Illinois State

[Hambone]

Hello Eagle fans,

Congrats on your season. In reading this thread so far, it seems like we have followed you closer than you have followed us. I'm a Redbird fan granted, but we are legit. Our QB lit up UNI, but our horse is RB Coprich. Defensively, we have a lot of players, and take a lot pride in this. We know EWU can throw it and that Big Sky conference likes to throw it. Hard to tell how much is because of strong pass attacks or weak pass defense, or maybe not enough run/pass balance. We love to run and pass on offense. We also get it after hard on defense. but everyone would say that in elite 8 of playoff. What might surprise you is MVFC is 8-1 against Bg Sky this year, and most have been 20+ point margins. Our worst team South Dakota (0-8 in conference) beat Northern Arizona and lost to Montana by 8 pts, our only loss to Big Sky. South Dakota State beat Cal Poly very easily .. 44-18. We beat South Dakota State 45-10 in one of our best games of year. UNI yesterday was very similar .. fired on on cylinders and it wasn't as close at 41-21 score suggested. UNI ha one of the top defenses in country, but had no answer for us yesterday, after beating us a a month ago at their place. SDSU is strong team and gave NDSU all they could handle yesterday before losing by 3 at NDSU. NDSU is not as dominant, but still very strong.

Anyway, we know EWU is very good and your QB was out 4 games. And that 2 years ago, we had a nice game going and let it slip away on your field. We turned over 90% of that team and are back. This team is more explosive and well rounded. We were picked to finish 6th in our conference preseason because we went 5-6 last year after getting hit hard by graduation the prior 2 years. We weren't ready to reload until this year. Let me assure you MVFC is not over-rate .. we were 23-1 against FCS out of conference. And competed very well in about 11 games against FBS going 3-8 with only a couple blowouts. We had the toughest non-conference and conference strength of schedule in all of FCS. Look at Sagarin, Massey, GPI .. MVFC is toughest conference in FCS according to those sources.

That said, we are looking forward to the players settling this on the field.

Most importantly: 1. your red turf is an eyesore 2. didn't you guys have a poster who took the other teams roster pics and dubbed them various not-so-flattering characters .. that was hilarious. Please entertain us again. big props to whoever did that.

Maybe we should just forfeit. Judging from your post it doesnt sound like we will be able to compete with a team from your conference.

 

[Redbird 4th & short]

Some of your posters commented about MVFC being over-rated and ISU playing a weak schedule. That's what I was referring to. None of our teams played EWU and we know you guys have the strongest program in last 5 years in Big Sky. So the other game results are what they are, but we aren't kidding ourselves. We're planning on a tough game .. probably high scoring. Our conference doesn't air it our as much as Big Sky.

 

[luckyintheorder]

Hello Eagle fans,

Congrats on your season. In reading this thread so far, it seems like we have followed you closer than you have followed us. I'm a Redbird fan granted, but we are legit. Our QB lit up UNI, but our horse is RB Coprich. Defensively, we have a lot of players, and take a lot pride in this. We know EWU can throw it and that Big Sky conference likes to throw it. Hard to tell how much is because of strong pass attacks or weak pass defense, or maybe not enough run/pass balance. We love to run and pass on offense. We also get it after hard on defense. but everyone would say that in elite 8 of playoff. What might surprise you is MVFC is 8-1 against Bg Sky this year, and most have been 20+ point margins. Our worst team South Dakota (0-8 in conference) beat Northern Arizona and lost to Montana by 8 pts, our only loss to Big Sky. South Dakota State beat Cal Poly very easily .. 44-18. We beat South Dakota State 45-10 in one of our best games of year. UNI yesterday was very similar .. fired on on cylinders and it wasn't as close at 41-21 score suggested. UNI ha one of the top defenses in country, but had no answer for us yesterday, after beating us a a month ago at their place. SDSU is strong team and gave NDSU all they could handle yesterday before losing by 3 at NDSU. NDSU is not as dominant, but still very strong.

Anyway, we know EWU is very good and your QB was out 4 games. And that 2 years ago, we had a nice game going and let it slip away on your field. We turned over 90% of that team and are back. This team is more explosive and well rounded. We were picked to finish 6th in our conference preseason because we went 5-6 last year after getting hit hard by graduation the prior 2 years. We weren't ready to reload until this year. Let me assure you MVFC is not over-rate .. we were 23-1 against FCS out of conference. And competed very well in about 11 games against FBS going 3-8 with only a couple blowouts. We had the toughest non-conference and conference strength of schedule in all of FCS. Look at Sagarin, Massey, GPI .. MVFC is toughest conference in FCS according to those sources.

That said, we are looking forward to the players settling this on the field.

Most importantly: 1. your red turf is an eyesore 2. didn't you guys have a poster who took the other teams roster pics and dubbed them various not-so-flattering characters .. that was hilarious. Please entertain us again. big props to whoever did that.

Fan supposition is fun, right? Ya'll had a super game yesterday (note: I picked Redbirds over UNI in Round 2 thread http://www.bigskyfans.com/eagles/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3298 RedBirds 42 UNI 28, not to far off the mark).

Will be a good match up as these are two well coached teams with a couple of stars and good surrounding cast. Can the Redbirds play at the same high level as this past week? Tough to do back to back.

IMO Eags win on their talent assuming all other factors (TO's, penalties) remain even. The Inferno is visually pleasing as well.

 

[dudeitsaid]

The Inferno is visually pleasing as well.

There is no discernible advantage to either team, with an equal number of strengths and weaknesses.

But the mesmerizing beauty of the Inferno once again proves too much of a distraction to the Redbirds players, as they quiver with envy for our red field. Why can't the Redbirds have a red field like us??? :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

[Redbird 4th & short]

The Inferno is visually pleasing as well.

There is no discernible advantage to either team, with an equal number of strengths and weaknesses.

But the mesmerizing beauty of the Inferno once again proves too much of a distraction to the Redbirds players, as they quiver with envy for our red field. Why can't the Redbirds have a red field like us??? :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Because we don't want to get the red paint smeared all over are home whites .. really pisses off the moms on laundry day.

p.s. forgive the make chauvinism, but the punch line works better this way.

 

[EWURanger]

The Inferno is visually pleasing as well.

There is no discernible advantage to either team, with an equal number of strengths and weaknesses.

But the mesmerizing beauty of the Inferno once again proves too much of a distraction to the Redbirds players, as they quiver with envy for our red field. Why can't the Redbirds have a red field like us??? :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Because we don't want to get the red paint smeared all over are home whites .. really pisses off the moms on laundry day.

p.s. forgive the make chauvinism, but the punch line works better this way.

I think when you are rating comferences you have to look at them from the bottom up rather than the top down, and in that regard the MVFC is clearly the best conference (this year). The Big Sky has 3-4 poor teams, but when you have a 13 team conference there's going to be more of those.

That said, I think some folks make the assumption that because there are some poor teams in the BSC that somehow means the top isn't competitive. The top 2-3 teams in the BSC are very comparable to the top 2-3 teams in the MVFC. Even MSU, which was a shell of the team it was in September played SDSU tough.

You can cite the MVFC record over the Big Sky this year all you want - my point was that save UM-NDSU, all of those games included teams that are in the bottom half of our conference. Go ahead and take a look. Further, I do believe that the MVFC's overall ratings this season have been somewhat artificially inflated by it's OOC record, because again, most of those wins were against teams that are below .500. Not saying it's not a good conference; it clearly is - just think people have gone a little overboard.

We expect this to be a very tough game - once you get into the quarters all those teams are going to be very good, regardless of conference affiliation, etc. But also understand that this is a very experienced team that has been 2-3 plays away from playing in the NC the past two years. Anything could happen, obviously, but I give us a slight edge playing at home.

 

[MLEagle]

ISU is one of the 8 best teams in the country with only 1 loss from the deepest conference in the country this year. The Redbirds should gain confidence from the strength of their conference, but need to remember it is their team against our team.

A couple years ago Sam Houston beat 3 Big Sky teams on their way to Frisco even though the Big Sky is a better conference top to bottom then the Southland. EWU is the best team in the Big Sky and ISU is probably 2nd best from the MVFC. I'm confident in Vernon, Copper, Beau and company, and believe we win by 7.

I can't wait for Saturday to find out if I'm right.

 

[EWURanger]

Our conference doesn't air it our as much as Big Sky.

One thing I forgot to mention - yes, we will air it out quite a bit, but our offense is pretty balanced. People like to think of EWU as purely a shotgun-spread type team, but we run the ball a lot and give a lot of different looks. Everything from empty backfield to twins, to heavy run with a fullback in the backfield.

 

[EWURanger]

ISU is one of the 8 best teams in the country with only 1 loss from the deepest conference in the country this year. The Redbirds should gain confidence from the strength of their conference, but need to remember it is their team against our team.

A couple years ago Sam Houston beat 3 Big Sky teams on their way to Frisco even though the Big Sky is a better conference top to bottom then the Southland. EWU is the best team in the Big Sky and ISU is probably 2nd best from the MVFC. I'm confident in Vernon, Copper, Beau and company, and believe we win by 7.

I can't wait for Saturday to find out if I'm right.

I think ISUr is a better team than NDSU this year. I know that's easy to say when they didn't play, but honestly, I've not been terribly impressed with NDSU in the same way I was the past three years when it seemed like they were virtually unbeatable.

 

[93bird]

I gave up on the ISU game yesterday after UNI fell behind 21-0. It seemed obvious to me at least that UNI wasn't going to climb out of the hole. In the half I did watch, I was really impressed with Roberson, Coprich, and Cameron. Roberson is big, mobile, and accurate. Coprich is a powerful north south runner with speed, and Cameron is a tall receiver with good hands. The Redbirds OL is also a handful. Illinois State was very impressive. Eastern cannot get into a slug fest. We were able to nickel and dime our way to a win against Montana, but we'll have to stretch the field early and often against the Redbirds in order to win.

 

[KWCAT]

Good luck Eagles! Represent the BSC well. I think youre the better team on this one.

 

[clawman1]

EWURanger,
I was figuring what type of team was Illinois State. I forgot we played them in 2012, according to Dave Cook, Sports Information. We defeated them 51-35 in the playoff. That was news to me, I did attend all playoffs since we have been in the playoffs, and the name didn't cross my mind. That is what happen when you starts to age . I am so impressed with our team on Offense, Defense, and Special Teams. :nod: :nod: :nod: :nod: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:. I will leave the naming to Jim (SR) of naming Players, but must mention Ronnie Hamlin and Todd Raynes. :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: Hope to see many of you tomorrow at Coaches Show, if you can make it from work, etc. Vic Wallace

Vic;
Should have asked your in house fact checker, Chrissy!

 

[tomq04]

We love our non semi final home games on the Red.

Fify

with that in mind go UNH!

Seriously though, I would love to end chatanooga's run in Cheney in a couple weeks.

 

[LDopaPDX]

Curious, do they consider themselves a 4-3 team? They play a weak side DE from a stand up position. He sometimes goes into a stance, but spends more time than not swung well wide of the tackle box. They must have a lot of faith in their strong side guy locking down the other edge, because it seems like an offense could really attack from the strong side. Sort of a weird defense... But sometimes the unconventional is the most difficult to prepare for...

Of course, I'm watching one game. Maybe this is exclusive to how they played UNI.

When I first saw it, I thought it was more of a 3-4 with a pseudo-linebacker playing on the line of scrimmage. That intrigued me, because we tend to be strong against 3 man fronts. We lit UW up despite the having a wealth of talent on defense.

 

[JKL2]

Coprich is the key to the ISU offense. He's been over 100 yards ever game this year and I haven't seen anything to make me think he won't do the same this weekend.

ISU's secondary has been banged up pretty good. It's your passing game that has me more worried than anything. As mentioned, the MVFC is a black and blue midwestern conference, so your running game is an afterthought.

I'll point out most of our special teams problems were against UNI.

At this point, every team is tough. I think our road to Frisco is the toughest bracket. I can easily see this game coming down to turnovers. Should be a great game.

 

[LDopaPDX]

Coprich is the key to the ISU offense. He's been over 100 yards ever game this year and I haven't seen anything to make me think he won't do the same this weekend.

ISU's secondary has been banged up pretty good. It's your passing game that has me more worried than anything. As mentioned, the MVFC is a black and blue midwestern conference, so your running game is an afterthought.

I'll point out most of our special teams problems were against UNI.

At this point, every team is tough. I think our road to Frisco is the toughest bracket. I can easily see this game coming down to turnovers. Should be a great game.

I guarantee you we'd rather be playing Sam Houston State again or Coastal Carolina. But you're right, every game at this stage is tough. I feel like whoever loses this game will be the best team not playing next weekend.

 

[Rjones61]

As mentioned, the MVFC is a black and blue midwestern conference, so your running game is an afterthought.

I can't take this sentence seriously anymore. SDSU said this all day every day last year. Then Forte rushed 200 yards.

 

[LDopaPDX]

As mentioned, the MVFC is a black and blue midwestern conference, so your running game is an afterthought.

I can't take this sentence seriously anymore. SDSU said this all day every day last year. Then Forte rushed 200 yards.

Agreed. To this day, we keep hearing about how that Zenner kid is a phenom. I thought he was just an average player when we played South Dakota State last year. They were slow and lacked physicality is a big way and we just dominated them. In fact, they tried to play us as a finesse team. If anything, I thought their QB and the big receiver were better weapons than Zenner.

Still, I was very impressed from what I saw from Illinois State this weekend. They're a much better team than the SDSU team we played last year.

 

[Redbird 4th & short]

The Inferno is visually pleasing as well.

There is no discernible advantage to either team, with an equal number of strengths and weaknesses.

But the mesmerizing beauty of the Inferno once again proves too much of a distraction to the Redbirds players, as they quiver with envy for our red field. Why can't the Redbirds have a red field like us??? :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Because we don't want to get the red paint smeared all over are home whites .. really pisses off the moms on laundry day.

p.s. forgive the make chauvinism, but the punch line works better this way.

I think when you are rating comferences you have to look at them from the bottom up rather than the top down, and in that regard the MVFC is clearly the best conference (this year). The Big Sky has 3-4 poor teams, but when you have a 13 team conference there's going to be more of those.

That said, I think some folks make the assumption that because there are some poor teams in the BSC that somehow means the top isn't competitive. The top 2-3 teams in the BSC are very comparable to the top 2-3 teams in the MVFC. Even MSU, which was a shell of the team it was in September played SDSU tough.

You can cite the MVFC record over the Big Sky this year all you want - my point was that save UM-NDSU, all of those games included teams that are in the bottom half of our conference. Go ahead and take a look. Further, I do believe that the MVFC's overall ratings this season have been somewhat artificially inflated by it's OOC record, because again, most of those wins were against teams that are below .500. Not saying it's not a good conference; it clearly is - just think people have gone a little overboard.

We expect this to be a very tough game - once you get into the quarters all those teams are going to be very good, regardless of conference affiliation, etc. But also understand that this is a very experienced team that has been 2-3 plays away from playing in the NC the past two years. Anything could happen, obviously, but I give us a slight edge playing at home.

We also expect a very tough game against EWU. But we won 5 games against 4 teams that finished 3rd thru 6th and above .500; and all 4 were competing for Big Sky conference late into season.

- South Dakota (0-8 in MVFC) beat Northern Az (5-3) by 7 and lost to Montana (6-3) by just 8 pts.
- SDSU (5-4) blew out Cal Poly (6-3) by 26 pts, their worst loss of year; then beat Southern UT (3-5) by 20; then just beat Mont St (6-3) at their place by 7.
- NDSU beat Montana by just 12, but stats were pretty lopsided; but had weak showing at Weber St (2-7) winning by just 17
- Missouri St (1-7) beat North Dakota (3-5) by 38, their 2nd worst loss of year
- UNI (5-3) beat Northern CO (2-6) by 39, their worst loss of year.

Also note, we were 23-1 against FCS, including many Top 25 teams. And we went 3-9 against FBS, only getting blown out 2 or 3 times. We were the only team that didn't play FBS, because Ball St bought us out of our game this year. But per Sagarin and Massey after 5 weeks of non-conference games had MVFC with the toughest strength of schedule by far. And Massey has all 10 MVFC teams ranked 1-10 in SOS after entire regular season; I think Sagarin does too, just haven't verified it is all 10 yet.

 

[Redbird 4th & short]

Curious, do they consider themselves a 4-3 team? They play a weak side DE from a stand up position. He sometimes goes into a stance, but spends more time than not swung well wide of the tackle box. They must have a lot of faith in their strong side guy locking down the other edge, because it seems like an offense could really attack from the strong side. Sort of a weird defense... But sometimes the unconventional is the most difficult to prepare for...

Of course, I'm watching one game. Maybe this is exclusive to how they played UNI.

When I first saw it, I thought it was more of a 3-4 with a pseudo-linebacker playing on the line of scrimmage. That intrigued me, because we tend to be strong against 3 man fronts. We lit UW up despite the having a wealth of talent on defense.

No secrets on defense .. we run a 4-3 every game.

Saw a couple posts talking about talent advantage for EWU. I'd be very surprised if EWU had an edge there .. we're pretty loaded with talent on both sides of ball. And Spack has them playing disciplined football. We had huge breakdowns in pass game and special teams in our loss to UNI a month ago .. blew ourselves up; 2 blocked punts with 1 for TD, 3 picks (1 TD), 1 fumble, 1 KR for TD, 2 KO's out of bounds .. laid 5 of their 6 TDs in their lap. But all that got corrected yesterday.

RB Coprich will get his yards no matter what, especially if QB Roberson is keeping everyone honest. I am guessing this will be a high scoring game.