The unofficial online home for fans of the Western Michigan University Broncos. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

Here is an article that is Purdue biased from SB Nation. Actually not overly biased

http://www.hammerandrails.com/2014/8/27/...ue-preview

Quote:The Broncos were at least close in a few games. Aside from the win over Indiana State, Purdue was only close against Notre Dame and Illinois. WMU lost to FCS Nicholls State by four, Eastern Michigan by three, and Central Michigan by five. Their offense was better overall, but not by much.

HaHa. So we had closer scores in losing to our opponents than Purdue. But look it the level of our competition and we still lost. I don't draw much confidence from that metric.

what if we say beat EMU and CMU and the FBS school? Finished with 4 wins...woulda-coulda-shoulda...but then going into this game against a Purdue with 1 win, would we be the favorites? Purdue only had a couple possible woulda-coulda-shoulda moments from last season.

Point being, I think this game is very winnable...however, the grind of the BIG is worse than the MAC.

It's definitely winnable if we come out playing well in the first quarter. Last year killed us with all of those slow starts. We need to come out and put together a good scoring drive on our first possession. I'm still worried Purdue is going to be better on offense than we expect. But let's please not lay an egg in the first quarter.

This article pointed out one glaring weakness from last year... I totally forgot how horrible our special teams kick coverage was... That is something I will be interested in watching this year. If we can show marked improvement in that area we will win some field position battles and could hang on to some games down the stretch. If Purdue goes all Iowa on us and starts returning everything to the end zone I see no chance for us in this game.

I thought the article was actually pretty well done. Obviously, he is writing from a Purdue perspective, but I think he was fair on all points good and bad for both teams. Really not a ton to get excited about when you have a pair of 1-11 teams kicking off the season.

(08-28-2014 09:59 AM)flushtheherd Wrote:  This article pointed out one glaring weakness from last year... I totally forgot how horrible our special teams kick coverage was... That is something I will be interested in watching this year. If we can show marked improvement in that area we will win some field position battles and could hang on to some games down the stretch. If Purdue goes all Iowa on us and starts returning everything to the end zone I see no chance for us in this game.

Didn't we hire the same GA that coached those horrible coverage teams as the full time special teams coach? Serious question, I can't remember.

(08-28-2014 12:01 PM)Kimbosucks Wrote:  

(08-28-2014 09:59 AM)flushtheherd Wrote:  This article pointed out one glaring weakness from last year... I totally forgot how horrible our special teams kick coverage was... That is something I will be interested in watching this year. If we can show marked improvement in that area we will win some field position battles and could hang on to some games down the stretch. If Purdue goes all Iowa on us and starts returning everything to the end zone I see no chance for us in this game.

Didn't we hire the same GA that coached those horrible coverage teams as the full time special teams coach? Serious question, I can't remember.

That seems like a mistake.

(08-28-2014 12:01 PM)Kimbosucks Wrote:  

(08-28-2014 09:59 AM)flushtheherd Wrote:  This article pointed out one glaring weakness from last year... I totally forgot how horrible our special teams kick coverage was... That is something I will be interested in watching this year. If we can show marked improvement in that area we will win some field position battles and could hang on to some games down the stretch. If Purdue goes all Iowa on us and starts returning everything to the end zone I see no chance for us in this game.

Didn't we hire the same GA that coached those horrible coverage teams as the full time special teams coach? Serious question, I can't remember.

If you're talking about Gibboney, he was the guy that successfully executed 2 onside kicks against us in the LCPB.

I was pretty happy to have him on our side (pun intended) when I heard the announcement he would be joining the staff. Unfortunate he called it quits not long thereafter.

And we hired the GA who "coached them up" last year.

(08-28-2014 01:14 PM)DesertBronco Wrote:  And we hired the GA who "coached them up" last year.

Seemed more about talent and depth than coaching last year (we didn't even have one if you remember)

I don't buy that. We had talent, and they're returning again this year to lead the depth charts.

(08-28-2014 01:31 PM)DesertBronco Wrote:  I don't buy that. We had talent, and they're returning again this year to lead the depth charts.

Except you don't mention the fact that most of that returning talent was hurt last year which lead to the the lack of depth in the games.

They were all hurt from game 2 on?

(08-28-2014 01:31 PM)DesertBronco Wrote:  We had talent

The 1-11 record sure proves it!

(08-28-2014 01:42 PM)DesertBronco Wrote:  They were all hurt from game 2 on?

Seriously.....



Before the first game the team lost: Wrs: Wilson, Braverman, King and Collins, Lbs: Easmon, Brant and Bozeman went down very early in the year. Rbs: Drake, OL: Davisson, Ifkovits, DE: Diaz.

So yea they had a few injuries by week 2...or even before week 1.

(08-28-2014 01:42 PM)DesertBronco Wrote:  They were all hurt from game 2 on?

Most were hurt before game 1. Do you even pay attention anymore, or do you just look for e-fights wherever you can find them?

Not the question and the answer seemed to confirm what I suspected, we had the talent and they ALL weren't hurt at the time of game 2.

You are right, this was a MAC championship level team last season and we were stacked at every position.

(08-28-2014 02:02 PM)DesertBronco Wrote:  Not the question and the answer seemed to confirm what I suspected, we had the talent and they ALL weren't hurt at the time of game 2.

This is the only answer I have to that statement.