2025 KU Football

[Ram040506]

I think this game poses interesting challenges to both teams. One of the things that has always benefited Harding in a playoff format is the short week dilemma for a team that hasn’t played us in previous years. I also think the time of possession aspect is an interesting factor in this game. If a defense on either side can steal a possession or get a quick stop it feels like you will see end of game urgency as early as the 2nd quarter.

I think everyone at this point in the year from a locker room standpoint is just excited to have another week together and to play elite opponents, it’s why you play the game. The D2 pod was talking about KU having a balanced attack so I think this game comes down to a few key factors.

1. Which team can consistently remove an aspect of the other teams bread and Butter (since Harding is all run people either focus on inside run or perimeter game)

2. Which Defense can steal a possession

3. Explosive plays (both teams it appears can get on schedule and stay there comfortably but I feel the team that wins the big plays, over 25+ yards, stat walks away the winner.

As a former player and fan I do love seeing these first time matchups I think it’s great for the sport and an opportunity for each program to showcase their culture on a national stage.

Is Harding pretty aggressive offensively with like short yardage and 4th downs? Say they are in between the 40's at midfield, and it's 4th and 3 or so, are they most likely the type of team that is going to go for it or do they play it more traditionally and let their defense get it back for them?

[Divisiontwo]

Is Harding pretty aggressive offensively with like short yardage and 4th downs? Say they are in between the 40's at midfield, and it's 4th and 3 or so, are they most likely the type of team that is going to go for it or do they play it more traditionally and let their defense get it back for them?

They go for it a lot.

[BisonOL]

Is Harding pretty aggressive offensively with like short yardage and 4th downs? Say they are in between the 40's at midfield, and it's 4th and 3 or so, are they most likely the type of team that is going to go for it or do they play it more traditionally and let their defense get it back for them?

4th and 1…potentially anywhere on the field we go

4th and 2…anywhere around midfield we prob go

4th and 3+ … anywhere inside opponents 40 and out of FG range we prob go

So id say very aggressive

[Ram040506]

4th and 1…potentially anywhere on the field we go

4th and 2…anywhere around midfield we prob go

4th and 3+ … anywhere inside opponents 40 and out of FG range we prob go

So id say very aggressive

With that type of run game, makes sense. That's the part that gets demoralizing facing a team like yours. Hold them to 7 yards on the first 3 downs only to get another 3 yards to keep it going on 4th around midfield. Begging for a punt, but it just keeps coming.

[BisonBones]

With that type of run game, makes sense. That's the part that gets demoralizing facing a team like yours. Hold them to 7 yards on the first 3 downs only to get another 3 yards to keep it going on 4th around midfield. Begging for a punt, but it just keeps coming.

I'll usually get a smirk when the opposing fans cheer after holding us to 3-4 yards on the first play; because they don't know that's a win for us and we'll take that nearly every time on first down.

[Ship69]

Happy to see that the conversation has shifted back to actual football.

It could get ugly, but maybe we give them a game and keep it close. I’m just happy to get to go to another game this season. This may be the best all around team we’ve ever had at KU and it’s been a fun ride.

Whatever happens in the playoff, my hat off to Kutztown for a great season. The coach has done a great job up there in taking a program that really had never been a powerhouse in PSAC football to new heights. They clearly were the class of our league and the region this year. As far as the whole D2 scene, there are really a few teams that are big into D2 football with bigger stadiums and more resources, and then there are the rest of us. A lot of schools are worried just about keeping the campus open, let alone building a good football team. I hope it's a good game.

[Ship69]

Ferris State seems to take 20 minutes to get interested in most games and then it pushes a button and explodes.

I'd tend to guess they were expecting SRU to be the typical SR1 freebie.

Lost in memory is IUP's crushing home loss to West Florida in the 2017 Final Four. IUP had lost Max Redfield the week prior and clearly wasn't the same. That was a major missed opportunity. The 2017 IUP team was also undefeated entering the Final Four.

We've had skill people in the PSAC who could play for anyone. Bagent is probably the most obvious recent example. Where we seem to lose is that we don't have the depth of line play seen in some of the other regions. That worries me in this year's matchup with Harding, especially with that unusual option offense they play. Kutztown's front seven is going to have to be at its best to keep them in the game.

[Predatory Primates]

With that type of run game, makes sense. That's the part that gets demoralizing facing a team like yours. Hold them to 7 yards on the first 3 downs only to get another 3 yards to keep it going on 4th around midfield. Begging for a punt, but it just keeps coming.

They are playing for 4 downs from go in those situations like the more modern moneyball/metrics coaches do. So they still have all their possible options on a 3rd and 7 or 8. They may be perfectly happy just getting 4 yards on that 3rd down

[TDBoi8136]

As a former player and fan I do love seeing these first time matchups I think it’s great for the sport and an opportunity for each program to showcase their culture on a national stage.

It also provides great material for recruiting. Obviously your program has a lot to showcase for recruits. Consistent national powerhouse and yearly title contender is appealing to any recruit. For KU, being back on the national stage for the second time in three years is great material for them in their range of recruiting. This helps bring in good players that may go to a lower end FCS school in the Northeast/Mid Atlantic (Lehigh, Nova, etc.) or may go to a good d3 football program in the same region. Hopefully being here again (regardless of the results) helps KU's football program grow into a even stronger program.

[TDBoi8136]

Heads up for anyone going to the game this Saturday. It is also Kutztown's graduation weekend. The campus and town are going to be really busy with both big events. Plan accordingly.

[KU_2014]

Some dickhead came in here trying to start **** over nothing. We asked them to stop and leave if they just wanted to be a dick about this game, they kept going. Then things started to snowball from there and the mod didn't even try to lower the temp. It was that one poster and a few other posters who elevated things and we (KU fans) didn't say anything because we don't want to be involved with that. I know I would be down to chat with good faith Harding fans. A few of them were in here last night who seemed like they actually wanted to chat about a team they don't know much about. I would be down for the same thing. What I'm not interested in is trash talking and being a dick about something I don't have to or want to be a dick. Sports should be fun as fans. This whole thing isn't fun.

We're not trash talking because that's not who we are on here. Including me, there are only like four or five other KU supporters on this forum I can think of. We're not a big group, and we're not into trash talking much, if at all. We're on here to talk KU football, talk PSAC football, talk d2 football, etc. and this is one of the few sites we can do that. We're trying to enjoy the ride because we don't know when KU will be back. Historically, our football program doesn't have much to go on outside of a few players who made it to the pros (and a HoF career for one). The last ten years have been a gift for the program and fans. Clements made KU football relevant and a fun ride. This may be lame, but we're here for that ride. Win or lose this Saturday, it has been a fun season. I would like for it to keep going. I know our odds of advancing pass Saturday are not high. But that's part of the charm of playoffs. You don't know until the game is played and the clock hits zero, any given Saturday (or Sunday for NFL). We're still gonna be in the PSAC board being vocal for KU on Saturday.

I think Raymond Monica deserves some credit for making Kutztown University football relevant. He coached the team to back to back playoff appearances in 2010 and 2011, and also coached the program to its first PSAC Championship in 2011.

Jim Clements was able to step in, make the program more relevant, and reach the heights it now enjoys today.

This is just my personal opinion of course. Clements might have had the same level of success without Monica having those two good seasons, but it feels like those 2010 and 2011 seasons helped lay the foundation.

[KU10]

Alot has been said about Harding's offense vs Kutztown's defense and that will be a tough matchup however Harding will need to be on top of their game if they are going to slow down our offense. We have a great 2-headed monster of Stewart and Burkhardt in the backfield. Novak is also a strong runner. No real #1 receiver but Novak can and will throw to any receiver or tight end. I certainly think we will put up some points as well. We can score alot and very quickly, sometimes almost too quick to be honest.

[KU10]

I think Raymond Monica deserves some credit for making Kutztown University football relevant. He coached the team to back to back playoff appearances in 2010 and 2011, and also coached the program to its first PSAC Championship in 2011.

Jim Clements was able to step in, make the program more relevant, and reach the heights it now enjoys today.

This is just my personal opinion of course. Clements might have had the same level of success without Monica having those two good seasons, but it feels like those 2010 and 2011 seasons helped lay the foundation.

Agreed, the Monica years were great but Clements really took the program to another level.

[TheBigCat2192]

Is Harding pretty aggressive offensively with like short yardage and 4th downs? Say they are in between the 40's at midfield, and it's 4th and 3 or so, are they most likely the type of team that is going to go for it or do they play it more traditionally and let their defense get it back for them?

I checked the Harding stats page for the last 5 seasons which is a bit of an arbitrary cutoff but should line up with the oldest guys on the roster (barring some rare COVID/medical redshirt exceptions)
2025 - 14 games, 12/14
2024 - 14 games, 10/16
2023 - 15 games, 15/19
2022 - 11 games, 11/19
2021 - 13 games, 17/25

For comparison here’s KU over that same time frame.
2025 - 14 games, 12/20
2024 - 12 games, 8/17
2023 - 15 games, 8/24
2022 - 11 games, 12/28
2021 - 13 games, 13/23

I’m not going to dig through 5 years of play-by-play data but at least numerically I wouldn’t say Harding looks substantially more aggressive on fourth down than KU. They have been more effective so I do wonder if more of their attempts were in short yardage vs. medium or long situations.

[TDBoi8136]

No real #1 receiver but Novak can and will throw to any receiver or tight end.

I think Kracyla is our #1 WR. Yeah, he's not elite, but he has the most receiving yards and averages the most of the group. It also helps having a good WR room where Novak can spread the catches around. We haven't had that in a while.