Remember when NIU couldn't beat Toledo? Heh.

I think I have to start with our QB. He was by no means great and he left some plays on the field (as he always does), but I thought he did a great job managing the game tonight. 14/22, 190 yards and 16 carries for 66 yards. Nothing about that line is remotely sexy, but he was rock solid tonight in the biggest game of the year. Other than the Northwestern half, that was as impressed I have been with him. In bad weather, in the biggest game of his career, he never flinched. The biggest play of the game was the 4th down strike to Turner. Still not sure if he's the guy next year, but he deserves all the credit in the world.

How huge has Ducee Turner been the last few weeks? If he cut his hair and you put a 10 jersey on him you wouldn't have known it wasn't Tommy out there. Other than Cam, he's been the best player on the offense the last two weeks when it was needed most. Hopefully his improvement continues.

Toledo was absolutely cramming everyone inside tonight, thus the jet sweep was open. Once Brown broke free for the long TD, you could tell it loosened things up in the middle (hey hey) a little. The offensive line certainly didn't play it's best game, but 46 carries for 226 yards isn't exactly a terrible night at the office.

Da'Ron Brown. Dude is always open and always making plays. If Maxwell (not his best game) doesn't set that pick, we're here talking about how huge of a game Brown had. Still, 141 total yards and a TD is nothing to sneeze at.

Canada only had 17 yards receiving, but he had the block of the game on Brown's long run. He took out two guys and really was the one who made that play.

I'll say it again: Chad Beebe is a player. If Tommy gets a medical redshirt this year, we're gonna have a heck of a trio of might mite WRs next year.

The defense is kinda hard to talk about. That was such a weird situation to be in. Macon does have QB skills and obviously there was no tape or anything on him. You obviously would hope they could do a little better, but to their credit before the last TD drive where they were obviously playing soft, I think Toledo had less than 100 yards in the 2nd half.

Another guy who has been often ripped on here (and by me) was Paris Logan. Obviously the 4th down stop stands out, but I thought he had an overall solid game as well.

The defensive line had 3 sacks against a team that had only allowed 7 sacks all year.

Rock Lemon is/is going to be really good.

How about the kid Hagan? 3/3 on XPs and his first two career FGs in miserable weather against Toledo. I think the question becomes why wasn't he kicking all year?

Fantastic win. 8-2 and 5 straight years over Toledo. I'll sleep like a baby.

I'll just leave this here:
RT @DavidFox615 Long says Marshall, Colorado State, Boise State, Northern Illinois and "a little discussion about" East Carolina.

Typical NIU game.

People wet their pants several times, cussed out the usual suspects, bashed Hare and the offense, bashed the defense, second guessed Carey after the fact, arm chair coached, fired Carey, and they win again and all is forgotten until next week. Rinse and repeat.

8-2 in a rebuilding year, things could be worse.

The only question or concern I have is why do we keep running drew hare up the middle and why do we throw the ball straight across for gains that really don't get us any where. We see these plays about 15-20 time each game and the results are the same. They might get a big game once or twice but yeah that's all. I believe Beebe needs to get the ball more because he makes tings happen.

Love the last tid bit.

Ducee was big today, really glad to see him develop.

Said it in another thread and I'll say it again, Macon was the best possible thing for Toledo when you look at it now. He was their best player tonight and it wasn't close. Not sure if he would be a good one all the time, but if he's better than what I've seen at Toledo QB since gradkowski in games vs NIU for them that shows why they haven't beat niu in half a decade.

I'm gonna give Logan credit. He's super improved and could be a first team all MAC selection.

Just another day at the office for Brown. Dude is so explosive. Lucky to have him.

Defense needs to get some turnovers the next few weeks and really clamp down. Rest cam til the 2nd half seems to be the thing to stay with.

NIU is certainly faster than Ohio so I wanna see peddle to the metal next week. The fact NIU is in the hunt for another title and is a weird finish by mArshall and Boise or CSU from another BCS type bowl is amazing. Still a long shot, but for a down year with some pretty significant injuries, I've been pleased.

(11-12-2014 12:19 AM)huskie2379 Wrote:  The only question or concern I have is why do we keep running drew hare up the middle and why do we throw the ball straight across for gains that really don't get us any where. We see these plays about 15-20 time each game and the results are the same. They might get a big game once or twice but yeah that's all. I believe Beebe needs to get the ball more because he makes tings happen.

This is hilarious to me. You realize the only time Beebe had the ball tonight was on those plays and he averaged 13 yards a reception, right?

What if NIU still had bass, tommy lee, Harris Jr., and akeem 100% I think we beat CMU and 9-1.
But injuries are apart of the game and we just keep trucking along. Can't wait for Ohio. Big game.

I think only two screens weren't very good. The one Beebe dropped and the one wher stingily was the blocker and Hare shouldn't have thrown.

Other than that, they almost got a first down on average on that play.

Same for the jet sweeps, maybe 1-2 negative plays, the rest were big gainers.

(11-12-2014 12:27 AM)HuskieJWN Wrote:  I think only two screens weren't very good. The one Beebe dropped and the one wher stingily was the blocker and Hare shouldn't have thrown.

Other than that, they almost got a first down on average on that play.

Same for the jet sweeps, maybe 1-2 negative plays, the rest were big gainers.

It seems like Toledo has had the same game plan against NIU on defense since Campbell got there. They always clog the middle and everything on the outside is always wide open. NIU hasn't been able to run jet sweeps or bubbles for **** this year and they were hugely successful tonight.

(11-12-2014 12:25 AM)7 Wrote:  

(11-12-2014 12:19 AM)huskie2379 Wrote:  The only question or concern I have is why do we keep running drew hare up the middle and why do we throw the ball straight across for gains that really don't get us any where. We see these plays about 15-20 time each game and the results are the same. They might get a big game once or twice but yeah that's all. I believe Beebe needs to get the ball more because he makes tings happen.

This is hilarious to me. You realize the only time Beebe had the ball tonight was on those plays and he averaged 13 yards a reception, right?

Okay so the middle play worked 3 times. This is exactly what I said. It works but not at a high percentag . Most of the time it goes for a loss or minimal Gain

It seems like the play does not work at a high percentage but maybe it is just me.

(11-12-2014 12:28 AM)7 Wrote:  

(11-12-2014 12:27 AM)HuskieJWN Wrote:  I think only two screens weren't very good. The one Beebe dropped and the one wher stingily was the blocker and Hare shouldn't have thrown.

Other than that, they almost got a first down on average on that play.

Same for the jet sweeps, maybe 1-2 negative plays, the rest were big gainers.

It seems like Toledo has had the same game plan against NIU on defense since Campbell got there. They always clog the middle and everything on the outside is always wide open. NIU hasn't been able to run jet sweeps or bubbles for **** this year and they were hugely successful tonight.

It's probably because he thinks Toledo has better athletes, which we have seen by recent example, isn't the case.

(11-12-2014 12:30 AM)huskie2379 Wrote:  It seems like the play does not work at a high percentage but maybe it is just me.

NIU's WR screens have been terrible this year, but they were pretty successful today. Even the one Beebe dropped would have picked up decent yardage, IMO.

(11-12-2014 12:07 AM)7 Wrote:  Remember when NIU couldn't beat Toledo? Heh.

I think I have to start with our QB. He was by no means great and he left some plays on the field (as he always does), but I thought he did a great job managing the game tonight. 14/22, 190 yards and 16 carries for 66 yards. Nothing about that line is remotely sexy, but he was rock solid tonight in the biggest game of the year. Other than the Northwestern half, that was as impressed I have been with him. In bad weather, in the biggest game of his career, he never flinched. The biggest play of the game was the 4th down strike to Turner. Still not sure if he's the guy next year, but he deserves all the credit in the world.

How huge has Ducee Turner been the last few weeks? If he cut his hair and you put a 10 jersey on him you wouldn't have known it wasn't Tommy out there. Other than Cam, he's been the best player on the offense the last two weeks when it was needed most. Hopefully his improvement continues.

Toledo was absolutely cramming everyone inside tonight, thus the jet sweep was open. Once Brown broke free for the long TD, you could tell it loosened things up in the middle (hey hey) a little. The offensive line certainly didn't play it's best game, but 46 carries for 226 yards isn't exactly a terrible night at the office.

Da'Ron Brown. Dude is always open and always making plays. If Maxwell (not his best game) doesn't set that pick, we're here talking about how huge of a game Brown had. Still, 141 total yards and a TD is nothing to sneeze at.

Canada only had 17 yards receiving, but he had the block of the game on Brown's long run. He took out two guys and really was the one who made that play.

I'll say it again: Chad Beebe is a player. If Tommy gets a medical redshirt this year, we're gonna have a heck of a trio of might mite WRs next year.

The defense is kinda hard to talk about. That was such a weird situation to be in. Macon does have QB skills and obviously there was no tape or anything on him. You obviously would hope they could do a little better, but to their credit before the last TD drive where they were obviously playing soft, I think Toledo had less than 100 yards in the 2nd half.

Another guy who has been often ripped on here (and by me) was Paris Logan. Obviously the 4th down stop stands out, but I thought he had an overall solid game as well.

The defensive line had 3 sacks against a team that had only allowed 7 sacks all year.

Rock Lemon is/is going to be really good.

How about the kid Hagan? 3/3 on XPs and his first two career FGs in miserable weather against Toledo. I think the question becomes why wasn't he kicking all year?

Fantastic win. 8-2 and 5 straight years over Toledo. I'll sleep like a baby.

I'll just leave this here:
RT @DavidFox615 Long says Marshall, Colorado State, Boise State, Northern Illinois and "a little discussion about" East Carolina.

Agreed, the main thing is NIU is 8-2 and tied for 1st place again. Considering the QB position was (some may argue still is) a major question mark and we lost (maybe) the best defensive player in school history this is huge. When you consider the injuries to TLL and Bass I think this is really impressive. I'm not saying I agree with everything Carey does, but you have to give him credit for the overall results.

I had to watch the game on DVR again (damn job), wish I could have commented in the game thread but my thoughts as I watched the game:

I really hope that 1Q miss of Brown was due to the wind. If not, I don't trust Hare to hit an open man.

Holy Sh$t a FG, what is that? Hagan may not have a huge leg but he appears to at least be somewhat accurate.

Not sure I agree with how Carey used all the TOs, but I agree the clock management to end the first half was solid. The 2nd half is questionable, even though it worked out.

Duece is turning into a "Go To" player. He has made some big plays the last two weeks.

Hare is fearless and a tough SOB. He runs up the middle, takes some big shots, and gets up as if nothing happened. Every game I think he is bound to wind up concussed, but he keeps getting up and performing. Sure, he is not Harnish or Lynch (at least not yet) but his efficiency rating is pretty damn good. Just think if he hit a few more of those wide open receivers.

Straight Outta Compton! That guy has come up with some big plays in key moments the last two games.

I saw a comment about Ohio being a trap game. I would tend to agree, but of all the things to complain about Carey looking past a team is not one of them. Anyone who has listened to his press conferences will know if there is one thing that dude does it is stay focused on the task at hand. He is not capable of thinking past today. I think he drills that into the players too. I really think that helps him/them overcome some other problems. They focus on each action, each drill, each game.

(11-12-2014 12:31 AM)HuskieJWN Wrote:  

(11-12-2014 12:28 AM)7 Wrote:  

(11-12-2014 12:27 AM)HuskieJWN Wrote:  I think only two screens weren't very good. The one Beebe dropped and the one wher stingily was the blocker and Hare shouldn't have thrown.

Other than that, they almost got a first down on average on that play.

Same for the jet sweeps, maybe 1-2 negative plays, the rest were big gainers.

It seems like Toledo has had the same game plan against NIU on defense since Campbell got there. They always clog the middle and everything on the outside is always wide open. NIU hasn't been able to run jet sweeps or bubbles for **** this year and they were hugely successful tonight.

It's probably because he thinks Toledo has better athletes, which we have seen by recent example, isn't the case.

I just don't know why their coaches don't adjust faster when NIU adjust. The Orange Bowl year NIU only had 7 points at halftime, and then Lynch comes out and has almost a 400 yard quarter running pretty much the same play over and over. Same thing tonight. You could see the jet sweep was there to NIU in the first half and then Brown comes out on the 2nd possession and rips off a huge game. FINALLY they adjusted after that, but their coaching staff is really bad at playing chess.

NIU had 90 yards rushing from their WRs today. I don't think they had that combined in the first 9 games.

And yes, thanks for mentioning Compton, Cowboy. He's been fantastic.

It's probably because Campbell just learned chess since his bar mitzvah was like 2 years ago.

Overall I think we had a pretty solid game, and I agree with a lot of you that said 'Dueces' Turner had a great game. He does remind me a little of Tommylee. I am happy there were no QB musical chairs this game, Carey stuck with Hare the whole game. I'm not sure why Stingily was not used more earlier in the game, but he came through the second half. Good win, and can't wait til the Ohio game and see if we can pull off another needed win.

I'm surprised they didn't try to run Cam more in the 1Q and 2Q in order to set up the pass and play action. Screens were working better in the second half once they were set up for Cam. Very frustrating play calls from Carey in the first half. We got great field position and couldn't take advantage.

Great win for our boys. However it happens, beating Toledo never gets old. This almost makes up for the Garrett Wolfe non-game. Almost. This game was like a microcosm of our entire season, the great and the ghastly all in one package. Our offense can look like a well oiled machine on one series and then commit stupid penalties, drop balls and be 3 and out the next. But they somehow find a way. I find this team to be super entertaining. To be 8 and 2 and controlling their own destiny is just fantastic.

Two of the biggest plays in this game were the holding call to stop a Toledo drive when Perez Ford forced the guy to tackle him and the 4th down pickup on the throw to Deucee. Hare will miss a wide open Brown in the end zone and make that throw to Turner in the same game.

Someone needs to make a highlight film of all the times Hare has been jacked up this season. There's plenty to work with. He's a tough kid.

We saw Harnish and Schiller with a group in the Chessick hallway before the game. Probably some other former players with them. It was great to see Michael Turner in Huskie Stadium again. The crowd was small but gave him a huge ovation when he was introduced.

I agree with others who've said Deucee Turner is coming on. He's been a difference maker the last two weeks. As he continues to learn the nuances of the wideout position he will become impossible to cover.

Kudos to the Rockets for hanging in there under a lot of adversity. Macon could be one heck of a QB if he played the position. Thanks to their coaches for using Hunt so little. Their O-line has five fifth-year seniors, they have a running back averaging 8 yards a carry and they're starting a third string QB. And they're throwing the ball. We said thank you every time they did. Their fans' heads must have been exploding.

(11-12-2014 01:26 AM)NIU1981 Wrote:  Great win for our boys. However it happens, beating Toledo never gets old. This almost makes up for the Garrett Wolfe non-game. Almost. This game was like a microcosm of our entire season, the great and the ghastly all in one package. Our offense can look like a well oiled machine on one series and then commit stupid penalties, drop balls and be 3 and out the next. But they somehow find a way. I find this team to be super entertaining. To be 8 and 2 and controlling their own destiny is just fantastic.

Two of the biggest plays in this game were the holding call to stop a Toledo drive when Perez Ford forced the guy to tackle him and the 4th down pickup on the throw to Deucee. Hare will miss a wide open Brown in the end zone and make that throw to Turner in the same game.

Someone needs to make a highlight film of all the times Hare has been jacked up this season. There's plenty to work with. He's a tough kid.

We saw Harnish and Schiller with a group in the Chessick hallway before the game. Probably some other former players with them. It was great to see Michael Turner in Huskie Stadium again. The crowd was small but gave him a huge ovation when he was introduced.

I agree with others who've said Deucee Turner is coming on. He's been a difference maker the last two weeks. As he continues to learn the nuances of the wideout position he will become impossible to cover.

Kudos to the Rockets for hanging in there under a lot of adversity. Macon could be one heck of a QB if he played the position. Thanks to their coaches for using Hunt so little. Their O-line has five fifth-year seniors, they have a running back averaging 8 yards a carry and they're starting a third string QB. And they're throwing the ball. We said thank you every time they did. Their fans' heads must have been exploding.

Great point about Toledo not running Hunt more. It seemed like that was an easy gain every play. If I were a Toledo fan (well I probably would not have a computer or know how to type if I did) I would not be happy. They should have run almost every play. NIU did not seem to be able to stop them.

(11-12-2014 01:26 AM)NIU1981 Wrote:  Great win for our boys. However it happens, beating Toledo never gets old. This almost makes up for the Garrett Wolfe non-game. Almost. This game was like a microcosm of our entire season, the great and the ghastly all in one package. Our offense can look like a well oiled machine on one series and then commit stupid penalties, drop balls and be 3 and out the next. But they somehow find a way. I find this team to be super entertaining. To be 8 and 2 and controlling their own destiny is just fantastic.

Two of the biggest plays in this game were the holding call to stop a Toledo drive when Perez Ford forced the guy to tackle him and the 4th down pickup on the throw to Deucee. Hare will miss a wide open Brown in the end zone and make that throw to Turner in the same game.

Someone needs to make a highlight film of all the times Hare has been jacked up this season. There's plenty to work with. He's a tough kid.

We saw Harnish and Schiller with a group in the Chessick hallway before the game. Probably some other former players with them. It was great to see Michael Turner in Huskie Stadium again. The crowd was small but gave him a huge ovation when he was introduced.

I agree with others who've said Deucee Turner is coming on. He's been a difference maker the last two weeks. As he continues to learn the nuances of the wideout position he will become impossible to cover.

Kudos to the Rockets for hanging in there under a lot of adversity. Macon could be one heck of a QB if he played the position. Thanks to their coaches for using Hunt so little. Their O-line has five fifth-year seniors, they have a running back averaging 8 yards a carry and they're starting a third string QB. And they're throwing the ball. We said thank you every time they did. Their fans' heads must have been exploding.

Mancz Toledo's starting Center did not play. Storm Norton, a Soph, started at LT and the LT Hendershot snapped the FB.