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Looks like good ol' Huskie Stadium is maybe 1/3 full for an ACC opponent?

Awesome.

Nonetheless... Go Huskies!

Both teams trade 3-and-outs on their 1st drives.

NIU converts a midfield interception into a field goal. 3-0 Huskies midway through the 1st.

It's amazing how bad BC's offense is considering how good their defense is. Much like Kent State. Except BC has a legit top 10 defense.

Of course as soon as I say that...Graham fires off a 60-yard run

Quick strike by NIU and they're up 10-3. Starting to click now.

It's been that way at BC for close to a decade now, Colin. I truly don't understand why it is that they can only recruit and develop as well as they do on only one side of the ball.

10-3 NIU now.

NIU looks fabulous defensively, especially the front seven. This Kyle Pugh (sp?) kid is a beast.

20-10 BC now. Really starting to use their size advantage in the trenches.

Turning out to be a good game. Can NIU come back following a BC go ahead FG drive with 2:13 to go?

Neither of these teams are very good.

NIU kicker missed the tying FG from 39 out. 4th & 8 conversion in their own end and a good drive to get in range. BC survives 23-20

Rod Carey snatches defeat from the jaws of victory once again.

My thoughts below. Post #360

http://csnbbs.com/thread-825848-page-36.html

They played WAY too conservative.

They came back.

Lost the lead.

2m left, Heroic comeback. In Red-Zone, played conservative THEN, to tie to go to OT........


..... and then I saw the parted hair by that red-haired kid. UGGGGH. LACES OUT A-HOLE! I'm so mad.

On the NIU board this morning, and this is what worries me a bit. Yes, the QB is not the best, in fact some of his passes were intended for the invisible man apparently, but I think winning has them spoiled. They lost by 3, but for the most part looked well coached, played hard, and yet the sky is falling over there. The standards they set during the run now have to be met or it is total failure. My concern is that the WMU casuals will expect the same if the team starts having "pretty good" results.

(09-02-2017 07:20 AM)uclabruin Wrote:  On the NIU board this morning, and this is what worries me a bit. Yes, the QB is not the best, in fact some of his passes were intended for the invisible man apparently, but I think winning has them spoiled. They lost by 3, but for the most part looked well coached, played hard, and yet the sky is falling over there. The standards they set during the run now have to be met or it is total failure. My concern is that the WMU casuals will expect the same if the team starts having "pretty good" results.

We have no QB, that's the issue. All of us wanted somebody else, Santa, or Childers, or Thompson to get the QB job. Graham is a junior and he is still that inaccurate? I agree that the rest of the team looked pretty decent - then again, BC's offense is no great shakes to say the least. Half the MAC QBs are better than theirs. Also, last year we lost to Western Illinois with Graham at QB. We're all thinking we could lose to Eastern Illinois too next week if he plays.

Also the crowd was very disappointing, although people with young kids wouldn't go because the game was going to last until midnight, at best.

The crowd is about as loud after most of the people leave as it is at the beginning of the game, because the diehards are the ones making the noise throughout the game, and the sucky fans that leave early don't cheer much anyway. The student side thinned out embarrassingly after halftime as usual.

Frustrating...but you would think the coaching staff is basing it on what is going on in practice. Frankly, going in to today's game, it is very nerve racking knowing that the QB, albeit a good PROSPECT, has never taken a college game snap.

(09-02-2017 07:20 AM)uclabruin Wrote:  On the NIU board this morning, and this is what worries me a bit. Yes, the QB is not the best, in fact some of his passes were intended for the invisible man apparently, but I think winning has them spoiled. They lost by 3, but for the most part looked well coached, played hard, and yet the sky is falling over there. The standards they set during the run now have to be met or it is total failure. My concern is that the WMU casuals will expect the same if the team starts having "pretty good" results.

Couldn't disagree with you more about the well-coached part. The 4th quarter play calling was absolutely horrendous, capped off by a JET SWEEP of all things on 4th and 1 from the BC 39 with the game tied.

I think the subsequent clock management on the final NIU drive speaks for itself. How on earth do you lose a game by 3 points, possessing the ball, with an unused time out??? That just can't happen at any level.

Carey is right up there with Bono. The NIU kids kept it close in spite of their coaches' best efforts to turn it into a BC rout.

(09-02-2017 01:17 PM)ejd_5277 Wrote:  

(09-02-2017 07:20 AM)uclabruin Wrote:  On the NIU board this morning, and this is what worries me a bit. Yes, the QB is not the best, in fact some of his passes were intended for the invisible man apparently, but I think winning has them spoiled. They lost by 3, but for the most part looked well coached, played hard, and yet the sky is falling over there. The standards they set during the run now have to be met or it is total failure. My concern is that the WMU casuals will expect the same if the team starts having "pretty good" results.

Couldn't disagree with you more about the well-coached part. The 4th quarter play calling was absolutely horrendous, capped off by a JET SWEEP of all things on 4th and 1 from the BC 39 with the game tied.

I think the subsequent clock management on the final NIU drive speaks for itself. How on earth do you lose a game by 3 points, possessing the ball, with an unused time out??? That just can't happen at any level.

Carey is right up there with Bono. The NIU kids kept it close in spite of their coaches' best efforts to turn it into a BC rout.

That, and not having a QB that can hit wide open guys even half the time. There were some good play calls but when they get close to FG range the coaches seem to freak out and the play calling goes haywire. Instead of trying to get the first down they throw deep for the TD with a QB that spent the entire game proving he couldn't throw deep accurately. I think the coach cost us 3 points (at minimum) at least twice. And those are just the obvious situations.

(09-02-2017 11:32 AM)uclabruin Wrote:  Frustrating...but you would think the coaching staff is basing it on what is going on in practice. Frankly, going in to today's game, it is very nerve racking knowing that the QB, albeit a good PROSPECT, has never taken a college game snap.

Santacaterina played in a couple games last year. He didn't throw great but not really worse than Graham or only slightly, and he was the #3 QB. And he's definitely a better runner than Graham. And I think that gives the team a lift. It's pretty sad if Graham is the best we got. I would like to see 2 QBs play against Eastern Illinois.

Also, in practice the QB isn't getting hit so you don't really know how the QB will react in an actual game, plus running doesn't come into play either, so you don't see that Santacaterina is a better runner. I'm not really convinced yet that Graham is the best we have. Especially since Maddie was behind Graham last year on the depth chart and ended up being better.