EWU vs. UD

[Oldhen]

Greetings. I come in peace. Congratulations on a fine season. Any team that beats 'Nova is a favorite of mine... at least until 1/7/11.

I first took real notice of your program in '07, when you took a very good ASU team to the wire. They turned around and handed us our heads in the NC game. We just don't get much chance to see Big Sky football back east, and western teams are always kind of a mystery to me. I do have a couple of your games TiVo'd, and will get some time to look at them as the weeks go on. Didn't even get a chance to watch you beat 'Nova, but I have that one to watch. I know that's a quality team you beat, so kudos... we didn't beat them.

Thought I'd give you some info about our team and fans, just to get the ball rolling. Please visit us at gohens.net. We've got some fans that love to talk smack, but you'll find that most of us are rational and knowledgeable. I don't much care for smack myself.

The name of the game for UD is defense. Very solid, blue-collar group with lots of upperclassmen. #1 in scoring defense and #5 in total defense. They're legit. We play a basic 4-3. We usually spread the DL minutes among 7-8-9 DL's. No superstars, but we don't drop off at all two deep. If you do some research, you'll immediately see the 'UD D Paradox'.... we're very solid against the pass (#8 in pass efficiency defense at 98.64) but hardly ever have a sack, and almost never stunt or blitz. We get good, controlled, disciplined push from everybody and tend to collapse the pocket and hurry the QB - which is our goal, but don't sack him much. The heart of the D is the back seven. Just an excellent, upperclass group.... big, fast, and solid tacklers. We've got a couple of DB's with a chance to go to the next level, and the play of the back seven is really the story of our season.

On O, we run a spread, and try to keep a 50-50 run-pass balance. Our triggerman, #17, is #3 in passing efficiency, and he'll go in the 3rd-4th round of the draft. Transfer from PSU (and living proof that Joe Pa is senile). Not much of a running threat, but as good a passer as I've seen at this level... only two picks all year, both on deflections. Our passing game is more ball-control than anything else, with an emphasis on short and intermediate routes, with Devlin completing 68+% of his passes, it works well. (PS... Devlin missed two games, and we didn't really throw much until mid-season... his numbers since the W&M loss are just spectacular).

Our WR's are very good, but not spectacular. They've had the dropsies a game or two. We've got 2-3 home run hitters, but normally play 6-7 kids in different packages, so you're never really sure who is going to be on the field. We have three good RB's, and they all play, but #30, a true freshman, gets the start and most of the work. Strictly a north-south guy, sneaky speed, but not a burner. We don't drop off at all three deep here.

The OL has perplexed me. They weren't worth a bucket of warm spit last year. They have transformed themselves into a main strength of the team. We've had a couple of bad individual performances here and there... one probably costing us the W&M game, but otherwise they've been quite good. Not quite as massive as 'Nova, but big, strong, and quick.

Just as a side note, the game against GSU was the first time all season we didn't have at least a 2-3 minute edge in TOP in the fourth quarter (They had a two minute edge). We've usually had a 4-6 minute edge. Kudos to GSU. Our game has been to wear the other team out at the LOS and run right at 'em late in the game.

The book on beating us has been to overplay the run and make the WR's beat you.

Lot's of folks find UD's fans to be cocky to the point of arrogant, and I know that's true for some. I'll let you draw your own conclusions.

Here's to a great three weeks and a solid football game.

 

[EdubAlum]

Old hen. I'm still on the road, but I wanted to quickly thank you for stopping by and getting the discussion started right! The ndsu fans game over and started talking smack from the first minute! Thanks for the good info, and I'm guessing someone will follow up some similar information on our team.

 

[eaglesfootball]

Delaware looks like a very sound team I have watched them play both NOVA to finish off the regular season and then got a chance to watch them play ga southern.

 

[GrizzlyEdd]

Eagle fans... you will find out as the Griz have that there are some real quality team/fans out there.
Delaware is one of them. There are other teams who are just basically jealous and they come across that way.

Thank God that most teams are pure class and the fans are also.... There are some good Hen fans on eGriz at times and I have never gotten a bad taste in my mouth from any of them... Class folks...

 

[got 6 lookin for 7]

Looking forward to a great game in a few weeks..........now we all get to see what it is loike for the bowl schools waiting for weeks for one more football game. Will Jones be ready for the game, or is he done?

 

[kiko2]

Oldhen has already provided you with a terrific summary of what the Hens are about this year, and their depth, balance and experience cannot be emphasized enough. You will find most of our fans to be civil if enthusiastic with minimal snark and I think I can speak for many of them when I say we are delighted about our first but hopefully not last meeting with the Eagles.

 

[93bird]

Nice summary OldHen. In my opinion, the Eagles should take the same approach in the Chipper as they did against Nova. Pound the ball to keep the defense honest, then burn them with the pass. Our QB Mitchell did an especially good job by helping receivers get open for scores. What was a little different Friday was how well our defense played. They're not super big, but as a group were faster and hit harder than I've seen all season. Whitney and Szczur looked stunned. In short, I'd say the best way to stop Eastern is to stick to our WRs like glue. With Taiwan Jones out our running game's good, but not great. Mitchell's not the speediest guy outside the pocket either.

 

[Tubby Raymond]

Nice summary OldHen. In my opinion, the Eagles should take the same approach in the Chipper as they did against Nova. Pound the ball to keep the defense honest, then burn them with the pass. Our QB Mitchell did an especially good job by helping receivers get open for scores. What was a little different Friday was how well our defense played. They're not super big, but as a group were faster and hit harder than I've seen all season. Whitney and Szczur looked stunned. In short, I'd say the best way to stop Eastern is to stick to our WRs like glue. With Taiwan Jones out our running game's good, but not great. Mitchell's not the speediest guy outside the pocket either.

#4 was stunned, he didn't play in the 4th quarter due to a concussion.

 

[ChickenMan]

Stats don't allways tell the story.. but they can give you a pretty good idea of the relative strengths and weaknesses of each team. The statisical comparison...

EWU/Opponents

points pg - 32.3/25.4
rushing - 165/135
passing - 237/241
total off - 402/376
turnovers +12

Delaware/Opponents
points pg - 28.5/11.5
rushing - 183/111
passing - 217/166
total off - 400/277
turrnovers +17

it's pretty obvious that UD looks to have a real edge on the defensive side of the ball.. giving up 100 yrds and 14 points a game less than EWU. We will see if that stat proves true in Frisco.

 

[EWURanger]

OldHen, that is a great summary. There's probably a few others on here that can give you a more in depth insight into the team than I, but in (not-so)short:

Offense: We're your traditional west-coast style offense, with a lot of emphasis on the skill positions. One back, with a lot of three wide-out looks.

At QB, we have Junior Bo Levi Mitchell as our starter. He played at SMU the past couple of years under June Jones, but transferred after being injured and losing a starting spot. He has been brilliant at times, and has made a few bad mistakes as well. That said, he is a leader and finds ways to get his team back in the game, as we have come from behind to win many, many games this year. Even in the NDSU game, where he turned the ball over 4 times, he led a 90 yard drive with 2 minutes left on the clock, and threw a game-tying td pass, then threw another on the first play in OT. He played almost a flawless game against Nova, throwing for 4 td's with no int's. When he plays within himself, he is a very, very good QB. When he tries to force things, not so much. Our back-ups have not seen a lot of PT this year.

At receiver, our primaries are sophomores Brandon Kaufman (#1), and Nicholas Edwards (#80). Kaufman goes 6'5 and has tremendous leaping ability and is deceptively fast for his height. He tends to catch a lot of passes in the endzone where he can out-jump the smaller db's. Edwards goes 6'3 and also has good speed. He can be a little drop-prone, but has really picked up his game the second half of the season and has caught some game winners. #3 Greg Herd, also goes 6'3 and rotates with Kaufman and Edwards. He's had some great catches, including the nail driver against Nova. We have a good array of slot receivers with the primaries being (#33) Hart and (#2) Gant (injured???). We don't use the TE's as much as in the past, but we have a couple of good young ones in Freshman Zach Gehring and Ryan Seto. Senior Matt Martin gets most of the PT, but is more of a blocking TE. Another note on our receivers, due to their size, they are very effective at down-field blocking.

We have a pretty decent trio of running backs. You have probably heard of #22 Taiwan Jones, who was a Peyton candidate. He ran for over 1700 yards this year, but broke his foot in the NDSU game. He may be the best back in FCS. It looks like we may be without his services, as he had surgery only a week ago. True Freshman Mario Brown is capable of bearing the load in Jone's absence. He rushed for over 100 yards against Nova, his biggest output of the year. He seems to follow his blocks really well, is elusive, and has a lot of speed. He will have a huge career at EWU. Our third back is Junior Dariell Beumonte, who is more of a north-south type runner. He hasn't had a huge impact in the running game, but is capable and plays a huge role on special teams.

Our offensive line is fairly young, I think we have only 2 seniors there. They aren't as massive as some of the lines out there, but in general they're very athletic and do an excellent job of pass protection. I don't think Nova ever touched our QB in that game. And obviously, any time you have a back that runs for 1700 yards that means you have pretty good down-field run blocking as well.

On defense, we are anchored by Buch Buchanon finalist #4 Senior LB JC Sherrit. He's not the biggest guy (5'10, 220), but has great instinct, flies all over the field, and hits as hard as anyone. Also look for #10 Zach Johnson, (6'2, 225). Our defensive line is probably the best in the Big Sky, with defensive tackles #98 and #49 Tyler Jolley as the leaders there. #95 Moetului sees considerable PT. Williams has been playing lights-out in the playoffs, wreaking havoc in the back field. Nova's big-time #71 Ilijana? had nothing for him. He will be a legit NFL prospect. Our DE's are not huge, but are very quick and athletic and have very good pursuit. We seem to have a lot of depth there, rotating between #99 Anthony Larry, #90 David Gaylord, #44 Paul Ena, #91 Jerry Ceja, #64 Evan Day.

Our defensive secondary gives up a lot of yards through the air, but tend to keep everything in front of them. They don't give up a lot of big plays. Starting corners are #21 Jesse Hoffman, and #28 Dante Calcote, although you will see a few others rotate in there. #34 Gauldin has started on occassion. Hoffman plays a big role on special teams - I think he has three kick-off returns for td's this year. Starting safeties have generally been #7 Jeff Minnerly, and #5 Matt Johnson (Zach's brother), although they have altered the line-up at times this year. #38 Allen Brown and #36 Will Edge see PT. Even though Sherrit and Williams get most of the attention on our defense, Matt might be the best defensive player on the team. He matched up against Matt Sczur in the Nova game, and really minimized the effect he had in the game. I think it was Matt who knocked Sczur out of the game (clean hit).

All in all, our defense has been the rock all season long. I think they really surprised a few people with their athleticism in the Villanova game. They fly all around the field, tackle well, hit hard, and create *A LOT* of TO's. I think we lead the Division in defensive take-aways.

Special teams is another story. Our kick coverage has been poor the past couple of weeks - we gave up the opening kick-off for a td against Nova, and the week before one against NDSU. We need to get better there. Our FG kicking has been a little shakey this year. We alternate between two different kickers situation dependent. It has been a little better the second half of the season. Punting is good, no issues there.

 

[Oldhen]

Hey, great summary EWURanger.... I'll find some time to watch the games I have TiVo'd later this week, and this will be my cheat sheet.

I'm sure I'll be back with questions, but Jones, Sherrit, and Mitchell have all stood out to me in what I've read.

I'll not say much more until I think I can talk sensibly about the game, but it was pretty clear from the little I watched that you had some athletes on D, and I was kinda surprised when I saw the yards and points you'd given up. Makes more sense when you you say they play to keep things in front of them.

 

[EWURanger]

I was kinda surprised when I saw the yards and points you'd given up. Makes more sense when you you say they play to keep things in front of them.

Yup. Obviously, I'm a little biased, but I think the defensive numbers are probably a little deceptive. We give up a lot of passing yards, but that has to do with defensive style and playing in the pass-happy BSC.

 

[bluehen]

I agree with Oldhen thumbs up for beating Nova. From what I saw of that game is that you guys play with a lot of heart. This should be a very good game.

 

[LDopaPDX]

I've watched UD play 3 times this season, and they're sort of a weird team like EWU. Outwardly, you don't look at anything they do and get wowed. They just sort of do everything well; and there aren't any weakensses to exploit. They aren't abnormally big or fast, but they are big enough and fast enough where it counts. They are a prototypical CAA champion... they may not knock anyone's socks off but they are incredibly difficult to beat.

 

[Oldhen]

I've watched UD play 3 times this season, and they're sort of a weird team like EWU. Outwardly, you don't look at anything they do and get wowed. They just sort of do everything well; and there aren't any weakensses to exploit. They aren't abnormally big or fast, but they are big enough and fast enough where it counts. They are a prototypical CAA champion... they may not knock anyone's socks off but they are incredibly difficult to beat.

I think that's a fair assessment. Any number of times this year, I've visited a message board and seen comments like "Well, I watched UD beat so-and-so, and I wasn't impressed with them". Your first reaction is to argue, but when you step back and look at it, they have a point. UD's football is kind of like Princeton's basketball. No drama. No vicious dunks. No sky-scraping shot rejections. Just a very low-key, methodical approach on both sides of the ball. Like the "UD D Paradox".... how in God's name do you hold the teams you face to a passing efficiency rating under 100 with just 17 sacks in 14 games? Well, I'll tell ya, it's not by doing flash stuff. Good pressure, good coverage, hard hits... it all adds up, but you won't find a star or big play-maker on the D. Hardly anybody made all-anything. They just play very well as a unit, play after play.

Ditto with the O. Methodical and efficient. They don't swing for the fences. When you saw UD's team in the playoffs in '07, Flacco immediately jumped out at you. From the first time I saw him throw the ball you knew he had an NFL future. Our current O... not so much. Devlin hardly ever goes deep... but he rarely makes a mistake (two interceptions all year, both on tipped balls, and I can count the uncatchable passes on my fingers) and he's very, very good on third down (where we've got a 47%-29% edge on opponents). But, the fact is, you watch him, you don't see spectacular plays. He's kind of like a robot... reads the field, finds the right guy, and gets the ball out quickly and accurately. We get our big plays, but that's not how the O is designed to work. Frustrates a lot of UD's fans, who have really wanted the OC to let Devlin loose, but he plays within the system, and the system works.

Haven't had much time to look at the EWU games I TiVo'd, but after a quick look at 'Nova, what jumped out at me is the size and speed of EWU's receivers. They can get deep. A couple of plays, I thought 'Nova's safety's were very late... and I want to go back and try to figure out how that was set up. Another time, your QB had a mismatch of a slotback on a LB. #1 just flat outran everybody on another, and he looks to be a handful. That's going to be an interesting matchup.... your receiver group against our back seven. Could very well be the difference in the game, with Jones probably out.

 

[LDopaPDX]

I can tell you from being around FCS football for a long time, that Eastern's big advantage is speed. We have a very fast back 7 on defense with some real hitters at linebacker. Plus, we have two DTs that are capable of being legit BCS-level players. They'd probably be multi-year starters for either UW or Washington State had they chosen to go there. DE has been probably our weakest area as we really don't have a true strongsider in our line-up. The guys we employ are quicker, get-to-the-ball types so it's almost like we play to weaksiders simultaneously. I think finding quality DTs (which we've done) and an SDE or two (which we haven't) might be the hardest positions to recruit for in FCS... you could probably throw CB into that equation as well.

Offensively, we are two different teams with or without Taiwan Jones. We are an explosion team chipping small yardage and bursting for big plays with Taiwan, and without him we become more of a controlled passing team. Both styles work, and Taiwan's semi-regular absence have caused us to learn both styles efficiently.

 

[Oldhen]

The little I watched of the 'Nova game so far highlighted your RDT, #98. Very disruptive, quick, and actually pretty fast. As luck would have it, he'll match up against our best OL, #56. That'll be a good matchup.

Your #4 is obviously the difference-maker at LB. Great instincts.

I'll have to watch more before I can say more.

 

[Obzerver]

Oldhen, was starting to like what you were saying till you mentioned basketball.

 

[Oldhen]

Finally got a chance to look at the EWU/Nova game, and at least some of the EWU/NDSU game. I'll let them settle and go back to them in a few days and post any further thoughts I have.... but what I saw thus far makes me think a few things...

-I really haven't seen much to make me think either UD or EWU has any material advantage in the match-ups along the lines, if 'Nova is a good comparison base. EWU rushes the passer pretty well, and may get a few sacks if we go to routes that take a little while to develop. I was impressed with their big DT #98, and am glad he'll probably match up against #56. I think EWU's OL had an early advantage in the running game against a three man front, but Nova seemed to adjust.

-I expect EWU to be able to run some, but not run wild. I expect Jones to be out or limited, but Brown showed some stuff against Nova. He's got quick feet, good balance, and accelerates well. Jitterbug with some speed, not a power guy. He gets a step or two, he could be off to the races.

-In the passing game, Mitchell averages a yard less per attempt than Devlin, and an efficiency rating 20 points less... but the guy has thrown THIRTY-FOUR TD passes (against 14 picks). That's a lot (of both). Against 'Nova, I got some glimmerings about that. I think EWU WR's had a real advantage in speed and athleticism over 'Nova, and EWU was regularly able to get favorable match-ups... and Mitchell was able to recognize it and go to the right receiver. He got Edwards in the slot matched up against a LB...TD. He got Kaufman in single coverage outside (and in what looked like a pre-arranged audible/automatic) hit him in stride with a three step gap for a 76 yard TD. These guys were behind 'Nova's secondary every bit as regularly as the goal posts. They just ran right by 'em.... and I think that was - at least partially - because 'Nova was leaning in to stop the short passing game, and Mitchell just double-pumped receivers right past coverage.

-EWU's D likes to keep everything in front of them. Devlin's short passing game will oblige them. He'll take those 5-7 yards on quick-hitters all day and night, and EWU is going to have to adjust to try to take that away. I've said all along, I think the trick for EWU is going to be getting UD off the field on third down. Playing soft in the secondary against a 70% passer favoring quick-developing, short routes won't git 'er done, and I'm going to be interested in seeing how EWU adjusts because I think they're going to have to.. EWU's back seven is quite quick.... although neither NDSU or 'Nova seemed to give me much of a look at their straight-ahead speed.

-Right at the moment, I think the match-up of the game is going to be EWU's receivers against UD's secondary. If their game against 'Nova is anything to judge them by, they're the best receiver group we've seen all year. Fitting, I guess, that handling them will be up to the strength of a very, very good defense... our senior secondary, who (I think) have been the gold standard for FCS secondaries all year.

-If i had to pick a second key to the game right now, it'll be Devlin against the EWU secondary. As I said before, I can't see them being able to play soft all game if Devlin goes to his quick-hitting, underneath-coverage, ball-control passing game. They will just have to adjust something to deal with that; I have no idea what they'll do do adjust, and that will have much to do with the success of UD's passing game.

... be back with more thoughts later.

 

[Oldhen]

Oldhen, was starting to like what you were saying till you mentioned basketball.

LOL... I'll try to do better.