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I have said it time and time again. You win in the trenches and we have lost in the trenches. Last night, we failed to generate a pass rush, but more importantly we got handled at the line of scrimmage. Credit NIU for opening up large holes and our LB's and secondary took poor angles and didn't tackle well.

On offense, when it is a known passing situation, we struggle to protect Zach. You have to control the line of scrimmage to win. All the skill players in the world do not matter if you can't protect the QB and get to their QB.

Agreed.

and we a surely missing Spillane!

Beavers/Okafor need to keep improving

Yeah, the speed rush really seems to hurt us. Spillane loss is huge, Cleveland Smith will hurt next year as well. Hopefully the fella from Mizzou can help on the Dline, but we still really need an edge rusher...

Keith Jackson "The big uglies will decide this one..."

The line play, from what I saw last night, was not good enough to beat a good team

NIU is extremely well coached and has the boys in the trenches - which is why they win championships and have played in a BCS bowl vs. Fl State.

Fleck recruits athletes and skill position players. Leaves a lot to be desired in the trenches.

Example:

For the 2016 class we currently have-
9 WR/DB/ATH
4 RBs
Only 2 D-line

upside: 4 OL and 3 TEs (1 of which could easily slide over)

2015 class:
10 WR/DB/ATH (12 including grayshirt)
3 D-line (4 including grayshirt)
3 O-line


Interesting note: NIU's 2014 class had 11+ combined linemen.

(11-19-2015 10:44 AM)backinkazoo Wrote:  Agreed.

and we a surely missing Spillane!

Beavers/Okafor need to keep improving

Beavers has 1 game left. Chucks confuses holding with blocking

speaking of penalties..I had turned the sound down by then ala Bentley and I have heard everything there is to say about a game..but what was up with that grounding penalty, it looked like Terrell ran to his right far enough to be out of the pocket..some bad timing on some key penalties last night.

The biggest disappointment for me last night, other than the final score, was the failure of the O line to protect Terrell. Four sacks?! That's ridiculous! Credit to NIU for successfully putting on the pressure. Our linemen should not have allowed it to be so easy to get to Zack.

NIU's greatest strength is in the trenches. Big reason why they competed and matched up with Ohio State so well IMO.

(11-19-2015 11:19 PM)Hoekjeness Wrote:  NIU's greatest strength is in the trenches. Big reason why they competed and matched up with Ohio State so well IMO.

OSU turned the FB over 5 times including 3 picks that weren't forced. QB Jones was just horrible. OSU averaged about 4.5 yds running the FB and
NIU 2.5 yds. It was 20-10 in the fourth quarter when OSU made a stupid
turnover and NIU ended up with a FG. Game really wasn't that close.

(11-20-2015 05:32 AM)Boca Rocket Wrote:  

(11-19-2015 11:19 PM)Hoekjeness Wrote:  NIU's greatest strength is in the trenches. Big reason why they competed and matched up with Ohio State so well IMO.

OSU turned the FB over 5 times including 3 picks that weren't forced. QB Jones was just horrible. OSU averaged about 4.5 yds running the FB and
NIU 2.5 yds. It was 20-10 in the fourth quarter when OSU made a stupid
turnover and NIU ended up with a FG. Game really wasn't that close.

You don't think any of that had to do with pressure from NIU's defensive front?

And the game was close. NIU led 7-3 after the first quarter and the game was tied 10-10 at halftime.

(11-20-2015 10:18 AM)Hoekjeness Wrote:  

(11-20-2015 05:32 AM)Boca Rocket Wrote:  

(11-19-2015 11:19 PM)Hoekjeness Wrote:  NIU's greatest strength is in the trenches. Big reason why they competed and matched up with Ohio State so well IMO.

OSU turned the FB over 5 times including 3 picks that weren't forced. QB Jones was just horrible. OSU averaged about 4.5 yds running the FB and
NIU 2.5 yds. It was 20-10 in the fourth quarter when OSU made a stupid
turnover and NIU ended up with a FG. Game really wasn't that close.

You don't think any of that had to do with pressure from NIU's defensive front?

And the game was close. NIU led 7-3 after the first quarter and the game was tied 10-10 at halftime.

Exactly, the pressure was there, because our line wasn't up to protecting ZT. He hangs in there, and somehow here the narrative becomes, "he holds the ball too long".

(11-20-2015 10:18 AM)Hoekjeness Wrote:  

(11-20-2015 05:32 AM)Boca Rocket Wrote:  

(11-19-2015 11:19 PM)Hoekjeness Wrote:  NIU's greatest strength is in the trenches. Big reason why they competed and matched up with Ohio State so well IMO.

OSU turned the FB over 5 times including 3 picks that weren't forced. QB Jones was just horrible. OSU averaged about 4.5 yds running the FB and
NIU 2.5 yds. It was 20-10 in the fourth quarter when OSU made a stupid
turnover and NIU ended up with a FG. Game really wasn't that close.

You don't think any of that had to do with pressure from NIU's defensive front?

And the game was close. NIU led 7-3 after the first quarter and the game was tied 10-10 at halftime.

Toledo fans are continually coming up with excuses as to why NIU is no good and continues to get lucky. After 6 straight years of losing, I would think that Toledo just doesn't know how to execute in winning big games. It is beginning to come off as whining.

(11-20-2015 11:48 AM)RedandBlackAttack Wrote:  

(11-20-2015 10:18 AM)Hoekjeness Wrote:  

(11-20-2015 05:32 AM)Boca Rocket Wrote:  

(11-19-2015 11:19 PM)Hoekjeness Wrote:  NIU's greatest strength is in the trenches. Big reason why they competed and matched up with Ohio State so well IMO.

OSU turned the FB over 5 times including 3 picks that weren't forced. QB Jones was just horrible. OSU averaged about 4.5 yds running the FB and
NIU 2.5 yds. It was 20-10 in the fourth quarter when OSU made a stupid
turnover and NIU ended up with a FG. Game really wasn't that close.

You don't think any of that had to do with pressure from NIU's defensive front?

And the game was close. NIU led 7-3 after the first quarter and the game was tied 10-10 at halftime.

Toledo fans are continually coming up with excuses as to why NIU is no good and continues to get lucky. After 6 straight years of losing, I would think that Toledo just doesn't know how to execute in winning big games. It is beginning to come off as whining.

Can't argue when the big game is NIU. Other than that, we've done pretty well this year. By the way, I saw a bunch of whining on the NIU board after the Chips kicked your butts again this year. Just sayin....

After the CMU game the fans were whining about NIU and it's QB who couldn't hang on to the ball. We didn't attack CMU. It seems Toledo never likes to give credit where it is due.