Mutka: VU football shakes off growing pains

[VULB#62]

Column from the Post-Tribune -- much more detail than the VU FB Blog



http://posttrib.suntimes.com/sports/colleges/11925278-556/mutka-vu-football-shakes-off-growing-pains.html

[setshot]

6-5 is a reasonable goal. I'll take it!

[willy]

last year injuries and lack of depth played a big part in the record.  Sounds like we are getting depth at multiple positions now.  I think a .500 record is a realistic goal.  Looking forward to the Brown and Gold game Saturday!!

[valpotx]

It seemed like Hoffman would be a good QB after his first season.  I hope we got some extra pieces around him, as he impressed on several occasions

[setshot]

Great home schedule: Duquense,Butler,Drake and Davidson among others.Hope to make one of these four. We haven't been on campus since '07,so in addition to seeing the rejuvenated Crusaders play,we want to tour the new campus. 6-5. Is this realistic?

[VULB#62]

Here's the NWI Times Spring game preview.  Again, a bit more info than in the VU site release. For some reason I thought that Cody Gokan was gone, but he's back next season and that's a good thing.

http://www.nwitimes.com/sports/college/valparaiso-university/crusaders-ready-for-annual-spring-football-game/article_77aef99c-7127-547d-b9a2-abf94bae24a6.html

IMO as a fan, I'd like to see a traditional game format:  #1 O v. #1 D, #2 D v. #2 O.  I attended the preseason scrimmage in August and it was more like watching a practice than seeing game conditions -- and the scoring was weird.  But these things are not for the fans -- they are for the kids and the staff. BTW I am in favor of the recent trial balloon in college football to allow one scrimmage against another team. I think it should be restricted to FCS and below. D-III already can scrimmage. For BCS schools it would just be a another money grabbing event.

There was a significant roster drop between Carlson's year 1 and year 2 with many kids leaving or just opting out.  Based on Carlson's recent comments, player retention has improved. If things follow last year's form, I'm looking for a release in the next couple of weeks that announces the new recruiting class.  I, for one, am really curious about that part of the program's development. Better retention + improved size, speed and skills + better prospects = improved team = fewer blow-outs  and more wins = added measure of respect.