THE IUP Football Thread

[IUPFan69]

that's taking gamesmanship to a new level, at least Tort stays true to himself lol....it has peaked my interest at QB tho, we'll see who gets the start

Everyone does this throughout college football. It’s nothing new it’s simply part of college athletics. From everything I’ve heard around town, Tort is one of the most well liked people in the entire college football world. Numerous former players and coaches have talked about what a great person he is, the kind of family man he is, and the impact he has on the people around him. That includes many of the coaches he has worked with, including coaches from Power 5 programs and the NFL.

Maybe that’s actually the 2-deep, but I’m sure Ashland will have some surprises of their own in there as well. Everyone has week 1 surprises. That’s college football, you never really know what you’re going to see until kickoff.

[CUlater]

They added the Cal and Monmouth transfers to the roster today. Neither on the two-deep. Both are obviously starting.

Jesus just let this freaking game start already.

ya, no other surprises, just the ones we already knew about. tonight will be interesting. Hoping the weather doesn't completely derail things

[IUPbigINDIANS]

ya, no other surprises, just the ones we already knew about. tonight will be interesting. Hoping the weather doesn't completely derail things

It's nice (and hot as pi$$) in Ashland right now. Let's hope.

Severe Storm watch in effect for the area from 3pm to 10pm.

[Fightingscot82]

IUP looked really good last night, very good for the first game of the year. Unusually good for nobody knowing who was on the team lol

I have to admit I was dead wrong. With Ashland ranked so highly I figured there was something about them I missed, but I was wrong all around.

Big night for the PSAC West last night.

[EyeoftheHawk]

Now we know a little something about IUP after last night. Big win on the road against what is probably a pretty good Ashland team. My takeaways:

• IUP won this game in the trenches. The offensive line was outstanding, especially as compared to the last few years. Ashland returned a lot of guys on defense, the same defense that embarrassed IUP last year. The defensive line was dominant.
• Mason Maggs is the real deal. He can make all the throws and he sure didn’t look like a guy that hadn’t taken a competitive snap for a long time. You can see what a D1 quarterback looks like with his size, arm strength, accuracy, and poise. He would have started for a lot of D1’s, but when you’re at Ohio State…
• The kickers were a question mark, but not anymore. Rathway looks like he’s going to be a good one, and Mentzer has a huge leg. He averaged 46.4 last night on punts.
• This might be the biggest one. When IUP was challenged late, they FINISHED. That drive that ended with a field goal was just something IUP hasn’t done in a while. Al of us watching that had that bad feeling of “Here we go again,” but this time IUP responded and put it away.
• I like the new OC. He mixed things up, wasn’t predictable, and didn’t get conservative in crunch time.

Good win. A lot to be excited for. Kudos to those of you who made the drive.

[IUPFan69]

IUP’s transfer QB Mason Maggs is the real deal. Like I said the other day, Tort battled everyone to get him, and you can already see why. Everyone in the country at the D2 level was recruiting him. Coming in from Ohio State, Maggs showed exactly what he can bring to this IUP offense playmaking ability. He had a big opening night.

[IUPalum]

Guess I watched a different game than most of you.

1) Undisciplined penalties (roughing the passers especially) kept Ashland in the game the first half.
2) IUP up 31-10... why did the game get close? Oh yes, because they got conservative instead of putting them away!
3) Maggs has the tools but no way will they be able to utilize them if that O-Line doesn't start pass blocking better.
4) Parson can't be a returner. He's now injured! He's far to valuable on offense to be returning kicks too. First explosive runner since Samir.
5) I'm not sold on the D-Line yet either. Ashland never had a chance to establish the run because they were always behind. I don't think this D-Line is that good at run stopping. TBC.
6) The secondary gave up far to many big plays. Some to poor coverage and some to poor communication.
7) If this team is going to be a playoff team, they have to get better in a hurry. Tort's conservative **** needs to get out of the way also! You've got to play to win, not the play not to lose BS!

[IUPFan69]

Guess I watched a different game than most of you.

1) Undisciplined penalties (roughing the passers especially) kept Ashland in the game the first half.
2) IUP up 31-10... why did the game get close? Oh yes, because they got conservative instead of putting them away!
3) Maggs has the tools but no way will they be able to utilize them if that O-Line doesn't start pass blocking better.
4) Parson can't be a returner. He's now injured! He's far to valuable on offense to be returning kicks too. First explosive runner since Samir.
5) I'm not sold on the D-Line yet either. Ashland never had a chance to establish the run because they were always behind. I don't think this D-Line is that good at run stopping. TBC.
6) The secondary gave up far to many big plays. Some to poor coverage and some to poor communication.
7) If this team is going to be a playoff team, they have to get better in a hurry. Tort's conservative **** needs to get out of the way also! You've got to play to win, not the play not to lose BS!

I’m really confused on what game you watched. 😂 First game of the year, there are obviously going to be penalties, but IUP just won by 10 on the road against the No. 12 team in the country on a Thursday night a game everyone, including you, picked Ashland to win.

Tort out coached Geiser the entire night, and IUP dominated Ashland up front on both sides of the ball. Saying the OL played a bad game tells me you really need to improve your football IQ. IUP gave up one sack all night and pass protected extremely well. They dominated Ashland’s defensive front. And that was without two starting OL Tanner Fuchs went down on the first drive and Wyatt Koval didn’t play due to injury. That’s a huge improvement from last year.

And your comment about the DL makes even less sense. IUP held Ashland to 22 rushing yards, was in their QB’s face all night, had a strip sack TD, and held Ashland to just 1-of-9 on third down. That is dominating the line of scrimmage.

IUP won by two possessions against the No. 12 team in the country, on the road, on a Thursday night, to open the season. Maybe watch the game again before criticizing.

[EyeoftheHawk]

I’m really confused on what game you watched. 😂 First game of the year, there are obviously going to be penalties, but IUP just won by 10 on the road against the No. 12 team in the country on a Thursday night a game everyone, including you, picked Ashland to win.

Tort out coached Geiser the entire night, and IUP dominated Ashland up front on both sides of the ball. Saying the OL played a bad game tells me you really need to improve your football IQ. IUP gave up one sack all night and pass protected extremely well. They dominated Ashland’s defensive front. And that was without two starting OL Tanner Fuchs went down on the first drive and Wyatt Koval didn’t play due to injury. That’s a huge improvement from last year.

And your comment about the DL makes even less sense. IUP held Ashland to 22 rushing yards, was in their QB’s face all night, had a strip sack TD, and held Ashland to just 1-of-9 on third down. That is dominating the line of scrimmage.

IUP won by two possessions against the No. 12 team in the country, on the road, on a Thursday night, to open the season. Maybe watch the game again before criticizing.

That seems to be the game I saw. I’m usually one of the first in line to be critical, but the full body of work and outcome was great. Yes, there were too many penalties. Yes, the defense, especially the secondary, didn’t play as well as they probably can. And yes, it got closer than it should have, but Ashland has a lot of talent on both sides of the ball so let’s give them a little credit too. If we’re to a point where we can’t be happy about a huge win on the road against a team that has at least 9 wins over the last four seasons against a tough schedule, I don’t even know what to say to that.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I don't know what Mayo did this off-season but he (and his friends) will cause some nightmares this season.

I thought the mix of the more muscle-type DL guys in the 6'2'" to 6'3", 245 lb range gave IUP a tremendous influx of speed on the DL. Ashland's giant (but slow) OL couldn't keep up.

They still have some of the 300 lb guys but the DL was incredibly fast.

They played with a composed aggressiveness, too. It wasn't the IUP swag of the 90s but much more so than the past few years.

In the recent past IUP had bigger but much slower guys. Last night they were getting serious heat.


But, now we que up the coach speak mumbo jumbo. It's one game. Take things one week at a time. And, all the other b.s.

[iupgroundhog]

A few thoughts about the game last night. IUP closed out the series with Ashland with a 4-1 record (6-1 since 2017). It was a pretty great series. IUP has a better program, overall. We were better last night. Ashland has a better stadium.

I was super impressed with Maggs at QB. Nobody knew what to expect. He has the look of a guy from the upper echelons of college football, not only physically but his demeanor on and off the field. I think he has solid leadership abilities. He looked very good last night, but this was his first start in like 5 years and I think he will grow as the season wears on.

There were so many good things for IUP. They showed depth in a lot of areas and young guys like WR Wilson,Harrold, Boyd, and Holmes and LB Whipple really impressed.

The kickers and punters are very good. They are a cut above D2, IMO. Mentzer could be a great kicker but they have him punting and i think he can be extraordinary. I'm surprised they are going with the true freshman Rathway at kicker but he looked good last night. I don't know what his FG range is.

I'm concerned with the injuries but they have 8 days from today before West Chester. Fuchs looked like the worst as he had to be helped off the field. That happened early on in the 1st quarter. They inserted the backup Hudren who seemed to do a good job the rest of the way. They didn't have to move any OL around. Fuchs is really strong so I hope he is ok. Parson is very quick and very shifty. He is a cut above at RB. Hopefully, he is fine. Hopefully, Coleman is fine, too. Did he have similar hamstring problems last year?

[IUPNation]

Ashland must be sick of IUP at this point.

Next two years they play Fairmont State in the openers.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

Ashland must be sick of IUP at this point.

Next two years they play Fairmont State in the openers.

Every year the whole board picks Ashland to win. IUP won 6 of 7.

[IUPalum]

Now we know a little something about IUP after last night. Big win on the road against what is probably a pretty good Ashland team. My takeaways:

• IUP won this game in the trenches. The offensive line was outstanding, especially as compared to the last few years. Ashland returned a lot of guys on defense, the same defense that embarrassed IUP last year. The defensive line was dominant.
• Mason Maggs is the real deal. He can make all the throws and he sure didn’t look like a guy that hadn’t taken a competitive snap for a long time. You can see what a D1 quarterback looks like with his size, arm strength, accuracy, and poise. He would have started for a lot of D1’s, but when you’re at Ohio State…
• The kickers were a question mark, but not anymore. Rathway looks like he’s going to be a good one, and Mentzer has a huge leg. He averaged 46.4 last night on punts.
• This might be the biggest one. When IUP was challenged late, they FINISHED. That drive that ended with a field goal was just something IUP hasn’t done in a while. Al of us watching that had that bad feeling of “Here we go again,” but this time IUP responded and put it away.
• I like the new OC. He mixed things up, wasn’t predictable, and didn’t get conservative in crunch time.

Good win. A lot to be excited for. Kudos to those of you who made the drive.

So you just completely contradicted yourself. If IUP's O-line was so good then why did they only average 2.7 a carry? That's less than Ashland!

To say Tort out coached Ashland is absolutely crazy talk. IUP blew a huge lead and made it a 1 possession game because Tort coaches not to lose.

You'll see more about the D-line's ability to stop the run when a team actually attempts to establish a rush attack.

As far as #12... if you don't know that those rankings are a joke then you obviously don't know college football. Ashland will get stomped by GV next Saturday and will be promptly out of these rankings you yack about. IUP better play 100 times better than this because if they don't, Cal and SRU will send them packing!

[IUPalum]

Ashland must be sick of IUP at this point.

Next two years they play Fairmont State in the openers.

Ashland does it to themselves. Why schedule IUP and Grand Valley in nonconference games?