THE IUP Football Thread

[IUP24]

It made myself (and many others) wonder if the simple answer to why the OL played like it did all year was it just wasn't a fit for the Karst offense.

It's well-documented IUP's OL is massive. Massive, however, also typically means a bit slow. The second half against Edinboro they were basically just told to crush people. That was BY FAR the best that OL has looked all year.

For offenses to be successful, they need an identity. Whether it's lining up in Power-I, 5-wide and air raid, triple option, etc. They need a system, and something within that system they're really good at. I don't think this offense had any of that. I'm not sure they knew what they wanted to do. And I'm not sure they were any good at anything they tried to do within that system.

In my opinion, the best IUP offense I can remember watching was in 2017. Their identity was clear: run the football. That team had an embarrassment of riches at running back. But they were able to play downhill in the run game, which set up so much else for Lenny Williams. They would be able to line up in the I-formation and pound the ball with Samir Bullock, Justice Evans, etc., to set up Lenny Williams on a bootleg that he could throw or tuck and run for 25 yards. The ability to just set up everything from how they were able to function in the run game made them so effective.

[IUPalum]

Congratulations to Houser. 1,000 yards career rushing as a college football player is a great accomplishment. We might have lost a couple games but let's not lose our sense of decency.

Decency? Took him three years to accomplish that. Since when do we celebrate a three year stat of 1000 yards? Now if that was one season then by all means, you celebrate.

[iupgroundhog]

Nobody cares.

Congratulations to Houser. 1,000 yards career rushing as a college football player is a great accomplishment. We might have lost a couple games but let's not lose our sense of decency.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Air Raid & West Coast are fun to watch but its funny how when used properly the time-honored I-Formation and Wing T are pretty strong.

It made myself (and many others) wonder if the simple answer to why the OL played like it did all year was it just wasn't a fit for the Karst offense.

It's well-documented IUP's OL is massive. Massive, however, also typically means a bit slow. The second half against Edinboro they were basically just told to crush people. That was BY FAR the best that OL has looked all year.

[Fightingscot82]

Of the four remaining, they should handle three of them pretty easily. However, the #LIT-AF visit in 12 days is going to be a tough game. That's always a very chippy, dirty game. Much like IUP, Gannon does show flashes of being a very good team. However, much like IUP, they also show flashes of not being a very good team.

Not one person at IUP will ever call 8-3 and missing the playoffs a good season -- especially with (lopsided) losses to Cal and SRU. As the Yinzer coach says, the standard is the standard.

The important part to finishing 8-3 (if) is heading in to the off-season on a five-game winning streak. I think that would at least salvage the season and build some momentum for next year. The offense is set to arrive next Fall, so we also have that to look forward to.

They do deserve credit for the second half against Edinboro. They looked dead in the water late in the first half. As soon as they went to the I-Formation, their RBs looked like themselves again. I sure hope that is the offense the rest of the way. That is the perfect offense for their current situation. Did anybody else notice the OL went from (again) dismal in the first half to looking dominant in the second half after switching the offense? Makes you wonder.


The visit to Greensburg Salem will be interesting. The Griffins, despite being the Griffins, talk on par with the 1980s Miami Hurricanes. This may be a personal foul festival.

Air Raid & West Coast are fun to watch but its funny how when used properly the time-honored I-Formation and Wing T are pretty strong.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

In all honesty, 8-3 is still a good season. Not great, but good. Most PSAC teams would be happy with that.

Of the four remaining, they should handle three of them pretty easily. However, the #LIT-AF visit in 12 days is going to be a tough game. That's always a very chippy, dirty game. Much like IUP, Gannon does show flashes of being a very good team. However, much like IUP, they also show flashes of not being a very good team.

Not one person at IUP will ever call 8-3 and missing the playoffs a good season -- especially with (lopsided) losses to Cal and SRU. As the Yinzer coach says, the standard is the standard.

The important part to finishing 8-3 (if) is heading in to the off-season on a five-game winning streak. I think that would at least salvage the season and build some momentum for next year. The offense is set to arrive next Fall, so we also have that to look forward to.

They do deserve credit for the second half against Edinboro. They looked dead in the water late in the first half. As soon as they went to the I-Formation, their RBs looked like themselves again. I sure hope that is the offense the rest of the way. That is the perfect offense for their current situation. Did anybody else notice the OL went from (again) dismal in the first half to looking dominant in the second half after switching the offense? Makes you wonder.


The visit to Greensburg Salem will be interesting. The Griffins, despite being the Griffins, talk on par with the 1980s Miami Hurricanes. This may be a personal foul festival.

[Fightingscot82]

In all honesty, 8-3 is still a good season. Not great, but good. Most PSAC teams would be happy with that.

[IUPalum]

Houser cleared the 1,000-yard career rushing mark today.

Nobody cares.

[iupgroundhog]

It's been a disappointing season. There is no doubt about that. We can all speculate about what went wrong until the cows come home but it won't change the first half of the 2023 season.

I prefer to look to the future. As I mentioned in a previous post, IUP actually is a young team. Combine that with throwing together the OL and a QB who arrived in the summer and we are where we are. Yes, there was an inexcusable miscounting of timeouts in there. I only count Lockhart, Zinoble, Taylor, Holmes, and Djouha as players using up their eligibility this year. I don't really question Tort's "one year away" assessment. I think it has a lot of validity.

Now is the time to start building for next year. IUP has a whole lot of potential in the pipeline. The staff needs to look to the future.

As far as the coaching staff goes, I wouldn't object to some tweaking but wholesale change is probably not what IUP needs now. When Wilson came to IUP from Cal everybody considered it to be a major coup. He had tremendous success at Cal. On the other side of the ball, Smith has coached some of the best defenses in D2.

I'm going to enjoy watching the remaining games on the schedule.

I would also mention that for many, many years IUP didn't really have to develop a QB. The former D1 transfers were already developed. They just had to adapt to their new role with IUP. And they did. By going with a D2 transfer, it was not the same.

[Fightingscot82]

Two of Boro's big plays today ... there wasn't an IUP DB within 15 yards.

Told you IUP's DBs are a liability. Only 2 INT on the season. Yesterday probably isn't a good sample due to weather.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Another thing. Edinboro’s bench spent the whole night heavily cheering for those on the field. When IUP came out in the second half they copied that behavior and played much better. I think it really helped to boost morale. Overall I have nothing but respect for that Edinboro team and staff. They played a great game.

Oddly, the Edinboro sideline seemed to lose all its enthusiasm after halftime. They looked like two different teams, first half to second half. The end of half time management botch seemed to really take the wind out of their sails. Not getting any points there was a killer.

Luckily, I think their talking is what actually woke IUP up. The Hawks did not have a good first half (to say it nicely). It seems they finally got tired of the talk and noise, and physically dominated the second half.

IUP going with that power running game in the second half was a breath of fresh air. It looked like the old days. I sure hope that is the primary offense the next four games.

[jrshooter]

Houser cleared the 1,000-yard career rushing mark today.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Edinboro played a pretty solid game, just lost to better talent. Nothing to be ashamed of there.

Nico looked a lot better at QB when having a full week to prep rather than being thrust into the game for Karst. He’s not a QB1 talent by any means at this point, but at least he didn’t look like a deer in the headlights this week.

IUP is still LOUSY in the first half every game, but I’m sure Tort will tell us Edinboro played exactly like he expected. Must be all the players fault.

Coming into the season I thought they were supposed to be one of our biggest assets, but man our secondary SUCKS!!! Poor tackling and consistently beat long while giving up short passes for free most times. If they stick with their man (assuming they don’t let someone streak past all their coverage) they just watch them catch the ball and bring them down after. Or like we saw today they get beat deep 2 on 1 then get juked out of their shoes for a TD. YIKES!

Two of Boro's big plays today ... there wasn't an IUP DB within 15 yards.

[DeepBallEnjoyer]

Another thing. Edinboro’s bench spent the whole night heavily cheering for those on the field. When IUP came out in the second half they copied that behavior and played much better. I think it really helped to boost morale. Overall I have nothing but respect for that Edinboro team and staff. They played a great game.

[DeepBallEnjoyer]

Edinboro played a pretty solid game, just lost to better talent. Nothing to be ashamed of there.

Nico looked a lot better at QB when having a full week to prep rather than being thrust into the game for Karst. He’s not a QB1 talent by any means at this point, but at least he didn’t look like a deer in the headlights this week.

IUP is still LOUSY in the first half every game, but I’m sure Tort will tell us Edinboro played exactly like he expected. Must be all the players fault.

Coming into the season I thought they were supposed to be one of our biggest assets, but man our secondary SUCKS!!! Poor tackling and consistently beat long while giving up short passes for free most times. If they stick with their man (assuming they don’t let someone streak past all their coverage) they just watch them catch the ball and bring them down after. Or like we saw today they get beat deep 2 on 1 then get juked out of their shoes for a TD. YIKES!