PFL ANNOUNCES 2013 SCHEDULE

[VULB#62]

Found the article      Painful and embarrassing.......especially after 2 more equally bad years and no action taken.
http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefootball/story/Valparaiso-Crusaders-football-presses-on-in-face-of-huge-adversity-090111

Can't help but think back about Bobby Wisocki who came back for the 2011 season like McCarty and was quoted in the story.  I saw him play QB vs. Marist at Marist in 2009, Stacy Adams' last year.  He did a pretty good job that game despite not really being a QB and VU only lost 0-24.  He was used as a WR and sometime RB in 2010 by the Carlson staff, and in that horrendous season, I remember some pretty good plays on his part. He could do a variety of things and he was good sized.  He had talent.  In 2011 Bobby started out as one of the core players, by mid season, though not injured and IMO a better player, he was replaced by some younger players (had to get them that valuable experience) and by the Marist game was walking the sideline and only got in in the last few minutes after the game was decided (7-30).  Tough way to spend his last season after making the commitment he talked about.  It was also sad that despite being benched Valpo promoted his name out there as a recipient of a couple of national recognitions as I recall.

[covufan]

Found the article      Painful and embarrassing.......especially after 2 more equally bad years and no action taken.
http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefootball/story/Valparaiso-Crusaders-football-presses-on-in-face-of-huge-adversity-090111

I remember that article, well done.  Interestingly, the writer knew (2 years ago) that this team needed wins yet we continue to schedule unwinnable games.

Not sure what teams would constitute 'winnable'.  Carlson's record against less than Division I is 0-4.  Adams' was 9-8 in five seasons, and Horne's was 33-11, after formation of PFL or 12 seasons.  The schedule, as more teams entered the PFL, has increased in competition, but we should be competitive within our own league.  In 20 years of the PFL, we have only 4 non-losing seasons in PFL play.  Carlson is 2-22 in PFL play.  To come close to Adams' winning percentage in his first four years of PFL play, Carson will need 5 PFL wins.  Not sure that we have that many 'winnable' PFL games next year.

[VULB#62]

This is from the Torch (December 3, 2012).  The student newspaper took a different approach to the game coverage.  So not only are we embarassed on the crawler by lopsided scores -- we make SportsCenter's Top 10.  But there are some [snark] encouraging thoughts [snark] at the end for the 2013 campaign so I posted it here.

VU Football on SportsCenter

It might not have been the best way to do it, but the Valparaiso University football team can say they appeared on ESPN's SportsCenter.

In their 76-24 loss against Pioneer Football League (PFL) foe Morehead State, the Crusaders gave up a rather unexpected score. In the second quarter, MSU receiver Cyrus Strahm acted as if he was going to return a kickoff until he surprisingly threw the ball across the field to redshirt senior Donte Sawyer, who then marched 85 yards to the end zone, making the score 41-7.

The play appeared on the "Top 10 Plays" segment of SportsCenter and took everyone involved in the play by surprise.  "We never saw that before," said VU redshirt sophomore cornerback Dale Cook.  Even VU head coach Dale Carlson was surprised by the play; however, he believes that does not matter.  "That is not an excuse," Carlson said. "It was a trick play and it caught us."

Although the Brown and Gold lessened the deficit to 41-10 two series later after a 27-yard field goal from redshirt sophomore kicker Mike Pando, Morehead State immediately responded with a score of its own. Quarterback Zach Lewis connected with receiver Brandon Bornhauser for 53 yards, giving the Eagles a 48-10 lead heading into halftime.
MSU extended its lead to 62-10 within minutes of the third quarter when Sawyer earned another score, this time off a 64-yard pass from quarterback Boone Goldsmith. On the ensuing kickoff, Morehead State found the end zone again when redshirt junior running back Sterling Summerville fumbled the ball, which was recovered by defensive back Steven Lester, who returned it for the 10-yard score.
VU answered with a score of its own later in the quarter, making the score 62-17, when redshirt sophomore quarterback Eric Hoffman hit sophomore receiver Cole Anderson for nine yards. Hoffman finished the game completing 26 passes for 200 yards and one touchdown.
Morehead State earned two more scores in the fourth quarter off two rushing touchdowns from redshirt senior receivers Blake Stanley and Adam Slupski. The Brown and Gold sandwiched a touchdown of its own in between MSU's scores as sophomore quarterback Ben Lehman completed a 37-yard pass to redshirt junior running back Jabril Baker.

Carlson was disappointed with the loss and credits the team's lack of consistency as the reason for the result.  "We were incredibly inconsistent," Carlson said. "This more than anything led to the lopsided loss."

To start the game, the Crusaders gained 29 yards on their first three plays of the game; however, two false start penalties forced them to punt. This led to a Morehead State touchdown as Lewis connected with Sawyer from 33 yards, making the score 7-0. The lead extended to 14-0 a series later when receiver Blake Stanley earned a three-yard rushing touchdown.  VU had an opportunity to put points of its own on the board; however, Pando missed a 23-yard field goal. The Eagles took advantage of the miss and scored on the next play thanks to an 80-yard rush from Bornhauser, giving MSU a 20-0 lead after one quarter of play.
Sophomore receiver Tanner Kuramata felt that the team's inability to score in the game, especially in the first quarter, was a key reason for the defeat.
"In the two previous games against Morehead State, we scored a decent amount of points, so not doing that this time brings you down a bit," Kuramata said.
Sawyer's first of three touchdowns came in the second quarter after a 1-yard pass from Lewis, bringing the score to 27-0. The Eagles made their lead 34-0 four plays later after defensive back Kameron Scott intercepted a Hoffman pass and returned it 53 yards to the end zone. VU capitalized on its next possession thanks to a 3-yard rush from redshirt freshman running back Jake Hutson, putting the Crusaders down 34-7. Hutson ended the day with 107 yards.

With the defeat, the Brown and Gold close the 2012 season with a 1-10 record. Carlson has mixed thoughts on the season as a whole.  "I'm not happy with our record, but it was good to see our team not be physically dominated by the teams we faced," Carlson said.

To prepare for the 2013 season, Carlson will have the team take part in conditioning sessions as well as having them frequently be in the weight room. However, he believes that in order to really improve as a team, every player must be determined to succeed.  "Players have to be willing to do their homework, come in to ask questions and watch videos on their own to become better football players," Carlson said.

[VULB#62]

I don't get it.  Today the VU web site released the VU PFL part of the schedule.  The PFL announced this last Monday.  I would have thought that Valpo would have added the three OOC games and sent out a complete schedule.


http://www.valpoathletics.com/football/news/2012-13/12268/crusaders-release-2013-pfl-schedule/

[covufan]

I don't get it.  Today the VU web site released the VU PFL part of the schedule.  The PFL announced this last Monday.  I would have thought that Valpo would have added the three OOC games and sent out a complete schedule.


http://www.valpoathletics.com/football/news/2012-13/12268/crusaders-release-2013-pfl-schedule/

Maybe we now know the VU commitment to football - confuse the reader with incomplete info.

[VULB#62]

The only thing I can figure is that UND and St. Joe's are already locked in, but the Wagner specifics aren't complete yet.  St. Joe's and North Dakota have already published their schedules for 2013 but VU and Wagner have not.

Selfishly I'd like to have the Wagner game at Wagner in 2013 -- that'll allow me (I live outside of Boston) to see both the Marist game (3 hr drive) as well as Wagner (4 hour drive) and in the case of Wagner stay in NYC and take in a show or a great dinner Saturday night.  But for the program's sake, I really hope it's a home game. 

Thinking out loud, I hope that when our kids travel to places like San Diego and NYC, win or lose, they get an extra day to see the sights.  Hey, Bowies Creek and Dayton are one thing, but these high profile cities should be part of their experiential education.   Heck, they should at least, take the Staten Island Ferry and see the Statue of Liberty as they pass it and go to Times Square for an hour.  Isn't that the draw of the PFL?  It's billed as a coast-to-coast league.  I talked to a couple of USD parents at their Harvard game and that's what USD did.  They had a get-together on Friday night before the game with the players and then the players spent all Sunday in Boston before they flew back to the left coast.  And if Valpo ever scheduled Harvard in Cambridge, I'd be the tour guide on the bus.

The more I think about this whole PFL thing, if Valpo does not give our kids this kind of exposure to the world, what's the point?  There are no scholarships, so the benefits have to measured by the holistic experience -- everything they get to live through.  If I had a scholarshipped FCS team I'd get them in and out pretty quick, because it's on to the next game (and they are paid to play).  But PFL is different.  The compensation for the kids has got to be in the experience.

[vuweathernerd]

62-i gotta give you credit for being willing to make multiple 3+ hour drives to watch vu football. i live maybe 2 1/2 hours from grand forks, and have no intention at this point of driving to und for that level of embarassment.

[FloridaFootball]

I will fly to the Marist game. I am from NYC. And  a game vs. Steson in FLA would have been great. But, then again, they have a lot of FLA kids on that team and they wont be a gimme W!