Keep Calm, and...

[ewueagle2010]

Yesterday was extremely difficult to watch for everyone. Our defense couldn't stop what everyone knew was coming and that's frustrating to anyone! hno:

On the bright side, just about everyone thought if we came out of this first four games 2-2, we'd be happy. Granted, maybe the wins and losses didn't stack up like everyone expected, but we're still 2-2, and most importantly 0-0 in conference. Our D has to improve to have any shot at a run this season. But that loss yesterday means nothing as far as winning a Big Sky Championship. I have faith that the coaching staff is more disgusted than we are, and they're going to make some adjustments. We should take care of business the next few weeks and get off to a great conference start before heading into Missoula. I believe Montana was exposed yesterday as well, and they're not nearly as invincible as Egriz claimed.

As fans, we need to chill out. This team has the talent, they've showed signs, and its just about pulling it all together now. I have faith, you should too! It's a new week now, let's show up to Roos Field on Saturday and get this baby back on track!

Keep Calm and EAGLE On!! :thumb:

 

[EWURanger]

Good post. For as bad as the defense has looked so far, they have faced off against some very good offenses in the early part of the season and will probably be better off for it. There isn't a game left on the schedule that isn't winnable.

 

[kalm]

Good post. For as bad as the defense has looked so far, they have faced off against some very good offenses in the early part of the season and will probably be better off for it. There isn't a game left on the schedule that isn't winnable.

:nod:

I thought we'd be 2-2 and finish 8-4 which should get as an at-large. I don't think any team will run the conference table, but I wouldn't be terribly surprised if we do. At 10-2, a seed is still very possible so all of our goals are still right in front of us. The defense needs to improve but I think it can and will. As someone mentioned in another thread, we've go the athletes and talent to do it...

I'm also glad we don't have NAU on the schedule, who I had as a dark horse contender before the season started. They have three very good playmakers at each level of the defense. They have a young QB who should improve throughout the season. They will run Bauman and attempt to shorten games. Teams are going to have a tough time scoring on them.

Their game at MSU next week will be very interesting.

 

[LDopaPDX]

I don't know about keeping calm. I'll bet Coach Baldwin is extremely stressed right now that we haven't been able to handle a running offense for 3 years and don't appear to have made any progress toward that end this year either.

Frankly, I think the staff needs to take another shot at this while we've got some lesser opponents coming up. If we play Sam Houston State again with the same defensive scheme, they're just going to hammer us again. But even before we think in those terms, this team has to win 7 of the next 8.

8-4 *might* get into the playoffs, but that's a toss up at best. Lots of 3-loss big conference teams got left out last year. And if Eastern did get in, it would be because the 2013 team was trading on the name of the 2010 and 2012 teams.

 

[kalm]

I don't know about keeping calm. I'll bet Coach Baldwin is extremely stressed right now that we haven't been able to handle a running offense for 3 years and don't appear to have made any progress toward that end this year either.

Frankly, I think the staff needs to take another shot at this while we've got some lesser opponents coming up. If we play Sam Houston State again with the same defensive scheme, they're just going to hammer us again. But even before we think in those terms, this team has to win 7 of the next 8.

8-4 *might* get into the playoffs, but that's a toss up at best. Lots of 3-loss big conference teams got left out last year. And if Eastern did get in, it would be because the 2013 team was trading on the name of the 2010 and 2012 teams.

There's 4 more teams in this year's playoffs. At 8-4, with our SOS, we'd be more than a toss up. :twocents:

 

[LDopaPDX]

I don't know about keeping calm. I'll bet Coach Baldwin is extremely stressed right now that we haven't been able to handle a running offense for 3 years and don't appear to have made any progress toward that end this year either.

Frankly, I think the staff needs to take another shot at this while we've got some lesser opponents coming up. If we play Sam Houston State again with the same defensive scheme, they're just going to hammer us again. But even before we think in those terms, this team has to win 7 of the next 8.

8-4 *might* get into the playoffs, but that's a toss up at best. Lots of 3-loss big conference teams got left out last year. And if Eastern did get in, it would be because the 2013 team was trading on the name of the 2010 and 2012 teams.

There's 4 more teams in this year's playoffs. At 8-4, with our SOS, we'd be more than a toss up. :twocents:

Not if a lot of teams finish with 3 losses from power conferences (lots of 3 loss teams missed the playoffs last year). A 3-loss CAA or MVC team will certainly get in before a 4-loss Big Sky team. Heck, they'd probably have to take a 3-loss Southland team based on how that conference has done this year. The NCAA doesn't care much that our AD crafted a Gawd awful schedule... With 4-losses, everything would need to break in your favor to have a shot in.

 

[kalm]

I don't know about keeping calm. I'll bet Coach Baldwin is extremely stressed right now that we haven't been able to handle a running offense for 3 years and don't appear to have made any progress toward that end this year either.

Frankly, I think the staff needs to take another shot at this while we've got some lesser opponents coming up. If we play Sam Houston State again with the same defensive scheme, they're just going to hammer us again. But even before we think in those terms, this team has to win 7 of the next 8.

8-4 *might* get into the playoffs, but that's a toss up at best. Lots of 3-loss big conference teams got left out last year. And if Eastern did get in, it would be because the 2013 team was trading on the name of the 2010 and 2012 teams.

There's 4 more teams in this year's playoffs. At 8-4, with our SOS, we'd be more than a toss up. :twocents:

Not if a lot of teams finish with 3 losses from power conferences (lots of 3 loss teams missed the playoffs last year). A 3-loss CAA or MVC team will certainly get in before a 4-loss Big Sky team. Heck, they'd probably have to take a 3-loss Southland team based on how that conference has done this year. The NCAA doesn't care much that our AD crafted a Gawd awful schedule... With 4-losses, everything would need to break in your favor to have a shot in.

I don't recall that there were "lots" of 3 loss power conference teams. NAU (8-3) Richmond (8-3) and a 7-4 Towson team were the only three burst bubbles that really stand out. Towson would have been a lock with a 24 team field. There were some 3 -loss teams from lesser conferences that may have made the discussion but then again there SOS isn't even close.

Speaking of SOS, Delaware's OOC includes, Jacksonville, DSU, and Wagner. JMU's includes CCSU, St. Francis P.A., and Charlotte. Bill and Mary's is Hampton, Lafayette, and Penn. Assuming our other two losses would be "quality" losses, the committee would have to consider our resume equal at worst. :nod:

 

[Screamin_Eagle174]

Keep kalm? What if I want a refund?

 

[kalm]

Keep kalm? What if I want a refund?

:facepalm:

 

[Screamin_Eagle174]

Keep kalm? What if I want a refund?

:facepalm:

 

[ewueagle2010]

Looking at the rest of the schedule, I think EWU has 4 wins and 4 toss ups left. I really don't see us losing any of the next 3, or at Idaho State. The 4 toss ups include @ Montana, @ Cal Poly and home against Montana State and Portland State.

It really all hinges on our defense because we could easily finish 6-6 if nothing changes. But, if we can straighten that out, I really feel comfortable saying the Eags can finish at least 9-3. Split the road games and win at home.

 

[marceagfan5]

I wanted to wait and calm down before posting after Saturdays game....

My Thoughts

GOOD

- Our offense is talented and young, we have some great years ahead of us. We still put up 34 points on the road against a team that has been to the national championship game the past 2 years.

- Vernon Adams, the kid is a stud. He has his ups and downs, but he is a star. He will continue to get better and better every week, but we need to enjoy the ride.

- We finished the non-conf season at 2-2. I would have thought 2-2 would have been great before the year started so I will take 2-2.

- We finally get to play some home games. The road sucks, and Toledo and Sam Houston are not easy to get to. The team needs some home games and we get 2 out of the next 3 at home.

BAD

- Our D did not play well. We still can't stop the spread option. Sam Houston kills us with that scheme, credit a lot to their team but our D looked awful.

- How can our D play like that after we had 2 weeks to prepare. It was the same team as last year, we knew what was coming and still couldn't stop it. I would have preferred to load the box, leave our Corner's on islands and make them throw the ball, it was brutal to watch.

- Disappointed that none of the stations in Spokane picked this game up. For those of us who have Dish or Direct, we couldn't watch.

GOING FORWARD

We are going to be fine. Honestly I think there are only 2 games left on our schedule that we could lose, at Montana and at Cal Poly. MSU is good, but they won't beat us in Cheney, neither will PSU. We have trouble with the pistol but we are not going to lose to PSU this year, book it. We should win that game going away... MSU looks good, but I think we will be fine against them, we typically play well later in the year and they don't. We don't seem to struggle as much stopping their offense. The rest of our games we should win by 2+ scores...

I think we finish the year at 9-3 (we drop one to Cal Poly or Griz). I think we are in the playoffs if we finish 8-4 or 9-3. Probably a pretty high seed at 9-3 (remember they seed 8 teams this year). Winner of the Big Sky probably gets the 3 seed this year (unless Towson runs the table), so its our's for the taking. NDSU is going to be the 1 seed and Sam Houston will most likely be the 2. By losing the Sam Houston game we pretty much guaranteed ourselves a playoff game at NDSU or at Sam Houston...

Just remember, we were 2-2 in 2010 as well, and we get Weber this week, thats a solve all in itself...

 

[Rjones61]

:thumb: Great post Marceagle. I agree that even if we finish 8-4, we will still get a spot on the playoffs. The rankings are still regarding us fairly highly as a team. In filling extra spots, we would be one of the first teams the board would look to. However, if we slip up and lose to Weber State, it will be severely hurt our ability to get into playoffs with a 8-4 record.

MSU isn't nearly as potent as I thought they would be this year. I agree that they won't beat us at home. Optimistically, I would like to think that we win out from here. However, I am predicting we win both of our difficult games, (UM and Cal Poly) and manage to slip up by losing to a team we are overlooking (note the SUU game last year)

Although part of me thinks there is nothing to worry about with PSU, part of me recollects the 2011 home match in which we got spanked by PSU. This makes me nervous.

 

[ewueagle2010]

Well, obviously the pollsters see something in EWU as we're still the highest ranked Big Sky team in the nation! :thumb:

#6 EWU
#8 MSU
#10 UM

 

[LDopaPDX]

Well, obviously the pollsters see something in EWU as we're still the highest ranked Big Sky team in the nation! :thumb:

#6 EWU
#8 MSU
#10 UM

Honestly, if any of these 3 really deserve to be in the top 10 right now, that's a sad state of affairs for the FCS. I don't think any of this trio belongs in the top 10... for Gawd's sake, Montana State and Eastern are only .500 and UM has lost to the only semi-legit team they've played!

 

[marceagfan5]

Well, obviously the pollsters see something in EWU as we're still the highest ranked Big Sky team in the nation! :thumb:

#6 EWU
#8 MSU
#10 UM

Honestly, if any of these 3 really deserve to be in the top 10 right now, that's a sad state of affairs for the FCS. I don't think any of this trio belongs in the top 10... for Gawd's sake, Montana State and Eastern are only .500 and UM has lost to the only semi-legit team they've played!

I can agree on a lot with you Dopa, but not on this. The FCS set a record this year in victories over FBS schools. Who the heck are you going to put over the Big Sky schools? We lost to a FBS school and a top 2, back to back national runner up school on the road. You really think Eastern Illinois is better than us and they are ranked at #5...

 

[LDopaPDX]

Well, obviously the pollsters see something in EWU as we're still the highest ranked Big Sky team in the nation! :thumb:

#6 EWU
#8 MSU
#10 UM

Honestly, if any of these 3 really deserve to be in the top 10 right now, that's a sad state of affairs for the FCS. I don't think any of this trio belongs in the top 10... for Gawd's sake, Montana State and Eastern are only .500 and UM has lost to the only semi-legit team they've played!

I can agree on a lot with you Dopa, but not on this. The FCS set a record this year in victories over FBS schools. Who the heck are you going to put over the Big Sky schools? We lost to a FBS school and a top 2, back to back national runner up school on the road. You really think Eastern Illinois is better than us and they are ranked at #5...

Eastern Illinois clobbered San Diego State, and Oregon State needed a half miracle to beat the same team.

 

[kalm]

I wanted to wait and calm down before posting after Saturdays game....

My Thoughts

GOOD

- Our offense is talented and young, we have some great years ahead of us. We still put up 34 points on the road against a team that has been to the national championship game the past 2 years.

- Vernon Adams, the kid is a stud. He has his ups and downs, but he is a star. He will continue to get better and better every week, but we need to enjoy the ride.

- We finished the non-conf season at 2-2. I would have thought 2-2 would have been great before the year started so I will take 2-2.

- We finally get to play some home games. The road sucks, and Toledo and Sam Houston are not easy to get to. The team needs some home games and we get 2 out of the next 3 at home.

BAD

- Our D did not play well. We still can't stop the spread option. Sam Houston kills us with that scheme, credit a lot to their team but our D looked awful.

- How can our D play like that after we had 2 weeks to prepare. It was the same team as last year, we knew what was coming and still couldn't stop it. I would have preferred to load the box, leave our Corner's on islands and make them throw the ball, it was brutal to watch.

- Disappointed that none of the stations in Spokane picked this game up. For those of us who have Dish or Direct, we couldn't watch.

GOING FORWARD

We are going to be fine. Honestly I think there are only 2 games left on our schedule that we could lose, at Montana and at Cal Poly. MSU is good, but they won't beat us in Cheney, neither will PSU. We have trouble with the pistol but we are not going to lose to PSU this year, book it. We should win that game going away... MSU looks good, but I think we will be fine against them, we typically play well later in the year and they don't. We don't seem to struggle as much stopping their offense. The rest of our games we should win by 2+ scores...

I think we finish the year at 9-3 (we drop one to Cal Poly or Griz). I think we are in the playoffs if we finish 8-4 or 9-3. Probably a pretty high seed at 9-3 (remember they seed 8 teams this year). Winner of the Big Sky probably gets the 3 seed this year (unless Towson runs the table), so its our's for the taking. NDSU is going to be the 1 seed and Sam Houston will most likely be the 2. By losing the Sam Houston game we pretty much guaranteed ourselves a playoff game at NDSU or at Sam Houston...

Just remember, we were 2-2 in 2010 as well, and we get Weber this week, thats a solve all in itself...

I forgot about 8 teams getting seeded. That could be huge for us. A MVFC, CAA, or Southland #2 like UNI, McNeese, or UD that would out-bid based on attendance might have to come here instead.

 

[EWURanger]

I wouldn't count Weber, or really any conference opponent, as gimmee games. Weber is always a tough opponent for EWU, mostly due to their physical style of play. Seems like we always come out of that game with a bunch of injuries as well, although I hope that's not the case this Saturday. Remember that they also put up 50 points on SFA, who beat MSU. Granted, SFA's defense is worse than ours right now, but at the very least we know Weber can score points.

As far as the rest of the schedule, I guess at this point I am not as optimistic as some. Every single one of those games could go either way with the way our defense is playing right now. Our offense will most likely always score enough points to keep us in every game, but our defense really needs to step up their game. I don't want to be overly critical of them because I know that we've played some really tough opponents and they are probably taking their lumps right now, but we simply cannot continue to give up so many yards a game and expect that we're going to be in a position to win the Big Sky or even make the playoffs at all this year. This team is starting to remind me a lot of the 2009 team that could put up tons of points but could not stop anybody on defense. We lost in the first round to SFA that season. I also remember us being extremely think at LB towards the end of that season with very similar defensive stats.

 

[clawman1]

Could the Weber game be a trap?