Opening Thoughts:
I was reminded at the UNK game why I love Division II football. I drove up on Friday evening to take in an 8 man football game. (It was my first 8 man football game – those games move pretty quick – not a lot of defense!) The coach, Joel Miller, is the creator of the Bearcat Report. His team, the Hampton Hawks, goes to NW’s football camp each summer. Apparently each team is assigned a NW player who watches over the players. The Hawks player last summer was Brady Bolles. So the kids were very excited to hear that NW was going to be playing in Kearney and that Brady was going to be playing. The entire team made the trip over to Kearney from Hampton and joined our tailgate before the game. They watched the game and after the game of course they wanted to talk with Brady. I followed them down because I wanted to see the interaction – and I’m glad I did. Brady started off by thanking them all for coming to the game and then started asking them about their team. They admitted that they hadn’t won a game yet. Brady gave them the advice to keep their head up and control the things that they could – their attitude and effort. He assured them that if they did that, the results would follow. He immediately followed that up by asking them about their academics. He wanted to make sure that they were focusing on school first. He reminded them that they are all STUDENT Athletes – students first, athletes second. Academics is the most important thing. Needless to say I was impressed. I have become a major Brady Bolles fan – not just as a football player but as a person.
Last Week’s Recap:
Well, this game was interesting all the way around. Starting from the very beginning, when NW kicked off and used a lot of the #2’s on the kick off team, I knew it was going to be one of those games. It just felt like everyone knew it was just a matter of time for UNK to wear down and NW to take over. On D, NW used a lot of the backup guys between the 20’s, not until the Lopers got into the redzone would you see an entire team of starters on the field at the same time. And when NW had the ball, I got the feeling that they were trying a lot of new stuff, new personnel packages, and just basically getting people reps.
Like I mentioned earlier, it seemed like offensively the NW game plan was to wear down UNK… and it worked. I can’t say I was really happy with the offense in the first half. At the half, NW’s offense was only able to produce 6 points – 2 FG’s, a third barely missed off to the left. It looked good to me, but I suppose the ref that was right under the upright probably had a little better view than I did from the opposite 40. There is really not a whole lot to say about the offense – seeing as how weird everything was last week. The play-calling was a little erratic – but like I said, it seemed like they were experimenting more with different things than anything. The one complaint that I do have is on NW’s passing. It seems like the pass is either a deep ball or something within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. Whatever happened to that little drag route across the field that has been money forever? I would love to see a pass that was in the 10-15 yard range – NW only threw that one once last week. Once! Crazy. Once again, NW utilized a 2 QB system. I thought that both Seals and Bolles did a very good job. Seals looks like a gutty leader out there that really wants to win – he threw a great block for Franklin in the second half on a play that was called back. Bolles once again impressed with his athletic prowess. The throw to Shaw down the field was a thing of beauty – he was running to his left and was able to make the deep throw to Shaw in stride. Amazing. Only 3 WR’s had any catches this week – Shaw, Utter, and Flint. I really don’t get it. For the second week in a row, Bolles was the leading rusher in the game. I can see them using him as a wildcat threat when Adams returns. The playcalling yet again has left the most dangerous duo of RB’s without many yards. I really hope that AD & Flohr have something up their sleeve that they are holding back for when NW faces better competition. As it is, NW’s O is about as plain jane as can be – which is so frustrating from seeing what essentially this exact same group of players was able to produce last year. I think that a lot of the problems basically boil down to the OL. I know that I called them out a few weeks ago – so I’m not going to do it again (too much.) I think talent wise, what NW has on the field is all that they got – they aren’t hiding something in the cupboard for later. I’m sorry, but some of the guys that are out there playing are not up to the standards that NW has come to expect out of their offensive lines. I’m sure that they are really nice kids, and maybe have the best work ethic in the world – but that only gets you so far. I realize that UNK was blitzing a lot last week, as well as chop blocking – but NW lines have traditionally been able to overcome these adversities. There is a lot of unspoken communication that goes on during the game on the Oline – you have to know what each other is going to do before they do it. And with all of the turnover on the line I just don’t think that it is there yet. It’s much better than it was in the first game, but I think it still needs to improve. If anybody can do it, Adam Dorrel can do it.
On defense, NW looked about as weird as they did on offense. Here again, it seemed like they were trying out different stuff throughout the game. A lot of that was due to playing so many of the #2’s. UNK’s ground game was quite impressive actually – considering the fact that they were working with a QB who had been playing WR up until that week. But Matt Berry isn’t just any WR. He was a star QB in high school, where (like most schools in Nebraska) they ran an option style offense. I watched this game with two Nebraska HS football coaches, and both were very familiar with Matt Berry. So it wasn’t a complete surprise that the Lopers had as much success with the option as they did. The option, when ran well is very hard to defend. And they ran it pretty darn well (but like I said most kids in Nebraska grew up playing Option football.) Considering that UNK hadn’t played that style of football previously and NW didn’t have any film on them doing that – it’s not a shocker they got more yards than I had thought that they would. The Lopers scouted NW well, or at least watched the East Central game, and knew that NW was susceptible to the bubble screen. I think a lot of their passing yards came off of those passes. My only complaint with the defense is that it seemed like they took some series off. It looked like the players were content to let them play on some series – and then on others, you could tell that they really wanted to shut them down – and that is exactly what they did. I know that Rich Wright was not a happy camper after UNK’s first touchdown drive. It’s almost comical to see Wright – who is the nicest little guy in the world – out there chewing these guys butts off. Needless to say, UNK’s offense didn’t do much again until the end of the game when the win was assured and it was all backups in there playing.
I think that NW’s biggest unsung hero is coach Ken Gordon. He is the Special Teams/Secondary coach – both of which are the biggest improved this year. Todd Adolf was named the MIAA Special Teams player of the week after hitting 3 of 4 FG’s (44, 41, & 27 yards) Punter Kyle Goodburn is currently ranked the #3 punter in the nation – averaging 45.6 yards per punt.
This Week’s Match Up:
So even though the Riverhawks are currently 0-4, that doesn’t mean that they are a push over by any means. Thru 4 weeks, there opponents have a total of 2 losses. So far this year they’ve played Pitt, MoSouth, Washburn, and Emporia – not exactly lightweights. And it’s not like they’ve been blown out of any of those games. The biggest loss was to PSU in the first game of the year and they lost by 21. NSU is a very physical team, and I expect them to create some matchups that will be difficult for NW. I really think that this will be a good game.
The NW D will need to be up for this game. They aren’t much of a passing team – well they try, they just aren’t very successful at it. So far this year their QB is completing just 46.5% of his throws (and has 7 interceptions). Their run game hasn’t been a bit more successful – averaging 148 yards per game, 5.1 yards per rush. They do that by having a very good offensive line. They are anchored by 320 lb Senior OK State transfer Michael Bowie at left tackle. They have several transfers on their OL that really help them. They have two backs that are both very good runners. When you throw the ball as much as they do, you can spread the ball around – and they do that pretty well. They currently have 11 players with at least 1 catch on the season. Their primary targets are Jermaine Sherman (27-357/4 TD’s) and Jamai Coleman (16-188). The defense is probably going to have their hands full. Seeing as how the bubble screen has been so effective against NW, my guess is that we will see the Riverhawks go to that play more than once. I would really like to see some of the Dlinemen really step up their game and separate themselves. Its not like any of them are bad by any means – but none of them have gone that extra step that NW fans have become accustomed to having.
If the Bearcat offense gets hot, they could score a lot. I’ve read that Trevor Adams is expected to start, with Bolles probably playing a backup roll – my guess is probably playing every 3rd series or so. He could also come in and play a wildcat set – he is quite the danger to take off running or throw the ball 50 yards. This could be a game the Oline could really gel with. NSU has a total of 17 tackles for loss and 3 sacks. NSU has been averaging giving up 212 yards on the ground and 202 yards in the air. Sounds like the perfect opportunity for NW to put up some numbers. With Shaw getting the long ball a few times last week, that is going to make the defenses have to respect that threat, which could very well open up the shorter route. Opening up the passing game – will obviously open up the run game as well. I would love to see either Franklin or Simmons get 100+ yard games. I will definitely be putting Franklin on my bench on my Fantasy Football team, since that usually means that he will put up monster numbers. With TA being the QB, I’m going to be watching his checking down. That was his weakness in the first two games. I really do hope that Adams is back to his old self – and not the TA that we saw in the first 6.5 quarters of the year. If he’s not, AD has to be willing to make the change and put the best QB(s) in the game.
Overall, this game has the potential to be very close or a blowout. I am hoping for the latter. My guestimate: NW 41 NSU 17
So even though the Riverhawks are currently 0-4, that doesn’t mean that they are a push over by any means. Thru 4 weeks, there opponents have a total of 2 losses. So far this year they’ve played Pitt, MoSouth, Washburn, and Emporia – not exactly lightweights. And it’s not like they’ve been blown out of any of those games. The biggest loss was to PSU in the first game of the year and they lost by 21. NSU is a very physical team, and I expect them to create some matchups that will be difficult for NW. I really think that this will be a good game.
The NW D will need to be up for this game. They aren’t much of a passing team – well they try, they just aren’t very successful at it. So far this year their QB is completing just 46.5% of his throws (and has 7 interceptions). Their run game hasn’t been a bit more successful – averaging 148 yards per game, 5.1 yards per rush. They do that by having a very good offensive line. They are anchored by 320 lb Senior OK State transfer Michael Bowie at left tackle. They have several transfers on their OL that really help them. They have two backs that are both very good runners. When you throw the ball as much as they do, you can spread the ball around – and they do that pretty well. They currently have 11 players with at least 1 catch on the season. Their primary targets are Jermaine Sherman (27-357/4 TD’s) and Jamai Coleman (16-188). The defense is probably going to have their hands full. Seeing as how the bubble screen has been so effective against NW, my guess is that we will see the Riverhawks go to that play more than once. I would really like to see some of the Dlinemen really step up their game and separate themselves. Its not like any of them are bad by any means – but none of them have gone that extra step that NW fans have become accustomed to having.
If the Bearcat offense gets hot, they could score a lot. I’ve read that Trevor Adams is expected to start, with Bolles probably playing a backup roll – my guess is probably playing every 3rd series or so. He could also come in and play a wildcat set – he is quite the danger to take off running or throw the ball 50 yards. This could be a game the Oline could really gel with. NSU has a total of 17 tackles for loss and 3 sacks. NSU has been averaging giving up 212 yards on the ground and 202 yards in the air. Sounds like the perfect opportunity for NW to put up some numbers. With Shaw getting the long ball a few times last week, that is going to make the defenses have to respect that threat, which could very well open up the shorter route. Opening up the passing game – will obviously open up the run game as well. I would love to see either Franklin or Simmons get 100+ yard games. I will definitely be putting Franklin on my bench on my Fantasy Football team, since that usually means that he will put up monster numbers. With TA being the QB, I’m going to be watching his checking down. That was his weakness in the first two games. I really do hope that Adams is back to his old self – and not the TA that we saw in the first 6.5 quarters of the year. If he’s not, AD has to be willing to make the change and put the best QB(s) in the game.
Overall, this game has the potential to be very close or a blowout. I am hoping for the latter. My guestimate: NW 41 NSU 17
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