Things to Take from Thursday's Games???

[GannonFan]

Curious what people think you can take out of the games on Thursday. My take:

Furman/Jacksonville St - I didn't give Jax St a chance in hell of winning this game so obviously I'm much more impressed with them now then I was before. It's only one game, but to come out and give a vastly better performance against the same team that clobbered them into the offseason last year is a big step. I don't have a lot of confidence that the OVC is any better, but Jax St apparently can step up and play a big game. As for Furman, the bright side is they didn't lose. On the other side, they didn't play all that well and despite my newfound appreciation for Jax St, this is a game Furman should win 10 times out of 10. Let's just say it's a good thing the GSU game is later in the year.

Northwestern St/LA-Monroe - Tough game to draw too much from as I'm sure emotions in the area were decidedly not about football this week. Saw some of the highlights on ESPN and NW St jsut got beat on a few big plays early. For a team that won with defense last year I think it was a good sign that the offense could come back after being so far in the hole. Quality win for NW St.

William and Mary/Marshall - I'm sure the W&M folks will be proud of the effort, and as an A10 supporter I was teased momentarily with the possiblity of W&M pulling the upset. W&M ran the ball much better than people would've expected, but that's tempered by the season ending injury to one of the offensive line's starting guards, and also tempered by the fact that Marshall is a vast unknown right now - Marshall's trend is starting to take them from a poster-child of a successful IAA to IA move to one that is clearly looking to lump them in with the rest of the IAA's that have failed to make permanent waves in IA. W&M's QB's played ok, and for their first game in that setting that's actually pretty good. However, if W&M can't run like that against A10 defenses (the good ones) the QB's will need to be quickly better than ok.

Towson/Morgan St - Quick one here, apparently Towson will still not be ready to win games in the A10 this year - no real surprise, just a confirmation. But, give them credit, they fought back in this won and pulled out the win. Despite recent success on the field, Towson's got a lot of heart - this could be the year they complete a good game against a good opponent and get the big upset. Hopefully not against my Hens of course.

UMass/Richmond - Tough to take much from this game - I think Richmond has actually taken an understandable step back not having Tutt at QB - he only touched the ball 7 times in this game and he's much too good of a playmaker to be that uninvolved. But, if Richmond's going to take a step forward next year in 2006 they need to do this so that may just mean a real bad year in 2005. UMass's defense played well and continues to get the turnovers, but Richmond ain't pretty offensively so they'll have to play better than this - gave up too many yards for the offense they were facing. UMass will go as far as Baylark is able to take them - Day is unremarkable at QB and the passing suffers. Not a bad horse to lean on, though, as Baylark is a beast.

Those were the games that said the most to me on Thursday - a lot of blowouts against lower level teams and WIU getting killed by Toledo. Sure I missed something so feel free to chime in.

[Keydet90]

I watched most of this game on TV and it was a tale of two halves. NSU did absolutely nothing offensively except fumble, line drive FG attempts and toss interceptions for the entire first half of football. Game could easily have been 30-0 at the half if the Indians hadn't batted the ball around trying to recover it inside the ten instead of just falling on it - result was NSU recovered own fumble for a safety rather than giving up 6 or 8. Midway through third quarter the NSU QB threw as pretty a pass as you'll see all year to a WR who just flat outran the secondary for a 70some yard TD. Once they scored they got some confidence, the defense finally started stopping ULM's QB and the team got some turnovers and some breaks go their way. Once they scored that one TD it's like they calmed down and started believing.

Any I-AA team that can come out and have that kind of half against what was supposed to be a much improved I-A ULM squad and STILL pull off a win without collapsing has my top five vote.

I plan to attend NSU vs NDSU next week for their Military Appreciation Game so I'll let you know what I see in person providing I am not deployed for hurricane duty by then.


DP '90

[Reed Rothchild]

UNI 52
Drake 17

UNI's offense looks like it could rank among the best in school history.

Defense will be suspect until they can figure it out.

Eric Sanders will be the Gateway Offensive Player of the Year.

David Horne will be the Gateway Newcomer of the Year

[jsugamecock98]

is some pockets got greased after the JSU Furman game! I guess the Zebras upgraded from Wendy's to Red Lobster!

[kats89]

Sam Houston got in some good practice against another team. We got to see a little punt block action in the 77-7 rout. SHSU played all 5 QB's on roster and went 4 deep at running back. Hell, the 4th string RB carried the ball 20 times for 144 yds, ALL IN THE SECOND HALF.

http://www.gobearkats.com/football/front_big/jones_punt_block.jpg

[bkrownd]

UMass/Richmond - Tough to take much from this game ...UMass's defense played well and continues to get the turnovers, but Richmond ain't pretty offensively so they'll have to play better than this - gave up too many yards for the offense they were facing.

As long as the defensive line is stronger vs. the run this year, things will be OK. It was ugly up front last year.

[bkrownd]

UNI's offense looks like it could rank among the best in school history.


If UNI hosts a first-round playoff game, is there any chance of out-of-towners getting tickets?

[TheValleyRaider]

Based on what I've read on the board, and from listening to UMass-Richmond online (while also attempting to read about Puritan political ideology), is that the games in general, especially the close ones, were rather sloppy.

JSU seems to be ready to take a real step up in terms of competing on the national level. So close, and yet... They pushed a good Furman team hard, and, with possibly a little more seasoning, could make more noise than we anticipated this year.

Furman, in spite of their mistakes, drove down, and converted the last play for a TD. I'm reminded of Colgate in 2003, when they needed a last second TD to beat Georgetown in the first game of the season. If FU builds on the momentum of a tight win, and begins to minimize their mistakes, they'll be as dangerous as everyone thinks they are.

On the one hand, I did expect NWSt. to beat ULM, so I'm not ready to declare great things about them just yet, and was a little shocked that they went down so early. On the other hand, they held fast, and pulled off the big rally against a I-A team. A win is a win, especially against a I-A (even if it's the lowly Sun Belt), and especially with that kind of rally. Kudos to the Demons.

W&M also had me believing they could pull off the big upset, but just like so many times, I-AA seems to be one or two plays away. A couple of big plays put Marshall in better position than they perhaps should have been, however, the Tribe needs to stop them. Overall, a great early test, and I'm more confident in general about the Tribe being successful this year than I was this time yesterday.

UMass sounded very quick compared to Richmond, gaining a great advantage, especially on D by just quickly moving to places where they'd cause the most disruption. The Richmond QB had a couple of overthrows which potentially could have been turned into long gains, so a more seasoned passer may give UMass some more difficulties if they secondary continues to give up recievers like that. Not that it happened often, but once or twice maybe all a better team needs to pick up the win. Still somewhat unsure about UMass in general, but a little more concerned (as a Colgate fan) going into next week knowing the Baylark is still a monster, and that there's plenty of speed on the defensive side of the ball.

It's really hard to read anything from the other games, I think, given how big the disparity between the competing teams was. UNI looked good, but I still expected them to handle Drake. Same with SIU over SEMO. Sam and NDSU won big like they were supposed to. WIU looks like they have another long season ahead of them. And WCU vs. Mars Hill. WTF happened Catamounts? :confused:

[RadMann]

I would not judge Marshall's transition to I-A too harshly yet. While I can't find the stat right now, I believe their home field record over the last 5+ years is outstanding (I think only a few loses, but I'm not sure of the exact record).

[Reed Rothchild]

If UNI hosts a first-round playoff game, is there any chance of out-of-towners getting tickets?


There usually always is. They haven't stopped selling tickets for a game since the early 90s.

[FU97]

is some pockets got greased after the JSU Furman game! I guess the Zebras upgraded from Wendy's to Red Lobster!

Gotta love a sore loser. NOT! Clearly there was time left on the clock after the incomplete pass with 6 seconds left on the clock. Go cry somewhere else. JSU played a nice game, but the better team won.

[umassfan]

I got the chance to listen to the UMass game and watch the Furman game... I will comment on both.

While watching the furman game... I noticed that furman better bring their offense every game because it didnt look like they were stoping much in the second half... Also looked like they couldnt hold on to the ball for the life of them. Furman should have lost that game because the 3rd down play should have ended the game. The ball sliped out of Martins hand and hit one of his olinemen not anywhere near a WR which is illegal touching or something like that. But lets just chalk that one up as a lucky win.

As for the UMass game... from the way it sounded on the radio... Richmond couldnt move the ball at all vs the Minutemen. They got into the redzone just once all game... any time they were making some sort of a drive our DBs would step up with a big INT. Our DBs will do that all season unless they run into a QB that can pass great. There arent that many of them that I can think of this season. We got to Santos well last year so I cant even say him. We played far from our best game... on offense we tried running the ball alot and did alright doing so. We came into the game without two starting OLinemen. One will prob be back next week but the other wont be back till some time in OCT. We also played the game with very little time from our starting three LBers due to them either injured or coming back recently from injuries. One of our CBs did not play either due to being suspended for the game... I want to see what our team will look like next week vs colgate. Hopefully we will get all the kinks out this week in pratice.

[fufanatic]

is some pockets got greased after the JSU Furman game! I guess the Zebras upgraded from Wendy's to Red Lobster!

Yeah they did help yall out all night. Their flags were stuck in their pockets except when we did something wrong. Talk about some homecooking.

[citdog]

Gotta love a sore loser. NOT! Clearly there was time left on the clock after the incomplete pass with 6 seconds left on the clock. Go cry somewhere else. JSU played a nice game, but the better team won.

This is why people hate the little baptist college that could. I have never been around a worse loser than an fu fan after a paladin loss. Kleenex and Kotex stock soars whenever they lose. Especially Kotex!

[Toppermaniac]

The Toppers killed W. Virginia Tech 63-3. That was the score with 5:00 remaining in the third quarter. WKU played their 3rd and 4th string a good portion of the game, with the starters seeing very limited action. Their 2nd and 3rd string halfbacks did not play due to minor injuries and All-American Antonio Thomas also set out. Even so, WKU still rolled up over 600 yards of offense against a completely over-matched team. Now we get to beat the crap out of EKU next Sat.

[charliej]

Agree with Gannon for the most part.

I just caught the end of this game,but from what I read the Tribe played well,better than I expected honestly.

UMass had a decent win. However,playing against a mediocre offense led by a Frosh QB makes it tough to judge just how good thier D really is.Healy had a nice little series when he came on in the third qtr. and the Spiders wound up just 15 yds behind the Minutemen in total yds.

I was pretty surprised by the Towson game.I really thought they would have this one put away.

[Lumberjacks76]

I-AA has had some great wins the last five years or so against some Division I-A teams (especially Delware over Navy and Portland State over Hawaii). There will be a few more upsets along the way.

Paul

[mainejeff]

Most A-10 South fans were falling all over themselves annointing Richmond as THE darkhorse in the pre-season.......now it seems like everyone is bracktracking?

[umassfan]

Most A-10 South fans were falling all over themselves annointing Richmond as THE darkhorse in the pre-season.......now it seems like everyone is bracktracking?
Every Delaware fan and most fans from A10 south teams picked Richmond to upset the Minutemen last night. Its funny how all of them are of the missing now. I know are win was not impressive but what they wanted didnt happen.

[Hoo-ah]

Every Delaware fan and most fans from A10 south teams picked Richmond to upset the Minutemen last night. Its funny how all of them are of the missing now. I know are win was not impressive but what they wanted didnt happen.

umassfan--leave it alone. I was at the game last night and UR can be a good team if they work out the QB situation.

[Tribe4SF]

I would not judge Marshall's transition to I-A too harshly yet. While I can't find the stat right now, I believe their home field record over the last 5+ years is outstanding (I think only a few loses, but I'm not sure of the exact record).

Marshall's all-time record in that stadium is 104-7.

[umassfan]

umassfan--leave it alone. I was at the game last night and UR can be a good team if they work out the QB situation.
No where did I say they arent a good team or couldnt be a good team... just the fact that everyone picked them last night and now are hiding...

[Hoo-ah]

No where did I say they arent a good team or couldnt be a good team... just the fact that everyone picked them last night and now are hiding...


I remember most posters picking Umass in a close game. If they picked UR, it was just to piss you off... :)

[Cocky]

Gotta love a sore loser. NOT! Clearly there was time left on the clock after the incomplete pass with 6 seconds left on the clock. Go cry somewhere else. JSU played a nice game, but the better team won.

Question not about time on the clock but if it was a fumble or a incomplete pass?

Our biggest problem is we didn't play a good game and came out very flat.

[Cocky]

Yeah they did help yall out all night. Their flags were stuck in their pockets except when we did something wrong. Talk about some homecooking.

That's why we had more penalty and more yards penalized. FU also got the biggest call of the game calling the next to last play an incomplete pass. I don't call that homecooking I call that giving your guest everything including the kitchen sink.

[AndrewFU21]

Its funny how JSU fans will complain about that play, but fail to mention the four seconds the home timekeeper stole from Furman after Ingle spiked the ball with a good 10 seconds left. And they almost did it again, if the refs hadn't noticed it.

[Purple Knight]

is some pockets got greased after the JSU Furman game! I guess the Zebras upgraded from Wendy's to Red Lobster!

If the arm is going forward, it is an incomplete pass period. Don't care if it hits the ref, one of yours, or one of ours. The one second should have been three. The only questionable calls i saw were the head to head contact by our db against jsu runner and the punt return fumble with the jsu defender in the receivers face before the ball got there.

[Purple Knight]

This is why people hate the little baptist college that could. I have never been around a worse loser than an fu fan after a paladin loss. Kleenex and Kotex stock soars whenever they lose. Especially Kotex!

You guys are better at it than us, but then, you have sooo much more experience.

[Purple Knight]

I got the chance to listen to the UMass game and watch the Furman game... I will comment on both.

While watching the furman game... I noticed that furman better bring their offense every game because it didnt look like they were stoping much in the second half... Also looked like they couldnt hold on to the ball for the life of them. Furman should have lost that game because the 3rd down play should have ended the game. The ball sliped out of Martins hand and hit one of his olinemen not anywhere near a WR which is illegal touching or something like that. But lets just chalk that one up as a lucky win.

.

Lets see now, 3rd down, three seconds remaining on the clock, was it a fumble recovered by jsu? Why would game be over? If you watched the Uthes vs Ariz tonight, they had a ruling that if the arm was going forward when the ball leaves the hand, is a forward pass, don't care if it bounces off the QB's foot.

[Tribe4SF]

William and Mary/Marshall - I'm sure the W&M folks will be proud of the effort, and as an A10 supporter I was teased momentarily with the possiblity of W&M pulling the upset. W&M ran the ball much better than people would've expected, but that's tempered by the season ending injury to one of the offensive line's starting guards, and also tempered by the fact that Marshall is a vast unknown right now - Marshall's trend is starting to take them from a poster-child of a successful IAA to IA move to one that is clearly looking to lump them in with the rest of the IAA's that have failed to make permanent waves in IA. W&M's QB's played ok, and for their first game in that setting that's actually pretty good. However, if W&M can't run like that against A10 defenses (the good ones) the QB's will need to be quickly better than ok.



Pretty good take, GF. The QBs will be alright, and the good news is they have more time to get better. One of the biggest pluses I saw was the play of the DTs and our run defense on the whole. Josh Rutter was impressive in his first start at LB. Holding Ahmad Bradshaw to 72 yards rushing was an achievement. Our depth is being tested early, and so far the guys who've stepped up have done well.

[Cocky]

If the arm is going forward, it is an incomplete pass period. Don't care if it hits the ref, one of yours, or one of ours. The one second should have been three. The only questionable calls i saw were the head to head contact by our db against jsu runner and the punt return fumble with the jsu defender in the receivers face before the ball got there.

I don't think those were the only questionable calls. Furman did come out on the better end of the questionable calls. But it's hard for me to complain when we had OVC refs and still can't get a home field advantage.

[DTSpider]

Check out the Richmond - UMass stats. Nearly identical overall except for the interceptions. Richmond threw 4 and all of them were on the UMass half of the field. 3 of them were caught inside the 20 when Richmond was moving. While I felt UMass was in control most of the game, a couple plays by Richmond and its a different game.

http://richmondspiders.collegesports.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2005-2006/game01.html

[Hoo-ah]

Check out the Richmond - UMass stats. Nearly identical overall except for the interceptions. Richmond threw 4 and all of them were on the UMass half of the field. 3 of them were caught inside the 20 when Richmond was moving. While I felt UMass was in control most of the game, a couple plays by Richmond and its a different game.

http://richmondspiders.collegesports.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2005-2006/game01.html

I agree with you about the game being closer then score, but as you and I both know, the only stat that matters is 19-6.

Good luck the rest of the season and thank god we don't have to play you again!

[Spider]

UMass fans you will win your share of games. The D is good and the skilled players on O are excellent. Good luck the rest of the way. As DT said, the four interceptions took us out of what could have been a closer game.

[GannonFan]

Every Delaware fan and most fans from A10 south teams picked Richmond to upset the Minutemen last night. Its funny how all of them are of the missing now. I know are win was not impressive but what they wanted didnt happen.

Show me where I ever said Richmond would do more than win a handful of games this year? I thought if they had Tutt under center (and getting tons of touches) that they could scare and even beat UMass - without Tutt there they are going to struggle this year. Again, you fail to be objective when it's anything to do with UD or UMass - try harder next time.

[OL FU]

Here and on other boards, I said it was going to be a close game. So the score was not that surprising. The reasons it was not surprising, first game(FU generally does not look good) , JSU was a better team last year than the score indicated and they are even better this year. At JSU (from everything I hear a great place to play), JSU motivation ( I knew if it was close at the end of the third quarter it would work to JSU's advantage. In fact considering the way the second half went, I am surprised at the outcome). Furman has a lot to work on but the last drive was impressive. What the last drive told me is that they want to win. and that might carry them a little farther this year.

[Cocky]

Here and on other boards, I said it was going to be a close game. So the score was not that surprising. The reasons it was not surprising, first game(FU generally does not look good) , JSU was a better team last year than the score indicated and they are even better this year. At JSU (from everything I hear a great place to play), JSU motivation ( I knew if it was close at the end of the third quarter it would work to JSU's advantage. In fact considering the way the second half went, I am surprised at the outcome). Furman has a lot to work on but the last drive was impressive. What the last drive told me is that they want to win. and that might carry them a little farther this year.

I agree with your analysis. JSU, IMO, was a little satisfied with being close and FU wanted nothing less than a win. Plus Martin was as good as last year

[umassfan]

Show me where I ever said Richmond would do more than win a handful of games this year? I thought if they had Tutt under center (and getting tons of touches) that they could scare and even beat UMass - without Tutt there they are going to struggle this year. Again, you fail to be objective when it's anything to do with UD or UMass - try harder next time.

Here is your quote from the CAAZone where you picked Richmond like I said:

"Richmond 17 - UMass 16: I'm going with the upset here as well - Tutt's now a senior and easily the most under-appreciated player in the conference - if he played for a good team this guy would be a Payton Award candidate. As it is, he's the best player on a poor team and one who give UMass fits. I'm not convinced UMass has the run defense that was so woeful last year solved yet - they'll need to gel a little before they get there. Also, Clawson is 2-0 against Brown head to head, with inferior teams and on the road no less, so I'm sticking with that trend."

[TigerFan17]

I don't think this game is a very good measuring stick at all for Towson. It was the first game this freshman quarterback had ever played in. Morgan had less than 150 yards of total offense...we had 7 turnovers. 4 of them were interceptions thrown by the freshman but a lot were cause by bobbled passes or QB mistakes. The bobbled passes were EXTREMELY uncharacteristic of the receivers. Nick Williams didn't even play the first quarter and rushed for almost 150 yards. He had more total offense than the entire Morgan team. We basically handed them points by making totally correctable mistakes. However, Sean Schaefer showed signs of someone that is going to be a prolific passer...while making some freshman errors, he showed some great passing skills. This game basically gave us a W, answered questions, and gave the receiving corps a slap in the face. Not every day a team has 7 turnovers and wins, so we did SOMETHING right.

Questions answered:

1. Who is the starting back? Kent St. transfer Rasheed McCloude or the only Tiger male athlete playing 2 sports, Nick Williams (Hes a great midfielder for the very good lacrosse team)?

Thats easy....McCloude was awful, Williams was excellent. Had a 69 yd TD carry on his first play.




2. Should Sean Schaefer replace Soph. QB Andrew Goldbeck, who started all last year?

Yes. He is going to be excellent. Let him work out his kinks vs. Morgan State and Lock Haven.




3. Are the lines going to be okay???

Yes....but not spectacular. A lot of new players on the D-Line but they showed that they are going to be at least mediocre. Stopped then run pretty well against a school that always has great athletes at the skill positions.



4. What does this game say about Towson's future?

Towson's future lies in Williams and Schaefer. I see 2007 and 2008 being good seasons with those two being Juniors then Seniors. Not bad timing either, we become full scholly in '07 and we begin to play I-A opponents in '08. I will now pray religiously for their health...especially Williams since he plays for a lacrosse team that is a regular contender for the national title.


5. How will Towson fare this season?

This question was not answered. If they can stop the turnovers, they will do decently well and may surprise a team or two. If turnovers and poor receiver play continues...yikes. Love to see what the score would be if we turn the ball over 7 times versus UNH...they'd beat us by 70.