THE IUP Football Thread

[Iupgh]

Please do . We couldn’t be so lucky.

[Ship69]

Playing freshmen up front and QB's always hurt obviously isn't a coincidence.

I did think Ship came out with a little spunk. Seemed to me that FB who got hurt early is thier leader on offense (perhaps not the stat leader but certainly the 'captain' out there). Once he left the game the air came out of the balloon pretty quickly. IUP had the BC Eagle rattled pretty bad by halftime and then pounced on him in the third quarter. He was running for his life in the second and third quarters.

I do think Ship has some nice RBs. They are just experiening the same thing the IUP backs are ... getting blown up immediately.

The last QB made some plays. I will say I'd guess you'll get your No. 1 and No. 5 back this week. Neither were in any slings or boots or anything and both are moving around decent. The FB ... not so sure. He appeared to have an ankle injury.

Yeah, I've had a discussion with jrshooter on another thread about the "BC Eagle," Sam Johnson, and we agree he doesn't seem to have a particularly good feel for the game. I thought he was regarded as something of a dual-threat QB when he came to Ship, but he doesn't appear to have the type of speed to break away from DBs or even swift linebackers. That turnover resulting in a TD just before halftime was the result of simply holding on to the ball too long and a total unawareness of the IUP guy behind him. He has a decent arm, but like a lot of QBs I see at the D2 level has an issue with finding the proper touch on long routes. Some guys, even some with major athletic ability, never seem to get the hang of that. As far as I'm concerned, they might as well give Sam Stoner, the QB who came in toward the end, a shot at the Bloomsburg game as we've now had examples of what McCracken (5), Johnson, and Evan Falco can do, and the season appears to be basically in the toilet. Stoner actually had a good career at York William Penn High playing against mostly 6A opposition, and he's a coach's son who seems to have some feel for the game. He originally took a preferred walk-on spot at West Virginia, but apparently wanted to get somewhere with a better opportunity to play. But I suspect they'll start McCracken if he's healthy.

[IUPNation]

The season ends bad for all but one team.

Many teams' seasons are already over, postseason-wise, after three weeks. Enjoy the ride while it lasts.

But no city takes the worst gut punches in sports than Philadelphia.

It gets old.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

From the Tort Show last night ...

* Sounds like all will play this week aside from Vaughn

* Tort hinted that Randy Washington will start to see more carries as he's getting closer to 100 percent. Tort said he's the fastest of the RBs. He also said he thinks Dayjure is getting closer to his old self.

* The elephant in the room (poor OL play) was brought up in the final moments of the hour-long show. Tort said he feels they are making progress but it has to happen much faster. He basically implied the cohesion isn't there yet.

* He said Mercyhurst is a hard venue to play at but didn't say why

[Ship69]

But no city takes the worst gut punches in sports than Philadelphia.

It gets old.

I think Chicago is giving them a good run for their money these days. Bears, Blackhawks and White Sox all stink, Bulls have been mediocre since the Jordan days, and the Cubs are trying hard to play themselves out of a playoff spot at the moment.

[DeepBallEnjoyer]

From the Tort Show last night ...

* Sounds like all will play this week aside from Vaughn

* Tort hinted that Randy Washington will start to see more carries as he's getting closer to 100 percent. Tort said he's the fastest of the RBs. He also said he thinks Dayjure is getting closer to his old self.

* The elephant in the room (poor OL play) was brought up in the final moments of the hour-long show. Tort said he feels they are making progress but it has to happen much faster. He basically implied the cohesion isn't there yet.

* He said Mercyhurst is a hard venue to play at but didn't say why

That show has just ticked me off the past two weeks. Tort just rubs me the wrong way. Finally watched last weeks episode and just zero accountability from the guy. As a coach you need to take the blame for a loss and he just spent the whole show whining about how there should have been penalties called to save the team from his terrible game day coaching.

Was happy to see them field a question from the audience about Karst's "low ball flight" to put it lightly. Glad the coaching staff is aware of that glaring issue(as oblivious as they seem). Glad to hear them touch on this and the incredible strength of their WR core's height and athleticism.

Tort seems confident they can get the run game going, but I think he's just blowing smoke. Some major improvements are gonna need to happen with that OL in order to make it happen. Talked about how the game was a big win and how the offense played much better in the second half, but I seriously worry about this coaching staff if they aren't breathing a sigh of relief after making it out of that game alive. Can NOT count on the defense to force 3 turnovers a game in order to win.

Zinobile interviewed pretty well, but I guess that's to be expected out of a player with that much experience. Audibly laughed when he said there was not much drop off between the D2 competition he's facing compared to D1 teams last year. Maybe he's being serious and on average it's true, but I think he's just being humble and avoiding speaking ill of his competition. The kid's opening game was against BAYLOR last year! Surely Shippensburg's DBs are on the same level as Baylor's LOL!

[IUPNation]

I think Chicago is giving them a good run for their money these days. Bears, Blackhawks and White Sox all stink, Bulls have been mediocre since the Jordan days, and the Cubs are trying hard to play themselves out of a playoff spot at the moment.

Did they lose a World Series and a Super Bowl just months apart? What

[The P in IUP]

Did they lose a World Series and a Super Bowl just months apart? What

Hell Philly Lost the World Series and MLS Cup the same day.

[IUPNation]

Hell Philly Lost the World Series and MLS Cup the same day.

Right?!!

Total. Gut. Punch.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

That show has just ticked me off the past two weeks. Tort just rubs me the wrong way. Finally watched last weeks episode and just zero accountability from the guy. As a coach you need to take the blame for a loss and he just spent the whole show whining about how there should have been penalties called to save the team from his terrible game day coaching.

Was happy to see them field a question from the audience about Karst's "low ball flight" to put it lightly. Glad the coaching staff is aware of that glaring issue(as oblivious as they seem). Glad to hear them touch on this and the incredible strength of their WR core's height and athleticism.

Tort seems confident they can get the run game going, but I think he's just blowing smoke. Some major improvements are gonna need to happen with that OL in order to make it happen. Talked about how the game was a big win and how the offense played much better in the second half, but I seriously worry about this coaching staff if they aren't breathing a sigh of relief after making it out of that game alive. Can NOT count on the defense to force 3 turnovers a game in order to win.

Zinobile interviewed pretty well, but I guess that's to be expected out of a player with that much experience. Audibly laughed when he said there was not much drop off between the D2 competition he's facing compared to D1 teams last year. Maybe he's being serious and on average it's true, but I think he's just being humble and avoiding speaking ill of his competition. The kid's opening game was against BAYLOR last year! Surely Shippensburg's DBs are on the same level as Baylor's LOL!

The time to beat them is right now.

If (real big if) they do fix the OL, they would be a pretty tough out.

As Tort said, 4 of the 7 OL playing now have (3) career games each at IUP. Same with Karst.

They should continue to gel with each game. They are very obviously thinking way too much rather than just playing. They aren't being forceful (odd for the size and muscle they have).

If they can figure out how to run the ball, they get scary in a hurry.

Will that happen? We'll see. I have my doubts. Karst is putting up pretty good numbers despite the. Being totally one-dimensional.

Their defense is extremely strong. I'd be shocked if anybody in SR1 could score more than 24-28 on them (so long as it isn't Ashland part two and teams are starting drives in the red zone).

The fact they still struggled to run against Shippensburg is very alarming.

End of the day, it's real simple. If the OL gets going, they will be tough to beat. If not, I suspect they lose to both SRU and Cal.

This road game is the best thing that could happen. Seven in a row at home is way too many -- in particular when IUP plays much better away from Miller.

[Fightingscot82]

The IUP-Slippery Rock game will be broadcast live on WKBN, the CBS news station in the Youngstown market. Pretty cool that IUP-Slippery Rock will follow whichever SEC game CBS shows.

[SRU 88]

The IUP-Slippery Rock game will be broadcast live on WKBN, the CBS news station in the Youngstown market. Pretty cool that IUP-Slippery Rock will follow whichever SEC game CBS shows.

WKBN did the Seton Hill/ROCK broadcast last year it was well done. ROCK DIGITAL NETWORK just simulcasts their broadcast or you can go to WKBN and stream it there

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Well, on paper, IUP's game at Mercyhurst tomorrow features two of the worst offenses in the PSAC.

Deceiving, perhaps, as IUP has faced two very stout defenses in Ashland and East Stroudsburg. Mercyhurst has played Ferris State and Kutztown. Both looked better against a lesser opponet (Shippensburg and Lock Haven).

The good news for you Hawk lovers:

IUP ran for about (what seemed) 1,000 yards against the Lakers last year. The bad news, obviously, is this IUP team can't seem to run at all. But, perhaps that changes tomorrow. Mercyhurst is giving up about 230 yards per game on the ground and another 300 through the air. Last season, Mercyhurst completely sold out on stopping the pass against IUP. So, Tort just said he'd run it down their throats (and they did).

Looking back at the this series over the past several years, this is generally a close game at halftime. IUP pulls away in the second half.

The Lakers' strength, offensively, is throwing the ball around (very different than Marty Ball). Throwing against IUP, however, is going to be very difficult.

Tomorrow is Game 4 -- and, it's against a team giving up massive amounts of yardage on the ground. If IUP can't run tomorrow, I think we unfortunately have an issue that isn't going to be fixed this season.

They all know what is coming the next two weeks. Focus isn't always a strength of Tort teams. I'm curious to see how focused they are in Erie tomorrow. Their last trip to Erie didn't end real well.

[EyeoftheHawk]

Well, on paper, IUP's game at Mercyhurst tomorrow features two of the worst offenses in the PSAC.

Deceiving, perhaps, as IUP has faced two very stout defenses in Ashland and East Stroudsburg. Mercyhurst has played Ferris State and Kutztown. Both looked better against a lesser opponet (Shippensburg and Lock Haven).

The good news for you Hawk lovers:

IUP ran for about (what seemed) 1,000 yards against the Lakers last year. The bad news, obviously, is this IUP team can't seem to run at all. But, perhaps that changes tomorrow. Mercyhurst is giving up about 230 yards per game on the ground and another 300 through the air. Last season, Mercyhurst completely sold out on stopping the pass against IUP. So, Tort just said he'd run it down their throats (and they did).

Looking back at the this series over the past several years, this is generally a close game at halftime. IUP pulls away in the second half.

The Lakers' strength, offensively, is throwing the ball around (very different than Marty Ball). Throwing against IUP, however, is going to be very difficult.

Tomorrow is Game 4 -- and, it's against a team giving up massive amounts of yardage on the ground. If IUP can't run tomorrow, I think we unfortunately have an issue that isn't going to be fixed this season.

They all know what is coming the next two weeks. Focus isn't always a strength of Tort teams. I'm curious to see how focused they are in Erie tomorrow. Their last trip to Erie didn't end real well.

I don’t think IUP will cover. Let’s say the line is -17 1/2. Just a hunch. It’s the first road game in forever and it’s going to draw a smaller crowd than local high school games. It also precedes Rock week. If Hurst just protects the ball and doesn’t repeat what Ship did last week, they’ll keep it competitive. IUP HAS to show they can run the ball this week though per your point. That’s what I’ll be looking for more than anything else.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I don’t think IUP will cover. Let’s say the line is -17 1/2. Just a hunch. It’s the first road game in forever and it’s going to draw a smaller crowd than local high school games. It also precedes Rock week. If Hurst just protects the ball and doesn’t repeat what Ship did last week, they’ll keep it competitive. IUP HAS to show they can run the ball this week though per your point. That’s what I’ll be looking for more than anything else.

I actually think IUP hammers them tomorrow.

If it was at Miller, I'd agree it would be close.

Tort's teams lack focus at home (likely for a variety of reasons). They are (historically) a nasty bunch on the road.

Aside from distractions, we know Miller has the excitement level of a phone booth.

This road trip has the best timing in the world.