Youngstown State

[JackJD]

Re: Youngstown State

The 99.5 yard march down the field was a great effort. A bad or even an average team cannot sustain a drive like that against a foe like Youngstown. I never want to be happy with a loss but I have to admit I'm pretty optimistic about seeing some great football the remainder of the season.

[Nidaros]

Re: Youngstown State

The 99.5 yard march down the field was a great effort. A bad or even an average team cannot sustain a drive like that against a foe like Youngstown. I never want to be happy with a loss but I have to admit I'm pretty optimistic about seeing some great football the remainder of the season.

I am not crazy about the loss either but I agree, we are in for some great football. It could be a season where we play some very good teams close and come up short. I hope I am wrong and we win the remainder of the season. 9-2 would the best W-L record in decades. Also a Great West Title.

[89rabbit]

Re: Youngstown State

Here is a follow up piece from Terry:


http://www.argusleader.com/apps/pbcs...40/1002/SPORTS

SDSU spread out attack at Youngstown St.

By Terry Vandrovec
tvandrovec@argusleader.com
Published: September 11, 2007

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - South Dakota State was a different team in terms of both offensive strategy and execution in Saturday's 23-17 loss at sixth-ranked Youngstown State, although some of its mistakes were straight out of last week's game film.

Putting the ball in the humid air on three of their first four plays, the Jackrabbits completed 12 more passes and attempted 22 fewer runs than they did in Week 1's quadruple overtime loss at Western Illinois.

Nine different players caught balls, including quarterback Ryan Berry, and there were times in the second half that it seemed like SDSU had nine receivers on the field simultaneously because somebody was always open. Rebounding from a 16-for-39 effort, Berry was 28 of 40 for 208 yards - the most completions by a Jacks quarterback since 2002. Included were runs of six and seven consecutive completions plus a 50 percent success rate on third down. It was enough for coach John Stiegelmeier to wonder if this is the point where the game "slows down" for the junior from Watertown. . . . (read more)

Go State!

[MilwaukeeJacksAlum]

Re: Youngstown State

The line that is most telling his Stig's comment that we've never had a dominate team in his 11 years as a coach. I think we're closer to building that sort of team than ever right now, but we just can't quite get there. At some point we need to move past the "playing good teams close" point and start winning these games. I like that Stig said that. He has a little Lou Holtz in him in that he is never quite satisfied, especially when talking to the media, but I think he's dead on with that comment. I think deep down most fans felt we would lose to Youngstown state, but hoped we would win. At some point we need to have the level of team where we expect to win and are shocked when we don't. The good thing is I think we're moving in that direction. A dominate D and O line is the first step. Bringing in athletes is the next. From watching the game against WIU and hearing the stories about YSU, it seems like we have better athletes at the skill positions than we've ever had. Our WR's were blowing by people in the secondary. If Berry gets it together and can start hitting the long ball, I think we're about there. A couple big wins, like a 4 quarter performance against UNI ending in a solid win, and we're on our way. If we roll off 4-5 wins in a row, we're that dominate team. I think this team has the ingredients. We just need to turn it into that perfect cake. I'm ready for it.

[CatchEmAll]

Re: Youngstown State

A couple big wins, like a 4 quarter performance against UNI ending in a solid win, and we're on our way. If we roll off 4-5 wins in a row, we're that dominate team. I think this team has the ingredients. We just need to turn it into that perfect cake. I'm ready for it.

We ran off 7 in a row last year...seems like that should have set the tone for some dominance.

[filbert]

Re: Youngstown State

We ran off 7 in a row last year...seems like that should have set the tone for some dominance.

Seems to me like the big takeaway from the first two games this season is that the level of play and coaching for our football program needs to be stepped up even more in order to be competitive in the Gateway. We are close to being competitive, but until we start winning close games vs. league opponents, we will be the Augustana of the Gateway--occasionally dangerous but never really a threat to win the conference. I'm pretty sure none of us want that.

So, fans, alumni, donors, players, coaches--Step it up another notch! We're not there yet but we're getting close!

[MilwaukeeJacksAlum]

Re: Youngstown State

We ran off 7 in a row last year...seems like that should have set the tone for some dominance.

I would agree, except we won a lot of those games on last second plays and seat of the pants opportunities. The one opportunity we really had to show all of those last second plays were not a fluke was for us to go into NDSU and win against one of the best teams in the country. We played them well, but then again that's the point isn't it. When we play against the elite teams at our level, we're either just coming up short or winning with a last second comeback. Now, I'll take a win anyway we get it. I just want to be able to get to a point where we go into Western Illinois and everyone thinks WIU will be lucky to hang with us. I want to go into Youngstown St and not be the underdog. I want us to get to the level of "you're going to have to play your best game to beat them" for anyone in 1AA who wants to play us. Right now I think we're at the "scrappy team who will beat you if you take them too lightly" level. I think anyone outside of SD thinks we're the cute sister who's not as cute as the really good looking sister, NDSU, right now.

Now, I'm saying this to spark a discussion and maybe I should have started my own thread, but give me your thoughts. Am I reading this wrong? I could be because I get very little first hand info aside from watching video feeds and the occasional game in person.

Finally, I will say as a player on Stig's first 2 seasons as a head coach, we're much closer to a dominating team now than we were when I played...as much as that hurts my pride to say.

[JimmyJack]

Re: Youngstown State

I would agree, except we won a lot of those games on last second plays and seat of the pants opportunities. The one opportunity we really had to show all of those last second plays were not a fluke was for us to go into NDSU and win against one of the best teams in the country. We played them well, but then again that's the point isn't it. When we play against the elite teams at our level, we're either just coming up short or winning with a last second comeback. Now, I'll take a win anyway we get it. I just want to be able to get to a point where we go into Western Illinois and everyone thinks WIU will be lucky to hang with us. I want to go into Youngstown St and not be the underdog. I want us to get to the level of "you're going to have to play your best game to beat them" for anyone in 1AA who wants to play us. Right now I think we're at the "scrappy team who will beat you if you take them too lightly" level. I think anyone outside of SD thinks we're the cute sister who's not as cute as the really good looking sister, NDSU, right now.

Now, I'm saying this to spark a discussion and maybe I should have started my own thread, but give me your thoughts. Am I reading this wrong? I could be because I get very little first hand info aside from watching video feeds and the occasional game in person.

Finally, I will say as a player on Stig's first 2 seasons as a head coach, we're much closer to a dominating team now than we were when I played...as much as that hurts my pride to say.

Nobody gets more effort from players than Stig and his staff. They preach belief, and anybody who's watched this group knows those young men believe they can win.

I think it's fair to say that our line play on both sides of the ball this year has, at times, been dominant. But we're still a few gamebreaking players short of a week-in, week-out expectation that we SHOULD win.

[CatchEmAll]

Re: Youngstown State

Now, I'm saying this to spark a discussion and maybe I should have started my own thread, but give me your thoughts. Am I reading this wrong? I could be because I get very little first hand info aside from watching video feeds and the occasional game in person.

Finally, I will say as a player on Stig's first 2 seasons as a head coach, we're much closer to a dominating team now than we were when I played...as much as that hurts my pride to say.

1. You should start a new thread. Could get interesting, but then again I've vowed to keep my thoughts to myself on this matter (for the most part).

2. Don't let your pride get in the way. Stig's come a long way as the head coach since you played for him and so has the program. Could have...(that's for another thread I guess).