@valpofb16 I never said this was high school. I said that keying up on these extra guys and providing support is something that should have been learned a long time ago, and yet, Drake is getting multiple free passes at the backfield every drive.
They are just better. On to the next week
speaking of better don’t look up Butler / Morehead score if goal is the helmet
Hats off to Valpo’s defense today, they busted their tails. The offense was obviously pathetic and Caron needs to be in a jacuzzi for awhile. Drake is decent but certainly not an A game from them.
Couldn’t follow the game but just checked the box score. Second SC’s comment above given that we could only put up 80 yards of total offense (-4 rushing). And despite 16’s warning, I covered one eye and kinda peeked the Morehead score. The school that shall not be named seems to be on a roll. 😩. But that’s another game ahead. One week at a time.
A general observation: A few years back Davidson was horrible. A couple years ago we handled The School That Shall Not Be Named. Valpo, under (USC, please note this is purely for reference, so don’t go ballistic again 😉) C******, was 3-40. Since those down cycles, Davidson has gone to the playoffs. Butler is a top 3-4 PFL team, and Valpo has established its defensive creds that has generated some PFL respect year after year under Fox. But there’s something missing at this point at Valpo.
JD24 and I have had multiple private chats going back over the years and previous coaches, and I think we agreed that Valpo, an underfunded program fighting a negative W-L history, needs to find an offense that is sustainable — meaning it leverages/optiimizes our recruited talent level. Both Davidson and Butler brought in HCs who had just that kind of offensive mindset and made dramatic turnarounds. Caveat: I AM NOT SAYING REPLACE LANDON AT All. I am saying Coach Fox has to find that OC at a lower level who wants to bring a “special” offensive system to a struggling FCS program, install it, and recruit for it. As an example, both Army and Navy are usually competitive way over their talent level. They understood that if they found the right system they could compete despite being out-weighted and out-talented.
Valpo has a choice: Throw a ton of money into the program to try to attract great athletes who could uplift any program and any system.
OR
VU can just allocate some additional funding to allow Fox to find and sign an OC who can turn our offense around and make it sustainable against sometimes superior talent. Given the budget crunch, maybe this can work.
Bottom line, the D system and recruitment there are solid. Coach Fox has to find someone who, given our circumstances, can help him focus on an effective O. Oh, and then keep him for more than 6 months.
OK, Let's face it. We have ZERO offense. We haven't scored a TD in 8 quarters. Our D was very good, giving up only two TDs to one of, if not the best team in the PFL. But, when your "player of the game" is your punter, you've got serious problems.
Look, I like Coach Fox, though I've never met the man, I think he represents the University well, and is well liked by his players. However, we will face our rival in the Hosier Helmet game against a team that beat Morehead State today, 40-6. We failed to even score a touchdown against Morehead. The alumni care, particularly against the team from the south.
Carlson's demise was caused by a 72-12 loss to the Bulldogs. and it was a 41-3 loss to the Beacons that caused the Butler Coaches retirement. If we see a similar result at home this year against our rival, heads may roll. Let's hope not.
62 is right. Fox has been able to develop a defense that can shut down a scholarship offense. However the offense is the major issue with this team. We need not throw Fox to the dogs over something he has little control over at the moment. Fox is a defensive coach. Biggest issue I saw from the game was fundamentals up front. Rushers should only get past the line unntouched a handful of times a game. Not a handful of times a drive. Kudos to Drake for finding that exploit and abusing it, but they should not have been able to abuse it for long. The lines failure to key up on rushers is what stopped the offense.
62 - excellent comment and the offense is as bland as a Streitelmeier geography lecture. However, why can’t Valpo commit financially compared to Drake or Butler? These 3 schools are going through financial challenges and lower enrollment, but when we seem to consistently bring up the lack of funding at Valpo compared to the competition. This is a cop out argument
Student athletes are paying to play football at Valpo, and there much revenue brought into the university, and with that commitment Valpo, being Division 1, should provide sufficient funding similar to Drake, Butler and the other Pioneer conference teams.
It is interesting in the staffing than there is no OC on the staff. I know I am missing something but why? To save money? We’re a D1 program, make some attempt to act like it!
It is interesting in the staffing than there is no OC on the staff. I know I am missing something but why? To save money? We’re a D1 program, make some attempt to act like it!
I've been asking about the OC since the last guy left. He shouldn't have been kept in the first place and he left (or was asked to leave) at a point in the process where he was going to be tough to replace.
While Fox himself may not need to be replaced, his decisions regarding the offense appear to be either very poor or his hands are tied in making the right decisions.
While the focus is on the skill position players as is the norm...the biggest issue to me right now is the OL. Whether that is a talent or scheme issue or both I don't know.
the biggest issue to me right now is the OL. Whether that is a talent or scheme issue or both I don't know.
From my angle its scheme. The OL isnt "terrible' they were able to stop Drake and give the backfield some time when Drake decided they weren't going to send extra rushers. There either seems to be a coaching issue here. IE not getting the practice of defending edge rushers. Or its an issue of the format VU was running was able to be exploited and Drake executed that exploit perfectly. All in all there is going to be a lot of time spent in film today dissecting just what went wrong. When you diagnose the O Line issue. This team gets exponentially better.
I watched the game recovering from a virus watching a football marathon. The play calling was insanely predictable, and very easy for Drake to maintain overall. Caron is learning which is great, but the rushing calls were telegraphed as the Drake sidelines were bashing garbage cans to decode signals ala the Astros.
Defensively, you cannot ask more from the Valpo defense and they should be strongly applauded. Excellent work against a top PFL offense!
BTW, my football marathon ended with the USC loss to mediocre Minnesota, and if you want some sarcastic comedy, their message boards with the meatball base are something else. Maybe Valpo can take over Lincoln Riley’s contract and pay him $10m to turn it around. (Of course I am joking)
Based on posters’ comments and TVB coverage, this week should be dedicated to pass protection and blitz pick-up against heavy pressure, cuz Stetson is gonna bring the house on most downs. If they don't, their coach should be suspended for incompetency.
Sorry, but since we’re playing Steson I had to show this
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=di6aP799IIo&pp=ygUVdGhyZWUgc3Rvb2dlcyBzdGV0c29u
I guess Curly is rooting for our opponent.
JD24 and I have had multiple private chats going back over the years and previous coaches, and I think we agreed that Valpo, an underfunded program fighting a negative W-L history, needs to find an offense that is sustainable — meaning it leverages/optiimizes our recruited talent level. Both Davidson and Butler brought in HCs who had just that kind of offensive mindset and made dramatic turnarounds. Caveat: I AM NOT SAYING REPLACE LANDON AT All. I am saying Coach Fox has to find that OC at a lower level who wants to bring a “special” offensive system to a struggling FCS program, install it, and recruit for it. As an example, both Army and Navy are usually competitive way over their talent level. They understood that if they found the right system they could compete despite being out-weighted and out-talented.
LOVE the idea of building a niche offensive system and then finding players who want to thrive in it.
Either a Navy-style option offense (and note how the Mids manage to compete despite being significantly outweighed on both sides of the ball) or an air-raid style offense.
Back in the 00s, June Jones transformed the University of Hawaii into a winning, enormously fun to watch aerial football team, turning two QBs -- first Timmy Chang, then Colt Brennan -- into star passers.
I'd opt for the aerial approach. My sense from conversations on this board is that the high schools are turning out a lot of quality passing QBs, especially compared to a generation or two ago.
JD24 and I have had multiple private chats going back over the years and previous coaches, and I think we agreed that Valpo, an underfunded program fighting a negative W-L history, needs to find an offense that is sustainable — meaning it leverages/optiimizes our recruited talent level. Both Davidson and Butler brought in HCs who had just that kind of offensive mindset and made dramatic turnarounds. Caveat: I AM NOT SAYING REPLACE LANDON AT All. I am saying Coach Fox has to find that OC at a lower level who wants to bring a “special” offensive system to a struggling FCS program, install it, and recruit for it. As an example, both Army and Navy are usually competitive way over their talent level. They understood that if they found the right system they could compete despite being out-weighted and out-talented.
LOVE the idea of building a niche offensive system and then finding players who want to thrive in it.
Either a Navy-style option offense (and note how the Mids manage to compete despite being significantly outweighed on both sides of the ball) or an air-raid style offense.
Back in the 00s, June Jones transformed the University of Hawaii into a winning, enormously fun to watch aerial football team, turning two QBs -- first Timmy Chang, then Colt Brennan -- into star passers.
I'd opt for the aerial approach. My sense from conversations on this board is that the high schools are turning out a lot of quality passing QBs, especially compared to a generation or two ago.
The main reason for the use of the flexbone option suggestion....and part of the reason the service academy's use it....is that OLmen can be smaller and quicker and depend a lot less on power and more on angles. This would be the reason a team such as Valpo would choose to go in this direction.
Davidson's offense is a bit of a hybrid which was, in my opinion, remarkably quickly installed.
