Leatherneck Nation

@
Western Illinois @ Colorado State Rams
Saturday, September 7 at 3 PM (Central)

Radio: Leatherneck Sports Network, CSU Football Radio Network
TV : AT&T SportsNet

Game Notes & Preview:
Western Illinois Game Notes
Colorado State Game Notes

History: WIU and CSU have never played each other before.
WIU in 2018 - 5-6 overall, 5-5 against FCS teams, 4-4 against MVFC teams
WIU in 2019 - 0-1 (26-17 loss at North Alabama)
CSU in 2018 - 3-9 overall, 2-6 against Mountain West teams, lost 35-19 to Illinois State
CSU in 2019 - 0-1 (52-31 loss to Colorado)

Location: Canvas Stadium, Ft. Collins, CO
Weather Prediction: Low 80's, 30% humidity, 45% chance of rain, wind ~5 mph.
Current Weather Predictions for all WIU games this season.

Odds:
Massey Ratings - 28% chance of WIU win, predicted score of 31-24
Sagarin Ratings - CSU 79% chance of a win, ~11-12 point margin
5dimes.eu - CSU -11.5 (means they're "favored" by 11.5 points), O/U 57.5 (combined score) = roughly 35-23 CSU win.

Looking for a much better showing than last Thur. I think Max and JB are both going to be out for a while, which hurts. OL needs to improve on picking up games and blitzs, which they will, and no missed assignments on D. Asking for W on the road at a FBS is a big ask, but no treason why we shouldn't show improvement. Stay healthy, and come home to take on Mont St.

We were also getting stung on the long ball (have had that problem for a while). The bright side was that we avoided penalties for the most part - other than after the TD. Not expecting a win, but hopeful our showing will be much improved over Thursday.

We will be driving up from Texas to be at the Colorado State game. I've heard the stadium and city are very nice. Looking forward to visiting! I didn't realize Max & JB were both out with injuries. How did I miss that?! See you all there!

Does the Mountain West not have a tv deal? ESPN isn’t listing a channel or platform to watch the game.


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WIU2DC wrote: ↑Mon Sep 02, 2019 8:25 pm Does the Mountain West not have a tv deal? ESPN isn’t listing a channel or platform to watch the game.


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ESPN doesn't list all the TV options for games. They'll list if it's an ESPN-family or ESPN partner network, also FS1 and maybe a couple of others, but they don't generally list if it's like a regional sports network that is unaffiliated with ESPN. CSU's football schedule has the game listed as being on AT&T SportsNet. Looks like they operate in Pittsburgh, Rocky Mountain and Southwest regions....I'd imagine it's the Rocky Mountain region that will have our game, which is unavailable locally on our cable, but might be available on satellite, depending on your plan.
It appears that maybe they also show it on the Mountain West Network on Stadium. If they do air it, this looks like it'll be the link: https://watchstadium.com/live/western-i ... sportsnet/
I don't think we'll know that for sure until shortly before the game though.

GV Dad wrote: ↑Mon Sep 02, 2019 3:08 pm Looking for a much better showing than last Thur. I think Max and JB are both going to be out for a while, which hurts. OL needs to improve on picking up games and blitzs, which they will, and no missed assignments on D. Asking for W on the road at a FBS is a big ask, but no treason why we shouldn't show improvement. Stay healthy, and come home to take on Mont St.

So does a smart coach leave them at the top of the 2-Deep chart or move the next man up?

sealhall74 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 03, 2019 6:25 am

GV Dad wrote: ↑Mon Sep 02, 2019 3:08 pm Looking for a much better showing than last Thur. I think Max and JB are both going to be out for a while, which hurts. OL needs to improve on picking up games and blitzs, which they will, and no missed assignments on D. Asking for W on the road at a FBS is a big ask, but no treason why we shouldn't show improvement. Stay healthy, and come home to take on Mont St.

So does a smart coach leave them at the top of the 2-Deep chart or move the next man up?

Probably depends on how long they're going to be out. A game or two?....leave them there. Half the season or more?...take them out of the 2-deep until they return.

I'm not expecting a win...it'd be awesome, but at this point, I'm just hoping to see some improvement too. One thing you'll notice if you watch enough FCS vs FBS games is that quite often, the FCS team is able to stay with the FBS team for 2-3 quarters, at which point the depth of the FBS team catches up and they're able to pull away near the end. Just this last weekend, SDSU was up 21-20 on Minnesota after 3 quarters, UNI up 13-10 on Iowa State after 3, ILSU and NIU were tied early in the 4th quarter. I'd like to see us play a bit "cleaner" in the first half...fewer mental mistakes, fewer overthrown receivers, etc. If we can be within 1 score at halftime and end up anywhere close to the Massey prediction (31-24 CSU win), without any serious injuries, then I'll consider it a "positive" outcome.

This season relies on Sampson. He needs to be confident and let it rip. Had a 49 yarder to Tate that was nice, but under thrown and could have easily gone for 6. Yeah, a 49 yarder is better than an overthrown ball, but we ended up missing a FG. Later he threw a pick on a deeper ball to Tate where the DB made a great play, but if he'd pushed it further down field, it could have been 6 or incomplete. At that time, we had the ball 1st down inside the 50 with 9:28 and down 9.

First career start, missing Brunner and facing what looked to be a pretty good defensive front, so maybe a little too early to judge.