Wayne State at Saginaw Valley

[MDRussell]

Didn't start a thread on this one before the game......I almost drove up to University Center to watch this game on a beautiful fall morning with great sunny game day weather; I'm so glad I didn't ... I watched it on line and it was a tale of two halves/two different teams. Wayne State looked great in the first half, racking up a nice 17-7 halftime lead and even getting a safety to start the 2nd half for a seemingly safe 19-7 lead; then went downfield for a field goal; up 22-7. The rest of the game, well...:at-wits-end: two blocked field goal attempts by WSU, one to win the game as time expired in regulation and the second in OT. As demoralizing and disappointing loss as I've seen as a Tartar/Warrior faithful fan for 40 years.

[WayneStatesman]

Re: Wayne State at Saginaw Valley

I watched the game on line also. Was pretty happy with the way the game was going 'til about halfway through the 3rdQ. Then all hell broke loose. Seems like Wayne State always finds a way to lose. They can't seem to play a complete 60 minute game. I knew when the field goal attempt to win the game was blocked that they would lose in OT since all the momentum was on the Saggy side.

Now they gotta win all their remaining games at home AND beat MTU in "da UP" where they almost never play good just to finish with an over .500 season. As I've stated in other posts there's been no progress in this program since 2011. We keep waiting for improvement and keep seeing the same old sh**.

[MDRussell]

Re: Wayne State at Saginaw Valley

You know, the only thing worse than being criticized and dogged for a bad showing is no one posting any comments at all...irrelevance. I hope the Warriors don't sink to the point that people/fans just stop caring and move on to other interests. Two winnable home games coming up; Tiffin and Davenport. Hope we win at least one of them, because if we lose both of them and we're headed for "crickets"...

[NewEraWarrior]

Re: Wayne State at Saginaw Valley

Heartbreaker...very tough to rebound from. Unfortunately Wayne is staring back to back losing seasons in the face right now...huge bummer. Like MD said, irrelevance is a shame and Wayne has been flirting w/ it the past few years. This past loss is just about as tough of a loss you can have.

[sandman]

Re: Wayne State at Saginaw Valley

Still pissed that WSU didn't go for two after our last score. If you really believe you have the best OL in the league and six good runners. Why not. 2 yards and the game is over.

[MDRussell]

Re: Wayne State at Saginaw Valley

Still pissed that WSU didn't go for two after our last score. If you really believe you have the best OL in the league and six good runners. Why not. 2 yards and the game is over.

I've still been carrying that same frustration back to 2011 at the NCAA D2 Championship game when they went for the field goal instead of the first down/touchdown on fourth and 2, that also was blocked and returned for a touchdown; it cost them the lead, the momentum and ultimately the game.

[sandman]

Re: Wayne State at Saginaw Valley

Wow- blotted that out MD. The Saginaw Valley game was in the waning moments of the game but still hurt the truly faithful. Still think a lot of Coach Winters and most of his coaches, but there is a definite conservative approach to the game of football. I still believe that if I had a son who was playing college football Division 2, I would want him playing for someone like Coach Winters.

[WayneStatesman]

Re: Wayne State at Saginaw Valley

That's the dilemma we face. We have a head coach who by all accounts is a very good man and a good mentor. I would not like to see him lose his job.

On the other hand the program has not really progressed at all since playing for a national championship 7 years ago. Something has to change or we will continue to see a mediocre product IMO that will not be able to beat the better teams in the GLIAC or D2 in general and end up hovering around .500 season after season. I don't have a good answer.

I'll tell you what was most disappointing to me in the last few years was in the 2016 season when Wayne State started out 7-1 and at that point controlled their own destiny but then lost their last three games to ODU, Ferris and Grand Valley. Not only did they lose but it was obvious that they just weren't as good as those 3 teams were. That's where we are today. We just don't have a program that can compete with the best.

[sandman]

Re: Wayne State at Saginaw Valley

Part of this has to be recruiting. I see great effort in Wayne State recruiting program. Many good players visit Wayne State and we make plenty of offers. The names and resumes are bantered around on the D-Zone all year round. I have been so impressed with our chances of landing so many highly rated recruits the week before signing day that I get up early to check the news. We get some great kids and excel at developing not so highly rated players. but the fact is we lose many we have offered to D1 schools and to the perennial powers Ferris and Grand Valley. One of our stars today, wanted to go to Ferris but was not offered and excels at Wayne both athletically and academically. The skill positions of wide receiver and qb have been raided at the last minute by D1 and our own main competitors. When is the last time we had an impact player transfer from D1 to Wayne State. 2011, defensive lineman, Pyant comes to mind. Western Michigan and look what happened.( Don't think Darece Roberson counts because he arrived real early). Pyant, Gerulaci, and Houghten tightened up that middle defensive line and strongly helped us to our near championship run. In 55 years, I have never seen a disruptive player on Wayne States team like Nores Fredi, a transfer from Central Michigan. We need more like them to compete with Grand Valley and Ferris State.


Sure hope Amrhein develops into a great qb. He seems to have the tools and some fast receivers. The OLine is well coached and talented but lets us down on occasion like at crucial points during the Saginaw Valley game. I know that it takes a whole team of disciplined and talented players to win the Gliac and that the coaches are striving for that. I probably couldn't put together a good knitting team. I still like this team and most of the coaches.

To get the program back to where Wayne Statesman and the rest of us would like, IMO we need to get more D1 transfers, retain skilled position players we are recruiting, and build a high class indoor football training facility. The latter is probably the root problem for having the other two problems.

[WayneStatesman]

Re: Wayne State at Saginaw Valley

Thank you sandman for your input. You obviously have inside info that I don't have and I appreciate your insight.

[MDRussell]

Re: Wayne State at Saginaw Valley

Thank you sandman for your input. You obviously have inside info that I don't have and I appreciate your insight.

I agree, great perspective on what WSU needs... I remember waaaay back, my older brother Cliff Russell, transferred to Wayne State after two years of basketball at UTEP. He had just played in the NCAA Tournament against Indiana, and had a great resume. He helped shore up the WSU basketball program and ultimately was inducted into the WSU Sports Hall of Fame. Transfers would be a great way to help the roster. Just look at what Jayru Campbell is doing at Ferris State- a Detroit Cass Tech kid that had some early problems has seemingly got things straightened out and he can take the Bulldogs deep into the playoffs; he does have a good track record of that in both high school and junior college.