THE IUP Football Thread

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Hate to speculate but it's likely Jacobs is gone for a long time (perhaps/likely the season). He is one of the 'big boys' IUP signed to clog up the the DL.

So, the question becomes can Tort sign anybody else at this late date? There are guys still out there -- typically the 'problem children' type.

I don't think Jacobs was going to be a starter this year but was certainly going to be a rotation guy.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I'm not saying I disagree with your statement, because I agree fully. But the premise is so odd to me. This is not meant as a shot or slight in any way, so I do not want it to be misconstrued that way.... But let's ask this question... Who is tailgating for IUP home games, or PSAC football games in general? The answer is that a vast majority are parents, families, and friends of players on the football team. I know that I'm casting a wide net and not every individual tailgating is associated with a member of the team. That said, most of them certainly are. So I have no clue why those individuals wouldn't want to come inside for the game.

That's true to an extent but at IUP ... you'd be surprised. The tailgating area has largely become a 'happy hour' event for locals -- in some form or another (often times loosely) associated with the program.

Think of Joe's core crowd -- almost none of them are parents. That's kind of the 'tailgate' crowd at football games. It's more of a social event for a certain group. That's fine and all. But, just come in (and stay) for the damn game.


Whatever the demographic, I can 100% tell you (I see it each week) that a huge portion of the tailgate crowd never comes in to the game. If they do, they stay for a quarter or so -- maybe the first half max.

There's been numerous -- and, I mean numerous -- games that the second half had WAY more people in the lot than in the home bleachers. It's the case almost weekly, in fact.

It's a strange thing -- but, Miller is a strange bird.

Part of it is, my opinion, Miller is an out-dated dump. IUP's football core crowd is old. And, it gets older by the year. Old people aren't sitting on those terrible metal bleachers for 3+ hours. People drinking all morning have to go to the restroom constantly. Getting out of the bleachers and to a restroom at Miller is a pain. Chairbacks would go a long way for some ... but, that's a whole different discussion. The in-game experience (music, etc.) is also pretty bad. I think, end of the day, most people just have more fun in the parking lot than inside the game.

It's a real simple fix. No tailgating during the game. Enforce it. They can then allow it for 2 hours after the game.

[IUP24]

Of our standard regular season guests, Cal typically travels to Miller the best. They bring the band (what a concept) and their cheerleaders. Add several hundred fans and they get quite a little group over there on the visitors' side. When the weather is good, SRU travels pretty well. Their last visit (rain) they hardly brought anybody.

A visiting crowd can easily take over the funeral home. We all know the IUP home side barely makes a peep. Those who do cheer get odd looks. I've said it since they started allowing tailgating ... IUP has to go with the Penn State rule of no tailgating once the game starts. The issue at Miller is half the lot out there doesn't come inside. Or, they come in for a quarter until their beer meter goes off and they go back out. There's been games in recent years where there's more people outside the stadium than inside the stadium.

I'm not saying I disagree with your statement, because I agree fully. But the premise is so odd to me. This is not meant as a shot or slight in any way, so I do not want it to be misconstrued that way.... But let's ask this question... Who is tailgating for IUP home games, or PSAC football games in general? The answer is that a vast majority are parents, families, and friends of players on the football team. I know that I'm casting a wide net and not every individual tailgating is associated with a member of the team. That said, most of them certainly are. So I have no clue why those individuals wouldn't want to come inside for the game.

[Fightingscot82]

From his Twitter page, Millersville transfer DL Quaidir Jones collapsed during a workout last week and was life-flighted to Pittsburgh.

He is doing better now and said he will obviously be taking time away from football. He said he will be back.

Best wishes to him in his recovery.

Yikes. Hoping for a good prognosis and quick recovery. Scary stuff.

[IUPNation]

From his Twitter page, Millersville transfer DL Quaidir Jones collapsed during a workout last week and was life-flighted to Pittsburgh.

He is doing better now and said he will obviously be taking time away from football. He said he will be back.

Best wishes to him in his recovery.

Scary!!

[IUPbigINDIANS]

From his Twitter page, Millersville transfer DL Quadir Jones collapsed during a workout last week and was life-flighted to Pittsburgh.

He is doing better now and said he will obviously be taking time away from football. He said he will be back.

Best wishes to him in his recovery.

[Chuck Norris]

Paris must have taken a look at Pee Sack stadiums as inspiration for the temporary stadium for these very sad opening ceremonies…

I thought bringing the athletes in on boats was pretty cool, but the ceremony as a whole was disjointed and everything seemed to take forever.

[iupgroundhog]

Maybe not the best place for it, but one of my favorite New Haven games was a rare win over IUP back in 1994. Chargers won by two with a last-second stop of an IUP drive and we stormed the field and freshman-year me had no awareness of my surroundings and ran straight into Roger Graham (New Haven’s GOAT). Being all of 150 pounds back then, I thankfully couldn’t do any damage.

I was there. It was a great game. It was really cold on that day. It was played at SCSU, right?

[IUPbigINDIANS]

PSAC title game against Ship was electric. Game against Rock was 2000 week 4 Saturday night 24-21 unreal game. High end talent due to number of D1 transfers. IUP had a great month as they beat Ferris week 1 and New Haven week 2. Team finished 8-3 as soph QB Eyerman was hurt late in year. Made playoffs and lost to Northwood on road in snow 28-0 with Tink Stennet wildcat trigger.

I was sure it was 2000 but then I remembered the (infamous) HC game of '99 and was questioning how IUP hosted SRU in back to back regular seasons (99 & 00).

Sure enough ... that's how it went.

Great memories of that night. I know I have the student video of that game on VHS. I may dig it up.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Paris must have taken a look at Pee Sack stadiums as inspiration for the temporary stadium for these very sad opening ceremonies…

The Earth is full of then-fancy but now-deserted Olympic venues. Google it. Pretty wild photos of then and now.

[IUPNation]

Paris must have taken a look at Pee Sack stadiums as inspiration for the temporary stadium for these very sad opening ceremonies…

[cwfenn]

PSAC title game against Ship was electric. Game against Rock was 2000 week 4 Saturday night 24-21 unreal game. High end talent due to number of D1 transfers. IUP had a great month as they beat Ferris week 1 and New Haven week 2. Team finished 8-3 as soph QB Eyerman was hurt late in year. Made playoffs and lost to Northwood on road in snow 28-0 with Tink Stennet wildcat trigger.

Maybe not the best place for it, but one of my favorite New Haven games was a rare win over IUP back in 1994. Chargers won by two with a last-second stop of an IUP drive and we stormed the field and freshman-year me had no awareness of my surroundings and ran straight into Roger Graham (New Haven’s GOAT). Being all of 150 pounds back then, I thankfully couldn’t do any damage.

[Iupgh]

The 2012 PSAC championship was quite an atmosphere. That was the day most people expected Zach Zulli to shred IUP but instead Tort put together a game plan that went a long way toward him being named the top assistant in D2 that season.

PSAC title game against Ship was electric. Game against Rock was 2000 week 4 Saturday night 24-21 unreal game. High end talent due to number of D1 transfers. IUP had a great month as they beat Ferris week 1 and New Haven week 2. Team finished 8-3 as soph QB Eyerman was hurt late in year. Made playoffs and lost to Northwood on road in snow 28-0 with Tink Stennet wildcat trigger.

[Chuck Norris]

Two that stick out to me:

- The night game against Slippery Rock (2000-ish). Electric atmosphere. There are some great photos of the stadium from that night. The entire fence was filled around the track. The first games after the original 'Rock Dance' were great. Eyerman vs McKavish. Very heated. Tink Stennett broke a huge run late in the game to put IUP ahead. Personally, that was the loudest moment I've ever heard in Miller. It's my favorite game I've ever seen there (and, I've seen way too damn many). I don't know what the 'announced' attendance was that night, but it was the largest crowd I ever recall seeing.

- The 2021 opening win against Kutztown. It was IUP's first game back after missing the 2020 season. Oddly, a huge student contingent not only showed up but was very active. Kutztown had played the week prior and IUP didn't. You could certainly tell early on. Anyway, IUP won, 29-26, after scoring 22 points in the 4th quarter. The big moment, of course, was the tipped pass that was caught by DL Raunya Mitchell -- which turned in to the rare 'big man' pick six. That was a loud moment. IUP also played that game (and the following) with a backup QB after the starter failed his Covid test (remember those fun times?).

The 2012 PSAC championship was quite an atmosphere. That was the day most people expected Zach Zulli to shred IUP but instead Tort put together a game plan that went a long way toward him being named the top assistant in D2 that season.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

It wasn’t amped up in the 80’s either.

Two that stick out to me:

- The night game against Slippery Rock (2000-ish). Electric atmosphere. There are some great photos of the stadium from that night. The entire fence was filled around the track. The first games after the original 'Rock Dance' were great. Eyerman vs McKavish. Very heated. Tink Stennett broke a huge run late in the game to put IUP ahead. Personally, that was the loudest moment I've ever heard in Miller. It's my favorite game I've ever seen there (and, I've seen way too damn many). I don't know what the 'announced' attendance was that night, but it was the largest crowd I ever recall seeing.

- The 2021 opening win against Kutztown. It was IUP's first game back after missing the 2020 season. Oddly, a huge student contingent not only showed up but was very active. Kutztown had played the week prior and IUP didn't. You could certainly tell early on. Anyway, IUP won, 29-26, after scoring 22 points in the 4th quarter. The big moment, of course, was the tipped pass that was caught by DL Raunya Mitchell -- which turned in to the rare 'big man' pick six. That was a loud moment. IUP also played that game (and the following) with a backup QB after the starter failed his Covid test (remember those fun times?).