it". That "it" which really cannot be explained, but you just know "it" when you see "it". Last week was the first time I saw YSU play, and to me, the jury is still out whether this team has "it". Alot of the same issues seemed to crop up with the exception of the defense playing solidly the entire game.

I'm curious to see what those with coaching and playing experience have to say. And, not a rose colored glasses assessment or a dark, funeral type glasses assessment. Rather, posts about what to look for and possibly expect made in as unbiased a manner as possible. I know this is very hard for some people, but I also know there are people who post here capable of making such posts. And, I look forward to reading the posts from those people.

ValleyTalk

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Re: The Western Illinois game
« Reply #2 on: October 07, 2014, 07:55:57 AM »
This has the makings of the proverbial "trap" game for YSU.

I disagree. WIU and YSU met last year at Stambaugh and it was tied 14-14 going into the 4th quarter before we hit an early 4th quarter FG and then had that huge 3rd down and goal TD pass from the 5 from Hess to Adams with about 2:30 left in the game. Needless to say, YSU knows darn well they can't look past these guys, especially after what they almost did to NDSU last wek.

WIU has a great defense and they showed it last year. They have a great RB in J.C. Baker, but I feel our DL will be ready to stop that. Their QB Norvelle had some nice passes in the game vs. NDSU from what I saw on ESPN3.

This will be a good one. I would expect a similar type score to last year.

http://ysusports.com/sports/fball/2013-14/boxscores/20131019_cqdh.xml
« Last Edit: October 07, 2014, 07:56:48 AM by ValleyTalk »

Offline ysuguins4

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Re: The Western Illinois game
« Reply #3 on: October 07, 2014, 08:32:09 AM »
Really looking forward to this game.  Anxious to see if the defense can repeat last week's performance.

Offline IAA Fan

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Re: The Western Illinois game
« Reply #4 on: October 07, 2014, 08:44:09 AM »
WIU is no longer, the pass-happy smash-mouth team of the past.

The Necks are not scoring a lot of points this season, but they are playing very good overall defense. They only give up 20.5ppg. Now that is not great for the MVFC, but it is a good overall number. However the defensive numbers are misleading, as the leathernecks rank last (MVFC) in pass defense. They have a traditional stout run defense that always gives us problems.

We may need to hit a few passes to shake up the run game. I just hope our backs are healthy. We will know more tonight.

Offline JFootball2

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Re: The Western Illinois game
« Reply #5 on: October 07, 2014, 08:54:48 AM »
hopefully Montgomery doesn't blow the game for us like he has a history of doing here.

Offline HappyPenguin

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Re: The Western Illinois game
« Reply #6 on: October 07, 2014, 08:57:30 AM »
WIU have been playing well, but finding ways to lose in the 2nd half. That I like.

Turtles were envious of the kind of shell we went into on offense last week.

Better not do that again. Any QB that can get the ball remotely close to his receivers will have plenty of chances to come back on us with very good field position. Thankfully that kid from MoSt was terrible

Offline ysufan0505

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Re: The Western Illinois game
« Reply #7 on: October 07, 2014, 02:16:58 PM »
Gotta come out with the same intensity on defense! Have a feeling this is going to be a low scoring smash mouth type of game... No turnovers from Dante please. Steady dose of Martin and Jody will do just fine. I'll say a score of...... 17-10 YSU.

Offline penguinpower

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Re: The Western Illinois game
« Reply #8 on: October 07, 2014, 03:18:41 PM »
This team is very good.  I recall last year how impressed I was with their defense.   They are even better this year.   Watch the NDSU game on espn3 you will see they put their best athletes on defense.   They are for real and probably should be ranked.   This is not really a trap game.  This team is better than Missouri State.   We are going to have our hands full.  I doubt that we will have a 68 yard run off tackle like we did against Missouri State.   We will need to play a balanced game and we will need to be effective thorough the air to win it.   They will take advantage of every mistake we make. Trust me on this I watched them play 2 games and they will cause a lot of problems on offense if we don't execute. Quite possibly the 2nd most important game we have besides SIU in the first half of the season.  We have to win this one and then get SIU. That will give us 6 D1 wins.  Then we'll need to snag a couple more.
« Last Edit: October 07, 2014, 03:30:01 PM by penguinpower »

Offline seanbryan3

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Re: The Western Illinois game
« Reply #9 on: October 08, 2014, 08:40:41 AM »
Excited for this game! Hoping to see another strong defensive game, hoping to see the offense back on track and provide some points! Hopefully a nice crowd! We have been playing well under the lights the past couple seasons, will never forget the UNI game two years ago.
"Consistency is better than rare moments of greatness" Let's Go Guins!

Offline lakesbison

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Re: The Western Illinois game
« Reply #10 on: October 09, 2014, 02:41:59 PM »
Western really surprised me, their RB #2 reminded me of Shakir Bell...

NDSU's WR Vraa got hurt in 1st quarter, Western stuffed 8-9 in the box and NDSU's O Coord was too stubborn to abandon the run.  thats why it was so close.

I think if you are YSU you come out throwing and throwing and throwing. 

Defensively, just play solid and you'll get the easy win.

Offline seanbryan3

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Re: The Western Illinois game
« Reply #11 on: October 09, 2014, 06:06:55 PM »
I agree... Throw the football. THROW THROW THROW is correct. A lot of talent in the receiving core. I would like to see us try to bury a team quickly in a MVFC game, attack.
"Consistency is better than rare moments of greatness" Let's Go Guins!

Offline Karl Hungus

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Re: The Western Illinois game
« Reply #12 on: October 09, 2014, 07:37:14 PM »
It's hard to throw if your QB can't see over the line . :-\ :(

Offline Double ET

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Re: The Western Illinois game
« Reply #13 on: October 09, 2014, 07:59:38 PM »
It's hard to throw if your QB can't see over the line . :-\ :(
Agree. Especially if the coach does not believe he is capable of throwing it up the middle without getting knocked down or intercepted in additional to not being able to see the open receivers (might be except the primary receiver)

I believe that was the reason why the coach would only let him down the side line or into the end zone.
The bottom line is, if he is not being utilized to pass, put somebody else in. We simply cannot win games without a passing attack.

Offline FOOTBALLFEVER

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Re: The Western Illinois game
« Reply #14 on: October 10, 2014, 09:00:56 AM »
This week's game against Western will tell us alot about where we stand on each side of the ball for the remainder of conference play. My guess is the coaching staff is banking on our defense to win us the close games in low score affairs.  They have their game manager at quarterback with Nania. Even though he has plenty of weapons at his disposal the running game, read option, and short passes in the flats to your playmaker's will only produce so many points. It would be nice to see him go over the middle to the T.E. and deep down the field. If you could connect it would do wonders opening up your option and run game more and take more pressure off our defense.