Line ‘em up: Predictions and Game Thread USU

[XFactorRebel]

After sleeping on it I feel better today. Still a little nervous but we just need to clean a few things up, and a little more defensive gas the last 1/3rd of the game.

I can't believe I was bitching last night over a 50-34 win on a team that is now 5-1 named the UNLV Rebels lol

 

[XFactorRebel]

Don't get me wrong tho, there are still concerns I have but I just need to see how they adjust next week.

 

[Rebels_88]

Don't get me wrong tho, there are still concerns I have but I just need to see how they adjust next week.

Same. I love where this program is and that's always the rub, as a fan one hopes for the best, desires more. The players and coaches want it even more. Holy *uck, this is fun! THESE are the good old days, soak it up.

 

[oneepstein]

Don't get me wrong tho, there are still concerns I have but I just need to see how they adjust next week.

There are things to fix, but I don’t think it was anything more than a complete change in strategy up 5 TDs.

The second half had us run 22 times to only 5 pass attempts. They knew we weren’t wanting to throw the ball so they stacked the box to stop the run. Clock kept running and they were not gonna catch up.

 

[Masked_rebel]

There are things to fix, but I don’t think it was anything more than a complete change in strategy up 5 TDs.

The second half had us run 22 times to only 5 pass attempts. They knew we weren’t wanting to throw the ball so they stacked the box to stop the run. Clock kept running and they were not gonna catch up.

Yeah, I think part of that contributed to the pressure Hajj was under. They were sending 7 guys to stop run all 2nd half. When Hajj wanted to run RPO stuff, they had already crashed the box and he was running for his life.

 

[unlove]

Lots of focus here on BSU and Jeanty and I get it they’re the game we need but let’s not look past OSU. Not gonna be easy up in Corvallis and even though they haven’t really played anyone of real quality it gonna be a very tough game to win up there.

 

[unlove]

Lots of focus here on BSU and Jeanty and I get it they’re the game we need but let’s not look past OSU. Not gonna be easy up in Corvallis and even though they haven’t really played anyone of real quality it gonna be a very tough game to win up there.

…plus a win at OSU will carry some weight with poll voters even though OSU isn’t what they once were.

 

[rebelzzz]

Went to the game last night and on the way out i heard several utah st fans talk about UNLV being overated and not having a win against a real team.
I pointed out we just beat them at their home and they were very quick to say we havent beat a team with a winning record yet. Which outside of Fresno St is true.

Next two weeks we have teams with winning records hope we play better than last night, but a good chance to show what type of team we have

 

[Boston Rebel 2]

We actually don't know that... Boise hasn't really been put in a position where they have to depend on Madsen. If they're forced to throw more than usual our defense is set up to create misread with Woodard dropping into coverage. Jeanty likely won't fumble but there's still opportunities, especially if they play tight given where they may be ranked and what's on the line for them..
Our defense actually does fairly well when they can focus on rushing attack and not the past 2 weeks where QBs have basically abandoned running the ball and throwing short passes...Jeanty doesn't really catch passes

I don’t see us stopping Jeanty to the point that they need to rely on Madsen. He threw a lot vs Oregon with no to’s but certainly it was Jeanty that gave them most of their offense I see a similar situation vs us I don’t see a scenario where we shut down Jeanty.

 

[unlove]

Today I’m more concerned about shutting down OSU

 

[Masked_rebel]

Today I’m more concerned about shutting down OSU

Why... they don't pass the ball.

 

[oneepstein]

Yeah, I think part of that contributed to the pressure Hajj was under. They were sending 7 guys to stop run all 2nd half. When Hajj wanted to run RPO stuff, they had already crashed the box and he was running for his life.

100%

 

[RebelSaint702]

Anyone know how the team is getting to Corvalis? Flying into Eugene I would assume?

 

[LVRebel2000]

Anyone know how the team is getting to Corvalis? Flying into Eugene I would assume?

Don't know but I would assume so. There are direct flights to Eugene and its only a 45 minute drive or so

 

[RebelScrub]

…plus a win at OSU will carry some weight with poll voters even though OSU isn’t what they once were.

They are the knockoff Oregon. No one cares about the Beavers.

 

[Rebel1986]

…plus a win at OSU will carry some weight with poll voters even though OSU isn’t what they once were.

Historically OSU has been a bad team over the last 50 years with one good run from around 2000-2012. Since 2013 they have been 59-79 with one good season in 2022 otherwise they would have had a much worse record. Everyone will agree UNLV has been really bad and with a record of 50-86, the record doesn't look that bad when looking at that of OSU. They have been the doormat of the PAC.

 

[Mojo702]

5th straight road win.

Win easily, never a contest.

And I feel nearly as badly as after the Syracuse game because of an absolutely horrific second half defensively (and really poor offensive play calling … I realize we tried to milk clock but we are just chopping off their balls).

I too felt off about this win. Just how bad we played in the second half. It was a win sure but just felt like we got lucky to win

 

[Masked_rebel]

Historically OSU has been a bad team over the last 50 years with one good run from around 2000-2012. Since 2013 they have been 59-79 with one good season in 2022 otherwise they would have had a much worse record. Everyone will agree UNLV has been really bad and with a record of 50-86, the record doesn't look that bad when looking at that of OSU. They have been the doormat of the PAC.

It's pretty much the same for every team not named Boise in the new Pac... WSU has been fairly mediocre with good years sprinkled in here and there, CSU/SDSU same..Fresno consistent but not exactly a national powerhouse and USU has a few years here and there as well... yeah, we're historically terrible, that doesn't change anyone else's historic mediocrity

 

[j. spilotro]

I too felt off about this win. Just how bad we played in the second half. It was a win sure but just felt like we got lucky to win

Maybe if we are up 24-7 at the half, we roll to a 41-14 victory and don’t feel as badly. But the win did leave me with a bad feeling.

Being up 41-7 at the half, yeah, insurmountable, call of the dogs, I get it. But UNLV is not good enough and we just haven’t arrived to the point where we can lose complete focus for 30 minutes.

I’m sure the coaches envisioned foot off the gas pedal, win the game 55-17 or something, not give up 21 or 28 unanswered, or whatever it was.

Regardless of the strategic mindset, I have to believe the second half didn’t go as they anticipated.

 

[oneepstein]

Maybe if we are up 24-7 at the half, we roll to a 41-14 victory and don’t feel as badly. But the win did leave me with a bad feeling.

Being up 41-7 at the half, yeah, insurmountable, call of the dogs, I get it. But UNLV is not good enough and we just haven’t arrived to the point where we can lose complete focus for 30 minutes.

I’m sure the coaches envisioned foot off the gas pedal, win the game 55-17 or something, not give up 21 or 28 unanswered, or whatever it was.

Regardless of the strategic mindset, I have to believe the second half didn’t go as they anticipated.

I’m sure it didn’t go “as anticipated”, but we did out possess them in the second half and forced them into long-ish drives to score. We also missed out on 4 points because we didn’t have a kicker.

The most unanswered was 14 thanks to a field goal, otherwise it would have been 21.

 

[Rebel1986]

Maybe if we are up 24-7 at the half, we roll to a 41-14 victory and don’t feel as badly. But the win did leave me with a bad feeling.

Being up 41-7 at the half, yeah, insurmountable, call of the dogs, I get it. But UNLV is not good enough and we just haven’t arrived to the point where we can lose complete focus for 30 minutes.

I’m sure the coaches envisioned foot off the gas pedal, win the game 55-17 or something, not give up 21 or 28 unanswered, or whatever it was.

Regardless of the strategic mindset, I have to believe the second half didn’t go as they anticipated.

Take a look at how much BSU struggled with Hawaii until the 4th quarter. UNLV had blown out Utah State and put the breaks on to early, and once you put on the breaks, it is hard to get the players motivated again. A lesson well learned is never take the foot off the gas pedal until the final whistle!

 

[Couev]

Odom is pretty old school when it comes just to putting teams to sleep after a big lead. Last year our secondary was soooo bad that we had to gunsling every week to stay in games. Maybe that's what people are expecting. We basically played all zone in the second half with a ton of cover 3 and cover 4.

Our DL isn't creating a lot of pass rush, but it is slightly better than last year. But a lot of that is down to scheme in a 3-3-5 or a 3-2-6 which is what we run most of the time--with the difference really being where Jet Elad is positioned. Those fronts count on the down lineman to control two gaps and THEN pass rush and that's part of the reason that Elad and Woody and Baldwin get to fly to the ball and make plays in the run game. But it's rare to have a 5 technique end that is a great pass rusher, and while you have seen some 0 technique DTs that can get that done, they don't come around very often.

Cuse beat us with a ton of 5 yard routes. USU was getting much deeper shots in the zone with 7 yard sit downs and post and corner route packages to stress those middle zones overlaps and holes in the zone that are only there if they have both the time to pass and your coverage is not jumping route.

 

[j. spilotro]

Odom is pretty old school when it comes just to putting teams to sleep after a big lead. Last year our secondary was soooo bad that we had to gunsling every week to stay in games. Maybe that's what people are expecting. We basically played all zone in the second half with a ton of cover 3 and cover 4.

Our DL isn't creating a lot of pass rush, but it is slightly better than last year. But a lot of that is down to scheme in a 3-3-5 or a 3-2-6 which is what we run most of the time--with the difference really being where Jet Elad is positioned. Those fronts count on the down lineman to control two gaps and THEN pass rush and that's part of the reason that Elad and Woody and Baldwin get to fly to the ball and make plays in the run game. But it's rare to have a 5 technique end that is a great pass rusher, and while you have seen some 0 technique DTs that can get that done, they don't come around very often.

Cuse beat us with a ton of 5 yard routes. USU was getting much deeper shots in the zone with 7 yard sit downs and post and corner route packages to stress those middle zones overlaps and holes in the zone that are only there if they have both the time to pass and your coverage is not jumping route.

Agreed. He is a bit old school. Hard not to “run it up” vs Utah Tech, but we tried not too. Even Houston and Fresno, we visibly scaled back.

I don’t like showing teams up necessarily … I guess I’d just wait longer before pulling back.

 

[reagan21]

Joe makes a good point. If it's a closer game at half, we don't call off the dogs. Also, I don't think we call off the dags SOOOOO early if we don't answer the USU TD with such an easy drive. It put us up 48-14. Game is over with 9 mins in the 3rd Q.

Also, I don't see this as the same "drop off" we saw last season. Last year, the drop off came in 50+ yard TD plays...multiple times/game. Scheererererrerrreer is a lot like Nick Fangio. Give up everything underneath, bend not break, nothing long, and attack/jump passing lanes when available. We had 2 2H dropped Ints in that system. We did give up a lot of yards, but those two dropped Ints and this is a 30 point blow out. I knew USU would backdoor cover.

It is concerning, but nothing like what we saw last year.

 

[LVRebel2000]

Agreed. He is a bit old school. Hard not to “run it up” vs Utah Tech, but we tried not too. Even Houston and Fresno, we visibly scaled back.

I don’t like showing teams up necessarily … I guess I’d just wait longer before pulling back.

The only down side to that mentality is with all of the new analytics stuff. The computers determine your performance, so if you win 55-10, it's a lot better than if you win 48-35. Still a comfortable win in both cases, but if you're trying to make your way into the national spotlight, we need to have some blowouts also.

 

[rebel5280]

Joe makes a good point. If it's a closer game at half, we don't call off the dogs. Also, I don't think we call off the dags SOOOOO early if we don't answer the USU TD with such an easy drive. It put us up 48-14. Game is over with 9 mins in the 3rd Q.

Also, I don't see this as the same "drop off" we saw last season. Last year, the drop off came in 50+ yard TD plays...multiple times/game. Scheererererrerrreer is a lot like Nick Fangio. Give up everything underneath, bend not break, nothing long, and attack/jump passing lanes when available. We had 2 2H dropped Ints in that system. We did give up a lot of yards, but those two dropped Ints and this is a 30 point blow out. I knew USU would backdoor cover.

It is concerning, but nothing like what we saw last year.

Please don’t bring this guy up we saw enough of him here in Denver!
I hope that we don’t adopt this philosophy on D because it makes any and every QB look capable!

I mean our offense pretty good but it ain’t “the greatest show on turf” by any means so all this type of defense does is keep the door cracked for the other team to climb back into the game!

 

[reagan21]

Please don’t bring this guy we saw enough of him here in Denver!
I hope that we don’t adopt this philosophy on D because I makes any and every QB look capable!

I mean our offense pretty good but it ain’t “the greatest show on turf” by any means so all this type of defense does is keep the door cracked for the other team to climb back into the game!

I'm an Eagles fan so I'm currently living it. It's Hell