Dear Friends,
About twenty-seven in attendance. Coach Creighton brought in Juwan Lewis, running back from Muskegon, Michigan. When asked if he felt out of the race for that position with three others ahead of him, he replied, no because he does what Coach Creighton asks him to do. He seemed very sincere with his answer. He is presently on the kick-off team. He added that the players ahead of him are two seniors, and a junior, so he thinks he will definitely get more playing time next year. He has also played fullback in certain situations this season.
Bronson Hill. He has not been given much playing time because he has not looked good in practices. He has done a poor job of pass blocking and needs to be more consistent in pass receiving. He's not in the dog house. Others are performing better than him in practices
As a few have mentioned in other threads Ike Spearman is coming along very slowly. Coach Creighton is somewhat disappointed at his progress so far. On the other hand Brogan Roback is practicing and should receive doctor's clearance shortly. Of the two, Spearman may apply for medical red shirt.
Lastly, if you listened to Creighton's press conference after the Massachusetts game, he said the team was just flat at half time. No spark, no enthusiasm, no nothing. He wasn't sure if it was because of the anniversary of Demarius Reed's death, overconfidence, something else. Whatever it was, he said he couldn't get the team out of that funk. The coaching staff will be working very hard to get everyone enthused about this week's game with Northern Illinois.

thanks!

Ken, you picked an Eastern win 21-10. You need to own this.

Dear Bob,
I'll own it. My gosh upsets happen all the time, remember Buffalo? This is not the same team of the Lynch days, and they haven't shown me that they are world beaters. We will have to be at the top of our game, but I think Eastern can rise to the task. In fact, I'll go so far to say that there is not a team left on the schedule that we couldn't defeat. How do you like those apples? :)

(10-23-2014 08:24 AM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear Bob,
I'll own it. My gosh upsets happen all the time, remember Buffalo? This is not the same team of the Lynch days, and they haven't shown me that they are world beaters. We will have to be at the top of our game, but I think Eastern can rise to the task. In fact, I'll go so far to say that there is not a team left on the schedule that we couldn't defeat. How do you like those apples? :)

There are no world beaters, including as Ken says, NIU, in the MAC this year.

Too many new QBs, teams full of frosh and sophs, etc. etc.

We should beat say one more team, I'm thinking BSU, as they aren't bowl bound and mostly playing for pride.

Ken, whether we can beat a team like WMU, Toledo, NIU, and even CMU, playing for a bowl game remains to be seen. Upsets do happen when we least expect them.

I watched Ball State give it to Iowa all game in Iowa City only to blow it in the final seconds. We ain't beating Ball State! Trust me. Lembo is a GREAT coach.

(10-23-2014 11:02 AM)Bob Wickersham Wrote:  I watched Ball State give it to Iowa all game in Iowa City only to blow it in the final seconds. We ain't beating Ball State! Trust me. Lembo is a GREAT coach.

They lost to Army (just like Buffalo). They aren't nearly as good as they have been in the past. They are the best chance we have at another win.

Luckily, we got the Wickersham guarantee of a loss, so it should end up being a lot like the Buffalo game. :)

I have to agree with the Wickersham about BSU and Lembo. Pete Lembo took a 1 win team his previous year and won 6 games his first year as coach at BSU. Ron English 0-4 against Lembo. I give Lembo a pass this year but BSU will get to 6 wins again.....good coaches can implement scheme when they are breaking in "team" ( new QB)

(10-23-2014 11:17 AM)Luckeyone Wrote:  I have to agree with the Wickersham about BSU and Lembo. Pete Lembo took a 1 win team his previous year and won 6 games his first year as coach at BSU. Ron English 0-4 against Lembo. I give Lembo a pass this year but BSU will get to 6 wins again.....good coaches can implement scheme when they are breaking in "team" ( new QB)

This!

(10-23-2014 11:17 AM)Luckeyone Wrote:  Ron English 0-4 against Lembo.

We beat Ball State in 2010. English was 1-4 vs. Ball State. I agree with Sam, this is out best shot at a W. I think we win in Muncie next month.

Ken,
I'm just curious why you are predicting a double digit win over the Huskies this weekend? I get it that Lynch is gone and a player that cant be replaced, but you really think that NIU has gotten that much worse and EMU is that much better within the 1st 8 weeks of this season? There has to be more to it than just Lynch being gone. What NIU games have you watched and what do you see that you are owning the prediction like this?

I come in peace, not trying to start anything at all. Like I said, Im just curious what you have saw in NIU to make this prediction. Thanks and good luck on Saturday. Hope both teams come out injury free

(10-23-2014 12:01 PM)FrankAnderson Wrote:  

(10-23-2014 11:17 AM)Luckeyone Wrote:  Ron English 0-4 against Lembo.

We beat Ball State in 2010. English was 1-4 vs. Ball State. I agree with Sam, this is out best shot at a W. I think we win in Muncie next month.

That was before Lembo when we beat BSU. So luckyone is wrong (shocker), English went 0-3 against BSU when Lembo was coaching. But you get the idea...this definitely isn't the Keith Wenning BSU. They aren't good this year.

Dear Luckeyone,
Ball State will be lucky to get to .500 this year. As you have said and I have said, you can't lose a very good quarterback, one of the best running backs, and other personnel, and expect to be a winner this season. I will agree with saying Lembo is a good coach, but as the old saying goes; "You can't make chicken salad out of chicken s...t". They just do not have the horses this year to be challenging for the MAC West.

Dear NIU32,
Besides the loss of Lynch, your kicking game puts Northern in the same place as the Detroit Lions, your defense has not exactly been great, and overall your team is just not that good in my opinion.
You could say some of the same things about Eastern, but we have an unknown quality about our team. Can we score thirty points or twelve. Will our defense play like there is no tomorrow, and lastly we have you at home.

(10-23-2014 12:15 PM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear NIU32,
Besides the loss of Lynch, your kicking game puts Northern in the same place as the Detroit Lions, your defense has not exactly been great, and overall your team is just not that good in my opinion.
You could say some of the same things about Eastern, but we have an unknown quality about our team. Can we score thirty points or twelve. Will our defense play like there is no tomorrow, and lastly we have you at home.

Fair enough...our kicking game is brutal and defense is very young (however it has played very well at times including against Northwestern, run D vs Arkansas incredible running game and vs Kent St) but we've also bombed vs a few teams so that's hit or miss right now. However, we are only ranked 69th in total defense which is middle of the pack, its not like we are in the 100s. Not good by any means but not the worst either.

Few points I'd argue with...

1) you have us at home, however the last 2 times we've played you at EMU you have lost 49-7 and 71-3 (not sure about that home field advantage there)

2) holding us to 10 pts would be pretty incredible. im not sure ive seen anything out of EMU this year that would suggest shutting our offense down to that magnitude...

3) EMU is averaging 15 pts per game vs its opponents 40 pts and is giving up an average of 521 yds per game 220 yds of which come from rushing.

The running game is NIU's strength and it seems to be a weakness of EMU...NIU is ranked 15th nationally in rushing at 260 per game and 25th in total offense


Like I said, I'm just trying to figure out your logic here. Yes, NIU has had a rough game or 2 here and there but overall the stats dont lie. Was just looking from more from you on why we arent very good in your opinion. What games have you actually sat down and watched?? We surely dont have the stats of a team who isnt very good...

The best? No, not at all...But not very good? Id love to hear that argument backed up w stats

(10-23-2014 12:04 PM)EagleSam Wrote:  That was before Lembo when we beat BSU. So luckyone is wrong (shocker), English went 0-3 against BSU when Lembo was coaching. But you get the idea...this definitely isn't the Keith Wenning BSU. They aren't good this year.

Duh. For some reason I thought Stan Parrish was gone after 2009. Yeah, BSU lost plenty of pieces integral to their success on both sides of the ball. Those losses to Army and Indiana State (at home) are embarrassing.

Not to take anything away from Lembo. He's an outstanding coach, good recruiter, and has a good staff around him. I don see them staying near the bottom of the MAC West for long.

(10-23-2014 12:02 PM)NIU32 Wrote:  Ken,
I'm just curious why you are predicting a double digit win over the Huskies this weekend? I get it that Lynch is gone and a player that cant be replaced, but you really think that NIU has gotten that much worse and EMU is that much better within the 1st 8 weeks of this season? There has to be more to it than just Lynch being gone. What NIU games have you watched and what do you see that you are owning the prediction like this?

I come in peace, not trying to start anything at all. Like I said, Im just curious what you have saw in NIU to make this prediction. Thanks and good luck on Saturday. Hope both teams come out injury free

Not only did he pick EMU to win, but in his world Eastern is holding NIU to 10 points. Our D couldn't hold a team of blocking sleds to 10 points!

(10-23-2014 12:15 PM)Ken Barna Wrote:  Dear NIU32,
Besides the loss of Lynch, your kicking game puts Northern in the same place as the Detroit Lions, your defense has not exactly been great, and overall your team is just not that good in my opinion.
You could say some of the same things about Eastern, but we have an unknown quality about our team. Can we score thirty points or twelve. Will our defense play like there is no tomorrow, and lastly we have you at home.

We shall see this weekend.

(10-23-2014 01:02 PM)Bob Wickersham Wrote:  

(10-23-2014 12:02 PM)NIU32 Wrote:  Ken,
I'm just curious why you are predicting a double digit win over the Huskies this weekend? I get it that Lynch is gone and a player that cant be replaced, but you really think that NIU has gotten that much worse and EMU is that much better within the 1st 8 weeks of this season? There has to be more to it than just Lynch being gone. What NIU games have you watched and what do you see that you are owning the prediction like this?

I come in peace, not trying to start anything at all. Like I said, Im just curious what you have saw in NIU to make this prediction. Thanks and good luck on Saturday. Hope both teams come out injury free

Not only did he pick EMU to win, but in his world Eastern is holding NIU to 10 points. Our D couldn't hold a team of blocking sleds to 10 points!

You of all people shouldn't chastise anyone's prediction. I think you owe everyone on this board $10,000 or something like that.