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Post by jj on Jan 18, 2011 14:44:37 GMT -5
Duquesne and Davidson on the schedule. Not bad. Youngstown State is a scary opponent,but the rest of the schedule should be a piece of cake. Prediction: 10-1 Opps,I meant 1-10. Good luck Crusaders!
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Post by CO_VU_Fan on Jan 18, 2011 16:01:58 GMT -5
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Post by crusadermoe on Jan 18, 2011 16:19:38 GMT -5
Wise to schedule Duchesne right after YSU. Geography will help. We can reserve a dozen hospital rooms in Youngstown in advance for the starting 22.
Then if those guys recover by the next Friday, then can be picked up by the bus to Pittsburgh just in time to play vs. (or watch others play) Duchesne.
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Post by valporun on Jan 18, 2011 18:09:20 GMT -5
Give me two good reasons why we're playing Franklin to open the season, and the main reason why Jacksonville isn't on our schedule, since it is a conference game? For those who want to speculate that we're not playing the Dolphins because of how they kicked the living trash out of us, that's not the reason I'm looking for. Did the conference make it so that each year we don't have to play a particular team in the conference, or what?
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Post by valpohorizon on Jan 18, 2011 18:28:29 GMT -5
Can someone explain why it's such a terrible idea for us to be playing Youngstown State? We played Western Illinois last year and although we were easily beaten ( www.valpoathletics.com/football/news/152/9989/) I don't think anyone could honestly blame the results for the rest of the season on that one game. We didn't suffer any more injuries during that game than any other game. And I can't imagine that a 45-0 loss to a team with over 60 scholarships killed their confidence. Now look at the Missouri Valley standings from last year. espn.go.com/ncf/conferences/standings?confId=21&year=2010 WIU finished second with a 5-3 conference record. Youngstown came in dead last with a 1-7 record. If last year's team (as bad as it was) could get through a game with WIU, what is so bad about playing YSU? |
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Post by milanmiracle on Jan 18, 2011 19:35:09 GMT -5
Can someone explain why it's such a terrible idea for us to be playing Youngstown State? We played Western Illinois last year and although we were easily beaten ( www.valpoathletics.com/football/news/152/9989/) I don't think anyone could honestly blame the results for the rest of the season on that one game. We didn't suffer any more injuries during that game than any other game. And I can't imagine that a 45-0 loss to a team with over 60 scholarships killed their confidence. Now look at the Missouri Valley standings from last year. espn.go.com/ncf/conferences/standings?confId=21&year=2010 WIU finished second with a 5-3 conference record. Youngstown came in dead last with a 1-7 record. If last year's team (as bad as it was) could get through a game with WIU, what is so bad about playing YSU? I am going to take from this comment you've never seen a Youngstown State game? I'll admit they had a bad year last year, but they also had a first year head coach in the best conference in the nation as far as I-AA (FCS, whatever) is concerned. What is not in question is the talent. Also, while YSU had a bad year and lost confidence, they were down exactly 3 points to Penn State with 3 minutes left to go in the first half. Now, the second half was a complete blowout, but if you can hang around with the Lions for a half... |
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Post by valpofan56 on Jan 18, 2011 20:14:45 GMT -5
Not disagreeing with you, mm, but I'm pretty sure WIU had a first year head coach also.
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Post by valpo89 on Jan 19, 2011 10:20:52 GMT -5
Give me two good reasons why we're playing Franklin to open the season, and the main reason why Jacksonville isn't on our schedule, since it is a conference game? For those who want to speculate that we're not playing the Dolphins because of how they kicked the living trash out of us, that's not the reason I'm looking for. Did the conference make it so that each year we don't have to play a particular team in the conference, or what? Franklin is a return game from last year. Franklin is Division III. Valpo football - come on now - in essence is Division III. I'm pretty sure with the size of the PFL that not every team plays against one another, not unilke the Big 10. As for Youngstown, I believe the Penguins just have the reputation from the old days of winning championships under Jim Tressel. He's long gone. I know for a fact our highly-placed athletic administrators don't believe it's any worse than playing Western Illinois. Personally, I disagree with getting destroyed by a I-AA team every year. But maybe it's for the money. |
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Post by valpohorizon on Jan 19, 2011 18:23:21 GMT -5
Milan, In your post you made a number of assertions, however I don't think they add up to a very compelling argument. I will go through them one at a time for clarity's sake. 1) "I am going to take from this comment you've never seen a Youngstown State game?" You are a correct I have not. However what is the point? I'll assume it's that YSU has a very good game day atmosphere which is indicative of a strong program. To which I say: I offered evidence about YSU's actual game play (i.e. conference record) which is a better indicator of a team's quality than fan attendance. Furthermore, it should be good for the team to play in a quality atmosphere, not something to be avoided. 2) "I'll admit they had a bad year last year" Agreed. 3) "but they also had a first year head coach" As Valpofan56 pointed out, so did WIU, who I was using as a comparison. 4) "...in the best conference in the nation as far as I-AA (FCS, whatever) is concerned." The best conference in the FCS is the CAA. The only conferences that could even claim to be as good are the Big Sky and the Southern. Just check out the Sagarin ratings for last year. www.usatoday.com/sports/sagarin/fbc10.htm?loc=interstitialskipOr if you prefer something not computer generated check out the number of teams in the FCS playoff, and also the winners (and runners up) of that playoff over the last 11 years. The CAA has had four champions and three runners up, the Big Sky has had 2 champions and 4 runners up and the SoCon has had 4 champions and 1 runner up. The Missouri Valley (YSU's and WIU's conference) has had 1 runner up, Northern Iowa in 2005. fcsnow.com/fcsplayoffs.aspx5) "What is not in question is the talent." If this means, it is not in question that YSU has more talent than Valpo, than of course your are right, however I never suggested otherwise. If this means that YSU has more talent than WIU, you may be correct, but you didn't offer any proof of it. 6) "Also, while YSU had a bad year and lost confidence, they were down exactly 3 points to Penn State with 3 minutes left to go in the first half. Now, the second half was a complete blowout, but if you can hang around with the Lions for a half..." I do not think that cherry picking less than a half of football out of an entire season is the best way to judge a team. I could use this exact same line of arguing to support the opposite opinion. For example: They (YSU) were up exactly 7 points on Butler with 1 minute left to go in the first half. Now, the second half was a complete blowout, but if you can't put away a 2-6 PFL team in a half... www.butlersports.com/sports/m-footbl/2010-11/files/10bfb-02.htmMilan, I hope this post doesn't sound mean, because that is not my intent. When I read your reply I just didn't think you were judging the situation accurately, and I wanted to offer my reasons for that opinion. Even though the YSU game will be a likely blow out I think it is a smart move for a couple of reasons. 1) They pay and we can use the money. 2) I honestly think it helps with recruiting. If we play all D3s in the non-conference it makes the program look worse and makes recruiting harder. We should work to make the program appear D1, and that means playing D1 teams as much as possible. The best PFL teams in the past have been able to compete with scholarship FCS teams. Obviously we are a long way from best, but I think we should schedule like what we aspire to be. 3) Even if we get blown out by YSU they are not so much better as to make the game dangerous or unsportsmanlike for the Valpo players. Ultimately that was the only point I was trying to make in my original post. And I think its a point that is well supported by both our game with WIU last year as well as Butler's game against YSU. Sorry for the ultra-long post. |
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Post by indyvalpo on Jan 19, 2011 18:49:24 GMT -5
For some reason Milan wets his pants whenever the Youngstown game is discuused. Having said that, will we get hammered, most definitely.
89 is correct, Jacksonville rotated off our schedulle this year. Each year we do not play one conference team. In big time football that allows more home games. I am not sure why the Pioneer League does it.
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Post by milanmiracle on Jan 19, 2011 21:19:53 GMT -5
Valpohorizon - First let me address the offended situation...not offended at all. Trust me on that one. I have probably offended more people on here than your post has words (just kidding, I think). I am a glass half empty guy and that doesn't seem to go over too well around here. No worries.
Secondly you have some very good points about the conference and WIU. However, without doing any looking, I also know that YSU started a freshman QB and that doesn't exactly help the situation. Also, sombody pointed out that YSU went 1-7 in conference. That's true, but they lost those seven games by a combined total of 39 points. While they clearly didn't know how to win, they also weren't blown out by any stretch.
I will leave it at this, Youngstown will physically dominate Valpo in every way, and will likely win by 6 touchdowns, maybe more. If it's any closer than that, I'll be surprised and sadly, a little impressed.
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Post by bbtds on Jan 19, 2011 21:35:06 GMT -5
I will leave it at this, Youngstown will physically dominate Valpo in every way, and will likely win by 6 touchdowns, maybe more. If it's any closer than that, I'll be surprised and sadly, a little impressed. I agree. Maybe Valpo will improve enough to win 2 conference games next year too. 40 to 48 point win for YSU seems reasonable. |
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Post by cheersquad on Feb 6, 2011 23:17:32 GMT -5
I've gone to a few games and I must admit, the outcomes have not been good. Everyone posting seems to think the team is destined for more bad news this year--I am wondering whether the team lost any players this past year, due to transfer, etc. and will it hurt them even more? Are the injured players better now--seems there were quite a few of them!
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Post by rlh on Feb 7, 2011 1:39:41 GMT -5
Several players left the team after last year....i don't have an exact number but several...not sure that's a bad thing or not...we'll see
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Post by CO_VU_Fan on Feb 7, 2011 12:00:52 GMT -5
Several players left the team after last year....i don't have an exact number but several...not sure that's a bad thing or not...we'll see Not sure what it means. When I was in school in the '80s, it seemed that many of the freshmen recruits did not return for football in the following years. Many continued at VU, just did not participate in football. I believe our recent recruiting classes numbered around 40, mostly freshmen. If there wasn't some attrition, we'd have about 150 players on the sideline. Hopefully, those that did decide against returning were not upperclassmen that had some contribution last year. If the dead weight, bad apples and those that found college football wasn't for them left the program, I'm sure the coaches will adjust. |
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