Villanova Game Week!!!

[penguinpower]

This was a winnable game. Our kids never gave up.  Nova has a well deserved #6 ranking.  They will win the CAA.  The odds were against us.  We have potential, but QB is a liability.  He's not tall enough to see over the line.  Defense played better than expected but we need more athletes on the DL. 

The special teams were a huge problem and there were a few calls that once again didn't go our way, especially the 6 points taken off the board.

We need more recruiting on the DL.  Otherwise I will take it.  They will get better but you may not see it in our league.  Don't we have a taller QB in the roster?

[YSUGO]

I didn’t see the game but we had what 3 turnovers from QB1 and it looks like he couldn’t get ball downfield.  DP knew this day was coming after Davidson’s graduation.  We already see the failure at recruiting in the D with the mass defections and overhaul of what 10 guys. That is a fail in that side of the ball.  Now we see u. Flux still figuring out what we have at QB.  As for PenguinPower saying we will be better but not know it due to our conference. Then that’s a fail too.  He was brought here to get us up the ladder not go back down the ladder. 

[ucfpengbuck]

Go,I share your thoughts 100%.   There are no moral victories and I'm one who doesn't want to hear we're young and have new starters.  Urban Meyers used to say "next man up pick up the rifle and go".
Coach P is in year 6 and he's the architect of the program.  Going 8-5 shouldn't be his high water mark.

Still there's a lot of season to go and I'm all in but if YSU struggles in their next two games then I'll really worry.
I actually don't feel as bad as some about Beau.  He was moving the chains the 2nd half and was making defenders miss on some of his runs.   Must eliminate turnovers which is a no-brainer but if he can get into a rhythm which he showed in the 2nd half  then we might have something. 

More worried about the front 7 than anything else.   Nova's Oline was steam rolling and the tackling was worse than Matthews HS.  I think Nova averaged 9.5 a rush and can't remember anyone getting penetration or being disrupted.

[Wick250]

I did not pay to watch the game, so I defer to the opinions of those that did. A big question is: how good is Villanova? Last year they were the 2nd best team in FCS, proving that by going man-to-man with SDSU in Brookings like no other team in the playoffs. If they are a top five team again this season, last evening was disappointing but not terrible.

Two weak opponents at home followed by a good challenge in Pittsburgh. Plenty of opportunity to improve. Let's see who lines up for us at Missouri State, without doubt the most critical game of the season.

[Dmorton]

Get off my High School buddy!  I graduated in 1974 and we played in the Trumbull AA with LaBrae, Brookfield Newton Falls and the Champion Golden Flashes.  We beat Newton Falls and Lakeview, the others simply overpowered us!  We beat Jefferson (40-0)  in the first game at Booster field to go 3-7!  We also lost to Springfield, United and Mineral Ridge!  So there you go! We could tackle, just too small compared to the other teams!

[Dmorton]

Oh! Bye the way!  Go Mustangs!

[ucfpengbuck]

Dmorton,no mas

[penguinpower]

I did not pay to watch the game, so I defer to the opinions of those that did. A big question is: how good is Villanova? Last year they were the 2nd best team in FCS, proving that by going man-to-man with SDSU in Brookings like no other team in the playoffs. If they are a top five team again this season, last evening was disappointing but not terrible.

Two weak opponents at home followed by a good challenge in Pittsburgh. Plenty of opportunity to improve. Let's see who lines up for us at Missouri State, without doubt the most critical game of the season.

Nova has an elite OL.  They also have an excellent defense and their best player on defense was out.  They will be a contender this year.  They have the dudes.

The QB is a liability. He can't see over the line. Reminds me of that small kid at SIU last year. I think Brungard is probably a good leader, but not the elite athlete that the best teams have.

The defense needs to tackle better.  You can tell they're a work in progress.  I think they will get better, but it appears we are missing the kids that left last year in the portal.

Going to be more difficult in today's NIL and transfer portal environment.  Money will fix all of those problems.
 

[Dmorton]

Actually!  Mathews went 3-5-1 that year as we only played 9 games!

[InTheYo]

Back-to-back road losses at a Top 10 Villanova. Let’s compare the two…

2023: Villanova scores 45 and wins by 17
2024: Villanova scores 24 and wins by 7

2023: Villanova passes for 275 yards
2024: Villanova passes for 90 yards

2023: Villanova rushes for 191 yards
2024: Villanova rushes for 246 yards

I posed this thought on social media and feel it worth posing on here too… We lost by 7 on the road at Villanova and we turned it over 3 times. If Beau doesn’t turn the ball over, it is hard to believe we don’t send that game to OT at a minimum. My point is for as bad as we looked at times, and we did in portions of the 2nd and 3rd quarter as I was in attendance in Philly, we still had an opportunity to tie the #5 team in the final minute with an entirely new D and a ton of uncertainty at QB. We played them much tougher than last year as well.

We have a lot of work ahead, but I was certainly encouraged by this squads effort, especially after trailing 24-3 in the third quarter.

Go YSU