First & foremost, congrats to everyone in Rocket Nation! Great win over a tough NIU team. Was a great game to watch.

Pretty much nothing that I thought might happen in this game actually happened. I thought the Rocket D was every bit as good as the Huskie D. The front 7 made it pretty difficult on the NIU offense.

I decided I like it very much when we put our kickoffs into the end zone.

That slant pass play was open almost every single time Woodside threw it. Dontae Johnson was pretty much un-coverable.

Love seeing the emergence of Jordan Fisher as a receiver at TE. Would like to see JonVea Johnson become a factor again.

Now...finish this, Rockets!

Terry Swanson was spectacular tonight. Not in a Chester Taylor knocking peoples heads off kind of way, but in an amazing finesse kind of way. I was down near the endzone for a couple of those runs leading to scores and I don't know how he did that! It was like he was running that drill where they step through the tires; but with people trying to tackle him. And somehow the dude jitterbugged through the line and stayed on his feet to plunge in for the score. It was some amazing running. He is a very unique runner.

Northern is the best team the Rockets have faced so far this year with the obvious exception of Miami yet and while neither the offense or the defense completely dominated the entire game both units stepped up often enough in key situations to win a convincing victory. Although NIU is likely the toughest November opponent the Rockets face, any of the three remaining teams ----even BG---could beat the Rockets if they are not ready to play. The situation could change but at this point in time to get to Ford Field the Rockets need to defeat WMU and either Ohio or BG----so there is still a lot of work to be done but this was a VERY BIG WIN

(11-02-2017 10:35 PM)T-Town Wrote:  Northern is the best team the Rockets have faced so far this year with the obvious exception of Miami yet and while neither the offense or the defense completely dominated the entire game both units stepped up often enough in key situations to win a convincing victory. Although NIU is likely the toughest November opponent the Rockets face, any of the three remaining teams ----even BG---could beat the Rockets if they are not ready to play. The situation could change but at this point in time to get to Ford Field the Rockets need to defeat WMU and either Ohio or BG----so there is still a lot of work to be done but this was a VERY BIG WIN

Since WMU lost last night, we just have to win 2 of 3, right? If we have 1 loss, and so does NIU, we go since we won head to head. Don’t have to beat WMU if we beat the 2 East teams.

(11-02-2017 10:52 PM)ToledoMike Wrote:  

(11-02-2017 10:35 PM)T-Town Wrote:  Northern is the best team the Rockets have faced so far this year with the obvious exception of Miami yet and while neither the offense or the defense completely dominated the entire game both units stepped up often enough in key situations to win a convincing victory. Although NIU is likely the toughest November opponent the Rockets face, any of the three remaining teams ----even BG---could beat the Rockets if they are not ready to play. The situation could change but at this point in time to get to Ford Field the Rockets need to defeat WMU and either Ohio or BG----so there is still a lot of work to be done but this was a VERY BIG WIN

Since WMU lost last night, we just have to win 2 of 3, right? If we have 1 loss, and so does NIU, we go since we won head to head. Don’t have to beat WMU if we beat the 2 East teams.

Correct, and NIU has to play WMU and CMU which aren’t gimmes either.

I thought one of the biggest turning points in the game tonight was when Jeppeson came in to the game to take over at center. Up to that point, a lot of the snaps were low and that threw the timing off on the plays. Same as the Ball State game when the snaps in the shotgun were low - then high. Jeppeson put them all right at the waistline of Woodside. So much of a difference that Jeppeson should be getting the game ball..

I would of liked the 7 points we lost and the 3 we gave away because of the blocked
punt.

We need to think G5 New Years Bowl. If Miami remains unbeaten and we are a one loss team with that only loss being to the #2 team in country (which we dominated the first half in) on the road, there is no doubt we are playing New Years Day. This "win 2 out of 3" talk needs to stop. We need to run the table to get in the national discussion.

(11-03-2017 05:36 AM)Rocketand2nuts Wrote:  We need to think G5 New Years Bowl. If Miami remains unbeaten and we are a one loss team with that only loss being to the #2 team in country (which we dominated the first half in) on the road, there is no doubt we are playing New Years Day. This "win 2 out of 3" talk needs to stop. We need to run the table to get in the national discussion.

Right we need to win our next 4 games.

(11-03-2017 05:36 AM)Rocketand2nuts Wrote:  We need to think G5 New Years Bowl. If Miami remains unbeaten and we are a one loss team with that only loss being to the #2 team in country (which we dominated the first half in) on the road, there is no doubt we are playing New Years Day. This "win 2 out of 3" talk needs to stop. We need to run the table to get in the national discussion.

Pretty sure those that have a say in choosing teams for bowls pay no attention to fanboard talk, so IMO it’s OK to continue to say “two of three assures a trip to Detroit”. That is the near term goal. I suspect those of us guilty of that faux pas actually would like us to win five more.

(11-03-2017 05:36 AM)Rocketand2nuts Wrote:  We need to think G5 New Years Bowl. If Miami remains unbeaten and we are a one loss team with that only loss being to the #2 team in country (which we dominated the first half in) on the road, there is no doubt we are playing New Years Day. This "win 2 out of 3" talk needs to stop. We need to run the table to get in the national discussion.

I think it’s based on the fact that the schedule really works against us this year. We had a 5 day turnaround against ball state. To have that once all year you can deal with. Now we turn around and have to go on the road on another short week against the best team in the east, who have 8 days to rest and prepare to our 6, when we are coming off one of our toughest games of the year. 2 of 3 is reasonable. 3 of 3 would be remarkable.

(11-03-2017 07:04 AM)adunifon Wrote:  

(11-03-2017 05:36 AM)Rocketand2nuts Wrote:  We need to think G5 New Years Bowl. If Miami remains unbeaten and we are a one loss team with that only loss being to the #2 team in country (which we dominated the first half in) on the road, there is no doubt we are playing New Years Day. This "win 2 out of 3" talk needs to stop. We need to run the table to get in the national discussion.

I think it’s based on the fact that the schedule really works against us this year. We had a 5 day turnaround against ball state. To have that once all year you can deal with. Now we turn around and have to go on the road on another short week against the best team in the east, who have 8 days to rest and prepare to our 6, when we are coming off one of our toughest games of the year. 2 of 3 is reasonable. 3 of 3 would be remarkable.

I think it’s based on mathematical principals proven time and again over thousands of years. If we win two of our next three we go to Detroit. There is no other scenario.

Ohio may be tricky to take down 2 times. They dont have much of a D but they can go down field. Watch party anywhere?

I would be more impressed with Ohio if they were scoring a ton of points against good defenses. The only defense that I would consider decent that they have played against is EMU - and they scored 28. Not bad, but not impressive. We put 27 on Northern Ill. which has the best defense in the league - and realistically, we should have had another 7 if not for the fumble by Woodside at the 1/2 yard line. We threw for 361 and ran for what - around 150 or so - didn't check. So right around 500 yards on the best defense in the MAC and ranked in top 20 nationally. I think we know we should be able to move the ball on them - the question is whether they can move the ball on us. We lost to them last year, and I think this team has the proper mindset. Ohio has also played a weak out of conference schedule with UMass, Purdue, Kansas, and Hampton. Common opponents have been Eastern and Central. We did not play well in the EMU game - but a lot of that I believe had to be with losing Thompson for the season on our first drive. We beat Central 30-10, they lost to Central.

I would suspect we will be around 10 to 14 point favorites in the game. But none of this matters. We have a game to win. We need to go out and win it. Weather could play a factor, but I like our chances in wet or cold weather (or both) I think Woodside could hit passes on the side of a glacier.

Us losing to OU last season should help us prepare for them this year.

(11-02-2017 10:52 PM)ToledoMike Wrote:  

(11-02-2017 10:35 PM)T-Town Wrote:  Northern is the best team the Rockets have faced so far this year with the obvious exception of Miami yet and while neither the offense or the defense completely dominated the entire game both units stepped up often enough in key situations to win a convincing victory. Although NIU is likely the toughest November opponent the Rockets face, any of the three remaining teams ----even BG---could beat the Rockets if they are not ready to play. The situation could change but at this point in time to get to Ford Field the Rockets need to defeat WMU and either Ohio or BG----so there is still a lot of work to be done but this was a VERY BIG WIN

Since WMU lost last night, we just have to win 2 of 3, right? If we have 1 loss, and so does NIU, we go since we won head to head. Don’t have to beat WMU if we beat the 2 East teams.

Good call. I forgot that WMU also lost to Akron.

This would seem like the classic "trap" game...on the road, after a big, emotional win, and the game before we play the pumpkin & poo. However, thus far Candle has shown me an ability to keep the team focused, and maybe the uncharacteristically poor play that resulted in that loss to OU last season will be enough to keep the team energized.

(11-03-2017 09:48 AM)bcunn3128 Wrote:  This would seem like the classic "trap" game...on the road, after a big, emotional win, and the game before we play the pumpkin & poo. However, thus far Candle has shown me an ability to keep the team focused, and maybe the uncharacteristically poor play that resulted in that loss to OU last season will be enough to keep the team energized.

Yes but even if we lose next Wednesday it’s not that big of a deal as long as we finish business the last 2 weeks of the season. Awfully tough to go undefeated in conference play.

(11-03-2017 07:10 AM)UofToledoFans Wrote:  Ohio may be tricky to take down 2 times. They dont have much of a D but they can go down field. Watch party anywhere?

Calling all Rockets to make the trip down to Athens. 4 hour drive. If you can make it, let's represent this 8-1 program on national television...but if you can't go, a watch party is a great way to represent in the hometown as well.

While I'm very happy with the win, there are a few things that need to be addressed.

1) Maintaining the edge on defense. Time after time I saw the DE go into the backfield or leave his assignment, thus losing containment and allowing easy yardage.
2) #17 - Look, I've been hard on him in the past, but he has NOT gotten better. Every time I noticed a missed tackle or that a man was out of position it was the same jersey. Are we sure that there isn't a better option?

One thing that became apparent as time was winding down, NIU did not have the sort of offense to play catch-up. Had Logan not fumbled that ball at the goal line the game would have been put away a lot sooner.