THE IUP Football Thread

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Interesting article in IG today.

Can't say I agree with all of the Tort Speak.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

You've got me really scared now. I think IUP will win this game because they have to.

Cal is saying the same thing. They have to win it, too. They aren't quite on the edge of the plank like IUP, but they need this one. This is a playoff game.

Well, I do think there's a lot of talent on the team. I even think those offensive linemen, individually, are all good players. Same with Karst. All three backs have also had success over the years.

That said, something is off. It's Week 6 so the learning to play together angle is losing steam. I actually think IUP has regressed since the first two weeks.

Tort said today in the IG that they don't have an X's and O's problem. I thought this was a very, very interesting thing to say. That's actually a huge part of the problem along with a lack of attention to detail.

They haven't played a team yet with superior athletes. They just aren't performing. They didn't just lose last week. They got embarrassed.

I sure hope they finally put together a full 60 minutes. It will be a VERY long next 5 games if they lose Saturday.

Most attack when backed in to a corner. IUP is certainly backed into a corner.

I do think this forecast favors IUP to an extent. I'd take the wind in quarters 2&3. It's going to be a huge factor in the game. It will be extremely hard to throw into and the punts will go very little distance.

[ShoNuff]

Interesting article in IG today.

Can't say I agree with all of the Tort Speak.

I do not agree with a lot of it....especially when he says "It’s not an X’s and O’s issue" .Once again, he is blaming the players and NOT THE stale coaching staff. EVERYONE should be getting the blame from THAT beatdown. VERY disappointed in HC Tort.....VERY !!!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I do not agree with a lot of it....especially when he says "It’s not an X’s and O’s issue" .Once again, he is blaming the players and NOT THE stale coaching staff. EVERYONE should be getting the blame from THAT beatdown. VERY disappointed in HC Tort.....VERY !!!

Calling out the players like that isn't going to fly inside the locker room. This teams psyche is already on very thin ice.

Gary Dunn said on his show this week IUP has run the same defense for decades. I can call Larry Wilson's plays from the stands with probably 75 percent accuracy.

It is an X's and O's problem. All this blame can only be deflected so long. I think we've reached the point of no longer buying what Tort is selling (or deflecting).
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[iupgroundhog]

Some of it is the X's and O's but most of it has been not executing the X's and O's well. And the defense has not faltered until the SRU game.

[EyeoftheHawk]

It’s X’s and O’s. It’s a lack of physicality. It’s lack of discipline. It’s overrated players. It’s an inability to count. It’s finger pointing.

The 2023 version of IUP just isn’t much better than average. I don’t expect we’ll see a magical turnaround on Saturday. Sadly for IUP fans, I think Cal is just a better team and is likely to win. That doesn’t mean they will and the Coal Bowl is typically tight, so IUP has a chance.

It happens. Every season is a new group of players and sometimes coaches, and you don’t know for sure how they’re going to mesh. This year there are A LOT of new faces and in key positions on offense in particular. It’s just not working this time around.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Forecast improved dramatically for tomorrow. No rain, 57 degrees and 13 mph wind.



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[Fightingscot82]

Forecast improved dramatically for tomorrow. No rain, 57 degrees and 13 mph wind.



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That's great football weather.

[IUPalum]

It’s X’s and O’s. It’s a lack of physicality. It’s lack of discipline. It’s overrated players. It’s an inability to count. It’s finger pointing.

The 2023 version of IUP just isn’t much better than average. I don’t expect we’ll see a magical turnaround on Saturday. Sadly for IUP fans, I think Cal is just a better team and is likely to win. That doesn’t mean they will and the Coal Bowl is typically tight, so IUP has a chance.

It happens. Every season is a new group of players and sometimes coaches, and you don’t know for sure how they’re going to mesh. This year there are A LOT of new faces and in key positions on offense in particular. It’s just not working this time around.

It's disgusting that Tort has blamed everyone and anything but himself. Not being up for a game? Come on, get real! It's not X's and O's? So you're saying the players suck? Tell that to them and it would also mean YOUR recruiting sucked too. This season is a disgusting mess and if the coach can't take some of the blame then they will never get better.

[DeepBallEnjoyer]

It's disgusting that Tort has blamed everyone and anything but himself. Not being up for a game? Come on, get real! It's not X's and O's? So you're saying the players suck? Tell that to them and it would also mean YOUR recruiting sucked too. This season is a disgusting mess and if the coach can't take some of the blame then they will never get better.

I've been saying this since that ESU game. Shameful that he took no responsibility for that. And every week since he's shown me that he has ZERO accountability. The dude is a joke. He said on the Hawk Talk this week that Slip did nothing different than what they expected at all. Then HOW ON EARTH did you come out so flat and get punched in the face like that. Tries to deflect all blame to the refs for the ESU loss and ALL the blame to the players for the Slip loss.

Another thing that made me laugh from the show was when he talked about the lack of turnovers. He was whining about how his defense has "got to get some turnovers" against a high powered offense. Does he know how football works? If your game plan requires you to get turnovers in order to stay competitive, then your game plan sucks. Turnovers are a bonus. A cherry on top. You CAN NOT count on turnovers to win games. Dude is a complete clown and does not deserve to coach from what he's shown me thus far this season.

[iupgroundhog]

All this talk about who is to blame is not the way I see it. If you are the coach in this situation, the blame game is not going to help anything.

What he is saying to the media is that WE have to play better. That's all. He's not blaming the players. I think that, if you really need to break this down, when Tort says WE he means the entire team, including coaching. We don't know what he is saying to the players.

Win tomorrow and the discussion changes. Of course, lose tomorrow, and the discussion changes, too.

If it's on the coaching staff and Tort, I think it's related to adapting to the new portal/transfer environment. Hey, just a few weeks ago Tort was being heralded as a master of the new portal world.

But maybe the new world requires a new kind of coaching. Obviously, you have to develop things in a couple of weeks that in the past were developed over many months or even years. It might be unnerving to some, but let's compare Lock Haven and IUP. Now, LHU might get blown out tomorrow and we'll see that their recent success is a mirage. I don't think we'll see that tomorrow, though. In reality, LHU has been able to bring in a much higher percentage of brand new players to the program and make it work. In contrast, everybody (including myself) is citing that as a big reason for IUP's problems. Just something to think about.

[Ram040506]

All this talk about who is to blame is not the way I see it. If you are the coach in this situation, the blame game is not going to help anything.

What he is saying to the media is that WE have to play better. That's all. He's not blaming the players. I think that, if you really need to break this down, when Tort says WE he means the entire team, including coaching. We don't know what he is saying to the players.

Win tomorrow and the discussion changes. Of course, lose tomorrow, and the discussion changes, too.

If it's on the coaching staff and Tort, I think it's related to adapting to the new portal/transfer environment. Hey, just a few weeks ago Tort was being heralded as a master of the new portal world.

But maybe the new world requires a new kind of coaching. Obviously, you have to develop things in a couple of weeks that in the past were developed over many months or even years. It might be unnerving to some, but let's compare Lock Haven and IUP. Now, LHU might get blown out tomorrow and we'll see that their recent success is a mirage. I don't think we'll see that tomorrow, though. In reality, LHU has been able to bring in a much higher percentage of brand new players to the program and make it work. In contrast, everybody (including myself) is citing that as a big reason for IUP's problems. Just something to think about.

As a Shepherd fan, I'm hopeful for a blowout against Lock Haven but don't see it happening either. Lock Haven and Millersville are vastly improved and can win for sure. There doesn't seem to be any pushovers in the East.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I've been saying this since that ESU game. Shameful that he took no responsibility for that. And every week since he's shown me that he has ZERO accountability. The dude is a joke. He said on the Hawk Talk this week that Slip did nothing different than what they expected at all. Then HOW ON EARTH did you come out so flat and get punched in the face like that. Tries to deflect all blame to the refs for the ESU loss and ALL the blame to the players for the Slip loss.

Another thing that made me laugh from the show was when he talked about the lack of turnovers. He was whining about how his defense has "got to get some turnovers" against a high powered offense. Does he know how football works? If your game plan requires you to get turnovers in order to stay competitive, then your game plan sucks. Turnovers are a bonus. A cherry on top. You CAN NOT count on turnovers to win games. Dude is a complete clown and does not deserve to coach from what he's shown me thus far this season.

I said earlier in the week the first five minutes tomorrow are so important.

I don't know what Tort should do if IUP wins the toss. I'm not sure which beleaguered unit I'd want to send out there first.

I promise this: If IUP has its usual slow start tomorrow, that already shaky confidence is going to hit rock bottom quickly.

It is imperative they start fast tomorrow.

[ironmaniup]

All this talk about who is to blame is not the way I see it. If you are the coach in this situation, the blame game is not going to help anything.

What he is saying to the media is that WE have to play better. That's all. He's not blaming the players. I think that, if you really need to break this down, when Tort says WE he means the entire team, including coaching. We don't know what he is saying to the players.

Win tomorrow and the discussion changes. Of course, lose tomorrow, and the discussion changes, too.

If it's on the coaching staff and Tort, I think it's related to adapting to the new portal/transfer environment. Hey, just a few weeks ago Tort was being heralded as a master of the new portal world.

But maybe the new world requires a new kind of coaching. Obviously, you have to develop things in a couple of weeks that in the past were developed over many months or even years. It might be unnerving to some, but let's compare Lock Haven and IUP. Now, LHU might get blown out tomorrow and we'll see that their recent success is a mirage. I don't think we'll see that tomorrow, though. In reality, LHU has been able to bring in a much higher percentage of brand new players to the program and make it work. In contrast, everybody (including myself) is citing that as a big reason for IUP's problems. Just something to think about.

Yeah, the coach has to figure out what's wrong, not sure what every one wants him to say other than we have to be better. SRU played really well. If a team has better players on game day, not much a coach can do. This isn't the first year IUP has had transfers not perform up to expectations, and IUP have a lackluster year because of it. I don't expect Tort to publicly call people out, or do an "its all my fault" moment. I expect him to fix it. Fixing it would mean winning out, and getting 1 or 2 playoff games, preparing to do better next year with many returning starters. Not fixing it will be Losing 1 or 2 more games, and go into spring hoping to reload by Fall.

[Ship69]

As a Shepherd fan, I'm hopeful for a blowout against Lock Haven but don't see it happening either. Lock Haven and Millersville are vastly improved and can win for sure. There doesn't seem to be any pushovers in the East.

Although it's not there yet, the division is slowly starting to get back to where it should be. Taking nothing away from the excellence of Shepherd in recent years, but you and Kutztown have kind of been the giants in a field of midgets recently. Stroud, Millersville, and even Lock Haven seem to be on the rise. West Chester still should be better — I don't know what is going on there. Some say they have few scholarships, which doesn't make sense, but I suppose could be true. Why they would want to do that baffles me. Ship and Bloom need to get off the snide, although I think Ship might finally have found a kid who can perform consistently at QB. Now they just need to retain the young o-linemen for a couple of years and strengthen that area of the team. Bloom has some work to do.