Roadblocks to Frisco

[BlueBisonRock]

Who would have thought that roadblock would have been Youngstown State? We beat them.

Aww, Its the Chump again. Loose your pretend light saber?

We decided to be fair today and we asked guests in tailgating their opinion of your favorite team (your previous favorite. We can if you insist find a way to get the opinion of your current favorite.)

First, we asked a small group of Youngstown fans. Great people and they did represent their school real well. Here is their thoughts:


And to insure we were being fair, we did ask a random Lehigh fan (remember them and how they treated your old favorites?). Yep: we have consensus.



Too bad. Now, quit slobbering all over your keyboard or your mama will come down to the basement and smack you again!

[TbonZach]

Too bad. Now, quit slobbering all over your keyboard or your mama will come down to the basement and smack you again!

He (she?) would like that too much.

[Capn_Cat]

Ok, so I am a Project Manager and look at things differently than most. If the project was to win the MVFC and get to the FCS national championship game a briefing to the stakeholders would include risks to achieving this goal and also suggestions for improvement to mitigate those risks. Some of my thoughts at this point in the season are as follows.
Great to see the Bison at 9-0, but seems like the Bison rely too much on turnovers, defense rising to the occasion, and other teams mistakes for too many of those 9 victories. Yes, some of the ball bouncing the right way is part of college football, but I see many weaknesses on this Bison team that could prevent a perfect season and / or a long run in the playoffs. Here are some risk / issues and maybe some ideas to make things better. Please add your comments:

1. Offense needs to finish drives and score more often. Too many stalled out drives, often on the opponents side of the field. At least 3 of them in the Indiana State game. Seems except for the occasional flea flicker the play calling gets too predictable. Also untimely penalties are a factor. The offense needs to have better focus and a killer instinct to get the job done. Another benefit of sustained drives is the defense gets a good rest and the opponents offense is off the field.

2. Defense gives up the big play and is on the field too long. Breakdowns in secondary coverage and too soft of coverage are a problem. Why are the Bison playing 10 yards off the wideouts all the time? Just like giving the opponent 5 yards if they want it. Also when NDSU blitzes to get pressure on the QB 90% of the time its up the middle which often gets picked up. Just like with the offense the Bison are too predictable on defense. Not enough 3 and outs for the other teams. At the same time Bison offense is on the sideline getting cold.

3. Catch the ball. When you are wide open you can't be dropping a pass. Holloway I am talking about you. You need to have Smith give you some of the finer points of how to make a catch. Has Smith dropped one yet this year? Most of his catches are unbelievable. So who is Moody kid from ND. Did a great job yesterday. 3 catches for 30 yards and then I think he got hurt. Hope he is OK. I would bench Holloway and start Moody for YSU. The Bison need receivers that are clutch not clutz's.

4. Open up the passing game. Anybody notice how other teams have learned to throttle the Bison dink n dunk passing game? Also notice how the mid range passes (if not dropped) are going well for the Bison. Funny how most Bison scoring drives involve the passes downfield. I think the passing game needs more variety and should be mixed up with more emphasis on downfield passing. This would blow open games for the Bison as the running game and dink n dunk passes would go for 8 yards everytime. Also need to start using the TE on some short to medium passes over the middle, not along the sidelines.

5. Hit the hole faster on short yardage. The Bison have to stop with the deep handoffs when its 3rd or 4th down and 1 yard to go. Instead use quick hitting plays with the FB, or how about a QB sneak? Bison really need to do a better job converting on short yardage. Definitely a weak spot for this team.

6. More contributions from special teams. This is not really a weakness, but great teams benefit a lot from special team efforts and nothing crushes the opponent better than a quick score. Bison have had a few big special team plays this year, but need a bunch more on the way to Frisco. Put Williams in for all kickoff returns. How about trying out Voitlander's ability to pull off a fake punt? Also try more all out rushes to block punts.

In summary, the Bison are on a roll and seem to have a great deal of confidence to win games. If anything is holding back this team it appears to be the overly conservative game plan of the coaches. Not that coaches should suddenly change everything and do things radically different. Just be innovative and build on what is working, not just run the same 5 or 10 plays. The biggest concern is what happens if the Bison have a game where turnovers are not in their favor, or the defense doesn't make that big play. Can the conservative offense come through with enough scores, or make a game winning drive at the end of the game?

Fact:

YSU 27
Prairie Poopers 24

[CaBisonFan]

Who would have thought that roadblock would have been Youngstown State? We beat them.

I think that you're a 30-something that either lives with mom...or...you live in an apartment and rarely come out...and there's a damned good reason. It's not probable...but possible...that yir a sue. That odor gets pretty rank. I'm sensitive to it.

And oh...I could predict that you've been banned from your team's board at least once.

Reason for being banned? 'Cause you can't solve 'stupid.'

[CaBisonFan]

The roadblock is ourselves. Fundamentals are lacking...not talent. There's time...but not much.

[BisoninNWMN]

The roadblock is ourselves. Fundamentals are lacking...not talent. There's time...but not much.

After a good night's sleep it is not all doom and gloom.

WE will beat WIU next week and have a 1st round bye. The extra week will definitely help heal up some injuries and Brock's turf-toe.

YSU played better....period.

I thought the defensive coaches could have made better....or some adjustments but YSU did have one of the best offenses in the country....no excuse though.

Tough loss but time to move on.....Bison are still a damn good team....NC contender.

[JMB]

Ok, so I am a Project Manager and look at things differently than most. If the project was to win the MVFC and get to the FCS national championship game a briefing to the stakeholders would include risks to achieving this goal and also suggestions for improvement to mitigate those risks. Some of my thoughts at this point in the season are as follows.
Great to see the Bison at 9-0, but seems like the Bison rely too much on turnovers, defense rising to the occasion, and other teams mistakes for too many of those 9 victories. Yes, some of the ball bouncing the right way is part of college football, but I see many weaknesses on this Bison team that could prevent a perfect season and / or a long run in the playoffs. Here are some risk / issues and maybe some ideas to make things better. Please add your comments:

1. Offense needs to finish drives and score more often. Too many stalled out drives, often on the opponents side of the field. At least 3 of them in the Indiana State game. Seems except for the occasional flea flicker the play calling gets too predictable. Also untimely penalties are a factor. The offense needs to have better focus and a killer instinct to get the job done. Another benefit of sustained drives is the defense gets a good rest and the opponents offense is off the field.

2. Defense gives up the big play and is on the field too long. Breakdowns in secondary coverage and too soft of coverage are a problem. Why are the Bison playing 10 yards off the wideouts all the time? Just like giving the opponent 5 yards if they want it. Also when NDSU blitzes to get pressure on the QB 90% of the time its up the middle which often gets picked up. Just like with the offense the Bison are too predictable on defense. Not enough 3 and outs for the other teams. At the same time Bison offense is on the sideline getting cold.

3. Catch the ball. When you are wide open you can't be dropping a pass. Holloway I am talking about you. You need to have Smith give you some of the finer points of how to make a catch. Has Smith dropped one yet this year? Most of his catches are unbelievable. So who is Moody kid from ND. Did a great job yesterday. 3 catches for 30 yards and then I think he got hurt. Hope he is OK. I would bench Holloway and start Moody for YSU. The Bison need receivers that are clutch not clutz's.

4. Open up the passing game. Anybody notice how other teams have learned to throttle the Bison dink n dunk passing game? Also notice how the mid range passes (if not dropped) are going well for the Bison. Funny how most Bison scoring drives involve the passes downfield. I think the passing game needs more variety and should be mixed up with more emphasis on downfield passing. This would blow open games for the Bison as the running game and dink n dunk passes would go for 8 yards everytime. Also need to start using the TE on some short to medium passes over the middle, not along the sidelines.

5. Hit the hole faster on short yardage. The Bison have to stop with the deep handoffs when its 3rd or 4th down and 1 yard to go. Instead use quick hitting plays with the FB, or how about a QB sneak? Bison really need to do a better job converting on short yardage. Definitely a weak spot for this team.

6. More contributions from special teams. This is not really a weakness, but great teams benefit a lot from special team efforts and nothing crushes the opponent better than a quick score. Bison have had a few big special team plays this year, but need a bunch more on the way to Frisco. Put Williams in for all kickoff returns. How about trying out Voitlander's ability to pull off a fake punt? Also try more all out rushes to block punts.

In summary, the Bison are on a roll and seem to have a great deal of confidence to win games. If anything is holding back this team it appears to be the overly conservative game plan of the coaches. Not that coaches should suddenly change everything and do things radically different. Just be innovative and build on what is working, not just run the same 5 or 10 plays. The biggest concern is what happens if the Bison have a game where turnovers are not in their favor, or the defense doesn't make that big play. Can the conservative offense come through with enough scores, or make a game winning drive at the end of the game?

I will add a couple of more after a bit of reflection:

7) Defense must stop "desperation" drives - What I mean is drives by teams at the end of the half or game or when our opponents are behind when down and distance become less important. YSU proved again, teams can move the ball on us at the end of the half.

8) We need to play error free football - We are a very good but not dominant team.

[tjbison]

After a good night's sleep it is not all doom and gloom.

WE will beat WIU next week and have a 1st round bye. The extra week will definitely help heal up some injuries and Brock's turf-toe.

YSU played better....period.

I thought the defensive coaches could have made better....or some adjustments but YSU did have one of the best offenses in the country....no excuse though.

Tough loss but time to move on.....Bison are still a damn good team....NC contender.

We played like crap, YSU has a good offense, We missd Drevlow, Even Marcus played a little light giving u a couple passes, I know he had an INT but he he is that good. DJ and his Fumble was the back breaker period, totally took the fire out of the team. I really question the 2 Fade routes in a row to the Endzone, that was really stupid calling IMO

and to everyone else listening to these UNI dipshits, they ont like what the future holds for them its easy to see so they come here and degrade everything but I got 1 thing for them. NDSU gets the auto bid with a win next week and a bye for the playoffs.

The easy thing to do is hit the IGNORE function on the pussy fans

[BisoninNWMN]

Yep....Fu** UNI and their trolls on here.

Lehigh will beat them....again!!!

[ndsubison1]

defense is banged up. we must get healthy