Game #5 - Stetson (Homecoming)

[VULB#62]

After the 2nd half collapse at Drake, it makes the Stetson game that much more important, but also more unpredictable.

I was unable to watch or track the Drake game (except for watching the first 'good' 20 or so minutes and checking the final score  ).  That second half was totally out of character for this team. In 3 previous games we have shown we could score in any quarter against any opposition. Let's hope the staff can figure out what went wrong and correct it before Saturday.

[valpofb16]

Where were at heading into Stetson

QB   #9 Jimmy Seewald SO. (4/4)   #14 Chris Duncan RSFR. (0/4)   #4 Joe Mullen RSSO. (0/1)   
RB   #10 Jarrett Morgan SR. (4/4)   #44 Kyle Cartales SO. (0/4)   #32 Cody Boxrucker FR. (0/3)   #21 Elias Earley RSSO. (0/4)
FB   #40 Brannen Martin RSFR. (0/3)         
WR   #1 Jean Rene JR. (2/2)   #26 Donny Navarro FR. (2/4)   #23 Bailey Gessinger SO. (0/4)   
WR   #30 Frank Catrine SR. (4/4)   #2 Griffin Norberg JR. (0/4)   #82 Deuce Larose FR. (0/3)   
WR   #3 Parker Fox RSSO. (4/4)   #12 JD Koehler RSSO. (0/4)      
TE   #84 Mason Sutter JR. (4/4)   #87 Martin Petruf SO. (0/4)   #16 Ryan Clarke SR. (0/4)   
LT   #77 Terrence Roberts RSSO. (2/2)   #76 Alex Cotton RSSO. (2/3)      
LG   #67 Eric Rentschler JR. (4/4)   #72 Solomon Kamara RSFR. (0/3)      
C   #65 Jack Jarnigan RSSO. (3/3)   #70 Brady Sullivan RSSO. (0/3)      
RG   #73 Tom Schofield JR. (4/4)   #66 Sam Vas FR. (0/3)      
RT   #60 Andrew Lundberg RSSO. (3/3)   #75 Shannon Taliaferro JR. (1/4)   #71 Bryce Biggs RSFR. (0/2)   
NT   #93 James Reed SO. (2/2)   #92 Drew Gedrys FR. (2/4)   #56 Tristan De La Rosa (0/2)   
DT   #99 Jakob Trumpower RSSO. (4/4)   #97 Jeremiah Olojo FR. (0/3)   #62 Nathan Orlandini FR. (0/3)   #96 Cam Germain FR. (0/1)
DE   #34 Jay Slone RSSR. (3/4)   #54 Jesse Studyvin JR. (1/2)   #91 Jordan Goebel RSFR. (0/4)   
OLB   #18 Mike Wheeler JR. (4/4)   #33 Gowan Baldwin JR. (0/4)   #35 Gavin Twigg FR. (0/3)   
ILB   #24 Drew Snouffer JR. (4/4)   #6 Logan Pfizenmayer FR. (0/3)      
ILB   #49 Nick Turner JR. (4/4)   #47 Matthew Messler RSSO. (0/4)   #43 John Regan SR. (0/1)   
OLB   #37 Laddie Skarecky FR. (2/4)   #36 Austin Petrie SO. (2/3)   #38 Joey Poloskey FR. (0/4)   
CB   #5 Jalin Leandre JR. (4/4)   #41 Henry Hebda FR. (0/3)      
FS   #28 Josmar Diaz-Martinez JR. (4/4)   #20 Jamari Booker SO. (1/4)      
SS   #4 JJ Nunes RSSR. (3/3)   #22 Tramone Duncan FR. (0/3)   #7 Brent Brimmage FR. (0/1)   
CB   #17 Brandon Riley SR. (1/1)   #25 Dilan Scargle FR. (2/3)   #14 Cam Kelly FR. (1/3)   
K   #1 Dimitrios Latsois SO. (0/4)         
P   #88 Alex Ng JR. (0/4)         
            
Redshirts   #42 Jake Iery JR. DT         
   #61 Sean Pierce SO. OL         
   #95 Murphy Osmond SO. DL         
   #11 Trey Bilinkski FR. QB         
   #13 Ryan Markoff FR. QB         
   #15 Doug Haugh FR. RB         
   #19 Trey Stablein FR. WR         
   #33 Conor Beer FR. WR         
   #85 TJ Weinzimmer FR. WR         
   #86 Kevin Wright FR. WR         
   #31 Alex Kluck FR. TE         
   #80 Brett Bittner FR. TE         
   #51 Nick Antonacci FR. OL         
   #79 Thomas Walsh FR. OL         
   #58 David Mason FR. DL         
   #90 Isaac Velasco FR. DL         
   #30 Cole VanSetters FR. LB         
   #46 Josh Baker FR. LB         
   #89 Cade Bishop FR. LB         
   #2 Stacey Jones FR. DB         
   #19 Bryce Leach FR. DB         
   #45 David Hebda FR. DB         
   #13 Kyle Ulbrich FR. P/K         
   #99 Carter Puckett FR. LS         
            
DNP   #98 Jake Simpson RSJR. K         
   #50 John Horan RSSO. OL         
   #69 Alex Helander RSSO. OL         
   #44 Connor Sperling RSFR. DL         
   #64 Sean Stephens RSFR. OL         
   #74 James Zajac RSFR. OL   
   #78 Ron Williams RSFR. DT
       

[JD24]

You mentioned a Baker leaving the team in the Drake thread. Is that the same Baker who is still on the roster or was there another Baker on the roster at some point?

[valpofb16]

Baker still there, that is what we call a human error

[JD24]

Baker still there, that is what we call a human error

It's permitted. Thought maybe there were two Baker's on the roster on the way to a Baker's dozen.

[valpofb16]

Games notes as of Tuesday:

C Jarnigan-Out
WR Rene-Q
DL Studyin- Out
DL Reed- Out
DB Scargle-Q
DB Riley-Out

Returning

Rene
Petrie
Scargle

[covufan]

How many Homecoming games in the last 20 years have we won?

I see a win this week.

Valpo  36
Stetson 17

Maybe we can get to 0.500 at Campbell!

[JD24]

With the defense (particularly the secondary) playing below par and more affected by injury, Dave's boys are fortunate that Stetson hasn't shown much in the way of an offense. I've seen them in parts of a couple of games and they appear completely out of sorts trying to move the ball.

The Stetson defense is pretty good but their offense places too much pressure on them. I'd like to think that Valpo can win this game handily but I'll go with a more conservative 23-13 win. Anything closer than that or a loss and a complete reset of expectations would need to be done.

[VULB#62]

Here's the Todd Ickow game preview.

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

[usc4valpo]

Valpo 24-14

[talksalot]

Valpo 21 : 7

[IndyValpo]

It appears we are blowing a home game against the worst team in the league.

[IndyValpo]

Didn't we stream games last year? How is it Trinity International has it and we do not....really hard to "watch" on game tracker!

[IndyValpo]

Nunes huge interception perhaps snatching a homecoming victory from the jaws of defeat...one maybe two first downs will do it..one first down...Crusaders win!

[JD24]

Valpo was beaten soundly by Drake last year and barely beat Stetson last year.

Valpo was beaten soundly by Drake this year and barely beat Stetson this year. Stetson is not good and was seemingly better last season.

A win is a win I guess.

Stetson has been pretty bad offensively and they were up and down the field this game. Stetson handed the ball to Valpo way inside their own territory.

A 3 point win.

[VULB#62]

Valpo was beaten soundly by Drake last year and barely beat Stetson last year.

Valpo was beaten soundly by Drake this year and barely beat Stetson this year. Stetson is not good and was seemingly better last season.

A win is a win I guess.

Stetson has been pretty bad offensively and they were up and down the field this game. Stetson handed the ball to Valpo way inside their own territory.

A 3 point win.

Yep.

Tale of the Tape
Hatters ran 81 plays to Valpo's 58. 
Rushing was kinda close:  Hatters 67 yards on 29 attempts - Valpo 49 on 29 attempts.
Passing not so much:  Hatters 383 on 35/52  vs. Valpo with 254 on 19/29

[hailcrusaders]

I hate to complain about a win, but can someone who saw the game today tell me if we are playing at the same level as we were in weeks 1 and 2? Even during the 1-10 seasons of '11, '12, and '13 we were able to eke out a win over the worst team in the PFL. A 3 point win today doesn't sound much better than that.

[usc4valpo]

The board response has changed significantly in the past 4 years. We are actually complaining about team performance after a win! Who would have thunk this would happen?

[valpopal]

I have to say that it was somewhat irritating that the scoreboard and game clock weren't working, and the time had to be kept on the field by the officials.

[usc4valpo]

I think it is time for Valpo to upgrade to a new scoreboard. Every high school game I have attended this year in the Des Moines area has a better scoreboard than Valpo. Drake has a very nice one but they also use it for more significant purposes.

[valpofb16]

Rough win on the day but a win. Beating the worst team in D1 by a game saving interception doesnt exactly bode well for future.

Thoughts...

We were outplayed, had a lot more talent and they handed it to us
Jimmy had a solid game throwing the ball, Navarro is going to be special, Rene might be more hurt then letting on, Still no sacks from our defense, Secondary gave up huge game to a not so great offensive throwing attack, Snouffer and Turner are studs, Cartales might be a better back than Morgan now

That being said. A good homecoming win!

[VULB#62]

4,492

Nice to see these numbers. Granted, it was homecoming, but I can recall within the last 8 years some previous homecomings when we were lucky to have 2,000 fans at the game.

Now, if we could only find the talent and size on defense to complement the offensive side of the ball, we'd be a heck of a team. I don't know if " 3 and outs" or "possessions of less than 30 yards" are tracked, but right now I'd guess we'd be very low in those rankings..

We can not give up a boat load of passing yards to less talented teams. Stetson showed a lot of grit getting to the 12 and within winning range (thank you JJ!) that late in the game. A stronger defense would have sealed the win much earlier.

There is still much ahead of this program to do to make us consistently competitive, but first we have to be good enough to pretty much always beat the Stetsons, Davidsons, Moreheads, and Butlers. Once we can demonstrate that, then we go after the USDs, Drakes, Marists, and Daytons.

I believe that Dave is the guy to take us there. However, the personality of a team reflects the personality of the HFBC and Dave's wheelhouse is offense. We learned with Carlson that defense is not defined as out-scoring your opponent. At the end of this season Dave has got to do two things:  first, maintain his offensive recruiting drive and, second, give DC Ernest Moore more tools, skilled staff and recruiting budget. We have had relative longevity among O coaches, but the D has seen, I think, a much greater coaching turnover. And that impacts recruiting and improvement and consistency on the field.

[JD24]

4,492  Now, if we could only find the talent and size on defense to complement the offensive side of the ball, we'd be a heck of a team. I don't know if " 3 and outs" or "possessions of less than 30 yards" are tracked, but right now I'd guess we'd be very low in those rankings.. We can not give up a boat load of passing yards to less talented teams. 

Part of which may be tied into the ability to retain players even through their 5th year. I'd imagine Brandon Doepke would help the DL right about now in addition to the couple of starters with eligibility they lost for whatever reason. All in all, despite Nunes coming up with the big play at the end of the game, the defensive backfield is really struggling and you can't look at the one or two splash plays to judge how anyone is playing. It's the lack of consistent play back there that is hurting the defense. The front 7 hasn't really been all that bad and it will be interesting how they hold up vs Campbell although their running QB certainly adds an element they really haven't faced to any great degree this season.

[VULB#62]

4,492  Now, if we could only find the talent and size on defense to complement the offensive side of the ball, we'd be a heck of a team. I don't know if " 3 and outs" or "possessions of less than 30 yards" are tracked, but right now I'd guess we'd be very low in those rankings.. We can not give up a boat load of passing yards to less talented teams. 

Part of which may be tied into the ability to retain players even through their 5th year. I'd imagine Brandon Doepke would help the DL right about now in addition to the couple of starters with eligibility they lost for whatever reason. All in all, despite Nunes coming up with the big play at the end of the game, the defensive backfield is really struggling and you can't look at the one or two splash plays to judge how anyone is playing. It's the lack of consistent play back there that is hurting the defense. The front 7 hasn't really been all that bad and it will be interesting how they hold up vs Campbell although their running QB certainly adds an element they really haven't faced to any great degree this season.

Yep.

Need more talent up front, including depth, to consistently put passers under pressure while at the same time stuffing the run. That might take some pressure off the secondary. But more talent back there would not hurt.

What I can not comment on, due to my inability to break it down accurately, is the defensive scheme and philosophy. But as an aside, I really miss Kellen back there.

[JD24]

Didn't see this posted anywhere

http://www.valpoathletics.com/football/news/2017-18/17628/latsonas-awarded-pfl-special-teams-player-of-the-week/#.WdK2NjBryM8

Sophomore kicker Dimitrios Latsonas (Westmont, Ill. / Westmont) was recognized as the PFL Special Teams Player of the Week after booting a pair of field goals through the uprights – both of which proved vital in the eventual three-point victory. Latsonas hit from 34 yards and 30 yards while also converting all three PAT attempts.