Observations from the UR/UNI game

[MacThor]

I'm going to steal the first two from bandl:

1) That was a FUN game to watch, no matter who you were rooting for
2) FCS should be proud that the nation got to watch such an entertaining game
3) It was quite the "tale of two halves" but in an unusual way. UNI 20-0 in the 1st & 3rd qtrs. UR 21-0 in the 2nd & 4th.
4) UNI is a very good team. Certainly one of the 3 best FCS teams we've faced this year.
5) Tre Gray - you are the smallest player on the field. Do not try to fight for extra yards when two or more defenders are already on you.
6) UR's coaches gagged at the end of the first half, in play-calling and clock management. Sure the two consecutive false stars didn't help (and the UNI-dome definitely had an effect). But those lost points really could have cost UR the game.
7) I was impressed with UNI's play-calling until the end of the game. They had a lot of well-timed screen passes that took advantage of UR's aggressive pass-rush.
8) For some reason, UR looked slower on the turf, especially on D. I know that makes little sense. Maybe UNI was just faster. But players who had been flying around the past two weeks looked "sluggish." Perhaps the "reckless abandon" with which they had swarmed the ball is just a lot easier to do on grass or field-turf.
9) MVP = Ward. Until yesterday, he had not been asked to carry the team. Last night, in a hostile environment, down by 13, without his best receiver, he was near-perfect. Great job.

10) I will never again allow my wife to leave me home alone with the baby (my daughter is way too active to sit and watch football), then commit me to stop in at the neighbors during a playoff game. I started off an hour behind live on the DVR, and never caught up to live. I had to turn off all the phones, and it was agony.

[Eight Legger]

Good points all the way around.

I would like to add another thought that pertained to this game as well as a couple others in the playoffs this year....Why are refs not blowing the whistle during massive pileups? This has happened about 7 times in our past two games, both when we've been on offense and defense. It is absurd how long they are allowing plays to continue, and I am worried it could affect the outcome of a game. When there are 12 guys muddling around in a standing heap and no one is moving, BLOW THE WHISTLE! The play is over!

[MacThor]

Good points all the way around.

I would like to add another thought that pertained to this game as well as a couple others in the playoffs this year....Why are refs not blowing the whistle during massive pileups? This has happened about 7 times in our past two games, both when we've been on offense and defense. It is absurd how long they are allowing plays to continue, and I am worried it could affect the outcome of a game. When there are 12 guys muddling around in a standing heap and no one is moving, BLOW THE WHISTLE! The play is over!

Another thing I have noticed in every playoff game (and I've watched just about every one I possibly could) about the officiating is they really need to focus on spotting. It is consistently awful. Yesterday's big 4th-down stuff is but one example. UR got a VERY generous spot. WTF was Mike London challenging? He should have been challenging the THIRD down spot, which was atrociously favorable to UNI. The official placed the ball a yard short of where it came down in Vaughan's possession, and the Spiders probably had a first down right there, making the 4th-and-1 moot.

[MacThor]

11) If you are going to do a phone interview with Mr. Hightower, make sure he's on a land-line and you've tested the connection ahead of time.

12) Make sure your announcers' cheat-sheets are legible enough that they can tell the difference between "Sophomore" and "Senior." At one point I think they had most of Richmond graduating this year. (For the record, we graduate 6 starters, only 2 on D).

13) The 4th-down stuff may have been a blessing in disguise. UR was moving pretty well, and had they gotten the first down and scored, I fear they would have given UNI too much time. UR is also notorious for our prevent "D."

[StonewallSpider]

11) If you are going to do a phone interview with Mr. Hightower, make sure he's on a land-line and you've tested the connection ahead of time.

12) Make sure your announcers' cheat-sheets are legible enough that they can tell the difference between "Sophomore" and "Senior." At one point I think they had most of Richmond graduating this year. (For the record, we graduate 6 starters, only 2 on D).

13) The 4th-down stuff may have been a blessing in disguise. UR was moving pretty well, and had they gotten the first down and scored, I fear they would have given UNI too much time. UR is also notorious for our prevent "D."

I agree on the Hightower comment, that was terrible

[crunifan]

How was your experience at the UNI-Dome? I definitely thought Richmond had a few issues with it, nothing major, but a couple of the the false starts. Was it as loud as you expected? And more importantly, did we proved to the east coast that there are good teams west of the Mississippi?

[ValleyChamp]

Another thing I have noticed in every playoff game (and I've watched just about every one I possibly could) about the officiating is they really need to focus on spotting. It is consistently awful. Yesterday's big 4th-down stuff is but one example. UR got a VERY generous spot. WTF was Mike London challenging? He should have been challenging the THIRD down spot, which was atrociously favorable to UNI. The official placed the ball a yard short of where it came down in Vaughan's possession, and the Spiders probably had a first down right there, making the 4th-and-1 moot.

Totally agree. I have noticed in the playoffs in particular, the spotting of the ball has been horrid. I don't know what it is, but almost every spot is just not quite right.

[MacThor]

How was your experience at the UNI-Dome? I definitely thought Richmond had a few issues with it, nothing major, but a couple of the the false starts. Was it as loud as you expected? And more importantly, did we proved to the east coast that there are good teams west of the Mississippi?

Well I wasn't there but it sure seemed loud on TV, even though it wasn't full (which was obvious on TV). I have never been one to claim there aren't good teams west of the Mississippi, and yes I was impressed (see observation #4).

I watched the UNI-UNH, Montana-Weber St, and Montana-JMU games. I've never harbored any illusions of what we were up against.

[crunifan]

Yeah, I believe attendance was 12,000 some people. About 4,000 short of a sell out.

[BigHouseClosedEnd]

How was your experience at the UNI-Dome? I definitely thought Richmond had a few issues with it, nothing major, but a couple of the the false starts. Was it as loud as you expected? And more importantly, did we proved to the east coast that there are good teams west of the Mississippi?

The UNI Dome was a beautiful facility and was as LOUD as advertised. In the future, I don't think you guys should advertise it so much because it would have caught us by surprise!!

I actually thought our O-line did a great job only getting 3 or 4 procedure penalties. It was incredibly loud.

UNI is a great team. UNI has the best offensive and defensive lines we have played all year ... particularly the O-line.

Thanks for the hospitality from the UNI fans!

[ValleyChamp]

That is good to hear about the o-line, considering we are only losing one player.

[spdram]

Anther gripe I have with the officiating, I understand you want the players to decide the game so you do not call the game tightly, and I agree. But can you call at least the openly blatant holds. Particularly the hold on the corners that set up the sweeps around the end when the O player holds onto the D player that is assigned to stop the sweep. I have watched a number of games and seen sweeps that would likely have been a 2-3 yard gain turn into a 8-10 yard gain only because of the blatant hold. Grabbing onto the back of a jersey or grabbing the D player's are should not be allowed even in the playoffs.

[BigHouseClosedEnd]

That is good to hear about the o-line, considering we are only losing one player.

Does #75 return? He was a road grader.

Here's to hoping you don't lose Farley to the now-open ISU job. There were some folks talking about that in the airport this morning.

[crunifan]

Does #75 return? He was a road grader.

Here's to hoping you don't lose Farley to the now-open ISU job. There were some folks talking about that in the airport this morning.

I don't think Farley is interested in the ISU job.

In 2006 they stole our basketball coach Greg McDermott after taking us to three straight NCAA basketball tournaments. If they took our football coach too, I can't even begin to describe how I would feel.

[ValleyChamp]

Does #75 return? He was a road grader.

Here's to hoping you don't lose Farley to the now-open ISU job. There were some folks talking about that in the airport this morning.

75 does come back. This was also his first year at tackle. Last year he was a TE.xeekx

[ValleyChamp]

Anther gripe I have with the officiating, I understand you want the players to decide the game so you do not call the game tightly, and I agree. But can you call at least the openly blatant holds. Particularly the hold on the corners that set up the sweeps around the end when the O player holds onto the D player that is assigned to stop the sweep. I have watched a number of games and seen sweeps that would likely have been a 2-3 yard gain turn into a 8-10 yard gain only because of the blatant hold. Grabbing onto the back of a jersey or grabbing the D player's are should not be allowed even in the playoffs.

I totally agree with this as well. Same thing with the ball spotting. I honestly do not remember ONE holding call for any of our playoff games. There was ample holding in all three games and not once was it called.