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Four wins will help the recruiting efforts. A lot of new receivers and o-lineman needed. As for QB, there will be four coming back (yes, four--including a transfer who looks decent). Ben's stong finish to the season shows how this coach can develop a player over time. Stokes saw no snaps, Clarke only a few, and Stahl wasn't 100% from his knee--so who knows who will be next. Good outlook for running backs, heard Jake will return for his 5th year so all three will be back. With Green and Guilford anchoring the D, they'll be even better next year. Looks like reason for optimism for Valpo football. Best of luck, Crusaders.

Special teams going from a struggle to scoring 23 of 47 points yesterday, plus guys like Morgan going from special teams to special player, shows a very appealing possibility--the ability for the coaches to develop players and pull the best out of them. Developing and retaining talent will help turn this program around far more than expecting a new era of recruiting. Valpo has, and will continue to, recruit out of the same talent level as the rest of the PFL due to the scholarship limitation. We have multiple all state HS players, as do the other PFL teams we play. The ability to develop those players, as we might be catching a glimpse of this past weekend, is a tangible sign of turnaround. The Valpo special teams coach deserves a pay raise if this continues.

No game comes down to one play. But QB keeping the ball to the short side on third and two is mysterious. Box was stacked, just like it was on first and second downs. On the up side, we put up points and unleashed some big plays that the rest of our opponents will need to respect. As for looking to next year, some more guys are getting good time. 37  looked great.

In the last two PFL games (Marist and Drake), Valpo has started with a scoring drive on their first possession and then been shut down in the mid first qtr for the rest of both games (regardless of who played QB, RB, or WR).That's the reason for both losses. Add St. Joe into that category too--but that was too far back to remember. Makes you wonder about the play calling. According to one of our coaches, MSU gets beat by long plays. Not in our arsenal yet. Valpo 10, MSU 24.

Good point received, USC. I tend to cheer for underdogs. Time to move on to Morehead St.

[overall]

I think we all have to remember a couple of things that make football a different fan and player experience: This is not the NFL, FBS or even FCS football -- this is non-scholarship "play for the love of it" football. These are kids trying the best they can -- no one out on that field yesterday was not playing their heart out within their ability range. Rome was not built in a day.   This new program did not bring in a flood of 3 star scholarship players.   This is only the 7th game this particular program has had under it's belt.  In the previous 4 years we would have been almost happy with the overall level of competitiveness to date. As I indicated yesterday afternoon immediately after the game, I have to go along with those on the forum who echo that it is unfair to single out individual players and place the responsibility for a loss like this on one player's shoulders.  A number of team factors contribute to any loss just like they do for a win.  Drake put more pressure on the QB rushing only 4 because they were over powering our OL.  That left 7 to defend.  The combination of pressure and coverage is hard to throw against.  The fact that our run game was ineffective further challenged the passing attack. There are 5 games ahead:  @ Morehead, @ Dayton, Butler, @ USD and Davidson.  Of those five, Morehead and Davidson have been bottom feeders like Valpo for the last few years.  Those two games are games against "equals."  We could come away with a win in each game (or not), but the true indicator is how close the scores are.  Dayton (beat MSU 41-7 Saturday) and USD (won @ Butler 27-21) are among the PFL elite.  I would expect to lose both as they are also road games.  But again, how close will the scores be?  If we hang in and lose by two scores, we show vast improvement over the previous 5 seasons.  Then there is Butler @ home. They have come down to earth from the Lancaster years (they beat us 72-12 last year after which Carlson was let go) and are now a middle of the pack team.  That could be a toss-up game. So if we are judging this team (which this forum does quite well), IMO, it comes down to how we finish the season.  I would submit that the only judgmental criteria we should use from this point forward this season are the following: Did we compete Did we reduce stupid errors Did we earn our opponents' respect -- none of which happened in the last 5 years. If we win a game or two along the way that puts icing on the cake.

I agree with your idea for focusing on those three. When the fans/alums/forum posters start feeding on individual players that we're supposed to support, something doesn't feel quite right.

I heard the same things that GOVALPO42 shared, and also heard that Stahl hurt his foot on the first play he was in the game but kept going. The guys on the team have faith in him. While this fan board allows folks to vent, keep in mind that many parents and even some players read your posts. Pretty sure comparing a guys first time having more than two series in a game with the career stats of Tim Teboe or making judgment on his overall worthiness to play QB at Valpo is less than fair. And listen to all the coachs comments because he also said the he has confidence in Stahl and believe he has the talent to win games this year for Valpo. We all want him to gain his confidence before next Saturday.

Ugly for sure. A referendum on the backup QB? Might be a bit early for that. Lets session how he does with a week of reps with the first team. Hard to compare the starter vs. backup. Same thing happened to Butler at Campbell. More concern should be on Bens condition--looks like a concussion.

Agreeing with you USC. Great to see another win to bring us to 2, which will help the recruiting pitch of a turnaround taking place. Another good outcome from the game was to see lots of guys get reps. Why? Check out why Campbell beat Butler. The Butler QB was knocked out of the game in the 1st quarter, and the guy coming in had only thrown 6 passes all year to that point. And good to see our special teams play well, no matter the skill level of the opponent. A homecoming win is good regardless of who we play. 

Assuming our special team play improves, I guess Valpo 42-7.
Agree with VULB#62 about wanting to see more passes going to Gladney, who is the fastest guy on the team, and for Stahl to get more action than a series or two. Looking for the D to have a big game so we can dip down into the depth chart and have more guys get on the field before facing the grind of the upcoming PFL games.

This is a transition year for the program and every opportunity to develop depth among returning players should be leveraged when we can.  We still need to win a couple and not sacrefice any chances.  This game may provide one such opportunity.

Hoping this game allows both to happen.

Assuming our special team play improves, I guess Valpo 42-7.
Agree with VULB#62 about wanting to see more passes going to Gladney, who is the fastest guy on the team, and for Stahl to get more action than a series or two. Looking for the D to have a big game so we can dip down into the depth chart and have more guys get on the field before facing the grind of the upcoming PFL games.

Good points USC, especially your last one. The coach showed some of his big picture intentions in the post game interview when he talked about major contribution happening as a senior--which is a long term building perspective. Although, "wait your turn" is a tough recruiting message. Does keep the fire burning for several talented juniors and sophs down a level or two on the depth chart.
An upside not mentioned enough--O line protection. Valpo has allowed fewest sacks in PFL.

Today's loss came down to two issues that will hopefully attract some serious changes...1. Special teams errors, which opponents don't seem to experience. 2. An offense that can't score when needed, or sometimes (today) at all. Our running game is solid but not dominating. Other than last week (ignoring the three INTs), the passing game just doesn't cut it. Overall, are we improving as the season progresses? In a few key spots, no. Marist coach gets credit for making some key personnel shifts that paid off big today.

Last season we played the same teams for games 2, 3, and 4--we played NDakota instead of W.I. to start. Comparing the same stretch of football, we had 17 TDs after four games, compared to 9 this year. Prediction: 2 more wins to end up with 3 total, a solid turnaround, and a lot of sophs/juniors playing well who will continue the momentum. 

Mike Minter is probably the only one touting their defense as a top 20. Their pass coverage was the worst we faced this year, which our O completely jumped on for yards. While we seem to be able to put up big stats (as has been the case for the past few years), we don't score in pace with our yards. After four games, three against teams that were quite winnable, more adjustments on O are needed. Look for more surprises, as seen last night with two trick plays in a row.

The passing game came alive at Campbell, meaning we broke free of the short pass habit. With a more diverse passing game comes greater risk for errors--the short passes are very safe. While it's great to see us expanding the field, three pics--especially 2 in the red zone in Q4 in a game we could've/should've won, make you wonder what the coach will do now that we have 5 pics and only 4 TDs. The O-line played well and gave Ben good time. Hall had a good game too. The D played well enough--our turnovers out them on the field too much and in tough spots. Lots of positives for Valpo, the turnovers were the difference. Not sure we'll see many more teams with such weak pass coverage.

Good point again about discipline. A few of yesterday's penalties were questionable, so it's safe to say this teams discipline is for real. The improvement in tackling was big--let's hope the coaches chase the passing game next. If/when that uptick occurs, surprises will happen.

62-While your point about the big improvement in the O-line is spot on and a clear factor in the WJC win, we've had 2 INTs to go along with 2 TD passes. The coach is living into his promise to make big progress in the running game. The passing game remains very weak. Stats for passing yards gained, yards per throw, and third down conversions prove this point. Hoping that the coaching staff pulls out something new soon. Although, if the D continues to get the ball back in good field position, we might be able to live off the run/short pass scheme.

If Valpo's defense continues to tackle as well as they did at WJC, we have a good shot at the improved Campbell team--but we need faster pressure so the opposing QB has less time to find a receiver. Send Cotton with Guilford every time we sniff pass--they looked strong at WJC. Our offense, on the other hand, needs figure out how to throw the ball like teams are doing against us, or it'll be a long PFL season. At WJC, the O bright spots were Bastin for yards and Hall for short scores. Campbell will be close; 28-24 Valpo because we have the one element we never typically play with--Confidence.

Valpo athletics pays all medical bills that insurance doesn't cover (deductibles, co-pays, anything out of pocket) for injuries so that families don't have to--I spoke with Stahl's dad who said it worked great. As for the helmets this year--if a player wanted to make sure he received one of the new, better helmets,then he could pay for it and eventually keep it. If he didn't pay, maybe he would get one or maybe not. Parents weren't happy. However, if we win a few games none of these issues of equipment, food, or facilities will seem as important. Let's hope the team made some big adjustments over the week and that a few guys had time to heal up.

Glad to see the timing of the bye week. A good chance to assess and shift before too much season has flown past. Plus, it gives Jake more time to heal. Not feeling any game score prediction.

Good defensive game summary, 62, and thanks for posting the post game video. After hearing the coach describe the complexity of the offense and his expectation that it will take two years (spring + fall season + spring) for players to fully engage it, I humbly retract my earlier statements about the offense and will give them the benefit of the doubt as they learn. Especially the QBs. Should be interesting to see what happens in all the position battles he mentions in the video. 

So far, looks a lot like last year's offense--little from rushing, big numbers from short passes, great yards between our 20 and their 40, no points so who cares, and an easy team to defend against because plays happen in front of the defense. And our defense? I'm at a loss...

Hope the coach is willing to make changes. Without some big ones, the team will remain stuck. A very winnable game was lost.

If the running game isn't there, we better figure out how to consistently throw more than the short dump passes. WIU figured out they could lay back and keep the ball in front of them--the same thing every opponent has done for the past few years.