catdaddyp Posted November 7 Report Share Posted November 7 (edited) Game thread and preview: QB: QB is one of the positions coach Hammock has struggled to aptly identify talent, as NIU would likely be undefeated with better QB play. Junior Ethan Hampton has been the main starter with former walk-on Josh Holst also collecting snaps. Hampton has completed 60% of his passes and thrown for 1, 256 yards. His current TD to INT ratio is 11 to 5. When kept clean, Hampton completes 65% of his passes and has thrown for 8 TDs vs 3 INTs. When pressured, Hampton competes 38% of his passes and has thrown for 3 TDs vs 2 INTs. RB: NIU has a deep stable of RBs. Leading rusher Antario Brown is 5th in the MAC in rushing and may miss the game due to injury. Former Iowa transfer Gavin Williams is 10th in the MAC in rushing. True freshman Telly Johnson is a downhill runner who gashed WMU for 141 yards and 2 TDs. NIU will likely give us a heavy dose of both Williams and Johnson. WR: WR is another position where coach Hammock has struggled to consistently identify talent. However, there are a few players who can make plays. Former Eastern Illinois transfer Cam Thompson is 17th in receiving yards with 372 and 3 TDs. Senior (and former walk-on) Trayvon Randolph has 275 yards. TE: Former JUCO Grayson Barnes is a weapon in the passing game. He is often moved around and the majority of his receiving damage comes between the numbers. Barnes can be a difficult matchup for linebackers and safeties. Brock Lampe and Tristan Tewes are typically blockers that sometimes will be used in short yardage passing game. OL: NIU is built similarly to a traditional Big10 type team. The Huskies have the 2nd best OL (only behind WMU) and the best DL in the MAC. The OL is a big reason why NIU’s run game is so effective and that an average QB talent can be successful. The NIU OL has given up only 5 sacks in conference play. LT - Evan Malcore (R.So.) LG - JJ Lippe (R.Sr.) C - Logan Zschernitz (R. Sr.) RG - John Champe (Sr.) RT - Thomas Paasch (R. Fr.) (I thought Paasch was one of the best offensive linemen in the 2023 MAC recruiting class) DL: NIU sports the best defensive line in the MAC. Senior DeVontae O’Malley and junior Skyler Gill-Howard may be the best two defensive tackles in the conference. The duo has combined for 68 tackles and 9.5 sacks. Juniors Roy and Jalonnie Williams are the defensive ends. They have combined for 55 tackles and 5.5 sacks. LB: Senior Jaden Dolphin may be an All-MAC candidate. He has 46 tackles, 2 PDs, and an interception. Flanking Dolphin is SEMO transfer Christian Fuhrman. Fuhrman is tied for second on the team in tackles with 43 and has also collected an interception. DB: Senior Javaughn Byrd and redshirt sophomore Jacob Finley are the cornerbacks. Byrd has 20 tackles and 2 PDs, while Finley has 25 tackles and 7 PDs. Redshirt freshman Santana Banner and senior Nate Valcarcel are the safeties. Banner is tied for second on the team in tackles with 43. He has also collected 3 PDs and an interception. Valcarcel has 36 tackles, 5 PDs, and 2 interceptions. Senior Jashon Prophete is the nickel (or “Huskie” if that term is still used). Prophete has 33 tackles. K: Senior Kanon Woodall is 23 of 26 on extra points and 12 of 18 on field goals. P: Senior Tom Foley is last in the MAC in average per punt at 37.6 yards. Offense - Coach Hammock may do a better job at covering up inadequacies than any other coach in the MAC. NIU is built to run the football and will do that no matter what. Most of the passes are shorter and have easier route concepts for the quarterbacks. About 65% of pass attempts will be thrown under 10 yards by the NIU offense. Defense - As mentioned above, the defensive line is better than any DL in the MAC. The rest of the defense is good enough. NIU consistently applies pressure with 4 rushers and leads the MAC in sacks. The DL is a major reason why NIU is ranked first against the pass, as their DBs typically don’t have to cover for long. Summary: NIU has not lost a game by more than 7 points this season. The Huskies utilize a ball control offense with timely passing. Points will be at a premium this week for Zips. If there is a weakness in the NIU defense it’s on the perimeter and getting the Huskies defense running side to side as opposed to letting the defensive front get up field so quickly. If Akron defense can hold up, we’ll have a chance. A lot of pressure will be on the middle of the defense as NIU does a tremendous amount of pulling with their OL and TEs. Any loose gap assignments or missed tackles will likely lead to big plays for NIU’s backs. Edited November 8 by catdaddyp 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ham Posted November 13 Report Share Posted November 13 GAME DAY! Wake up people. I think the Zips will carry their last 4th quarter performance into this game. It will be a shoot out. Zips 41 / Husky's 38. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted November 13 Report Share Posted November 13 Can the Zips play clean game, and not simply hand it to NIU on a silver platter with fumbles, INT’s and bonehead penalties galore? If do, they can win. Some of the Zips players have obviously spent a ton of time choreographing various celebration dances and pantomimes. It’d be a shame if the couldn’t use them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ham Posted November 13 Report Share Posted November 13 Captain, you are correct. We have been loosing games rather than our opponents winning them. Expecting to win contributes to the focus needed to win not only the game but also each play. The muffed punt pretty much ended the last game. We will see in a few hours if the team can put that behind them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MangoZip Posted November 13 Report Share Posted November 13 I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t feel good about this game at all. I think this could be a blowout loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LZIp Posted November 13 Report Share Posted November 13 (edited) 17 minutes ago, Ham said: Captain, you are correct. We have been loosing games rather than our opponents winning them. Expecting to win contributes to the focus needed to win not only the game but also each play. The muffed punt pretty much ended the last game. We will see in a few hours if the team can put that behind them. Sure hope we have a change at punt returner tonight. I blame two losses on that this year. WMU and Buffalo. Edited November 13 by LZIp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GP1 Posted November 13 Report Share Posted November 13 20 minutes ago, MangoZip said: I hope I’m wrong, but I don’t feel good about this game at all. I think this could be a blowout loss. You're not wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slam_Hilliard22 Posted November 13 Report Share Posted November 13 Games on CBSSN should be outlawed 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catdaddyp Posted November 13 Author Report Share Posted November 13 Out: WR - Adams WR - Mason WR - Walker DT - Lavea LB - Cooper S - Anderson S - David 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted November 13 Report Share Posted November 13 Sucks having Anderson & David out. Weren't they our two starting safeties prior to getting injured? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted November 13 Report Share Posted November 13 What's up with Phaizon Wilson not contributing at all. I was excited about him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted November 13 Report Share Posted November 13 Just saw on X it's raining in Dekalb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catdaddyp Posted November 13 Author Report Share Posted November 13 4 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said: Sucks having Anderson & David out. Weren't they our two starting safeties prior to getting injured? Yeah, David has been hurt for a while and Anderson eventually won the spot. This is a particularly bad game to be missing pieces up the middle of the defense (Anderson & Lavea). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catdaddyp Posted November 14 Author Report Share Posted November 14 6 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said: What's up with Phaizon Wilson not contributing at all. I was excited about him. I don’t think he’s participated in a game all season. Not sure what’s going on there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MangoZip Posted November 14 Report Share Posted November 14 Less than a minute in and we already have our first turnover Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipsrule Posted November 14 Report Share Posted November 14 When it rains, it pours..... literally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Let'sGoZips94 Posted November 14 Report Share Posted November 14 (edited) It's like watching a Bob Ross painting with the rain on the lens. Akron is wearing liquid white uniforms... Edited November 14 by Let'sGoZips94 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipsrule Posted November 14 Report Share Posted November 14 TOUCHDOWN ZIPS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exit322 Posted November 14 Report Share Posted November 14 Well that was a nice little play Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted November 14 Report Share Posted November 14 Why'd we go for 2 after our TD? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exit322 Posted November 14 Report Share Posted November 14 2 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said: Why'd we go for 2 after our TD? It's something teams are doing more, see if they can't steal an extra point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Let'sGoZips94 Posted November 14 Report Share Posted November 14 11 minutes ago, Blue & Gold said: Why'd we go for 2 after our TD? The question shouldn't be why did we go for 2. The question should be why we ran a stupid, stupid play to go for 2. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipsrule Posted November 14 Report Share Posted November 14 We give up another TD...with 12 men on the field! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exit322 Posted November 14 Report Share Posted November 14 1 minute ago, zipsrule said: We give up another TD...with 12 men on the field! Ah it's gonna be one of those games Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted November 14 Report Share Posted November 14 @exit322 & @Let'sGoZips94 Out of Like, fellas. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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