Game Thread: Western Illinois

[jackmd]

Re: Game Thread: Western Illinois

I agree MJA. The defense had to spend entirely too much time on the field in the second half. WIU ate up a lot of time and yards with short passes in the middle. But the Jacks totally shut down their running game. Weird game. Good win. Congrats, Jacks.

Weird is a good way to describe it. We dominated that first half, no argument about that. They obviously made some adjustments at halftime, no argument about that. Throwing a pick to start the 2nd half changed the momentum, no argument about that.

Now, points to ponder. Should we be throwing the ball down field a little more? When we did, especially to the TE it worked well. Obviously part of the adjustments WIU made were to cheat up on the shorter ins and outs not worrying as much about the deeper patterns (flies and posts). Repeated outs or curls to Fox or swings/passes in the flat to Minett do not constitute a balanced passing attack.

Can we make FG's when it matters? The miss in the 4th last night suggests this will be an issue. Its only one kick but it was a bad kick.

Why did our D-line fail to get more pressure in the 2nd half? Fatigue was obviously a factor. Now, some will say we had several sacks and rushed their QB well. We did on many plays but on others he had a lot of time and we missed a lot of tackles. Maybe its just a credit to Barr (sp?). I'm a little concerned about some of the pursuit. Many times guys failed to contain and often when they did they missed tackles. I know for sure fatigue played a part and perhaps that explains most of it. Our offense needed to be on the field more in the second half.

Long and short of it, great game, great win. We were and are better than a 2 point victory over WIU at home. I wish I could be at the UNIdome next week. Maybe a miracle will occur and I can make it.

[Jack4Life]

Re: Game Thread: Western Illinois

Conrad had ice on his ankle on the sideline in the second half, pretty much pointing out a sprain. I never did find Campbell, but people on here say a sprain also.

Saw him with ice on ankle and on crutches...

[launcher46]

Re: Game Thread: Western Illinois

Weird is a good way to describe it. We dominated that first half, no argument about that. They obviously made some adjustments at halftime, no argument about that. Throwing a pick to start the 2nd half changed the momentum, no argument about that.

Now, points to ponder. Should we be throwing the ball down field a little more? When we did, especially to the TE it worked well. Obviously part of the adjustments WIU made were to cheat up on the shorter ins and outs not worrying as much about the deeper patterns (flies and posts). Repeated outs or curls to Fox or swings/passes in the flat to Minett do not constitute a balanced passing attack.

Can we make FG's when it matters? The miss in the 4th last night suggests this will be an issue. Its only one kick but it was a bad kick.

Why did our D-line fail to get more pressure in the 2nd half? Fatigue was obviously a factor. Now, some will say we had several sacks and rushed their QB well. We did on many plays but on others he had a lot of time and we missed a lot of tackles. Maybe its just a credit to Barr (sp?). I'm a little concerned about some of the pursuit. Many times guys failed to contain and often when they did they missed tackles. I know for sure fatigue played a part and perhaps that explains most of it. Our offense needed to be on the field more in the second half.

Long and short of it, great game, great win. We were and are better than a 2 point victory over WIU at home. I wish I could be at the UNIdome next week. Maybe a miracle will occur and I can make it.

Yes, we should definately be throwing the ball down field more! We didn't do that in the Iowa State game... then did with great success in the Youngstown St. game... then didn't do it against Western Illinois much except for the early touchdown. I have said it before, but I really think we need to get more of a vertical passing game like we had against Youngstown going more often.

In my opinion, Berry is much better throwing to the outside, throwing deep, and throwing on the run than he is in the pocket and throwing across the middle. It appears that he "guesses" a little more when throwing across the middle, which has accounted for most of his interceptions this year. I really think Berry and our passing game are at its best when sprinting out and working downfield.

[Jacks#1Fan]

Re: Game Thread: Western Illinois

Just a few observations, addressing some of the issues raised by posters:

1) Our offense in the second half couldn't get going and that put great pressure on the D. Eric Schroeder was really hurting and shuttling in and out, and losing Campbell and Kjersted were KEY differences. I'm not saying that the backups were inadequate, but we needed our best against Barr.

2) The difference in the second half for WI wasn't Barr...but the receivers IMO. Remember, Barr got passes to them on four or five occasions in the first half, when they dropped the passes and killed their momentum. They hung on to them in the second half.

3) We held Donaldson down, just as we did last year at Macomb, but Barr was the difference last year and this year. He is mobile, athletic and will be, I think, as good a quarterback as we will face this year.

Finally...I'm just very happy and thankful to our defense, for saving the win for us. We're heading for UNI on Saturday and I'm hoping that Campbell, Kjerstad and Schroeder will be on the field (if they were just springs for Brock and Conrad, they probably will be able to play. GO JACKS!

[JimmyJack]

Re: Game Thread: Western Illinois

Just to wrap this one up, here are a few clips from the WIU-SDSU postgame news conference:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vnn6UxP5bq8

[jackrabbit1979]

Re: Game Thread: Western Illinois

Just to wrap this one up, here are a few clips from the WIU-SDSU postgame news conference:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vnn6UxP5bq8

Good Stuff JJ, keep it coming.

[Nidaros]

Re: Game Thread: Western Illinois

Good Stuff JJ, keep it coming.

Ditto JJ. I think we have a qb who has had his ups and downs, but does know what he is doing. These guys(the players) can talk over my head about the game, but maybe thats not saying a whole bunch.

[RabbitinTea]

Re: Game Thread: Western Illinois

good game, glad to have a win. however, the kicking game scares me. I don't mind the fact that he missed it. it's how badly it was missed that worries me. if you spend 25 hours a week kicking a ball, you should at least look like you've kicked before. I hate to say it, but it reminded me of good 'ol Kristoff.