WIU at Illinois State II: Electric Boogaloo (12/5/2015)

Neckfansince71 · Sat Dec 05, 2015 8:12 pm

Great atmosphere and really a great game almost to the end. Was a bit surprised at the difference in yards on the ground but I guess I should not have been. The final turning point in my opinion started very positive with a kick out of bounds by ISU. But the Necks followed that with a drop, another drop, a motion penalty, and then a 20 yard hike. That just killed the Mo IMO. You know when I coached basketball there were teams that were just better in the area that We were strong at. ISU wore the Necks defensive line down early in the second half of game one and did the same thing,this time later, in today's ball game. They were just better than the Necks in the trenches plus the ISU QB just killed us in some key moments today. It really though was a great game until the end. The final score is not indicative of what took place today. Just my thoughts. Great turnout for the Purple and Gold!

jc

wiu712 · Sat Dec 05, 2015 8:29 pm

Only 18 rushing yards for Western while ILSU had 350.

The script was very similar to the first game.

The attendance was 6,124.

wiu712 · Sat Dec 05, 2015 8:59 pm

The team arrived back in town tonight with a Police and Fire escort. This video was shot near the Highway 67 and University Drive intersection:

sealhall74 · Sun Dec 06, 2015 6:45 am

Spack made a not too subtle change to his offense in 4th quarter by going to Power I. Game changer move as we could not stop it. But makes sense to me. You cannot defend what you do not practice. McGuire obviously banged up and could not run. Nikko did not have a chance. One screen pass that was successful and I don't remember seeing it again. Too much vanilla for me. I like the cookies and cream.

We are moving up but have a ways to go to get to the top 5% in FCS IMO.

wiu712 · Sun Dec 06, 2015 11:04 am

Out of the 8 second-round playoff games, our game had the smallest crowd at 6,124.

There was a LARGE Western crowd. So you have to wonder where were the Illinois State fans ???

Illinois State had given out 1,000 free student tickets for the game.

This is Finals Week at Illinois State, so a lot of their students will be gone for the next game.

Illinois State will host Richmond in a Friday night game (6:30 PM).

Sun Dec 06, 2015 11:36 am

wiu712 wrote:Out of the 8 second-round playoff games, our game had the smallest crowd at 6,124.

There was a LARGE Western crowd. So you have to wonder where were the Illinois State fans ???

Illinois State had given out 1,000 free student tickets for the game.

This is Finals Week at Illinois State, so a lot of their students will be gone for the next game.

Illinois State will host Richmond in a Friday night game (6:30 PM).

That's pretty surprising to me, actually. It looked and felt (from my perspective) like a lot more than 6k people. But maybe it's just the configuration of the stadium (closer to the field) that makes it feel like more people). The Western crowd was really big and loud. If there were 6k fans there total, then I'd say at least 2k were Western fans, maybe more.

lovethenecks · Sun Dec 06, 2015 1:03 pm

Special Teams again were a huge difference in this game and in all honesty was the key turning point in this game, To me until this coaching staff gets Special Teams right they don't get high marks in my book. The blocked PAT was the huge turning point in the game, we went from a huge high to "What just happened" Recapping special teams issues on Saturday.

1. Blocked PAT, Huge Swing
2. Net Punt average of under 30 Yard, TERRIBLE
3. Big return on a punt right before half almost cost us point
4. Missed FG that would have made it a one score game in the 4th
5. Lack of confidence in special teams, we passed on a long FG
6. After the big miscue on the snap and 20 yard loss, we could not boom a punt and change field position.

I think we are one of the only teams in D1 with the same guy kicking and punting, commit to special teams and don't only focus on 2/3 of the game. We have not been good at Special teams since this staff came, a few years back it was our strength.

vatusay · Sun Dec 06, 2015 4:52 pm

The blocked xp is when I knew things were over, honestly. I think that put them up 12-7 at the time so what is the point of kicking for one and only being up 6 points? Hope they miss chip shot FG? Not only was it a momentum swing but all ISU had to do was score they take the lead instead of a tie. Makes no sense to me.

wiu712 · Sun Dec 06, 2015 11:34 pm

Interesting article about Saturday's game from the Illinois State student newspaper (The Vidette).

It deals with the poor attendance by ISU adult fans and students at the game.

The writer also mentions the loud and attentive fans from Western.

http://www.videtteonline.com/index.php/ ... stadium-3/

sealhall74 · Mon Dec 07, 2015 6:28 am

wiu712 wrote:Interesting article about Saturday's game from the Illinois State student newspaper (The Vidette).

It deals with the poor attendance by ISU adult fans and students at the game.

The writer also mentions the loud and attentive fans from Western.

http://www.videtteonline.com/index.php/ ... stadium-3/

It amazes me how student editors fail to do their homework. ISU football not the the only game in town that day. Both ISU and IWU had home hoops games later. I thought their crowd was pretty good given the situation. They were loud when they needed to be loud. My alma mater also made me proud. (Damn poetry bug still giving me a hug)