Game Thread: University of Northern Iowa

[CapnCat]

Re: Game Thread: University of Northern Iowa

Piss off. They used base sets and played it as conservative as they could to not show anything for the conference season. You were the warm up. Go play on your board with the other 5 people that post there and leave us to the big boy football.

LMFatAO!!!!!

[CapnCat]

Re: Game Thread: University of Northern Iowa

Disappointing defense there. Anybody else already sick of the sirens and other piped in noise at the UNI-Dome? I'm also tired of the Panthers tendency to celebrate after every play like they just won the Super Bowl.

Figure out something here and get a score back. Need to figure out how to rush the ball. -10 yards so far.

[JimmieTuba]

Re: Game Thread: University of Northern Iowa

Stig talked about that when we shot his show last night. There's a gray area in the rules. Sometimes the refs will call offsides when you snap the ball, and sometimes they won't. And sometimes they'll call illegal procedure on you. It's not a certain defensive penalty like it should be. Because of that, the coaches have taught the centers not to snap the ball when the other team jumps. If you snap it and the refs don't call offsides, either your QB is standing there holding the ball with nothing to do with it or you fumble the snap and the other team has a chance to get the ball. So it's a conscious decision by the coaches and not a mistake. Sure you might get a free five yards. Or one of several bad things happen.

If everyone is on the same page on the offensive line, there is no question. The guy was offsides if the ball was snapped. Berry was obviously trying to get them to jump and he was successful. They just didn't make contact, so you have to snap the ball. Couldn't be any simpler.

[Nidaros]

Re: Game Thread: University of Northern Iowa

Couple of things that stood out for me from the game:

1) We have good depth at a lot of positions and a lot of talent at that depth, but the talent is also pretty young/inexperienced. Our inexperience really shows in the secondary. Playing defense is hard enough because it's all reactionary. It's infinitely more difficult to play defense when your head is filled with "what coverage are we in, what formation are they coming out in, what is my read, do I have help over the top, etc..." Our young players looked like that alot Saturday night. Lots of ability, but playing "not to make a mistake" instead of playing to make a play. If that makes any sense. Doubt rears its ugly head and makes even the best players look bad.

2) Our running game has been a non-factor for 6 quarters now. We have the ability to run and we have the horses to block up front. We proved that with the first 2 1/2 games we played. Last year we developed new wrinkles throughout the season to keep the running game fresh. It may be that time again.

3) Mobile QB's kill us. I wish at some point against WIU and UNI we would have spent an entire series just blitzing the crap out of the opposing QB. Arguably, WIU's QB may have been able to make us pay with his arm, but UNI's wouldn't. He killed us with his legs and hitting the occasional WR who sprung open when he was on the move. You have to challenge that guy to beat you with his arm and decision making ability. See if he can find an open reciever or break contain when he has 6-7 guys rushing him. The alternative was sitting back and hoping our D-line could get pressure and our zone would defend all routes. That wasn't working. Blitz, blitz, blitz. I think we tend to get too vanilla on D sometimes. There comes a time when a good blitz just to get it in the QB's head really does wonders. Again, the ugly word "doubt" starts creeping into his head and he may make a mistake to our benefit. You never know if you don't try. As proof, the UNI QB made a couple dumb mistakes early in the game. Both happened when he was faced with pressure.

4) Dropped passes. Man, we drop too many passes. When we run a pass scheme that includes lots of quick hitters and short passing routes, the WR's HAVE to catch the ball so the QB has confidence he can make the tough throw and it won't end up with an OSCI. I think we need to stretch opposing D's more with the long pass, but if we don't want to go that way, then we definitely need to catch the ball.

5) We have a really good/talented team. One loss or one win does not a season make. We have a ton of talent and hard-nosed football players. We are well coached and who are putting the players in the position to win the vast majority of the time (understanding even coaches make mistakes). Our main concern at this point is to get everyone healthy. A nice dominating victory against SFA sure would be nice, too. Man, if we could have just fit Culver into our schedule...

A very excellent analysis coming from a recent player. Rep points torwards another green square.

[MilwaukeeJacksAlum]

Re: Game Thread: University of Northern Iowa

Couple of things that stood out for me from the game:

1) We have good depth at a lot of positions and a lot of talent at that depth, but the talent is also pretty young/inexperienced. Our inexperience really shows in the secondary. Playing defense is hard enough because it's all reactionary. It's infinitely more difficult to play defense when your head is filled with "what coverage are we in, what formation are they coming out in, what is my read, do I have help over the top, etc..." Our young players looked like that alot Saturday night. Lots of ability, but playing "not to make a mistake" instead of playing to make a play. If that makes any sense. Doubt rears its ugly head and makes even the best players look bad.

2) Our running game has been a non-factor for 6 quarters now. We have the ability to run and we have the horses to block up front. We proved that with the first 2 1/2 games we played. Last year we developed new wrinkles throughout the season to keep the running game fresh. It may be that time again.

3) Mobile QB's kill us. I wish at some point against WIU and UNI we would have spent an entire series just blitzing the crap out of the opposing QB. Arguably, WIU's QB may have been able to make us pay with his arm, but UNI's wouldn't. He killed us with his legs and hitting the occasional WR who sprung open when he was on the move. You have to challenge that guy to beat you with his arm and decision making ability. See if he can find an open reciever or break contain when he has 6-7 guys rushing him. The alternative was sitting back and hoping our D-line could get pressure and our zone would defend all routes. That wasn't working. Blitz, blitz, blitz. I think we tend to get too vanilla on D sometimes. There comes a time when a good blitz just to get it in the QB's head really does wonders. Again, the ugly word "doubt" starts creeping into his head and he may make a mistake to our benefit. You never know if you don't try. As proof, the UNI QB made a couple dumb mistakes early in the game. Both happened when he was faced with pressure.

4) Dropped passes. Man, we drop too many passes. When we run a pass scheme that includes lots of quick hitters and short passing routes, the WR's HAVE to catch the ball so the QB has confidence he can make the tough throw and it won't end up with an OSCI. I think we need to stretch opposing D's more with the long pass, but if we don't want to go that way, then we definitely need to catch the ball.

5) We have a really good/talented team. One loss or one win does not a season make. We have a ton of talent and hard-nosed football players. We are well coached and who are putting the players in the position to win the vast majority of the time (understanding even coaches make mistakes). Our main concern at this point is to get everyone healthy. A nice dominating victory against SFA sure would be nice, too. Man, if we could have just fit Culver into our schedule...

[MilwaukeeJacksAlum]

Re: Game Thread: University of Northern Iowa

Stig talked about that when we shot his show last night. There's a gray area in the rules. Sometimes the refs will call offsides when you snap the ball, and sometimes they won't. And sometimes they'll call illegal procedure on you. It's not a certain defensive penalty like it should be. Because of that, the coaches have taught the centers not to snap the ball when the other team jumps. If you snap it and the refs don't call offsides, either your QB is standing there holding the ball with nothing to do with it or you fumble the snap and the other team has a chance to get the ball. So it's a conscious decision by the coaches and not a mistake. Sure you might get a free five yards. Or one of several bad things happen.

The thing that highlighted all of that was that UNI did the same play against us later in the game and it worked. We moved, their center snapped the ball and we get 5 yards against us. I know Stig was mad on the sideline when we didn't snap it there.

[JimmyJack]

Re: Game Thread: University of Northern Iowa

The offense needs to learn how to snap the ball to catch the defense offside.

Stig talked about that when we shot his show last night. There's a gray area in the rules. Sometimes the refs will call offsides when you snap the ball, and sometimes they won't. And sometimes they'll call illegal procedure on you. It's not a certain defensive penalty like it should be. Because of that, the coaches have taught the centers not to snap the ball when the other team jumps. If you snap it and the refs don't call offsides, either your QB is standing there holding the ball with nothing to do with it or you fumble the snap and the other team has a chance to get the ball. So it's a conscious decision by the coaches and not a mistake. Sure you might get a free five yards. Or one of several bad things happen.

[JimmieTuba]

Re: Game Thread: University of Northern Iowa

I made the trip from Peoria, via Iowa City, to the UNI-Dome. Second time I have been there, the first was for HS band day. My overall impression of the game was that it was poorly played by both sides. I was not impressed with either teams ability, and my friend and some UNI students we know felt the same.

The defense needed to get to Grace in the first quarter. The fact that they didn't allowed him to do what he pleased the rest of the game. The offense needs to learn how to snap the ball to catch the defense offside. I am sure all of you there know the play I am talking about. The right UNI DE gave us that first down twice if the center/Berry snaps the ball.

Best part of the game wasn't a play. A little kid no older than 6 (so my friend says) sat right in front of us. All of our Go Jacks/Rabbits/Blue cheers were echoed by his Go Panthers cheer. It was great! A lot of the people around us got a kick out of it. I had to admire his spirit.

[UTH]

Re: Game Thread: University of Northern Iowa

As much as most would like to, we can't really knock the roof off of the FFD. They have been making some minor improvements, though. The piped-in music is now at an absolute minimum. The Gold Star Band is now significantly bigger and no longer competes for 'playing time'.

The announcer does still try to tell people when they need to cheer / make noise / congratulate 'That Bison Defense!'. Don't wan't to speak for all of BV, but I will anyway. It is insulting to the fans and it's safe to bet that all of BV agrees that this behavior also needs to stop.

[Jacks99]

Re: Game Thread: University of Northern Iowa

but I wasn't that disappointed that I couldn't make the trip this year. Sitting the UNIdome listening to the annoying roars and crappy piped-in noise while a football game should be going on outside during a beautiful day just doesn't have that much appeal for me.

Ditto.

Felt the same way after the NDSU game 2 years ago. Only live 2hrs from Cedar Falls, but the dome kept me home. It's obvious they create a home field adavantage above outdoor stadiums and grass (another disc.)

I believe the UMN game next year will be in the new stadium, if not may skip that one also.

[Rabbitlivinginverm]

Re: Game Thread: University of Northern Iowa

Unfortunately, they would be confiscated at the door. The administration has to get this thing figured out so that our home can be as much as an advantage as UNI's

It's not real tough to sneak them in. Just stuff it in your sweatshirt or your lady's purse.

[RABBITALUM08]

Re: Game Thread: University of Northern Iowa

Just a few things from what I saw at the game... I was really suprised how bad we were beat up front on both sides of the ball. On offense it was obviously with the pathetic run game and pressure on Ryan all game. I thought Ryan played really well especially with all the pressure. On top of that, the recievers could have helped him out on 3 or 4 passes that were dropped. I know that they have a really good front seven but the rushing game was a huge factor in the game.

That brings me to the defense. We couldn't get pressure on the quarterback for the most part. The few times we did, they couldn't rap Grace up and it led to huge plays. The biggest plays of the game were broken plays for the most part. The secondary played decent, especially with our safety situation. Of course there were a few plays that the secondary should have made, especially cole's missed pick and a few other times where I thought a play could have been made on the ball. I also didn't like the call to go for it on fourth down in the first quarter. Why not punt the ball down close and play the field position. The biggest play of the game to me was when they pinned us deep at the end of the 2nd quarter. We couldn't move the ball and they ended up getting the TD with like 20 seconds left or whatever it was. Another huge problem was the difference in our team having to settle for 3 points when we got in the red zone and our defense not being able to hold UNI to field goals. You can't trade field goals for touchdowns.

My blood pressure is still through the roof today! This makes me feel a little better. I think I might be bad luck...I have been at the Ia. St game and this one and we have looked terrible. Maybe I should just listen or watch the games on the internet. On to next week though... still plenty of season left. We need to get healthy and get ready for the rest of the conference games. It's going to be a dog fight every week.

[jackmd]

Re: Game Thread: University of Northern Iowa

I could hear the noise on the WNAX broadcast.

Time to write a polite letter of inquiry to the league office about the rules and whether UNI is gaming the rules. I'll mail that letter tomorrow and post the response.

You are the man, keep it short, sweet and polite as you stated.

[JackJD]

Re: Game Thread: University of Northern Iowa

I could hear the noise on the WNAX broadcast.

Time to write a polite letter of inquiry to the league office about the rules and whether UNI is gaming the rules. I'll mail that letter tomorrow and post the response.

[EQguy]

Re: Game Thread: University of Northern Iowa

I sure as heck don't want us blaring crappy and annoying music across the speakers like they do at UNI. This issue should be discussed at the next league press conference or meeting. Its ridiculous that the UNIdome staff can blare music and we can't ring a few thousand cowbells.

That's my point. I hate that crap my self, the Fargodome is another place that uses the announcer also to keep the crowd into it and I have always hated that. But the administration needs to find out how much they can allow without overstepping the bounds. The problem with cowbells is you can't control the fans during plays. But the band could learn some new music and play during down times while the other team is on offense. Even drum cadences would keep the atmosphere going and maybe even pump some extra life into the crowd.