Blame the IPF..we were not used to the cold weather..practice outside and be men

tongue in cheek he said

I just want to say the goal line stand we had was great

(10-05-2014 05:45 PM)numbersdontlie Wrote:  I just want to say the goal line stand we had was great

Good point! ..it was a game saver

ESPN put up KSU's future opponents, and I was thinking that they are going to make some noise. They are very good for an 0-4 team. Right away their top two QBs got whacked, and I had to do a never mind.

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(10-05-2014 05:45 PM)numbersdontlie Wrote:  I just want to say the goal line stand we had was great

This warm memory warms my nearly dead and very cold heart.

(10-05-2014 05:45 PM)numbersdontlie Wrote:  I just want to say the goal line stand we had was great

Yes, give credit where it is due, that was fantastic.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/col...story.html

(10-05-2014 12:28 PM)NIU1981 Wrote:  I just re-watched the game and here are my thoughts:

-Our QBs have been inconsistent but our mistakes, penalties and generally sloppy play are a bigger problem. It's a continuation of what we saw at Arkansas. Botched snaps, dumb penalties, dropped passes, just ridiculous stuff. We were lucky to recover Stingily's fumble on that bubble screen. In one of Hare's series' in the second quarter we had first down at the 50 and then a low snap from Ness makes it first and 15 and we don't convert. On our next series we have first down at their 20 and DaRon Brown is offside so it's first and 15 and we have to take a field goal. Roughing the passer on Bass (he was overdue for one of those), illegal motion on a punt by Lurry, just really undisciplined stuff. Add an unreliable kicker and it's a volatile mix. We're killing ourselves.

-I am sympathetic to our coaches on the QB situation. No one is seizing the job. The QB issue is amplified because so many others are playing poorly.

-As many others have noted, our RB situation is weird. I have no idea what that rotation is right now. It seems to change from possession to possession. It would be nice to get some clarity there and I think our run game would be more effective too.

-Once again our O-line got handled. The legend of this being a great O-line is just that. They need to play better period. Myers and Ruka are getting rotated in, maybe they need to play more. Anything to light a fire under that unit. We need a lot more out of them.

-This is nitpicking but it could be important sometime down the line. At the end of the game when we were trying to run out the clock Hare was snapping the ball with 5 and 6 seconds left on the play clock. He needs get that down to 2 or even 1. Haldi was great at snapping the ball with 1 second on the play clock.

-You have to tip your cap to Kent State, they took over the game in the 4th quarter. Leading 17 to 6 with 12:33 left to play we forced them to punt from deep in their end. Here's what followed:

*A 50 yard punt with no return. He killed that thing.
*They force a 3 and out.
*They take it 80 yards for a TD.
*A successful 2 point conversion.
*They force another 3 and out that ends with Maddie's interception. During that series they stripped Stingily on the bubble screen but we luckily recovered.
*They move it from their 39 to a first down at our 34 with 4:33 left. That was the play where their starting QB got hurt. A terrible break for them, I hope that kid is OK.

After that we took advantage of their backup QBs but even then we got lucky because their wideout should have caught the ball on the play where Folliard destroyed their QB. There's no question in my mind that they win if their QB doesn't get hurt. They had all the momentum and their QB was carving us up. If they scored a TD there to go up 4 let's see a show of hands for those who believe we would have driven the length of the field in the final 2 minutes.

BINGO.
Defense was LUCKY, plain and simple.
Freak injury saved us.

Every year we have a really really bad game against a MAC team, a game we are supposed to do well at, but don't.
KSU was that game. Just happened to be the first MAC game of the year this time. The difference between the good NIU teams now, and the bad teams of a decade+ ago, is we still find a way to win these 'off' games.

Lucky KSU's QB got hurt? Yep. Think of this in the context that it takes a few REALLY lucky breaks to have a really good year. If we go back to prior years, we can find events where the football gods just smiled on us, seemingly without reason.

Take the win, and move on. We have gots-to clean up the bad play we can control, and we'll be fine at that point. At this point, everyone but some guys on D seem to be underperforming. We still have alot of room to get better, and we will.

Sure KSU's QB got hurt but we were missing TLL and Beebe for the entire game, and Akeem doesn't appear to be completely back from his injuries.

It seems like most of our penalties have been by juniors and seniors that should know better - late hits, offsides, etc.

They may have been able to tie it up but saying NIU loses is a stretch.

(10-05-2014 08:24 PM)dekalb222 Wrote:  They may have been able to tie it up but saying NIU loses is a stretch.

But they had momentum! And the huskies defense can't compete with that.

(10-05-2014 09:21 PM)The Frisky Biscuit Wrote:  

(10-05-2014 08:24 PM)dekalb222 Wrote:  They may have been able to tie it up but saying NIU loses is a stretch.

But they had momentum! And the huskies defense can't compete with that.

(10-05-2014 08:24 PM)dekalb222 Wrote:  They may have been able to tie it up but saying NIU loses is a stretch.

Agreed, the game wasn't "certainly over". Our offense moved the ball OK all day, we just couldn't score.

"Lots of mistakes in execution yesterday. We looked like a team that was playing their first home game . . . "

We looked like a team who relies on an offense that is based on timing and precision and execution, and that is playing three qb's, and umpteen running backs and wide receivers. No timing = a no-go offense.

(10-06-2014 10:33 AM)chihuskie Wrote:  "Lots of mistakes in execution yesterday. We looked like a team that was playing their first home game . . . "

We looked like a team who relies on an offense that is based on timing and precision and execution, and that is playing three qb's, and umpteen running backs and wide receivers. No timing = a no-go offense.

There is no doubt about it.

For the first time in a long time, I also feel like this team has no confidence at all. I really think that can begin from the top too, Carey is making it clear he doesn't trust any of the QBs, and I really really believe that has a trickle down effect to the rest of the team. Not only does this effect the rhythm of an offense like we have seen so far, but their is a psychological component too. NIU has no leader on the field right now.

(10-06-2014 08:17 AM)cawoo22 Wrote:  

(10-05-2014 09:21 PM)The Frisky Biscuit Wrote:  

(10-05-2014 08:24 PM)dekalb222 Wrote:  They may have been able to tie it up but saying NIU loses is a stretch.

But they had momentum! And the huskies defense can't compete with that.

Entirely not serious. Momentum is something people say when they can't figure out a real argument.

Losing a very good OL coach will do that. Kent State OC was over the top and made Bob Cole look like Bob Cole. Oh well gotta out of it with a W.

Lets go 1-0 next week. Be interesting who Kansas goes to get for new coaches. Lets try to score more than 17 points next week.

Go Huskies!