@ NDSU Game Day Thread

[Obzerver]

And for those who thought Talkington--- not the defense--- was the problem.... yeah. The offense with a new QB still looks shitty and the defense still can't tackle and has no idea who to defend running plays. Does anyone think playing NDSU darn near every season when they kick our ass each time makes sense? I feel like as bad as our defense is year after year, getting some AD support with letting us make some reasonable schedules that allow the team to develop sure wouldn't hurt.

Fresno State just beat Purdue on the road... and got paid $1.3mm to do it... and now we travel there. Stupid is as stupid does.

Talkington certainly wasn’t the only problem. But we’ve had terrrible defenses in the past but still found ways to win games because we had elite players on offense.

Seriously, when is the defense ever any good? It’s always been our achilles heel, even in years we’ve made deep playoff runs.

Therein lies the problem. Why can't we find some tough ass dudes on defense anymore? Go back and watch the Eastern teams of the early 90s. They put out a quality product year after year. There are legit D guys Eastern can lock in. You may have to redshirt an undersized guy for a year and develop him. He may need to add 30 pounds. But those guys exist (ie Tommy Williams, Jason Marsh). Baldwin's best teams featured some guys of that caliber. You need to find a guy who can give you 60 plays a game, knowing he's gonna get creamed from time to time, but is still willing to dust himself off and stay nasty.

The most embarrassing play of today's game was the soft inside run where we missed about 5 tackles and their RB bolted into the endzone. Rewatch Tennessee State's first play TD against us last year. It was nearly identical... one guy hit the ball carrier and the rest of the D stood around waiting for him to fall. He didn't, took off, and scored a long TD. Wash, rinse, repeat. It's bullshit. It's soft. Tommy Williams and Jason Marsh would've murdered the ball carrier in that situation.

Dopa to your pt; Deon Sanders 1st year coach for a terrible (i mean terrible) Colorado team comes in and brings in 68 (yes 68) NEW scholarship players(one players so damn good he plays both sides of the ball) and today beats #17 TCU who was in the Big 12 Championship game. So, somebody can bring in new players and make it work. Think we have a record 26 transfer players and Best said this morning in interview they went out and got hitters and tacklers. So it can be done and I'm thinking we have ballers so give them another chance to shine. BTW Fresno St. went to Purdue(8-6 last season) and beat them 39-35 today...yikes!!!

 

[LDopaPDX]

We gave up 337 yards on the ground today, but St Francis gave up 339 on Thursday. We are now only the second worst rushing defense in d1. Baby steps...!

 

[luckyintheorder]

Hahahahaha.... different day, same Dopa. Certainly understand the frustration. Honestly, not looking to be argumentative, the stats are horrendous. NDSU is a good MAC team. If they aren't the best team in FCS, I'll eat a vegan seed oil laden kill you slowly burger. Net net. Eastern can get better from here or go the other way. To Dopa's and others point about schedule, it can be disheartening to face top foes back to back when trying to build confidence and chemistry in players. If they use these games as LEARNING opportunities and stay resilient, Eags could compete in the Big Sky, but to Dopa's sarcastic point, baby steps ain't getting it done.

The take aways for me:
DL played aggressively.
Effort throughout.
LB's failed but were better than last year.
Zone defense sucks ass.
Visperas looked conflicted.
Third down play calling got worse as the game went on (much like Jax State, weird)
OL? Visperas was under pressure every single play, RB's were stymied to about zero yards a carry
Wortham was fun to watch
schedule sucks
Visperas or Taylor need to take a big step forward
Yes, I believe Best is the biggest problem and living in the early 2000's were FCS wasn't nearly as talented as it is today

Would it surprise me if Taylor (QB) plays against Fresno? Nope. Is it Best's history to make changes? Nope.

Some perspective: Oregon stomps PSU 81 - 7..... Penn St beats WV 38-15 (feel like this was a NDSU v EWU type game)..... Ole Miss 73 -7 over Mercer

 

[LDopaPDX]

If I was looking for upside, I'd say we played hard for 4 quarters. The problem was that we looked second best all game long. We had a couple of mystery calls in the first half that stopped any attempt at gaining momentum. I rewatched the 4th down false start and still have no idea why it was flagged. There was also a facemask call that seemed completely out of the blue and a holding call on the center that seemed out of nowhere. Obviously, those calls didn't cost us the game, but they were at inopportune times and worked to kill off any momentum we were trying to build.

If there's one thing that ran completely counter to what I was expecting it was our lack of rushing. Tuna Altahir was somebody I was high on... he had 6 touches for 8 yards. With an offensive line returning so many guys, I expected more rushing yards and more rushing attempts. I guess when you're playing from behind all game, we were trying to chase it the whole way through. Kinda/sorta on that same topic, I hate winning the toss and receiving. It shows zero faith in the defense and it creates a situation where the offense is obligated to score to justify the decision.

 

[Seattle Eagle]

We really didn't have any answer when they started blitzing virtually every play in the second half. We had some success with some bubble screens and whatnot to counter it but then the mystery play calling came into effect and we kept trying these slow developing plays. Come on, everyone knows you can't beat a team with defensive speed with that stuff. You gotta snap it and throw it. I remember a QB like Bo Levi Mitchell being really good with that kinda stuff.

All in all, Visperas made some nice plays and I think he has some upside. It's hard to judge him too terribly with the way the offensive line played and him running for his life in the second half.

 

[luckyintheorder]

If I was looking for upside, I'd say we played hard for 4 quarters. The problem was that we looked second best all game long. We had a couple of mystery calls in the first half that stopped any attempt at gaining momentum. I rewatched the 4th down false start and still have no idea why it was flagged. There was also a facemask call that seemed completely out of the blue and a holding call on the center that seemed out of nowhere. Obviously, those calls didn't cost us the game, but they were at inopportune times and worked to kill off any momentum we were trying to build.

If there's one thing that ran completely counter to what I was expecting it was our lack of rushing. Tuna Altahir was somebody I was high on... he had 6 touches for 8 yards. With an offensive line returning so many guys, I expected more rushing yards and more rushing attempts. I guess when you're playing from behind all game, we were trying to chase it the whole way through. Kinda/sorta on that same topic, I hate winning the toss and receiving. It shows zero faith in the defense and it creates a situation where the offense is obligated to score to justify the decision.

It's sadly humorous to say "It could have been worse". Holding NDSU to 35 was a win right? Good breakdown on some of the foul officiating. It absolutely killed momentum and some of the aggressiveness the team was displaying. Hard to overcome mistakes and poor officiating. I am actually looking forward to the Fresno game and see if the effort is maintained in what most would agree is an uphill battle.