Quote:So Ohio State was off-key and turnover prone that game, it had nothing to do with NIU, particularly Lurry who looks like he is becoming a star? Or the fact NIU contained Elliot and forced an inexperienced QB into passing situations?

NIU helped turn an turnover & mistaken prone offense to turn *5* turnovers instead of, say, 2-3. NIU's D of course should get credit for tapping that prone ass. Heck yeah. I'm just saying Ohio State has been figuring things out. No excuses to turn the ball over 5 times, to That level it's on them, and yeah, their not-experienced QB in OOC season was off-key much of the time.

Point being, Pooper Rush is a Much better passer, and they have a strong line, and with their A game will be a tougher O than what OSU brought to the table That game. At least what one should Expect. Just as if you played OSU again in a few weeks, you should expect the O you'd face to be Much better than the one you faced a little over a week ago. Much the same as someone facing NIU shouldn't say they're going to face the same O that was demonstrated in the 1st halves against UNLV & Murray State.

What I thought but was too lazy to write. Thank you, 7.

Seriously, because many of us had us at 4-0 (beating OSU and BC).

Unreal.

Yes, we could have, should have...Whatever.. We didn't. Had we found a way to beat BC, BC would clearly have the correct right to argue that we stole one..

Who would have believed that these two losses would have come at the combined point total (deficit) of 10. So, our 0 has disappointed against some of the very BEST D in all of football AND our D has probably played the best D (two game stretch) that I have seen in a long, long time.

I have a much easier time believing that our O will return than believing that our D will maintain. I am not being critical by saying that. If that does happen, we can win out.

That said, an optimist like me understands that if we play fine football the rest of the way....we will suffer losses against some of the best MAC teams I have seen in a bit.

I am proud of the guys. Period. We managed wins against NU and IOWA that could have gone the other way. Well, luck reversed this year. Let's win back that luck against CMU...and then BSU and TOLEDO and WMU and OHIO....and even, EMU/BUFFALO....no breaks this year.


I want a MAC CHAMPIONSHIP again this year, but I would suffer through and good season AND A BOWL WIN.

If you're seriously telling me Cooper Rush is better at football than either Jones or Barrett, you are an absolute idiot. Barrett was Big Ten POY last year and Cardale lit up Wisconsin, Bama, and Oregon.

It's possible he plays better against NIU than Jones/JT did, but come on.

(09-28-2015 12:33 PM)toddjnsn Wrote:  

Quote:CMU has a better offense than Ohio State??

If CMU is off-key and is turnover prone this weekend -- then no, CMU's O isn't better than what NIU faced against OSU. With OSU's turnovers and being off-point, that game they weren't better than what CMU's demonstrated. Hey, you never know -- CMU could have a sub-par O game this weekend, but one shouldn't expect that (hope for best, prepare for worst). In the end though, expect the CMU O that's been on all cylinders to be there at kick-off and not turnover prone -- and being about the toughest challenge and possibly tougher challenge than the D's faced so far.

CMU's O isn't better than Ohio State. But the QB might be less likely to make mistakes, and the pass defense will be tested against CMU more than against probably everyone we've played, IMO.

CMU will throw more than BC and Ohio St did. BC couldn't pass and OSU probably figured they could beat NIU by just running it. CMU is not better than those teams but I can see NIU losing as much as seeing them win. I will not be surprised either way. I also will not be surprised if BC finishes 6-6.

Most Frustrating losses :

1) 2005 MAC Championship
2) 2010 MAC - Miami - WTF happen ?
3) 2002 Wisconsin - STOLEN
4) Northwestern 2pt conversion failure
5) Toledo 2002 - We had big lead and loss at home .

(09-28-2015 12:58 PM)7 Wrote:  If you're seriously telling me Cooper Rush is better at football than either Jones or Barrett, you are an absolute idiot. Barrett was Big Ten POY last year and Cardale lit up Wisconsin, Bama, and Oregon.

It's possible he plays better against NIU than Jones/JT did, but come on.

Rush probably isn't better but there's a good chance he will play better against NIU than Jones and Barrett did.

Quote:CMU's O isn't better than Ohio State. But the QB might be less likely to make mistakes, and the pass defense will be tested against CMU more than against probably everyone we've played, IMO.

As a team, no, I don't think CMU's O is better. CMU's O against MSU & Syracuse, VS Ohio State's O *that game* vs NIU? I surely think it was. Ohio State will get better on O, and seems to be, as the season progresses. CMU really can't do much better.

Quote:If you're seriously telling me Cooper Rush is better at football than either Jones or Barrett, you are an absolute idiot

Based on how Jones played that game against NIU, VS CMU against MSU -- heck yeah, Pooper was better. Jones has more potential being a dual threat, but his passing Sucked that game. Again, I'm talking about "what one has faced in a game". If you expect Pooper Rush to throw as piss-poor as Jones did that game -- that'd be over-optimistic insanity.

I never said he'd play as poorly as Jones did. However, if you think what NIU did defensively the last two weeks is a fluke, you're not watching the game.

The defensive line has gone up against too damn good offensive lines and more than held their own. I don't think anyone has ever questioned how good Boomer and Folliard are, and Cheren has played damn well as a freshman. In the secondary, with Logan and Lurry playing as well as he is, that means Smalls (who would be a starter for almost every other MAC team) is your nickel back and Brooks who played a ton on a decent defense last year is your 4th corner.

These games haven't been flukes. Will Rush play better than Jones? Probably. Is Rush better than Jones/Barrett? Hell no. Is the NIU defense for real? I see nothing to believe it isn't right now.

(09-28-2015 01:44 PM)7 Wrote:  I never said he'd play as poorly as Jones did. However, if you think what NIU did defensively the last two weeks is a fluke, you're not watching the game.

The defensive line has gone up against too damn good offensive lines and more than held their own. I don't think anyone has ever questioned how good Boomer and Folliard are, and Cheren has played damn well as a freshman. In the secondary, with Logan and Lurry playing as well as he is, that means Smalls (who would be a starter for almost every other MAC team) is your nickel back and Brooks who played a ton on a decent defense last year is your 4th corner.

These games haven't been flukes. Will Rush play better than Jones? Probably. Is Rush better than Jones/Barrett? Hell no. Is the NIU defense for real? I see nothing to believe it isn't right now.

We'll find out against CMU. BC didn't have a good QB.

(09-28-2015 01:47 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(09-28-2015 01:44 PM)7 Wrote:  I never said he'd play as poorly as Jones did. However, if you think what NIU did defensively the last two weeks is a fluke, you're not watching the game.

The defensive line has gone up against too damn good offensive lines and more than held their own. I don't think anyone has ever questioned how good Boomer and Folliard are, and Cheren has played damn well as a freshman. In the secondary, with Logan and Lurry playing as well as he is, that means Smalls (who would be a starter for almost every other MAC team) is your nickel back and Brooks who played a ton on a decent defense last year is your 4th corner.

These games haven't been flukes. Will Rush play better than Jones? Probably. Is Rush better than Jones/Barrett? Hell no. Is the NIU defense for real? I see nothing to believe it isn't right now.

We'll find out against CMU. BC didn't have a good QB.

So Ohio State wasn't enough for you, Cooper Rush is the real test?

I'm sorry, the title of this thread made me LOL.

Quote:I never said he'd play as poorly as Jones did. However, if you think what NIU did defensively the last two weeks is a fluke, you're not watching the game.

I never insinuated NIU's D was bad. It was Great. I'm saying OSU's O was off-key and turnover prone. If NIU didn't have a great D that game, OSU would have just had a blowout later in the game due to their mistakes, instead of earlier in the game if they haven't been so off-key. Instead, they weren't facing a bad or mediocre D -- but a tough one, where it made it a tough-as-nails game throughout where NIU could have won (or as Carey implied, should have won). An OSU team can't be like that against good teams and expect to just run away with it with some delay in doing it or something -- and they didn't.

Again, my point is that CMU with their O game to expect, will be better than OSU's O that game. It's going to be Tough. Maybe I'm giving Pooper Rush and the CMU O too much credit. But man, they have a good line and they can pass it Real well.

(09-28-2015 01:48 PM)7 Wrote:  

(09-28-2015 01:47 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(09-28-2015 01:44 PM)7 Wrote:  I never said he'd play as poorly as Jones did. However, if you think what NIU did defensively the last two weeks is a fluke, you're not watching the game.

The defensive line has gone up against too damn good offensive lines and more than held their own. I don't think anyone has ever questioned how good Boomer and Folliard are, and Cheren has played damn well as a freshman. In the secondary, with Logan and Lurry playing as well as he is, that means Smalls (who would be a starter for almost every other MAC team) is your nickel back and Brooks who played a ton on a decent defense last year is your 4th corner.

These games haven't been flukes. Will Rush play better than Jones? Probably. Is Rush better than Jones/Barrett? Hell no. Is the NIU defense for real? I see nothing to believe it isn't right now.

We'll find out against CMU. BC didn't have a good QB.

So Ohio State wasn't enough for you, Cooper Rush is the real test?

I've seen MAC QBs, Marshall's QB, Arkansas's QB, etc. all play better than Jones and Barrett did. UNLV put 30 on us. If we play another game against CMU where the opposing QB doesn't do much, I'll be convinced that our pass defense is for real. One game, even if against OSU, isn't enough.

I'm not sure why what happened last year would effect your thoughts on this year? Also, Cato was a pretty damn good QB. NIU had a top 10 offense before Boston College and Ohio State too. I don't see that stopping very many people from flipping their **** about how bad the offense is.

(09-28-2015 01:56 PM)toddjnsn Wrote:  

Quote:I never said he'd play as poorly as Jones did. However, if you think what NIU did defensively the last two weeks is a fluke, you're not watching the game.

I never insinuated NIU's D was bad. It was Great. I'm saying OSU's O was off-key and turnover prone. If NIU didn't have a great D that game, OSU would have just had a blowout later in the game due to their mistakes, instead of earlier in the game if they haven't been so off-key. Instead, they weren't facing a bad or mediocre D -- but a tough one, where it made it a tough-as-nails game throughout where NIU could have won (or as Carey implied, should have won). An OSU team can't be like that against good teams and expect to just run away with it with some delay in doing it or something -- and they didn't.

Again, my point is that CMU with their O game to expect, will be better than OSU's O that game. It's going to be Tough. Maybe I'm giving Pooper Rush and the CMU O too much credit. But man, they have a good line and they can pass it Real well.

Didn't they run for like 26 yards against an FCS team this year or am I misremembering that?

(09-28-2015 02:30 PM)7 Wrote:  I'm not sure why what happened last year would effect your thoughts on this year? Also, Cato was a pretty damn good QB. NIU had a top 10 offense before Boston College and Ohio State too. I don't see that stopping very many people from flipping their **** about how bad the offense is.

Well, just like BC and Ohio State had very good defense, UNLV and Murray State are not exactly known for their defense. So the offensive numbers were probably overstated earlier and understated now.

(09-28-2015 02:33 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(09-28-2015 02:30 PM)7 Wrote:  I'm not sure why what happened last year would effect your thoughts on this year? Also, Cato was a pretty damn good QB. NIU had a top 10 offense before Boston College and Ohio State too. I don't see that stopping very many people from flipping their **** about how bad the offense is.

Well, just like BC and Ohio State had very good defense, UNLV and Murray State are not exactly known for their defense. So the offensive numbers were probably overstated earlier and understated now.

I don't really disagree with this. I don't think our defense is THIS good, but I also think it has the potential to be a legit good defense.

I guess what's bothering me about this season is we beat two fairly easy teams for argument sakes. We came close against two tough teams on the road, and we heading into MAC play without really knowing what our O can or can't do. I feel good about our D, but our D can't win every game for us. We have to have our O step up and be a presence. Our O is what we all thought was going to be the anchor of this team. Just goes to show us, you never know until after we start play. Weird, weird season thus far.
We have to catch the ball, and we certainly have to wake up our OLine.

Statistically, our D against BC was just average. They rushed for their seasonal rushing average of around 230 yards per game (and two of their games were against very weak FCS teams). And you can't really judge our pass D because BC obviously has a completely inept passing game with those two back-ups in. So to me, the jury is still out on our D.

But, if I had to bet, the Monday morning QB's on here will have more to say about our D going forward than they will about our offense.