IUP Football 2021

[Ram Tough]

https://www.indianagazette.com/sport...b7a9e1019.html

From how I interpreted those player quotes, it sounds like IUP was on auto-pilot. Show up, do our thing, and we're in.

I still think Nulph noticed that IUP was using the same special teams playbook they used in 2019.

Those quotes definitely read like that to me. It seemed so far fetched that they didn't even consider it to be a possibility.

[Ship69]

I think IUP should have won the last two games and be perched at #2 in the region right now. As fans, our expectations should be sky-high. But we all saw that didn't happen.

The thing is I agree with you on almost all points. I hate to talk about next year but they are young and have most of the starting lineup coming back on both sides of the ball. They will have to resolve the QB situation again. As you say, they need that dominant RB.

Of course, being left out of the PO's you can always rationalize and say you have a head start on recruiting.

Being young is less of an excuse this year than usual. Almost every school in the conference is playing multiple freshmen and sophomores this year. There were only five seniors on Ship's two-deep when the season started. Mac said before the first game that 80 percent of the starters had never played a down on Ship's field.

[Fightingscot82]

I'm interested in reading Matt's write-up in the IG.

https://www.indianagazette.com/sport...b7a9e1019.html

From how I interpreted those player quotes, it sounds like IUP was on auto-pilot. Show up, do our thing, and we're in.

I still think Nulph noticed that IUP was using the same special teams playbook they used in 2019.

[iupgroundhog]

I think IUP should have won the last two games and be perched at #2 in the region right now. As fans, our expectations should be sky-high. But we all saw that didn't happen.

The thing is I agree with you on almost all points. I hate to talk about next year but they are young and have most of the starting lineup coming back on both sides of the ball. They will have to resolve the QB situation again. As you say, they need that dominant RB.

Of course, being left out of the PO's you can always rationalize and say you have a head start on recruiting.

[Ram040506]

Listen I will make this clear as possible IUP tough schedule finally caught up with them in my opinion. They are quite young across the board as there was a few notable seniors maybe 5 that played there last home game sat with IRV and Harry notable losses and hard to replace for the most part.

With Covid and what every team had to go through, the excuse of being young is poor. How their schedule played out with their 4 toughest games being back to back sets, sure that is a tough draw I get it. In most years they are going to have 3 or 4 tough games though so hopefully the point was more about when they were played rather than who they played.

[Iupgh]

From who? This message board? Come on...

I don't know who is keeping the football program afloat with donations. I imagine though, most of those people are pretty tight with Tort, Jim Smith, and Mike Campolo. They have all been there forever. Football isn't big enough at IUP or in the town of Indiana, PA for a message board to cause water cooler talk that ends up creating changes on the football coaching staff.

[Fightingscot82]

I'm interested in reading Matt's write-up in the IG.

[Fightingscot82]

Irv dislocated thumb so stop assuming crap on a college kid that has done everything right since he arrived on campus. In fact he should of got ghost in 2019 when administrators screwed up his paperwork. Credit to him and the staff to keep him as I am sure he could of played 1AA elsewhere.

Thanks for the update, Coach Torts!

[Iupgh]

Edinboro isn't a terrible team, but...

1. Still wondering why Charles dressed but didn't play. that looks like internal discipline.

2. Woodberry was uncharacteristically off all day. He hit some big passes on occasion but he was just 14 of 33 with 1 TD. That's a 20% swing in completions without any INTs or sacks.

3. IUP secondary didn't give up 300 yards but they surprisingly didn't have any picks either.

4. Did IUP change the special teams playbook after Nulph left? Because it seemed like he knew what to expect. Two blocked punts, a recovered onside kick, and a pressured FG that led to a rare miss.

5. IUP committed just 5 penalties for 53 yards. But Edinboro committed just 1 for 5 yards. Two of those IUP penalties were personal fouls.

Irv dislocated thumb so stop assuming crap on a college kid that has done everything right since he arrived on campus. In fact he should of got ghost in 2019 when administrators screwed up his paperwork. Credit to him and the staff to keep him as I am sure he could of played 1AA elsewhere.

[EdinboroFB]

The QB isnt making up how deep he drops on each play on his own.

[IUPNation]

From who? This message board? Come on...

I don't know who is keeping the football program afloat with donations. I imagine though, most of those people are pretty tight with Tort, Jim Smith, and Mike Campolo. They have all been there forever. Football isn't big enough at IUP or in the town of Indiana, PA for a message board to cause water cooler talk that ends up creating changes on the football coaching staff.

[IUP24]

This is probably true.

I think the sample size with some stuff is large enough now to assume that Tort inherited a great situation in his first season in 2017. Curt had a very, very talented roster there. They had THE guy with Max Redfield to make that defense feared. But I think mostly, Tort was just a much looser guy than Curt. They went from playing for Nick Saban, who controlled down to the exact minute when they had a water break, to playing for the guy that laughed with them and put an arm around their shoulder when they got chewed out in practice. I think it worked and was the right mix then. It might not now. Feel like when you see focus type mistakes, a lot of personal fouls, guys arguing on the sidelines, etc., that screams of a team who's just not buttoned up. Typically that reflects the coaching staff and the head coach.

Maybe it's a roster construction issue and they need a couple alphas to take control at the player level. Maybe it's a new flavor of assistants who are a bit more authoritarian. Maybe its a combination. I'm with you though, I don't expect any changes.

[ShoNuff]

May I ask to hear your rationale behind why the hire of the O-Coord was not a bad hire?

[IUP24]

There is now pressure on the AD to fix this ****.

From who? This message board? Come on...

I don't know who is keeping the football program afloat with donations. I imagine though, most of those people are pretty tight with Tort, Jim Smith, and Mike Campolo. They have all been there forever. Football isn't big enough at IUP or in the town of Indiana, PA for a message board to cause water cooler talk that ends up creating changes on the football coaching staff.

[IUP24]

Armenti got fired in May 2012, Luckhardt retired the following month.

Under Luckhardt, from 2002 to 2011, Cal had at least a share of seven division titles, five double-digit win seasons, five playoff berths, eight playoff wins, and three regional championships. Luckhardt went 6-4 vs. IUP and 7-3 vs. SRU.

Since Luckhardt retired, Cal has had as many division titles as Gannon (1), one double-digit win season, two playoff berths, and one playoff win (against IUP). Keller and Dunn have combined to go 6-4 vs. IUP and 2-6 vs. SRU.

Maybe it's because Lucky set the bar so high, but I'd say that's a step back.

I think, Matt, my overall point is that there are certain IUP posters on this message board who believed that once the spending spree related to athletics, football in particular, ended there, so too would any potential of success that Cal might drum up in football. There were posters who truly felt that after that era ended, IUP would return to winning 9 out of every 10 against Cal. That just hasn't happened. If anything, what the period with Armenti and Lucky did was create a sustained culture there that didn't allow Cal to fall back to irrelevance. They're in the mix with IUP and SRU in the West almost every single year. Do they win it most years now? As you said, no. But I think the program is highly, highly competitive, which was the broader point I was trying to make.