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Game 3—@Marshall Thundering Herd


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Here's what I predict will happen.

 

1)  We'll throw in another capable RB who can easily handle 10-12 carries a game.  If the line can run block, we'll get what we need here.  

2) Tommy will be asked to run about 5 QB draws per game.  

3) We'll continue spreading the ball around the field with a loaded receiver corp in the passing game.  

 

A little adjustment, but we have smart coaches who can make that work.  Getting defensive stops against teams that are somewhere between Wisconsin and VMI is my primary concern right now.  That is what will make or break this season.  

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8 hours ago, akron4ever said:

I'm hearing Warren Ball is out for about a month. Not good.

What a shame. It would have been good for the team and him to have the exposure at Marshall and App St.

 

41 minutes ago, skip-zip said:

Here's what I predict will happen.

 

1)  We'll throw in another capable RB who can easily handle 10-12 carries a game.  If the line can run block, we'll get what we need here.  

2) Tommy will be asked to run about 5 QB draws per game.  

3) We'll continue spreading the ball around the field with a loaded receiver corp in the passing game.  

 

A little adjustment, but we have smart coaches who can make that work.  Getting defensive stops against teams that are somewhere between Wisconsin and VMI is my primary concern right now.  That is what will make or break this season.  

Maybe we will throw to the TE a little or run Williams out of the backfield some.

 

Do we have any defensive take-aways this year? That is concerning me.

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On 9/11/2016 at 5:41 PM, UA1987 said:

I think our Generals decided not to fight too much at the battle of Wisconsin -  let's send out the militia and see what happens (no creative play calling probably decided in the coaches sequester at the beginning of the year). In Huntington, we had better have a decent game plan. If this is not a contested game (which is what happened last year), and we decide to just slug it out in the MAC later in the year, then I'm not a happy camper. We had better to play to win against the Herd and not just get better.        

 

I agree with you assessment. I have said that this will be the deciding game this Season. There are two things that concern me. The first one is Ball and if he is out, who do they choose and will the dumb flags finally stop?

 

Second, I look at Marshall like Pitt was from two years ago. Do they actually come to play, or just phone it in? 

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16 minutes ago, gozips19 said:

Depth Chart is up for this week and shows Ball as the starter (Fingers crossed). Listened to Bowden's telephone conference...no mention or questions about any injuries. In fact, no local reporters were on the call. There were WV reporters and one from AL that asked a question about an Auburn game 20 years ago. 

Pathetic. Haven't read anything from GT in a while. Did the ABJ finally get rid of him?

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The noon start is a tough one. I won't be making the trip.

 

Marshall and App State are where we aspire to be as a football program. We aren't there yet. Hence the large point spread. 

 

The last time we played Marshall they out-athleted us at pretty much every position. It wasn't fair how easily their DB's covered our WR's.

 

We'll have better match ups this time, but as K92 pointed out, defensively we downgraded in talent and production at two DL and three LB spots. That's essentially half the defense. I trust that Amato will keep adjusting, scheming and improving. But those 5 holes limit our defensive ceiling.

 

The lack of offensive complexity and scheming...the inability to sustain drives is a big concern. As last season progressed, the simple offensive play-calls and 3-and-outs weren't as noticeable because the D was so dominant at year's end.

 

If we are going to make Marshall work, we really need Milwee to move the chains. We don't need to eschew the splash plays...that's probably our biggest offensive strength. But we gotta do some underneath stuff. A sweep. A reverse. Anything but that slow hand off 5 yards deep in the backfield that never goes anywhere. 

 

Tough match up this week...

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5 hours ago, ZippyRulz said:

 

What happened?

 

 

I believe it was an injury suffered during the game. If he's still on the depth chart, it means one of two things:

 

1.) If he is hurt, I feel terrible for posting it. Bowden obviously doesn't want it known. 

 

2.) My source is giving me bad info, which hasn't happened yet, and I feel terrible for making the board's heart skip a beat.

 

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12 minutes ago, akron4ever said:

 

I believe it was an injury suffered during the game. If he's still on the depth chart, it means one of two things:

 

1.) If he is hurt, I feel terrible for posting it. Bowden obviously doesn't want it known. 

 

2.) My source is giving me bad info, which hasn't happened yet, and I feel terrible for making the board's heart skip a beat.

 

Don't sweat it, even if you do end up being wrong. You aren't the only one reporting it.

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3 hours ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

Marshall and App State are where we aspire to be as a football program. We aren't there yet. Hence the large point spread. 

 

I'll give you Marshall, to some extent.  OK.

 

But, you really want to put App. State on a pedestal right now?  As a team that MAC schools should aspire to be?

Arkansas State has dominated the Sun Belt for 5 years, and I am not even sure if they measure up to a top level MAC program (beating Ball State and Kent in bowl games, while getting destroyed by Toledo isn't going to convince anyone).  

 

But when/if App. State can ever approach their level of success, you might have the beginning of a discussion.  

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21 minutes ago, skip-zip said:

 

I'll give you Marshall, to some extent.  OK.

 

But, you really want to put App. State on a pedestal right now?  As a team that MAC schools should aspire to be?

Arkansas State has dominated the Sun Belt for 5 years, and I am not even sure if they measure up to a top level MAC program (beating Ball State and Kent in bowl games, while getting destroyed by Toledo isn't going to convince anyone).  

 

But when/if App. State can ever approach their level of success, you might have the beginning of a discussion.  

 

App State is going into only their 3rd year of FBS (after an extremely successful FCS tenure) and they already have an 11 win season. Akron's been FBS since 1987 and the best win total they mustered was 8 wins...

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2 hours ago, kreed5120 said:

 

App State is going into only their 3rd year of FBS (after an extremely successful FCS tenure) and they already have an 11 win season. Akron's been FBS since 1987 and the best win total they mustered was 8 wins...

I wonder if any 1-AA team ever asked Bill Muse for his template on making the jump from 1-AA to 1-A?

 

mistakesdemotivator.jpeg?v=1416776264

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2 hours ago, Captain Kangaroo said:

I wonder if any 1-AA team ever asked Bill Muse for his template on making the jump from 1-AA to 1-A?

 

Maybe not, but you'd be a fool to believe that others did not pay attention to what we were doing.

 

And since it's only been a few posts since I mentioned Arkansas State, the perennial power of App State's conference (Sun Belt), few know that they made the jump to I-A about 5 years after us.  Some things that they did mirrored what Akron had done, and some things did not.  They've had a pretty magical last 5 years on Sun Belt standards (with occasional flirtation with national rankings), but they struggled for many years to get to that point, which started all those years ago with a big PR boost with the hiring of a legendary coach.  

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