It is definitely beginning to be ‘football weather’ on Saturdays. The morning air was rather crisp – okay, it was downright freezy butt cold when the sun first came up and the wind started blowing. The parking lot Nazi’s were out in full force. They didn’t allow anyone into the bottom lot (the big one) until the very last parade participant had finished the parade – despite the fact that the lot was empty by 9:20 they didn’t let anyone in for at least an hour after that. It is like they are trying to ruin the game day atmosphere. I really don’t get it. There have been rumors about charging to park next year – not sure how they are going to manage that logistically. What would be nice is if they would sell parking locations – for example, I pay $100 and I am guaranteed my specific location to tailgate in. That way I don’t have to show up at 6am to get my spot, just to sit there until 4 hours before kickoff to start tailgating.
Last Week’s Recap:
Well, it wasn’t the most fun game to watch, but I will take a 36 point win any day of the week. As I was walking out of the stadium, I was walking by the visitors’ locker room entrance. There were some MoSo coaches standing there and one of their significant others came up to them and was consoling them for their loss. The coach’s response: “Well that’s Northwest for you, they kick people’s asses.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.
I’ve heard people complain about Bolles – going as far as saying he was terrible. That’s simply not true. He wasn’t great, but he wasn’t bad either. It seemed like the offense never really got into a rhythm. I think that there were several contributing factors to that. Brady was nervous – it was his first collegiate start and I think the boogy man kind of got to him a little bit. The WR’s dropped some balls that hit them on their hands. The coaches pulling Brady every time that there was a QB run. None of those things help a rhythm to get established. That being said, Brady still completed 65% of his throws, had over 9.6 yards per attempt, and had an efficiency rating of 152. Not too shabby for a sophomore in his first start. If you take out the three balls that the WR’s dropped after hitting their hands, it is even better. I don’t think anyone expected him to be perfect. In fact, most of us that have been wanting to see Bolles start have said that he needs the game experience to get better, to get these types of things out of the way. That’s why I wanted him to start in the FH, UNK, NSU, UCO stretch of games. I believe I was even quoted as saying that he’s young and is going to have some bad games and some WTF plays – but I would like to see those bad games and WTF plays happen against poor competition rather than against good teams. As one of my friends said – I would rather win by 40 against bad teams and beat good teams, than beat the bad teams by 70 and lose to good teams. Pretty much sums it up all right there. But enough about the QB for today – there are other fish to fry. The wide receivers have to stop dropping the ball! Thomas dropped two in a row – one that would have gone for a lot of yards after catch. And then later Utter dropped a nice jump ball – reminded me of a Blake to Jake fade away. NW went on to score that series so it wasn’t detrimental, but it sure would have been nice to see and may get the juices flowing on O. I wonder if Bobby Burton will ever unseat Billy Creason as the starting RB. I doubt it since Creason is the senior and NW is oh so very loyal to seniors, despite the fact that Burton consistently out gains Creason. Don’t get me wrong, Billy is the embodiment of NW football – dedication, good work ethic, etc. but he’s not the best back. But the two seem to be splitting carries pretty well and Burton’s number of carries has increased as the season has gone on. I imagine that would probably continue as he continues to shine. The coaches seem to always go to Phil Jackson on 3-1 or 4-1. He is definitely the power back, and I think as soon as he learns the offense better, he will be a force to be reckoned with in the MIAA.
I’m not sure I could sing any more praises of this NW defense than I have in the past weeks. The defense did pretty much what I thought that they would do, and the MoSo offense did what I thought they would do also. The Lions did manage to get 221 yards on the ground – but had zero, yes I said ZERO passing yards. They only to throw three times, one completion for 0 yards, 1 was batted down by the Dline, and the other should have been intercepted but wasn’t. Those 221 yards came on a total of 55 plays – which is like 4.0 yards per carry, but one long run of 41 yards really skew that stat. If you take out that one play, the D held them to 3.3 yards per carry on 54 plays. Not too shabby at all. And I will take the blame for that long run. That run happened right as I was walking onto the sidelines. I think that it was the leftover jinx from last year coming out. Needless to say, I don’t think that I will be going back onto the sideline this year – just to be safe. The Dline continues to impress – the tag team of Bevins and Yost is soo much fun to watch. It’s amazing how much having good Defensive Tackles affects the overall defense. They each command a double team otherwise it will result in a sack or a QBH, which leaves the DE’s the ability to harass the QB – which then messes up everything. NW has really been lacking at DT since Shayne Shade graduated. The LB’s are what we’ve come to expect – great. Gnader and Reimer continue to impress, and I’ve noticed that Matthewson has really come on the past couple of weeks – seems like he is involved in more and more key plays. I know that he was the closest thing to a starter that was on the field during the MoSo scoring drive. I think he was involved in almost every tackle that drive – including a horse-collar tackle – but if he hadn’t of gotten the runner, the guy probably would have taken it to the house; I will gladly take a 15 yard penalty vs. a score.
Special teams – they are a mixed bag. In every aspect except kicking field goals (and extra points too now) Special teams are kicking butt. But something needs to be done about the place kicker. Not sure what exactly that is, but missing back to back extra points cannot continue to happen.
Next Week's Preview
I have spent the past couple of days pouring over the stat sheets of Washburn since I haven’t actually seen them play this year. And what have I come up with… nothing. They are almost identical stat wise with Northwest. The difference is who they have played. Who have they played, you are probably asking yourself; the answer is nobody. So far this year there schedule looks like this: UNK, Hays, NSU, OCU, SWB, Lincoln, Fort Valley St, Lindenwood. Their closest games have come against UCO and Lindenwood where they beat both of those teams by only 9 points. So the stats are pretty meaningless – and without actually seeing them play, this is going to be like shooting into the darkness, but I’m going to do my best.
On offense I expect Adams to start – simply because it’s Senior Day. From what I understand, he is still pretty banged up and could risk more injury if he takes a big hit. So I wouldn’t be too surprised to see him take the first couple of snaps and then call it a day. I am hoping to see a much crisper Bolles in action than what we saw last week. I truly believe that the more meaningful experience that he gets the more potent this offense is going to be. There are a lot tendencies that QB’s have to learn about their WR’s, and vise versa. They only learn those things in game situations, practice definitely helps, but under the lights is a different animal. I would hope that the coaches don’t pull Bolles every time there is a designed QB run. That kills any kind of rhythm and makes it blatantly obvious what the play is going to be. I don’t mind seeing Bolles running some – but not 18 times a game like Arrowhead. The WR’s are going to have to step up their game and stop dropping so many balls that bounce off of their hands. There again, having a different QB who puts a lot more zip on the ball has probably affected them as well. This is going to be a true test for the NW OLine. The Washburn D has 19 sacks, second only to NW in the MIAA. And they are only allowing an average of 2.3 yards per carry – which sounds impressive, but remember who they have played. So if the OL can give the QB some time to throw the ball, and open up some holes for the RB’s to run threw, could be a lot of fun to watch this team come together.
On defense, I really don’t know what to expect. I do know that Vershon Moore will be making the trip to Maryville. You remember Verson – he was an All American RB who a few years ago a few weeks before fall camp started decided it would be a good idea to rob a bank. Well after spending two years in the clink he has served his time and Washburn was quick to let him back on to the team. Moore previously couldn’t leave the state of Kansas, but apparently has now gotten the okay to travel with the team. So far this year, Vershon has been a shell of himself – this is the guy who put up 99 yards in a little over one half before he got hurt the last time he played NW. Moore went out of the game last week do to a helmet to the ankle. So he probably won’t be at 100% on Saturday. The Ichabods leading receiver is their TE Tore Hurst. We all know how NW’s D has a history of being beaten by a good TE. If Hurst has a good day, it will be a long day for the Bearcats. DaJuan Beard joined the Icky’s last week after being out several weeks due to injury. If NW can shut down the WU run game and make them one dimensional – I don’t think QB Mitch Buhler is going to have much fun against NW’s secondary. Buhler has already been picked off 8 times this year.
I am looking for Special Teams to come up big again this week. Wouldn’t be surprised to see a blocked punt or two. Something I don’t want to see is another mixed extra point. I can understand missing FG’s, but no excuse for extra points!
With the exception of the past two years, Washburn has always been a very difficult game for NW. They always seem to match up very well against Bearcats. My head says that this game is going to be a 7-10 point spread game, but my gut says that WU isn’t that much better than they were last year. I’m going with my gut: NW 42 WU 17
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Game 8: NW vs MoSo
What an absolutely beautiful day for a football game. It was a complete 180 degree different from the Fall Classic last year. And the parking lot Nazi’s seemed to not be as oppressive this year as they have in the past. Overall, I would say that this was probably the best experience that I’ve had at Arrowhead in the past couple of years. After last year I was glad to see the game coming to an end – the parking Nazi’s were absolutely terrible, but after this year – I would be happy to see the game extended. I would actually really like to see the game moved to Sporting Park; I think that that would be a great atmosphere to watch the game in 17,000 in a stadium that holds 18,000 looks much better than 17K in a stadium that holds 77K. But I understand that the allure for playing in an MLS stadium is not nearly what it is to play in an NFL stadium. This game brings a lot of exposure to both schools and is a great recruiting tool to both as well. I say as long as both schools want to continue the game and as long as it is profitable, I don’t see any reason to stop having the game there.
Last Week’s Recap:
If defense wins championships, I think NW has a good chance. That has got to be one of the best all-around performances by a defense that I’ve ever witnessed myself. I am not afraid to admit when I am wrong – and I was flat out wrong about this game. I thought both teams defense would struggle against very good offenses, when in fact it was the exact opposite – both teams offenses struggled against very good defenses. Pitts secondary was much better than I thought it was going to be, but NW did drop a lot of balls that could have been caught. So did Pitt for that matter.
TA was actually having a good game until he got hurt. I don’t know the severity of the injury – but hopefully it isn’t too bad. It looked like it was his shoulder that was in pain, and he was in a sling at the end of the game. Both TA and Bolles had some bad throws – throws that were thrown later that they should have been. My guess is that that is because of the defense. There was a much smaller window of opportunity in this game than there has been the past 4 weeks. As the season continues and into the PO’s, this is only going to continue. This is where Bolles has the advantage. He can throw the ball much quicker and puts a heck of a lot more zip on the ball than TA does. The late throws will go away as Bolles sees more significant playing time and gets more game reps against those good Defenses. It seemed to me that it took a couple of series for Bolles to settle down - I remember his brother usually took a series or two in the big games to do the same. I think that the play calling was very questionable at times. It was only during the third quarter that the play calling seemed similar to what we’ve seen the rest of the year. And the offense was getting good yards and points. And then once NW got the lead, the play calling went VERY conservative again. I seriously don’t understand all of the designed QB runs when you are already playing your ‘back up’ QB and you have a RB who is averaging 5.9 yards per carry. Just doesn’t make sense to me – especially the series where Bolles ran three times out of an empty backset. I really don’t understand why the coaches aren’t using the RB’s more than they are. But for that matter, I don’t understand why Creason is still the starting RB. I understand that he is a senior and has been super faithful to the program – but that doesn’t change the fact that he isn’t the best RB out there. Creason is really good if you have a big hole and need to get some yards. But he isn’t elusive at all and has no hips – can’t make the cuts necessary to make people miss. Now he can plow over some guys as he is a very powerful runner. But Burton is much more elusive and able to make the first guy miss and may be able to break the second tackle as well. Jackson seems to be a nice combination of the two; I was hoping to see him play more than just special teams. The Bearcat WR’s seemed to struggle in this game. Obviously part of that was due to the Gorilla defense, but they still had a lot of balls that they dropped that hit their hands. They also had a hard time getting away from the defender – like I said, that could be due to the Pitt St secondary. The OLine did a great job. They gave the QB a really good amount of time, as the QB was only sacked once and only ‘hurried’ 3 times. They did have some difficulties opening up holes for the runners, but they still managed to get NW 172 yards rushing.
Defense: one word – amazing, awesome, tremendous, prodigious. You take your pick. Here is a fact for you: in the past 23 quarters of football, the Bearcat defense has only given up 8 touchdowns. And boy was I wrong last week! Last week my comment about John Brown: “I don’t think that they are going to shut him down by any means, but I think that they will be able to limit him.” If 3 catches for a total of 17 yards and no TD’s isn’t shutting him down, I don’t know what is. Much of the success of the defense comes from the trenches. Yost and Bevins have become quite the fierce duo that the NW D has been missing for a while. Bevins requires a double team, which leaves Yost man on man – which he is going to win most of the time. Those two in the center allows the DE’s to be able to bring tremendous amounts of pressure on the QB. The linebackers were outstanding as normal – Eric Reimer continues to impress and I would say that he was easily the best LB on the field on Saturday, which is really saying something considering the LB’s on both teams! Secondary – great. Other than two brain farts on coverage – which a team like Pitt St is going to make you pay for – the cornerbacks and safeties did an amazing job. One thing I did notice was that John Brown does a great job of blocking downfield – there were times that he stopped Brandon Dixon from going and making the stop, which is quite the feat!
Special Teams – Great Job! I said that Special Teams usually play a big role in these games, and I wasn’t wrong. The Bearcats managed to block one punt and almost blocked several more. Kyle Goodburn did a great job punting – he pinned the Gorillas inside the 20 on four of his five punts. Ben Trewyn does a good job on kickoffs but has got to improve his field goals. His kicks take a long time to get in the air, which has allowed a lot of them to get blocked or at least tipped.
This Weeks Game:
This game has the potential to be a trap game for Northwest. After an emotional win against Pitt St last week, and looking forward to the upcoming weeks – Missouri Southern could be seen as an inferior team. I don’t think that the coaches or seniors on the team will allow that to happen though. Add in the fact that it is Homecoming, I think that will probably help to increase the teams focus.
The Missouri Southern Lions have improved from last year. But I don’t think that they have improved so much as to threaten NW too much. That being said – you can’t take anyone for granted in the MIAA. In almost every statistical category, the Lions are in the high middle / low top area within the MIAA. That usually means a pretty good all-around team. MSSU runs a triple option offense, so their rushing yards are off the charts: averaging 362.7 yards per game (6.3 yards per attempt.) Keep in mind that out of the 6 MIAA teams they have played five of them are in the absolute bottom of the conference in defending the rush: UCM, SWB, UCO, NSU, and LU. The only other team in the MIAA they’ve played is MoWest and for some reason the Lions always put a beating on MoWest. I’m really not to concerned with the Bearcats ability to defend the triple option. They did well last year, and this year’s defense is even better. They do have a better throwing QB – but that really isn’t saying much. They’ve only thrown the ball 73 times this year and have been picked off 3 times, including twice last week against MoWest. I have a feeling that NW will be able to play man on man against their receivers which will leave the LB’s and probably a safety to come in with run support. Last year Wrights defensive game plan against the triple option was to eliminate the pass threat and force the run – without giving up a big run. Basically make the teams consistently get 3-4 yards per play. Which ended up getting the teams a lot of yards, but they weren’t consistent enough to have those drives end in scores. My guess is that not much is going to change. I wouldn’t be surprise to see MoSo get more yards than we would like, but not have the points to go along with those yards.
I am really looking forward to seeing what Northwest does on offense. This will be Brady’s first game starting – which means it will be the first game that will have been game planned specifically for Brady’s talents. I think that will probably open up the playbook a little bit more, as I believe Bolles is a more versatile QB. That being said, with the starting QB injured, I am hoping that the amount of designed QB runs greatly diminishes. While I believe that Zimmerman is probably a good QB, I don’t want to have to rely on him at this point and time. NW has a full stable of RB’s that I would like to see play a lot. I am also sure that the WR’s are anxious to redeem themselves after last week. There were way to many drops, and I can guarantee you that Coach Osborn has been working with them a lot this week. With MSSU’s style of offense, they like to eat clock and keep their opponents offense off of the field as much as possible. But if NW’s offense is capable of scoring quickly when they have the ball, I don’t really see an issue in this. Also being a home game, there are more bodies to substitute in, so fatigue shouldn’t be a factor either.
Special teams will probably be fun to watch again this week – as they have been all along. I am really waiting to see Enyard or Fulks break off a KO return, that would be nice to see this game.
Overall, I think this will be a fun one to watch. Hopefully there are some butts in the seats. The Student Section has been absolutely terrible all year, and I don’t see it getting much better. I see Brady leading the team to a massive victory 52 – 24.
#freeBolles
Last Week’s Recap:
If defense wins championships, I think NW has a good chance. That has got to be one of the best all-around performances by a defense that I’ve ever witnessed myself. I am not afraid to admit when I am wrong – and I was flat out wrong about this game. I thought both teams defense would struggle against very good offenses, when in fact it was the exact opposite – both teams offenses struggled against very good defenses. Pitts secondary was much better than I thought it was going to be, but NW did drop a lot of balls that could have been caught. So did Pitt for that matter.
TA was actually having a good game until he got hurt. I don’t know the severity of the injury – but hopefully it isn’t too bad. It looked like it was his shoulder that was in pain, and he was in a sling at the end of the game. Both TA and Bolles had some bad throws – throws that were thrown later that they should have been. My guess is that that is because of the defense. There was a much smaller window of opportunity in this game than there has been the past 4 weeks. As the season continues and into the PO’s, this is only going to continue. This is where Bolles has the advantage. He can throw the ball much quicker and puts a heck of a lot more zip on the ball than TA does. The late throws will go away as Bolles sees more significant playing time and gets more game reps against those good Defenses. It seemed to me that it took a couple of series for Bolles to settle down - I remember his brother usually took a series or two in the big games to do the same. I think that the play calling was very questionable at times. It was only during the third quarter that the play calling seemed similar to what we’ve seen the rest of the year. And the offense was getting good yards and points. And then once NW got the lead, the play calling went VERY conservative again. I seriously don’t understand all of the designed QB runs when you are already playing your ‘back up’ QB and you have a RB who is averaging 5.9 yards per carry. Just doesn’t make sense to me – especially the series where Bolles ran three times out of an empty backset. I really don’t understand why the coaches aren’t using the RB’s more than they are. But for that matter, I don’t understand why Creason is still the starting RB. I understand that he is a senior and has been super faithful to the program – but that doesn’t change the fact that he isn’t the best RB out there. Creason is really good if you have a big hole and need to get some yards. But he isn’t elusive at all and has no hips – can’t make the cuts necessary to make people miss. Now he can plow over some guys as he is a very powerful runner. But Burton is much more elusive and able to make the first guy miss and may be able to break the second tackle as well. Jackson seems to be a nice combination of the two; I was hoping to see him play more than just special teams. The Bearcat WR’s seemed to struggle in this game. Obviously part of that was due to the Gorilla defense, but they still had a lot of balls that they dropped that hit their hands. They also had a hard time getting away from the defender – like I said, that could be due to the Pitt St secondary. The OLine did a great job. They gave the QB a really good amount of time, as the QB was only sacked once and only ‘hurried’ 3 times. They did have some difficulties opening up holes for the runners, but they still managed to get NW 172 yards rushing.
Defense: one word – amazing, awesome, tremendous, prodigious. You take your pick. Here is a fact for you: in the past 23 quarters of football, the Bearcat defense has only given up 8 touchdowns. And boy was I wrong last week! Last week my comment about John Brown: “I don’t think that they are going to shut him down by any means, but I think that they will be able to limit him.” If 3 catches for a total of 17 yards and no TD’s isn’t shutting him down, I don’t know what is. Much of the success of the defense comes from the trenches. Yost and Bevins have become quite the fierce duo that the NW D has been missing for a while. Bevins requires a double team, which leaves Yost man on man – which he is going to win most of the time. Those two in the center allows the DE’s to be able to bring tremendous amounts of pressure on the QB. The linebackers were outstanding as normal – Eric Reimer continues to impress and I would say that he was easily the best LB on the field on Saturday, which is really saying something considering the LB’s on both teams! Secondary – great. Other than two brain farts on coverage – which a team like Pitt St is going to make you pay for – the cornerbacks and safeties did an amazing job. One thing I did notice was that John Brown does a great job of blocking downfield – there were times that he stopped Brandon Dixon from going and making the stop, which is quite the feat!
Special Teams – Great Job! I said that Special Teams usually play a big role in these games, and I wasn’t wrong. The Bearcats managed to block one punt and almost blocked several more. Kyle Goodburn did a great job punting – he pinned the Gorillas inside the 20 on four of his five punts. Ben Trewyn does a good job on kickoffs but has got to improve his field goals. His kicks take a long time to get in the air, which has allowed a lot of them to get blocked or at least tipped.
This Weeks Game:
This game has the potential to be a trap game for Northwest. After an emotional win against Pitt St last week, and looking forward to the upcoming weeks – Missouri Southern could be seen as an inferior team. I don’t think that the coaches or seniors on the team will allow that to happen though. Add in the fact that it is Homecoming, I think that will probably help to increase the teams focus.
The Missouri Southern Lions have improved from last year. But I don’t think that they have improved so much as to threaten NW too much. That being said – you can’t take anyone for granted in the MIAA. In almost every statistical category, the Lions are in the high middle / low top area within the MIAA. That usually means a pretty good all-around team. MSSU runs a triple option offense, so their rushing yards are off the charts: averaging 362.7 yards per game (6.3 yards per attempt.) Keep in mind that out of the 6 MIAA teams they have played five of them are in the absolute bottom of the conference in defending the rush: UCM, SWB, UCO, NSU, and LU. The only other team in the MIAA they’ve played is MoWest and for some reason the Lions always put a beating on MoWest. I’m really not to concerned with the Bearcats ability to defend the triple option. They did well last year, and this year’s defense is even better. They do have a better throwing QB – but that really isn’t saying much. They’ve only thrown the ball 73 times this year and have been picked off 3 times, including twice last week against MoWest. I have a feeling that NW will be able to play man on man against their receivers which will leave the LB’s and probably a safety to come in with run support. Last year Wrights defensive game plan against the triple option was to eliminate the pass threat and force the run – without giving up a big run. Basically make the teams consistently get 3-4 yards per play. Which ended up getting the teams a lot of yards, but they weren’t consistent enough to have those drives end in scores. My guess is that not much is going to change. I wouldn’t be surprise to see MoSo get more yards than we would like, but not have the points to go along with those yards.
I am really looking forward to seeing what Northwest does on offense. This will be Brady’s first game starting – which means it will be the first game that will have been game planned specifically for Brady’s talents. I think that will probably open up the playbook a little bit more, as I believe Bolles is a more versatile QB. That being said, with the starting QB injured, I am hoping that the amount of designed QB runs greatly diminishes. While I believe that Zimmerman is probably a good QB, I don’t want to have to rely on him at this point and time. NW has a full stable of RB’s that I would like to see play a lot. I am also sure that the WR’s are anxious to redeem themselves after last week. There were way to many drops, and I can guarantee you that Coach Osborn has been working with them a lot this week. With MSSU’s style of offense, they like to eat clock and keep their opponents offense off of the field as much as possible. But if NW’s offense is capable of scoring quickly when they have the ball, I don’t really see an issue in this. Also being a home game, there are more bodies to substitute in, so fatigue shouldn’t be a factor either.
Special teams will probably be fun to watch again this week – as they have been all along. I am really waiting to see Enyard or Fulks break off a KO return, that would be nice to see this game.
Overall, I think this will be a fun one to watch. Hopefully there are some butts in the seats. The Student Section has been absolutely terrible all year, and I don’t see it getting much better. I see Brady leading the team to a massive victory 52 – 24.
#freeBolles
Friday, October 18, 2013
Game 7: NW vs PSU
So Saturday was a beautiful day for a football game. A little chilly in the morning, but by gametime it ended up being absolutely gorgeous. I thought that the patriotic theme was very cool. In fact, I thought that the patriot decal on the helmet looked even better this year with the faux paw logo than it did last year with the classic paw. I also liked the giant flag during the National Anthem – however, the fact that the flag was lying on the ground prior to it being unfolded was an absolute disgrace and violation of the US Flag Code. I know myself and many of the veterans around me were visibly upset with that.
Last Week’s Recap:
Northwest won. By a lot. And UCO lost – by a lot. It has been a very long time since I have seen a defense as bad as UCO’s was. It was so bad, that TA was actually checking down a couple of times – it’s been a while since we’ve seen that. Adams actually had a really really good game. It was the type of game I truly hope that TA would have every game. The Bearcats put up video game type stats – 323 yards rushing , and 364 yards passing. NW averaged 7 yards per rush, and had two RBs (Burton & Jackson) each averaged over 10 yards per carry. Four different receivers had 48 yards or more of receiving. I think that is what makes this offense so special – it truly is a team. There isn’t any individual star: no Omon, Council, Soy, Simmons or Shaw. But the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts.
As far as the defense goes: Bravo. Coming into this game, UCO was averaging 494 yards of offense per game, and NW held them to 297: almost 200 less than normal. NW held the Broncos to only 2.1 yards per carry. 229 of those yards came in the passing game, over half of those yards came on 3 plays. The first of those big plays happened when Brandon Dixon was tripped up by that terrible turf monster – yet still managed to make the tackle. I was very impressed with their Redshirt Freshman QB – considering his offensive line gave him absolutely no time what so ever. They also had a couple of good wide receivers. They are definitely getting better on that side of the ball.
This Week’s Game
I am actually worried about this match up. Not because I think Pitt is a superior team – in fact just the opposite. I’m worried about this game, because I’m not worried about this game. And whenever that happens, it is always a much closer game than I had expected. Overall, I’m not that impressed with this Pitt St team. They do have some really really good players (John Brown) on the team, but overall – they don’t scare me. Statistically they compare almost identical to Northwest. But to me the biggest difference is that while NW didn’t play their starters after the first half of the last four games, Pitt St left their starters in well into the 3rd and even 4th quarters. That doesn’t quite make it comparable. They also struggled early on with Lincoln and Southwest Baptist. So my gut says not to worry about Pitt St. But my head says that Pitt St is a rival, and they always play NW tough, despite how they’ve played others; and vice versa.
As with most battles, the war is won or lost in the trenches. This will probably be the biggest test for NW’s offensive line to date. If the Oline is able to get a good push and open some holes for the runners and give the QB some time, I really like NW’s chances to win the game. But ultimately I think this game will come down to QB play. Which TA will show up? The one from the past couple of weeks, or the one from the past two UCM games and MSU game? If the TA that likes to play catch with the defense shows up, I don’t know if Bolles would be able to pull NW out of the hole again. As a Bearcat fan, I truly hope that the really good TA shows up, I just have very little faith that that will happen. This game usually comes down to a single score, and NW cannot afford to turn the ball over. That goes out to TA, but it also goes to the rest of the team. Pitts secondary has been suspect at times – so there is the possibility of some big plays deep. Pitt does have some very good LB’s. In addition to Nate Dreiling, Tyler Disney has become a yin to his yang. As far as Pitts rush D – I really can’t say since I haven’t watched them play myself. Statistically they have definitely held some teams in check – but others not so much. And those teams that they’ve held, are not known for their running game. Against UCO they gave up 237 yards, NW gave up 68. The other two like opponents (NSU and UCM) the stats were pretty much identical.
On defense, those boys are going to have their hands full. The Dline is a little dinged up – Meinert hurt his shoulder I think (imagine that, Meinert hurt – shocking I know) and Bevins sprained his ankle. But I don’t think that either will sit out this game. This is going to be a big game for the DE’s. NW has struggled at time containing the run on the edge. If NW is able to seal the edge, that will definitely help out the rest of the defense. Pitts main runner is Jeff Seybold – he is averaging 6.7 ypc and has 11 rushing TD’s this year. Their QB, Anthony Abenoja is not the dual threat runner like past Pitt QB’s. That said, he is still their second leading rusher. Pitts biggest and scariest weapon is John Brown. We all know what Brown can do. He is one of the most talented WR’s I’ve ever personally seen in D2. But, NW has Brandon Dixon – who is probably the best CB I’ve ever personally seen in D2 – other than maybe Brandon Carr. But Dixon vs Brown, Brown may still have an edge – but when you add in NW’s safeties of Manning and particularly Enyard: I like NW’s chances of limiting Brown. I don’t think that they are going to shut him down by any means, but I think that they will be able to limit him. But Brown isn’t Pitts only WR – they also have a couple of other talented WR’s, namely Gavin Lutman.
These games usually come down to Special Teams. NW has had some very good special teams play so far this year – blocked punts, blocked field goals, blocked extra points etc. NW has also had some blocked kicks of their own. NW’s kicker seems to have a very strong leg, but he doesn’t get the ball up in the air very quick – which allows it to get blocked from time to time. NW has also given up some big returns, and kicking off to John Brown is always a dangerous feat. If NW Special Teams continue to be as much of a weapon as they have been this season – I think the advantage has to go to NW.
Overall – I think that this is going to be a really fun game to watch. The weather appears to be perfect and neither team is too banged up that I know of. My guess is that this will be a close game, with NW coming out on top: NW 45 Pitt 35
#freeBolles
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Game 6: NW vs UCO
For some reason, I thought that Tahlequah was farther than it is. We didn’t rush or even take the fastest route, but still managed to get to the Quah from my house on the north side of KC in like 4.5 hours. I also didn’t realize that Bentonville Arkansas was as far west as it is, it is directly south of Joplin. Obviously the cities of Bentonville and Rogers revolve around Wally World. They had so many hotels and eateries you would think that they were a major tourist destination – nope just a destination for every business pitchman at some point and time. For two weeks in a row now – the weather has been nasty before the game – but greatly improved during the game. After a 50 minute weather delay, the game finally started and the sun came out. I ended up taking off all the rain gear and sweatshirt – and watched the game in a Tshirt and wishing I had my sunglasses. Not too bad of a day! The NSU student section was the best student section I’ve seen in a long time. There wasn’t a whole lot of them, but those that were there were loud and rowdy!
Last Week’s Recap
We won. Handily. Not sure what else I can say about that. I’m just going to look at the first quarter. That is the only time that NW had their first units in. After the first quarter NW had a time of possession of 5:34, 14 points, 130 total yards (60 yards rushing 70 yards passing) on 13 plays – average of 10 yards per play. NSU had TOP of 9:26, 0 points, 31 total yards (12 yards rushing, 19 yards passing) on 18 plays – average of 1.7 yards per play. That pretty much says it all right there.
Here are some other random observations from the game: Haden Bryant is going to be fun to watch in the coming years. When Phil Jackson has some form of blocking from the OLine, he is a dangerous RB. NW’s 3rd or 4th string CB (Jack Young) needs to learn to turn around – he would have had an easy pick on one, and should have had multiple Pass Interference calls in the fourth quarter! Brian Dixon does a great Cha Cha – even if the refs don’t like it. The sightlines at Doc Wadley Stadium are very nice – but I think that there is even less sideline space at NSU than there is in Mankato. Cell service at the stadium sucked – three blocks away it was great but in the stadium not so much. There are a crazy amount of resorts along the Illinois river.
This Week’s Game:
If Brady Bolles doesn’t start (and I’m not holding my breath) it will be a huge mistake by the coaching staff. These past three games and the game this week would have been a great opportunity to give Brady the reps with the starters. I’m sorry but one series in the first half with the starters does not equate to quality time. When TA falters again – and don’t fool yourself, he will – Brady will be there to pick up the pieces. Hopefully he will be able to pull the team out of the hole that Adams has put them in. When NW starts playing some good competition, we will see TA fold like always. And it will have made sense for the coaches to use this time to prime Brady instead of letting TA look like a stud against crap teams. It really is quite sickening. It is my prediction that NW will not win a CC or NC with TA as the play caller. It’s obvious that he’s not the best QB on the team – and it sends a dangerous message to the rest of the team. The team deserves the best chance to win – and you can’t tell me that the best chance to win is with TA. And TA will look good again this week – because UCO is a typical LSC style team: really good offense with no defense. The Broncos are dead last in the MIAA in almost every defensive category. In fact they rank 159/162 teams in total defense – giving up 537 yards per game. On the flip side, they are averaging almost 494 yards of total offense. They are the Tony Romo’s of D2. Offensively NW should roll right over UCO.
Defensively – this should be a fun game to watch. The Broncos definitely have the potential to get yards and score some points. The Broncos are led by signal caller Adrian Nelson who is completing about 59% of his throws – averaging 276 yards per game. The vast majority of those balls are caught by Marquez Clark – so we all know that Brandon Dixon will be put on him, and I’m guessing that he will severely limit his production. Clark is also their kick returner. The Broncos most dangerous threat is their star RB Joshua Birmingham. Birmingham is averaging over 110 yards per game rushing not to mention he is their second leading receiver. NW’s defense has been very salty at times stopping the run (UNK) and given up some more than they should at times. I think that this game would be a good opportunity for NW to keep their starting defense in much longer than they have the past three games. This will help provide game day conditioning for the rest of the season when the 1’s stay on the field much longer than they have been.
Overall, I don’t think that UCO has the talent to keep up with NW. NW wins this game before half and UCO scores some points in the second half to make the score look better than it actually was. NW 56 UCO 28
#freeBolles
Last Week’s Recap
We won. Handily. Not sure what else I can say about that. I’m just going to look at the first quarter. That is the only time that NW had their first units in. After the first quarter NW had a time of possession of 5:34, 14 points, 130 total yards (60 yards rushing 70 yards passing) on 13 plays – average of 10 yards per play. NSU had TOP of 9:26, 0 points, 31 total yards (12 yards rushing, 19 yards passing) on 18 plays – average of 1.7 yards per play. That pretty much says it all right there.
Here are some other random observations from the game: Haden Bryant is going to be fun to watch in the coming years. When Phil Jackson has some form of blocking from the OLine, he is a dangerous RB. NW’s 3rd or 4th string CB (Jack Young) needs to learn to turn around – he would have had an easy pick on one, and should have had multiple Pass Interference calls in the fourth quarter! Brian Dixon does a great Cha Cha – even if the refs don’t like it. The sightlines at Doc Wadley Stadium are very nice – but I think that there is even less sideline space at NSU than there is in Mankato. Cell service at the stadium sucked – three blocks away it was great but in the stadium not so much. There are a crazy amount of resorts along the Illinois river.
This Week’s Game:
If Brady Bolles doesn’t start (and I’m not holding my breath) it will be a huge mistake by the coaching staff. These past three games and the game this week would have been a great opportunity to give Brady the reps with the starters. I’m sorry but one series in the first half with the starters does not equate to quality time. When TA falters again – and don’t fool yourself, he will – Brady will be there to pick up the pieces. Hopefully he will be able to pull the team out of the hole that Adams has put them in. When NW starts playing some good competition, we will see TA fold like always. And it will have made sense for the coaches to use this time to prime Brady instead of letting TA look like a stud against crap teams. It really is quite sickening. It is my prediction that NW will not win a CC or NC with TA as the play caller. It’s obvious that he’s not the best QB on the team – and it sends a dangerous message to the rest of the team. The team deserves the best chance to win – and you can’t tell me that the best chance to win is with TA. And TA will look good again this week – because UCO is a typical LSC style team: really good offense with no defense. The Broncos are dead last in the MIAA in almost every defensive category. In fact they rank 159/162 teams in total defense – giving up 537 yards per game. On the flip side, they are averaging almost 494 yards of total offense. They are the Tony Romo’s of D2. Offensively NW should roll right over UCO.
Defensively – this should be a fun game to watch. The Broncos definitely have the potential to get yards and score some points. The Broncos are led by signal caller Adrian Nelson who is completing about 59% of his throws – averaging 276 yards per game. The vast majority of those balls are caught by Marquez Clark – so we all know that Brandon Dixon will be put on him, and I’m guessing that he will severely limit his production. Clark is also their kick returner. The Broncos most dangerous threat is their star RB Joshua Birmingham. Birmingham is averaging over 110 yards per game rushing not to mention he is their second leading receiver. NW’s defense has been very salty at times stopping the run (UNK) and given up some more than they should at times. I think that this game would be a good opportunity for NW to keep their starting defense in much longer than they have the past three games. This will help provide game day conditioning for the rest of the season when the 1’s stay on the field much longer than they have been.
Overall, I don’t think that UCO has the talent to keep up with NW. NW wins this game before half and UCO scores some points in the second half to make the score look better than it actually was. NW 56 UCO 28
#freeBolles
Friday, October 4, 2013
Game 5: NW vs NSU
What a crazy week in the MIAA. Missouri Southern lost to Southwest Baptist, and other teams didn’t do as well as they should have: going into the lockerroom at half MoWest only held a 7 point lead over Ft Hays, Pitt St only scored 7 points against Lincoln in the first quarter – and until :24 before half the Gorillas were only up 21-10, and Washburn struggled with UCO ending up beating them only 28-19. The biggest news to come out the MIAA this week was the announcement that beginning in 2014 Southwest Baptist and Lincoln will no longer be competing in the MIAA in football. This will leave 12 football schools in the MIAA – meaning that there will be a complete round robin: thus being able to crown a true conference champion. This is kind of bitter sweet in my opinion. A true conference champion can be named, but at the same time – this doesn’t allow for any nonconference games. You may ask, “So what? What does that matter?” Why that matters is the playoffs and the Regional Rankings. When your conference plays everyone and no one else, your Strength of Schedule (which is figured by your opponents winning percentage, and your opponents opponents winning percentage) is .500 – which is not good. How that comes into play is regional rankings. Regional Rankings are based on your winning percentage and your Strength of Schedule. So what, you say – win the conference and you will make the PO’s. Well I don’t know about you – but I like having a bye week, or having home games, or hosting SemiFinal games. These are all much less likely by having such a low SOS. How bad is an SOS of .500? Well, last year that would have tied for 94th place. But hey – we don’t have to play the Blue Tigers or purple Bearcats anymore.
Last Week’s Recap:
I am not afraid to admit when I am wrong. And I was completely wrong about UNK. I really thought that the Lopers were going to be able to get a lot of yards, but not necessarily a lot of points. Boy was I wrong. NW was able to hold the Antelopes to a total of 124 yards of total offense. The last time that NW held a team to that few yards was Truman in 2009 (NW won that game 70-0, Truman had 92 yards.) The defense did an amazing job of containing Marsh. In fact, I would say that that was the best performance by the Dline all year. The combination of Bevins and Yost at DT – that is something fun to watch. I would say that NW is 1 defensive end away from having an elite Dline. That DE may very well already be on the team and just needs to step it up a notch. I’ve seen flashes by several of the DE’s on the team – if they can make that step up – WOW is all that I can say. The secondary of course is great again this game – special props to Manning and Enyard – they just continue to impress. And the LB’s are looking better every week. This D is starting to look really really good – like what some of us envisioned it to look like. They have only allowed 3 touchdowns in the last 11 quarters of football.
The offense rocked again. No surprise there – UNK’s D is not very good. If this game proved anything – it was that TA and Bolles do NOT have different skill sets. One is just better than the other, and one is a Senior and the other is a Sophmore. There was absolutely no difference in call playing depending on who was playing. The only difference was that the receivers didn’t have to wait for the ball to get to them. That would be the only knock on Brady – he throws too hard at times. But that is a good problem to have. A WR worth their salt should be able to catch the ball – and those that aren’t WR’s won’t: like the Loper LB that jumped the route and almost had an interception. I’m pretty sure that the only reason why he didn’t catch the ball was that it was thrown too hard and he wasn’t able to hold on to it. I thought that the WR’s did a great job, and Coach Osborne has done a great job of stressing the role of blocking downfield. What I wasn’t really fond of, was the fact that two of the top three rushers were QB’s. NW has a ton of RB’s and the QB’s are being asked to run and run – even when the game is well in hand. It is almost like AD is tempting fate to injure one of the QB’s – so he doesn’t have to make a final decision about who should be the QB. But getting back to the RB’s – we’ve got a lot of them. Let’s use them! Bobby Burton and Phil Jackson are each averaging 5.8 yards per carry. That’s pretty darn good.
Overall, the problem with a game like this is that you don’t really know what you’ve accomplished. It’s easy to think that you are really good, but in fact, you really haven’t played anyone. You lull yourself into a false sense of security. And with Fort Hays last week, UNK this week and NSU and UCO in the coming weeks, it will be important for the coaching staff to keep that mentality from setting in!
This Week’s Game:
I don’t really know what to say about this game. I honestly am not that excited for the game. Kind of hard to get excited about a team that lost their starting QB in the first game and scoring an average of less than 12 points per game and giving up over 38 ppg. But one thing I’ve learned is that if you overlook anyone, they can come up and bite you in the buttocks. Just ask MoSo about the purple Bearcats! The Riverhawks are lead on the ground by their RB Joel Rockmore. Rockmore is currently averaging 6 yards per carry and 122 yards per game. Thor Long (QB) go to target is Terrance Dixon. But he isn’t his only target, they definitely spread the ball around and there really isn’t one main guy. In fact, Dixon is their leading receiver, but he’s only caught 10 balls this year.
I know that this is short and sweet, but I think NW is going to have fun. I forsee one thing for the Riverhawks: PAIN. The Bearcats are definitely going to rain on their Homecoming parade. Last year NW beat them 66-6. I don’t see a whole lot different happening this year. How much NW wins by depends on what the coaches want to do in the second half. If the last two weeks is much of an indication, the starters won’t play much if at all in the second half. Overall, NW wins this one easily. NW 70 NSU 0
#freeBolles
Last Week’s Recap:
I am not afraid to admit when I am wrong. And I was completely wrong about UNK. I really thought that the Lopers were going to be able to get a lot of yards, but not necessarily a lot of points. Boy was I wrong. NW was able to hold the Antelopes to a total of 124 yards of total offense. The last time that NW held a team to that few yards was Truman in 2009 (NW won that game 70-0, Truman had 92 yards.) The defense did an amazing job of containing Marsh. In fact, I would say that that was the best performance by the Dline all year. The combination of Bevins and Yost at DT – that is something fun to watch. I would say that NW is 1 defensive end away from having an elite Dline. That DE may very well already be on the team and just needs to step it up a notch. I’ve seen flashes by several of the DE’s on the team – if they can make that step up – WOW is all that I can say. The secondary of course is great again this game – special props to Manning and Enyard – they just continue to impress. And the LB’s are looking better every week. This D is starting to look really really good – like what some of us envisioned it to look like. They have only allowed 3 touchdowns in the last 11 quarters of football.
The offense rocked again. No surprise there – UNK’s D is not very good. If this game proved anything – it was that TA and Bolles do NOT have different skill sets. One is just better than the other, and one is a Senior and the other is a Sophmore. There was absolutely no difference in call playing depending on who was playing. The only difference was that the receivers didn’t have to wait for the ball to get to them. That would be the only knock on Brady – he throws too hard at times. But that is a good problem to have. A WR worth their salt should be able to catch the ball – and those that aren’t WR’s won’t: like the Loper LB that jumped the route and almost had an interception. I’m pretty sure that the only reason why he didn’t catch the ball was that it was thrown too hard and he wasn’t able to hold on to it. I thought that the WR’s did a great job, and Coach Osborne has done a great job of stressing the role of blocking downfield. What I wasn’t really fond of, was the fact that two of the top three rushers were QB’s. NW has a ton of RB’s and the QB’s are being asked to run and run – even when the game is well in hand. It is almost like AD is tempting fate to injure one of the QB’s – so he doesn’t have to make a final decision about who should be the QB. But getting back to the RB’s – we’ve got a lot of them. Let’s use them! Bobby Burton and Phil Jackson are each averaging 5.8 yards per carry. That’s pretty darn good.
Overall, the problem with a game like this is that you don’t really know what you’ve accomplished. It’s easy to think that you are really good, but in fact, you really haven’t played anyone. You lull yourself into a false sense of security. And with Fort Hays last week, UNK this week and NSU and UCO in the coming weeks, it will be important for the coaching staff to keep that mentality from setting in!
This Week’s Game:
I don’t really know what to say about this game. I honestly am not that excited for the game. Kind of hard to get excited about a team that lost their starting QB in the first game and scoring an average of less than 12 points per game and giving up over 38 ppg. But one thing I’ve learned is that if you overlook anyone, they can come up and bite you in the buttocks. Just ask MoSo about the purple Bearcats! The Riverhawks are lead on the ground by their RB Joel Rockmore. Rockmore is currently averaging 6 yards per carry and 122 yards per game. Thor Long (QB) go to target is Terrance Dixon. But he isn’t his only target, they definitely spread the ball around and there really isn’t one main guy. In fact, Dixon is their leading receiver, but he’s only caught 10 balls this year.
I know that this is short and sweet, but I think NW is going to have fun. I forsee one thing for the Riverhawks: PAIN. The Bearcats are definitely going to rain on their Homecoming parade. Last year NW beat them 66-6. I don’t see a whole lot different happening this year. How much NW wins by depends on what the coaches want to do in the second half. If the last two weeks is much of an indication, the starters won’t play much if at all in the second half. Overall, NW wins this one easily. NW 70 NSU 0
#freeBolles
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