Wanted to take a look at the game after the emotions have had a bit of time to settle down.
Yes, it was a tough loss. Yes, they were young too. Yes, the line play last night left something to be desired. But I think the discussions along the lines of who should be fired may be a bit of a knee jerk reaction. I think some of the reaction is very caught up in it was UNI and they're a FCS team which we should never lose to last night. I don't disagree with that, but I think it blinded a lot of the rational looking at it and made everything seem much worse than it was. I fully agree we should never lose to an FCS team. No BCS league team 'should', but it does happen from time to time especially by quality FCS teams (NDSU hasn't lost to a D1 opponent since we beat them in 2009). 7 FBS teams lost to FCS opponents this week. UNI is a quality FCS team (though we should still beat them 14/15 match ups). They came to play like they always do, because it gives a bunch of Iowa kids a chance to play in front of 50K fans in their home state and show they belong too. This is where I think a lot of other FCS vs FBS games differs from this rivalry. UNI comes in really wanting to prove something and knowing they can. In many other matchups they know they're there to get there paycheck, take their lumps and go home for the year. Farley knows how to prep these guys for the in state games.
Things that were positive:
-As awful as everyone remembers it the first half offense was actually WAY better than I thought going back and looking at it. Remember the Defense never being able to stay off the field last year? Check out the drive recap and look at the yardage and result. With the exception of the drive we punted on due to penalties every drive was 48 plus yards.
-Sam was close to 70% completion percentage (looks like the KU game Sam may be legit). There is no QB controversy for the first time since Arnaud. Assuming he can stay healthy...He's too small to take that kind of pounding for 12 weeks and not get more than the limp he had last night.
-4 Cyclones had 3 or more catches and averaged 9.8 or more yards. 3 of those 4 had a play that was 20 or more yards. Those big play threats we've been clamoring for since Chiz seem to be there now with Sam connecting with these guys. Bundrage made some guys miss on a big play in the 2nd quarter I think it was that stands out in my mind and Coleman seems to be legit at this point.
-we had 3 running backs averaging close to 4.5 yards or more on 5 or more carries. This is in spite of the loss of our best offensive lineman with 13:33 left in the first half (being replaced by a guy who only saw about 1 week worth of practice at center). The 4th running back seeing snaps was Woody and outside of his number getting called consecutively in the red zone in what appeared to be an attempt to reenact the end of the OSU game (without Osemele to pave the road) he served his purpose.
-The cyclone offense had ZERO turnovers. The Cyclone D forced 2.
-Penalties. 4 for 30 yards, one for 15 due to what I assume was just frustration getting the best of him.
-The QB zone read looks effective for the first time ever under this offense. Seemed like Sam was making the right read (wish he wasn't keeping it as much though or learning to slide/get OB)
Negatives (where to start):
-line play, both sides. I really think that 90% of the disaster comes down to line play last night on both side of the ball. AK47 and Knott v1.0 aren't there to compensate for what has been a weak point for so long. Though Knott 2.0 looks like he could grow into the roll
-Tackling...it absolutely sucked. 2 of UNIs touchdowns came after an attempt to tackle Johnson which most middle school football players should be embarrassed about.
-Special teams. They weren't horrendous but I thought Bundrage missed a couple lanes last night that could have led to some momentum changers. I'm not going to knock Arceo for shanking a couple field goals we probably shouldn't have tried. Kirby is entitled to a miscue once or twice a season, this was just a bad game for a weak punt from our end zone. He still had a good average.
-Red Zone offense was predictable. I think if you want to talk about the area where the coaching battle was lost red zone offense was it. When Rhoads is talking about UNIs gameplan and if you have a criticism of Mess this is where you should really be looking.
Spinning it for hope and optimisms sake:
The good news is this. When the line gave the offense a chance to work it did just that. They are young and could still gel. Look at the improvement from first to last game last year with Tulsa, no reason that couldn't be us. big problem number 2 was predictable red zone plays, Mess needs someone to slap him around on that to identify the tendencies of his play calling when we're that close. We ran it up the middle with Woody so much in the red zone while they were stacking the box. We need to check out of that call and go for the 1 on 1 jump ball or slant. The defensive issues we had in the first half seemed to get much better in the second half when Knott started taking the field more and more. Wally needs to dial that in and again the youth could gel as the season continues. The D line was horrible, there's no spinning that at all...barring a miracle we are going to have issues because of that all year.
Long rambling post, but there were mroe positives about the game than I remembered because I was too ****** about losing to UNI. The stuff we heard about from camp about a better offense and big play threats was there. There is some raw, RAW talent out there. Being young is an excuse that isn't really acceptable, but if it gels this season can still be salvaged. If we can turn it around and hold onto our recruiting class next year could be the break out year. With the results of our opponents this week this schedule is not as daunting as it first appeared and we could still be a 6 win team if a couple breaks go our way and the talent we do have comes together.
End Novel
Yes, it was a tough loss. Yes, they were young too. Yes, the line play last night left something to be desired. But I think the discussions along the lines of who should be fired may be a bit of a knee jerk reaction. I think some of the reaction is very caught up in it was UNI and they're a FCS team which we should never lose to last night. I don't disagree with that, but I think it blinded a lot of the rational looking at it and made everything seem much worse than it was. I fully agree we should never lose to an FCS team. No BCS league team 'should', but it does happen from time to time especially by quality FCS teams (NDSU hasn't lost to a D1 opponent since we beat them in 2009). 7 FBS teams lost to FCS opponents this week. UNI is a quality FCS team (though we should still beat them 14/15 match ups). They came to play like they always do, because it gives a bunch of Iowa kids a chance to play in front of 50K fans in their home state and show they belong too. This is where I think a lot of other FCS vs FBS games differs from this rivalry. UNI comes in really wanting to prove something and knowing they can. In many other matchups they know they're there to get there paycheck, take their lumps and go home for the year. Farley knows how to prep these guys for the in state games.
Things that were positive:
-As awful as everyone remembers it the first half offense was actually WAY better than I thought going back and looking at it. Remember the Defense never being able to stay off the field last year? Check out the drive recap and look at the yardage and result. With the exception of the drive we punted on due to penalties every drive was 48 plus yards.
-Sam was close to 70% completion percentage (looks like the KU game Sam may be legit). There is no QB controversy for the first time since Arnaud. Assuming he can stay healthy...He's too small to take that kind of pounding for 12 weeks and not get more than the limp he had last night.
-4 Cyclones had 3 or more catches and averaged 9.8 or more yards. 3 of those 4 had a play that was 20 or more yards. Those big play threats we've been clamoring for since Chiz seem to be there now with Sam connecting with these guys. Bundrage made some guys miss on a big play in the 2nd quarter I think it was that stands out in my mind and Coleman seems to be legit at this point.
-we had 3 running backs averaging close to 4.5 yards or more on 5 or more carries. This is in spite of the loss of our best offensive lineman with 13:33 left in the first half (being replaced by a guy who only saw about 1 week worth of practice at center). The 4th running back seeing snaps was Woody and outside of his number getting called consecutively in the red zone in what appeared to be an attempt to reenact the end of the OSU game (without Osemele to pave the road) he served his purpose.
-The cyclone offense had ZERO turnovers. The Cyclone D forced 2.
-Penalties. 4 for 30 yards, one for 15 due to what I assume was just frustration getting the best of him.
-The QB zone read looks effective for the first time ever under this offense. Seemed like Sam was making the right read (wish he wasn't keeping it as much though or learning to slide/get OB)
Negatives (where to start):
-line play, both sides. I really think that 90% of the disaster comes down to line play last night on both side of the ball. AK47 and Knott v1.0 aren't there to compensate for what has been a weak point for so long. Though Knott 2.0 looks like he could grow into the roll
-Tackling...it absolutely sucked. 2 of UNIs touchdowns came after an attempt to tackle Johnson which most middle school football players should be embarrassed about.
-Special teams. They weren't horrendous but I thought Bundrage missed a couple lanes last night that could have led to some momentum changers. I'm not going to knock Arceo for shanking a couple field goals we probably shouldn't have tried. Kirby is entitled to a miscue once or twice a season, this was just a bad game for a weak punt from our end zone. He still had a good average.
-Red Zone offense was predictable. I think if you want to talk about the area where the coaching battle was lost red zone offense was it. When Rhoads is talking about UNIs gameplan and if you have a criticism of Mess this is where you should really be looking.
Spinning it for hope and optimisms sake:
The good news is this. When the line gave the offense a chance to work it did just that. They are young and could still gel. Look at the improvement from first to last game last year with Tulsa, no reason that couldn't be us. big problem number 2 was predictable red zone plays, Mess needs someone to slap him around on that to identify the tendencies of his play calling when we're that close. We ran it up the middle with Woody so much in the red zone while they were stacking the box. We need to check out of that call and go for the 1 on 1 jump ball or slant. The defensive issues we had in the first half seemed to get much better in the second half when Knott started taking the field more and more. Wally needs to dial that in and again the youth could gel as the season continues. The D line was horrible, there's no spinning that at all...barring a miracle we are going to have issues because of that all year.
Long rambling post, but there were mroe positives about the game than I remembered because I was too ****** about losing to UNI. The stuff we heard about from camp about a better offense and big play threats was there. There is some raw, RAW talent out there. Being young is an excuse that isn't really acceptable, but if it gels this season can still be salvaged. If we can turn it around and hold onto our recruiting class next year could be the break out year. With the results of our opponents this week this schedule is not as daunting as it first appeared and we could still be a 6 win team if a couple breaks go our way and the talent we do have comes together.
End Novel
