THE IUP Football Thread

[IUPbigINDIANS]

IUP, predictably, has signed a transfer QB that will no doubt be the starter on opening day barring something unforeseen like an injury. That’s my opinion and wasn’t printed in Matt’s Gazzette article. Coming to Indiana will be Matthew Rueve from Findlay where he was the starter on their 9-2 team last year, and he was at Boston College before that. He’s 6’4”, 215 lbs., and is being compared to Mak Sexton and Quinton Maxwell in terms of his style of play, meaning big arm and pro style passer. Interestingly, he was the top rated pro style passer in Ohio when he was coming out of high school and rated 56th overall by 24/7 Sports. Things just didn’t work out at BC, which is explained in the article. He has one year of eligibility left.

IUP is also bringing in two defensive backs, Mekhi Johnson (Millersville) and David Awuah (Seton Hill) and wide receiver Devin Whitlock (Pitt). The OC position was mentioned but apparently it’s just procedural in terms of naming the successor to Larry Wilson. They have to advertise the job. They will stay at 10 games next season getting their week off right before playing Slippery Rock and Cal back-to-back, and they plan to bring in a sizable class of 18-20 high school kids on National Signing Day.

I did my best to hit the highlights for those who don’t get the Gazette.

As you eluded, Rueve isn't coming to Indiana to carry a clipboard. That's a big signing for IUP.

I wonder if Nico will now jump ship. I'd love for them to have him as the No. 2 but it would certainly be understandable if he wanted to try and go somewhere as the starter.

[EyeoftheHawk]

As you eluded, Rueve isn't coming to Indiana to carry a clipboard. That's a big signing for IUP.

I wonder if Nico will now jump ship. I'd love for them to have him as the No. 2 but it would certainly be understandable if he wanted to try and go somewhere as the starter.

It’s hard to say at this point. He has to be close to his degree and there’s nothing wrong with being a solid backup. That would certainly help IUP because most D2’s don’t really have that luxury. They may tell the QB room that it’s an open competition, but…

[IUPbigINDIANS]

It’s hard to say at this point. He has to be close to his degree and there’s nothing wrong with being a solid backup. That would certainly help IUP because most D2’s don’t really have that luxury. They may tell the QB room that it’s an open competition, but…

Nico is also what I'd refer to as probably being right on the fringe of being a starter. Even if he is the No. 2, I think he can still play.

For as physically big as he is, he has some wheels. His arm is pretty good, too. They could certainly implement some 'Tim Tebow' type stuff for him.

[iupgroundhog]

IUP, predictably, has signed a transfer QB that will no doubt be the starter on opening day barring something unforeseen like an injury. That’s my opinion and wasn’t printed in Matt’s Gazzette article. Coming to Indiana will be Matthew Rueve from Findlay where he was the starter on their 9-2 team last year, and he was at Boston College before that. He’s 6’4”, 215 lbs., and is being compared to Mak Sexton and Quinton Maxwell in terms of his style of play, meaning big arm and pro style passer. Interestingly, he was the top rated pro style passer in Ohio when he was coming out of high school and rated 56th overall by 24/7 Sports. Things just didn’t work out at BC, which is explained in the article. He has one year of eligibility left.

IUP is also bringing in two defensive backs, Mekhi Johnson (Millersville) and David Awuah (Seton Hill) and wide receiver Devin Whitlock (Pitt). The OC position was mentioned but apparently it’s just procedural in terms of naming the successor to Larry Wilson. They have to advertise the job. They will stay at 10 games next season getting their week off right before playing Slippery Rock and Cal back-to-back, and they plan to bring in a sizable class of 18-20 high school kids on National Signing Day.

I did my best to hit the highlights for those who don’t get the Gazette.

No RB, LB, or OL?

[Ram040506]

As you eluded, Rueve isn't coming to Indiana to carry a clipboard. That's a big signing for IUP.

I wonder if Nico will now jump ship. I'd love for them to have him as the No. 2 but it would certainly be understandable if he wanted to try and go somewhere as the starter.

Curious as to why he'd leave Findlay to come to IUP. Findlay was 9-2 last year and just missed the playoffs. Was there a coaching change?

[Iupgh]

Curious as to why he'd leave Findlay to come to IUP. Findlay was 9-2 last year and just missed the playoffs. Was there a coaching change?

Time to connect the dots who was Rueve’s OC at BC…..very interesting stuff indeed.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Time to connect the dots who was Rueve’s OC at BC…..very interesting stuff indeed.

And Bingo was his name

[iupgroundhog]

Time to connect the dots who was Rueve’s OC at BC…..very interesting stuff indeed.

Wow. That was very perceptive of you iupgh.

[Ram040506]

Time to connect the dots who was Rueve’s OC at BC…..very interesting stuff indeed.

Steve Shimko? Going from FBS OC in a Power 5 to OC in the PSAC is quite a tumble.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Steve Shimko? Going from FBS OC in a Power 5 to OC in the PSAC is quite a tumble.

No. It's Frank Cignetti Jr.

His situation is obviously a bit different with his IUP ties.

Frank was OC at BC prior to his year at Pitt. He was out of coaching last year.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Quadir Jacobs (DL) has been medically cleared to return to the team.

Recall he had a medical emergency during a summer workout last year and was life-flighted.

It's great to hear he has made a full recovery.

Football-wise, he will be a (literal) huge addition up front. He's a real big boy and strong as an ox. They haven't had a big run-stuffer clogging things up for a couple years now.

He may be getting a partner here soon, too.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I suspect this will be a fairly small signing class on Wednesday (high school day). Just a guess from memory, but I've seen about 9-10 committed via the Twitter universe. And, yes, they are all 1,000% committed and ready to work.

Tort avoided the Portal departure madness, so he has a ton of guys coming back. He's already added (4) transfers. They are chasing several others.

He also has (2) WRs that missed all of last season returning (Zachary Boyd and Omar Stewart), as well as DL Quadir Jacobs. Randy Okungu, their best pure pass rusher, is also returning after missing most of last season due to an early injury.

There's only so many spots.

[iupgroundhog]

I suspect this will be a fairly small signing class on Wednesday (high school day). Just a guess from memory, but I've seen about 9-10 committed via the Twitter universe. And, yes, they are all 1,000% committed and ready to work.

Tort avoided the Portal departure madness, so he has a ton of guys coming back. He's already added (4) transfers. They are chasing several others.

He also has (2) WRs that missed all of last season returning (Zachary Bod and Omar Stewart), as well as DL Quadir Jacobs. Randy Okungu, their best pure pass rusher, is also returning after missing most of last season due to an early injury.

There's only so many spots.

Just read the IG article online. Tort quoted as saying expect about 18-20 signees.

BTW, glad to see Okungu coming back. His injury hurt last year.

[Fightingscot82]

I suspect this will be a fairly small signing class on Wednesday (high school day). Just a guess from memory, but I've seen about 9-10 committed via the Twitter universe. And, yes, they are all 1,000% committed and ready to work.

Tort avoided the Portal departure madness, so he has a ton of guys coming back. He's already added (4) transfers. They are chasing several others.

He also has (2) WRs that missed all of last season returning (Zachary Boyd and Omar Stewart), as well as DL Quadir Jacobs. Randy Okungu, their best pure pass rusher, is also returning after missing most of last season due to an early injury.

There's only so many spots.

IUP doing less high school recruiting is good for the PSAC West, even if they do end up transferring to IUP in the end. The handful of years leading up to the new portal rules was so frustrating when IUP would rush in the final two weeks and steal a few from each school with more money or promises of signed Bo Napoleon albums.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Buried at the bottom of today's IG article was quite the little nugget of good news.

OL Matthew Nelson (Indiana High) has decided to stay for his final year. Last Fall he had said he was going to join the workforce.

Nelson started the final four games and played well. He will be a grad student. Not sure if he'll start or not but having him back is a big boost for depth. He's been the definition of a program guy and knows everything IUP does inside and out.

That's one less OL to get up to speed.