Hello from WMU

[grabthereinsWMU]

Looking forward to Saturday.. wish I could make the trip, this will unfortunately be the only game I miss all year, but the distance is pretty considerable.

I'd like to get a better idea of your team. I'm a bit of a Vandy fan from a while back, so I paid a little attention to that game, but I don't exactly know a lot. Have you guys gotten the QB situation sorted out at all?

As for us, we're playing really well right now overall. The game last week was a gut-wrenching loss, but I guess there are positives from playing a ranked team right down to the wire. My initial gut feeling on this game is that we win by 10 or so. I noticed your best CB is out, which could be a big factor given our WR Jordan White is a top 10 receiver nationally (top 2 statistically).

Any questions about us, just ask.

 

[grabthereinsWMU]

Oh, and if you want to visit, our main active boards are at wmu.ncaabbs.com

 

[uc1974]

Welcome. QB situation somewhat more sorted out. I'll leave the details to some of the other posters with more insight. Many now very wrapped up in conference realignment and game analysis and comments have suffered.

 

[Dann]

quick look:
-our qb situation stinks, but is getting better. johnny trick shot mac will get most of the reps in the game. he is a walk on that has had a tough year so far but improving every game. mccumings is a wildcat only qb and nebrich is a true frosh that is the future for us it looks like right now. he just ins't ready and isn't getting the reps as the other 2. there is a pretty good split here between starting the frosh and building for the future by being ok with the results as long as hes learning/reps etc and playing mac/mccum and trying to win games.
-our rbs are ok. we have a vet who fumbles to much and several young guys who look good. we use our main guy to much becuase shoe fumbles to much.
-wrs are ok at best. the moore's are good and nick williams is good but we don't have alot of depth and our qb situation really hurts the wr looks
-our oline isn't as good as we are used to and thought it would be this year, part of it is that teams are loading the box on our bad qb situation knowing the run is coming all day
-our d has some injuries, some guys are back others are out but its a top 25 d imo. if we had a average o then our d wouldn't be on the field all day. the d is very impressive. we have been in every game this year because of our d.
-our st are hit and miss. we usually have great st but this year the focus seems to be on developing the o so the st doesn't get looked at as much. we are a threat for a good return game with nick williams and our fg kicker is very good.

tells us some about WMU. you guys have played a good season so far from what i see.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I never thought I'd see the day where a fan from Western Michigan would come here, predict a 10 point win, and I can't find any reason to disagree with him.

 

[Husky68]

Against 3 Div 1A opponents have 5 fg's, 2 TD's on specials/defense and 3 offensive TD's. Averaging less than 20 points per game and 1 offensive TD per game. If you can score more than 21 points it's tough for Uconn so far to match points. Offense looks better last game because of a couple of good catch and run plays, opponents are not respecting the pass and playing very heavy in the box on 1st down when Uconn has tight running formation. Not sure what Uconn strategy should be on 1st down but current strategy is not working. Walk on QB looking more comfortable each game, but needs a big step up in performance to be a Div 1A "threat". Running game is not working re defenses selling out, haven't loosened up with screens, quick passes; use mostly one running back who is a small kid and as game goes on looks like the cumulative beatings take a toll.

On specials, seems like opponents win punting game, even though we have pretty good punter. Don't understand our blocking scheme as seems opponent gunners get to punt receiver too easy. Also our punt receiver tends to not field a few punts a game which roll way inside the 20 and Uconn is not a drive 80 yards for a touchdown team. More like a drive/penalty gets in FG range, or big play get touchdown (both TD's against Buffalo were result of big pass and run plays). Kick a lot of kick offs into end zone, been pretty good on coverage. Returns of kickoffs have been ok, nothing special.

Defense is pretty good. Would actually say very good considering how often offense goes 3 and out and gives up field position. Uconn had coach who was very conservative on defense re bend don't break. This defense uses multiple sets, not opposed to using nickel package against spread. Does seem to give up some big plays, has had trouble when opponent can isolate big receiver on CB (even with safety help) or runner looks caught but doesn't go down and gets into cut back lane. Doesn't help one of starting CB's will be out. Like the energy by DL and linebackers, linebackers cover pretty well (for linebackers so against spread have some weaknesses), DL goes pretty good two deep. Sometimes think get defensive plays in too late and hurryup offense gives problems. Need some takeaways.

Not sure how good Illinois is but if are top 25 team in country you have already played a team close that is better than any team Uconn has played in getting to 2-2.

 

[grabthereinsWMU]

WMU breakdown..

QB situation is very good. Alex Carder is a legit talent who has a firm grasp of the offense. He will sometimes force things a bit, whether that's with legs or arm. That could be holding on to the ball too long, or forcing it into windows. He's very accurate and strong-armed, though. This offense runs through him, and I've seen him make more checks at the line this year than I've ever seen in any offense.

The running backs have not had a chance to prove themselves with the patchwork O-Line (more on that later). Tevin Drake is averaging 5ypc, but I suspect we're not going to run very much on Saturday.

The offensive line has battled injuries and is a relative weak spot, for sure. That said, we found success last week by getting rid of the ball quickly, and the pass protection has been adequate. Run blocking broke down last week, though. This won't be a strength, but it's not going to kill us (which is all we ask).

We have a pretty deep group of WRs, but I'll focus on the obvious: Jordan White. 43 catches, 495 yards this year. A major reason I think we win this week is that you guys are missing your very good CB, and White, I have to think, will take advantage. The rest of the WRs are good enough to take advantage if he's doubled, but with that said, he's been doubled all year and nobody's so much as slowed him down. He'll play on Sundays barring injury.

Our defensive line has been inconsistent in pressuring the QB, but quietly, the interior of the line has put together a great year. I can't remember a time that we've been as stout up the middle. Of course, given our place in the CFB pecking order, that probably puts us middle of the pack nationally at DT, but in the MAC that's very good. The pass rush relies on speed, and we have solid rushing ends, but teams have had success running off tackle because of our size at the position.

Our 4-2-5 set has 2 LBs and a rover. The most impressive player at the position has been the rover, Johnnie Simon (#3). Seems like he's in on every play. Fantastic at making reads. On the other end of the spectrum you have our safety Doug Wiggins (#1) who makes plays, TFLs and the like, and is a big hitter, but struggles with reads and seems to be good for about 2 big plays against us per game. The other player to watch for is Lewis Toler (#24), who has size and speed at corner. He has yet to pick off a pass, but nobody's been throwing his way, partially because of his talent and partially because of our 5'5" converted running back on the other side. He's a great open field tackler, though, and has saved our bacon numerous times this year on outside running plays and screens.

B punting, B- placekicking, and B+ return game (30+ yards per kick return but nothing flashy) so far. Nothing spectacular or weak on special teams.

 

[mattp]

i doubt you'll break out the 4-2-5 too often this weekend. Buffalo only played 3 in the secondary for much of the game last week. it sounds like we might be able to have some success moving the ball. our offense isn't very good, but it sounds like we might match up okay against WMU, particularly on the line. even with a great matchup for our offense, WMU will probably win if they can break 20 points. this will be an interesting game for our defense. we use a lot of pressure and it sounds like your line will have trouble keeping us out of the back field, but we'll probably give up 2 or 3 big plays to you, and if your WRs are as good as advertised it might be more like 4-6 big plays. to be honest WMU getting 3 points seems like a decent bet. i like our advantage on the lines but i'm pretty worried about this game.
overall i think our OOC schedule ended up quite a bit tougher than we originally envisioned. between Iowa State, Vandy, Buffalo and WMU, it's actually turned out to be a pretty tough run.

 

[fortebleedsblue]

Thanks for the overview. My Michigan buddy said that WMU gave Michigan a run for their money and says your QB is a very good passer. The first half UM struggled heavily against WVU's passing attack .. but he said that defensively in the second half they made adjustments and blitzed the absolute &%*$ out of your offense which changed things around in a hurry. I look to our Dline to deal with that issue. With our top CB out I'm not sure how this will play into our Schema. Last week our top Safety Jerome Junior was out due to team violations. This week he is back so that’s a plus ... though it’s not the same as having Blidi's man coverage on opponent's top WRs

 

[Carl Spackler]

Looking forward to having WMU at our house.

All I can say, is that our offense has been a hot mess by any measure all season long so far, trying to get as many people as possible significant playing time and opportunity, going with three different QBs with different offensive packages designed around each, and we've been rotating offensive linemen and receivers regularly.

I think that this weekend, the coaches have all the grades they can possibly get in, and we're going to go with an offensive approach for four quarters that will be the best we've got before we head to Morgantown the following week to open up the big east season.

How good it will be? We'll find out. Our defense is going to go after the QB and do whatever they can to disrupt your offense at scrimmage. If the WMU offensive line is weak, that could be a big problem for you guys. Our kicking game hasn't been as consistent as it was finishing up last year, but they didn't really get consistent until late october last year either. Hopefully they get it all clicking early october this year!

 

[Nostical]

Welcome WMU. As I've said for years, the best visiting defensive player to ever play at The Rent was Jason Babin of WMU way back in 2003. He really stood out. Now he's on The Philadelphia Eagles. Are there other WMU alums in the Pros we should know about? It should be a great game on Saturday.

 

[grabthereinsWMU]

Welcome WMU. As I've said for years, the best visiting defensive player to ever play at The Rent was Jason Babin of WMU way back in 2003. He really stood out. Now he's on The Philadelphia Eagles. Are there other WMU alums in the Pros we should know about? It should be a great game on Saturday.

Greg Jennings went to WMU, he's probably the most famous NFL alum. Louis Delmas and Tony Scheffler of the Lions, E.J. Biggers (TB), along with Babin went here. Also Joe Reitz is a guard for Indy and played basketball here. I might be missing a couple.