What HAPPEN to Western Kentucky at FIU

[jonsoup]

What happen to Western Kentucky with FIU. Getting beat by a school that just turn division 1 in FOOTBALL? I couldn't believe the outcome when I saw it. :eek:

[Reed Rothchild]

They went into the tank after we beat them

[FlyYtown]

They went into the tank after we beat them
And we blew them out.

[Eaglegus2]

It is a little difficult to play at FIU when there isn't any fans at the game.

GSU had more fans there last year than FIU.

[Hoss8091]

Western was overrated early in the year. They did what good teams do early. They found a way to win when they were out-played and playing poorly. (Eastern Kentucky and Illinois State). With the exception of kicking field goals (the only bright spot in special teams play), their special teams play was sup-par and never improved over the course of the season. The defense played well in the red zone, but seemed to break down mid field, especially third and long. The ten to fifteen yard pass seemed doom them most of the time. This allowed the opposing offense sustain long drives into Western's red zone.

Early in the season Western seemed to make game making mistakes allowing another team back into the game or to stay in the game. (Missouri State, Illinois State, Indiana State, Southern Illinois) The offense was never explosive and rarely was consistent enough to control most important games. Their best running back played most of the season injured, and the back-ups were not big enough to run between the tackles to maintain their customary running game.

All of the freshman class were red shirted. I do not know the quality of the freshman class, but I have heard that it is very good. I think that many of the capable freshman that would have normally been second and third string players were unavailable because of red shirting. I hope that this is the situation.

I also believe that Western's poor play against weaker teams required starters to play the whole games, nagging injuries were never allowed to heal. Basically, the starters were spent and many were injured. Without capable back-ups, starters played injured or their replacement was not able to match the starter's ability.

These are my observations. After the Eastern Kentucky and Missouri State games, I realized that we needed to improve every week to be competitive in the Gateway Conference. Special teams never improved and other teams exploited that weakness. The first half of the Southern Illinois game was the best half they played all year. Too bad you have to play two halves.

Western will be back next year. I hope that everyone will rank us about 20 and we will have to earn our way to the number one spot in December.

Go TOPPERS!!!!

[walliver]

What happen to Western Kentucky with FIU. Getting beat by a school that just turn division 1 in FOOTBALL? I couldn't believe the outcome when I saw it.

FIU just turned Division I-A, they had been playing I-AA since they started football several years ago. Even bad I-A teams give out more scholarships than good I-AA teams.

[Killtoppers90]

They went into the tank after we beat them

You are ALL correct here, but Reed nailed it! We tanked after the UNI debacle! And we were highly overrated and had mutiple injuries and just played poorly most of the season. I am disappointed in our performance all season but I hope we can return to form next season. Good luck all!!!!