GAME #3 - Valpo vs. Truman State 9/22 - 1:00pm CST

[VULB#62]

I drove 5 hours (the traffic around Chicago was horrendous) and wound up arriving at Browm Filed with a couple minutes gone in the 1st qtr.  I had planned to be there a hour before kick off.  So i wasn't in a very good mood to start.  It got worse from there. From my vantage point I could see that we were having trouble stopping the run off the read option.  That got increasingly worse as the game progressed.  In the second half it felt like on every 1st and 10 Truman had, they gained 4-5 yards to set themselves up continually with a 2nd and 5 or 6.  It's no wonder that the QB came into the game as the leading rusher.  He didn't keep it that often but when he did he usually broke off big chunks.

Bilinsky played Q1 and Q3; Seewald played 2 and most of 4 with Bilinski eventually taking over for the final Valpo TD drive.  Cartales made some nice runs and was excellent out of the backfield in the passing game.  FWalum is spot on on Seewald.  Passes he could complete last year with his eyes shut went high or wide or behind receivers. His throws had no zip to them. 

Bottom line to me watching it live was that we failed to consistently execute in any phase of the game -- O, D or special teams.  And I got the impression watching the dynamics in our bench area that the players were expecting to have TSU lay down for them in the second half and it didn't sink in until the very end that they weren't going to do that. The team just wasn't into the game the way they should have been.  That was the most disaapointing part.  It was a long 4 hour drive back home.  And I am concerned that this team may not improve on last year's record and may even do worse.

[vu72]

Unfortunately, 62, you are spot on.  I watched the game on ESPN and at least the broadcast and camera coverage were really very good.  I'll be there next weekend and sure hope we can turn it around.  Truman beat us pretty badly.  Jimmy is unlikely to be much better this year, based on what I saw yesterday.

[usc4valpo]

Truman State is Division 2 and provides athletic scholarships, Valpo is in reality a Division 3 program in Division 1 and does not. Truman State wore out Valpo's defense and was the better team. My feeling is that this game was not as bad a setback as it appears. Truman State would beat several members of the Pioneer conference.

[FieldGoodie05]

Truman State is Division 2 and provides athletic scholarships, Valpo is in reality a Division 3 program in Division 1 and does not. Truman State wore out Valpo's defense and was the better team. My feeling is that this game was not as bad a setback as it appears. Truman State would beat several members of the Pioneer conference.

D1 is misleading for several Valpo sports.  Most glaring is football because it's a team sport with a big disparity in size and speed.  Teams can pick on our weaknesses and exploit.

Track and field would be more glaring if it were truly a team sport.  As it is most years there are all-conference performers in T&F that hide how outclassed some of the other athletes are.  I'm speaking from experience in the early 2000's so I'm not sure how current this is.

[usc4valpo]

This team can improve and come back - I really think Valpo and this site underestimated Truman State. They will not win the Pioneer conference and make a trip to the FargoDome, but they are not in a situation where Joel Osteen quotes will save the day.

[JD24]

Truman State is Division 2 and provides athletic scholarships, Valpo is in reality a Division 3 program in Division 1 and does not. Truman State wore out Valpo's defense and was the better team. My feeling is that this game was not as bad a setback as it appears. Truman State would beat several members of the Pioneer conference.

Complete nonsense. Drake beat a similar foe from the same conference by 40 last week. The talent on the roster was decidedly in favor of Valpo who allowed themselves to get pushed around by a team simply running straight ahead with generally smaller players.

[usc4valpo]

Valpo has a QB problem. also, in reality Drake is a better team than Valpo. I think things will get better. This is not an 0-11 season.

[JD24]

Valpo has a QB problem. also, in reality Drake is a better team than Valpo. I think things will get better. This is not an 0-11 season.

Who's talking about an 0-11 season? This was supposed to be a team moving in the direction of competing for a PFL title. Drake is a better team than Valpo. Valpo still should have beaten TSU by 20....or more.

[vu72]

it's a team sport with a big disparity in size

Perhaps in years gone by, but with the maturity and weigh work Valpo is not undersized. The O line goes 300, 295,310, 315, and 270.  Right now there are 14 guys going 290 or above.  The athleticism is a different question, but the weight program has added 15 pounds per guy in many cases.  The execution sucked and their will was broken.  I sure hope for a big rebound next week.  If we lose to Davidson, on our home field, then we have different issues.

[JD24]

Yesterday was a complete debacle. This was a game which Valpo should have won by 2 TDs even playing with a backup and/or limited QB with a bad wing. Valpo is bigger, deeper and probably faster playing against a team which ran the ball straight ahead and with a QB who couldn't hit a receiver in 7 on 0. At worst the defense should have been able to control the game and allow the offense to put up scores on most drives even if limited to FGs on some of those scores. Complete breakdown.

I'm not the only person who pays attention who points this out but can the head coach acknowledge just once that perhaps the coaching staff needs to do a better job of preparing the team and putting together a better game plan particularly offensively? Dave's comments to Todd after the game were along the lines of "we warned the players not to take TSU lightly but the senior leadership didn't listen". In other words..."hey...it's not our fault...they didn't listen". Dave may be a nice guy and even a pretty good coach but take some public personal responsibility and lay it on your staff as well and not just the players.

Offensive game plan: awful. Valpo should have been able to run the ball all day vs this team and really didn't even attempt to do this. This with a QB making his first start as a redshirt freshman and a QB who is still clearly a long way from recovered from shoulder surgery. After a first drive which consisted of 3 passes and a punt, there was some success on the ground which set up a short TD pass and they made it look easy doing so. Then, for nearly the rest of the game, the offense was pass heavy. In addition, Valpo has some success leaking the back out into the flat at least twice for about 60 yards total. If the staff was actually paying attention, they would have picked up that TSU did not have a player assigned (apparently) to check the back out of the backfield and that play should have been run until TSU did something about it, which may have opened up some things in the middle.

Defensively the team was pushed around by a smaller team who spent the first half running the ball straight ahead. It was pretty obvious watching on ESPN that the QB would eventually pull the ball and take off with it. When he did, Valpo wasn't ready for it on too many plays. Valpo's front 7 is supposed to be a strength of the team but wasn't yesterday. This is concerning with the likes of Davidson, Jacksonville and Dayton coming up. If they can't stop TSU running the same play 30 times, they won't stand a chance vs. Jacksonville.

Seewald - no bulletin here but he is not the same guy. Valpo has had two other QBs in recent times who never recovered from shoulder injuries and Seewald's motion looks very mechanical right now. He's thinking through the throw and didn't step into one pass yesterday which means to me that he's tentative and not confident in his shoulder right now. Bilinksi for the entire game would have been the better option and his pass attempts should have been limited while Valpo ran the ball and controlled the game. The staff chose not to do this and in part to "find out" about a QB who's ability to throw a pass in a game should have been able to have been analyzed correctly in a practice setting. Maybe this is where taking TSU lightly got into the players heads.

Whatever the case, without a lot better play from the players and a better job of putting together an executable game plan from the coaching staff, Valpo is probably in a situation in which they can win some PFL games but also vulnerable to losing games that they should be winning if we're supposed to consider that the program has turned a corner.

Clearly the most disappointing loss of the Cecchini era.

[VULB#62]

Some observations and comments on previous posts. 

1 - We were bigger up front on D than the TSU O-line.  They beat us off the ball on those dives and our down linemen were pushed back on their heals.  Most TSU runs resembled a rugby scrum with the pile almost always moving forward. Instead of staying low and generating leverage, our D-line's first move was to stand up and concede leverage.  Looking into the backfield is not their job.  They have two things to do: establish and hold the LOS and free the ILBs to make tackles.  They did neither.

2 - Our O-line was clearly taller and heavier than the TSU front (see next comment).. 

3 - Cartales and Early regularly broke through for good gains when called on.  But, as 24 noted, we only ran the ball  22 times for 4.0/rush. TSU rushed 56 times at a 4.7 clip.

4 - Our leading receiver?  Cartales.  Need I say more?  All of his yards were after the catch which points out how dangerous he can be if sprung on a run.

5 - The 75 yd TD bomb?  Clearly a blown assignment. Barr passed for 122 yds on 5/17 and 75 of those 122 came on one play.  We, BTW, were not very good at covering swings out of the backfield either.  If Barr were more accurate we would have been in even deeper water.

6 - There were also some frustration penalties against the Crusaders.  Bad precedent from an "experienced" squad.

7 - Special teams have not been mentioned yet, so I will. 
>> First the good:  Latsonas is a keeper.  Deep KOs (most into the end zone) and well struck PATs and FGs.
>> Then the ugly:  Poor run lane discipline on the KO return TD.  The last coverage guy with a shot at Woods from behind was a kid with, I believe, a 50 number and no match in speed. Normally one or two DBs are assigned second wave and are responsible for being kick return "safeties."  Our punting was erratic. We are using two punters, Alex Ng, the vet, and Ulbrich, the rookie.  Who was our leading punter?  Seewald with a 40 yd average (granted it was one quick kick). Ulbrich had two punts for an average of 11.5 yds.  Both he and Ng did the running punt thing -- Ng much more successfully. I don't recall any VU punt having any real hang time. Gessinger had to fair catch all three of the TSU punts.

8 - There was an evident  measure of desperation in the 4th qtr when we do a fake punt pass (Ng - nice spiral but inc) and a runningback pass (Cartales - inc under pass rush pressure by an unblocked LB).  He did well to just heave the ball out of bounds instead of throwing into a crowd and maybe a pick6.

9 - I am thinking that if Chris is cleared to play (he did suit up yesterday) we should go with him as the starter with Bilinsky the BU.  Seewald needs to build up muscle strength and improve his throwing confidence. 

10 - The dimly lit bright side -- I think this was supposed to be a tuneup for conference play and, positioned in their minds as such, the players and coaches did not bring their A game, BUT..... this was not a PFL game.  We learned a lot about ourselves yesterday (as well as the past two Saturdays).  We need to channel every positive thing we learned going forward and not make those mistakes in conference play.

We know we are capable of playing good ball as we demonstrated against Duquesne (who also beat Dayton similarly). But we are still not used to winning so we haven't developed a true winners mindset.  It's uphill for the next 8 game. We should never consider ourselves a "favorite."  We are underdogs every weekend.

[JD24]

5 - The 75 yd TD bomb?  Clearly a blown assignment.

Booker was right there. He just didn't make the play on the ball and then didn't make the tackle.

Then the ugly:  Poor run lane discipline on the KO return TD.  The last coverage guy with a shot at Woods from behind was a kid with, I believe, a 50 number and no match in speed. Normally one or two DBs are assigned second wave and are responsible for being kick return "safeties."

Parker Fox had the last shot at him but the guy had better speed. Whoever the safety was got too deep.

Our punting was erratic. We are using two punters, Alex Ng, the vet, and Ulbrich, the rookie.  Who was our leading punter?  Seewald with a 40 yd average (granted it was one quick kick). Ulbrich had two punts for an average of 11.5 yds.  Both he and Ng did the running punt thing -- Ng much more successfully. I don't recall any VU punt having any real hang time.

Ulbrich panicked on the first punt when he got some pressure. The punts Ng was used for were for rugby kicks not designed to have hang time.

9 - I am thinking that if Chris is cleared to play (he did suit up yesterday) we should go with him as the starter with Bilinsky the BU.  Seewald needs to build up muscle strength and improve his throwing confidence.

I think Seewald should go unmentioned until he's ready and that might not be this season. I'm not one who thinks the dropoff to Duncan is all that great if there even is one. Bilinsky played fairly well yesterday and had he played the entire game and the staff given him a competent gameplan, the result may have been considerably different.

10 - The dimly lit bright side -- I think this was supposed to be a tuneup for conference play and, positioned in their minds as such, the players and coaches did not bring their A game, BUT..... this was not a PFL game.......  We are underdogs every weekend.

This program is so far from being able to consider a game as a "tuneup" that it isn't funny. This program needs to play every game with every iota of energy geared towards winning any game. Not finding out about a QB who clearly is a ways from being as effective as he can be and something that should have been easily identifiable in practice and not in a game. If you want to experiment, how about doing something crazy like running the ball about 50 times and winning a game? While Dave wants to point fingers at "senior leadership" maybe it was the coaches attitudes that had the team walking into that game thinking it was a win before the opening kickoff?

[VULB#62]

5 - The 75 yd TD bomb?  Clearly a blown assignment.

Booker was right there. He just didn't make the play on the ball and then didn't make the tackle.  Could be, just unfortunately saw the receiver run forever down the sideline for the TD and I don't believe a safety was anywheres near.  Problem with being there is that there are no replays on the scoreboard.

Then the ugly:  Poor run lane discipline on the KO return TD.  The last coverage guy with a shot at Woods from behind was a kid with, I believe, a 50 number and no match in speed. Normally one or two DBs are assigned second wave and are responsible for being kick return "safeties."

Parker Fox had the last shot at him but the guy had better speed. Whoever the safety was got too deep. Here I am gonna say I definitely saw a big Valpo LB type trying to make the last gasp effort.  If you had the replay benefit, then I defer.

Our punting was erratic. We are using two punters, Alex Ng, the vet, and Ulbrich, the rookie.  Who was our leading punter?  Seewald with a 40 yd average (granted it was one quick kick). Ulbrich had two punts for an average of 11.5 yds.  Both he and Ng did the running punt thing -- Ng much more successfully. I don't recall any VU punt having any real hang time.

Ulbrich panicked on the first punt when he got some pressure. The punts Ng was used for were for rugby kicks not designed to have hang time. If that was so, why was Ulbrich in there for a rugy kick (unless that was the panic you refer to ?)  But that also begs the question:  why should he panic if his wall was solid?  And if it wasn't, Coach Snyder, we need to talk.

9 - I am thinking that if Chris is cleared to play (he did suit up yesterday) we should go with him as the starter with Bilinsky the BU.  Seewald needs to build up muscle strength and improve his throwing confidence.

I think Seewald should go unmentioned until he's ready and that might not be this season. I'm not one who thinks the dropoff to Duncan is all that great if there even is one. Bilinsky played fairly well yesterday and had he played the entire game and the staff given him a competent gameplan, the result may have been considerably different. I agree fully on Jimmy.  I also, if I get your drift, feel that Chris is not that great a drop-off from 2017 Jimmy. I do believe he is a step above Trey right now and that's why he needs to be in there. BTW, in person, Tey looked pretty good at times.  And why was Norberg forever doing little curls at 5 yards instead of stretching the secondary down field?

10 - The dimly lit bright side -- I think this was supposed to be a tuneup for conference play and, positioned in their minds as such, the players and coaches did not bring their A game, BUT..... this was not a PFL game.......  We are underdogs every weekend.

This program is so far from being able to consider a game as a "tuneup" that it isn't funny. This program needs to play every game with every iota of energy geared towards winning any game. Not finding out about a QB who clearly is a ways from being as effective as he can be and something that should have been easily identifiable in practice and not in a game. If you want to experiment, how about doing something crazy like running the ball about 50 times and winning a game? While Dave wants to point fingers at "senior leadership" maybe it was the coaches attitudes that had the team walking into that game thinking it was a win before the opening kickoff? I will come short of direct blame, but my underscores show I agree tactically.  Carlson had a tendency to blame the players when he lost (a lot).  Hope Dave hasn't gone in that direction.  I believe you and I are in accord on the fact that this program must always consider itself the underdog in every game even if we play the Valparaiso Pop Warner U-14s. To relax anytime is a disaster waiting to happen.

[/color]

See my comments in red above.

[JD24]

 Here I am gonna say I definitely saw a big Valpo LB type trying to make the last gasp effort.  If you had the replay benefit, then I defer.

Yeah. Positive it was Fox. The game is on espn3.com in their replay area if you want to aggravate yourself.

If that was so, why was Ulbrich in there for a rugy kick (unless that was the panic you refer to ?)  But that also begs the question:  why should he panic if his wall was solid?  And if it wasn't, Coach Snyder, we need to talk.
You missed the first punt which went straight up. He panicked when a TSU guy in a bit closer than he thought. He had room but you could see him short leg the ball.

I believe you and I are in accord on the fact that this program must always consider itself the underdog in every game even if we play the Valparaiso Pop Warner U-14s. To relax anytime is a disaster waiting to happen.

absolutely

[usc4valpo]

62 and 24 - your analysis has been outstanding and educational. Thanks!

[VULB#62]

Just basic FB.

[VULB#62]

You missed the first punt which went straight up. He panicked when a TSU guy in a bit closer than he thought. He had room but you could see him short leg the ball.

That must have been the first Valpo series that I missed by being a few minutes late -- @#@$! Chicago traffic 

[vu72]

You missed the first punt which went straight up. He panicked when a TSU guy in a bit closer than he thought. He had room but you could see him short leg the ball.

That must have been the first Valpo series that I missed by being a few minutes late -- @#@$! Chicago traffic 

The first punt went for 8 yards!  But, Ulbrich did make up for it by getting 15 out of his second punt!  Maybe Jimmy should be the punter.  He got 40 out of his quick kick!

[VULB#62]

Glad I missed that first punt attempt, otherwise my previous comments on special teams would have been a bit sharper.

It takes me a couple of days to get over a bad loss and this was one.  It is especially difficult to get over those losses when I was at the game.