Game #2 - St. Joe's Pumas

[VULB#62]

OK.  How will this team respond after the loss to WIU? Will they correct the mistakes that led to big plays or will they think that after playing a scholarship FCS team sort of respectably (lowest FCS loss margin in 11 years), they can just throw their cleats on the field and  beat a D-II team?  Will they emerge from the tunnel a different team from the past 4 years or will they come out the same as in the past?  I will be there to see what the answers are.

[historyman]

One thing I noticed is that St Joe is playing their first game next Saturday. In the past I believe the Pumas had played an exhibition game or a first game before playing Valpo. I do believe this will help Valpo quite a bit if VU can solve some of the big issues at QB and on defense.

[NuPudge]

Valpo by 20 points

[usc4valpo]

31-21 Saders

[covufan]

I think this one will be close, as it has been the last few years.

Valpo  -  33
St Joe -  31

We control the ball and limit our turnovers and come out with a win!

[setshot]

I miss Milan's analysis of our games as he was (IMO) a realist. So, to keep the record straight and honest I'll pick St. Joe by 7. Hell our "D" still stinks we miss Hoffman and therefore our "O" stalls(where are you Leslie). Should we beat St.Joe -yeah. Will we beat St. Joe - hell no!

[historyman]

I think this one will be close, as it has been the last few years.

Valpo  -  33
St Joe -  31

We control the ball and limit our turnovers and come out with a win!

Finally some realism! If not slightly optimistic. Brandon Hall could very well be a good reason for that slight optimism. It is also extremely critical that the defense and QB situations improve enough to not let the game slip away. I agree it will be close, I hope.

St Joe  44
Valpo   39

EDIT: Even setshot is so much more real and yet has a degree of optimism that I haven't seen from him in previous years. That actually is a great sign.

[VULB#62]

Basically, with the exception of Eric at QB and Derbak at LB, this is the same team that lost to SJC last year 34-31 and the year before that 36-34.  So the big variable is not the players, it's the new staff. Have they had enough time to change the loser mindset and implement a better set of O and D schemes to make a difference? 

If you believe that they have -- we win.  If you are not convinced -- we lose.  I've talked with the guy (Coach Cecchini) and tried to think like a player, and if I were playing this year I'd be busting my butt to win.  With Dale there was a bit of a player/coach barrier, and I do not think the players bought into playing for him.  I think Cecchini is a player's coach and they will try their best to live up to his demands.  Therefore, I see a close game with the final: Valpo 31 SJC 27.

[valpotx]

Valpo 31
St. Joe 24

[VUDad]

If the defense tackles better and Green blitzes more, Hutsons knee tweak was no big deal, and QB Stahl get a chance to bring the O to life, then Valpo 35-St Joe 14.

[VULB#62]

The team has some extra days to prepare which is good.  The added time for film study will help to correct basic problems. The tackling issue was mentioned by Coach Cecchini in his post game and Ernest Moore (DC) stated the same.  You can be sure that they will be working on that this week as well.  The non-conference schedule, to an extent,  is the place to experiment with personnel. Nothing improves play and builds confidence like game experience. For that reason, I would like to see Scott Staal get the lion's share of the snaps this game and try to establish a rhythm so we can really see what he can bring to game.  Eight passes against WIU is not a fair indicator.  I would also like to see Bastin get a few more carries to see what he can do and we have got to find Gladney more often-- yikes, he had zero catches against WIU. 

On D, I'd like to see our D-Line involved in more tackles at, near or behind the LOS.  Against WIU, who went 6-2, 300 --> 6-2, 290 --> 6-2, 290 --> 6-7 320 --> 6-9, 340 --> 6-5 310 Tackle to tackle our down four (6-3, 245, 6-1, 245, 6-2, 275 and 6-4, 240) had all they could do just to hold their ground.  They should be seeing guys more their size against St. Joe's.  Looks like freshman Kye Hall is pressing for more snaps at LB

[VULB#62]

Checking the SJC Football site it looks like they lost their #1 QB to graduation but their #2 is back and he has some game experience.  Both the #1 and #2 running backs, who accounted for over 2000 yards of rushing, are back.  The #2 and #3 of last year's three leading receivers return as well.  There is also a lot of OL size (>280 lbs.) on the roster.

[78crusader]

Every year we underestimate the Pumas, and every year, it seems, they have our number.  St. Joe knows that we view them as a beatable opponent and that only makes them more determined to knock us off.  I think defeating them will be a difficult task.  We better bring it or they will hang another L on us.

Paul

[historyman]

Yep. Spot on, Paul!

You can call them ham & eggers all you want but since the Adams era Valpo has never gone into this game being better than St Joe. Valpo fans just have this certain feeling that they should be but the Crusaders certainly have not been better in any category.

This series against St Joe used to remind me of the Valpo MBB vs IPFW but even in that series the Crusaders are better but not playing up to expectations. In football VU hasn't had the superior talent or the belief in themselves to beat St Joe recently.

[VULB#62]

The record speaks for itself:

First Meeting: 1921
Last Meeting: 2013
Record Vs. St. Joe's:  28-35-2

Last Valpo Win:  2001,  24-7

[bbtds]

St. Joe picked to finish third in GLVC.

http://athletics.saintjoe.edu/news/2014/7/29/FB_0729142838.aspx

Saint Joseph's College garnered the third spot in the preseason poll with 50 points while picking-up the final first-place vote.  Cory Sanders is in his third year in Rensselaer, Indiana and welcomes back a Pumas squad that is coming off an 8-3 campaign that included a 5-2 record in league action, good for second place.  First-team All-GLVC honorees Braxton Shelton (RB), Tyler Callaghan (HB), Jakob Styla (OL) and Gary Yeoman (LB) return for the Pumas.

SJC also rushed for 224.1 yards per game and a GLVC best 23 touchdowns last season. Braxton Shelton became the fifth back in SJC history to rush for over 1,000 yards last season as he accumulated over 100 yards in a game five times, including a 200 yards, two touchdown performance in a 36-24 victory over Quincy. Kobi Cook will also be in the back-field as he rushed for 827 yards and six touchdowns last season. Both backs with have the luxury of an expereinced offensive line and tight-end corp to open holes at the line of scrimmage.

UIndy was picked first in the GLVC by a big margin
The Greyhounds enter their third campaign as a football-playing member in the GLVC with an undefeated 15-0 conference mark.  UIndy finished the 2013 season 10-2 overall and earned its second consecutive NCAA Divison II Playoff appearance.  The Hounds received eight of the nine first-place votes only because conference bylaws do not permit a school to vote for itself.

So UIndy voted for SJC because they couldn't vote for themselves--thereby giving the Pumas a distant 2nd place in the Greyhound thinking.

[usc4valpo]

If Valpo is going to advance and be a competitive team, they need to beat teams like St. Joe.  It should be expected that they win a game like this.

[bbtds]

Drove through Rensselaer this afternoon and saw the Pumas practicing. I'm sorry I couldn't tell Coach Cecchini which defense SJC is going to play.

Two things I learned is that the Purdue football team drove up to Rensselaer last week before their opening game and practiced at one of SJC's open fields in a totally surprise move. I think Darrel Hazell just put the team in a bus and drove up the road to wherever he could find to simulate a road trip.

The other is that Jensen Nowakoski, who was an outstanding athlete in many sports at Lutheran HS in Indy is a defensive coach at St Joe. I tried my hardest to get him to tell me their defensive scheme but unfortunately he knew well that I was a die-hard Valpo guy.

Jensen was real excited about the Saints beating the Ritter Raiders so handily this week. He said he thought Ritter must have gone into the game way over confident and that Lutheran didn't lose many seniors.

Can you imagine, Purdue sneeks into town but I get found out by one of the defensive coaches.

There are quite a few Indy guys from both the catholic and public high schools at St Joe.

Wheeler and Boone Grove have a couple of guys representing their schools on the SJC team and are excited to play in Valpo.

[VULB#62]

Here's the Dave Cecchini SJC preview interview.  This SJC team may be better than their 8-3 team of last year. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2gjJd5zSC0

To refresh our memories:

Thursday, August 30, 2012
Valparaiso entered the fourth quarter of its season opener at Brown Field on Thursday night with a 34-27 lead, but Saint Joseph's (Ind.) scored twice in the final 15 minutes, including a six-yard touchdown run with 24 seconds to play, to down the Crusaders, 36-34.

Saturday, September 07, 2013
The Valparaiso football team entered the fourth quarter at Saint Joseph's (Ind.) with a 23-18 advantage on Saturday, but the Pumas were able to put up 16 points in the quarter, including the eventual game-winning field goal with 4:51 to play, and a late Crusader fourth-down attempt came up short as Valpo fell by a 34-31 final.

[VUOR63]

Whenever the St. Joe's game comes around every year, I think back to being in the 2001 pre-game defensive meeting and experiencing what was, perhaps, the greatest coaching pep-talk ever.  Bernardi had a cut-up put together of a bunch of cheap chop blocks by St. Joe's O-Linmen from prior years and at the end of it took the VHS tape out of the VCR and threw it across the room shattering it into pieces.  That game was a 24-7 win.  I know very little about the current team but hopefully they can have similar results this weekend.

[VULB#62]

Thanks for adding that perspective.  Always good to hear about personal experiences associated with any athletic event, but even better when it involves throwing things  .

In my three years we only won once - 41-8.  The rest were close loses -- 7-14 and 14-15. Hated SJC and Butler the most on our schedule back then.  I don't think this group of players has developed any rivalry/hatred mindset yet -- heck, they are just trying to win any football game against anyone.  But those two close loses in 12 and 13 (and especially the way we let wins get away from us in the 4th qtr) should be a motivating factor for this team because it is within the frame of memory of all but the new freshmen.

[VUDad]

The coach's video comments make me feel like I over estimated the points we will score.

[VULB#62]

CLIPPED FROM THE ST JOE'S FB WEBSITE:

RENSSELAER, Ind. – The Saint Joseph's College football team has been patiently waiting for the opening of the 2014 season. SJC is coming off an 8-3 season, including a three point loss to the University of Indianapolis for the Great Lakes Valley Conference title. The 2014 season will open at Valparaiso University, one of SJC's oldest foes.

The Pumas are addressing the needs at quarterback and receiver offensively. Billy VandeMerkt and Julian Walker graduated, but the remainder of the offense returns for Saturday's opener against Valparaiso University. Tate Borlik, who has seen significant action the past three years, is ready for his opportunity. Borlik played in six games last season, throwing for 646 yards and four touchdowns. He also led the Pumas to an overtime and comeback victory over William Jewell to end the 2013 campaign. This year Borlik will have the luxury of an experience offensive line and one of the best running games in the nation.

SJC finished 28th in the NCAA Division II with 224.1 rushing yards per game last season. Braxton Shelton rushed for over 1,000 yards last season while Kobi Cook added over 800 yards. Anchoring the offensive line is Trent Hall and Jakob Styla who received All-GLVC honors last season.

Defensively the Pumas feature a host of experienced and skilled players ready to add onto the impressive numbers of 2013. SJC allowed a slim 85.2 rushing yards per game, which ranked seventh in the nation. The Pumas also placed 14th in the country in sacks and tackles for loss.

Led by Gary Yeoman and Joel Wimbley the Pumas again feature two the GLVC's best linebackers. Yeoman finished 17th in the NCAA with 18.5 tackles for loss and 30th in sacks. Wimbley was 23rd in the nation with 16.5 tackles for loss. Cody French aids in the development of the defensive line as he finished 2013 with 55 tackles.

Head Coach Cory Sanders has a host of defensive backs that have matured over the past 18 months. SJC allowed 220 passing yards per game last season while making 13 interceptions. Both Yeoman and Wimbley made three interceptions last season.

Saturday's matchup will be the final contest between the Pumas and Valparaiso for the foreseeable future. The Crusaders (0-1) are coming off a 45-6 loss to Western Illinois last Thursday. VU will be guided by Ben Lehman who has taken the offensive controls after the graduation of Eric Hoffman. Lehman threw for 151 yards last week. Brandon Hall rushed for 66 yards on 14 carries while the team recorded 115 yards on the ground. Last season Valpo averaged 280 yards passing and 72 yards rushing.

The past two matchups have seen the Pumas edge the Crusaders. In 2012 SJC picked-up a 36-34 victory while last season the Pumas won a 34-31 contest at Alumni Stadium.

Kyle Hall led the defense with 10 tackles last week, including one for a loss. Melvin Graham III collected nine tackles in the loss to Western Illinois. Hall is a freshman linebacker from New Smyrna Beach, Florida while Graham has played in 20 games in his Crusader career. Graham recorded 45 tackles and two interceptions last season.

[vu72]

Interesting that this is the last match up with St. Joe ' for the "foreseeable" future. Are we trying to change the level of competition?

[Dave_2010]

Interesting that this is the last match up with St. Joe ' for the "foreseeable" future. Are we trying to change the level of competition?

I asked Cecchini about his OOC scheduling plans at the alumni event in Cleveland earlier this year. He said that his hope was to begin scheduling more games against the other non-scholarship and limited-scholarship programs in DI, hopefully with return dates in Valpo.

It seems pretty ambitious. Hopefully Cecchini is going to start with the likes of Georgetown and Columbia as opposed to Lehigh, Lafayette, Harvard, or Princeton.


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