Valpo vs. Duquense

setshot · September 09, 2012, 09:20:32 AM

Duquense by 20+ over Valpo. The "Dukes" are ranked #184 by Sagarin vs. #244 for Valpo (we move up two slots thanks to Davidson and MVS). I have a wish to make to the Valpo football team: "Win one for the " Griper" (not Gipper),me! Be it next week against Duquense or in the future against Butler,Davidson or whomever,just win one. Thanks!

milanmiracle · September 09, 2012, 05:53:08 PM

Unfortunately I don't see this being the week they break into the win column, but it's coming...They'll get at least one win this season.

VULB#62 · September 09, 2012, 08:50:34 PM

Agree with you Miracle. But after coming so close vs. STJ and getting in the hole against YSU so quickly in the first part of the first quarter but then playing better, I hope/believe that the kids will come out strong and play confidently and competitively (but unfortunately lose

) --- the Dayton score was only 7-17 and Duquesne has 36 scholarships). I'd actually like to be at the game.

covufan · September 10, 2012, 12:38:13 PM

I'd like to see improvement and a game in the second half. We need to take better control of games in our house!

Valpo 17
Duquesne 31 (or is it Duquense)

covufan · September 10, 2012, 12:41:32 PM

Quote from: setshot on September 09, 2012, 09:20:32 AM
Duquense by 20+ over Valpo. The "Dukes" are ranked #184 by Sagarin vs. #244 for Valpo (we move up two slots thanks to Davidson and MVS). I have a wish to make to the Valpo football team: "Win one for the " Griper" (not Gipper),me! Be it next week against Duquense or in the future against Butler,Davidson or whomever,just win one. Thanks!

I saw that we had moved up in the Sagarin rankings, must be the schedule strength of YSU. I also saw that realtimerpi.com has us up to 217 (from 239 and 244 the previous two weeks). realtime also has mostly Ivy League teams in the bottom eight - go figure. I'm sure this will change.

VULB#62 · September 11, 2012, 07:45:00 AM

Quite some week schedule-wise for the PFL. This week's opponents are a great reflection of the type of competition the league and Valpo want to foster.

Marist at Columbia, 12:30 p.m.
Location: New York, N.Y. (Wien Stadium)
Series: COL leads, 1-0 Streak: COL, one win

San Diego at Harvard [RV/24], 12:30 p.m.
Location: Boston, Mass. (Harvard Stadium)
Series: First Meeting

Robert Morris at Dayton, 1 p.m.
Location: Dayton, Ohio (Welcome Stadium)
Series: DAY leads, 12-2 Streak: DAY, nine wins

Webber International at Jacksonville, 1 p.m. (Webber is NAIA, but last week JU beat Charleston Southern, a Big South FCS scholarship program)
Location: Jacksonville, Fla. (D.B. Milne Field)
Series: JAC leads, 5-1 Streak: JAC, three wins

St. Francis (Pa.) at Morehead State, 1 p.m.
Location: Morehead, Ky. (Jayne Stadium)
Series: MOR leads, 5-2 Streak: SFPA, one win

Drake [RV/–] at Indiana State [22/RV], 1:05 p.m.
Location: Terre Haute, Ind. (Memorial Stadium)
Series: ISU leads, 8-2 Streak: ISU, four wins

Duquesne at Valparaiso, 2 p.m.
Location: Valparaiso, Ind. (Brown Field)
Series: DUQ leads, 1-0 Streak: DUQ, one win

Campbell at Old Dominion [6/4], 6 p.m.
Location: Norfolk, Va. (Foreman Field)
Series: ODU leads, 3-0 Streak: ODU, three wins

Butler at Dartmouth, 7 p.m
Location: Hanover, N.H. (Memorial Field)
Series: First Meeting

crusadermoe · September 11, 2012, 09:43:35 AM

Got to agree. Playing "name" schools like the Ivy and Patriot etc. (non-scholarship) will help us in two ways.
1) You associate your name with those schools in the ESPN "crawl" line of scores.
2) You can compete reasonably. Duquesne is a good challenge for us.

milanmiracle · September 11, 2012, 10:59:48 AM

Quote from: VULB#62 on September 09, 2012, 08:50:34 PM
Agree with you Miracle. But after coming so close vs. STJ and getting in the hole against YSU so quickly in the first part of the first quarter but then playing better, I hope/believe that the kids will come out strong and play confidently and competitively (but unfortunately lose ) --- the Dayton score was only 7-17 and Duquesne has 36 scholarships). I'd actually like to be at the game.

In this particular instance getting manhandled by YSU might not be a complete negative. They won't be amazed by the talent level of Duquense and might not get run over...at least not right away. If they can hang around early, it might look decent on the scoreboard at the final gun.

Just one more week until they play teams that should be on their level...then the predictions can start looking better

*I know people who went to the YSU vs. Valpo game...Valpo didn't play any better, YSU completely laid down and literally went pop warner basic, even in the first quarter. They pulled almost the whole starting unit after 8 minutes in.

VULB#62 · September 11, 2012, 11:50:05 AM

Quote from: milanmiracle on September 11, 2012, 10:59:48 AM
Quote from: VULB#62 on September 09, 2012, 08:50:34 PM
*I know people who went to the YSU vs. Valpo game...Valpo didn't play any better, YSU completely laid down and literally went pop warner basic, even in the first quarter. They pulled almost the whole starting unit after 8 minutes in.

Here's Coach Carlson's take on that from the recently posted blog:

At half time our coaches challenged our team to come out in the second half and just play for 30 minutes. Forget about the first half, be aggressive, and finish plays. We did that on defense. YSU began the second half with their starters and we kept them off the board early in the second half.

Offensively we moved the ball but were not consistent. We fumbled again in our territory but our defense did a great job holding them to a field goal. We moved the ball on offense and actually had more first downs than YSU in the second half. We just did not finish drives and got shut out.

YSU did score another touchdown. However, our defense did a much better job of tackling and pursuing to the ball than we did against St. Joe a week earlier. Our tackling was not perfect but was much improved. We need to continue to make those improvements again this week.

Our offensive coaches challenged our offensive players to play with more discipline. We shortened too many routes or had poor technique on too many occasions. That is why you get shut out. Those assignment and technique errors will be the focus of the week as we prepare for Duquesne.

All that being said we were much more competitive vs. Youngstown State this year than last. YSU is a much improved team as well.

covufan · September 11, 2012, 04:10:52 PM

Quote from: VULB#62 on September 11, 2012, 07:45:00 AMQuite some week schedule-wise for the PFL. This week's opponents are a great reflection of the type of competition the league and Valpo want to foster.

Quote from: crusadermoe on September 11, 2012, 09:43:35 AMGot to agree. Playing "name" schools like the Ivy and Patriot etc. (non-scholarship) will help us in two ways.
1) You associate your name with those schools in the ESPN "crawl" line of scores.
2) You can compete reasonably. Duquesne is a good challenge for us.

Agree as well. Good schedule for the PFL. Valpo needs to schedule Dartmouth or Penn, so that I can make a bet with my Brother-in-law. A few years down the road would be nice.

VULB#62 · September 11, 2012, 04:45:39 PM

Understand Carlson's working on it.

If I'm still in New England I'll vote for Harvard or Dartmouth. Or Yale. But, hey, we've played them already.

valpotx · September 12, 2012, 03:15:08 AM

Valpo 14
Duquesne 34

historyman · September 12, 2012, 11:06:17 AM

I have to agree with the +20 point win for Duquesne.

St.Joe lost to the University of Charleston in WV by a score of 33-14. St.Joe knocked out Charleston's starting quarterback and All-American running back with injuries in the first half and still couldn't manage to hold on to their lead in the 2nd half. This was not a good St.Joe team that beat Valpo by 2. I had thought that Valpo had played much better against St.Joe offensively but it seems that the St.Joe defense was just very weak at times.

Only the Valpo defense was able to show anything positive at all against YSU and this shows how Valpo's offense really hasn't improved very much over last year.

I'm afraid until Valpo's offense makes some kind of improvement that this football team with still sit near the bottom of Div.I and only get one win each season. The offense must play better when most games depend on the offense outscoring the other team's offense. Valpo is still way behind in that category. I'm still hoping for better. Go Crusaders!

VULB#62 · September 12, 2012, 12:46:53 PM

Didn't realize that the Dukes were 2011 NEC Co-Champs. Just looking for a closer score than last year.

covufan · September 15, 2012, 01:29:53 PM

Quote from: covufan on September 10, 2012, 12:38:13 PM
I'd like to see improvement and a game in the second half. We need to take better control of games in our house!

Valpo 17
Duquesne 31 (or is it Duquense)

Well, we've already scored 17, and it is now 17 - 7 Valpo up in first quarter!

covufan · September 15, 2012, 01:46:55 PM

The gametracker is well ahead of the radio feed, interesting.

rink · September 15, 2012, 02:00:18 PM

Is there online audio available?

vu72 · September 15, 2012, 02:33:44 PM

Quote from: rink on September 15, 2012, 02:00:18 PM
Is there online audio available?

go to the valpo athletic site and click on the headphones.

covufan · September 15, 2012, 03:22:51 PM

I guess 31 unanswered points usually gets a win. Duquesne 38 - VU 17

humbleopinion · September 15, 2012, 04:50:36 PM

It was great to see VU score against the first string. Unfortunately we were unable to sustain the performance.

VU75 · September 15, 2012, 07:41:08 PM

I will be interested to find out why a Valpo team up 3 points with four minutes before half goes for a fourth and four from midfield.

humbleopinion · September 16, 2012, 06:14:29 AM

It is the same reason that the decision was made to throw a halfback pass in the St. Joe game.

VULB#62 · September 16, 2012, 07:13:54 AM

I wasn't able to follow the Duquesne game yesterday -- I was at both the USD-Harvard game in Cambridge, MA and the Butler-Dartmouth game in Hanover NH (more on that in other strings) -- so I can't comment on the 4th and 4, but it does sound strange having arguably the best punter in the PFL. The reason for my post is to give the Duquesne loss a little bit of perspective (but no excuses for Valpo). Duquesne was the NEC co-champ last year with UAlbany. UAlbany this year was 2-0 going into their game with #5 YSU. YSU billed the game as the battle of the unbeatens. YSU "escaped" with a win 31-24. It was tied at the half 21-21. Youngstown scored 10 points in the second half before UAlbany got a FG with under a minute to go. But check out the total yardage - UAlbany 338, YSU 395. My point? The top dogs in the NEC (Duquesne and UAlbany) are pretty darned good. The lopsided score of the VU game is more a testimony to Duquesne than an indictment of VU. See attached screen shot below (click to enlarge).

valpopal · September 16, 2012, 08:40:25 AM

Quote from: VU75 on September 15, 2012, 07:41:08 PM
I will be interested to find out why a Valpo team up 3 points with four minutes before half goes for a fourth and four from midfield.

I was at the game, and this decision was challenged by everyone near me even before the play began. It seemed a puzzling choice.

crusadermoe · September 16, 2012, 09:19:59 AM

Well......let's give credit where due. I certainly agree wtih "62" that Valpo showed a BIG improvement over last year this time. We played tight in the first half.
48-17 type scores never tell the whole story of a game. In Valpo's case, two teams played each other tough for a half and the better team broke away starters vs. starters.
In other games 48-17 means that one crushed the other 42-0 and then put in the subs to give away late scores.
It looks like we can stay in most of the Pioneer games this year, but it will take a big effort and a lot of focus to win more than 2 games.