GDT: Southern Illinois

[jakejc795]

I guess I don't know. I didn't notice that he had returned.

The injury to him I noticed appeared to be a cramp, and he returned and had a shared sack with Bock after that relatively late in 4th Q.

Of course, I'm a fan of Jacks scores on offense, but this defense is great to watch (when they're not gassed like any team would've been yesterday)

[bigticket1]

The injury to him I noticed appeared to be a cramp, and he returned and had a shared sack with Bock after that relatively late in 4th Q.

Of course, I'm a fan of Jacks scores on offense, but this defense is great to watch (when they're not gassed like any team would've been yesterday)

It looked like a lot of the late injuries were cramping. Both Griffin and Sanders were getting stretched out, and one was even taking in fluids while they were flat on their back.

[jakejc795]

That was a tough loss to take. Tough to walk out of the stadium. This morning: still pretty tough to take. But, I agree with the above comment from LetsGoRabbit's.

I don't like to complain about the refs (but there were some awful calls and a few obviously missed calls*). A team simply has to play in a manner that the refs don's determine the game. -- I don't claim they determined the game but they did not do a good job in the game.. The Jacks usually play in such a way that they don't give the refs many opportunities to interfere with the flow of our game. [*SIU's quarterback got called for passing past the line of scrimmage one time. I think he did it three times...one was close, two were obvious...only one call. But SIU is a good team and did some unusual stufff with the QB and his sidekick, #15. I wonder what was happening to permit so many runs through the middle of our line.]

I just have to remind myself that's it's very difficult to get through the MVFC wihtout a loss.

Other than the game outcome:
great tailgating;
great weather for football -- predictions of some rain may have scared a few off;
crowd, while not as big as we'd like, was loud and invovled.
Three-day weekend causes the student crowd to be small but those who were there were loud.

Was he actually ever penalized for it? I thought the ref made one announcement that there was no flag because they'd concluded Baker wasn't past the line of scrimmage.

I believe they were flagged for three false starts, offside, illegal formation (declined), and holding.

[jakejc795]

It looked like a lot of the late injuries were cramping. Both Griffin and Sanders were getting stretched out, and one was even taking in fluids while they were flat on their back.

If anyone wants some "east side insider" information that's a dual explanation for why the Salukis brought coolers and weren't cramping as much, let's just say the Porta-coolers were being used to obscure an excretory act that rhymes with AC rather than any actual cooling

[discoDancinRabbit]

4. We look lost on O without being able to lean on the run. Even though Chris is a good passer and we have talent at TE and WR, we made our identity this spring being a power run team that broke teams down late in the game. Davis being out cannot be a crutch for not running the ball.

Amar Johnson with one carry yesterday. One ! I know he's a freshman but imo a serviceable back up to Strong already.

[jakejc795]

Amar Johnson with one carry yesterday. One ! I know he's a freshman but imo a serviceable back up to Strong already.

I wonder if him being used on kick returns impacts the number of carries they want him to have.

[discoDancinRabbit]

I wonder if him being used on kick returns impacts the number of carries they want him to have.

Has he even fielded a kick return this year? Seems like Feldcamp gets most every one.

[jakejc795]

Has he even fielded a kick return this year? Seems like Feldcamp gets most every one.

Yes, yesterday for over 20yds.

If the goal is a heftier "power" back, why not use Buri (unless Jacks are trying to strategically use him to preserve redshirt)?

[jakejc795]

Yup, absolutely. The big question now is can we hold on and win out until they return and how many of theses latest injuries will be season ending.

Sounds like Backhaus' injury isn't season ending (question at 6:33 mark).

[Hareofthedog]

Definitely don’t like the call for the two point conversion by Eck/Stig. You are the home team and considered the better team. Overtime forces both teams to go for two point conversion in the 2nd overtime so wait till then. I look at the game and see so many opportunities to win the game. Using a timeout better to get organized or compose the team, stupid penalties, missed tackles were more important than going for two right away. Wake up coaches!

[discoDancinRabbit]

Yes, yesterday for over 20yds.

If the goal is a heftier "power" back, why not use Buri (unless Jacks are trying to strategically use him to preserve redshirt)?

Because Amar Johnson is the superior running back ?

[LARabbit]

At this point I wouldn’t mind seeing some full back sets with Morgan and prioritize establishing the run game - even give him some carries to wear down the defensive line. We need to control more clock and not rely on gimmick plays to put points in the board. We’re too talented to not be able to line up and execute plays!

[Jacked_Up]

... If the goal is a heftier "power" back, why not use Buri (unless Jacks are trying to strategically use him to preserve redshirt)?

Based on playing time in prior games, Josh Buri appears to trail Angel Johnson as well as Amar Johnson on the RB depth chart.

[LetsGoRabbits]

Does everyone understand that we scored TWICE in a relatively short amount of game time on a 90 plus yard fumble recovery return by the defense. and an 85 yard OFF TACKLE RUNNING PLAY. these were not gimmicks. these were NOT us having to rely on passing to get the job done. BOTH were simply guys doing their job well and turning normal down by down football into an EXPLOSIVE scoring play.

i spoke about this earlier with tongue firmly in cheek

what do you suggest? i jokingly suggested that the coaches need to do a better job of recruiting slower and less explosive players so that these BIG plays cannot happen, therefore allowing us to take more time off the clock and keep the defense off the field- OF COURSE one of these plays was made by the defense))

and i have NO IDEA HOW having Davis available would have changed these things, unless you are suggesting that he is not as explosive as Pierre and he allows us to just go to the 4 yard and a cloud of dust game play to eat the clock.

i completely understand Davis seems the more built for that type of game and he is the power runner of the two GREAT runners that we have, but Pierre pushes the pile quite well also, so long as he is NOT met in the backfield and i do not think Davis is any better in that scenario. and OBVIOUSLY as we saw in the title game in spring, and many other times last year, also including the reg season game against this basically exact same team, Davis is just as likely to break off a long explosive scoring run

somebody said that they think we beat this team 6 or more times out of 10. i was going to say, i think about 7.5 out of 10. SIU is a very dangerous and good team. they made LOTS of excellent plays in this game. TWO INCREDIBLE HIGHLIGHT TD catches. and two big stops for loss on 2nd and 3rd down before the missed FG. all things considered, i think those were the two biggest plays of the game. a 3 or 4 yard gain on either play and it is very likely game over for them. they also blocked a FG

point being they are a truly dangerous team, more than capable of beating ANY team. i am not happy about the loss and not accepting of the failures in execution! but there were also some unusual circumstances that also contributed to a one point loss to a very good team who played about as well as they can possibly play

Logan getting hurt in first quarter or beginning of second, i think had a huge impact on the effectiveness of our defense. i think he is absolutely, totally the on field leader and the brain of the defense. i think the first big play score for them happened either the first or second series after he was out

i am sure there was something and i am just failing to remember, but was there even ONE poor call by the officials that benefitted the rabbits. i know i moan about the officiating a lot. and just to be clear, I NEVER believe that officials are THE REASON for a loss. but they are often unacceptably bad and often hurt the rabbits more than the other team. i cannot even think about it without wanting to give a worst hits list of terrible calls from the last few years but i am not going to. NO MATTER how bad they are, i cannot think of one game we lost that the team could not have made some plays that were not made, which would have made the difference. the players have to focus on the things they can actually control. there were plenty of examples of that on saturday and every other time the jacks lose
BUT it is still an extra burden on the team when the officials cannot do their job and they definitely hurt the rabbits in this one
that all said i guess bad officiating is NOT actually UNUSUAL

MOST of all, and i think LOTS of folks are really underestimating, the defense was literally on the field for an entire quarter, minus about a minute and a half. from 10:10 in the third until 9:30 in the fourth, our offense was on the field for about a minute and a half. AGAIN NORMALLY, i think the whole fatigue thing is highly overrated but this is pretty extreme and it also happened in a game where we also happened to be missing TWO ALL AMERICAN players from the defense

and back to where i began, THAT circumstance came about because, after being on the field for over 7 minutes, the defense caused a fumble, picked it up, and returned it 90 plus yards for a score. then we have two kicks and they are back on the field

i do not remember how much time SIU had the ball before they scored there to make it 28 to 21, but when we get the ball back, first play or maybe second, i cannot remember now,85 yards by Pierre on a simple off tackle run. again two kicks and back on the field for the D

point is the D being on the field so much WAS NOT because of offensive failure. so unless you would like to suggest that the players lay down after a 15 or 20 yard gain to keep the D off the field, i am VERY CURIOUS to hear how you want to FIX THESE PROBLEMS??

the next time the offense had the ball they ATE SIX MINUTES of clock. then had the two plays for loss, which i already discussed. hopefully players and coaches have figured out what happened there and we will not have another instance this year of back to back losses, especially when all we want to do is keep the ball. if this O line is who we think they are, and i think they are, they are TOO GOOD to have people in the backfield on back to back running plays at ANY TIME in the game, but especially at THAT time in the game

[filbert]

At some point you just have to say SIU earned the win, and SDSU didn't, and tip your hat to the Salukis.