Happy to report I made it back alive and even managed to make it work this morning.

First of all, I have no idea why the hell UNLV started that game so early. If you've never been to UNLV, that stadium is in the middle of the damn desert. It's literally a football stadium in the desert. I'm not sure I've ever felt heat quite like that before. I can only imagine that's what it feels like to be in an oven...lol. Once the game got going and the sun started going down it wasn't bad, and the temperatures are actually pleasant at night, but for them to play anything but night games in September seems dumb.

97 plays, 616 yards.
331 rushing yards
15-19 on third down (holy wow).

Needless to say, across the board had a good day on offense. Hare cannot overthrow those two deep balls he missed. He had two guys wide open and overthrew them both. If you're going to miss, miss short and give them a chance to make a play on the ball. That was frustrating at the time, but even have to catch myself and realize he was a sophomore making his first career start, on the road. 18-28, 285 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, 74 and a TD on the ground. Yeah, you can't complain about that at all really anytime, but especially considering the circumstances. The most impressive part of his game has been his decision making. He's played in two really high pressure games the last two weeks, with pretty much zero playing expierence and not only has he not thrown a pick, I can't even remember a pass where I thought he probably shouldn't have thrown that. I thought he looked much more decisive this week than the first two games, and I continue to be impressed/surprised by his running ability. He's been really smart with when to slide and protecting himself as well. Like I said, he was a little inaccurate on the deep ball, but I would bet that'll improve (as will everything, really) with playing time. 62% completion, 6 TDs, 0 INT, and another 156 and 2 TDs on the ground. He hasn't been Lynch, but through 3 games he's been pretty damn efficent.

I know HuskieWire and Hustlebelt made a big deal out of it so I'm sure some of the idiots on here did too, but I didn't have a problem with using Maddie for a series. If I remember correctly, I think he literally handed the ball off every play. If somehow switching QBs to hand off the ball every play changes something in the game, well good luck selling me on that one. NIU ran for 331 yards and had a 28-12 lead at the time, so putting in your running QB at a point in the second half to run the ball isn't exactly some shocking move. To try to connect the dots and say that's why the game shifted, when they went on a FG drive and then the defense got a 3 and out before Santa "roughed" (riiiight) the punter is just grabbing things out of mid air and trying to make it mean something.

So why did the game shift, exactly? Well, I think it was a combination of things. First of all, whenever you think you're off the field and rough the punter, it's natural to have a bit of a letdown. Combine that with the score (31-12 at the time), and then a young secondary and when things started going bad it's hard to stop. I wouldn't hit the panic button on the seconary yet, because that's a really young group, but you can't point the finger at one guy because Logan, Brooks, Smalls, Olootu were all playing and they were all taking turns at getting roasted. Give Paris credit though, because him and Marlon made the play of the game. It was probably a ball that should have never been thrown because Paris never even had to flip his hips. That play happened right in front of us and Logan was looking at the QB and saw the ball coming the entire way. Great play by both him and Marlon. NIU has been a lot less vanilla with their coverages this year. If you remmeber last year, it was pretty much all soft zones because I don't think they had any faith whatsoever in their DBs. They have been less basic this year because I think they like the talent of the young guys. It'll be interesting if one bad game changes that. That's not going to be the last time a group that young struggles.

The DL play wasn't as great as it was in Evanston, but I didn't think it was terrible. 3 sacks and 5 TFL for the group. The pressue probably wasn't as consistent as you'd like, but I didn't think they played poorly as a whole. Ford is just an athletic freak. Watching him from the front row you realize just how gifted he is, especially his first step off the ball. He also gets held like every play.

It was funny, there was a UNLV fan sitting next to us marveling at how simple and predictable NIU's offense is, and I know Cawoo and myself have talked about this a few times, but he's absolutely right. It is, and it just goes to show you that you don't need to have playcalls the size of bible verses (Jon Gruden) to have a succesful offense. One of the best examples of why the offense is so tough to stop was on one of Da'Rons catches on the sideline in the 4th. NIU was running the ball down UNLV's throat all game, so naturally Vegas had to load up the box. NIU called a designed run but UNLV had man coverage on Brown. Anybody who watched the Gruden's QB camp with Lynch will now what it means when Hare/whoever is playing QB taps his hip. NIU had a built in go route, Hare let Cam know he was going to throw it, the o-line blocked like a run play (and honestly probably should have been called for a man downfield) and Hare threw it up there and let Brown make a play. Cam actually had a really nice blitz pickup on the play too. NIU goes fast, run blocks extremely well, and they know how to get numbers in there favor. It's simple but a good simple, and very difficult to stop.

Which leads me to my next point, I think it's time for the people questing Carey to go away. They lost a Heisman finalist and a first round draft pick, and pretty much haven't skipped a beat. It's not a team full of first round draft picks. It's a team with great schemes who works hard and out executes people. I don't care if he's not Fleck in press conferences, he clearly knows how to coach.

They changed some things on special teams this week. Orne was handling kickoffs (and did a pretty nice job) to I assume let Wedel's leg rest a little and let him focus more on kickoffs/punts, and Beebe was the holder this week after that dropped snap by Orne last week. It was great to see Wedel hit both of his field goals and all his XPs.

Don't think Akeem's injury was too serious but also not sure how much I would rely on him to stay healthy throughout the season. For those who wanted Harris and/or Smith redshirted, Harris was a huge part of the offense and Draco was/is one injury away from having to play a lot as well. Harris needs to run more north and south.

Hopefully Tommy's injury isn't serious, but honestly I have all the faith in the world in Beebe. Kid is going to be a player. With him, Saffold, and Turner there's plenty of options to fill in for him.

How much fun must it have been for UNLV to try to tackle Cam in the 4th quarter of that game? Damn good to have him back.

Da'Ron Brown is always open.

The Akransas game should be interesting. I'm very interested to see if our o-line can push around their D line a little bit. I think this one may come down to Hare having to make plays with his arm, though.

(09-15-2014 10:08 AM)7 Wrote:  Needless to say, across the board had a good day on offense. Hare cannot overthrow those two deep balls he missed. He had two guys wide open and overthrew them both. If you're going to miss, miss short and give them a chance to make a play on the ball. That was frustrating at the time, but even have to catch myself and realize he was a sophomore making his first career start, on the road. 18-28, 285 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, 74 and a TD on the ground. Yeah, you can't complain about that at all really anytime, but especially considering the circumstances. The most impressive part of his game has been his decision making. He's played in two really high pressure games the last two weeks, with pretty much zero playing expierence and not only has he not thrown a pick, I can't even remember a pass where I thought he probably shouldn't have thrown that. I thought he looked much more decisive this week than the first two games, and I continue to be impressed/surprised by his running ability. He's been really smart with when to slide and protecting himself as well. Like I said, he was a little inaccurate on the deep ball, but I would bet that'll improve (as will everything, really) with playing time. 62% completion, 6 TDs, 0 INT, and another 156 and 2 TDs on the ground. He hasn't been Lynch, but through 3 games he's been pretty damn efficent.

agreed, i dont want to get ahead of myself, but i really do think Hare could be the next great QB we have here. Hes only going to get better and already has incredible poise and leadership for a young guy. Thats usually the last thing to come for a young QB. I also think hes going to get a little bigger and fill out more. He will be fine throwing the ball and I think his running game will continue to progress. Im much more excited about Hare than I was 3 weeks ago.

Also, totally agree about Beebe. That kid is going to end up being special for us. He just looks like PJ out there already, not only the way he plays but legitimately kinda looks like him haha

Ezra is looking good too... Amazing young talent.

(09-15-2014 10:37 AM)NIU32 Wrote:  

(09-15-2014 10:08 AM)7 Wrote:  Needless to say, across the board had a good day on offense. Hare cannot overthrow those two deep balls he missed. He had two guys wide open and overthrew them both. If you're going to miss, miss short and give them a chance to make a play on the ball. That was frustrating at the time, but even have to catch myself and realize he was a sophomore making his first career start, on the road. 18-28, 285 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, 74 and a TD on the ground. Yeah, you can't complain about that at all really anytime, but especially considering the circumstances. The most impressive part of his game has been his decision making. He's played in two really high pressure games the last two weeks, with pretty much zero playing expierence and not only has he not thrown a pick, I can't even remember a pass where I thought he probably shouldn't have thrown that. I thought he looked much more decisive this week than the first two games, and I continue to be impressed/surprised by his running ability. He's been really smart with when to slide and protecting himself as well. Like I said, he was a little inaccurate on the deep ball, but I would bet that'll improve (as will everything, really) with playing time. 62% completion, 6 TDs, 0 INT, and another 156 and 2 TDs on the ground. He hasn't been Lynch, but through 3 games he's been pretty damn efficent.

agreed, i dont want to get ahead of myself, but i really do think Hare could be the next great QB we have here. Hes only going to get better and already has incredible poise and leadership for a young guy. Thats usually the last thing to come for a young QB. I also think hes going to get a little bigger and fill out more. He will be fine throwing the ball and I think his running game will continue to progress. Im much more excited about Hare than I was 3 weeks ago.

Also, totally agree about Beebe. That kid is going to end up being special for us. He just looks like PJ out there already, not only the way he plays but legitimately kinda looks like him haha

And you know what that means for the ladies in Dekalb:



Just imagine the guys in Kalamazoo: We found your coach for the 2024 season!

(09-15-2014 10:55 AM)cawoo22 Wrote:  

(09-15-2014 10:37 AM)NIU32 Wrote:  

(09-15-2014 10:08 AM)7 Wrote:  Needless to say, across the board had a good day on offense. Hare cannot overthrow those two deep balls he missed. He had two guys wide open and overthrew them both. If you're going to miss, miss short and give them a chance to make a play on the ball. That was frustrating at the time, but even have to catch myself and realize he was a sophomore making his first career start, on the road. 18-28, 285 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, 74 and a TD on the ground. Yeah, you can't complain about that at all really anytime, but especially considering the circumstances. The most impressive part of his game has been his decision making. He's played in two really high pressure games the last two weeks, with pretty much zero playing expierence and not only has he not thrown a pick, I can't even remember a pass where I thought he probably shouldn't have thrown that. I thought he looked much more decisive this week than the first two games, and I continue to be impressed/surprised by his running ability. He's been really smart with when to slide and protecting himself as well. Like I said, he was a little inaccurate on the deep ball, but I would bet that'll improve (as will everything, really) with playing time. 62% completion, 6 TDs, 0 INT, and another 156 and 2 TDs on the ground. He hasn't been Lynch, but through 3 games he's been pretty damn efficent.

agreed, i dont want to get ahead of myself, but i really do think Hare could be the next great QB we have here. Hes only going to get better and already has incredible poise and leadership for a young guy. Thats usually the last thing to come for a young QB. I also think hes going to get a little bigger and fill out more. He will be fine throwing the ball and I think his running game will continue to progress. Im much more excited about Hare than I was 3 weeks ago.

Also, totally agree about Beebe. That kid is going to end up being special for us. He just looks like PJ out there already, not only the way he plays but legitimately kinda looks like him haha

And you know what that means for the ladies in Dekalb:



Just imagine the guys in Kalamazoo: We found your coach for the 2024 season!

What about comparison to Dan Sheldon? Small and FAST! While he may not physically look like him, I personally was mistaken for Dan Sheldon by multiple Sig Kaps and Sigmas my freshman year, so ya...had that going I guess

(09-15-2014 11:04 AM)NIU8484 Wrote:  

(09-15-2014 10:55 AM)cawoo22 Wrote:  

(09-15-2014 10:37 AM)NIU32 Wrote:  

(09-15-2014 10:08 AM)7 Wrote:  Needless to say, across the board had a good day on offense. Hare cannot overthrow those two deep balls he missed. He had two guys wide open and overthrew them both. If you're going to miss, miss short and give them a chance to make a play on the ball. That was frustrating at the time, but even have to catch myself and realize he was a sophomore making his first career start, on the road. 18-28, 285 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, 74 and a TD on the ground. Yeah, you can't complain about that at all really anytime, but especially considering the circumstances. The most impressive part of his game has been his decision making. He's played in two really high pressure games the last two weeks, with pretty much zero playing expierence and not only has he not thrown a pick, I can't even remember a pass where I thought he probably shouldn't have thrown that. I thought he looked much more decisive this week than the first two games, and I continue to be impressed/surprised by his running ability. He's been really smart with when to slide and protecting himself as well. Like I said, he was a little inaccurate on the deep ball, but I would bet that'll improve (as will everything, really) with playing time. 62% completion, 6 TDs, 0 INT, and another 156 and 2 TDs on the ground. He hasn't been Lynch, but through 3 games he's been pretty damn efficent.

agreed, i dont want to get ahead of myself, but i really do think Hare could be the next great QB we have here. Hes only going to get better and already has incredible poise and leadership for a young guy. Thats usually the last thing to come for a young QB. I also think hes going to get a little bigger and fill out more. He will be fine throwing the ball and I think his running game will continue to progress. Im much more excited about Hare than I was 3 weeks ago.

Also, totally agree about Beebe. That kid is going to end up being special for us. He just looks like PJ out there already, not only the way he plays but legitimately kinda looks like him haha

And you know what that means for the ladies in Dekalb:



Just imagine the guys in Kalamazoo: We found your coach for the 2024 season!

What about comparison to Dan Sheldon? Small and FAST! While he may not physically look like him, I personally was mistaken for Dan Sheldon by multiple Sig Kaps and Sigmas my freshman year, so ya...had that going I guess

I assume you moved on that s&*t.

When I was watching the game, I made the same comment about Beebe. Really reminded me of PJ.

According to the Tribune, UNLV set the game at 4:00 p.m. to get back at NIU for not agreeing to move the game to Friday night for TV. Of course, the Trib failed to mention that UNLV's request came too late as several fans had travel plans locked up already.

Must also compliment all the NIU fans that made the trip and that were loud in the stands!!!!

Beebe is going to be special. He is so amazingly quick and shifty out there. On that early bubble pass he just took that and exploded out of a cannon.

Good call on Carey. My only complaint ever about Carey was his before halftime timeout call against Ball State last year, lol. It is truly amazing to be in the position they are. He has assembled a great staff. The kids believe and play and work extremely hard.

(09-15-2014 11:18 AM)Dog Fan Wrote:  When I was watching the game, I made the same comment about Beebe. Really reminded me of PJ.

According to the Tribune, UNLV set the game at 4:00 p.m. to get back at NIU for not agreeing to move the game to Friday night for TV. Of course, the Trib failed to mention that UNLV's request came too late as several fans had travel plans locked up already.

I sure hope that's not really true (not doubting what you read). If so, that's a really donkey-dick, *sshole move by their AD. That game was played in potentially dangerous conditions to make a point to NIU Athletics. And to say that the conditions were the same for both teams, well, no, they really weren't. The visitors' sideline was in the sun while the home side was shaded, am I right about that?

Chump move, if true.

(09-15-2014 11:40 AM)cawoo22 Wrote:  The visitors' sideline was in the sun while the home side was shaded, am I right about that?

Yeah. On the video coverage the sideline reporter did the "on field temperature" bit. If I remember correctly she mentioned that it was about 115 degrees on the NIU sideline and only about 100 on the UNLV sideline.

I really doubt anybody was trying to stick it to NIU, I think it all revolved around the Mayweather fight. UNLV wanted to switch it to Friday to avoid going head to head with it, then when NIU wouldn't let him they started it at 4 to try to avoid it. That was kind of flawed because I didn't get back to the strip until the Floyd fight was 7 rounds in. 4 was probably as realistically early as they could have started it, though. I can't imagine that game being played all afternoon. I also have no idea why they built the damn stadium so far away from the strip. It's like a half hour ride. Their campus and basketball arena is right off the strip, but they built the football stadium in Afghanistan. My only guess was the Vegas taxes were out the ass so they built in the middle of the desert. It wouldn't surprise me if NIU starts the game next year at 11 am though...lol.

Beebe is faster than Peej was, so I agree Sheldon is a more accurate comparison.

(09-15-2014 10:08 AM)7 Wrote:  I know HuskieWire and Hustlebelt made a big deal out of it so I'm sure some of the idiots on here did too, but I didn't have a problem with using Maddie for a series. If I remember correctly, I think he literally handed the ball off every play. If somehow switching QBs to hand off the ball every play changes something in the game, well good luck selling me on that one. NIU ran for 331 yards and had a 28-12 lead at the time, so putting in your running QB at a point in the second half to run the ball isn't exactly some shocking move. To try to connect the dots and say that's why the game shifted, when they went on a FG drive and then the defense got a 3 and out before Santa "roughed" (riiiight) the punter is just grabbing things out of mid air and trying to make it mean something.


Which leads me to my next point, I think it's time for the people questing Carey to go away. They lost a Heisman finalist and a first round draft pick, and pretty much haven't skipped a beat. It's not a team full of first round draft picks. It's a team with great schemes who works hard and out executes people. I don't care if he's not Fleck in press conferences, he clearly knows how to coach.

This is the most important content IMHO.

Carey can coach, period. Having Maddie in for a series was predictable and did NOT shift momentum in the game.

(09-15-2014 11:28 AM)huskiehog64 Wrote:  Must also compliment all the NIU fans that made the trip and that were loud in the stands!!!!

400 at pre game tailgate.

"First of all, I have no idea why the hell UNLV started that game so early. If you've never been to UNLV, that stadium is in the middle of the damn desert. It's literally a football stadium in the desert. I'm not sure I've ever felt heat quite like that before. I can only imagine that's what it feels like to be in an oven...lol."

I talked to some UNLV folks at the game, they said the game was at 4 because they wanted folks to be able to attend and then make it back to watch the Mayweather fight. They said attendance would have been worse if it started at their normal 7 pm slot.

(09-15-2014 12:16 PM)17Huskies Wrote:  "First of all, I have no idea why the hell UNLV started that game so early. If you've never been to UNLV, that stadium is in the middle of the damn desert. It's literally a football stadium in the desert. I'm not sure I've ever felt heat quite like that before. I can only imagine that's what it feels like to be in an oven...lol."

I talked to some UNLV folks at the game, they said the game was at 4 because they wanted folks to be able to attend and then make it back to watch the Mayweather fight. They said attendance would have been worse if it started at their normal 7 pm slot.

to watch the fight you had to do pay per view.

(09-15-2014 12:19 PM)GCD70 Wrote:  

(09-15-2014 12:16 PM)17Huskies Wrote:  "First of all, I have no idea why the hell UNLV started that game so early. If you've never been to UNLV, that stadium is in the middle of the damn desert. It's literally a football stadium in the desert. I'm not sure I've ever felt heat quite like that before. I can only imagine that's what it feels like to be in an oven...lol."

I talked to some UNLV folks at the game, they said the game was at 4 because they wanted folks to be able to attend and then make it back to watch the Mayweather fight. They said attendance would have been worse if it started at their normal 7 pm slot.

to watch the fight you had to do pay per view.

Or gone to any of the 75,000 sportsbook in the area.

(09-15-2014 12:19 PM)GCD70 Wrote:  

(09-15-2014 12:16 PM)17Huskies Wrote:  "First of all, I have no idea why the hell UNLV started that game so early. If you've never been to UNLV, that stadium is in the middle of the damn desert. It's literally a football stadium in the desert. I'm not sure I've ever felt heat quite like that before. I can only imagine that's what it feels like to be in an oven...lol."

I talked to some UNLV folks at the game, they said the game was at 4 because they wanted folks to be able to attend and then make it back to watch the Mayweather fight. They said attendance would have been worse if it started at their normal 7 pm slot.

to watch the fight you had to do pay per view.

Right, but from what I heard, there are tons of "watch parties" in Vegas for it, so everyone hopped on over to them after the game. We had a few UNLV fans next to us that left early to get to their party.

So more people watch a fight on TV because it happening in their area?

(09-15-2014 10:55 AM)cawoo22 Wrote:  And you know what that means for the ladies in Dekalb:



Just imagine the guys in Kalamazoo: We found your coach for the 2024 season!

Respect the Fleck! :) He got us a Solid win this weekend, surprisingly. Our only win last year was against UMass who went for 2 for the win, and their receiver dropped an easy catch. Now, it seems as though (knock on wood), we're a step above EMU & Kent State. Probably on par with Buffalo (who I'm assuming isn't going to be good).

And yes, he's a ladies man. His catch against Maryland in the Year of the MAC helped me zing my ex, who moved to Maryland with a guy who worshipped their football team. Ahhh, PJ. Way to help a (MAC) brotha out!