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Football concerns

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  • #1

    Football concerns

    Though it seems like we have been rolling, I do have a couple of concerns going into the conference season.

    First, our running game. We really havent got the running game going IMO. Sure, we've cracked off a couple of runs out of shotgun against a couple of weak opponents, but we have not been able to really overpower anyone in the running game IMO. And that could be a problem for us entering the conference season. We probably aren't going to be able to sling the ball all over the place as successfully as we have against St Francis and USD.

    Also, I am worried about the injuries to Howard and Lane. Especially on the D-line, I don't think we have the depth that we would like, and losing a player like Wes Lane would be huge. It seems like he will be back eventually, if not this saturday, but it could be an injury that hangs around all year. Austin Howard on the O-line is the same type of story. I think we really need those guys.

    Thoughts?
    UNI FIGHT

    Originally posted by 9YRPLAN
    iowa sucks, fran sucks, their schedule sucks, iowa fans suck
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Football concerns

    The o-line did not play well against SFA. We were beat by quickness too many times and looked sloppy. Needs to be cleaned up for conference play.
    If computers ruled college basketball the way they do football, we'd have skipped all this March Madness monotony and just waited a month for the Kansas-Kentucky title game. And watched Northern Iowa play Cornell in the Poulan Weedeater Bowl. ~ Dwight Perry The Seattle Times

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    • #3
      Re: Football concerns

      Saw an article in the Courier today about MSU going to a 3-4 and what impact that might have. Saint Francis ran a 3-4... I would assume playing them last week will help us out a lot if MSU brings the 3-4.

      http://www.wcfcourier.com/sports/college/uni/article_61e4c55e-a7a9-11de-9e3b-001cc4c03286.html

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      • #4
        Re: Football concerns

        Originally posted by UNIAlum95 View Post
        The o-line did not play well against SFA. We were beat by quickness too many times and looked sloppy. Needs to be cleaned up for conference play.
        I noticed that too. But that could also be attributed to the lack of a running game.
        UNI FIGHT

        Originally posted by 9YRPLAN
        iowa sucks, fran sucks, their schedule sucks, iowa fans suck

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Football concerns

          We don't have as dominate a running game as we've had in previous years.
          But it's not like we are one-dimensional with a pass-only offense.

          I'm not worried about it quite yet.

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Football concerns

            I have no qualms about not having a great running game, I've been saying that for two weeks now. When someone can stop our passing game I will be concerned, by the way, there isn't a team in FCS football that can stop Hord, Herring, Oordt, Eyman, etc for an entire game.

            You have to do what you do best, and for us that is putting the ball in the air, there is no need to force a running game that isn't there right now.

            Plus, we are putting WAY too much stock in the St Francis game. That game was over as soon as Herring took the opening kick back. We got unfocused and sloppy and still held them to 147 yards and beat them by 30...

            We will be sharp again come Saturday and I look for us to roll...

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Football concerns

              Originally posted by Brett Crawford View Post
              When someone can stop our passing game I will be concerned, by the way, there isn't a team in FCS football that can stop Hord, Herring, Oordt, Eyman, etc for an entire game.
              I agree with this. The biggest concern for UNI's D in the past was stopping the passing game and I think you can say that about almost every team so I think UNI can sling the ball all over the field with the weapons they have.

              I don't think the running game is that bad off. UNI has a 5.4 yard per rush average. You may say that is because of the teams they have played but last year UNI averaged over 5 yards per rush in only 3 games (SD, SDSU, and MSU). The difference is UNI is not running as much this year. Last year UNI ran the ball 661 times to passing it 318 times and this year it is run 99 and pass 91.

              My concern is in the red zone offense but it seems to be the case in most years and would like to see more TDs and less FGs. In the playoffs last year UNI scored a TD on 8/16 red zone chances while their opponents scored a TD on 7/9 chances. That has to change this year but UNI has only scored a TD on 8/15 so far this year.

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              • #8
                Re: Football concerns

                Good point mac. Settling for FG's in the red zone has cost us some huge games in the last several years.
                UNI FIGHT

                Originally posted by 9YRPLAN
                iowa sucks, fran sucks, their schedule sucks, iowa fans suck

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: Football concerns

                  Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there has been a running game problem. I would say it has stemmed more from false starts and holding penalties.
                  "We're not an ordinary school," said Fort. "We have tradition. We have a good team year after year. We rebuild, and it doesn't matter who we have coming back."

                  dti

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                  • #10
                    Re: Football concerns

                    I would agree that the running game is not a problem. The last two games we have put up 234 and 215 yards rushing. Against St. Francis we actually were 2-1 running to passing plays (38-18). I guess if getting 200 yards on the ground is not establishing the run, I can live with that.

                    I would agree that if there is a concern, it is in Red Zone scoring. We need to finish when we get in close. We got 3 FG's at Iowa, change one of those to a TD-different ball game. Though I give credit to Iowa for having a great defense. The St. Francis game was more disappointing with having to settle for 4 FG attempts.

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Re: Football concerns

                      I sure seemed like Farley was going out of his way to run the ball on Saturday. The stats seem to back that up.

                      I think Farley was treating the game like a 'working' game.

                      He could have passed a lot more if he wanted to.

                      I am not worried about the running game at all. The one dimension to the running game that hasn't been seen yet is Grace running with the ball. UNI hasn't played all of its cards yet.

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                      • #12
                        Re: Football concerns

                        Originally posted by run&blade View Post
                        IThe one dimension to the running game that hasn't been seen yet is Grace running with the ball. UNI hasn't played all of its cards yet.


                        Umm, PG had 3 rushing touchdowns in the USD game. Yes, this dimension has been shown this year.

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                        • #13
                          Re: Football concerns

                          Anyone else surprised that MSU's can to the 3-4 (from the 4-3) has resulted in better run defense versus last year? I thought the 4-3 was considered to be more of a run defense.

                          Of course, the change may have been made to suit the personnel available to MSU. Chicken and egg discussion.

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Re: Football concerns

                            Originally posted by pwjmjt View Post


                            Umm, PG had 3 rushing touchdowns in the USD game. Yes, this dimension has been shown this year.
                            True, but last year he ran all the time. There favorite play was the fake inside handoff and then have Grace run with it. Don't see near as much of that this year.

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Re: Football concerns

                              Originally posted by run&blade View Post
                              True, but last year he ran all the time. There favorite play was the fake inside handoff and then have Grace run with it. Don't see near as much of that this year.
                              a) last year, C-Lew was the greater threat, so that fake carried more weight. And while I have no doubt that Carlos will be a great back, he is still a freshman and has not yet developed into as great a threat. Thus defenses can key in more on the possibility of Grace running with it.

                              b) overuse leads to predictability, which takes away some of the power of the fake to begin with.

                              c) The coaches want to reduce the chance of PG getting banged up early in the season, so they haven't ran with him as much. Especially in games that don't matter as much, and that are already well in hand.

                              I wouldn't be surprised if Grace runs more as the season progresses into conference play, especially when we get into the tougher games. (don't get me wrong, MSU won't be a cakewalk, but I don't see it as being our toughest challenge this year. And then we have Indiana State next week.)

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