Opening Thoughts:
What a wonderful weekend of excellent football. And what an amazing facility! No – I’m not talking about Dwight T Reed Stadium in Jeffferson City; I was actually talking about the new Dallas Cowboys stadium. Jerry Jones didn’t spare any expense – with a cost of $1.2 Billion, there isn’t much that isn’t top of the line. The LSC put on a “Football Festival” that included 3 games. What an experience! I would definitely recommend going next year if you have the capability, best $25 I spent in a long time! Oh yeah – the Bearcats beat the snot out of the black and blue tigers in a miserable game.
Last Weeks Recap:
What an ugly miserable game. I’m kinda glad I missed it. Lets start off with the elephant in the room – Blake Christopher’s hand injury. The rumor on the street is that he broke it when it got slammed in a car door. This is not an injury that heals real quick. From what I’ve heard, Christopher is probably out for at least 6 weeks, if not longer. The university is saying its week to week, but in order for this injury to heal enough to be able to throw a ball, it’s going to be a while!
Since I wasn’t at the game, I am going to have to rely on the box score and information that I have gathered from individuals that were at the game. From what I’ve gathered, it seems like the offense was very good in 3 out of 4 quarters. It sounds like Trevor Adams kind of took a mental vacation during the second quarter, but was able to come back after the half and regain control of his offense. Adams finished the day 16-27, but in the second quarter he was 4-10 and had 2 interceptions and had three sacks/tackles for loss. It looks like there were several starters that didn’t play that were resting injuries. Despite the starters being out and Adams not having the best 2nd quarter, NW still managed to put up almost 500 yards of total offense.
On the defensive side of the ball, what is there to say? They were dominant. They allowed less than 150 yards of total offense. Some stats that stick out to me: Lincoln first downs – 10, net yards rushing – 52, average per rush – 1.5, 3rd down conversion: 4/20. I don’t know how much more can be said. They absolutely demolished the Lincoln Blue Tigers.
Well, I said before the game that Ken Gordon was going to have to do something with the special teams – especially the kick off coverage. Its kind of a slap in the face of the Bearcats that the Black & Blue Tigers were able to return a kick off for a TD. I will guarantee you that special teams will get some definite practice this week!
This Week’s Match up:
Let me start off by saying that I like Blake Christopher. In the two games that he played in, he was completely dominating. There is a reason why he was the starting - because he was the best quarterback that NW had. That being said, if Blake is out for 6 weeks (which is only speculation at this time - he could come back sooner or later for all we know) will he return to being the starter? I don't know. Trevor Adams has the pedigree to be a really good QB. If he plays for 6 games - which is the majority of the season including games against Pitt, UCM and Washburn, and (this is an important caveat) he performs well - how do you pull him to have Blake start against MoSuck, MoWorst, & Emporia? I really don't see it. That being said - there are a lot of ifs in that statement - and they would all have to align just right for Trevor Adams to continue to be the quarterback the entire season. I myself hope that BC comes back at full strength - but what I'm saying is that I'm not scared if he doesn't; I think that Adams can do the job if needed.
The past few years, Ft Hays has had a very potent offense, that was able to score on anybody - including NW. This has meant that NW had to score a lot. Up to this point this season - that hasn't seemed to be a problem. Last week Jake Soy sat out the game to let his hamstring rest, which was probably a good idea. I could tell in the first two games that he wasn't at 100%, a weeks rest can help a lot! This is not the same Ft Hays of the past several years. Like a lot of teams in the MIAA, Ft Hays lost their QB and several very very good WR's to graduation. They also have a new head coach. Like Coach Dorrel, Hays coach (Chris Brown) will be in his 4th game as a head coach. Prior to this year, he had been the Defensive Coordinator for Washburn. And we all know how well Washburn has played NW in the past. I don't see that playing out this year - but look for it in the future. Ft Hays is in the rebuilding stage, and look to be doing it the right way. This will also be a bit of a pay back game for Coach Dorrel. Last year he was up for the Head Coach position, but ultimately didn't get the job. But my guess is that he is much happier where he ended up!
On offense, I think that NW should be able to move the ball on the Tigers. They are currently averaging giving up over 550 yards in all purpose yardage per game. And its not like they have good rush D and bad pass D or vise versa - they overall are rather week. Both SW Baptist & Emporia put up over 220 yards rushing against them, and ESU & Truman both threw for 270+ yards against their D. Needless to say, I think that Trevor Adams will be able to move the ball. I believe that we may see a quite improved Adams - not that last week was d (other than the 2nd quarter.) He will now have had a complete game under his belt, and a week of practice playing with the #1's and getting into his own rhythm. I myself am looking forward to seeing Brian Miller in a Bearcat uniform. I remember the last time I saw him play on Tjeerdsma field, he was a beast and NW couldn't stop him! Overall, I look forward to an awesome output by the Northwest offense. They are currently the #1 scoring offense in the nation - averaging over 63 points per game. I look for this trend to continue and the Cats to hang a lot of points on the Tigers D!
On the defensive side of the ball, the Dline is going to see a more running attack than they have in the past. You can tell that Coach Brown was a player at PSU (during the same time as AD) – because he prefers a rush heavy attack. They are currently second in the conference in yards per game (245.3) and first in the conference in yards per attempt (5.6). For the second week in a row, the NW D will face the #1 rusher in the conference. [BTW – after last weeks game, the former #1 is now #10] There has been some talk recently about the size of the defensive line. I have repeatedly called them small but mighty – and I’m sticking to it. I think this game will finally put some of those concerns to rest. I’m not a defensive mastermind by any means, but I would prefer to have a slightly smaller individual that is strong and agile over some 300+ lbs guy who can’t move. Moe Dampeer was probably the best example of this (and he was remarkably agile for his size) yet he really wasn’t that effective – other than as a fan favorite.
Prior to last week, I would have said that NW’s kick off coverage needed some work. After last game, and allowing Lincoln to run a KO back for a TD, I will say that they DEFINITELY need some work. I’m guessing that Ken Gordon has been working on some new coverage or something, because they have been giving up way too much yardage on KO’s. This has to end – or it could really come back to bite NW in the butt. That is a huge motivation killer – going from scoring a TD to giving up big yardage. Hopefully this will be addressed this week. Granted it doesn’t help that NW scores so much that teams have a lot film on their coverage.
Overall, I expect a good old fashioned butt whoopin! NW wins this one 66-21
Interesting Facts/Statistics:
- NW continues their streak of 48 consecutive conference wins
- Northwest is #1 in a bunch of categories in the MIAA including: scoring offense, scoring defense, total offense, total defense, passing efficiency, & 3rd down conversions
- Bryce Enyard is ranked #2 in the country averaging 1 interception per game
- Jordan Simmons is tied for #2 in the county in scoring – averaging 16 ppg
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