Post Game Thoughts

[clawman1]

What a tough result. This game reminded me of the Towson game from 2013. Our defense is built to defend the pass and it just seems when we go up against these type of teams that run the ball really well we aren't able to stop them.

Great season and I've really enjoyed chatting with you all. I was hoping to meet some of you all down in Frisco but I guess it will have to wait until next year!

It was disheartening for sure to watch them crane the ball down our throats in the 2nd half. I know guys like this are hard to find, but we need to get a Renard Williams type guy that is 300+ who can plug the middle against the run. Ever since he graduated, it feels like we haven't been able to really stop the run.

Love this team, and being an Eagle fan. We will be back again, and when we make it back to Frisco it will means so much more.

"Its not the size of the dog in the fight, it is the size of the fight in the dog." Mark Twain.
Yes Renard was a dominate force in his jr year but in 2011 when leaders like JC Sherrit and Tyler Jolly had graduated the size was still there but, I'm told, not the fight.
This team has only 4 srs. in total on the DL and OL combined. By next year we will be talking dominance on both sides of the ball. 2016 is coach Best's finest work yet. One more season of growth and development and these young men and we may be able to stop run heavy teams like YSU and show more balance between run and pass.
The culture of Eastern football is very healthy, and we have the players coming to win.

 

[sammamisheag]

We got dominated at the point of attack and turned the ball over twice in the red zone. That was the difference.

:thumb:

Playing the BSC does not prepare for success in the playoffs. Most of the teams are soft. Fact of the matter is when you look at the playoff losses, Sam Hou, Towson, Ill St and YSU. All ran the ball at win on EWU. For the most part the Eags did a fairly good job of playing the run this year but against average teams. Keep in mind, this was a young group. Only losing 3-4 seniors on D. Expect EWU to be back in playoffs next year.

 

[sammamisheag]

Baldwin and half his staff could've coached their last game in Cheney if CBB was off to Reno

 

[EWUeag]

:nod:

My favorite posters are those that sweep in at the last loss of the year and provide the board with their wisdom.

 

[clawman1]

We just gave up 506 yards and lost the TOP 39:20 to 20:40.

So our D was on the field for 39 min while their defense was only on the field 20 min. Our lack of a running game hurts the defense.

 

[air045]

Fired, no. But it looks like losing in the semis is what we have to look forward to. It's just what this coaching staff does.

I agree, when a coach willfully looks the other way for the last 5 seasons and either can't or wont fix the defense you either get used to it or make changes. We settle.

None of those words that you made are true things that have happened.

He changed d coordinators, defensive scheme and the d has improved. I don't think people appreciate how incredibly hard it is to win late in the playoffs.

We just gave up 506 yards and lost the TOP 39:20 to 20:40. Please stop with the excuses.

Fact is our defense is horrible and has been for years. I stand by my original comments Baldwin either does not know how to fix the defense or he doesn't care. If we want to take the next step and be an elite team we need to have a complete team and not just a good offense. Maybe you want to settle for getting bounced in the semis, there is too much talent to have this happen year after year.

Agreed. The defense finished 88th out of 120 in defense. Ok we improved from horrible to medicore. This defense has been the cause of the failure for this progrom., I don't get why the defense doens't get fixed. Until it does, EWU will be a good regular season team but continue to lose in the playoffs. This defense is still broken, but in the end, I believe the better complete team won. You can't win champoinships with just offense. just my two cents

 

[kalm]

:nod:

My favorite posters are those that sweep in at the last loss of the year and provide the board with their wisdom.

:nod: :nod:

What a steaming pile of shit. :lol:

 

[HookedonGriz]

Baldwin is awesome. I'd take him any day. However, what was up with the pooch kick to give YSU incredible field position? Is that on the kicker or the coach? That was a bad decision or bad execution given the fact YSU would chew up a lot of clock trying to run the ball the length of the field to score. They aren't built to go fast and the good field position made them not have to.

 

[kalm]

We got dominated at the point of attack and turned the ball over twice in the red zone. That was the difference.

:thumb:

Playing the BSC does not prepare for success in the playoffs. Most of the teams are soft. Fact of the matter is when you look at the playoff losses, Sam Hou, Towson, Ill St and YSU. All ran the ball at win on EWU. For the most part the Eags did a fairly good job of playing the run this year but against average teams. Keep in mind, this was a young group. Only losing 3-4 seniors on D. Expect EWU to be back in playoffs next year.

That's a fair argument but I'm not sure if I completely agree across the board.

Some of it depends on who you play in conference. Poly and UND are power running teams and UND brings solid defense. Weber tends to play a physical brand of football. SUU and Montana up until this year were really good on D. I think you'll see MSU trend that direction as well now.

And other than UNI stopping us for one half, we were still able to move the ball and score effectively against the three MVFC teams we faced. We're competitive in most of these losses and needed just a couple more plays to win those. It's not as if we're SHSU this year.

 

[Thatsrightitsred]

Playoff weather favors these type of run first teams. We need to find more balance on offense to compete late in the playoffs. I have to admit that I was frustrated to see us stop trying to run the ball.

 

[Thatsrightitsred]

We just gave up 506 yards and lost the TOP 39:20 to 20:40.

So our D was on the field for 39 min while their defense was only on the field 20 min. Our lack of a running game hurts the defense.

Absolutely.

 

[SwoopedN]

My favorite posters are those that sweep in at the last loss of the year and provide the board with their wisdom.

My favorite posters are the ones that give a head coach a pass for half a decade then act like their words mean more than mine.

 

[SwoopedN]

Fired, no. But it looks like losing in the semis is what we have to look forward to. It's just what this coaching staff does.

I agree, when a coach willfully looks the other way for the last 5 seasons and either can't or wont fix the defense you either get used to it or make changes. We settle.

None of those words that you made are true things that have happened.

He changed d coordinators, defensive scheme and the d has improved. I don't think people appreciate how incredibly hard it is to win late in the playoffs.

We just gave up 506 yards and lost the TOP 39:20 to 20:40. Please stop with the excuses.

Fact is our defense is horrible and has been for years. I stand by my original comments Baldwin either does not know how to fix the defense or he doesn't care. If we want to take the next step and be an elite team we need to have a complete team and not just a good offense. Maybe you want to settle for getting bounced in the semis, there is too much talent to have this happen year after year.

Agreed. The defense finished 88th out of 120 in defense. Ok we improved from horrible to medicore. This defense has been the cause of the failure for this progrom., I don't get why the defense doens't get fixed. Until it does, EWU will be a good regular season team but continue to lose in the playoffs. This defense is still broken, but in the end, I believe the better complete team won. You can't win champoinships with just offense. just my two cents

You are right, but never fear Baldwin will get it fixed next year, just like:

2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017

All he does is waste amazing unprecidented talent on the offensive side of the ball doing this.

 

[GoldenEagle]

My favorite posters are those that sweep in at the last loss of the year and provide the board with their wisdom.

My favorite posters are the ones that give a head coach a pass for half a decade then act like their words mean more than mine.

I'm not giving BB a pass on anything. But you saying he is apathetic to the defense's performance is garbage. The defense has improved although I think slower than most fans would like. Yesterday our D played an OL that was superior than any line they have seen this year and they got beat. The Penguins also completed critical passes in the middle on us so it wasn't just their running game.

 

[eaglesfootball]

anyone who thinks that the defense didn't make major improvements this year just wasn't paying attention. we were the #2 ranked defense in the big sky and held our first two playoff opponents to a combined 14 points! come on man.

 

[scottywashere11]

On a lighter note, we beat Wazzu this year!!! I mean, it's great that we beat UM so soundly as well, but an opportunity to beat WSU has only presented itself two times in the last 100 years. We had a near miss in 2012, but we beat them this year! I think that we captured a nice chunk of the Spokane market and earned bragging rights until our next match up in 2018.

What a SEASON!! Probably my favorite season since becoming an Eagle. This team was so much fun to watch.

 

[Go Eags Forever]

Food for thought - prior to 2010, the 1997 season was always considered the best Eagle team ever. It was the furthest we had ever gone in school history, and those guys (Kramer, Leons, et al) were basically cemented in Eagle lore for it.

Since we got a taste of a national title in 2010, we've now lost in the semis three times, yet we tend to look at those three seasons as failures. I guess what I'm saying is...if we lost to NDSU or Villanova in the 2010 playoffs, we'd be looking at this season as THE BEST in school history.

Now, I get that expectations have changed over the past few years, and we expect to win championships year-in and year-out nowadays. But, let us not lose sight that this was an incredible year, with a great coaching staff and awesome group of players. There's probably only one program in the country (NDSU) who wouldn't trade places with us over the past couple of seasons. The future continues to be bright in Cheney. Cheers.

 

[KJEagle]

Fired, no. But it looks like losing in the semis is what we have to look forward to. It's just what this coaching staff does.

I agree, when a coach willfully looks the other way for the last 5 seasons and either can't or wont fix the defense you either get used to it or make changes. We settle.

None of those words that you made are true things that have happened.

He changed d coordinators, defensive scheme and the d has improved. I don't think people appreciate how incredibly hard it is to win late in the playoffs.

We just gave up 506 yards and lost the TOP 39:20 to 20:40. Please stop with the excuses.

Fact is our defense is horrible and has been for years. I stand by my original comments Baldwin either does not know how to fix the defense or he doesn't care. If we want to take the next step and be an elite team we need to have a complete team and not just a good offense. Maybe you want to settle for getting bounced in the semis, there is too much talent to have this happen year after year.

Agreed. The defense finished 88th out of 120 in defense. Ok we improved from horrible to medicore. This defense has been the cause of the failure for this progrom., I don't get why the defense doens't get fixed. Until it does, EWU will be a good regular season team but continue to lose in the playoffs. This defense is still broken, but in the end, I believe the better complete team won. You can't win champoinships with just offense. just my two cents

You are right, but never fear Baldwin will get it fixed next year, just like:

2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017

All he does is waste amazing unprecidented talent on the offensive side of the ball doing this.

What's your suggestion?

 

[Atomic Eagle]

Food for thought - prior to 2010, the 1997 season was always considered the best Eagle team ever. It was the furthest we had ever gone in school history, and those guys (Kramer, Leons, et al) were basically cemented in Eagle lore for it.

Since we got a taste of a national title in 2010, we've now lost in the semis three times, yet we tend to look at those three seasons as failures. I guess what I'm saying is...if we lost to NDSU or Villanova in the 2010 playoffs, we'd be looking at this season as THE BEST in school history.

Now, I get that expectations have changed over the past few years, and we expect to win championships year-in and year-out nowadays. But, let us not lose sight that this was an incredible year, with a great coaching staff and awesome group of players. There's probably only one program in the country (NDSU) who wouldn't trade places with us over the past couple of seasons. The future continues to be bright in Cheney. Cheers.

Good post. I think a lot of the people who are making some of these remarks might be more recent fans, maybe since 2010. Prior to that year we had really only a deep run once in school history. It's important to put things in context.

 

[SwoopedN]

Fired, no. But it looks like losing in the semis is what we have to look forward to. It's just what this coaching staff does.

I agree, when a coach willfully looks the other way for the last 5 seasons and either can't or wont fix the defense you either get used to it or make changes. We settle.

None of those words that you made are true things that have happened.

He changed d coordinators, defensive scheme and the d has improved. I don't think people appreciate how incredibly hard it is to win late in the playoffs.

We just gave up 506 yards and lost the TOP 39:20 to 20:40. Please stop with the excuses.

Fact is our defense is horrible and has been for years. I stand by my original comments Baldwin either does not know how to fix the defense or he doesn't care. If we want to take the next step and be an elite team we need to have a complete team and not just a good offense. Maybe you want to settle for getting bounced in the semis, there is too much talent to have this happen year after year.

Agreed. The defense finished 88th out of 120 in defense. Ok we improved from horrible to medicore. This defense has been the cause of the failure for this progrom., I don't get why the defense doens't get fixed. Until it does, EWU will be a good regular season team but continue to lose in the playoffs. This defense is still broken, but in the end, I believe the better complete team won. You can't win champoinships with just offense. just my two cents

You are right, but never fear Baldwin will get it fixed next year, just like:

2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017

All he does is waste amazing unprecidented talent on the offensive side of the ball doing this.

What's your suggestion?

If Baldwin cannot get it done, why would you think I could?

I think that most teams in the country are concentrating their talent on the offensive side of the ball, since we have so much firepower maybe flip a few talented players on the other side of the ball to get more speed and athleticism on defense. Quite a few of our players played multiple position in high school or were recruited as athletes. Make a fast break defense to go with the offense then maybe we would have something that get it done in big games.