Game #9 - @ Jacksonville

[VULB#62]

Ickow and Cecchini Morehead look-back and JAX preview:

<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yzZtJUEkICc" frameborder="0" gesture="media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[VULB#62]

Jacksonville's coaches podcast:
https://soundcloud.com/judolphins/behind-the-shields-valparaiso-1

Couple of tidbits:  They had 92 snaps vs. Campbell.  Of the 92, they ran 77 times and didn't fumble.  We have our work cut out for us on defense.  The D has to get off the field and give the O multiple opportunities.

[usc4valpo]

What does Jacksonville's stadium look now? I saw past pictures and it looked pretty brutal!

[VULB#62]

The playing surface and surrounding track are similar to ours and look fine.  In 2014 they added a 2,900 seat grandstand, press box and scoreboard.

Here's the 2014 story:  http://www.judolphins.com/sports/fball/2014-15/releases/20140812z25pbk

Up to that point Milne Field was pretty much just that -- a field.

Here is a FB link with photos.

https://www.facebook.com/JUDolphins/photos/pcb.10152187580921556/10152187566301556/?type=3&theater

The new grandstand appears to be about 25 rows high (Brown Field has 17 rows), but it also appears that the rennovated press box is still on the east side and is pretty low. Hard to tell from the internet-posted photos I saw.

[usc4valpo]

that has to be the lowest press box in college football! There must be some creative coordination from the coaches during the game. How are you supposed to see the formations? How is Todd supposed to provide us with his outstanding play by play?

[VULB#62]

JD24, I believe, has been there recently and may have an even better assessment and maybe the real press box is on teh west side now???

[JD24]

It's been a couple of years but the Press Box is still on the side opposite the grandstand unless it has been moved since then. It's a nice yet small facility with room around the field to sit on the hills or put up a chair around the perimeter. It serves its purpose and I find it pretty nice. Since I'm not sitting in it, I don't really care about the Press Box. We need Valpo to where their Gold on White unis to drive the Jacksonville announcers crazy.

[valpotx]

Good lord, talk about your QB blowing a game!  Those 3 INTs were absolutely pitiful throws, with no pressure on him.  He ended up with 2 that sailed very high, and that last one was not even close to a WR.  What in the world was wrong with Seewald today?

[valpofb16]

If we ran it three times it would have been a win or at least a tie

Cartales just ran for a 15 yard gain, its sad we played awful today and barely lost to Jacksonville, that Is an improvement

Defense played well enough to win, Jimmy had a very bad outing ,

3 picks
2 wide open touchdowns to Catrine over thrown

This was a botched coaching job in the last few minutes but also offense did not play enough to win, Great defensive game

[valpopal]

True, Seewald threw 3 interceptions, but the third one should never have happened. I blame the coaching staff for a terrible play call, especially since there already had been two interceptions. Who throws the ball in that situation? Even if it worked, Jacksonville gets the ball back with more time on the clock. The Jacksonville announcers said Valpo would likely run the rest of their plays. If they don't get a TD, they can tie the game with a field goal. If they do get a TD, there is almost no time left on the clock for Jacksonville, and it is a win. Awful play call that threw away a game that should have been a win!

Good lord, talk about your QB blowing a game!  Those 3 INTs were absolutely pitiful throws, with no pressure on him.  He ended up with 2 that sailed very high, and that last one was not even close to a WR.  What in the world was wrong with Seewald today?

[valpo64]

That was a long way to travel to give a gift.  It appears that everyone knew what Valpo needed to do for a final, game winning TD...that's everyone except the coaching staff! 

[valpotx]

True, I was also thinking that we would run the next 3 plays, as they weren't stopping us.  They were missing a bunch of tackles.

[VULB#62]

I was at work during the better portion of the game and only had the JU STATS App to go by and it is junk. OK. I finally got to check the box score and went to the drive chart.

Starting with around 7 minutes to go we move down the field on a combination of good runs and passes and get  a 1st and 10 at the JU 10.  We are now at about 3+ minutes, 3 points down. At the very least we can kick a FG and tie the game. We have 3 shots. Or 4 that would mean a FG or a last ditch attempt at a TD.  The ground game has been effective. We have at our disposal the regular ground attack as well as the wildcat. We have shown, Vs. MSU, some effective misdirection inside the 20. It is first down, we just need to secure the ball. Running the  ball this deep will take at least a minute or two off the clock, and after we score either 3 (to tie) or 6 (to take the lead) that will make any drive by JU in response much more difficult.

If we pass into the end zone, there are three possible outcomes to this.

>> An incomplete stops the clock: not desirable, but we still have more plays to score.
>> A completion scores 6 points but also stops the clock:  kinda risky but desirable, yet not the best possible result.
>> A pick means the end of game even though there are 3 minutes left, because JU can eat up the clock with its ground game. And Valpo is out of time outs (I think).

So.....  We throw on first down into the end zone.  Pick.

Now I understand the outrage.

A word about the role of the OC. I do not  believe he calls the plays. That is Coach Cecchini. The OC in the booth makes recommendations based on what he sees might work. He'll say something like "they are loading the box run pass play so and so." It is still up to the coach who makes the call to do the millisecond analysis, apply experience and the game situation to the equation and then make the final call and relay it to the QB.

I feel crappy about the ending of this game. But perfection is hard to achieve. We lost a game we should have won, and play selection is a part of that. Despite that, I am still on the band wagon.

[JD24]

Good lord, talk about your QB blowing a game!  Those 3 INTs were absolutely pitiful throws, with no pressure on him.  He ended up with 2 that sailed very high, and that last one was not even close to a WR.  What in the world was wrong with Seewald today?

Had Catrine in the endzone. Threw it short

[JD24]

I was at work during the better portion of the game and only had the JU STATS App to go by and it is junk. OK. I finally got to check the box score and went to the drive chart. Starting with around 7 minutes to go we move down the field on a combination of good runs and passes and get  a 1st and 10 at the JU 10.  We are now at about 3+ minutes, 3 points down. At the very least we can kick a FG and tie the game. We have 3 shots. Or 4 that would mean a FG or a last ditch attempt at a TD.  The ground game has been effective. We have at our disposal the regular ground attack as well as the wildcat. We have shown, Vs. MSU, some effective misdirection inside the 20. It is first down, we just need to secure the ball. Running the  ball this deep will take at least a minute or two off the clock, and after we score either 3 (to tie) or 6 (to take the lead) that will make any drive by JU in response much more difficult. If we pass into the end zone, there are three possible outcomes to this. >> An incomplete stops the clock: not desirable, but we still have more plays to score. >> A completion scores 6 points but also stops the clock:  kinda risky but desirable, yet not the best possible result. >> A pick means the end of game even though there are 3 minutes left, because JU can eat up the clock with its ground game. And Valpo is out of time outs (I think). So.....  We throw on first down into the end zone.  Pick. Now I understand the outrage. A word about the role of the OC. I do not  believe he calls the plays. That is Coach Cecchini. The OC in the booth makes recommendations based on what he sees might work. He'll say something like "they are loading the box run pass play so and so." It is still up to the coach who makes the call to do the millisecond analysis, apply experience and the game situation to the equation and then make the final call and relay it to the QB. I feel crappy about the ending of this game. But perfection is hard to achieve. We lost a game we should have won, and play selection is a part of that. Despite that, I am still on the band wagon.

Lost a game they "could" have won. It's not as if Jacksonville played a clean game. They had multiple problems with their option in simply getting the ball from the QB to the back. With an offense such as the flexbone this is or should be and has been pretty basic stuff for them but it was not today. They stopped themselves as well. Not sure you're correct on the playcaller in general although the call comes through the HC so he can change it if he prefers.

I can understand the wish to run the ball however I'm not playing for a field goal at any point in the game even as a backup plan. I'm trying to get the ball into the endzone. Valpo's nature on offense, like it or not, has been to be very aggressive and we're going to have to learn to take the plusses and minuses of the aggressiveness.

[VULB#62]

Absolutely agree that a TD is priority #1. But I would argue that at the 10 you run  "safe" passes to ensure ball security. The description does not tell me whether the pass was forced into a tight spot, misthrown or what. I only was able to watch Q1 and I have to rely on the box score for the basic description the rest of the way. But with 3 pts already in the back pocket as the fall-back position, at a minimum, we should walk away with a tie at about 2 minutes left. If, indeed, the ground game was chewing up yards and Jimmy was shakey as described by others, that at least should have been the cue to first go with what seemed to be working best at the time.

But then we dont know what the coaches saw and we don't know the rationale for that call. 20/20 hindsight is a great thing.

[JD24]

Absolutely agree that a TD is priority #1. But I would argue that at the 10 you run  "safe" passes to ensure ball security. The description does not tell me whether the pass was forced into a tight spot, misthrown or what. I only was able to watch Q1 and I have to rely on the box score for the basic description the rest of the way. But with 3 pts already in the back pocket as the fall-back position, at a minimum, we should walk away with a tie at about 2 minutes left. If, indeed, the ground game was chewing up yards and Jimmy was shakey as described by others, that at least should have been the cue to first go with what seemed to be working best at the time. But then we dont know what the coaches saw and we don't know the rationale for that call. 20/20 hindsight is a great thing.

Seewald underthrew Catrine who had position in the endzone. The LBer underneath made a great play on the ball going way up for it. A good throw is a TD. As I mentioned in the Butler thread, the WRs had tremendous separation all game. Running the ball may have been a choice but it's also pretty easy to see why a throw into the endzone for the league might be the choice. In addition, throwing on what some might consider a run down may have put the offense in the best possible scenario. I don't think you play that situation with an "at least we have a tie in our back pocket" mentality. Kickers miss kicks.

[VULB#62]

Sure kickers miss. The JAX guy did, right?  But here you need to virtually guarantee 3 good plays until that even comes into consideration. Not ultra conservative — just secure the ball. And even then, depending on ball placement (6" line vs. at the 9) you still might go for the 6. And yes, had the 1st down pass been completed everyone are heroes,  but it wasn't, it was picked off, and we never had the other two chances. Just a slightly different approach to the same situation — that's why they play the game instead of mailing it in. Agree to disagree?