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ISU-Weber Post Game

john_clayton

john_clayton

Active member
Just finished watching the game on the BSC-partner internet feed (decent video), and well...what say you? The good? The bad? The ugly?

A few things off the top. A lot of penalties. TOs. where's the running game. I'm having a difficult time finding the positives as team (I'm sure there are individuals who played well, though) in this game.
 
Not trying to be too negative, but it seemed like one step forward three steps back. One step forward and three steps back.

Offensively, Blum played well when Weber State had to respect the run. Once the Cats figured out the running game was not existent, ISU was in trouble. The offensive line cannot run block and I cannot figure out why. They seem to pass block okay, but man they are not a very tough group right now. I thought for 2 1/2 quarters Blum played pretty well. I would like to see Knickrehm play more FB and LaPorta needs to be the feature back right now in this offense. I liked getting the TE's involved, it has been a long time since the TE have gotten so many passes. I would like to see R. Hill some this next week.

Defensively, Storms and Arias had around 30 tackles combined. Storms is going to be one of the best LB's that ISU has had in quite some time. They had decent run defense on wide runs, but got smacked around off tackle. McGowen has really got to work on his footwork, his pass coverage is suspect at best. I can only hope that Kenny Viser and Kelvin Miller realize how much that their lack of discipline has hurt the defensive backs. I thought the defensive interior played pretty good for the most part, but the ends got folded in like paper all night.

Special Teams, Huk kicked off very well and had a FG that may have been good from 60+. Punt coverage was horrible as was the kick return game.

Team discipline really pissed me off tonight. Talk about critical, critical penalties at crucial times.

I am going to try and reserve my judgment on this team until they play the next 3-4 games. If they get beat by Central Washington--things will look very bleak for the rest of the season. I have watched a couple of the CW games and they have an excellent defense, but they do not look prolific on offense. ISU needs to come out and blow them out. I am not sure that they can do it, but they need to.

Anyhow, I have probably not made much sense and I am sure that I have contradicted myself a ton, so I am going to wrap it up.
 
With the amount of penalties tonight shows a lack of discipline. How the lines got pushed around, it seemed like the defense was on the field most of the night. CWU may be more than the Bengals can handle. You would think that them being a Div 2 school, this would be a game that should be easily won. But ISUs coaching staff doesn't seem to be able to get the most out of their players. Maybe we can beat CWU and turn our season around with a win. GO BENGALS
 
The first 3 games on the road have been a learning experience for the Bengals but they need to come away with a win against CWS at home. ISU played Weber St. well in the first quarter but Weber St. wore them down in the second quarter and continued to play better than the Bengals in the second half. ISU better start establishing a passing game because if they cannot pass for yardage the opposing defense will creep up and take away the Bengal running game. Too many turnovers and penalties in this game for the Bengals, you cannot have a chance at winning with these type of mistakes. The Bengals need a convincing win this upcoming weekend against CWS otherwise it maybe a long season for the Bengals if they lose.
 
I still don't think we have the overall talent yet to even have a winning record. We've really got to get some better players out there. I think Coach Z and staff are starting to realize how tough the ISU job is. But they need a few more years to try to get the job done. We're really in trouble if we're not going to be able to run the ball this year and have to rely solely on our passing game. We really need a guy like Josh Barnett as our featured back instead of having a bigger, slower back; we'll have to wait until next year to address our running game. Do you guys really think that Knickrehm and LaPorta are the answer there? Weber's got a pretty good football team, and they'll go on and do well. Overall they're bigger than we are and more talented, especially they're skilled-position players. They've got quite a few players who made the pre-season all Big Sky team, and we didn't; our punter was the only all Big Sky selection. It's pretty tough to beat opponents when they're more talented than you are, although it can be done with the right coaching. I'm tired of losing to Weber every year -- or almost every year that is. I don't care if Coach Z and staff read this and don't like it -- this is a fan's message board and we should be able to air our concerns when we want to.
 
boisebengal said:
"I still don't think we have the overall talent yet to even have a winning record."

Winning record: are you kidding? How about even chalking up a win or even being in the game as we hit the latter part of the 3rd quarter? That would be a good start.
I was only able to listen to the game on the radio last night - the whole game. It felt like we were in the middle of a replay of most of last year's games: strong first and second possessions, a couple of scores, then we fumble or throw an interception (or both) and the opponents were on their way and we never recovered.
With few exceptions, this team is terrible. The emphasis there is on the overall TEAM performance and not on any single individual. You can argue Weber State is ranked highly but they were without some key players last night (according to Jerry and Brad) and still smeared the Bengals. I hope things go better next week. (Gee that sounds like last year, too.)
Click to expand...
 
Boise I do think that these RB are the answer, especially LaPorta. You cannot blame the RB's for poor run blocking and scheme. When Jordan Scott is health the RB's as a whole have all the talent needed to be effective as a UNIT at the BSC-level. LaPorta does not dance, he hits the hole and gets downhill quickly and he should be getting the bulk of the totes in the Bengal offense and Clint is a helluva FB if he is used in that roll.
 
I don't agree Cub. Neither one are amongst the premiere backs in the league -- they're a lot further down the totem pole if you've seen some of the other backs that other teams have. I think that Knickrehm would be best just in certain situations -- like 3rd and short.
 
I'll bet you dinner at the Ram that you will change your tune toward LaPorta very soon. That providing Whitworth pulls his head out and gives him the looks that he needs.
 
The bet's on my friend!! I gotta admit, LaPorta does have some speed and quickness. And honestly, I'm anxious to see what Skylar Morgan will do next year, after having seen what kind of a HS player he was!!
 
From the moment I saw LaPorta in practice LAST year--it was love at first sight for me. He hits the hole fast, has deceptive speed and waits to wiggle until he is in the open field.

LaPorta for president, Mr. Whitworth!
 
It seems like most posts are putting the finger on the running backs and the quarterback for not generating any points. Let's talk about the offense line and the receivers.... what about the defense ... what about the special teams....

Offensive Line - Is the offense line doing a good job this year or not..??.. The offense line is the key to the run game and passing game. You have to open up holes and clear out linebackers for a tailback to be effective and you have to pass block well when the quarterback is passing to give him time to find his receivers open down field.

Receivers - Are the receivers doing a good job this year or not..?? Are the receivers running their patterns and routes well and getting open for the quarterback to complete a pass? The receivers job are to get open down field and catch the ball during a pass play.

Defense - Is the defense doing a good job this year or not ..??.. The defense job is to stop the run and passing. as they are giving up a lot of points in the first 3 games..??.. The defense cannot allow too many points on the scoreboard. Granted, the first 3 games were against 3 great teams but it would appear that the defense cannot stop the opposing team offense in all of these games.

Special Teams - Is the special teams doing a good job this year or not..??.. The special teams is critical to field position whether it be kicking, punting, blocking, making tackles, hiking the ball for the punter and kicker, and returning the ball from punts and kickoffs. Special Teams is all about field position to allow the offense room to score and the defense to contain the opposing team offense.

I think the ISU coaches are doing the best job that they can with the players they have but it comes down to players performance during a game as the coaches can only coach during practices and games. The ISU coaches will make player changes during the season based on injuries, past performances, etc. The upcoming game against Central Washington will determine what kind of team ISU has ISU is expected to win this game by at least 14 points or more... If ISU loses this game, I think the ISU players and coaching staff will be in for a long season and they may not win a single game..
 
8-) What is the problem, good question. As we saw last night as long as the defense honors the run Blum can be effective with play action plays, without it Blum is a 50 percent passer who cannot move the team down the field. As soon as Weber realized we were running the same tired running plays we used against Oklahoma and ASU, the defense relaxed and tightened the coverage on our receivers. There were people open, but Blum was slow in finding them. By the way, your a Junior now Blum, try not locking on your receiver, Weber's safety was just reading your eyes from the moment you looked down field, just like the ISU fans in the stands were. Try looking someone off once in while. With luck Hill will be ready to go this week, he was throwing in warmups, but you could tell he was not gripping the ball right.

My question is why we are using a north south runner, who is at his best when he has momentum, starting him from a stand still on those shot gun hand offs we are running. To run those plays you need a quick footed elusive runner, none of which Knickrelm is. I don't know who makes the call on who is in for those plays, but this is not high school and the senior does not have to be the starter. Get the best back in for the situation, not the oldest. In fact, try putting the RB in a position to succeed by running plays that are suited to their strengths. Our leading rusher for the season did not see the field until the second half, and we have a kid who is seeing his first playing time since high school playing as the second team back. Guess what, he played like someone who had not played in two years. Who ever is making these calls, we can use all our backs, it is okay to play with more than one kid. Again, play the best for the situation. As we found out last year, if Knickrelm is your only threat at RB, the defenses we face will not respect the run. Just in case you have not noticed, we seem to be more effective running the ball when we go straight at the defense, then bounce them outside.
 
At least he can make the throws and the defense has to respect more than a 5 yard route. I was confident we would start the season 0-3. Where we go from now im not quite sure, but hopefully it is in a positive direction.
 
Five yard routes are what keep drives going. Missing open receivers at five yards is what kill drives, and stupid penalties. The ability to recognize when a five yard route is the best route is what makes a QB successful. Thus the reason the best QB's in the sky are all high percentage passers. There are alot of people who can throw the ball along ways, then there are QB's. As for your argument, weak at best. Try something that does not sound like second grade logic.
 
I'll see if I can see where the line is having problems tonight. I had to record the replay of the game, it did not come on until 11:00, way passed my bed time. Line play is hard to see from the stands, stupid mistakes like penalties are easy.
 
Blackfootbengal please just come out of the closet and tell everyone you are Russ Hill's father. Pretty much everyone on this board has very valid points that have to do with the TEAM, you on the other hand only talk about how Blum can't do it and how Hill can. I don't know who is the better QB but I do know that Hill was the QB for about 13 or 14 strait losses. 5 yard passes do not lead to victories, a run game that sets up the pass leads to victories. After watching the Weber game the biggest thing our O needs to do is establish in the near future is some sort of running game. I think this week will be an excellent opportunity for the O to pound the ball on the ground and gain some confidence heading into the heart of the schedule. I read your post and they are all so negative, so admit your relation to Russ and then everyone will understand your biases
 
mpfootball said:
Blackfootbengal please just come out of the closet and tell everyone you are Russ Hill's father. Pretty much everyone on this board has very valid points that have to do with the TEAM, you on the other hand only talk about how Blum can't do it and how Hill can. I don't know who is the better QB but I do know that Hill was the QB for about 13 or 14 strait losses. 5 yard passes do not lead to victories, a run game that sets up the pass leads to victories. After watching the Weber game the biggest thing our O needs to do is establish in the near future is some sort of running game. I think this week will be an excellent opportunity for the O to pound the ball on the ground and gain some confidence heading into the heart of the schedule. I read your post and they are all so negative, so admit your relation to Russ and then everyone will understand your biases
Click to expand...

Russ Hill is from Boise not Blackfoot
 
I think there was some sarcasm coming from his post. He was referring to the fact that blackfoot thinks hill is the greatest QB to ever play at ISU
 
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