WESTERN ILLINOIS

[stlawson]

I will say congrats to the Yotes and their fans. I was in the alumni band and made a point of going over and saying hi to some of your fans who where there. Your fans were loud and really into the game.
As for the game itself, much credit to USD's defense...able to almost completely shut us down for 2 1/2 quarters. By the time we were able to figure out weaknesses, we were already down by 32 points and running out of time. I think that if the game was a couple of minutes longer, we might have won it...had the momentum and could have put together a solid drive rather than forcing a risky pass that was intercepted. Our "death knell" was really in that last USD drive...didn't get any points, but picked up first downs and moved the ball on the ground, killing a lot of clock time.

Attendance - yea....no way was that under 6K. I know it wasn't close to what the Bison bring in up at their place, but I think we were at least around 10-11k.

As for losing the lead or giving up a lot of points near the end, I don't know if it's just coaching style or just the luck of things, but it did seem to happen relatively frequently when Coach Nielson was here.
For reference: goleathernecks.com/news/2014/10/4/FB_1004141307.aspx?path=football
And goleathernecks.com/news/2014/10/18/FB_1018145759.aspx?path=football
Clock management also seemed to be an issue sometimes...something that I think some of your guys mentioned...like if today you'd taken longer to snap the ball on some of the drives when you were up by 30+, we wouldn't have had enough time to get half as close as we did.

Still, congrats on the win, you guys have a great team this year. Go out there and take some of the "top dogs" down a peg.

[yoteforever]

I was there tonight and I would say the "home side" had 85% of the seats filled, and the side where USD and WIU's band sat was probably 1000-1200. So whatever the home side holds take times 85% and add 1200 and there's your attendance.

[stlawson]

Sept 30, 2017 22:51:48 GMT -6 yoteforever said:

I was there tonight and I would say the "home side" had 85% of the seats filled, and the side where USD and WIU's band sat was probably 1000-1200. So whatever the home side holds take times 85% and add 1200 and there's your attendance.

That calculation would result in just a bit over 8,000 people, although the stadium capacity # doesn't include people on the hillsides. Idk about you, but it looked like maybe a couple hundred people there.
I was in the alumni band, so couldn't see our side very well. If there wasn't that many people beyond the band and the USD fans, then I could see 1,200 on our side.

[yoteforever]

There wasn't 20 people on the end sections left of usd fans. I would say 8000 is about right. Plus people on hillsides and fence around stadium.

Great tailgate today. Some really good people and great food

[western101]

Actually on the North side of the band it was 80% full. Our stadium is weird. It is probably not what we would choose for a dedicated football facility. Today at any given time in the 2nd quarter I would say there was at least 1,500 spectators. walking milling around, Mostly grabbing some fence but otherwise really on the perimeter of the field prob. had another 500 that sit anywhere they want on the hills. Prob 4,500 on home side and at least 3,500 on East side. I know what we used to report was pure hogwash. I have been at 1/3 less attended than this that was proclaimed to be 12K.

[yoteforever]

Either way you have a good football team. We were very fortunate to get the win. Good luck the balance of the year

[western101]

So I heard the Tailgate area was turning people away? Can that really be true? I know it was great weather.

[western101]

yoteforever, good sportsmanship is so important. My son isn't old enough yet but when the time comes he will be the sportsman that his Mother and I implore him to be.

You have a good team. I have always said the Valley is superior to the bottom feeder FBS schools. Who ever hears about Georgia Southern, or Appalachian State or Umass.......the list goes on. Ok, we will pretend to let you into our club, but you have to spend at least 3 times more and we still wont't acknowledge you at parties.

[thebacksackdad]

I also have to agree the WIU fans were outstanding! Especially the 4 women in the north end zone that gave me the red beads! Great game and I'm sure WIU is going far this year ad well.

[leatherneckcountry]

Oct 1, 2017 1:25:22 GMT -6 thebacksackdad said:

I also have to agree the WIU fans were outstanding! Especially the 4 women in the north end zone that gave me the red beads! Great game and I'm sure WIU is going far this year ad well.

Yeah not sure who thought the red beads were a great idea.

[easmus]

I was very surprised how well USD D line fared against the run, but couldn't generate much of a pass rush.

[yotefbfan]

Oct 1, 2017 7:03:58 GMT -6 easmus said:

I was very surprised how well USD D line fared against the run, but couldn't generate much of a pass rush.

First, we are 4-0 after going on the road 3 of the first 4 games and playing against an FBS team and 2 FCS top 20 teams (when we played them), I don't care how you wrap that up, that is impressive and unexpected!

As for this game, our run D was great.  WIU's O-line had 4 seniors and a junior.  Their previous run totals were 298 vs Tenn Tech, 207 vs N. Ari, & 225 vs Coastal Carolina, and vs the Yotes 33yds!!!  A concern going into the season was our D-line and run defence, but I think we can say that is not an issue as we have allowed an average of 72.2 yds per game.  Our pass D was shredded, but I give credit to the aforementioned WIU O-line as they gave their QB plenty of time to sit in the pocket and wait for a receiver to get open.  You can only cover a good receiver for so long, but we got the important INT when it counted. I would have liked to see more blitz packages as we often just rushed 4.  

On offence, we had another good balance of running and passing.  While I love Streveler's toughness, I would rather see those tough yards go to our RBs and keep him healthy.  It was great to get Van Roekel back, he makes a big difference in our passing game.  Our O-line continues to play well.  The offence we run is fast tempo that can lead to quick points, but the downfall is the ability to control the clock effectively with a lead.  If the RB's can handle the job with 8 or 9 in the box then it looks good (see the UND game), but if they struggle, we look poor at times.  

One last note, do not overlook the game Brady Schutt had, with almost a 42 yd average and 2 punts inside the 20, including that last big punt!

Great start to the MVFC season, many more tests ahead, Let's Go Yotes!

[gopheryote]

Agreed on letting the RB's take more carries/hits when we are up 30 points and will be running more. But keep in mind the 2 big backs are both freshmen playing their first conference road game and both had a fumble in the 2nd half. As the season moves on, they will get the ball more in those situations. I'd also like to see Simmons get a series or two per game to give Streveler a breather and prepare for a time when we have no choice.

[easmus]

I tweeted that it was time to put in Simmons after our last TD. Had we not lost all contain on D I think he would have played the 4th. Streveler took a beating in the 4th.

[Coyote Fan]

As far as attendance is concerned I don't know if the Dakota Dome would even seat 10,000. In football quite often a crowd is announced at 9K plus. For whatever reason for the WNIT final the dome was just as full but the attendance was announced at 7400. I would think with all the courtside seats that it would equal just as many as what football would hold. I think most of our football games that are announced at 9-10K are probably more in the neighborhood of 7K. This may have been mentioned before but does anyone know the actual capacity of the main grandstand because to me it seems closer to 5 or 6K then it is to 8K plus.

Home coming will be so fun this year with the hype around the football team.