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Prediction Thread UNI 9 @ EWU 19 Atomic Eagle had 24-14

L

luckyintheorder

Active member
Wasn't going to start a thread, but what the hell... Good thread for UNI v EWU going too. Know everyone is keyed up for this one and suppose there will be alcohol involved in some comments, notations, arguments and rebuttals. A good time had by all.

Watched UNI @ Missouri State last night and liked both teams. Whoever plays Missouri State will have a handful of trouble. They've got some speed and the QB transfer from Utah a couple of years ago.

UNI has an OL that averages 6'6" and over 320lbs and couple of RB transfers from FBS schools (one is injured, status unknown for Saturday) an All American receiver and a decent defense with several DB transfers from other schools. Farley is a solid, if unspectacular coach per the Panther fans and I recall they have commented on this in past contests.


UNI features a QB with a biggish arm but he has a very long motion, ala the Maine QB. OL is solid and I liked how they ran their offense. Motion, misdirection, counters, lead blockers, slants and stretching the field periodically. They do turn the ball over and the QB isn't talented enough to consistently hurt a good Eastern defensive backfield. Despite the good OL play expect Johnson, Jerome and company to put some pressure on the QB, especially off the right side and blitzes can get home. Definitely have to maintain the edge and upfront line stunts will likely be ineffective (of course, I think they aren't effective most of the time for a multitude of reasons)

If Eastern plays hat on hat with the DL and OL everything else will take care of itself. Would like to see EB3 stretch the field with some deep throws and use his legs to extend drives and generally put the defense on their heels. I think McCann has the running game doing a better job of setting up the passing game and the OL has blocked better in the second half of the last two contests. Tight formations play to UNI's strengths and not sure that screens will be super effective. Misdirection will be rewarded and can see TE's sneaking out the backside of plays being wide open.

Wish I could trust Ena to just believe in his players and let them play. Eag's are more effective in man than zone but moving the safety around in the middle of field could pay off with some TO's and stops. Aside from Sendelbach and Graham, Lindsay and Warren are going to have to step up their game and make sure the edges are maintained. Lindsay has improved a lot this season.

My recipe for success on defense is maintaining the line of scrimmage and taking advantage of long down and distance situations with pressure and letting the offense attack by stretching the field sideline to sideline (formation) and vertically. UNI will move the ball and play solid defense but struggles in the RedZone. If special teams gives up big plays, this one will be closer than it should be.

Is Best better when he is mad as a hornet? Seemed like it earlier in the season but I'm not sure he was able to maintain that mode. Someone closer to the program will have to chime in. Eag's need the best out of the coaches and themselves this week. Know they will get back up this week after the committee worked to knock them down. I hate committee's.

I like the Eagles 45 UNI 25

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I've watched parts of a couple of UNI games and was not overly impressed with either O or D. I was looking for speed and didn't see anything jump out. If EB3 gets even average time he will get the ball to receivers, then they need to catch it.
They do have a good running back and good kicker. QB is bigger than average and faster than he looks. We've been hurt by big plays in our losses so safeties need to play smart. I don't see them scoring more than 3TD and I'll throw in a FG.
They do have the 2x MFVC defensive player of the year, no slouch especially in that conference.
All in all we have more talent on the field we just need to all pull the wagon in the same direction.
No stupid penalties!
No dropped balls
Just do your job!
Eagles 42
Panthers 24
 
clawman said:
I've watched parts of a couple of UNI games and was not overly impressed with either O or D. I was looking for speed and didn't see anything jump out. If EB3 gets even average time he will get the ball to receivers, then they need to catch it.
They do have a good running back and good kicker. QB is bigger than average and faster than he looks. We've been hurt by big plays in our losses so safeties need to play smart. I don't see them scoring more than 3TD and I'll throw in a FG.
They do have the 2x MFVC defensive player of the year, no slouch especially in that conference.
All in all we have more talent on the field we just need to all pull the wagon in the same direction.
No stupid penalties!
No dropped balls
Just do your job!
Eagles 42
Panthers 24
Click to expand...

Solid. Well coached. Not exceptional. I think you got it summed up clawman. Enjoy the game today, hope Eag's fill the stands.
 
https://www.missourivalleybeat.com/post ... fs-preview

Northern Iowa (6-5, MVFC At-Large) @ #4 Eastern Washington (9-2, Big Sky At-Large) – 3pm – ESPN+

While it is debatable whether UNI earned their way into the playoffs with their 6-5 record, if the Panthers somehow win the National Title there can be no debate. That ish would be earned. With the way the bracket is set up, if the seeds hold UNI would need to singlehandedly eliminate the entire STATS top 5 (mostly in consecutive weeks on the road) to win the championship. That is maybe the toughest draw in FCS playoffs history, but beggars can’t be choosers. The real losers here are Eastern Washington who have arguably the best player in the nation, finished 9-2 with an FBS win (UNLV) and no bad losses (by one to Weber and by 3 to Montana State), and beat two teams in the playoff field (one of which is seeded in Montana, the other is UC-Davis). Not only was that not deemed good enough for a seed, but it put them into a spot in the bracket where they would need to beat the top four ranked teams other than them, mostly on the road, to win the title. That would include a trip to Wa-Griz to face Montana, a team they already beat this season, in round two. That is rough. The Eagles are very, very good and are downright elite offensively. They never scored fewer than twenty points a game this season and averaged over 46 points per contest. Walter Peyton Award finalist Eric Barriere has thrown for over 4,200 yards and 40 (FORTY!) touchdowns to only six interceptions. He has also run for 224 yards and three more touchdowns. But the Eagles can beat you on the ground too, as running back Dennis Merritt has 812 yards on 168 carries with 14 touchdowns. As you might imagine, EWU has a slew of talented receivers. Ten different humans have caught touchdowns for Eastern Washington this year. Defensively, Eastern is not as solid but they don’t have to be. This isn’t a bad defense, it is average. And that is more than enough for this offense. Eastern Washington is one of a handful of teams capable of winning the National Title coming from the opening rounds. UNI is…..not as big of a threat offensively. Theo Day’s passing yard total of 2,127 is almost exactly half of Barriere’s, and his 15-10 TD-INT ratio is slightly worse than EB’s 40-6 mark. You’d think UNI would make up for it on the ground, but they come up short relative to the Eagles there too. The Panthers’ lead back Dom Williams has just 678 yards and 4 TDs, although he Vance McShane and Bradrick Shaw combined for over 1400 yards and 12 TDs. UNI’s bread and butter is its defense, which has been streaky but also dominant at times and is coming off a 12-sack, 5-turnover game. UNI is capable of big things when it plays at its best, and they did blow out the champions of Eastern Washington’s league on the road. They’ll need to be able to run the ball and get an outstanding performance from their defense to have any chance here.

My Prediction: EWU’s offense was elite in pretty much every game they played this year. UNI’s defense was elite sometimes, but it struggled against some of the better Valley teams. They shut down teams in several games, but gave up 34 to South Dakota, North Dakota State and Missouri State. They’ve shown they can shut down an average offense, but are susceptible to a good one, and EWU is as good as it gets. UNI can win this. They will need an elite defensive performance to slow the Eagle offense down enough to give the Panther offense a chance to keep pace. While I have seen UNI beat enough good teams this year to think it is possible, I don’t know that I think it is likely. I have Eastern Washington winning 38-21, pulling away late in the 3rd quarter. But if UNI does win, the Valley’s dominance can no longer be questioned. The winner of this game will play at 6th seeded Montana in the next round.
 
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