THE IUP Football Thread

[WarriorVoice]

OK. I'll play along.

So, IUP actually has MORE resources than Cal and SRU. So, we can't blame things on the mighty dollar.

I 100% cannot be convinced either Cal or SRU had more talent than IUP this season. Equal. Sure. More? No way.

IUP gave SRU that game 15 different ways. But, you win or you lose. No asterisks. If there was, the past two years we'd have a hell of a lot of asterisks. IUP (here we go) 'should have' won the past two games against SRU. Instead, IUP lost both.

Nobody showing up Saturday is a completely different conversation. End of the day, what happened on the field is the more important item.

I fully understand you can't win every close game. You can't hold every lead. But, this sure has happened a lot lately. Why?

You cannot be convinced that you have less talent, so the only other options are execution and coaching. Unless you can't be convinced of those things either...

[IUPbigINDIANS]

They probably have more talent than everybody, with the exception of Kutztown. Now health of the players is somewhat uncontrollable and I do think health was a factor by the time the postseason rolled around.

I'm not in the wholesale changes camp. I DON'T think IUP should move away from Tort. My opinion, of course, is totally meaningless.

But, he has to change some things up. He may have some tough decisions to make. Obviously some things need tweaked. Good teams have smashed them in the third quarter of late. Why is that?

Defensively, they are looking at a dang near total rebuild. Granted, that can be done quickly these days.

They obviously are also going to find another starting QB. He pretty much alluded to that on the radio tonight. But, they have a good track record with transfer QBs. Frank Jr. is also pretty connected.

It's not like they haven't been close. But, he has to find that missing factor. These last two years they left a lot of wins on the table. I'd like to see more of a killer mentality from the program.

As they say ... when one season ends another begins. The show goes on.

[IUP24]

I'm admittedly baffled that the concept or idea that IUP's roster may not be talented enough to take the next step and start winning playoff games is seemingly impossible.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

If that’s truly the case, then who bears the responsibility—the university as a whole, or the athletic department specifically? The AD? This game deserved promotion across all of Indiana all week long, radio spots, social media blitzes, etc Instead, it feels like it was barely mentioned with the crowd that showed up. What a missed opportunity and a real disappointment for the program and the fans. Shameful.

Jack even made a comment on the lack of promotion last night on the final Tort Show. Anybody who regularly watches the show knows Jack never says anything negative so that was a surprise.

Tort said the crowd was irrelevant to the game but he was disappointed for his team to essentially play in an empty stadium.

Atmosphere-wise, I've seen a lot of dumpsters at Miller Stadium. That, however, was the worst in 35 years. I keep hearing about 'lack of promotion'. Whom, exactly, does said promotion fall upon?

This stuff is getting old. Fast. Add to it the basketball team getting bumped (3 times) out of the KCAC.

[IUPNation]

Jack even made a comment on the lack of promotion last night on the final Tort Show. Anybody who regularly watches the show knows Jack never says anything negative so that was a surprise.

Tort said the crowd was irrelevant to the game but he was disappointed for his team to essentially play in an empty stadium.

Atmosphere-wise, I've seen a lot of dumpsters at Miller Stadium. That, however, was the worst in 35 years. I keep hearing about 'lack of promotion'. Whom, exactly, does said promotion fall upon?

This stuff is getting old. Fast. Add to it the basketball team getting bumped (3 times) out of the KCAC.

Again..we have a petty person from Slimey Pebbke running the show as AD. We need an IUP person in charge.

[Chuck Norris]

Jack even made a comment on the lack of promotion last night on the final Tort Show. Anybody who regularly watches the show knows Jack never says anything negative so that was a surprise.

Tort said the crowd was irrelevant to the game but he was disappointed for his team to essentially play in an empty stadium.

Atmosphere-wise, I've seen a lot of dumpsters at Miller Stadium. That, however, was the worst in 35 years. I keep hearing about 'lack of promotion'. Whom, exactly, does said promotion fall upon?

This stuff is getting old. Fast. Add to it the basketball team getting bumped (3 times) out of the KCAC.

If IUP averaged over 4,000 per home game it’s hard for me to believe 80% of those people didn’t know IUP was in the playoffs or when the game was. If people really want to know what’s going on with IUP football, they’ll find out. It’s 2025.

I’m sure several factors were at play. One, the average was surely inflated by certain opponents and special days like Homecoming. I’m not sure the first round of the Division 2 playoffs is all that special to the average fan especially when the opponent is someone they’ve never heard of. And I’ll continue to die on the hill of the price being a factor. $20 a ticket isn’t family friendly for a Division 2 football game, playoffs or not.

[IUP24]

If IUP averaged over 4,000 per home game it’s hard for me to believe 80% of those people didn’t know IUP was in the playoffs or when the game was. If people really want to know what’s going on with IUP football, they’ll find out. It’s 2025.

I’m sure several factors were at play. One, the average was surely inflated by certain opponents and special days like Homecoming. I’m not sure the first round of the Division 2 playoffs is all that special to the average fan especially when the opponent is someone they’ve never heard of. And I’ll continue to die on the hill of the price being a factor. $20 a ticket isn’t family friendly for a Division 2 football game, playoffs or not.

You can routinely get into Pitt games for under $20 and sit in the upper deck. Tickets to Penn State and WVU home games have been under $50 for much of the year. Sure, you're paying to park more at those spots, but the fact remains, the overvaluation of D2 football in the echelon of entertainment options is comical.

You could have gone to Acrisure Stadium on Saturday and watched 4 high school WPIAL championship games for under $20.

[iupgroundhog]

It wasn't promoted.

[Fightingscot82]

You can routinely get into Pitt games for under $20 and sit in the upper deck. Tickets to Penn State and WVU home games have been under $50 for much of the year. Sure, you're paying to park more at those spots, but the fact remains, the overvaluation of D2 football in the echelon of entertainment options is comical.

You could have gone to Acrisure Stadium on Saturday and watched 4 high school WPIAL championship games for under $20.

$12 per ticket plus $15-20 to park. Food was astronomical though. Dinner for 1 adult, 2 teen girls, and a boy was over $100.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

If IUP averaged over 4,000 per home game it’s hard for me to believe 80% of those people didn’t know IUP was in the playoffs or when the game was. If people really want to know what’s going on with IUP football, they’ll find out. It’s 2025.

I’m sure several factors were at play. One, the average was surely inflated by certain opponents and special days like Homecoming. I’m not sure the first round of the Division 2 playoffs is all that special to the average fan especially when the opponent is someone they’ve never heard of. And I’ll continue to die on the hill of the price being a factor. $20 a ticket isn’t family friendly for a Division 2 football game, playoffs or not.

IUP tickets are expensive (compared to other D2 teams) year-round. Reserved seats (after the fees are added) are about $18. General admission this year was around $14.

No matter how it gets spun or who gets blamed, having under 800 is pathetic.


Here's a good comparison: Joe's non-conference game against D'Youville the following day (5:30 p.m.) drew 734 people.

Let that sink in. Joe got the same crowd for a no-name, unattractive, non-conference game against a then 0-4 team on a Sunday night than Tort got for a home playoff game.

[iupgroundhog]

Kutztown drew 2426 for their game against Bentley and Cal 's game at Virginia Union drew 2118.

[Ram040506]

IUP tickets are expensive (compared to other D2 teams) year-round. Reserved seats (after the fees are added) are about $18. General admission this year was around $14.

No matter how it gets spun or who gets blamed, having under 800 is pathetic.


Here's a good comparison: Joe's non-conference game against D'Youville the following day (5:30 p.m.) drew 734 people.

Let that sink in. Joe got the same crowd for a no-name, unattractive, non-conference game against a then 0-4 team on a Sunday night than Tort got for a home playoff game.

For comparison, Shepherds tickets are higher:

Reserved seating $30 per game, $140 for season tickets reserved.
General Admission for adults is $15, $5 for K-12 age. Season tickets for GA is $75.

Slippery Rock's website has GA tickets at $10, chair back reserved seating at $15.

Shippensburg is straight $10 to enter according to their site.

[Chuck Norris]

IUP tickets are expensive (compared to other D2 teams) year-round. Reserved seats (after the fees are added) are about $18. General admission this year was around $14.

No matter how it gets spun or who gets blamed, having under 800 is pathetic.


Here's a good comparison: Joe's non-conference game against D'Youville the following day (5:30 p.m.) drew 734 people.

Let that sink in. Joe got the same crowd for a no-name, unattractive, non-conference game against a then 0-4 team on a Sunday night than Tort got for a home playoff game.

It’s a shame. And I certainly don’t have the answers, I’m just spitballing. Did people just not really think IUP’s playoff prospects were that great so they just didn’t go? They certainly gave the clear cut regional favorite a good battle the week before. Or did they assume IUP would win easily and it wasn’t worth sitting through? Even though there are classes through today, did campus empty out enough over the weekend to eliminate the student contingent, however much there was one through the season?

[Fightingscot82]

I'm not in the wholesale changes camp. I DON'T think IUP should move away from Tort. My opinion, of course, is totally meaningless.

But, he has to change some things up. He may have some tough decisions to make. Obviously some things need tweaked. Good teams have smashed them in the third quarter of late. Why is that?

Defensively, they are looking at a dang near total rebuild. Granted, that can be done quickly these days.

They obviously are also going to find another starting QB. He pretty much alluded to that on the radio tonight. But, they have a good track record with transfer QBs. Frank Jr. is also pretty connected.

It's not like they haven't been close. But, he has to find that missing factor. These last two years they left a lot of wins on the table. I'd like to see more of a killer mentality from the program.

As they say ... when one season ends another begins. The show goes on.

I also agree that IUP should stick with Tort - I'm of the opinion that unless they break general employee policies or they're no longer able to do the job, you stick with your guy to build a program around them. He also has been there a longtime and they could lose longtime relationships that I don't think are worth the gamble even for a known coach. When Edinboro moved on from Wayne Bradford back in 2019, the entire staff left and with it went every relationship with alumni. If the two assistant ADs weren't longtime guys (one a football alum), things could have gone south really bad (I'm glad it didn't - Nulph did a fine job but alumni took too much time accepting him).

If I were the AD, and I've never been so take this with a grain of salt, I'd have Tort come to me with a post-mortem on the season: what went well, what didn't go as expected (and why). As the manager of the football program, it should fall on Tort's shoulders to identify issues and execute a plan to remedy those. If he needs more resources, that's part of the discussion. If he needs to document injuries of key players, that's part too. I think IUP's AD is good at his job and this is part of the plan. But its also fair for fans to ask why IUP isn't outperforming programs with less resources. But honestly, I think this conference is too competitive overall to make additional resources put you so far ahead of the others like IUP enjoyed in the 80s and 90s. We've seen other programs fund 30+ equivalencies and significant increases in coaching salary pool and equipment - and they didn't dominate the division.

My only issue is one that's been discussed on here ad nauseum: is IUP football the premier program ("Tier 1" for those who remember a certain PSAC lawsuit), or is that basketball? Whichever it is, I think IUP has to make that clearer. That's not a criticism but a suggestion. Of any of the programs, I think IUP is most likely to win a national championship going forward. Right now, Rock and Kutztown are capable, but that can change. A perennial national title contender helps the rest of the PSAC. That's what separates the PSAC from say, the RMAC.

[IUPbigINDIANS]

I also agree that IUP should stick with Tort - I'm of the opinion that unless they break general employee policies or they're no longer able to do the job, you stick with your guy to build a program around them. He also has been there a longtime and they could lose longtime relationships that I don't think are worth the gamble even for a known coach. When Edinboro moved on from Wayne Bradford back in 2019, the entire staff left and with it went every relationship with alumni. If the two assistant ADs weren't longtime guys (one a football alum), things could have gone south really bad (I'm glad it didn't - Nulph did a fine job but alumni took too much time accepting him).

If I were the AD, and I've never been so take this with a grain of salt, I'd have Tort come to me with a post-mortem on the season: what went well, what didn't go as expected (and why). As the manager of the football program, it should fall on Tort's shoulders to identify issues and execute a plan to remedy those. If he needs more resources, that's part of the discussion. If he needs to document injuries of key players, that's part too. I think IUP's AD is good at his job and this is part of the plan. But its also fair for fans to ask why IUP isn't outperforming programs with less resources. But honestly, I think this conference is too competitive overall to make additional resources put you so far ahead of the others like IUP enjoyed in the 80s and 90s. We've seen other programs fund 30+ equivalencies and significant increases in coaching salary pool and equipment - and they didn't dominate the division.

My only issue is one that's been discussed on here ad nauseum: is IUP football the premier program ("Tier 1" for those who remember a certain PSAC lawsuit), or is that basketball? Whichever it is, I think IUP has to make that clearer. That's not a criticism but a suggestion. Of any of the programs, I think IUP is most likely to win a national championship going forward. Right now, Rock and Kutztown are capable, but that can change. A perennial national title contender helps the rest of the PSAC. That's what separates the PSAC from say, the RMAC.

That's a whole different can of worms (and a thread in itself).

In a nutshell, they want both to be up front.

Same school ... very different followings (i.e. boosters).

They are kind of two different worlds.

That said, I think this is Joe's last push. He has a strong team this year (and should next year, too, if they all stay). When he retires, it will be interesting what direction they take. Tort is also nearing retirement (one could assume a few more years).

Make no mistake, there was a run there that Joe far surpassed the football program.

It's odd but they are really just different programs. They have largely different followings, etc. Obviously there are some people who follow both.