(10-08-2023 10:14 AM)emu steve Wrote:  

(10-08-2023 06:34 AM)emu79 Wrote:  I sense a less interest in football to some degree on this board. The crowd sizes this year have been very good with real people in the stands. I think thats because we were lead to believe we had a dominant team this year and were going to take a huge step forward. Instead we've been treated to a team that struggles at times with every aspect of the game: kicking, passing, catching, tackling, running. I kinda find myself wondering will the light finally turn on.

I think we are seeing more traffic on Twitter/X than here.

There are posters there who have newsletters and a lot more inside information than we have here..

Agree to disagree.

(10-08-2023 07:56 AM)emu79 Wrote:  

(10-08-2023 06:49 AM)Bob Wickersham Wrote:  

(10-08-2023 06:34 AM)emu79 Wrote:  I sense a less interest in football to some degree on this board. The crowd sizes this year have been very good with real people in the stands. I think thats because we were lead to believe we had a dominant team this year and were going to take a huge step forward. Instead we've been treated to a team that struggles at times with every aspect of the game: kicking, passing, catching, tackling, running. I kinda find myself wondering will the light finally turn on.

Kicking? Gomez has NFL range! In fact, the only major weakness I see is the QB. We all agree that CC should have delved into the portal this season for a QB and Smith is best utilized as a change up QB, not a full time signal caller. Other than that, this is a well constructed MAC team.

Last two games Gomez is hitting 50%. Honestly Bob thats atypical of him. You don't make the NFL by making 50% of your FGs.

STFU! He hit a 55 and 53 yarder!!! NFL kickers don't have that kind of success.

(10-08-2023 05:26 PM)Bob Wickersham Wrote:  

(10-08-2023 07:56 AM)emu79 Wrote:  

(10-08-2023 06:49 AM)Bob Wickersham Wrote:  

(10-08-2023 06:34 AM)emu79 Wrote:  I sense a less interest in football to some degree on this board. The crowd sizes this year have been very good with real people in the stands. I think thats because we were lead to believe we had a dominant team this year and were going to take a huge step forward. Instead we've been treated to a team that struggles at times with every aspect of the game: kicking, passing, catching, tackling, running. I kinda find myself wondering will the light finally turn on.

Kicking? Gomez has NFL range! In fact, the only major weakness I see is the QB. We all agree that CC should have delved into the portal this season for a QB and Smith is best utilized as a change up QB, not a full time signal caller. Other than that, this is a well constructed MAC team.

Last two games Gomez is hitting 50%. Honestly Bob thats atypical of him. You don't make the NFL by making 50% of your FGs.

STFU! He hit a 55 and 53 yarder!!! NFL kickers don't have that kind of success.

Bob, I think Gomez is fabulous. That said, '79 makes a good point as usual.

Chad Ryland had GREAT range as well, but early in his career, he made the 50+ yard kicks while missing many under 50 yards when it REALLY counted. In fact, he was the main villain in Creighton's 0-6 overtime record and amazing one score losses at the time.

'79 is righteously pointing out something that needs to be cleaned up NOW.

(10-08-2023 06:52 AM)Luckeyone Wrote:  

(10-08-2023 06:34 AM)emu79 Wrote:  I sense a less interest in football to some degree on this board. The crowd sizes this year have been very good with real people in the stands. I think thats because we were lead to believe we had a dominant team this year and were going to take a huge step forward. Instead we've been treated to a team that struggles at times with every aspect of the game: kicking, passing, catching, tackling, running. I kinda find myself wondering will the light finally turn on.

That’s a great summary’79!

I think Smith is a fine back up QB for the MAC level but I’m not certain he will be good enough to get this team to a championship level even next year. He still takes unnecessary sacks and at times is inaccurate.

I am most disappointed in our DL that I felt would be able to stop the run better than we have shown.


We should be able to beat Kent and Akron but NIU, WMU and Toledo will be huge challenges. Fortunately all three of those teams are not dominant either in my humble opinion.


I believe we took another small step in improvement but not as big as I thought we would take.

A lot of football to be played and in November whoever runs the ball the best may win our division. We are still in it

Based on previous history, Creighton does not lose to weak teams like KSU or Akron, although we usually win by a seemingly unneeded razor thin margin. NIU seems to own Coach. WMU is not that great, and we get them at home, but can we actually beat them FIVE years in a row? Toledo is UT, the MAC gold standard. Buffalo is another school that owns Creighton. It does not look good.

That said, our main weakness is QB and Austin does not make over exuberant mistakes while he does present a low ceiling. This could be fun.

(10-08-2023 06:06 PM)Jerry Weaver Wrote:  

(10-08-2023 05:26 PM)Bob Wickersham Wrote:  

(10-08-2023 07:56 AM)emu79 Wrote:  

(10-08-2023 06:49 AM)Bob Wickersham Wrote:  

(10-08-2023 06:34 AM)emu79 Wrote:  I sense a less interest in football to some degree on this board. The crowd sizes this year have been very good with real people in the stands. I think thats because we were lead to believe we had a dominant team this year and were going to take a huge step forward. Instead we've been treated to a team that struggles at times with every aspect of the game: kicking, passing, catching, tackling, running. I kinda find myself wondering will the light finally turn on.

Kicking? Gomez has NFL range! In fact, the only major weakness I see is the QB. We all agree that CC should have delved into the portal this season for a QB and Smith is best utilized as a change up QB, not a full time signal caller. Other than that, this is a well constructed MAC team.

Last two games Gomez is hitting 50%. Honestly Bob thats atypical of him. You don't make the NFL by making 50% of your FGs.

STFU! He hit a 55 and 53 yarder!!! NFL kickers don't have that kind of success.

Bob, I think Gomez is fabulous. That said, '79 makes a good point as usual.

Chad Ryland had GREAT range as well, but early in his career, he made the 50+ yard kicks while missing many under 50 yards when it REALLY counted. In fact, he was the main villain in Creighton's 0-6 overtime record and amazing one score losses at the time.

'79 is righteously pointing out something that needs to be cleaned up NOW.

Nah. He is 6-8 on FG attempts, 2-3 on 50+ yards, 2-3 on 40-49 yards. I don't expect this from the Lions kicker and oh by the way, he kicks outdoors in less than ideal conditions. The kid is amazing.

(10-08-2023 06:34 AM)emu79 Wrote:  I sense a less interest in football to some degree on this board. The crowd sizes this year have been very good with real people in the stands. I think thats because we were lead to believe we had a dominant team this year and were going to take a huge step forward. Instead we've been treated to a team that struggles at times with every aspect of the game: kicking, passing, catching, tackling, running. I kinda find myself wondering will the light finally turn on.

I think the guys who post on this site tend to be older and more cynical. The young folks don’t even know what “message boards” are.

That said, what you described accurately describes me. I was hoping we would be competitive for Detroit. We still could be, but the opening MAC loss vs. CMU means we have to be perfect from here on out.

(10-08-2023 07:24 PM)holybovine Wrote:  

(10-08-2023 06:34 AM)emu79 Wrote:  I sense a less interest in football to some degree on this board. The crowd sizes this year have been very good with real people in the stands. I think thats because we were lead to believe we had a dominant team this year and were going to take a huge step forward. Instead we've been treated to a team that struggles at times with every aspect of the game: kicking, passing, catching, tackling, running. I kinda find myself wondering will the light finally turn on.

I think the guys who post on this site tend to be older and more cynical. The young folks don’t even know what “message boards” are.

That said, what you described accurately describes me. I was hoping we would be competitive for Detroit. We still could be, but the opening MAC loss vs. CMU means we have to be perfect from here on out.

As one of the younger users here (Gen Z), going onto a message board isn't top of mind for most of my friends. I don't remember how I found this board, but before that, I primarily used Reddit/Twitter.

I too, was expecting big things this year. I expected the division to come down to the Toledo game. My "worst case scenario" was bowl eligibility. That's my expectation at this point. If we can win another bowl game this year, I'd consider it a winning season. If not, oh well. My interest hasn't diminished though. I still plan on going to as many games as I can and trying to be the loudest one in my section.

I understand this is all very easy for me to say not having gone through 30+ years of terrible football and another handful of seasons of what many other schools would consider mediocrity. Under Creighton, I still feel good about the direction of the program. If there's an upside to this year, it's that I don't see him getting poached this offseason.

Regarding this board many of us here are not insiders but this is still a great board for overall of what's going or to discuss EMU sports. That's why I support it. Many blogs like Eagle Totem have tried to transition from a free site to a pay site and failed. By the way I loved Eagle Totem or that's what I remember it being called. Folks like VanZee Alex EMU Sidelines are all great and worthwhile but this board is still the granddaddy of them all and we have EMU Steve to thank for that.

(10-08-2023 07:24 PM)holybovine Wrote:  

(10-08-2023 06:34 AM)emu79 Wrote:  I sense a less interest in football to some degree on this board. The crowd sizes this year have been very good with real people in the stands. I think thats because we were lead to believe we had a dominant team this year and were going to take a huge step forward. Instead we've been treated to a team that struggles at times with every aspect of the game: kicking, passing, catching, tackling, running. I kinda find myself wondering will the light finally turn on.

I think the guys who post on this site tend to be older and more cynical. The young folks don’t even know what “message boards” are.

That said, what you described accurately describes me. I was hoping we would be competitive for Detroit. We still could be, but the opening MAC loss vs. CMU means we have to be perfect from here on out.

Agree. Twitter, for MOST things, is where I learn things first. If someone famous dies Twitter has it before other media can get it up on their websites.

For us, recruiting information tends to break first on Twitter with players tweeting liberally about their offers and pick. And coaches can drop hints without naming names.

Ball St was 2 for 12 third down conversions and 1-4 for fourth down conversions. A big key to why we won the game and how are defense played.

Weird to me that a game we won by 2 scores in which we never trailed is considered an ugly win.

(10-09-2023 05:22 AM)emu79 Wrote:  Regarding this board many of us here are not insiders but this is still a great board for overall of what's going or to discuss EMU sports. That's why I support it. Many blogs like Eagle Totem have tried to transition from a free site to a pay site and failed. By the way I loved Eagle Totem or that's what I remember it being called. Folks like VanZee Alex EMU Sidelines are all great and worthwhile but this board is still the granddaddy of them all and we have EMU Steve to thank for that.

Thanks.

If I would have fathered a child when I joined this forum (Jan. 2004), he would have been in the student section Saturday.

Time flies!!

Thoughts on the game....

- I took a few of my buddies who had not been to an EMU game and they enjoyed the experience.

- We tailgated but arrived at 1pm and the tailgate area was full. We parked further away and still tailgated but without all the other fans. It was still fun. Lesson learned, to tailgate and be in the action....get there early

- I thought the crowd was good and was a little late arriving. The line to get in athe George Gervin Center was not existent but the main entrance with 10 minutes into kickoff was LONG.

- I liked that they had food trucks to take the strain off the limited concession stands. I wish Weatherbee would pay to build another permanent concession stand (Pizza order still was too long)

- I thought our Defense was solid again and Austin seemed to play better.

-It's clear to me that Samson is not 100%. Thank God for Jaylon who is really good.

- We need to find ways to get El Zayat the ball more. He is electric in space.

3-3 so far is ok but not great. In all likelihood I think we go 4-2 to end the season with a 7-5 season. Not horrible and still pretty good. Who knows, maybe we go 5-1 and give ourselves a chance at Detroit.

I spent some time rewatching the game yesterday. All-in-all it was a pretty solid performance. Yes, there were a few mistakes here and there on both sides (all three sides?), but nothing that looked like a drastic fault to me. On the defensive side, the Eagles need to address outside runs. Many of Ball State's big yard runs (and CMU the previous week) went outside around the end and defensive pursuit was late getting there, giving up six to eight yards easily (and sometimes significantly more). Other than that, the defense did quite well, especially the two-man wrecking crew of Sparacio and Kline. And a shout-out to the DB crew who made some good downfield plays to break up some catches.

With the Offense, Smith seemed to be feeling a bit more comfortable hanging in the pocket to make his downfield reads, and was hitting open receivers more often than he had in previous games. He did get "happy feet" a few times and bailed out of the pocket too soon, leading to sacks or the need to throw the ball out of bounds. His speed saved him on a few of those plays, but he can't rely on that. Developing the confidence to hang in there as the pocket starts to shrink is something that requires confidence built on experience. Hopefully, he continues to gain that confidence.

Special Teams played well for the most part. I hope the couple of missed field goals the past two weeks don't hang in Gomez's head.

Overall I think it was a pretty solid game and demonstrated some growth for the team.

(10-09-2023 12:21 PM)cidbearit Wrote:  I spent some time rewatching the game yesterday. All-in-all it was a pretty solid performance. Yes, there were a few mistakes here and there on both sides (all three sides?), but nothing that looked like a drastic fault to me. On the defensive side, the Eagles need to address outside runs. Many of Ball State's big yard runs (and CMU the previous week) went outside around the end and defensive pursuit was late getting there, giving up six to eight yards easily (and sometimes significantly more). Other than that, the defense did quite well, especially the two-man wrecking crew of Sparacio and Kline. And a shout-out to the DB crew who made some good downfield plays to break up some catches.

With the Offense, Smith seemed to be feeling a bit more comfortable hanging in the pocket to make his downfield reads, and was hitting open receivers more often than he had in previous games. He did get "happy feet" a few times and bailed out of the pocket too soon, leading to sacks or the need to throw the ball out of bounds. His speed saved him on a few of those plays, but he can't rely on that. Developing the confidence to hang in there as the pocket starts to shrink is something that requires confidence built on experience. Hopefully, he continues to gain that confidence.

Special Teams played well for the most part. I hope the couple of missed field goals the past two weeks don't hang in Gomez's head.

Overall I think it was a pretty solid game and demonstrated some growth for the team.

Thanks Cid. Yes we are not beating ourselves with turnovers and penalty stuff.

(10-09-2023 12:52 PM)emu79 Wrote:  

(10-09-2023 12:21 PM)cidbearit Wrote:  I spent some time rewatching the game yesterday. All-in-all it was a pretty solid performance. Yes, there were a few mistakes here and there on both sides (all three sides?), but nothing that looked like a drastic fault to me. On the defensive side, the Eagles need to address outside runs. Many of Ball State's big yard runs (and CMU the previous week) went outside around the end and defensive pursuit was late getting there, giving up six to eight yards easily (and sometimes significantly more). Other than that, the defense did quite well, especially the two-man wrecking crew of Sparacio and Kline. And a shout-out to the DB crew who made some good downfield plays to break up some catches.

With the Offense, Smith seemed to be feeling a bit more comfortable hanging in the pocket to make his downfield reads, and was hitting open receivers more often than he had in previous games. He did get "happy feet" a few times and bailed out of the pocket too soon, leading to sacks or the need to throw the ball out of bounds. His speed saved him on a few of those plays, but he can't rely on that. Developing the confidence to hang in there as the pocket starts to shrink is something that requires confidence built on experience. Hopefully, he continues to gain that confidence.

Special Teams played well for the most part. I hope the couple of missed field goals the past two weeks don't hang in Gomez's head.

Overall I think it was a pretty solid game and demonstrated some growth for the team.

Thanks Cid. Yes we are not beating ourselves with turnovers and penalty stuff.

Two excellent points, '79!

(10-09-2023 07:22 AM)dansplaining Wrote:  Weird to me that a game we won by 2 scores in which we never trailed is considered an ugly win.

Not a bad thing. Just means people have really high expectations. Think back pre-Creighton, no one on earth would call a two score EMU victory ugly. The man deserves a statue when it is all said and done.

(10-10-2023 06:43 AM)Bob Wickersham Wrote:  

(10-09-2023 07:22 AM)dansplaining Wrote:  Weird to me that a game we won by 2 scores in which we never trailed is considered an ugly win.

Not a bad thing. Just means people have really high expectations. Think back pre-Creighton, no one on earth would call a two score EMU victory ugly. The man deserves a statue when it is all said and done.

I'm just enjoying the ride.

CC has 49 wins at EMU. Next win ties him for second in EMU history with Fred Trosko.

(10-09-2023 01:07 AM)knagy17 Wrote:  

(10-08-2023 07:24 PM)holybovine Wrote:  

(10-08-2023 06:34 AM)emu79 Wrote:  I sense a less interest in football to some degree on this board. The crowd sizes this year have been very good with real people in the stands. I think thats because we were lead to believe we had a dominant team this year and were going to take a huge step forward. Instead we've been treated to a team that struggles at times with every aspect of the game: kicking, passing, catching, tackling, running. I kinda find myself wondering will the light finally turn on.

I think the guys who post on this site tend to be older and more cynical. The young folks don’t even know what “message boards” are.

That said, what you described accurately describes me. I was hoping we would be competitive for Detroit. We still could be, but the opening MAC loss vs. CMU means we have to be perfect from here on out.

As one of the younger users here (Gen Z), going onto a message board isn't top of mind for most of my friends. I don't remember how I found this board, but before that, I primarily used Reddit/Twitter.

I too, was expecting big things this year. I expected the division to come down to the Toledo game. My "worst case scenario" was bowl eligibility. That's my expectation at this point. If we can win another bowl game this year, I'd consider it a winning season. If not, oh well. My interest hasn't diminished though. I still plan on going to as many games as I can and trying to be the loudest one in my section.

I understand this is all very easy for me to say not having gone through 30+ years of terrible football and another handful of seasons of what many other schools would consider mediocrity. Under Creighton, I still feel good about the direction of the program. If there's an upside to this year, it's that I don't see him getting poached this offseason.

Knagy, Creighton is not going anywhere. He has never been a "hot" coordinator like Sean Lewis who is now at Colorado or Chuck Martin from Notre Dame the head coach at Miami. He is a Head Coach and his W-L record ain't gonna wow the boosters from any of the more affluent schools. Remember when the Tennessee AD decided to hire Greg Schiano? Boosters rule, plain and simple.

The world has changed. Nobody is going to hire a MAC coach like Ron Cooper with a less than .500 record despite the difficulty of achieving such. You are either PJ Fleck with an undefeated reg season record or Lance Leipold with a positive, but less than impressive W-L record willing to take a last-minute job at P5 conference doormat like Kansas. Urban Meyer and Nick Saban are not taking MAC Head coach jobs anymore.