WIU at Weber State (11/25/17) - Playoffs Round 1

LocalYokelFan · Mon Nov 20, 2017 11:31 am

LocalYokelFan wrote: Mon Nov 20, 2017 8:55 am
ST_Lawson wrote: Sun Nov 19, 2017 11:21 pm
So, in many ways, they're very similar to both us and Illinois State, although they get really tough defensively once you get into the red zone.

That last bit might be the key! I guess I didn't realize that we were one of the worse red zone offenses in the MVFC. I picked that up on the broadcast from Saturday, is that correct? If so, that could certainly be something to watch Saturday.

Actually, I meant more that their defensive strength is in those "tight" situations. Western isn't bad at red zone defense actually...we're 36th in the FCS and 2nd in the MVFC (UNI is just ahead of us at #35). We give up points in the red zone 75.9% of the time.
Opponents have gotten there 29 times and come away with 8 rushing TDs, 11 passing TDs, and 3 FGs (29 total scores).

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Scott, I wasn't talking our red zone defense as a weakness, from what I heard on the broadcast, statistically, we rank near the bottom in red zone OFFENSE. Is that correct? IE, our weakness would going up against a team strength of Weber State.

vatusay · Mon Nov 20, 2017 11:37 am

If they don’t make any drive stalling/drive extending penalties i really like their chances. Hope coach has them ready to roll but not too pumped, like the South Dakota game.

wiu712 · Mon Nov 20, 2017 11:55 am

I watched the Selection Show watch party on both WGEM and KHQA. Looked to be a lot of disappointed faces when we were not announced as one of the top eight seeds.

Both Northern Arizona and Northern Iowa have 7-4 records. And we beat both teams on the road this season. Yet they are both hosting a first-round game on Saturday, and we are not. They both play in domes. So that goes in their favor.

We have learned that when it comes to getting a home playoff game, "Money Talks" with the NCAA.

vatusay · Mon Nov 20, 2017 12:17 pm

If the way the NCAA chooses a host team doesn’t cement the fact that they are in no way, shape, or form about the student athlete, i don’t know what other examples to give.

Mon Nov 20, 2017 12:19 pm

LocalYokelFan wrote:
Scott, I wasn't talking our red zone defense as a weakness, from what I heard on the broadcast, statistically, we rank near the bottom in red zone OFFENSE. Is that correct? IE, our weakness would going up against a team strength of Weber State.

Oh...ok yeah, I got ya.

Red zone offense, we are 21st in the FCS and 3rd in the MVFC behind UNI (#1) AND SDSU (#7). When we get into the red zone, we score 87.2% of the time. So...we're not at the top, but I wouldn't really call us bad at it.

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sealhall74 · Mon Nov 20, 2017 12:41 pm

Matt Tanney may be at BWW tonite for the Coach Fish Show (7:30pm local time). I hope he talks about the bidding process a little bit. The NCAA looks for a lot of things both big and little to be in place (good lighting and TV angles, ADA compliance, etc.) for a hosting site. Would be interesting to get his take on the process.

http://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/files ... 171016.pdf

LocalYokelFan · Mon Nov 20, 2017 2:30 pm

ST_Lawson wrote: Mon Nov 20, 2017 12:19 pm
LocalYokelFan wrote:
Scott, I wasn't talking our red zone defense as a weakness, from what I heard on the broadcast, statistically, we rank near the bottom in red zone OFFENSE. Is that correct? IE, our weakness would going up against a team strength of Weber State.
Oh...ok yeah, I got ya.

Red zone offense, we are 21st in the FCS and 3rd in the MVFC behind UNI (#1) AND SDSU (#7). When we get into the red zone, we score 87.2% of the time. So...we're not at the top, but I wouldn't really call us bad at it.

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Thanks! It didn't sound right when I heard it, so either I misunderstood the broadcaster or they were flat out wrong. Either way, that makes more sense; it seemed to me just by watching this year that we we're a pretty good red zone offense.

Mon Nov 20, 2017 3:45 pm

LocalYokelFan wrote: Mon Nov 20, 2017 2:30 pm Thanks! It didn't sound right when I heard it, so either I misunderstood the broadcaster or they were flat out wrong. Either way, that makes more sense; it seemed to me just by watching this year that we we're a pretty good red zone offense.

Was this the radio guys or the announcers on ESPN3?

Also, we're helped by our FG % being so good. We were perfect on the season until Saturday when Crosa hit the 38-yard FG, but then we had the penalty that pushed us back and Erickson missed the 43-yarder. I'm sure the wind didn't help either.

rocki · Mon Nov 20, 2017 4:30 pm

Just curious, how do they decide who goes where? I thought it was supposed to be based on travel distance, so why do we go to Utah instead of LA, GA, or AL? I'd have thought USD would have been closer to Utah than Louisiana.

Mon Nov 20, 2017 5:25 pm

Whenever possible, they match up teams so that it's a bus trip rather than a flight (I think the limit is 400 miles or something). If it's beyond that though, it doesn't really matter much since it's a flight wherever.

We wouldn't have gotten matched up with USD though because there's a rule against first round conference rematches. We could have gotten matched with NAU (not in conference) or YSU if they'd made it in because we didn't play them this year.

Watch out next year because we could have to play SDSU in the playoffs if neither of us are seeded. We don't play them in the regular season next year.

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