NIU coaches comment:
- Thread starter Marine03
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Really? We manhandled 4 MAC teams on both sides of the ball this year. Not one gave us a game. None could match our speed on the defensive side of the ball. We have much better athletes and talent then MAC teams.
NIU, having you on here at first was all right, but you have become the proverbial pain in the ___. This year's seniors were from Doc's second recruiting class, which was really his first as the actual first was put together in 40 or so days. What macnation got this year was the finished product.
It also takes time to put all the talent together, and more importantly, to develop it. We are talking 4 games where none of them were a contest. One or two games maybe you have a point, but four, come on. That is better talent all the way around (along with good coaching etc.).
We did add quite a bit of talent this year to be fair. Two of the recievers that scored on you are freshman that were all Americans in high school. Johnson wasn't a RB until this season.
We have been talented for 3 years. Each year the talent gets older and more talent is added.
We have been talented for 3 years. Each year the talent gets older and more talent is added.
Guys at this point NIU is only on here to antagonize. He started off ok, but his true colors have shown. It's best at this point to just ignore him. His team lost by damn near 30, but not because Marshall is good, it's only because we had a good QB. Cato made an excellent goal line stand and that kick return of his that put the fear of God into NIU's coach even trying a big boy kickoff again was amazing. The tackle he made on 4th and 1 on their 245 RB after the onside kick was unreal too. Still trying to figure out how Rakeem pulled off completing 18 passes to himself too.
This post was edited on 12/29 10:05 AM by Herd4ever07
This post was edited on 12/29 10:05 AM by Herd4ever07
NIU guy sounds EXACTLY like ALL the MAC tools after the 1997 season, the 1998 season, the 1999 season, the 2000 season, the 2001 season, the 2002 season, et al....
which is more likely:
Marshall got lucky and had back to back 10+ win seasons thanks to a great player (Cato).
or
Marshall is "back on track" as evident by winning their 9th out of 10 bowl games and 6th conference championship since 1997.
NIU had a down year and normally would have beaten Marshall.
or
NIU is a "flash in the pan" winning games with a schedule worse than Marshall's (yes, it is actually possible) and then getting smacked around when they play a team with a pulse as evident by their 3-6 bowl record since 1997 (wins against Troy, Fresno St., and Arkansas State).
which is more likely:
Marshall got lucky and had back to back 10+ win seasons thanks to a great player (Cato).
or
Marshall is "back on track" as evident by winning their 9th out of 10 bowl games and 6th conference championship since 1997.
NIU had a down year and normally would have beaten Marshall.
or
NIU is a "flash in the pan" winning games with a schedule worse than Marshall's (yes, it is actually possible) and then getting smacked around when they play a team with a pulse as evident by their 3-6 bowl record since 1997 (wins against Troy, Fresno St., and Arkansas State).
Let this dude believe what he wants to believe. I believe that NIU has spent the last 5 years racking up wins against a pathetically weak MAC schedule. Yep, there are teams in the MAC that win 8-9 games and then those teams go play other G5 teams and get smoked in bowl games. Shows that those win totals are the product of a very weak bottom half of the conference.
@ NIU007 - if you look at the scoreboard and the holes made - which i could have run through, combined with the # of sacks; dude, you guys gut pushed around ALL day. and essentially hammered. if we played again with a 100% healthy DJ and O-LINE the score would have been even worse! HAMMER TIME son!
@ NIU guy again - your coach flapping his gums all week didn't do you any favors either, you could see how butt hurt he was at the end of the game, barely shook doc's hand, poor loser. we took you to pound town, period. play with class and never run your mouth prior to a game. we as fans have always credited the other team before and after the game. had you won, i would have (players, coaches, and our fans alike) given credit where it was due, but it wasn't this time 
you got a decent squad, but not quite on our level.
you got a decent squad, but not quite on our level.Lets not get ahead of ourselves here.....Originally posted by HERDclass06:
@ NIU guy again - your coach flapping his gums all week didn't do you any favors either, you could see how butt hurt he was at the end of the game, barely shook doc's hand, poor loser. we took you to pound town, period. play with class and never run your mouth prior to a game. we as fans have always credited the other team before and after the game. had you won, i would have (players, coaches, and our fans alike) given credit where it was due, but it wasn't this time
We had not heard our coach flapping his gums - was there a video? I missed that. If that's true, it's another example of how your coaching is probably better.
I'm not here to antagonize, Marshall was obviously the better team. And yes, we ran through a weak MAC this year, and previous years the MAC wasn't much better. I'm a homer, but try to be somewhat realistic. We weren't that good this year, just good enough to get through the MAC. But I keep hearing about Devon Johnson being hobbled. So what? Lots of guys are hobbled this time of year. We lost 3 of our fastest WRs, and our one fast RB (early in the game). So if we looked slow on offense, it should be a surprise. We had a lot of freshmen playing also, mostly at DB. The Marshall receivers got open, but when they ran deep, our guys were step for step with them, so they were not too slow. Many of them are Florida recruits.
We didn't have a good QB this year. It was his first year starting, The difference between him and Cato was big. There are other differences but that was by far the biggest difference.
I'm not here to antagonize, Marshall was obviously the better team. And yes, we ran through a weak MAC this year, and previous years the MAC wasn't much better. I'm a homer, but try to be somewhat realistic. We weren't that good this year, just good enough to get through the MAC. But I keep hearing about Devon Johnson being hobbled. So what? Lots of guys are hobbled this time of year. We lost 3 of our fastest WRs, and our one fast RB (early in the game). So if we looked slow on offense, it should be a surprise. We had a lot of freshmen playing also, mostly at DB. The Marshall receivers got open, but when they ran deep, our guys were step for step with them, so they were not too slow. Many of them are Florida recruits.
We didn't have a good QB this year. It was his first year starting, The difference between him and Cato was big. There are other differences but that was by far the biggest difference.
You keep hearing about Johnson being hobbled because he still ran for nearly 9 yards per carry, how'd your hobbled guys do? Cato is definitely better than your QB, but that's not where it stops. Marshall's offensive line was also worlds better than NIU's and your FR DBS were giving up TDs to Marshall's FR WRs. Your power running back got stuffed on short yardage more than once as well. I think NIU has a good program with room to grow, but if they stay in the MAC they'll continue to recruit MAC players, which whether you like it or not isn't as athletic as most conferences. Just as Marshall isn't as athletic as many SEC schools. NIU looked slow by comparison and for all their chest pounding about how physical they are, they lost that battle too. While Cato is an exceptional QB, I wouldn't see you guys keeping that matchup in single digits last week even if you still had Lynch at QB. QBs would have washed each other out and the rest of Marshall was much better than the rest of NIU. Doesn't change NIU can grow, but it won't happen in the MAC. It only took one kickoff for Carey to realize athletically the Huskies just didn't match up. He tried going with power and that didn't work either.
I never really understood all the "physicality" comments. Was NIU particularly physical during the year? I didn't think so. We had some other times when we had short yardage situations and didn't convert.The O-line was a disappointment IMO, they were very experienced, but probably not talented enough, or maybe that was coaching too.
I thought we overreacted to the kickoff return for TD. The game would have been a lot closer with Lynch as he was both a better passer and a better runner, but other than that, it's all speculation. You're probably right about not being able to grow in the MAC. We are supposedly getting somewhat better recruits lately, but I don't put much stock in recruiting rankings. NIU doesn't fit geographically in CUSA and there's little chance for an invite to the AAC. One good thing about the loss to Marshall is that I'm not hearing the talk about us going to the Big 12 LOL. It was gettting ridiculous.
I thought we overreacted to the kickoff return for TD. The game would have been a lot closer with Lynch as he was both a better passer and a better runner, but other than that, it's all speculation. You're probably right about not being able to grow in the MAC. We are supposedly getting somewhat better recruits lately, but I don't put much stock in recruiting rankings. NIU doesn't fit geographically in CUSA and there's little chance for an invite to the AAC. One good thing about the loss to Marshall is that I'm not hearing the talk about us going to the Big 12 LOL. It was gettting ridiculous.
Lynch isn't on the team so that's irrelevant
The game would have been closer if your coach wasn't a punk and just kicked the ball deeper. He was just scared of our team speed point blank.
The game would have been closer if your coach wasn't a punk and just kicked the ball deeper. He was just scared of our team speed point blank.
Herd Fever posted on 12/30/2014...
Lynch isn't on the team so that's irrelevant
The game would have been closer if your coach wasn't a punk and just kicked the ball deeper. He was just scared of our team speed point blank.
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Those short kicks put tremendous pressure on an already overmatched NIU defense. Really dumb giving us great field position.
Lynch isn't on the team so that's irrelevant
The game would have been closer if your coach wasn't a punk and just kicked the ball deeper. He was just scared of our team speed point blank.
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Those short kicks put tremendous pressure on an already overmatched NIU defense. Really dumb giving us great field position.
I'd love to see NIU take UAB's spot in CUSA. Already a competitive program and I think they'd grow more with the step up. Also a great TV market.
I wonder if NIU's admin would consider it. We'd be a complete outlier geographically, so I doubt it. Saw a post somewhere that NIU's folks weren't happy with the MAC but I don't know if there's any truth to that. Like it or not, we fit in the MAC right now. So far we haven't shown the ability to translate MAC success into attendance, though there are a number of reasons that partly explain it. CUSA would take a basketball hit with NIU's program the way it is right now.
CUSA basketball took a big hit when Memphis left, so I don't think NIU would hurt it all that much. My complaint with the hoops team would be I've never seen a team argue with the officials in basketball like NIU did when I watched Dartmouth beat them. They argued everything and even parents of the players were using inappropriate language one row in front of my kids. I understand that can happen, but these were all obvious calls they were arguing. It's as if they expected the Jordan rules to carry over to them simply because they are from the Chicago market. The football players didn't do the same from what I could see, but the hoops coach needs to teach his players they aren't the superstars they think they are and fouls will be called against them. Anyway, I digressed, I don't think NIU would hurt and already down CUSA hoops conference too badly. The football program would be worth it anyway.
I've seen so many basketball coaches complain about so many calls, I'm not even sure our coach sticks out in that regard, but I didn't see that game. I can't imagine anybody on that team could think they're a superstar LOL, but you never know. The coach is in his 4th year so we were expecting at least a better than .500 record, I don't think that will happen now. We lost our best recruit to an ACL last year and he reinjured it before this year and isn't playing, so that didn't help. But next year I think will be very telling for the basketball team. For football we're supposedly getting good recruits but we'll see.
It wasn't the coaches, it was the players. The coaches just didn't do anything to put a stop to it.
Oh ok. They were probably frustrated, not that that's an excuse. It's hard to score when you can't shoot so anything else that adds to it like fouls, and you can probably see the game slipping away. Oddly, they shot well against Notre Dame, but they weren't going to win that one.
They were down 33-19 at the half against Dartmouth, so now doubt they were frustrated. Ended up forcing OT at 46 all. Then lost 58-55 on a buzzer beating 3. I'm sure it added to their frustration that they lost to a bunch if future doctors, lawyers, and politicians.....lol.
We turned the ball over 5-6 times on the road in the Ohio game, including a fumbled kickoff that resulted in an Ohio TD, and only lost by three. If there had been a couple of more minutes left in that game we would have won. Last year we were a fairly inexperienced team with alot of talent, lost 3 close games that we should have won, and if we had not dropped 1 of 2 easy INT opportunities against MT on the final drive, we would have played at home for the conference championship against Rice in good weather instead of in Houston in cold, rain, and 30mph winds. Considering our performance at home last year, we likely would have beaten Rice, and a few breaks going our way against Ohio and VT as well would have resulted in a 13-0 season. So you see, we were only 8 total points in 3 losses from being perfect during the regular season in 2013, returned about 90% of our 2-deep, and was a stop of a 2-pt conversion away from being perfect in 2014.
I'm in with the comments about NIU becoming the replacement for UAB; have been for a LONG time. If I remember correctly, we went into the MAC together all those years ago. Someone needs to be the outlier school besides us. I'd be great not to be the northern most school in the conference again.
BUT when I stare at the map, there is a glaring absence in the C-USA demographics with the absence of a Georgia school. Without UAB, we'll be missing Alabama too. So I see Georgia State or South Alabama being the selection; unless there is something in South Carolina too that would make sense (don't think there is).
BUT when I stare at the map, there is a glaring absence in the C-USA demographics with the absence of a Georgia school. Without UAB, we'll be missing Alabama too. So I see Georgia State or South Alabama being the selection; unless there is something in South Carolina too that would make sense (don't think there is).
There is talk at Georgia State about them dropping football. If we was going to add teams we need to add football teams that will improve the football side of things. Right now I would decide 3 schools out of Northern Illinois, Arkansas State, ULL, South Alabama, and Toledo. And my choice would be Northern Illinois to the East and ULL and Arkansas State to the West
WEll, regarding next year, those that are graduating this year and their replacements. I feel quite sure the new starters for next year got some significant playing time this year in game situations. I think we will be fine next year.
I don't know how anyone could be happy with MAC for FB...all those Tue/Wed night games kill attendance and atmosphere and all ESPN people talk about at halftime etc is the P5. It is a suckers deal imo. Being in southern base conference would probably help NI recruit the south as well. Don't see it happening though
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