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Re: Western Illinois
I disagree that WIU was a better team. First off, their QB had a good game, but he's nothing special. What they did was put him in a position to play well and he took that and ran with it...literally and figuratively. He didn't complete a pass that required a throw any longer than 8 yards down the field. By end of the game, their passing game was non-existent. Their running game numbers were more a result of 3 big plays - 2 of them broken plays and a QB with good wheels - than it was anything else. For the most part, a 2 yard run was considered a success for the WIU running attack.
What disappoints me is that I felt the coaches, especially in the first half, put our QB in a position to play well and he could not produce. Anyone who was at the game or was watching the feed can't disagree with me on this. His numbers were much worse than the 16-39 for 139 or whatever they ended being. Like I said earlier, Harris had a 100 yard game with 2 TDs if the ball was anywhere near him on some of those throws. I can remember 3 seperate plays where we had a receiver down the sideline without a WIU player anywhere to be seen and he overthrew them by 10 yards. Then, to start the second half Harris beats his defender who has man coverage and no safety behind him on a deep post. If he hits him, that's an easy 6. Instead, the ball is underthrown and almost picked off. Then, on the second to last possession before OT, where we need to score and we're running out of time, he misses a 8 yard crossing pattern to a wide-open Koenig with 10 yards of daylight ahead of him on a 3rd and 6. You could see Koenig's frustration from Milwaukee after that one. We just can't win with that sort of QB play. Our running game dominated, but that can be stopped if a D is allowed to key on the run as they did in the 4th quarter and OT.
Now, I'm not ready to run Berry up the flag pole because this is his first real opportunity to shine. I have faith that he'll get it together. If he doesn't, I have faith that Stig will make the necessary changes. Also, he didn't lose the game himself by any stretch of the imagination. He put the ball right in Wagner's hands in the endzone during our 3rd drive and it was dropped. He catches that and all of a sudden his first 2 INTs are forgotten and we're back at even ground instead of playing catch-up the whole game. Our Defense get's a big stop at our own 35 and an unbelievably stuped late hit penalty give them 15 yards and a new set of downs which eventually turns into 3 more points. We have the ball 2 & 5 from the 6, which equates to essentially 6 downs to get 6 yards for what would have a game-winning TD and we get called for illegal substitution. I almost turned my computer off on that one. WIU didn't make those sorts of mistakes.
Anyone who watched the game can attest to the feeling that it was just a matter of time before SDSU's size and domination at the line would eventually turn the tide of the game and SDSU would come away with the end. WIU was overmatched physically the entire game. But, everytime we had the big bolder at the top of the hill ready to drop it over the cliff onto the WIU hopes, someone would sneeze and it would roll right over us to the bottom of the hill again.
I truly believed we were going to win that game up until my screen went blank and I was left to read on this fan site what happened. Even then I felt certain we were going to win. WE WERE THE BETTER TEAM. That's why I think it's a tough loss. Not because we were beat, but because we lost. Big difference. Coaches will get it turned around, players will get it turned around, gojacks.com will get it turned around (or will receive a not-so-nice request for refund from one MilwaukeeJacksAlum), and we will move forward. It's still better than starting off the season like we did last year.
I feel a little better getting that off my chest. Let's get 'er going for next week. A big win next week will erase and pains from this week.
I disagree that WIU was a better team. First off, their QB had a good game, but he's nothing special. What they did was put him in a position to play well and he took that and ran with it...literally and figuratively. He didn't complete a pass that required a throw any longer than 8 yards down the field. By end of the game, their passing game was non-existent. Their running game numbers were more a result of 3 big plays - 2 of them broken plays and a QB with good wheels - than it was anything else. For the most part, a 2 yard run was considered a success for the WIU running attack.
What disappoints me is that I felt the coaches, especially in the first half, put our QB in a position to play well and he could not produce. Anyone who was at the game or was watching the feed can't disagree with me on this. His numbers were much worse than the 16-39 for 139 or whatever they ended being. Like I said earlier, Harris had a 100 yard game with 2 TDs if the ball was anywhere near him on some of those throws. I can remember 3 seperate plays where we had a receiver down the sideline without a WIU player anywhere to be seen and he overthrew them by 10 yards. Then, to start the second half Harris beats his defender who has man coverage and no safety behind him on a deep post. If he hits him, that's an easy 6. Instead, the ball is underthrown and almost picked off. Then, on the second to last possession before OT, where we need to score and we're running out of time, he misses a 8 yard crossing pattern to a wide-open Koenig with 10 yards of daylight ahead of him on a 3rd and 6. You could see Koenig's frustration from Milwaukee after that one. We just can't win with that sort of QB play. Our running game dominated, but that can be stopped if a D is allowed to key on the run as they did in the 4th quarter and OT.
Now, I'm not ready to run Berry up the flag pole because this is his first real opportunity to shine. I have faith that he'll get it together. If he doesn't, I have faith that Stig will make the necessary changes. Also, he didn't lose the game himself by any stretch of the imagination. He put the ball right in Wagner's hands in the endzone during our 3rd drive and it was dropped. He catches that and all of a sudden his first 2 INTs are forgotten and we're back at even ground instead of playing catch-up the whole game. Our Defense get's a big stop at our own 35 and an unbelievably stuped late hit penalty give them 15 yards and a new set of downs which eventually turns into 3 more points. We have the ball 2 & 5 from the 6, which equates to essentially 6 downs to get 6 yards for what would have a game-winning TD and we get called for illegal substitution. I almost turned my computer off on that one. WIU didn't make those sorts of mistakes.
Anyone who watched the game can attest to the feeling that it was just a matter of time before SDSU's size and domination at the line would eventually turn the tide of the game and SDSU would come away with the end. WIU was overmatched physically the entire game. But, everytime we had the big bolder at the top of the hill ready to drop it over the cliff onto the WIU hopes, someone would sneeze and it would roll right over us to the bottom of the hill again.
I truly believed we were going to win that game up until my screen went blank and I was left to read on this fan site what happened. Even then I felt certain we were going to win. WE WERE THE BETTER TEAM. That's why I think it's a tough loss. Not because we were beat, but because we lost. Big difference. Coaches will get it turned around, players will get it turned around, gojacks.com will get it turned around (or will receive a not-so-nice request for refund from one MilwaukeeJacksAlum), and we will move forward. It's still better than starting off the season like we did last year.
I feel a little better getting that off my chest. Let's get 'er going for next week. A big win next week will erase and pains from this week.
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