First it's the knee brace. Then a hard hit running or on a sack. Then, queue Santa. That will take all of 2 minutes during a game, and we need to know the odds are in the favor of this happening before season's end.

Santa for QB on a Christmas Eve Bowl game, I am calling it here. It's an advertiser's dream!!!!

(11-03-2017 08:18 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(11-03-2017 02:23 PM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  This is the least upset I've been after a loss in a long time. This game was super easy to predict( I had 28-17 rockets). Once the commitment to Childers was made, the offense was fitted with training wheels. This O is good for 14-24 a game. Going forward, Since Childers can't make a big play with his legs or arm, they'll need to find someone who can. A guy who turns a 5 yd play into a 50 yd play. At rb, Huff may be gimpy for awhile. Harb and mister are more power guys. Jones is kinda average. Could Milton be it? At wr, Tears and Blake are not particularly elusive. Better catchers than runners. Brown is the closest to that type player, but they may not have anyone who is Tommy Lewis like in style.

This offense is a real shame for Blake. I think he made great progress at receiver and is now diminished to getting about 3 or 4 catches a game for 16 yards. This team looks to be thinking about next year. Let's hope they're more prepared for it when it comes.

It was easy predict. We knew NIU would play too conservative and that not valueing every possession would hurt. I think what surprised me is how the Toledo offensive line dominated the game. Maybe that shouldn't have been a surprise as Toledo is known to have a great line, but just didn't think they would dominate like that

I almost always have to go back and watch the game a second time to observe the line play, but my impression was the Toledo o-line did really well In pass protection. Smith must have been given extra attention which reiterates how disappointed I am in Corcoran this year. He's been decent, but I expected much more.

Childers knee brace was the result of one of his early runs when he was tackled and his knee was bent underneath him and he was then pulled backwards got up slowly and was rubbing his knee. Looked like it could have been a lot worse and afterwards I was surprised that childers wasn't lying on the ground in pain.

(11-03-2017 10:30 PM)NIUSAE Wrote:  Childers knee brace was the result of one of his early runs when he was tackled and his knee was bent underneath him and he was then pulled backwards got up slowly and was rubbing his knee. Looked like it could have been a lot worse and afterwards I was surprised that childers wasn't lying on the ground in pain.

Yeah I just don't know how much longer NIU can run the same offense. That's the reason QBs are treated like herded cattle in the summer because the coaches know there will be casualties. In today's game unless your name is Jordan Lynch, you just can't absorb that kind of punishment consistently and expect to be upright

I was much more impressed with Childers in the beginning of the game than really the whole EMU game. Nice tight spiral, was hitting players in stride (nothing deep but can be worked on).

After the EMU game I didn't see much of anything and thought a change might need to be made, but def. think after the Toledo game he will get better with the passing and my guess will take a few more shots down field with how bad ball state is. Will help build confidence for thre remainder of the season. He is quicker than we saw in Toledo on the ground, hopefully his knee heals up quick.

(11-04-2017 09:43 AM)HuskiePride12 Wrote:  I was much more impressed with Childers in the beginning of the game than really the whole EMU game. Nice tight spiral, was hitting players in stride (nothing deep but can be worked on).

After the EMU game I didn't see much of anything and thought a change might need to be made, but def. think after the Toledo game he will get better with the passing and my guess will take a few more shots down field with how bad ball state is. Will help build confidence for thre remainder of the season. He is quicker than we saw in Toledo on the ground, hopefully his knee heals up quick.

His passing and game speed should improve.

(11-04-2017 09:58 AM)Boca Rocket Wrote:  

(11-04-2017 09:43 AM)HuskiePride12 Wrote:  I was much more impressed with Childers in the beginning of the game than really the whole EMU game. Nice tight spiral, was hitting players in stride (nothing deep but can be worked on).

After the EMU game I didn't see much of anything and thought a change might need to be made, but def. think after the Toledo game he will get better with the passing and my guess will take a few more shots down field with how bad ball state is. Will help build confidence for thre remainder of the season. He is quicker than we saw in Toledo on the ground, hopefully his knee heals up quick.

His passing and game speed should improve.

As crazy as it may sound Childers is now the 2nd most experienced QB (based on game experience) on the roster; ahead of Santa; by the end of the season he will nearly surpass Graham. So entering next season as a red shirt sophomore, experience will become a strength not a deficiency. It is highly unlikely Hall will be given any real shot at the starting job next year; Santa is not even in the picture anymore. Barring injury, its very likely Childers will set a record for most games started by a QB. He has been given the opportunity of a lifetime.

There was a moment that I saw Lynch talking to Childers that I thought of how great a coach he is going to be... glad he is coaching RBs but hope he is giving QB advice too.

Another thought: it seems to me Carey coaches like we are an NFL team. Like field goals are a given and you can win a game scoring under 20 points. Kneeling before half is odd in college football, and truly you have to score in the 30s to have a championship competing team. I think Childers and Graham overthrow everything because they are scared of a pick. Fine, don't throw a pick but cheers to Santa for actually trying to lay it in there and take a risk.

I guess that's all I have for now....

(11-03-2017 08:54 PM)sarasotahuskie Wrote:  

(11-03-2017 07:41 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(11-02-2017 09:24 PM)7 Wrote:  

(11-02-2017 09:22 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(11-02-2017 09:18 PM)7 Wrote:  And then you've burned 40+ seconds to get 7 yards.

I get what you're saying, I just don't think there really was a good option.

No, you run out of bounds or you also have a chance of getting the first down, stopping the clock for a while. Besides, an extreme long shot - a long throw by Childers, followed by another extreme long-shot, a 47-yarder by Hagan, is not a recipe for getting within one score.

You're still splitting hairs here.

Also, the 3rd down play call is a TD if your QB could throw. Smalls was open.

That is what I'm saying though. We know he can't throw.

I don't agree. His problem is overthrowing the deep routes. We just don't know if he can improve his accuracy and develop touch. He is not as good of a runner as advertised; anybody know about the knee brace?

Sent from my Pixel C using CSNbbs mobile app

What I mean is he can't hit those routes, so running that play is a long shot. He has the arm I think, but like others pointed out, he's probably risk averse now and would rather overthrow 95% of the passes than take a chance on one getting intercepted.

(11-04-2017 10:20 AM)JB04 Wrote:  There was a moment that I saw Lynch talking to Childers that I thought of how great a coach he is going to be... glad he is coaching RBs but hope he is giving QB advice too.

Another thought: it seems to me Carey coaches like we are an NFL team. Like field goals are a given and you can win a game scoring under 20 points. Kneeling before half is odd in college football, and truly you have to score in the 30s to have a championship competing team. I think Childers and Graham overthrow everything because they are scared of a pick. Fine, don't throw a pick but cheers to Santa for actually trying to lay it in there and take a risk.

I guess that's all I have for now....

That's what it seems like to me too.

(11-03-2017 10:02 PM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  

(11-03-2017 08:18 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(11-03-2017 02:23 PM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  This is the least upset I've been after a loss in a long time. This game was super easy to predict( I had 28-17 rockets). Once the commitment to Childers was made, the offense was fitted with training wheels. This O is good for 14-24 a game. Going forward, Since Childers can't make a big play with his legs or arm, they'll need to find someone who can. A guy who turns a 5 yd play into a 50 yd play. At rb, Huff may be gimpy for awhile. Harb and mister are more power guys. Jones is kinda average. Could Milton be it? At wr, Tears and Blake are not particularly elusive. Better catchers than runners. Brown is the closest to that type player, but they may not have anyone who is Tommy Lewis like in style.

This offense is a real shame for Blake. I think he made great progress at receiver and is now diminished to getting about 3 or 4 catches a game for 16 yards. This team looks to be thinking about next year. Let's hope they're more prepared for it when it comes.

It was easy predict. We knew NIU would play too conservative and that not valueing every possession would hurt. I think what surprised me is how the Toledo offensive line dominated the game. Maybe that shouldn't have been a surprise as Toledo is known to have a great line, but just didn't think they would dominate like that

I almost always have to go back and watch the game a second time to observe the line play, but my impression was the Toledo o-line did really well In pass protection. Smith must have been given extra attention which reiterates how disappointed I am in Corcoran this year. He's been decent, but I expected much more.

Pugh would have made a huge difference in this game. Well, he’d make a huge difference in every game. I really missed him this game...

(11-03-2017 12:33 AM)sterling1man Wrote:  

(11-02-2017 09:20 PM)7 Wrote:  

(11-02-2017 09:19 PM)numbersdontlie Wrote:  At some point you need to play to win the game and take a risk. You're down 10 and you just leave your better throwing QB on the sidelines. This is where I don't agree with Rods coaching philosophy. He never takes a risk. The D played like trash too but they kept us in the game. We got lucky last week with bad fg kicking. This week we played a competent offense and he burned us over a me over. Got news for you kids but Kevin Kane isn't going to be here next year and we're letting our best year as a defense fade away into a meaningless bowl game and an 8 win season.

Hope one of these QBs really takes a step in the off-season because starting another freshmen isn't the answer.

I really hope NIU wins a bowl game this year just so the Carey haters can go from "he can't win a bowl" to "he didn't win the MAC."

I see it's already started!

Many reasonable fans might conclude that the true benefit of a Bowl game is the extra month of practice towards the following year. Winning post season Bowl games without top 25 ranking implications seem meaningless in the short term. IS there anybody extra money or material incentive for the winner of a meaningless Bowl game?

From what I recall it actually costs the team money to attend bowl games and more so if they bring band and staff. MAC helped niu with money with Orange Bowl costs because it was the first time it happened. They gave a larger portion of the bowl $ back so NIU would break even or so.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

(11-04-2017 10:33 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(11-03-2017 08:54 PM)sarasotahuskie Wrote:  

(11-03-2017 07:41 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(11-02-2017 09:24 PM)7 Wrote:  

(11-02-2017 09:22 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  No, you run out of bounds or you also have a chance of getting the first down, stopping the clock for a while. Besides, an extreme long shot - a long throw by Childers, followed by another extreme long-shot, a 47-yarder by Hagan, is not a recipe for getting within one score.

You're still splitting hairs here.

Also, the 3rd down play call is a TD if your QB could throw. Smalls was open.

That is what I'm saying though. We know he can't throw.

I don't agree. His problem is overthrowing the deep routes. We just don't know if he can improve his accuracy and develop touch. He is not as good of a runner as advertised; anybody know about the knee brace?

Sent from my Pixel C using CSNbbs mobile app

What I mean is he can't hit those routes, so running that play is a long shot. He has the arm I think, but like others pointed out, he's probably risk averse now and would rather overthrow 95% of the passes than take a chance on one getting intercepted.

Remember we were saying a lot of the same things about Hare and he improved his downfield accuracy a lot and wasn't a RS Freshmen trying to do it.

(11-04-2017 10:33 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(11-03-2017 08:54 PM)sarasotahuskie Wrote:  

(11-03-2017 07:41 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(11-02-2017 09:24 PM)7 Wrote:  

(11-02-2017 09:22 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  No, you run out of bounds or you also have a chance of getting the first down, stopping the clock for a while. Besides, an extreme long shot - a long throw by Childers, followed by another extreme long-shot, a 47-yarder by Hagan, is not a recipe for getting within one score.

You're still splitting hairs here.

Also, the 3rd down play call is a TD if your QB could throw. Smalls was open.

That is what I'm saying though. We know he can't throw.

I don't agree. His problem is overthrowing the deep routes. We just don't know if he can improve his accuracy and develop touch. He is not as good of a runner as advertised; anybody know about the knee brace?

Sent from my Pixel C using CSNbbs mobile app

What I mean is he can't hit those routes, so running that play is a long shot. He has the arm I think, but like others pointed out, he's probably risk averse now and would rather overthrow 95% of the passes than take a chance on one getting intercepted.

Yeah, we're talking semantics here. He can get the ball there; it remains to be seen if he can get it to the reciever.

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(11-04-2017 05:01 PM)HuskiePride12 Wrote:  

(11-04-2017 10:33 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(11-03-2017 08:54 PM)sarasotahuskie Wrote:  

(11-03-2017 07:41 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(11-02-2017 09:24 PM)7 Wrote:  You're still splitting hairs here.

Also, the 3rd down play call is a TD if your QB could throw. Smalls was open.

That is what I'm saying though. We know he can't throw.

I don't agree. His problem is overthrowing the deep routes. We just don't know if he can improve his accuracy and develop touch. He is not as good of a runner as advertised; anybody know about the knee brace?

Sent from my Pixel C using CSNbbs mobile app

What I mean is he can't hit those routes, so running that play is a long shot. He has the arm I think, but like others pointed out, he's probably risk averse now and would rather overthrow 95% of the passes than take a chance on one getting intercepted.

Remember we were saying a lot of the same things about Hare and he improved his downfield accuracy a lot and wasn't a RS Freshmen trying to do it.

Hare did improve on that the following year. It seemed like the entire first year though he was overthrowing the WRs.

Speaking of which, if we have another offseason without an entrenched starter at QB, where they're splitting time with the 1s again, we probably won't have any QB make any major strides in accuracy or anything else.

If Childers is our guy, the extra bowl practices and game vs a good opponent will help him going into next year.

We have to only hope that Childers improves and corrects whatever is preventing him from completing any passes over 15 yards; clearly he is the guy.
BTW, JT Barnett threw 4 INTs today; I wonder if Carey would bench him if he was the OSU coach?

(11-04-2017 09:09 PM)Djud Wrote:  We have to only hope that Childers improves and corrects whatever is preventing him from completing any passes over 15 yards; clearly he is the guy.
BTW, JT Barnett threw 4 INTs today; I wonder if Carey would bench him if he was the OSU coach?

Tanner Lee today? 3 INTs. Just another day at the office from him :)

(11-04-2017 09:09 PM)Djud Wrote:  We have to only hope that Childers improves and corrects whatever is preventing him from completing any passes over 15 yards; clearly he is the guy.
BTW, JT Barnett threw 4 INTs today; I wonder if Carey would bench him if he was the OSU coach?

How do you correct the poor coaching and its impact on QB development. Hare also regressed his last season. I just feel like an expectation of developing a Qb might be unrealistic at NIU right now

(11-03-2017 02:50 PM)uiniu57 Wrote:  

(11-03-2017 01:14 AM)sterling1man Wrote:  Anyone remember the seasons with no wins, 1 win and less than 5 wins.
How common they were.
NIU went from the joke of division 1a and bottom of the MAC to the top.

Yes Charlie Sadler ran the program into the ground but you are totally wrong labeling NIU as "the joke of division 1a." That is simply not true and a huge over-exaggeration. No win or one-win seasons for the Huskies have never been common.
There was a time when Northwestern or Kansas State annually led "The Bottom Ten" or appeared in Penthouse magazine's preseason Twenty Worst, but there was always a team (usually EMU or KSU) viewed as the bottom of the MAC below the Huskies. NIU has gone winless in the MAC twice: 1976 in the second year of membership and in 1997 upon being readmitted. If you're in a conference long enough, forgettable years are bound to happen.
Do you know how many times the other MAC members have had one-win / zero-win seasons?
Akron 3 / 0
Ball State 1 / 1
BGSU 1 / 0
Buffalo 3 / 1
EMU 7 / 0
KSU 7 / 4
Miami 3 / 1
OU 7 / 2
UT 1 / 0
WMU 5 / 0
(Marshall 0 / 2)
(UCF 0 / 1)
(UMass 2 / 0)

Thank-you for your informative post.
What I had in mind was:

1996 NIU 1-10 107/111
1997 NIU 0-11 110/112
1998 NIU 2-9 100/112

I remember a 23 game NIU loosing streak between 1996-1998.
Hardly a rare and isolated 1 win season.

1996 we had a 31-30 victory over Arkansas State, lost to North Texas 23-20 and lost 9 games by more than 2 TD's (including 0-17 to Western Illinois.)

1997 we lost 10 games by more than a TD. Our best performance being a 5 point loss to Ohio.

1998: started the season with 5 losses. Including 10-24 to Eastern Illinois. Before beating central Michigan 16-6 (ending a National Record of the leading Div 1a teams straight game losses.)

This 23 game losing streak and going 3-30 record, in three years will forever be etched in my mind. This happened less than 20 years ago!!!!!

To see NIU's performance over the last ten year period and even fifteen years is made more remarkable when compared to 1996-1998 three year nightmare!