GAME #5: Valpo @ Drake - 10/5, 1:00

[usc4valpo]

A must for the Valpo Ring of Fame, but the late Eugene Parker needs to honored first.

[VULB#62]

Hoffman was a pick six kind of guy, but I think he is the all time yardage leader or close to it in Valpo football history.

He is.

His 7,221 career passing yards during the Carlson era were achieved in three seasons and he left another year of eligibility on the table the year Cecchini took over the program. He was lucky to remain pretty healthy through those seasons.

By comparison, though, the number two career leader is Dave Macchi, who also threw for over 7,000 yards, but in just two seasons.  If Jimmy had been able to duplicate his 2017 total (2,602) last year, this year, and next year, he would be #1 and would have passed for over 10K yards. But alas, injury makes mortals of us all.

[usc4valpo]

It's a beautiful, thunderous rain filled day in Des Moines!

[JD24]

31-6 Drake. Valpo misses the XP.

Gametime pushed back to 2pm Central due to weather.

[VULB#62]

BTW, to add another factor, it is Drake's homecoming 

Given the weather, if we had a real solid OL and some big backs we could employ a "three yards and a cloud of ground up tires" clock-controlling offense. But we don't so we won't.

[usc4valpo]

looks like the weather is going to clear up for the gala Des Moines event. I will be there and having a sammy and beer at Jethros before the game

[VULB#62]

Enjoy! 

[VULB#62]

Q1 - We don't look too good on O.  But neither does Drake's offense. 0-0, 7:09

[JD24]

Drake's starting QB went out after about 5 plays so their offense may suffer a bit.

[JD24]

Drake's starting QB is back in.

Valpo's offense looks awful and that includes Seewald who is clearly not close to the guy he was a few years ago. At this point, if a change was made, it wouldn't hurt. I'd also lean more heavily to Boxrucker.

[JD24]

20 yard penalty helps Valpo and latsonas boots one from 46. 14-3

[usc4valpo]

The offense has no confidence in Seewald. Not the same guy for sure. Valpo can't keep depending on penalties for first downs.

[vu72]

Seewald is terrible, Latsonas is a stud and we look lost.  I'm guessing Landon is thinking..."These guys suck, this could take a long time..."

Would love to see some energy and, why in the WORLD, would you have Jimmy Seewald running the option??

[valpofb16]

316-68 in yardage , not averaging over 100 yds in a half in offense, even in the PFL, should create a bit of a "warm seat" for our offensive coordinator. (Not yet hot)

Also whoever said my ypg from first 3 games and said I was jumping gun. 3/12 is 25% statically relevant and holding true

[JD24]

316-68 in yardage , not averaging over 100 yds in a half in offense, even in the PFL, should create a bit of a "warm seat" for our offensive coordinator. (Not yet hot) Also whoever said my ypg from first 3 games and said I was jumping gun. 3/12 is 25% statically relevant and holding true

The OC should be on the hot seat. When Duncan was in he wasn't running him. Now with Seewald in, he has him running. It makes absolutely no sense.

[vu72]

Agree on the OC.  Terrible and embarrassing.

[football1960]

I agree with JD24 about the OC not running Duncan and having Seewald running...

[usc4valpo]

I really hate to say this, if the surgery has affected Jimmy Seewalds throwing arm permanently - and bless his heart for his effort and commitment - he may want to give up football and move on to bigger challenges and successes in life. He is not an option QB - maybe it is time to start Nimz for the future.

[JD24]

I really hate to say this, if the surgery has affected Jimmy Seewalds throwing arm permanently - and bless his heart for his effort and commitment - he may want to give up football and move on to bigger challenges and successes in life. He is not an option QB - maybe it is time to start Nimz for the future.

I've wondered if they aren't trying to save Nimz a redshirt year.

[usc4valpo]

I wonder if redshirting can back fire - a lot of these guys want to graduate in 4 years.

[IndyValpo]

I really hate to say this, if the surgery has affected Jimmy Seewalds throwing arm permanently - and bless his heart for his effort and commitment - he may want to give up football and move on to bigger challenges and successes in life. He is not an option QB - maybe it is time to start Nimz for the future.

I've wondered if they aren't trying to save Nimz a redshirt year.

Nimz redshirted last year.

[VULB#62]

Caveat #1:  I only watched the first quarter and tried to keep up with gametracker as I could.

My observation was that we have offensive players but no offensive attack. The rather predictable and unimaginative rushing game usually is met by defenders 1 yard deep in our backfield.  Our passing attack forces the QB, when he is in the pocket, to release super quick or get sacked. Defenses essentially ignore passes off of run action because we have no threat in the rush (see previous sentence). So when our QB (either Jimmy or Chris, it doesn't matter) rolls out off run action (1) he usually has a defender either in his face or is at least chasing him toward  the sideline. And (2) amidst this, I tried to assess our receivers' routes and separation and found, generally from the video feed, that I was unable to determine if anyone was getting open.

Say what you will about Carlson. Critique Cecchini's overall coaching.  But at least both ran offenses that could move the chains better than what we are seeing so far. 

Caveat#2:  I give Landon Fox a completely free pass on this season because he came in very late, was saddled with what Cecchini left him including an anemic recruiting class, and he had to cobble together a full staff so late in the process.

Fox came on board with a strong defensive background. Despite being undersized up front, his D is our best component right now. If the O could only sustain more drives and put a few more points on the board our D would have better chances to hold serve. 

The pointer keeps coming back to the whole offensive scheme and the coaches who run it. This season IMO has been relegated to experimentation and Fox getting his legs under him. My hope is that he takes a hard look at the O system he is running and the staff who is coaching it.

Looking ahead, both Marist and Butler appear to be having issues and could be possible wins if we can get the offense working better. Time will tell in the next month.

[usc4valpo]

Fox has a lot of passion, and from my observations and audio experiences at the game, he is the all time Valpo coaching leader in f bombs. He is learning and we need to let him grow.

The current offense is obviously terrible. The WRs are covered easily. Seewald has no zip in his throw, and the accuracy was poor. It is a bummer of a situation.

Weird scenario - these 2 dudes who I think were parents of players assumed a role to move in front of the stands, move along the sidelines at the point of play,  and in a rather loud voice give constant verbal grief to the officials. Sorry, but not every play by Drake included a hold.

[JD24]

The fact that the staff got off to a late start is likely a factor with the performance of the team.

However:

There is no element of the offense playing well at this point. QBs, RBs, WRs, OL & TE. That's a coach issue.

[JD24]

I really hate to say this, if the surgery has affected Jimmy Seewalds throwing arm permanently - and bless his heart for his effort and commitment - he may want to give up football and move on to bigger challenges and successes in life. He is not an option QB - maybe it is time to start Nimz for the future.

I've wondered if they aren't trying to save Nimz a redshirt year.

Nimz redshirted last year.

My bad. Forgot he was on the roster last year.