NWMSU vs PSU GAME THREAD --- Oct. 6th, 2018

[Predatory Primates]

Re: NWMSU vs PSU GAME THREAD --- Oct. 6th, 2018

That 3rd and 4th quarters were extremely painful to watch. Both teams slipped into the darkness of the crappy twilight zone, but congrats to Pitt for not getting blanked...(too soon?)

Not too soon at all. Pitt deserves it.

[NW Normal]

Re: NWMSU vs PSU GAME THREAD --- Oct. 6th, 2018

Hey guys, it's next week already. "You Better Move On".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOT7OwcbK-k

[GorillaTeacher]

Re: NWMSU vs PSU GAME THREAD --- Oct. 6th, 2018

Hey guys, it's next week already. "You Better Move On".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOT7OwcbK-k

We should all take a page from Sigs book. Onto Fort Hays!

[Thepeman]

Re: NWMSU vs PSU GAME THREAD --- Oct. 6th, 2018

In my 30+ years of coaching, I used the phrase, "Nothing is as bad as it seems or as good as it seems." I certainly think it applies to this game for both teams.

[GorillaBred]

Re: NWMSU vs PSU GAME THREAD --- Oct. 6th, 2018

I'm not saying the rest of the OLine was good, but this was 90% on one guy: the center. He's been bad all year, was terrible today, and the funny thing is, he went out one game and his backup was really good. Completely unclear why a change hasn't been made, other than the general incompetence of the offensive coaches.

Yeah, he just can't pass with any sort of consistency right now. Every throw is a just a prayer. He still seems to be able to run the option and keepers. Seems like we would've game-planned for that, but apparently not.

You know, I realize that things are going against PSU right now but you have to admit that they've had multiple injuries to key players; you'd think that without those injuries this game would be a lot closer. I'm a low-level assistant on a high school football team, and all year long we've had so very many injuries. There's a drop off, no doubt about it. Pitt is a significantly better team than this but those injuries add up. Everyone says (and it's true), '"Next man up."' But still there is a difference between 1st team and 2nd string guys. A healthy Pitt is much, much better than what we've seen this afternoon. Just an opinion, I could be wrong.

I agree. Lots of things could've made this game closer and a few things could've made it a bigger blowout. This game felt a lot like the 2016 game. Similar to 2016, I think a few things snowballed on Pitt State in this one. The much narrower margin in this game is pretty tell-tale of the differences between this year's Pitt State team and this year's NW team, relative to 2016. NW is probably ~14 points worse than that year and Pitt State is probably ~14 points better than that year.

[GorillaBred]

Re: NWMSU vs PSU GAME THREAD --- Oct. 6th, 2018

I feel like I tried to multi-quote a couple more posts than it let me in that last post. Oh well. General thoughts on the game as it's hard to find message board time on the weekends:

Pitt State's offensive game plan and playcalling were atrocious. Pitt State's offensive focus/mental toughness was awful. If JRod can't throw, Bradbury can't play and Harman isn't ready, then why don't we have a game plan that is super run heavy in the first half to try to 1) take advantage of what we can do and 2) conceal our weaknesses as long as possible so the defense has to play us straight up. Weimers went way too "conventional wisdom" and decided that once we were in 1st and 15 situations because of stupid pre-snap penalties, we had to throw the ball. We couldn't throw the ball! Adkins was running well and the OL seemed able to run-block pretty well. The other really dumb element of our offensive game plan was the full house backfield stuff. That hasn't been great all year and was useless today. We've been much more effective running the ball out of more conventional, less telling sets.

Unlike the offense, who can really only take away one lesson from today's game (that lesson being, "Don't be generally inept at everything."), I do think the defense can focus on a few key areas for improvement, one has been mentioned by a post or two above and is very visible in today's game because NW does it so well: our DEs need to not just start chasing the QB as soon as the ball is snapped, but need to actually set the edge. It's been a weakness all year, but most teams haven't been able to take advantage of it. The other thing is that, I know he's been around a while, has given a lot to the program, is a good tackler and is a captain, but Demetrius Bernard is just too slow to play LB in anything other than short yardage situations. If we want him on the field, we need to use him as a standup DL (or a DL who is actually down in stance, as we used him last year sometimes, but don't seem to as often this year).

For NW, Strayhorn is really good. Feels like the best NW RB since Franklin to me, but NW posters might disagree. He seemed good in the other NW games I watched and they seemed to underutilize him. Unfortunately for Pitt State, they didn't underutilize him today. If Caldwell is hurt, I 100% agree with the posters suggesting to just rest him until he's healthy because Strayhorn is so much better right now. This NW team feels like it's roughly on par with the 2014 team to me, which I guess means I agree that unless they improve or get a favorable matchup, it could be a short postseason for the MIAA. However, I wouldn't rule out that sort of improvement. It was kind of NW's hallmark under MT. However, last year, things really seemed to fall apart for NW down the stretch. In my opinion, the tone for the entire RW era could be set the rest of this year: if they have another late season fizzle, it risks becoming a habit. If they improve as so many NW teams have, it could be much more like the majority last two decades (excluding the dominance of 15-16, this team isn't those teams).

For Pitt State going forward, I know it's useless to say, but I guess time will tell. Nothing about this game makes me think we CAN'T win the rest of the conference games, make the POs, and even potentially win a game if we stumble into the GLVC champ. However, I don't have a good reason to think that will happen, either. If the QB situation doesn't get better, it could be a hidden blessing, because surely it will help us realize that the offense needs to run through Adkins. If we're as banged up as I worry we might be, though, it could be a long October.

[Guest]

Re: NWMSU vs PSU GAME THREAD --- Oct. 6th, 2018

I feel the need to inject a little reality into this thread.

Pitt was the number 8 team in the country going into this game and there was a lot of hope among Gorilla Nation. A 24 point win by almost anyone's definition is a dominating win. Scoring 31 points and gaining 452 total yards at 6.1 average per play, is pretty dominating. Is it the most dominate game ever? No but Pitt had a top 10 defense in the Nation going into that game.

Yes, NW is pretty young in general, and more specifically in some key spots. QB, WR, RB, OL either have young guys or guys that are new to starting football games this season. Same with DL and DB. This NW team is above average. They lost on the road to a very athletic UCO team. It happens.

It's hard to say that NW wasn't very impressive. To say that means Pitt is really, really bad. Strayhorn averaged 13.4 yards per carry. Yes, he had one long run. One where the "not very impressive" young QB actually came out and led block for him pretty far down field. NW fans, when is the last time we started a RS-Fr QB? Answer is maybe Brady Bolles? (I actually think Tyler started those games), out of necessity, not because he earned it.

Wright needs to be more accurate, but he throws some really nice throws as well. With him, it's just consistency as I have seen him make some tremendous throws, especially downfield. His 56.9 completion pct is not elite or NW expectations. His 12-2 TD ratio and 139.4 Efficiency are above average. Also his 305 yards rushing and 6 rushing TDs are also more than expected for a NW QB. Again, he's a RS-Frosh.

[kccatfan]

Re: NWMSU vs PSU GAME THREAD --- Oct. 6th, 2018

So that is what a team looks like without a QB. JRod should be the 3rd string and we just need to go with Bradbury and Harmon the rest of the year. I appreciate him trying to play through his shoulder injury but it is something with him every week. In his career I don't think he as played 3 straight games without being injured. His throws were into the ground, at the feet or just off. I feel sorry for him, wish he could have had a career without his body just getting beat up.

The center needs to be benched. 5 false starts on him. 5!

How many shifts does this offense has to do in order to get in formation. On 1 play we shifted 4 times! Then on several plays our RBs didn't know where to line up and on a couple of plays our slot WRs were looking at the QB not knowing where to go. It looked like we didn't practice all week. It looked as if this was our first game and we hadn't practiced yet. Pitiful. Just pitiful.

PP, I think I'm with you. Wiemers should have left when Rampy left. This offense has looked bad all year but today they looked unprepared and clueless. Stop all the shifting, as it is not confusing the defense but our own offense, and just line up and snap the ball.

People will claim the defense was left out to dry but they didn't have a good game. You have the offense pinned inside the 10 and you give up big play after big play. First a run, then another run, then a pass. You have to keep the offense from getting out of that position and punt to give your offense good field position. Missed tackles and really poor effort for much of the game. I don't think they were ready either, or they have been listening to all the accolades and got big headed. At least that is how their play looked.

As I have said over the last few years.....Welcome to Tim Beck football. This is who we are with him as a head coach. 9 years now and nothing has changed. His interview after halftime was a joke. "We have had the defense on the field too much and have too many penalties. We need to convert on 3rd down and not have our defense on the field so much." Really? You think?

NW....I wouldn't gloat too much. You didn't look very good yourself. This game should have looked like the game in 2016 when if NW wanted to they could have scored 100. The Bearcat defense has come back quite a bit to the pack. Solid but nothing like it has been the last many years. I don't see that your QB is going to be special either. I know he is a RS Freshman but his arm isn't that strong and he throws a duck. Caldwell is not very good. Your #3 has some speed but he didn't have to do much as the edge was pretty much cleaned up for him. I think he had 3 runs over 30? Nice back would like to see what he could do if he had to run between tackles.

MIAA doesn't have a NC contender from what I have seen. I think NW will win out but it will be one of the weaker PO teams they will field.

Refs sucked. The PI the first series in the endzone on Pitt was a pathetic call. As were 2 that were called on NW. If they are PI, then how can a DB play pass defense? I hope there is something in place with the conference where coaches could complain and have film watched on some of these calls for the conference to correct.

Season is all but over for Pitt State. I think there are 3 to 4 more losses in the future for them. But as usually Tim isn't going anywhere.

Insightful post, as usual Rob, but I respectfully disagree with your assessment of the NW QB. What he seemed to lack in arm strength on Saturday is more than compensated for by his poise. He's been a pretty good decision maker to this point in the season, especially for his age and lack of experience with MIAA play. He's calm under pressure and makes intelligent reads. He's tough as nails and has shown the ability to throw a really good football a lot of times. Maybe not throwing on a rope yet like Blake Bolles, but he can and does throw the ball well. All of his skill set will improve with development in the program as he matures and his game intellect should only improve, too. If he stays healthy I think chances are pretty good that he will be one of Northwest's best QBs.

[kccatfan]

Re: NWMSU vs PSU GAME THREAD --- Oct. 6th, 2018

I feel the need to inject a little reality into this thread.

Pitt was the number 8 team in the country going into this game and there was a lot of hope among Gorilla Nation. A 24 point win by almost anyone's definition is a dominating win. Scoring 31 points and gaining 452 total yards at 6.1 average per play, is pretty dominating. Is it the most dominate game ever? No but Pitt had a top 10 defense in the Nation going into that game.

Yes, NW is pretty young in general, and more specifically in some key spots. QB, WR, RB, OL either have young guys or guys that are new to starting football games this season. Same with DL and DB. This NW team is above average. They lost on the road to a very athletic UCO team. It happens.

It's hard to say that NW wasn't very impressive. To say that means Pitt is really, really bad. Strayhorn averaged 13.4 yards per carry. Yes, he had one long run. One where the "not very impressive" young QB actually came out and led block for him pretty far down field. NW fans, when is the last time we started a RS-Fr QB? Answer is maybe Brady Bolles? (I actually think Tyler started those games), out of necessity, not because he earned it.

Wright needs to be more accurate, but he throws some really nice throws as well. With him, it's just consistency as I have seen him make some tremendous throws, especially downfield. His 56.9 completion pct is not elite or NW expectations. His 12-2 TD ratio and 139.4 Efficiency are above average. Also his 305 yards rushing and 6 rushing TDs are also more than expected for a NW QB. Again, he's a RS-Frosh.

That was a really great thing to see.

[Guest]

Re: NWMSU vs PSU GAME THREAD --- Oct. 6th, 2018

Insightful post, as usual Rob, but I respectfully disagree with your assessment of the NW QB. What he seemed to lack in arm strength on Saturday is more than compensated for by his poise. He's been a pretty good decision maker to this point in the season, especially for his age and lack of experience with MIAA play. He's calm under pressure and makes intelligent reads. He's tough as nails and has shown the ability to throw a really good football a lot of times. Maybe not throwing on a rope yet like Blake Bolles, but he can and does throw the ball well. All of his skill set will improve with development in the program as he matures and his game intellect should only improve, too. If he stays healthy I think chances are pretty good that he will be one of Northwest's best QBs.

He's young and most young QB's tend to throw the deep ball better than the shorter routes with tighter windows. It's not really, IMO about arm strength. It's about recognition of whose open, recognition of the speed of recovery of DBs, angle of release, and knowing (and being able to throw to) the location where the ball needs to be. If a guy is open on the deep ball, it's about putting it out in front of him and that's really just touch.

What I like is that Wright can make throws on the run, keeps his eyes down field, uses his legs when it makes sense (although that can also get better). Some of the choices and shorter throws will come with age. I doubt if he is a NW QB arm strength is an issue.

Remember that most QBs we see are RS-Sophomores or RS-Juniors by the time they play significantly.

[Predatory Primates]

Re: NWMSU vs PSU GAME THREAD --- Oct. 6th, 2018

The Pitt D gave up a ton of big plays in this one. Trying to say NW sucks because they couldn't move the ball at times aside from those big plays is pretty stupid.

They had runs of: 67,31,23,17,15,21,23 yards for 197
They had Passes of:41,43,40 for 124 yards

So 321 total yards came on 10 big plays. It was the recipe to beat Pitt badly, and my hat is off to the NW staff for finding ways to beat what is still a pretty stout D. (If they figure out how to get back to not giving up big plays, that is)

[Guest]

Re: NWMSU vs PSU GAME THREAD --- Oct. 6th, 2018

So 321 total yards came on 10 big plays. It was the recipe to beat Pitt badly, and my hat is off to the NW staff for finding ways to beat what is still a pretty stout D. (If they figure out how to get back to not giving up big plays, that is)

Yep, Pitt's D flies around. Atkins might be the best Pitt back I have seen since Race.