THE IUP Football Thread

[iupgroundhog]

IUP should have to win Saturday to save Tort's job.

We are back to the "slow start" mentality. Throughout his tenure IUP has had so many "slow starts", usually only to regroup at halftime allowing the superior talent to come back and win (most of the time). But it really calls into question the scouting and game plan approach.

[IUPalum]

IUP should have to win Saturday to save Tort's job.

[iupgroundhog]

IUP needs to win this Saturday or all of these scenarios will be meaningless.

[iupgroundhog]

I think IUP is already in big trouble in terms of a playoff spot, even if they win out. Let’s assume the PSAC gets four spots. Slippery Rock is very likely getting one of them. Kutztown is very likely to get one even with a loss in the State Game. That leaves Shepherd and East Stroudsburg in the East. If Shepherd beats ESU, that gives ESU two losses but a head-to-head win over IUP. Of course, a lot of other scenarios could play out. If Cal loses to IUP but beats Slippery Rock, it’s going to take a tiebreaker to decide who wins the West. I’m not sure what the tiebreakers are but Slippery Rock would still be in with just the one loss.

A lot of crazy things can happen but my point is even if IUP were to win out, they’re still not a lock for a playoff spot. Another loss and they’re most certainly done. If I had to predict the four PSAC teams that are going, I’d say Slippery Rock, Kutztown, East Stroudsburg, and Shepherd. Cal still controls their own destiny and with wins over IUP and Slippery Rock, they’re in. A win over IUP but a loss to Slippery Rock and they still have a great shot to get in because of their win over Kutztown.

I was thinking the same thing when I was out hiking in the desert today. As we've seen most years, though, teams lose down the stretch. If IUP gets past Cal, they should cruise the rest of the way. We will probably need help from other teams, though.

[iupgroundhog]

I get the feeling that there is not much leadership on the team. The best teams always had a few guys that seemed to help their less disciplined teammates focus

I was thinking the same thing. Also figuring into this is that a lot of the transfers, including Hunter, were not here until a very late date, so the team-building aspect isn't so strong and players don't have the opportunity to develop the leadership within the ranks because of the short window.

[IUPNation]

They are not worthy to even be considered a potential playoff team.

Pee Sack might only get three slots..each of the other three conferences have the potential to put up at least 2 teams.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I think IUP is already in big trouble in terms of a playoff spot, even if they win out. Let’s assume the PSAC gets four spots. Slippery Rock is very likely getting one of them. Kutztown is very likely to get one even with a loss in the State Game. That leaves Shepherd and East Stroudsburg in the East. If Shepherd beats ESU, that gives ESU two losses but a head-to-head win over IUP. Of course, a lot of other scenarios could play out. If Cal loses to IUP but beats Slippery Rock, it’s going to take a tiebreaker to decide who wins the West. I’m not sure what the tiebreakers are but Slippery Rock would still be in with just the one loss.

A lot of crazy things can happen but my point is even if IUP were to win out, they’re still not a lock for a playoff spot. Another loss and they’re most certainly done. If I had to predict the four PSAC teams that are going, I’d say Slippery Rock, Kutztown, East Stroudsburg, and Shepherd. Cal still controls their own destiny and with wins over IUP and Slippery Rock, they’re in. A win over IUP but a loss to Slippery Rock and they still have a great shot to get in because of their win over Kutztown.

I'd agree, but Tort has to dangle the carrot as long as possible. All they can control is to win out (and that's a huge stretch in itself).

Never know if a Gannon type can pull an upset. They lose Saturday and things may get real ugly.

[EyeoftheHawk]

Tort has his work cut out for him this week. If they win, there's (in theory) a pretty clear path. The two hardest remaining games after Cal (Gannon and Edinboro) are both at Miller. Road trips to Seton Hill and Clarion shouldn't be an issue.

I think IUP is already in big trouble in terms of a playoff spot, even if they win out. Let’s assume the PSAC gets four spots. Slippery Rock is very likely getting one of them. Kutztown is very likely to get one even with a loss in the State Game. That leaves Shepherd and East Stroudsburg in the East. If Shepherd beats ESU, that gives ESU two losses but a head-to-head win over IUP. Of course, a lot of other scenarios could play out. If Cal loses to IUP but beats Slippery Rock, it’s going to take a tiebreaker to decide who wins the West. I’m not sure what the tiebreakers are but Slippery Rock would still be in with just the one loss.

A lot of crazy things can happen but my point is even if IUP were to win out, they’re still not a lock for a playoff spot. Another loss and they’re most certainly done. If I had to predict the four PSAC teams that are going, I’d say Slippery Rock, Kutztown, East Stroudsburg, and Shepherd. Cal still controls their own destiny and with wins over IUP and Slippery Rock, they’re in. A win over IUP but a loss to Slippery Rock and they still have a great shot to get in because of their win over Kutztown.

[ironmaniup]

Tort has his work cut out for him this week. If they win, there's (in theory) a pretty clear path. The two hardest remaining games after Cal (Gannon and Edinboro) are both at Miller. Road trips to Seton Hill and Clarion shouldn't be an issue.

They're either going to do the old 'burn the tape' and let's move on, or, yesterday is going to linger. We'll find out soon enough.

I get the feeling that there is not much leadership on the team. The best teams always had a few guys that seemed to help their less disciplined teammates focus

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Regardless of all the minutiae, the goal is to win games.

Being honest, I think it's the lack of focus in the 'minutiae' that is killing this team.

I don't think things are buttoned up. You're seeing it when they play equal (or better) teams. The lack of attention to detail gets masked against the Mercyhurst types. This edition is far from a well-oiled machine right now. At the very least, the lack of attention to details cost them the ESU game. It wasn't the refs. It wasn't the scoreboard operator. It was an entire coaching staff not sweating the details (knowing how many timeouts they didn't have).

Regardless, there's a playoff game at Miller Stadium in 6 days. Real simple: lose and the season is over. The Vulcans are going to be licking their chops to play this wounded animal. I really have no idea what to expect from IUP this Saturday.

Cal is going to come after Karst balls to the wall all day long. The film is out. It's obvious the more you pressure him the more picks he's going to throw. Can this IUP OL put together a big game and disrupt the Vulcans pass rush? Cal runs perhaps the most complex blitz packages in the league -- all day long. The way IUP's OL has played this year ... well, that's a scary notion.

Tort has his work cut out for him this week. If they win, there's (in theory) a pretty clear path. The two hardest remaining games after Cal (Gannon and Edinboro) are both at Miller. Road trips to Seton Hill and Clarion shouldn't be an issue.

They're either going to do the old 'burn the tape' and let's move on, or, yesterday is going to linger. We'll find out soon enough.

[EyeoftheHawk]

Not sure what game you were watching but the defense other than 2 drives played decent in the 2nd half. The interception that Hunter threw on the first drive in the second half was terrible, it killed the defense to put them right back on the field. And not sure where your getting that IUP had no Energy last night? They were down 28-0 and cut it to a 2 score game in the 4th quarter. They easily could have hung their cleats up but they did not.

I was going to stay out of this discussion but I feel compelled to respond to this. If we’re to the point of saying cutting a big lead to a two score game in the fourth quarter is the big positive then that tells the story of where this team is right now. I’m not going to pile on and say IUP quit or didn’t show up to play. That’s almost impossible to measure. However, at no point was IUP ever in this game from a competitive standpoint. They got beat in EVERY phase of the game, and soundly. At no point did it look like the defense played well. I don’t disagree that the offense didn’t help, but when you get 40+ hung on you, your defense didn’t even come close to doing its job.

And for good measure, the kicker missed ANOTHER extra point. There are high school kickers playing at A and AA schools that don’t miss all season. Unacceptable at this level.

[Ship69]

For a schedule that is supposed to rotate, the back-to-back is absurd. That has nothing to do with yesterday's game, though.

Well, while you're at it we'd probably appreciate getting rid of our seemingly annual Shepherd-West Chester-Kutztown stretch at Ship, with the added attraction this year that the stretch is followed by Millersville and East Stroud teams that don't look too bad. And of course we've already played IUP.

[IUPNation]

For a schedule that is supposed to rotate, the back-to-back is absurd. That has nothing to do with yesterday's game, though.

I know. I’m just saying I see why it’s done to IUP. It’s a trade off in the eyes of The Home Office. It’s going to be talked about this week.

[iupgroundhog]

It’s pretty obvious the real reason IUP gets the back to back games with Slimey and Mon Valley U. The Home Office splits it home and away for IUP. The other two get their two games either both at home or both on the road Mon Valley is on the road both games this year and Slimey gets both at home. They won’t put the other two in consecutive hard division games.

For a schedule that is supposed to rotate, the back-to-back is absurd. That has nothing to do with yesterday's game, though.

[IUPNation]

It’s pretty obvious the real reason IUP gets the back to back games with Slimey and Mon Valley U. The Home Office splits it home and away for IUP. The other two get their two games either both at home or both on the road Mon Valley is on the road both games this year and Slimey gets both at home. They won’t put the other two in consecutive hard division games.