Game 1 Indiana Wesleyan 09/03

JD24 · September 04, 2022, 04:51:14 PM

Quote from: valpofb16 on September 03, 2022, 09:16:39 PMD: - won this game without two projected starters at LB -

Mentioned on the broadcast that Annis is done for the season with a torn ACL.

Pgmado · September 04, 2022, 05:10:09 PM

Quote from: valpofb16 on September 03, 2022, 08:32:34 PM
OC put in Kaplan up 17-3 instead of putting them away unless Appel is hurt.

Turner just went down huge huge huge loss. Annis , Hines , Mekky all did not play at LB

Hines and Nabers switched numbers. Hines played bulk of the game.

valpotx · September 04, 2022, 06:18:27 PM

Hines was a stud for much of the game

valpofb16 · September 04, 2022, 07:21:14 PM

Ahh makes sense was on mute most the game

soapyjeans · September 05, 2022, 11:05:21 AM

It was a great game, no doubt about it. For me Dawson is better than Washington, he's more creative in his running manuvers, very smooth. Also thought it was a brilliant move using 2 QB at same time, on same play (where Kaplan scored the TD and I really appreciated it when freshman Jernegan (TE) made an amazing catch giving Valpo a first down on the 50 (which turned out, set it up for the winning field goal) because ref blew a call. Enjoyed the crowd energy and team camaraderie. Overall I'd say Valpo coaching is looking very smart with their creative, unpredictable plays. I'm looking forward to next game already, lol.

JD24 · September 05, 2022, 04:43:29 PM

The offense looked a ton more coherent than last year and also eliminated much of the side to side motion nonsense from the previous OC. Just get up the field.

valpofb16 · September 05, 2022, 05:58:14 PM

Thinking on it, one thing I thoroughly enjoyed was guys like Solomon Davis, James Doerer, Sam Hafner, and Mikey Appel making key plays for the team.

These are all guys who redshirted and bid their time for their success. That is a level of majority in the program Valpo has not seen. Tough for guys to think they are entitled to play when the vets have done their time

valpopal · September 06, 2022, 09:28:48 AM

In addition to an exciting game with a personal best field goal kick of 50 yds. for the win, which earned conference special teams player honor for the week, the student attendance and atmosphere at the event was admirable. In fact, it was an excellent weekend for VU sports: volleyball is still undefeated and won the Popcorn Tournament, its second championship of the season; women's tennis had a great start to the season with a sweep of two opponents; the leading golfer tied for runner-up in an 81-man field, etc. All have positive narratives that could interest new followers.

Yet, when I read the Times of Northwest Indiana on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, I noticed no VU stories or photos in their sports section about these achievements other than a brief side note in today's "Digest" section. It is unacceptable that a local Northwest Indiana newspaper does not cover the only D-1 college program in the area that also often advertises in its pages. This is unusual since other D-1 programs receive local news coverage. Paul Oren's stories are fine for those who already follow the sports program, but if the university really wants outreach, publicity, and promotion in the region, especially to attract new fans locally and maybe new students in the future, this situation is not helpful.

valpofb16 · September 06, 2022, 10:40:46 AM

I believe Paul used to work for the zNorthwest Indiana Times and could provide great insight.

I too wonder why there is a lack of promotion for VU within the city. It's a sleeping giant and only show in town

Valpo89 · September 06, 2022, 11:58:11 AM

Quote from: valpofb16 on September 06, 2022, 10:40:46 AM
I believe Paul used to work for the zNorthwest Indiana Times and could provide great insight.

I too wonder why there is a lack of promotion for VU within the city. It's a sleeping giant and only show in town

As a former Times editor (I've been gone since Jan. 1999, so I don't really know too much), I can say that yes it is disappointing. But I can give you some reasons for the lack of coverage.
The Times has only one full-time sports writer, along with about 4 reliable sports correspondents who are paid by the story. The primary focus for the Times writers is on high school sports.
A majority of the subscribers who remain care more about the local high school sports scene than VU athletics. To a certain extent, they may even care about the non-Division I athletics in NWI (such as IUN or PNW) because many of the athletes on those teams are from the area.
Even in our "heyday," the only events that we regularly covered live were home football games and men's basketball. Women's basketball was hit and miss. Paul Oren covered VU sports because it was his passion and the newspaper had the budget and the space to allow him to do that.
Now, I'm not sure if it's in the budget to pay correspondents to cover VU sports (or write feature stories) when they would rather cover preps.
I can honestly say that most kids today could care less about what is in the newspaper. They care more about what is on social media, which is why Paul is so well followed on Twitter.
I'm as old school as anyone, and I don't like the lack of coverage, but unfortunately that's the state of our local media.
I'm pretty sure the Post Tribune stopped covering VU maybe 2 years ago. All they have left is Mike Osipoff, who used to do a good job on VU. His primary focus is also preps.

vu84v2 · September 06, 2022, 01:04:56 PM

Quote from: Valpo89 on September 06, 2022, 11:58:11 AM
Quote from: valpofb16 on September 06, 2022, 10:40:46 AM
I believe Paul used to work for the zNorthwest Indiana Times and could provide great insight.

I too wonder why there is a lack of promotion for VU within the city. It's a sleeping giant and only show in town
As a former Times editor (I've been gone since Jan. 1999, so I don't really know too much), I can say that yes it is disappointing. But I can give you some reasons for the lack of coverage.
The Times has only one full-time sports writer, along with about 4 reliable sports correspondents who are paid by the story. The primary focus for the Times writers is on high school sports.
A majority of the subscribers who remain care more about the local high school sports scene than VU athletics. To a certain extent, they may even care about the non-Division I athletics in NWI (such as IUN or PNW) because many of the athletes on those teams are from the area.
Even in our "heyday," the only events that we regularly covered live were home football games and men's basketball. Women's basketball was hit and miss. Paul Oren covered VU sports because it was his passion and the newspaper had the budget and the space to allow him to do that.
Now, I'm not sure if it's in the budget to pay correspondents to cover VU sports (or write feature stories) when they would rather cover preps.
I can honestly say that most kids today could care less about what is in the newspaper. They care more about what is on social media, which is why Paul is so well followed on Twitter.
I'm as old school as anyone, and I don't like the lack of coverage, but unfortunately that's the state of our local media.
I'm pretty sure the Post Tribune stopped covering VU maybe 2 years ago. All they have left is Mike Osipoff, who used to do a good job on VU. His primary focus is also preps.

There seems to be an opportunity here. The NW Indiana papers need content with minimal cost and Valpo's journalism students need experience. Why don't the NW Indiana papers look to partner with Valpo's journalism program?

Valpo89 · September 06, 2022, 04:02:16 PM

Honestly, they wouldn't want to pay them.
Also, we used to get students from VU. Many of them, honestly, didn't know how to cover a game and weren't very good.
Probably more hassle than it's worth.

soapyjeans · September 07, 2022, 06:08:43 PM

I think its a awesome idea to use VU journalist students photo journalists to cover all VU games. VU students could apply to local papers to be interns (which don't get paid) but instead get crerdit from VU. Plus it would look great on students future resumes when they graduate. Plus they'd get real life work experience and school credit at same time. win win people.

valpotx · September 08, 2022, 01:55:50 AM

Quote from: JD24 on September 05, 2022, 04:43:29 PM
The offense looked a ton more coherent than last year and also eliminated much of the side to side motion nonsense from the previous OC. Just get up the field.

Exactly. All due respect to Eric Hoffman and Valpofb16, but Hoffman is not our benchmark at QB, which was impressed in this thread. The offense during that time was simply a bunch of WR bubble screen crap, going side-to-side for easy completions, but no real progress (which is why we always lost back then). Hoffman could not make the throws that a David Macchi could, and Appel has already demonstrated more downfield accuracy.

usc4valpo · September 08, 2022, 05:50:14 AM

Valpofb16 - it would be awesome to see the community get more engaged in Valpo football, but I doubt it will happen and there is a long way to go to get there. I can see more engagement at the university community perspective but at the Valparaiso community perspective. Valpo is now considered a Chicago suburb and more attention from folks will be on professional and big time football. That being said, improving the game experience is awesome and an enabler - I am presuming basketball will do the same which is imperative.

valpofb16 · September 08, 2022, 08:03:14 AM

Played with Hoffman. Lehman and Schafer were actually better. Was a control piece to it.

I am sure Macchi had a better arm having heard stories from previous alumni. Just more a general statement.

Seewald and Stokes both had cannons and got injured early in their careers. I am hoping Appel does not follow suit

usc4valpo · September 08, 2022, 05:13:39 PM

Why all the love for Hoffman? How many games did he win over Osteen?

valpotx · September 09, 2022, 03:47:35 PM

Having been in school during the time of Murrell Shields and David Macchi at QB, those were some solid QBs overall, which is why we won 2 PFL championships during that time (1 Murrell & 1 Macchi). Macchi to Giancola for a TD was a given every single game, as they would just bomb away downfield, and Giancola would catch it in stride almost every time. It is why Macchi had around 38 TDs in his Senior season. I cannot think of a better Valpo QB than David Macchi, in Valpo's entire history. We only got him because larger programs didn't want to take a chance on a 5'8" guy coming out of JuCo. He was listed as taller, but I am 5'10" and he was a few inches shorter than me.

You have to remember that Macchi was a D1-AA All-American after that season.

valpotx · October 09, 2022, 05:59:07 PM

As the season progresses, this win looks better and better, as IWU is doing well:

https://iwuwildcats.com/sports/football/schedule/2022