THE IUP Football Thread

[Ram040506]

Lot to live up to. You think he may take his own path? Is he supposed to be similar to his brother?

Haven't seen a ton on him. From the measurables, he is smaller than his brother. I think he's generously listed at 6', while Tyson is legitimately 6'2", but I've heard the younger brother is closer to 5'10". Arm talent is tough to compare, but doesn't appear to have the zip his brother did either. I hope we get him, since he's got familiarity with the program and the offense from high school certainly translates to what the Rams run. Kid can grow too, work ethic in that family is top notch so I'd expect the younger brother to be in the same mold from that perspective.

[IUPNation]

Hoping he ends up at Shepherd, but I don't think that decision is final yet from Ezra Bagent.

One of your fellow fans posted he was…

[IUPNation]

Lot to live up to. You think he may take his own path? Is he supposed to be similar to his brother?

He would be smart to find another school and not have that pressure on him to replicate his brother’s performances. You know how these Swiftie fans can be…they’ll write a revenge song on him if he fails.

[Ram040506]

He would be smart to find another school and not have that pressure on him to replicate his brother’s performances. You know how these Swiftie fans can be…they’ll write a revenge song on him if he fails.

They've had a pretty good run of qb's since 2010. I trust they'll find a good trigger man.

Taylor Swift is the greatest female star in the history of music, high praise sir!

[IUPNation]

They've had a pretty good run of qb's since 2010. I trust they'll find a good trigger man.

Taylor Swift is the greatest female star in the history of music, high praise sir!

Her immature penchant of writing revenge songs (because she dated men too old for her) and being totally fake with surprise every time she wins an award isn’t exactly a compliment. Some of your fans are guilty of the revenge posts and act like your team is the Little Sisters of The Poor vs the world when they win.

[Ram040506]

Her immature penchant of writing revenge songs (because she dated men too old for her) and being totally fake with surprise every time she wins an award isn’t exactly a compliment

Sounds like a successful formula, no?

[IUPNation]

Sounds like a successful formula, no?

I guess if you have the emotional maturity of a 13 year old….

[Fightingscot82]

The thing you have to realize is he's a legit D1 QB who is going to get drafted perhaps as high as Round 3 (per some publications). He's the big fish in a small town here in D2 -- and the type of QB that SR1 will see about once every 50 years. I wouldn't doubt if the Steelers draft him this year. I've heard they've been down there several times. They'd look like fools taking a QB in the first round again this year, so I think they are looking for somebody like him in that mid-round range.

Shepherd's OL is good enough that it keeps the majority of SR1 heat off of him. What little heat does come, he's superb at avoiding. We'll see how it translates up levels but he's at least now done terrorizing SR1 defenses.

The big difference once our top QBs leave SR1, however, has been said 'avoiding' gets a whole lot harder. The defenses at Ferris State are just on a whole different level than SR1. When Roland Rivers had that Harlon Hill year, all his 'Houdini' stuff evaporated when they got blown out at home. In SR1 nobody could get near him, and, when they did, they couldn't tackle him. That ended real fast in the Final Four.

Bagent is obviously why I said in dry conditions IUP would lose 9 of 10 games to the Rams this year -- perhaps all 10. I know the Tort fanatics don't want to hear that, but it's reality. The good news for IUP is they don't have to ever play him again.

The Steelers (Tomlin) don't take guys from sub-FBS seriously, which is laughable because Tomlin played at William & Mary. Maybe its some sort of self-hate psychosis.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

972 football players in the D2 portal as of this morning. Good Lord.

[iupgroundhog]

It's Portal Monday in Indiana. Word around town is there will be a couple defections but nothing of alarm.

Due to season-ending injuries, some of IUP's top 2023 needed replacements are already here (having missed most of this year).

Their best defensive overall player, Tyrone Fowler, returns. He was lost for the season early in the Slippery Rock game.

Derek Lockhart returns at WR. He would have been the No. 2 guy this year. He was lost in the first half of Game 1. He will pair with Hilton Ridley next year for a very solid 1-2 punch.

Logan Danielson, the extremely hyped up DL from Thomas Jefferson (Class of 2019) is set to finally make his IUP debut in 2023. He's a monster by all reports, but he has to get on the field (finally).

Dayjure Stewart is set to return at RB after having missed the last two games.

One big piece who can return, non-injury or eligibility related, is center Collin Pietropola. It sounds up in the air if he will stay for another season but I'd guess he will decide to come back.


Tort certainly has some shopping to do -- likely very quickly. He prefers mid-year transfers who can go through the Spring here. The Portal is absolutely flooded at the moment. But, overall, he has an awful lot coming back.

You had previously mentioned Pietropola coming back but he has honored on Senior Day which usually indicates not returning. Make no mistake, if he returns that is a big thing. Having 3 returnees from the outstanding OL, including the Center, is a lot better than having 2 and not including the Center. The hole on the defensive side at DT is clear but IUP should probably be in the market for OL, too. I don't know what the feelings are about this year's second-teamers but in an interview recently I heard Tort start to go off about a big dropoff from the starters to the backups and then he kinda caught himself.

[Ram Tough]

Just a guess ... but my money would be on No. 20?

He acted like a fool after the first game.

We have a winner. You can see him clearly on the WRNR feed taunting and acting like a loon. I'm not saying that there weren't players on each team chirping at each other, but his teammates kept yanking him away only for him to keep trotting back over.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

You had previously mentioned Pietropola coming back but he has honored on Senior Day which usually indicates not returning. Make no mistake, if he returns that is a big thing. Having 3 returnees from the outstanding OL, including the Center, is a lot better than having 2 and not including the Center. The hole on the defensive side at DT is clear but IUP should probably be in the market for OL, too. I don't know what the feelings are about this year's second-teamers but in an interview recently I heard Tort start to go off about a big dropoff from the starters to the backups and then he kinda caught himself.

Jack asked Pietropola point blank on the Tort Show a couple weeks ago and he said he hadn't made up his mind yet. Connor Kelly went through the same thing last year (walked on senior day, etc.) before deciding to come back. Once the dust settles a lot of these guys realize it's a lot to walk away from and decide to stay. Play college football in a fun college town for another year or start the 9-5 routine.

They get real young real fast on the OL behind this years group. Most of the backups were redshirt freshmen. I think they'll certainly add at least (1) OL via the portal.

[Pine Ridge]

972 football players in the D2 portal as of this morning. Good Lord.

The COVID bonus year certainly skews the numbers. But, that's a crazy big number that will only grow daily.

[Fightingscot82]

The COVID bonus year certainly skews the numbers. But, that's a crazy big number that will only grow daily.

Bonus year plus the new rule that every player gets one "free" transfer that can't be blocked and doesn't require them to sit out if they move up or over. I read that the bonus year is driving a lot of the graduate transfers.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

The COVID bonus year certainly skews the numbers. But, that's a crazy big number that will only grow daily.

Yep.

The other big item coming ... the old report card day ... sends even more in to the portal. Academically ineligible at one school may not mean academically ineligible at your new school.

It could be a great off-season if you have coin to spend.