THE IUP Football Thread

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Well I did see an IUP team w a chip on their shoulder for sure but the Bloom team was far from thinking about turning equipment in. They had 2 wins in the last 3 games and a 1 score loss to ESU. IUP may have changed that thought by halftime.

I think teams can simply get a snakebitten season -- and IUP certainly had one last year.

If you go way back in this thread you will read the posts from the night of the Timeout heard 'round the world. Most of us said IUP wouldn't recover from that -- and, they didn't. That lingered long.

They then went up to SRU a couple weeks later and got smoked -- looking totally unprepared and out-coached. The following week the QB went down and missed the next 3-4 games. The backup did OK but they weren't nearly the same. When he eventually came back they went 2-0 to close out the season.

During that stretch they lost at Seton Hill (and looked about as interested as a kid in Sunday School). They lost at home to Gannon on a 55-yard field goal that hit two crossbars before dropping in.

Along the way they lost a star defensive player to an arrest. You name it, and it pretty much went wrong last year. In all honesty, they were lucky to finish 6-5. That was a good a team the night it beat Ashland and against East Stroudsburg. The balloon just popped after the timeout fiasco.

But, nearly everybody is back. They took some losses to graduation but have added some high-profile transfers (mainly at RB and LB). They've added some bulk to the DL, which was badly needed.

We'll see what happens. As EyeoftheHawk said this morning, if they don't have a pretty good year with this upcoming roster ... something is seriously wrong. Tort got a free pass after that mess of a season last Fall. For his sake it better not happen again.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Looks like Tort added one more today ... DB from Philly.

[EyeoftheHawk]

Looks like Tort added one more today ... DB from Philly.

Interesting. Kid couldn’t decide yesterday or maybe he didn’t get the offers he was hoping to?

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Interesting. Kid couldn’t decide yesterday or maybe he didn’t get the offers he was hoping to?

My guess is perhaps a late offer from IUP. Recall Tort said they got 9 of their 10 key targets to sign the dotted line.

Perhaps they weren't planning to miss and then had some coin available all the sudden.

Who knows. Some strange stuff happens in those 24 hours.

[Fightingscot82]

Off-topic, but the Monroeville Convention Center announced it is closing this summer, and several of their booked events said they're reaching out to the KCAC. That's good for IUP and Indiana.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Off-topic, but the Monroeville Convention Center announced it is closing this summer, and several of their booked events said they're reaching out to the KCAC. That's good for IUP and Indiana.

They used to host the best baseball card show around for years and years.

[Fightingscot82]

They used to host the best baseball card show around for years and years.

I do miss the baseball card world of the late 80s, early 90s. It was fun to go to things like Piratesfest or a random baseball card store and with my dad flip through old "commons" to look for some of his favorite old players from the 60s.

There used to be a large convention center in Monroeville but its been converted to offices.

[iupgroundhog]

Off-topic, but the Monroeville Convention Center announced it is closing this summer, and several of their booked events said they're reaching out to the KCAC. That's good for IUP and Indiana.

That's sad for Monroeville. What is left there? On the other hand, the KCAC has been a great success story. KCAC even weathered the Covid downturn very well, too.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

That's sad for Monroeville. What is left there? On the other hand, the KCAC has been a great success story. KCAC even weathered the Covid downturn very well, too.

It's done very well. The main competition is the War Memorial in Johnstown (which is decades past its prime). The KCAC is far nicer, has better parking, lots of hotel options, etc.

The facility in Johnstown is also pretty sketchy to leave after dark.

I do think the KCAC could hold way more music shows than it does now. The KCAC also has a nice (smallish) theater with stage inside. Most people don't know it's there. It seats several hundred. They put the bigger acts in the arena.

[Fightingscot82]

It's done very well. The main competition is the War Memorial in Johnstown (which is decades past its prime). The KCAC is far nicer, has better parking, lots of hotel options, etc.

The facility in Johnstown is also pretty sketchy to leave after dark.

I do think the KCAC could hold way more music shows than it does now. The KCAC also has a nice (smallish) theater with stage inside. Most people don't know it's there. It seats several hundred. They put the bigger acts in the arena.

The challenge is that Indiana is just out of the way enough and there are some comparable venues closer to Pittsburgh like UPMC at RMU, Cooper at Duquesne (rarely does shows anymore), Stage AE indoors, and the refurbished Roxian in McKees Rocks. Plus the Pittsburgh market is already getting skipped on tours so they may be getting what they can get.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Interesting little item: Indiana High's Anthony Kowchuck signed with ... California

He's a good athlete (and was stuck on a horrible team). Not sure what position he'll play in the Mon Valley. He's 6'5" and about 200 lbs. He played just about everything at IHS except QB.

I couldn't find any indication IUP recruited him.

[Fightingscot82]

Interesting little item: Indiana High's Anthony Kowchuck signed with ... California

He's a good athlete (and was stuck on a horrible team). Not sure what position he'll play in the Mon Valley. He's 6'5" and about 200 lbs. He played just about everything at IHS except QB.

I couldn't find any indication IUP recruited him.

Perfect message board fodder.

Something anecdotal I noticed on the Bird App this recruiting cycle was the lack of overlap in past years with recruiting. I don't know if that's teams prioritizing transfers over high schoolers or what - but I saw VERY few kids holding offers from the entire PSAC West like was the norm in past years. I can't think of one kid who I saw had offers from the big three: Cal, IUP, and Rock. Every once in a while those kids would end up signing with the also-rans of the division, which is how I'd notice them. Of the dozens of kids I saw advertising Edinboro offers, only a handful also had offers from those big three programs, and only one had offers from 2 of the 3 (he chose Slippery Rock over Edinboro and IUP).

[IUPNation]

Off-topic, but the Monroeville Convention Center announced it is closing this summer, and several of their booked events said they're reaching out to the KCAC. That's good for IUP and Indiana.

Who knew there was a convention center in Monroeville?

[IUPNation]

It's done very well. The main competition is the War Memorial in Johnstown (which is decades past its prime). The KCAC is far nicer, has better parking, lots of hotel options, etc.

The facility in Johnstown is also pretty sketchy to leave after dark.

I do think the KCAC could hold way more music shows than it does now. The KCAC also has a nice (smallish) theater with stage inside. Most people don't know it's there. It seats several hundred. They put the bigger acts in the arena.

Indiana isn’t depressing like Johnstown either.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Indiana isn’t depressing like Johnstown either.

I've been to the Johnstown War Memorial several times. It isn't fun leaving. Johnstown (downtown) isn't quite a ghetto, but, it's close.

You quickly forget about Slap Shot and Paul Newman.