EKU v WVU observation

[HerdFan73]

Wells- He outperformed Doege against a terrible defense. WV had two first half Three-and-outs that were primarily due to several Doege incompletions. Wells kept us moving, every drive, with ease.

Defense- I think our defense played better, simply due to EKU scoring a non-trash TD against WV while they never really threatened us.

Running game- I don’t think our rushing game is where it needs to be, given the o-line we’re supposed to have. I came out of the game feeling like we weren’t gashing them the way we should be against a team like that. It felt like we were never really loose in the secondary. Of our top two RBs, Knox was 18-85 Yds(4.7 avg , long of 10) and Evans was 8-32 yds (4.0 avg, long of 8). Against appy, that would be pretty solid. Against this team, frankly I don’t think it’s good enough.

My fears seem to have been confirmed watching WVU. Mind you, this was a WVU team who literally couldn’t even gain a yard on the ground against many opponents last year. WVU also had two starting linemen suspended hours before kickoff. WVs top two running backs : 10-123 yds, long 38 and 15 -123 yds, long 28.

Charlotte had limited success on the ground today against Appalachian with 146 yards. I think our running game is going to have to be much better to win next week. (Unless Wells stays way ahead of expectations)

Edited: to fix some typos.

 

[Chris McLaughlin]

Wells- He outperformed Doege against a terrible defense. WV had two first Three and outs that were primarily due toriven several Doege incompletions. Wells kept us moving, every drive, with ease.

Defense- I think our defense played better, simply due to EKU scoring a non-trash TD while they never really threatened us.

Running game- I don’t think our rushing game is where it needs to be, given the o-line we’re supposed to have. I came out of the game feeling like we weren’t gashing the way we should have a team like that. It felt like we were never really loose in the secondary. Of our top two RBs, Knox was 18-85 Yds(4.7 avg , long of 10) and Evans was 8-32 yds (4.0 avg, long of 8). Against appy, that would be pretty solid. Against this team, frankly I don’t think it’s good enough.

My fears seem to have been confirmed watching WVU. Mind you, this was a WVU team who literally couldn’t even gain a yard on the ground against many opponents last year. WVU also had two starting linemen suspended hours before kickoff. WVs top two running backs : 10-123 yds, long 38 and 15 -123 yds, long 28.

Charlotte had limited success on the ground today against Appalachian with 146 yards. I think our running game is going to have to be much better to win next week. (Unless Wells stays way ahead of expectations)

Good stuff. I didn’t get to see any of the WVU game so I appreciate the insight.

 

[GoHerdMarshallYes]

Wells- He outperformed Doege against a terrible defense. WV had two first half Three-and-outs that were primarily due to several Doege incompletions. Wells kept us moving, every drive, with ease.

Defense- I think our defense played better, simply due to EKU scoring a non-trash TD against WV while they never really threatened us.

Running game- I don’t think our rushing game is where it needs to be, given the o-line we’re supposed to have. I came out of the game feeling like we weren’t gashing them the way we should be against a team like that. It felt like we were never really loose in the secondary. Of our top two RBs, Knox was 18-85 Yds(4.7 avg , long of 10) and Evans was 8-32 yds (4.0 avg, long of 8). Against appy, that would be pretty solid. Against this team, frankly I don’t think it’s good enough.

My fears seem to have been confirmed watching WVU. Mind you, this was a WVU team who literally couldn’t even gain a yard on the ground against many opponents last year. WVU also had two starting linemen suspended hours before kickoff. WVs top two running backs : 10-123 yds, long 38 and 15 -123 yds, long 28.

Charlotte had limited success on the ground today against Appalachian with 146 yards. I think our running game is going to have to be much better to win next week. (Unless Wells stays way ahead of expectations)

Edited: to fix some typos.

I didn't watch much of the wvu game, but from what I saw, wvu just looked like they wanted to be done with it all.

The Big 12 has been a bit of a dud today thus far.

 

[5150]

Wells- He outperformed Doege against a terrible defense. WV had two first half Three-and-outs that were primarily due to several Doege incompletions. Wells kept us moving, every drive, with ease.

Defense- I think our defense played better, simply due to EKU scoring a non-trash TD against WV while they never really threatened us.

Running game- I don’t think our rushing game is where it needs to be, given the o-line we’re supposed to have. I came out of the game feeling like we weren’t gashing them the way we should be against a team like that. It felt like we were never really loose in the secondary. Of our top two RBs, Knox was 18-85 Yds(4.7 avg , long of 10) and Evans was 8-32 yds (4.0 avg, long of 8). Against appy, that would be pretty solid. Against this team, frankly I don’t think it’s good enough.

My fears seem to have been confirmed watching WVU. Mind you, this was a WVU team who literally couldn’t even gain a yard on the ground against many opponents last year. WVU also had two starting linemen suspended hours before kickoff. WVs top two running backs : 10-123 yds, long 38 and 15 -123 yds, long 28.

Charlotte had limited success on the ground today against Appalachian with 146 yards. I think our running game is going to have to be much better to win next week. (Unless Wells stays way ahead of expectations)

Edited: to fix some typos.

odd game, maybe its because of no fans. Doege was 19-25 and 228 yds with 3 td's. I thought WVU's defense struggled. I did see where Garson Malesevich played a lot. Looked pretty good.

 

[MU1st]

I agree. I think we have the better qb and defense, but they had more success with the run.

 

[MichiganHerd]

EKU is a bad FCS team, so it's pointless to attempt to do any comparable analysis. It was basically a scrimmage game for both WV schools against the Washington Generals.

My biggest take of the day is that the Sunbelt continues to improve as a conference. Wish there were more non-conference games between CUSA and the Sunbelt.

I think Marshall has a good shot at beating Appalachian State at home, and expect them to beat them.

 

[goherd13]

I think a strong case can be made that both McDaniel and Papillon, despite their obvious talents, benefited from our line leaning on EK for 2.5 quarters before they came in. Had shel or Knox stayed in, they very well could have seen their ypc average increase proportionally

 

[herdfan429]

My observation was eku is an absolutely garbage team

 

[BleedsGreen33]

Wells- He outperformed Doege against a terrible defense. WV had two first half Three-and-outs that were primarily due to several Doege incompletions. Wells kept us moving, every drive, with ease.

Defense- I think our defense played better, simply due to EKU scoring a non-trash TD against WV while they never really threatened us.

Running game- I don’t think our rushing game is where it needs to be, given the o-line we’re supposed to have. I came out of the game feeling like we weren’t gashing them the way we should be against a team like that. It felt like we were never really loose in the secondary. Of our top two RBs, Knox was 18-85 Yds(4.7 avg , long of 10) and Evans was 8-32 yds (4.0 avg, long of 8). Against appy, that would be pretty solid. Against this team, frankly I don’t think it’s good enough.

My fears seem to have been confirmed watching WVU. Mind you, this was a WVU team who literally couldn’t even gain a yard on the ground against many opponents last year. WVU also had two starting linemen suspended hours before kickoff. WVs top two running backs : 10-123 yds, long 38 and 15 -123 yds, long 28.

Charlotte had limited success on the ground today against Appalachian with 146 yards. I think our running game is going to have to be much better to win next week. (Unless Wells stays way ahead of expectations)

Edited: to fix some typos.

Our run game worries me a little too. We didn't rip off any big runs all game. The yards that Knox and Evans got were hard fought yards for the most part and given the opponent that is a bit worrisome. Even with Grant dropping bombs over the top for 3 quarters didn't help.

 

[oldeherd]

Speaking of garbage, after reviewing Saturday's scores, its pretty obvious that the "Big" 12 is becoming, if they are not already there, the "CUSA of the Power 5 Leagues". Kansas was butt abused at home by Coastal Carolina, another Big 12 team falling to a G5 (Sun Belt) foe on the day. Texas Tech squeezed by with a 2 point win over something called Houston Baptist!

 

[old buzzard]

I don't know if anyone here knows that 11 WVU players were serving a one game suspension for violating team rules and weren't suited up for the game............or that Neal Brown went 3 deep into the roster in the second half letting a lot of true freshmen gain some experience.

 

[HerdFan73]

I don't know if anyone here knows that 11 WVU players were serving a one game suspension for violating team rules and weren't suited up for the game............or that Neal Brown went 3 deep into the roster in the second half letting a lot of true freshmen gain some experience.

I mentioned in my very first post that two starting linemen were suspended.

Clearly in a game like that they’re going to clear the bench. So did we.

 

[ThunderCat98]

Wells- He outperformed Doege against a terrible defense. WV had two first half Three-and-outs that were primarily due to several Doege incompletions. Wells kept us moving, every drive, with ease.

Defense- I think our defense played better, simply due to EKU scoring a non-trash TD against WV while they never really threatened us.

Running game- I don’t think our rushing game is where it needs to be, given the o-line we’re supposed to have. I came out of the game feeling like we weren’t gashing them the way we should be against a team like that. It felt like we were never really loose in the secondary. Of our top two RBs, Knox was 18-85 Yds(4.7 avg , long of 10) and Evans was 8-32 yds (4.0 avg, long of 8). Against appy, that would be pretty solid. Against this team, frankly I don’t think it’s good enough.

My fears seem to have been confirmed watching WVU. Mind you, this was a WVU team who literally couldn’t even gain a yard on the ground against many opponents last year. WVU also had two starting linemen suspended hours before kickoff. WVs top two running backs : 10-123 yds, long 38 and 15 -123 yds, long 28.

Charlotte had limited success on the ground today against Appalachian with 146 yards. I think our running game is going to have to be much better to win next week. (Unless Wells stays way ahead of expectations)

Edited: to fix some typos.

You might be discounting our ground game a bit. Two backs averaging over 4 yards per is pretty damned good. I think we hit them where they were most vulnerable which happened to be through the air. I guess what I'm saying is it's way too early to say our running game was disappointing. We'll find out more in the next couple of weeks. I'm cautiously optimistic going forward.

 

[31Herd55]

Too hard to gauge against a totally pitiful team like EKU. We’ll know a lot more about ourselves after Appy...probably the highest rated team we’ll face all season.

 

[herdfan429]

I don't know if anyone here knows that 11 WVU players were serving a one game suspension for violating team rules and weren't suited up for the game............or that Neal Brown went 3 deep into the roster in the second half letting a lot of true freshmen gain some experience.

No we just don’t give a shit

 

[HerdFan73]

You might be discounting our ground game a bit. Two backs averaging over 4 yards per is pretty damned good. I think we hit them where they were most vulnerable which happened to be through the air. I guess what I'm saying is it's way too early to say our running game was disappointing. We'll find out more in the next couple of weeks. I'm cautiously optimistic going forward.

I agree its too early to make a determination. Where I disagree, is that i think averaging less than 5 YPC is less than impressive against a team as pitiful as EKU. When the running game is supposed to be our strength and we're returning more starts upfront than all but one team in FBS.

Those 4-5 yard carries could become 2-3 yard carries quick against a halfway quality defense. If you're not getting your RB's up to the secondary, against a team like that, it just worries me about what to expect against Appy is all I'm saying. WVU's top two backs had 9 carries 10 yards or longer. (down two starting linemen) Knox's long was only 10 yards.

I hope my concern is unfounded.

 

[Chris McLaughlin]

No we just don’t give a shit

Correct. But at least Old Buzzard will feel better and can tell his fellow Mountie fans he edumacated all of us little Herd fans on big bad WVU.

 

[herdalicious]

The one thing I've seen in common between Marshall and WVU fans these past two weeks: everybody walking around with their chests puffed out because they blew out the worst FCS team of all time in a pandemic.

 

[ekal]

EKU geared up to stop Knox with their defensive front. That is why our passing game was so effective. But it is also why Knox had trouble with his straight-ahead runs. Probably also the reason McDaniel was able to move the ball so well. EKU had to adjust to our passing game and saw that Knox had been replaced. It helps to look a little deeper into the strategies before concluding that running game is a weak area.

 

[HerdFan73]

EKU geared up to stop Knox with their defensive front. That is why our passing game was so effective. But it is also why Knox had trouble with his straight-ahead runs. Probably also the reason McDaniel was able to move the ball so well. EKU had to adjust to our passing game and saw that Knox had been replaced. It helps to look a little deeper into the strategies before concluding that running game is a weak area.

I feel like that’s an easy answer.

I’d welcome any insight into the strategies that EKU was imploring. Forgive me for being skeptical, but that’s always the common refrain anytime our running game is not explosive “well they were loading the box.” And it rarely goes any further than that.

 

[herdalicious]

I’d welcome any insight into the strategies that EKU was imploring.

EKU's defensive strategy was to moisten the paper towel before laying it softly on top of our offensive line.

 

[beefcake0520]

EKU isn't the worst FCS team out there, based on last year and the year before they are an "average" FCS squad. They also had several tranfers from FBS schools, although that doesn't necessarily translate into team unity etc. Just an observation.

 

[GoHerdMarshallYes]

EKU geared up to stop Knox with their defensive front. That is why our passing game was so effective. But it is also why Knox had trouble with his straight-ahead runs. Probably also the reason McDaniel was able to move the ball so well. EKU had to adjust to our passing game and saw that Knox had been replaced. It helps to look a little deeper into the strategies before concluding that running game is a weak area.

Funny you mention that.

CBS analysts were discussing Marshall vs. App State last night and minus Grant Wells, they said, "Look out for RB...Knowledge McDaniel!!"
I found that a little odd since Knox is our go to guy.

 

[herdalicious]

I found that a little odd since Knox is our go to guy.

On this end of the FBS pool, the best we can hope for from commentators is that they read our box scores.

 

[ThunderCat98]

I agree its too early to make a determination. Where I disagree, is that i think averaging less than 5 YPC is less than impressive against a team as pitiful as EKU. When the running game is supposed to be our strength and we're returning more starts upfront than all but one team in FBS.

Those 4-5 yard carries could become 2-3 yard carries quick against a halfway quality defense. If you're not getting your RB's up to the secondary, against a team like that, it just worries me about what to expect against Appy is all I'm saying. WVU's top two backs had 9 carries 10 yards or longer. (down two starting linemen) Knox's long was only 10 yards.

I hope my concern is unfounded.

It was. Here, have some:

 

[HerdFan73]

It was. Here, have some:

Too late. Already dedicated a whole thread to the hogs.