Hard to believe but the kids get a day off, then start to prepare for NIU, and presumably bus out Wednesday and play Thursday evening on CBSSN.

Coming off a very tough loss, this schedule is scary.

I think NIU has a big advantage playing at home esp. after an easy win vs. BG.

I just hope the wheels don't come off Thursday night.

BGSU isn't as bad as they were a month ago, FWIW. NIU made it look easy because Childers is playing very well and they have a really good defense.

It's gonna be suck watching this be another low-scoring, one-possession loss.

What's the status of Vann? I saw that Banham was still not dressed. I'm assuming that's a concussion from the hit he took in the Ohio game. Wonder if he's done for the season and hoping for a medical red shirt. Armstrong was also not dressed.

Dear WoodenNickle,
At the luncheon Coach Creighton said that Banham was now week to week, but did not sound very optimistic about his return in the next few games. Don't know about Armstrong. Wasn't his a knee injury?

None of the injuries mentioned above really move the needle one way or the other. Our safety depth is the one to keep an eye on. Calderon still in street clothes, and Giraldo likely done for season with ankle. Calhoun out first half of NIU with targeting penalty. The third line guys are all freshmen. Alongside Moody to start NIU we might see Phelps who played some safety against Kentucky. Might also be able to rotate Hoying back there, but his best position is obviously the Rover spot. Crossing fingers that Moody and Calhoun can make it thru the rest of season without injury.

Both of those guys have played well, and really understand what Neathery wants done on the back end.

Huskie defense is tied for #2 in country with 13 interceptions this year.

Really easy to see the key to this game. Roback vs. the above statistic. We turn it over like last week and we have no chance. 2 fumbles in the red zone against WMU were killers.

Could be a 6-3 game. We ran the ball well against BG but not so well against Buffalo or Kent. If we can't run well we'll have more trouble passing it, and Childers hasn't been hitting the deep pass yet. Oddly, the deep pass wasn't really open against BG, fortunately guys were open on the shorter routes. We'll have to continue to get pressure on the QB and not have stupid mistakes like late hits, missed FGs, dropped passes, etc.

(10-23-2017 09:13 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  Could be a 6-3 game. We ran the ball well against BG but not so well against Buffalo or Kent. If we can't run well we'll have more trouble passing it, and Childers hasn't been hitting the deep pass yet. Oddly, the deep pass wasn't really open against BG, fortunately guys were open on the shorter routes. We'll have to continue to get pressure on the QB and not have stupid mistakes like late hits, missed FGs, dropped passes, etc.

Looks like a pretty young OL, outside of the stud LT. Smallish Center. True freshman at RT?

Must be Isaac Hawn you're referring to as freshman. By all accounts he's done pretty well for a freshman so far, have not watched him enough to have an opinion (and I know little about O-line play anyway). We had Chad Beebe back full-time at WR (and punts, and holding for kicks) for BG and that helps, as long as he doesn't get injured again.

RB Jordan Huff was out for BG as he was banged up, not sure if he's back for the EMU game or not.

(10-23-2017 10:12 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  Must be Isaac Hawn you're referring to as freshman. By all accounts he's done pretty well for a freshman so far, have not watched him enough to have an opinion (and I know little about O-line play anyway). We had Chad Beebe back full-time at WR (and punts, and holding for kicks) for BG and that helps, as long as he doesn't get injured again.

RB Jordan Huff was out for BG as he was banged up, not sure if he's back for the EMU game or not.

Huff killed us last year, hopefully he's not back, haha. Very difficult week for us, coming off 5 bad losses by a total of 20 points, on the road, on a short week Thursday. Would be an impressive feat of mental toughness if we can somehow pull off the upset. D should continue to play well. Struggling offense, against the best D in the MAC, a tall order. Our guys will show up and play hard. More about execution and eliminating mistakes.

(10-23-2017 10:23 PM)EagleTough Wrote:  

(10-23-2017 10:12 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  Must be Isaac Hawn you're referring to as freshman. By all accounts he's done pretty well for a freshman so far, have not watched him enough to have an opinion (and I know little about O-line play anyway). We had Chad Beebe back full-time at WR (and punts, and holding for kicks) for BG and that helps, as long as he doesn't get injured again.

RB Jordan Huff was out for BG as he was banged up, not sure if he's back for the EMU game or not.

Huff killed us last year, hopefully he's not back, haha. Very difficult week for us, coming off 5 bad losses by a total of 20 points, on the road, on a short week Thursday. Would be an impressive feat of mental toughness if we can somehow pull off the upset. D should continue to play well. Struggling offense, against the best D in the MAC, a tall order. Our guys will show up and play hard. More about execution and eliminating mistakes.

I was hoping you guys would beat WMU so you wouldn't be so fired up to get a win against us. EMU is definitely a lot better than their record. We've been on easy street going against Kent, BG, and Buffalo with a 3rd-string QB for half the game, for the past few weeks. Now back to reality with MAC West teams.

Sutton Smith is the one that knocked the Buffalo QB out of the game though, and also sacked Nebraska's QB almost getting a fumble. He can be a problem - EMU will have to get him blocked and take their chances with the rest of NIU's D. I've seen Roback complete passes to WR's that weren't really even open. So NIU's D will have to take advantage of the chances they get, and hopefully make EMU settle for FGs. NIU's kicker has been hit or miss (about 50% either way) so kicking a FG from outside the 15 or 20 is iffy.

Good luck Eagles! Wish this one was on ESPN instead of BSU-Toledo.

Game Day.

Should be cool. Temps around 50.