Reviewing the box score on ESPN.com, this was the most intriguing statistic. We held Miami to just 2 of 12 on 3rd down. I understand Miami is not the offensive powerhouse they've been in years past under Big Ben, but 2 of 12 is great for our Huskies.
<a href='http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=252782459&confId=null' target='_blank'>http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gam...459&confId=null</a>
What does this mean to you people? Have the Huskies turned the corner, or is Miami just not that good?
Switching to offense, Horvath was 19 of 22 passing. This guy is for real. His accuracy is impressive. He is blessed to have some great people to throw to. I must admit I was a little concerned when he threw the 1st quarter interception. The ball was poorly thrown and really sailed on him. Other than that, Horvath was nearly perfect.
What can we say about Sam Hurd? 7 catches for 223 yards. The kid had a career day. His yards after the run were brilliant.
It means if we stop the other team on 3rd down, our chance of winning increases by about 75% because it gets our offense back on the field to do some damage. With the situation we're in (Great offense, sub-par defense), our offense is going to have to sustain drives and keep Time of Possesion in our favor.
I thought the most impressive stat was holding Miami to 4.2 yards per pass play. That's incredible. I was talking to Card's parents (#1 Miami DB) and they were disappointed by Miami's conservative play on offense. I thought we did a good job of keeping everything in front of us. I don't really remember Miami taking many shots deep, if any at all.
Quote: Have the Huskies turned the corner, or is Miami just not that good?
There's the rub. Depending on how Miami does in upcomming games, this latest victory over them, may not look as big as it does now. But, it's still a win.
As I looked over the box score it was that 2-12 on 3rd downs for Miami that stuck out. I think that is the key stat in this game. Ealier I said our defense will improve but never be decent this year. I'd have to say they were "decent" in this game. Dare we hope for "good?"
The other key to winning Wednesday's game was two clutch 3rd down conversion for the Huskies on their last scoring drive, and Wolfe almost added a third one right before the FG.
The D looked better - however they still gave up 27 points.
Miami's QB looked brutal - he was throwing them up. He looked like Scott Crabtree out there!
NIU27 Wrote:Miami's QB looked brutal - he was throwing them up.
It looked like that was due to good coverage. He hurried a number of passes despite the lack of a good pass rush by NIU. We covered so well, apparently, that finally the DL was able to get to the QB and force bad passes.
NIU27 Wrote:The D looked better - however they still gave up 27 points.
Miami's QB looked brutal - he was throwing them up. He looked like Scott Crabtree out there!
27 points... True. However, 10 of those points were a real gift from stupid turnovers. IMO, our D really only gave up 17 points, not 27.
Hats off to them for holding to just a fieldgoal after the kickoff fumble. That TO was bush league.
Kedzman Wrote:NIU27 Wrote:The D looked better - however they still gave up 27 points.
Miami's QB looked brutal - he was throwing them up. He looked like Scott Crabtree out there!
27 points... True. However, 10 of those points were a real gift from stupid turnovers. IMO, our D really only gave up 17 points, not 27.
Hats off to them for holding to just a fieldgoal after the kickoff fumble. That TO was bush league.
I agree there.
And then couple the fact that the punt team kinda duffed one that let up more points...The D itself did not play poorly. When we have a D like we do we need everyone to help pick them up, the O with less turnovers, and the punt team to kick and cover well.
I'm encouraged by the fact that we played 6 (2 redshirt and 4 true) freshmen (2 redhsirt and 4 true) a lot on defense last night - English @ DE, McCarthy, Brown & Allen at LB, and Pruitt and Rice at CB.
Anyone know if TJ Griffen is hurt? Sorry if it was posted by someone prior to the game.
Field Turf Wrote:Anyone know if TJ Griffen is hurt? Sorry if it was posted by someone prior to the game.
He was in uniform and running through pregame warm ups with the linebackers.
OK next question, anyone know why he didn't play?
Field Turf Wrote:I'm encouraged by the fact that we played 6 (2 redshirt and 4 true) freshmen (2 redhsirt and 4 true) a lot on defense last night - English @ DE, McCarthy, Brown & Allen at LB, and Pruitt and Rice at CB.
Anyone know if TJ Griffen is hurt? Sorry if it was posted by someone prior to the game.
Here was my response on the MAC board to RF and some other
folk wondering how Akron beat us:
Quote:The simple explanation is that our defense was terrible. The coaches
got fed up and put in a bunch of talented Freshman and RSs last
night and they responded pretty well. We're hoping that they'll be
good enough for us to win against EMU, KSU, and BSU and improve
enough to be ready for CMU, UT and finally WMU. The Miami win leaves
us in control of our own destiny.
We feel much better now.
Field Turf Wrote:I'm encouraged by the fact that we played 6 (2 redshirt and 4 true) freshmen (2 redhsirt and 4 true) a lot on defense last night - English @ DE, McCarthy, Brown & Allen at LB, and Pruitt and Rice at CB.
Anyone know if TJ Griffen is hurt? Sorry if it was posted by someone prior to the game.
Miami had drives of 80, 65, & 53 yards, and every other one was less than 35 yards. They had three 3 and outs and two 4 and punts. The D certainly played better, and as FT points out, it was very young much of the night.
Allen and Brown started but did not play much after the first couple of series. I saw each asking for their assignments from other defenders a couple of times, and I'm willing to bet that is why they didn't get back in the game (Brown did get a series in the second half, but Allen did not). Rice and Pruitt got some time at CB, but the Hansbros still had most of the time. But all the shuffling certainly appears to have gotten everyone's attention, and it appears that we may have found our main LB corps in Hutton and Blalark @ OLB and McCarthy in the middle.
We played a lot of LBs, 4 CBs, 3 FSs, but narrowed down the DL rotations - Holman and Wilson played most of the game, with Holycross and Pittman getting just a little time. English and West were nearly exclusively the DEs, with Rusch (another RS Fr) coming in for English for part of one drive.
sarasotahuskie Wrote:Field Turf Wrote:I'm encouraged by the fact that we played 6 (2 redshirt and 4 true) freshmen (2 redhsirt and 4 true) a lot on defense last night - English @ DE, McCarthy, Brown & Allen at LB, and Pruitt and Rice at CB.
Anyone know if TJ Griffen is hurt? Sorry if it was posted by someone prior to the game.
Here was my response on the MAC board to RF and some other
folk wondering how Akron beat us:
Quote:The simple explanation is that our defense was terrible. The coaches
got fed up and put in a bunch of talented Freshman and RSs last
night and they responded pretty well. We're hoping that they'll be
good enough for us to win against EMU, KSU, and BSU and improve
enough to be ready for CMU, UT and finally WMU. The Miami win leaves
us in control of our own destiny.
We feel much better now.
My take on the Akron loss was they had three very fluky touchdowns on plays where their QB eluded pressure which allowed enough time for the WR's to slip away from coverage and catch long balls that went for TD's. Our poor tackling didn't help matters either, but I see that as correctable, as we saw last night.
Hey Field Turf... where were you Wednesday night? You buddy (who I met at the Michigan game) tailgated with us but I did not see you.