WIU @ Dayton (11/28/2015) - Playoffs Round 1

[ST_Lawson]

First to admit I'm no doctor, but I would think that you'd give McGuire the start and only consider playing Norvell if you have to. I realize appendectomies are not as debilitating for as long as they used to be, but on the other hand why take a chance at him getting hurt from a tough hit or something?

I'm not even on the page of talking about who will be top dog next year - I'm just thinking the more time we give Trenton to heal, the better it is for both him and the team. He obviously loves to play football, so let him get completely healthy and come back in the spring.

Just my 2 cents worth....

I agree with you on that. Also not a doctor, but I'd be fine with letting him heal fully and letting McGuire finish out the playoffs. The risk is probably minimal, but if letting Norvell rest prevents even the slightest chance of what happened to J.J. Raffelson, then I think it's worth it. I don't want to see another injury turn into an infection that cuts short another great football career. Also will get McGuire some playoff experience which will be helpful next year when we make the deep playoff run

[rocki]

Anybody come across a "message/fan board" for Dayton?

Wondering how they feel about this match up and what their chances are?

Link to their message board is in the "preview" on page 1. Not a lot of posting over there that I've seen.

[WIU0812]

On cell so not gonna attach link but they seem to think they are gonna win and bascially saying they are lucky they got us and not williams and mary

[Western_101]

Anybody come across a "message/fan board" for Dayton?

Wondering how they feel about this match up and what their chances are?

Link to their message board is in the "preview" on page 1. Not a lot of posting over there that I've seen.

Thank you Rocki, my apologies, to Scott for being oblivious

[wiu712]

Western hears its name being called on Sunday morning:

[sealhall74]

I watched some video of them yesterday. Fortunate for us that Kacsor is done. He would have been a load to handle. Honestly, sort of reminded me of a guy named Zenner with his running style. Overall, I think they looked pretty good. They don't beat themselves. Solid special teams. They appear to get it done with a bend dont break defense. Give up a lot of yards but not many points for some reason.

[rocki]

I don't think anyone really thinks this will be a cakewalk. Seems to be more that we'd like a second shot at ISU.

[Lynx]

I hope the University has enough money in their budget to feed all the football players on Thanksgiving, I'm guessing something will be catered in for them after practice.

[Neckfansince71]

We have another advantage which is not as obvious as it seems. Non of WIU's players nor Dayton's players have ever been to the playoffs. I am not quite sure about Dayton's staff, but Coach Nielsen definitely knows the way and that is very important. You can say all you want that it is just another game, and once the ball is kicked off it basically is, but this is uncharted territory for most of the players although some may have had a taste of it in high school. Plus throw in Thanksgiving and you have a week full of new feelings and experiences. But the Necks have been in "do or die" mode for the past three weeks and that should serve them well from here on out. Just a rambling from an old basketball coach. jc

[ST_Lawson]

We have another advantage which is not as obvious as it seems. Non of WIU's players nor Dayton's players have ever been to the playoffs. I am not quite sure about Dayton's staff, but Coach Nielsen definitely knows the way and that is very important. You can say all you want that it is just another game, and once the ball is kicked off it basically is, but this is uncharted territory for most of the players although some may have had a taste of it in high school. Plus throw in Thanksgiving and you have a week full of new feelings and experiences. But the Necks have been in "do or die" mode for the past three weeks and that should serve them well from here on out. Just a rambling from an old basketball coach. jc

Without digging too deep, it doesn't look like their top coaches have much playoff experience.

HC Rick Chamberlin played for Dayton, was assistant coach for Dayton for 27 years and this is his 8th year as HC at Dayton. Since this is the first time Dayton has made the playoffs, he doesn't have any playoff experience.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Chamberlin

DC Landon Fox played at Defiance College in Ohio. Coached at Lakeland College in Wisconsin, grad assistant at Dayton or a couple of years, one year as a grad assistant with secondary at Ball State, three years at Wayne State in Detroit, and in his sixth year as DC at Dayton. As far as I can tell, none of these teams have made the playoffs in the years he was there (nor, in the case of Ball State, a bowl game...they finished 5-8 that year).
http://daytonflyers.com/coaches.aspx?rc ... h=football

OC/QB Coach Eric Evans was at school at DePauw University (in Indiana), working with the team as a student assistant. Grad assistant at Dayton from 2004-2006, GA at Northwestern in '07-'08 (they did play in a bowl game in '08...loss to #21 Missouri in the Alamo Bowl), University of Albany from '09-'13 (they did make the playoffs in 2011, losing in the first round to Stony Brook) where he coached WRs and did Offensive quality control. He came back to Dayton in 2014 and has been there since.
http://daytonflyers.com/coaches.aspx?rc ... h=football

So, outside of the OC coach having been an assistant in a bowl game and one FCS playoff game, no playoff experience. For reference/comparison, coach Nielson is 3-3 in the DIII playoffs and 11-4 in the DII playoffs with 2 DII national championships.