Week 3 @ Dartmouth

[valpofb16]

Valpo pushed #38 Illinois State  and now is rewarded with #17 Dartmouth. Massey calls for a 41-7 Dartmouth victory with 1% win chance.

I think a more realistic prediction is 21-14, 21-7 in favor of Dartmouth. Have a hard time seeing this defense giving up 40

Valpo Rank: 117
Dartmouth Rank: 17

[vu72]

The friggin game is tomorrow!  Zero interest apparently.  Did the team ultimately get a charter flight or commercial?

[NotBryceDrew]

Zero interest? You mean like in this thread?

[valpofb16]

Usually more talking discussion up to games. Maybe a few co-Notre dame football fans have give up the sport.

Jeremiah Orr former Valpo player is on Marshall. So by the transitive property....

[NotBryceDrew]

Game in the NE tomorrow an area Valpo sports rarely go let alone football. Curious to see how many Valpo fans there are. Maybe @David81 makes it he's in that area I think.

[usc4valpo]

Game day baby! Go Beacs and Fight on SC!

[valpofb16]

 Some interesting bits:

-Dartmouth leading rusher from last season Nick Howard is now their QB

-RB Joey Richmond was once a Valpo commit through signing day. Nice grad xfer target

- DL Amar Elmore chose Valpo over Dartmouth

[valpofb16]

Valpo 3 Dartmouth 7 end of 1Q

Dartmouth runs a very well coached RPO scheme and their linemen have great feet. Tough to generate negative plays. Appel for sure puts the ball on the money. Even the errant throw to Jernegan was where only he could catch it

Update: 14-3

Nick Howard is a very good football player. This team is much better coached than Illinois State. Lots going on in the backfield

Update: 14-10

Vercher big time response kick return. Kaplan big pick up on third down. Dawson in from two. Let's see if defense can figure Howard out.

[VUSWIM08-12]

10-14 halfway through the 2nd! Dartmouth ahead ! Nice Goal line draw for Valpo for the TD. Valpo a very smart play for the TD , but we just picked up a PI. Dartmouth with a 1st down on Valpo's 8!

[valpofb16]

Dartmouth 21 Valpo 10

-After a Valpo answer there were two Personal Fouls (N/A, and Horton) and a PI (Chilton). Can't do that against this level of team. only had to gain about 15-20 yards on that drive. Minute off the board


Horton second personal foul. Got beat deep last week twice. Big PI Last week too. Maybe time to move on

21-10 Half.

Without massive penalty drive could be looking at 14-10

[JD24]

Minor quibble on the first Valpo drive prior to the FG. Two longer pass plays prior to a crossing route short of the line to gain. I would have liked 2nd down to be a shorter route to avoid 3rd and long against a better opponent.

[valpofb16]

Update: Valpo 13 Dartmouth 21

Defense gets a stop. Big series by Jahni Clarke. RG Merklinger went down and did not return. Bartholomew automatic

Update: Valpo 13 Dartmouth 28

Run game just too much. Valpo also two big penalties. Thought the Defensive holding when Howard was throwing away ball was bad

[valpofb16]

What should be final 35-13. Classless move by Dartmouth to run in another touchdown with time expiring against lesser opponent.

- Appel played borderline flawless today. Receivers had 4-5 drops I can think of
- Clarke / Labus May be more dynamic than Dawson
- Jernigan is a great receiving TE option
-OL played well enough to win. Have to be able to punch it in.

Defensive wise the front 7 Struggled with Howard and Bair.

Multiple personal fouls on the secondary. Not the difference in the game but something to look at.

Spread was 31, Valpo kept it to realistically 15 points for 59 minutes and 40 seconds (kick rocks Dartmouth) against the Ivy League favorite.

I'm excited for PFL play. Get San Diego out of way immediately

[valpotx]

Yeah, not sure how you justify running it in on a third down, with limited time remaining.  That is a total douche move, in order to make the game look like more of a blowout than it was.  When was the last time that we only had 2 punts in a game?  I still like what I see, and am looking forward to Dawson running wild over the PFL, after having two very tough run defenses against better FCS programs.

[vu72]

If Appel stays for 4 years he could set a lot of records.  This team is pretty solid but 111 yards of stupid penalties won't get the job done.  Illinois State beat Eastern Illinois (a rivalry game) 35-7!

[vu72]

A couple of thoughts after the Dartmouth game.  First, they drew 3562 for their opener on what was described as a beautiful afternoon.  We, on the other hand, drew 3260 on a night when Ohio State was playing Notre Dame at the same time. So that's about 300 more folks for them but, Dartmouth has 2000 more undergrad student than does Valpo. Based on these figures, I would say we don't have an enthusiasm problem. We'll see how the remainder of the season progresses.

Through the first three games, we are averaging 286 yards of offense while giving up 338.  Last year, over the first three games we averaged 240 yards of total offense while giving up 415. Progress...

[usc4valpo]

vu72 - you can thank the enhanced football experience and the opening game for better crowds at Valpo football games. If Valpo keeps playing well, I think student attendance will improve.

[vu84v2]

A couple of thoughts after the Dartmouth game.  First, they drew 3562 for their opener on what was described as a beautiful afternoon.  We, on the other hand, drew 3260 on a night when Ohio State was playing Notre Dame at the same time. So that's about 300 more folks for them but, Dartmouth has 2000 more undergrad student than does Valpo. Based on these figures, I would say we don't have an enthusiasm problem. We'll see how the remainder of the season progresses.

Through the first three games, we are averaging 286 yards of offense while giving up 338.  Last year, over the first three games we averaged 240 yards of total offense while giving up 415. Progress...

Be careful on your comparisons between Dartmouth and Valpo. Two factors likely affect Dartmouth attendance: (1) people who go to an Ivy are more likely to have total indifference towards sports, (2) if they are interested in sports, they are spoiled by successes when they grew up from pro teams in the northeast (specifically Boston). I am all for increased enthusiasm regarding anything Valpo, but a more apt comparison here might be Dayton or Butler.

[valpofb16]

Valpo should be following the Wabash model to get football fans in. Market a rivalry, give locals incentive to come to the game, embrace only show in town.

Valpo games realistically could be packed. Keep all non conference home games regional.

If Wabash can pack their stadium. So can Valparaiso. I firmly believe that.

[usc4valpo]

Being a Chicago suburb, Valparaiso has a lot more entertainment options compared to Wabash. If the product gets better, more fans will come.

[valpofb16]

Valpo is an hour and fifteen away from Chicago. That's like calling it a suburb of Lafayette or saying that Lafayette is a suburb of Indy.

Quite wishful thinking