Indiana Wesleyan won their first game 56-7 and has lost one game since Valparaiso last season.
This is on the road where they handled Valpo in the first Q in 2021.
Hoping for the best. I'll remain optimistic
31-17 Beacs
Who'd they beat?
IWU beat Lawrence Tech University 56-7 in week 1,
IWU also beat LTU 35-0 in 2022.
Not sure what that means... I know nothing about LTU.
Quote from: FBFan22 on September 02, 2023, 07:20:05 PM
IWU beat Lawrence Tech University 56-7 in week 1,
IWU also beat LTU 35-0 in 2022.
Not sure what that means... I know nothing about LTU.
LTU wikipedia page:
In January 2017, Lawrence Tech announced that it would resume intercollegiate football competition, after a hiatus of more than 70 years dating back to just after World War II. The university has admitted two recruiting classes of about 90 student-athletes for a team that competed as an independent squad in the fall of 2018, and which will begin playing a full varsity schedule in the Mid-States Football Association of the NAIA in the fall of 2019. LTU hired Jeff Duvendeck, former head coach at Culver-Stockton (Mo.) College and a former assistant at Michigan State University, Northern Michigan University, Michigan Technological University, Grand Valley State University, and Tiffin (Ohio) University, as its head coach.[32][33] The Blue Devils finished 5–3 in their abbreviated first season, and attracted nearly 4,000 fans to their first game on Sept. 1, 2018. The 2021 LTU football squad finished 7-4 overall, 3–4 in the Mid-States Football Association.[34]2022 Football Schedule - Lawrence Technological University (ltuathletics.com) (https://ltuathletics.com/sports/football/schedule/2022) record in 2022 (3-7)
The Blue Devils are currently 1-1 after losing badly to Indiana Wesleyan 56-7 and beating Ave Maria 21-19 with both games at the home stadium in Southfield, MI.
Talent wise this is probably a middle-high end of road PFL team. Guys will need to be ready
iWU 35, Valpo 24.
Close game on road
VU 27 iWU 24
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I don't think Youngstown beat us, more like we handed it to them thru multiple fumbles, blocked kicks, penalties, sacks, bad ref calls etc. in 2nd half. Youngstown probably went into halftime in shock we were actually challenging them, lol. I'm optimistic it will be close enough to rattle Indiana Wesleyan.
YSU beat Valpo. Let's not kid ourselves.
Beacons bounce back 27-21. Let's go boys!!
Valpo is about 20-25+ lbs larger across the board on the OL and has two FBS transfer running backs that averaged 4.5 ypg against Youngstown.
Let's not over think this tonight
BTW, what is Marion IN like? Didnt that town used to have great HS basketball?
Is this game a "pay per view" by Indianna W? I ask because Valpo isn't listed on hulu/espn+, plenty of other college games being shown on espn+ but NOT Valpo. I've searched thru espn+ listing, sports, and just searched Valparaiso using the search feature. Doesn't appear to be caused by disney/spectrum fighting since espn+ does air a slew of college games. Any idea?
Never mind, we figured it out :(
Great first kickoff return WELL into IWU territory ! Let's get a TD. IWU player being carted off...
Ughhhhh tipped pass , IWU intercepts and takes over on their own 21...this game is starting off crazy , Valpo just got an interception , back on offense at the IWU 34!
Symmes and this OL are awful. You have two FBS transfer RBs at the one yard line. And a 6'4 220 QB.
Play one , motion 5 guys for Izzy. Then come out in empty for a fade.
Appel to Davis for 32yd TD! Valpo up 7-0
7-7 Wildcats.
10-7 Wildcats
17-7 Wildcats. Feel for Fox. Has built an outstanding defense. The level of competence is not there from the Offense or even really special teams.
Valpo had a bad Appel at QB.
Tough to win when you're -5 in turnover margin. Still had a chance to tie at end.
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This was the worst Appel has played in a Valpo uniform. The OL is a serious problem, though there were plays where the commentators were very complimentary for opening up big holes. Just a weird games, though perhaps we were playing against a team as good as any in the Pioneer, who knows.
You need to win these games. QB situation with 5 ints? Extension for Fox? Not sure it's justified.
Having watched the game. Symmes/Coaching is the problem. When Mikey got to set and throw the offense looked viable. The run game worked in set formations.
When you have less talent, you dumb things down. This was reminiscent of Limbach at Eastern Kentucky. Motion everywhere for IZ and screens. Defense hardly had to shift at all and now the young OL and QB m/WRs are out of sync.
Also when Pauley went in for Woody the line got better. Due to the quality of snaps. Woodys snaps were slow or on the ground having never played center.
Besides a Hail Mary off a scrambled snap and penalties keeping the game alive. It was 24-7.
Valpo D was excellent only giving up 24 to the #5 NAIA team who started in plus territory the entire night.
Valpo was the much more talented team and lost. You can tell because it was a 2 point game and a -5 turnover differential.
The offense was not coached well and it is very evident. Unless Symmes improves this could be a 1-3 win team
Also coming out in empty on the goal line and putting an OT in the slot jumping up and down to distract with the game on the line is bush league.
I'm not sure anyone north of 8th grade would actually attempt that.
The unreliable snaps were a problem, I agree, but Apple needs to move. It was cringe worthy watching him get sacked 5 times. And maybe bring an extra QB back up (have 3 instead of 2). It was also hard to watch our WR, TE wide open but Apple getting sacked. We were the better team.
We kept backs in and motioned tight ends in all night. The interior line got abused.
It will need to improve by game 4 of Mikey could start looking at alternatives. He's got good enough tape and isn't healthy for him to keep taking these kind of shots.
Worst part is IWU broadcast said they returned only 1 of their top 6 DL
Quote from: soapyjeans on September 10, 2023, 11:17:24 AM
The unreliable snaps were a problem, I agree, but Apple needs to move. It was cringe worthy watching him get sacked 5 times. And maybe bring an extra QB back up (have 3 instead of 2). It was also hard to watch our WR, TE wide open but Apple getting sacked. We were the better team.
There were at least four quarterbacks on the travel roster yesterday. I saw Keefe and Tyler on the sideline in addition to Jackson.
Quote from: Pgmado on September 10, 2023, 07:50:45 PM
Quote from: soapyjeans on September 10, 2023, 11:17:24 AM
The unreliable snaps were a problem, I agree, but Apple needs to move. It was cringe worthy watching him get sacked 5 times. And maybe bring an extra QB back up (have 3 instead of 2). It was also hard to watch our WR, TE wide open but Apple getting sacked. We were the better team.
There were at least four quarterbacks on the travel roster yesterday. I saw Keefe and Tyler on the sideline in addition to Jackson.
(https://media2.giphy.com/media/l0HlG7zxji53RUtpe/giphy.gif)
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should Valpo bench Appel after that game. We are talking 5 INTs, which is simply unacceptable
Quote from: usc4valpo on September 11, 2023, 10:48:50 AM
should Valpo bench Appel after that game. We are talking 5 INTs, which is simply unacceptable
Sometimes stats tell the true and sometimes stats lie. Looking forward to going deeper on the tape on this one.
Didn't see the game. Didn't have GameTracker on. Just saw the score, Paul's Twitter posts, and the eventual VU Athletics release hours later. And I respect fb16's assessments.
But the answer is: No.
Bench the game plans that don't afford Mikey enough protection (what, 5 sacks and how many uncharted pressures?!) to manage a controlled, methodical short passing game first. Take a very hard look at not only what you want to do, but how you think you can do it (for instance, does superfluous motion confuse the defense enough to gain any usable advantage?).
Reduce blocked punts to zero (betcha, if you replayed the video of the YSU block, the IWU block would look pretty similar - just guessing ::))
Make reliable C-QB short snaps that don't freakin bounce on the ground.
Fox said it all after the game. "Get back to fundamentals." Couldn't agree more. They have a bye week to do that before Marist.
Quote from: usc4valpo on September 11, 2023, 10:48:50 AM
should Valpo bench Appel after that game. We are talking 5 INTs, which is simply unacceptable
No. Two were very ill advised throws into heavy coverage, but two were tipped at the line. Perhaps those were his fault also but you see those in the pro game all the time.
Just rewatched the game on ESPN+. Painful to watch, but it confimed what I saw in the stands on Saturday.
Pick 1 - Noseguard beats Valpo LG and is right in Mikey's face when ball is thrown. Noseguard deflected the pass and it goes right to IWU LB.
Pick 2 - Fade route at the goal line (yuck). Corner absolutely THROWS the Valpo WR to the ground and catches the jump ball uncontested. No pass interference penalty called. I'd love an explanation from the zebra on this one.
Pick 3 - tunnel screen (yuck). Valpo RT gets beat and the DE is in Mikey's face when he throws. Valpo RG gets beat by the DT and the DT gets a hand on the pass. Once again the deflected ball bounces right to the IWU LB.
Pick 4 - Davis beats the corner deep, corner grabs Davis' shoulder pad to slow him down and then somehow catches the pass (great catch by the corner). You could argue this ball was underthrown a tick, but it should have been pass interference or defensive holding at the least.
Pick 5 - 4 seconds to go, last play before halftime, had to throw it deep. Deep safety came over and picked off the hail mary. No harm done on this one - had to take the shot.
Men. Mikey Appel led the PFL in efficiency as as a RSFR. Everything out of Valpo camp is how efficient he is.
Without Mikey throwing a bombed Hail Mary off a dribbles snap for a touchdown and leading a two minute drive it's a blow out.
Two passes were batted into interceptions. One was a throw at end of half that shouldn't have happened (Hail Mary on the sub 50 to end a half?) and one was an outstanding play by Cambell on the IWU sideline. No real dumb throws into coverage.
He had 0 Ints in the second half when Valpo stopped all the motion BS and an actual center played center
Three times they came out in empty on the goal line. Including play to tie where the here was no vertical run threat for the two point conversion. Putting Sczepanski in the slot and having him jump up and down 8 yards short of the sticks was laughable.
Valpo O was in plus territory 4-5 times in first half and had 7 points.
Symmes has never called a competitive football game nor played in one. And it showed. Guy was a bad hire, that's why many position coaches left from the spring already on the offensive side of the ball.
It is so hard to compare Valpo football performance results across so many types of schools. Lots of apples vs. oranges year to year. You have FCS, D-2, D-3, NAIA. And at the lower levels you get huge variances year to year due to one or two great athletes who might move up a notch the next year.
Remember Josh Johnson with U. of San Diego playing for Jim Harbaugh? Josh has played several years in the NFL now with a few different teams. But he was playing Pioneer non-scholarship football.