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Post by Yote 53 on Oct 16, 2010 10:49:53 GMT -6
We're heading to the Dome.
GO YOTES!!!
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Post by Coyote Fan on Oct 16, 2010 12:03:22 GMT -6
UND was coming in on an offensive roll as well and USD did a real good job against them. When it comes to Coyote football there is one thing that should never be forgotten. What happens on the road is fine and dandy but USD is simply a different team at home. They play better, game plan differently etc. The weaknesses of this program tend to be covered up more at home and they tend to get away with more stuff.
31-20 Yotes. I will not be surprised at all if UNI wins. Actually I would not be surprised if USD won 42-17. Based on history the biggest surprise is if UNI won by more than 7. USD has never lost by more than a possession at home since Ed took over. Never, Ever, Ever. Maybe that streak gets stopped today. Maybe USD has finally met their match.
This would be a fun start. Lineup Powell split out on one side and Blount lined up split out on the other side. Have both just run downfield and whoever is the most open let it fly and hope for a long td to open the game. You just watch, I bet if the Yotes try this on the first possession it's gonna be 7-0 if USD gets the ball first.
I am taking off for the dome but please, please Yote fans get up and cheer on defense. This is the biggest game at the dome since D1 started. Win or lose don't you dare leave that dome without leaving yourself with a strained voice box. We can get this done. The 12th man is up to us to get it done. If the dome rocks today, even if we lose we can feel great as fans. Players, PA announcer, whatever lets rock this joint.
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Post by yotefan on Oct 16, 2010 18:27:31 GMT -6
Tuned in to the game and listened to the field goal attempt that would have put us up over UNI late in the third. We miss and UNI gets the ball and marches down and scores a TD?! Good to see our kicking woes are over. Won't let it ruin a great opening day, but for crying out loud Coyotes that was supposed to be in the past.
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Post by usdfbalum on Oct 16, 2010 21:36:52 GMT -6
My post game reaction:
The Good
The defense is playing as intense as I have seen them ever play. For two weeks in a row they held the opponent to a score that is within reach to win the game. Even pressured the QB at times - even though not near as consistent as needed. Looked like Morrell was mixing up the lineup to get #42 on the edge to rush the passer quite a bit. #51 is getting really close as well.
The crowd - considering that this was the pheasant opener the crowd turnout was solid and so was the student turnout. I think the tailgating atmosphere is helping get more people to turn the game into an event. The noise level could be louder at times, but the crowd did get to the UNI offense and caused several offsides penalties.
#22 is a beast of a runner - he needs to be worked into the offense more. Why have we not seen him much this year. That kid hits the hole like he is ready to hurt somebody.
The Bad
The offense seems stale. Dropped passes and poor throws created too many 3rd and long situations. I think USD converted on one 3rd down. I am surprised to say this at this point in our transition, but I think the USD offense has the offensive players to line up and run it down UNI's throat. They were not stopping our OL - two TE - power runs - especially with #22 hitting the holes. I was getting the feeling USD was going to come out in the second half like NDSU did against USD and just ram it down their throats. Had USD not gotten away from that I think UNI would have been forced to adjust opening up more space for USD's dangerous skill players.
Penalties still are hurting USD. The holding penalty on #1's big catch and run was a huge blow. There is obviously holding on every play to a certain extent, but perhaps it was too much on that play - I didn't get a good look at that.
The Ugly
The kicker IMO is not going to be the guy. His leg looks weak. Compare him to the UNI kicker and the difference is shocking. If that is not fixed USD is going to lose several games because of it.
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All in all - UNI was a better team and proved it by coming into the Dome and taking a victory from USD. I am very encouraged with how hard the guys are playing. We all know that USD has offensive weapons that are not producing - not sure why? - lack of execution or play calling? Probably both.
The game-day experience keeps getting better. USD has the right AD to get the fans in the seats and excited.
Better days ahead.
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Post by yotemeal on Oct 16, 2010 22:27:27 GMT -6
More thoughts to come, but here's my positive.
Donovan Bowens, #22, looked good. I want to see more of him.
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Post by Iceman on Oct 16, 2010 23:29:02 GMT -6
I can't agree with you guys more on seeing more of Bowens. Man he looked good. He looked like he wanted to punish someone every time he carried the ball.
The defense is playing better, but this bend but don't break defense is starting to scare me. They had more than twice as many yards and first downs. I know the scoreboard is the only thing that really matters, but they moved up and down the field. We still need to get PRESSURE on the QB. Did a few times today and good things happened. Most of the time, he has all day to throw and eventually finds the open man.
I am not sure what is going on with the kicking game. Saw this kid kick last year when he was in high school and he just booted it like you wouldn't believe.
Offensively, I am not really sure what was going on with the play calling late in the game. There was what, two minutes left and a couple of timeouts and your down by two TD's and you run the ball three times in a row? Then with 10 seconds left you decide to throw the ball to the endzone and score a TD. I just don't really understand the play calling.
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Post by Coyote Fan on Oct 17, 2010 0:37:23 GMT -6
I am kind of at a loss for words. Suddenly the defense is the better unit for the third straight week. I loved the hiring of Chuck when it happened. I was worried for a couple of weeks or so and now it looks like he is starting to make his mark. UNI and UND both had good offenses coming in and USD shut down both pretty well. The yards were a little discouraging but when USD's defense holds UC Davis to 17 and UNI to 19 those are games that USD should be winning.
It really doesn't matter though because as Herm Edwards says, "you play to win the game". USD is just not winning big games. One week it's this, one week it's that. I would like to see a bit more payoff in the win column.
CF#1 you are absolutely right about your #1 key, the offensive line. It's not doing good enough and I thought that was supposed to be the strength of the team. Actually USD lines are what are the weaknesses moreso than the skilled positions on both offense and defense. I don't think the defense got nearly enough pressure on the quarterback. UNI's lines won the battle on both sides.
My outlook on Dante is the exact opposite of what it is on Morrell. Pre season I was skeptical about Warren being the #1. For a game or two I thought wow this is really going to work out. Now after a very bad performance at NDSU, average against UND and now very poorly against UC Davis and UNI I am really starting to wonder. Warren was not just a bit off his game, he was shockingly bad today. The line might not have been doing him any favors but many of his passes were not just a little off but way off. He probably should have had 3 or 4 picked off but I think it was only 1.
I also cannot believe the weak leg of our kicker. His kickoffs have barely been getting over the 20 yard line and his range on field goals doesn't stretch much beyond 40 yards. 45 yards is a booming field goal for him. This off season is not the time to stop recruiting big legs.
Ganious is looking slower and slower by the week. We need #22 to start to take not just a few more carries, but way more carries. I was shocked that Ganious was in the game during the two minute drill with 4 minutes left. He has almost no burst. Over the past several years White, Stamer, Logan and Allen are all better runningback than what we are seeing now, especially White and Logan.
What RJ said on the post game bugged me. First he says "I know that you play to win the game" but USD made a very good effort to stay with UNI. Gimme a break already. USD should never, and I repeat NEVER be happy to lose a game at home and should never take solice in a loss. If everyone is Coyote land takes that mentality than we as a program are in trouble. Transition year #3 = home game against UNI = hopefull win = don't be happy with any kind of loss = that is how you move a program forward. If we are happy with just staying close than next year we will lose again and so forth. Losses have to eat away at the gut of this team and if they don't or get used to losing that means we as a fanbase are forced to get used to it as well.
I personally want to give the Yotes defense a good grade in this one. I want to also give the crowd a thumbs up for IMO being much better than on homecoming.
Now the Yotes are 3-4. In the grand scheme of things the S. Utah game is more important than the UNI game eventhough it doesn't seem like it should be that way. If USD losses next week the conference title can be kissed goodbye.
This is how I think the season will play out from here.
at S. Utah - loss vs N. Col - win vs Cal Poly - loss at Lamar - win but not for sure.
If USD finishes 5-6 but do we consider that a step up from last year. Do we consider that a move forward and do we consider this team that much better than last years team. That is how important the S. Utah game is. That will set the tone for the rest of the year. S. Utah is playing well right now and USD could be in trouble in that one.
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Post by quadshock on Oct 17, 2010 1:14:48 GMT -6
If Lamar looks the way they played today, you can mark them down as a win
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Post by usdfbalum on Oct 17, 2010 7:58:47 GMT -6
I think USD will find a way to win 3 of the next 4 even though they all are tough games.
The O-Line is playing well IMO - that UNI defense was very stout and pretty quick - I would rate them equal to NDSU's (NDSU's DL was better - but UNI's LB'ers were better.) I think we are getting to a level of football that you need a RB that hits the hole hard and quick or you will have trouble gaining yards. #20 is very talented, but is more of a dancer and that only works against solid defenses if you are blazing fast.
I think #20 was in at the end of the UNI game because he is a better pass blocker and USD seems to like him for screen passes.
Give the defense some credit - I know they gave up twice as many yards as UNI had, but they had some great 3rd down stops and forced several UNI drives that made it to the red-zone to FG's.
The offense has to find their identity again. USD's receivers were catching everything early on in the season - now they seem to have the drops. This has to stop - they are drive killers.
Ed said after the NDSU game that NDSU came out in the second half and "got Medieval on us" - he was talking about how NDSU just lined up - and ran it right USD daring USD to stop it. When USD adjusted to try, it opened up some explosive pass plays for the Bison. Maybe the O coordinator does not believe it, but I don't think at times that USD needs to get cute, or run trick reverse plays. USD has some players that can get physical. That will free up USD's skill players and allow them to get the ball in space.
I expect USD to rally and go beat So Utah next week. My guess is the game will not be on the web - so back to the radio, I guess.
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Post by Coyote Fan on Oct 17, 2010 13:17:04 GMT -6
I think I am giving S. Utah a two-thirds chance to win vs USD one-third. If USD hadn't beaten S. Utah that last two years I would put it at a 75% chance of S. Utah winning. They just beat Cal Poly yesterday who was playing very well up to that point. I think USD has a better chance to beat Cal Poly at home than winning at S. Utah but I don't think either will happen. The main reason is that USD has trouble stopping Cal Poly and with the offense being in shambles I think Poly will have enough to win that one.
As much as I want USD to win against S. Utah I don't think it's happening. The Thunderhawks (or whatever their name is) have simply been consistantly better than USD this year.
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Post by Iceman on Oct 17, 2010 23:05:24 GMT -6
CF, I agree with your comment. You play to win the game. I heard alot of pretty crazy comments back and forth from many different fans. Most said:
"oh it was a good game. I'm glad we got that last touchdown. It makes the score look better. Others said, compared to last year, this was about like a win.
What the heck is wrong with these people? They all made it sound like they knew we would lose and were just happy we came that close. What a joke. "You play to win the game."
I still don't have a clue what we were doing the last 2 possessions. You run the ball 3 times in a row, down by 2 TD's. Then finally, with 10 seconds left, we take a shot at the endzone and score. I just can't figure it out. What are everyones thoughts on this?
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Post by Coyote Fan on Oct 18, 2010 0:29:21 GMT -6
I agree Iceman, what else needs to be said. The Minnesota win was a good performance but from every angle from a neutral perspective it seems like with every passing week Minnesota looks extermely week and it appears USD had alot less to do with winning than Minnesota just being a completely inept and horrible program. That doesn't take away from USD's performance but it makes it seem more and more isolated as the season unfolds. Reports coming out of Minnesota indicate that the U or M will be firing Brewster at seasons end. USD had a big hand in that happening. If the Yotes had truley used the Minnesota game as a springboard they would have won 2 out of the 3 against NDSU, UC Davis and UNI. With how the Sioux have been playing USD doesn't have many impressive victories to date when comparing it with the losses that are starting to mount.
I am amazed that USD hasn't found more ways to get the ball in the hands of Blount and Powell. Blount needs to be utilized much more effectively than he has been. He needs to be used like the Javon Bess', Joshua Cribbs and Dexter McCluster's of the world. He needs to be lined up in alot of different spot. From a wing, to a split end to a slot receiver. Maybe he can't do it all but he needs the ball in space plain and simply. I don't see why that can't happen. USD isn't putting the ball in the playmakers hands nearly enough lately.
With all the talent on offense Wes needs to be nudged a bit here. When things with the offense go poorly for 3 weeks in a row I am thinking to myself two things. "he is supposed to be a bright young offensive mind". "But he also really didn't have the qualification to be an offensive coordinator at the D1 level at the time of hire". He was a convenient internal hire but I don't think enough of a search process went into that positional fill. Maybe I/we won't have to question it in time but after some very un Coyote like offensive performances everyone should at least have some doubt flowing through their minds.
Morell did have the resume and it appears that his hire is paying off. I hope to say that at seasons end and not just now. To have Landy, Powell, Flanagan, Blount and Nvotny on the same offense it's seems rather inexusable to be struggling as much as been happening.
OK I didn't think I would say this 5 weeks ago but the idea has creeped into my head as a possibility and I will end this post with two words.
"Tyler Wilhelm"
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Post by #1CoyoteFan (Admin) on Oct 18, 2010 1:51:47 GMT -6
First, I will comment on the previous posts, then put up a post that is my thoughts on the game.
I have no idea why people are taking a moral victory in this one. UNI was primed for defeat in this one and USD didn't take it, plain and simple. I am VERY disappointed because of that. The offense has been pitiful the last two weeks and USD should have two wins because of that.
For those that are satisfied with how the game went, shame on you. USD should've won.
I agree that USD needs to get the ball in Blount's hands more on deep routes, and that was completely wiped from this last game. Didn't get that. I think Powell was targeted quite a bit, though, actually.
I don't think it's Wes that is the problem right now. Ever since Meierkort publicly called out Wes' play calling for not running the ball more against NDSU, it has been inconsistent like Wes is trying not to make Meierkort mad. Meierkort did the wrong thing by calling out Wes in that NDSU game, and I think it's showing up here. The offense just doesn't have the same edge, just like the play calling.
I do think that maybe it's time to see Wilhelm in a possession or two, but not really knowing how his accuracy is and throwing him to the fire with the schedule remaining, I don't know how that would go. It's kind of a can of worms with him right now.
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Post by #1CoyoteFan (Admin) on Oct 18, 2010 3:16:40 GMT -6
Okay, now my reaction to the game. These are not in order.
First and foremost, Dante Warren. For the second straight week, he wasn't hitting his spots and made some pretty bad throws. Some people have mentioned dropped passes. Well the ones that were dropped were barely catchable basically. The wide receivers were where they were suppose to be, Dante just didn't hit them in the right spots at all.
Part of this had to do with the fact that he was under consistent pressure and wasn't able to step into his throws, but it was mostly that he was really off. I will give him one more week of this before I start calling for Tyler Wilhelm to be rotated in. Dante has not been the same QB he was up in Minnesota.
Second, the coaches need to make Chris Ganious a third-down back. He is really losing his grip on the starting job. He is good at blitz pick-up and catching the screen pass, but he isn't hitting the hole hard and is dancing around too much. This was evident when Bowens was in at running back and would gain 4-6 yards on his carries because he went straight to the hole and had some pretty good runs. He needs to see the field more and so does Marcus Sims. They are bigger, more physical hit the hole backs who still have pretty good speed. The coaches need to make this switch.
Third, it's time for Mitch Mohr to stop seeing the field. He has been a liability with penalties and it's affecting his blocking. USD needs to switch to a fullback instead of a two tight-end system if they don't have two tight ends to run.
Fourth, the offensive play calling. It was awful. USD needs to mix its plays up better and go back to what works. Dante didn't look for Blount downfield at all, and they didn't run enough slants with Powell and Flanigan, or sideline routes with Nowotny - he is money at those catches and staying in bounds. USD also needs to realize this isn't Minnesota, so the screen pass against actual fast defenses isn't going to work. Plus there was no sense of urgency at the end of the game. With five minutes left, USD shouldn't be running out the clock on the ground when they are down by two scores. But I guess that's hard to say when the offense couldn't complete a pass.
Fifth, the kicking game. USD needs to figure out Robb's kick-offs. I don't know if he is trying to kick it like that, or if he is told too, but his kick-offs are absolutely horrendous. The opposing teams are getting way too good of field position. Can Zwiefelhofer do kick-offs at all?
Also, for those of you complaining about his field goal, it wasn't Robb, it was the holder. He got chewed out after the missed field goal. Robb hit two good field goals the week before. It was the holder that had a problem with. It was a "laces out Dan" moment basically.
Sixth, the defensive line. USD had a fourth-string tight end, who is undersized for the DE position in the first place seeing CONSIDERABLE playing time - Michael Nielsen. USD need three defensive linemen at a time, but it can't seem to find three out of the "amazing" linemen class they have had the last three years. Vernell Price looked good one possession, but besides Jesse Weisbrod who is getting double-teamed, there isn't a D-I lineman on that team right now it seems. There was better pressure, but not enough. It's the linebackers who are causing the pressure more than the defensive line.
Seventh, Shane Potter needs to learn that a wide receiver is not allowed to be behind him. Early in the game he let two WRs get by him and he got burned. He fixed it later in the game, but it led to six points in the game basically. Potter is better than that. This may seem like nitpicking, but it also cost him a shot at two INTs I feel.
Eighth, the cornerbacks need to be playing closer to the WRs and jamming them at the line of scrimmage and knock them off their routes. There were a lot of times, I think 10-15 times, of plays that were timing routes that UNI knew they would have the timing down because there was no pressure at the line of scrimmage. This needs to change because I think it takes 7-10 points off the board for UNI.
Ninth, and this might be the most important, Meierkort once again showed that he didn't make good adjustments at halftime and isn't good at the X's and O's and it cost USD once again. Meierkort continues to get outcoached and it makes me wonder if he is a Division I coach. The only coach he has outcoached is Tim Brewster, who just got fired today and had no previous head coaching experience. Meierkort needs to step up for the rest of the season to convince me otherwise. USD needs to finish with a winning record to convince of Meierkort's ability right now.
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Post by Yote 53 on Oct 18, 2010 8:04:38 GMT -6
POST GAME THOUGHTS
I agree with much of what has been said on here about this game.
Gameday atmosphere: Pregame outside the stadium was awesome. Our crew is usually one of the first there. We rolled in a little after noon and found plenty of groups already in full party mode. It was great to see so many people out there, and so early. The concrete lot for single spots/overflow was even pretty full. UNI brought quite a few fans over, I hope they had a good time. Pregame tailgating is getting better each game. It is really becoming a festive atmosphere. I had some people come up for the game that haven't been to a Coyote game in years. They couldn't believe it was the same school it has gotten so much better. Inside the Dome, however, is another story. To many people sit on their hands throughout the game. I had a friend there who has attended a few UNI games, he said the atmosphere inside the Dome is stale and almost boring. Fans need to start getting into the game.
The Offense: Wow, where did it go? UNI has a good defense, no doubt, but USD's poor offensive showing was about USD being, just lackluster, not UNI sticking it to them. Sims & Bowens looked good running the ball, Ganious does not hit the holes hard enough. Against fast, strong D's there is no time to be dancing around in the backfield. Passing, Warren was way off again today. I don't know what his problem is but he hasn't looked good lately. We also did not work the middle of the field enough and did not use our TE's enough. The protection seemed to be there. We needed to take a couple shots deep down the middle of the field to loosen up the UNI D.
The Defense: We gave up a lot of yards but bottom line is we kept UNI to under 20 points. Good defensive effort for the second week in a row. Now, if we keep giving up yards like that and allow offenses to move the ball the way they are then eventually the D is going to start getting points put on them. We need to be more aggressive on D and attack the offense. The big problem is on the D line. It just doesn't appear we have the horses up front to be that attacking D. Bottom line, we're getting better, just need to keep improving and give our O a shot at winning the game, which the D has done the last 3 weeks.
Final thoughts: Coming out of the Dome the #1 comment I heard, and I felt the same way, was that USD played not to lose rather than to win. I understand the conservative nature our offense played, but when there is 12 minutes left in the game, and we are within striking distance, the playcalling on offense needs to open up and just go for it. We ran out of a lot of two TE, conservative formations. We did not spread the field and attack the UNI D from all angles like the Yotes did at TCF. That's the bottom line, we've all seen the USD players and coaches perform much better. No longer is close enough good enough when we know we have the ability to win these games. UNI is a very good, well established FCS program. Hats off to them for winning the game, but I think we let them slip away with a win here.
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