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Does anybody know if NIU was playing their real starters on D? If so, they might (shockingly) have a worse defense than us. They looked slow

(11-24-2021 10:17 AM)StrikeGold1 Wrote:  Does anybody know if NIU was playing their real starters on D? If so, they might (shockingly) have a worse defense than us. They looked slow

I'm not sure who sat out, and we did lose a couple players during the game.

Even outside of that - we do have a worse defense than you. We can't stop the run or the pass, and we get little pressure on the QB. Any competent QB will pick us apart because he has all day to throw, and our DBs (most of them) don't look back for the ball. We have a very young defense so that's part of it. But I'm not all convinced that we have the talent even, on defense. Big question mark.

(11-24-2021 10:30 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(11-24-2021 10:17 AM)StrikeGold1 Wrote:  Does anybody know if NIU was playing their real starters on D? If so, they might (shockingly) have a worse defense than us. They looked slow

I'm not sure who sat out, and we did lose a couple players during the game.

Even outside of that - we do have a worse defense than you. We can't stop the run or the pass, and we get little pressure on the QB. Any competent QB will pick us apart because he has all day to throw, and our DBs (most of them) don't look back for the ball. We have a very young defense so that's part of it. But I'm not all convinced that we have the talent even, on defense. Big question mark.

Interesting. NIU will likely hit the transfer market for a QB again, you think? Hampton really struggled

(11-24-2021 10:42 AM)StrikeGold1 Wrote:  

(11-24-2021 10:30 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(11-24-2021 10:17 AM)StrikeGold1 Wrote:  Does anybody know if NIU was playing their real starters on D? If so, they might (shockingly) have a worse defense than us. They looked slow

I'm not sure who sat out, and we did lose a couple players during the game.

Even outside of that - we do have a worse defense than you. We can't stop the run or the pass, and we get little pressure on the QB. Any competent QB will pick us apart because he has all day to throw, and our DBs (most of them) don't look back for the ball. We have a very young defense so that's part of it. But I'm not all convinced that we have the talent even, on defense. Big question mark.

Interesting. NIU will likely hit the transfer market for a QB again, you think? Hampton really struggled

We better. One issue is the WRs. Our best WR, Ritchie, has been out. Cole Tucker didn't play either. That leaves Trayvon Rudolph as our only good WR playing, so WMU only had to cover him. I think that is why Hammock didn't have him throw much, and of course Hampton is a true freshman QB. Our WR depth is zero outside of those guys from what I can see.

That said, we didn't see Fletcher, a dual-option QB, even in this meaningless game. So if Hampton is the best we have as a backup, we have to find someone else, at least for now.

(11-24-2021 10:17 AM)StrikeGold1 Wrote:  Does anybody know if NIU was playing their real starters on D? If so, they might (shockingly) have a worse defense than us. They looked slow

Our defense is bad and has been bad most of the season. Its a defense dominated by freshmen (all four DL are freshmen, and most of our secondary). We only have one senior on our defense and he was injured during the game and didn't return. We don't generate any turnovers. The last two turnovers we've gained were mistakes by the opposition and unforced (see Buffalo QB fumbling the ball and WMU kick returner dropping the ball).

We are competitive when we mix up the play calling and keep our defense off the field. For whatever reason our coaching staff decided to be ultra conservative and only call four passes in 3 qtrs leaving our offense generic and easy to defend. Two unforced turnovers also led to our defense being on the field more than we like. I'd like to think we could hit up the transfer portal to get some much needed experience and help on defense but we only have seven seniors and thus not many scholarships available to offer.

Really interesting stuff. We don't talk to our MAC friendly foes enough on these boards. We like to fight amongst ourselves, lol.

(11-24-2021 12:05 PM)StrikeGold1 Wrote:  Really interesting stuff. We don't talk to our MAC friendly foes enough on these boards. We like to fight amongst ourselves, lol.

I enjoy talking with other MAC fans and getting discussion going on the main MAC board. I root for all our teams to be successful in OOC and postseason play. I try to watch the midweek MAC games to see our fellow conference mates but when they schedule all the games to start at nearly identical times it can be cumbersom trying to flip between ESPN2, ESPNU, CBS Sports, and ESPN+.

(11-24-2021 12:46 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(11-24-2021 12:05 PM)StrikeGold1 Wrote:  Really interesting stuff. We don't talk to our MAC friendly foes enough on these boards. We like to fight amongst ourselves, lol.

I enjoy talking with other MAC fans and getting discussion going on the main MAC board. I root for all our teams to be successful in OOC and postseason play. I try to watch the midweek MAC games to see our fellow conference mates but when they schedule all the games to start at nearly identical times it can be cumbersom trying to flip between ESPN2, ESPNU, CBS Sports, and ESPN+.

Same. I even root for CMU when they're not playing us. The MAC teams need all the support they can get.

(11-24-2021 12:05 PM)StrikeGold1 Wrote:  Really interesting stuff. We don't talk to our MAC friendly foes enough on these boards. We like to fight amongst ourselves, lol.

Yea I like discussing with fans from other MAC teams. Except for the occasional knucklehead. Speaking of which, what's with Bronco14 giving me negative rep points for basically no reason at all?

(11-25-2021 11:26 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(11-24-2021 12:05 PM)StrikeGold1 Wrote:  Really interesting stuff. We don't talk to our MAC friendly foes enough on these boards. We like to fight amongst ourselves, lol.

Yea I like discussing with fans from other MAC teams. Except for the occasional knucklehead. Speaking of which, what's with Bronco14 giving me negative rep points for basically no reason at all?

He does that to everyone and he's about to catch a warning for reputation abuse.