Considering the transfer portal, NIU may have a completely different look and be much more competitive this season, so I’m hoping SIU doesn’t overlook them.
This may be a possibility. However, even when NIU football was strong, it has always been a competitive game between the two schools, and narrow margins of victory. Baker and team dominated BIG Northwestern last year, and if we don't give up three touchdowns to K state early we win that one as well in 2021. K state was top 25 and went on to play in a major bowl game.
I would expect a large contingent of Salukis in DeKalb for this one. I'll be making the drive over, and hope to meet some of the die-hard Saluki fans who frequent this board.
GO DAWGS!!!
NIU plays at Boston College the week before they play us, then at Nebraska the week after. I expect them to come into our game 0 - 1 and not wanting to start the season 0 - 3. That will be a tough game, but I didn't see that much talent on that team last year. A true freshman started at QB at the end of the year...I believe their long time starter Rocky Lombardi got hurt.
Lombardi is back and he's a tough QB. They were good the previous year with him at QB. This will not be an easy game and we have so many question marks... no more Javon Williams or Avante Cox or Pop Jones or Clayton Bush or Richie Hagerty, etc. We will have to play really well to win.
Last time we won there, the QB was none other than Nick Hill.
Clayton Bush BTW will be on schollie at Illinois next year.
NIU plays at Boston College the week before they play us, then at Nebraska the week after. I expect them to come into our game 0 - 1 and not wanting to start the season 0 - 3. That will be a tough game, but I didn't see that much talent on that team last year. A true freshman started at QB at the end of the year...I believe their long time starter Rocky Lombardi got hurt.
Lombardi is back and he's a tough QB. They were good the previous year with him at QB. This will not be an easy game and we have so many question marks... no more Javon Williams or Avante Cox or Pop Jones or Clayton Bush or Richie Hagerty, etc. We will have to play really well to win.
@mr_woogers your love affair with Pop Jones is unmatched 🤣 ! You name 2 all time greats and 2 major contributors and then throw in a guy who could barely get garbage time carries? I know he's young and certainly has time to prove himself, but it's not like a bunch of schools are beating down his door since he hit the transfer portal.
It's honestly no slight to him and most of what you said I agree with in terms of the uncertainty , but I don't know if I would put him in the major loss category given what we have coming back at the position and what we brought in via transfer portal/freshmen. My concern lies more with the offensive line than the RB group.
You are welcome to book mark this and throw it in my face should he turn out to be a stud.
NIU plays at Boston College the week before they play us, then at Nebraska the week after. I expect them to come into our game 0 - 1 and not wanting to start the season 0 - 3. That will be a tough game, but I didn't see that much talent on that team last year. A true freshman started at QB at the end of the year...I believe their long time starter Rocky Lombardi got hurt.
Lombardi is back and he's a tough QB. They were good the previous year with him at QB. This will not be an easy game and we have so many question marks... no more Javon Williams or Avante Cox or Pop Jones or Clayton Bush or Richie Hagerty, etc. We will have to play really well to win.
@mr_woogers your love affair with Pop Jones is unmatched 🤣 ! You name 2 all time greats and 2 major contributors and then throw in a guy who could barely get garbage time carries? I know he's young and certainly has time to prove himself, but it's not like a bunch of schools are beating down his door since he hit the transfer portal.
It's honestly no slight to him and most of what you said I agree with in terms of the uncertainty , but I don't know if I would put him in the major loss category given what we have coming back at the position and what we brought in via transfer portal/freshmen. My concern lies more with the offensive line than the RB group.
You are welcome to book mark this and throw it in my face should he turn out to be a stud.
To your point, Javon Williams has a career total of 133 touchdowns while Pop Jones has a total of 138 rushing YARDS with 0 TD’s. Cox with 27 TD’s. Jones absolutely does not belong in this conversation.
NIU plays at Boston College the week before they play us, then at Nebraska the week after. I expect them to come into our game 0 - 1 and not wanting to start the season 0 - 3. That will be a tough game, but I didn't see that much talent on that team last year. A true freshman started at QB at the end of the year...I believe their long time starter Rocky Lombardi got hurt.
Lombardi is back and he's a tough QB. They were good the previous year with him at QB. This will not be an easy game and we have so many question marks... no more Javon Williams or Avante Cox or Pop Jones or Clayton Bush or Richie Hagerty, etc. We will have to play really well to win.
@mr_woogers your love affair with Pop Jones is unmatched 🤣 ! You name 2 all time greats and 2 major contributors and then throw in a guy who could barely get garbage time carries? I know he's young and certainly has time to prove himself, but it's not like a bunch of schools are beating down his door since he hit the transfer portal.
It's honestly no slight to him and most of what you said I agree with in terms of the uncertainty , but I don't know if I would put him in the major loss category given what we have coming back at the position and what we brought in via transfer portal/freshmen. My concern lies more with the offensive line than the RB group.
You are welcome to book mark this and throw it in my face should he turn out to be a stud.
He was hurt most of his time here. His full name is probably Popeye Jones, and we know what a healthy Popeye can do if fed the right vegetables! 😀
Haven't been that impressed with our RBs honestly, although Frosh. Shaun Lester looked promising and Eliott when he's healthy. I know we have a couple of freshmen from Florida coming in. It's been a long time since we've had a Larry Warner, Arkee Whitlock, Tommy Koustsos, Muhammad Abdulquadirr, etc.
NIU plays at Boston College the week before they play us, then at Nebraska the week after. I expect them to come into our game 0 - 1 and not wanting to start the season 0 - 3. That will be a tough game, but I didn't see that much talent on that team last year. A true freshman started at QB at the end of the year...I believe their long time starter Rocky Lombardi got hurt.
Lombardi is back and he's a tough QB. They were good the previous year with him at QB. This will not be an easy game and we have so many question marks... no more Javon Williams or Avante Cox or Pop Jones or Clayton Bush or Richie Hagerty, etc. We will have to play really well to win.
@mr_woogers your love affair with Pop Jones is unmatched 🤣 ! You name 2 all time greats and 2 major contributors and then throw in a guy who could barely get garbage time carries? I know he's young and certainly has time to prove himself, but it's not like a bunch of schools are beating down his door since he hit the transfer portal.
It's honestly no slight to him and most of what you said I agree with in terms of the uncertainty , but I don't know if I would put him in the major loss category given what we have coming back at the position and what we brought in via transfer portal/freshmen. My concern lies more with the offensive line than the RB group.
You are welcome to book mark this and throw it in my face should he turn out to be a stud.
He was hurt most of his time here. His full name is probably Popeye Jones, and we know what a healthy Popeye can do if fed the right vegetables! 😀
Haven't been that impressed with our RBs honestly, although Frosh. Shaun Lester looked promising and Eliott when he's healthy. I know we have a couple of freshmen from Florida coming in. It's been a long time since we've had a Larry Warner, Arkee Whitlock, Tommy Koustsos, Muhammad Abdulquadirr, etc.
I think Lester and Elliot are a good 1-2 punch. The transfer from EIU Benefield is a scat back like Larry Lightning...we'll see if he's as successful. Strong had some nice moments last year, but didn't get a ton of playing time and was hurt for a good chunk of the year. It'll be interesting to see how many carries he gets this year b/c the previous two years he was averaging over 5 per carry on limited attempts (6-8 carries per game). He was also pretty good at catching the ball out of the backfield.
As far as the Freshmen, I think Wagner is an intriguing guy. He's been doubted at every level and has thus far produced at an extremely high level. If he's able to adapt to the D1 level, watch out. Don't know much about the other new guys (Athens, Reed, Willingham-Davis), but there are only so many carries to go around.
If you look at last years stats from the RB group, almost everyone's numbers were down...I think that was more an O-line issue than it was a RB issue. I guess we will see.
NIU plays at Boston College the week before they play us, then at Nebraska the week after. I expect them to come into our game 0 - 1 and not wanting to start the season 0 - 3. That will be a tough game, but I didn't see that much talent on that team last year. A true freshman started at QB at the end of the year...I believe their long time starter Rocky Lombardi got hurt.
Lombardi is back and he's a tough QB. They were good the previous year with him at QB. This will not be an easy game and we have so many question marks... no more Javon Williams or Avante Cox or Pop Jones or Clayton Bush or Richie Hagerty, etc. We will have to play really well to win.
@mr_woogers your love affair with Pop Jones is unmatched 🤣 ! You name 2 all time greats and 2 major contributors and then throw in a guy who could barely get garbage time carries? I know he's young and certainly has time to prove himself, but it's not like a bunch of schools are beating down his door since he hit the transfer portal.
It's honestly no slight to him and most of what you said I agree with in terms of the uncertainty , but I don't know if I would put him in the major loss category given what we have coming back at the position and what we brought in via transfer portal/freshmen. My concern lies more with the offensive line than the RB group.
You are welcome to book mark this and throw it in my face should he turn out to be a stud.
He was hurt most of his time here. His full name is probably Popeye Jones, and we know what a healthy Popeye can do if fed the right vegetables! 😀
Haven't been that impressed with our RBs honestly, although Frosh. Shaun Lester looked promising and Eliott when he's healthy. I know we have a couple of freshmen from Florida coming in. It's been a long time since we've had a Larry Warner, Arkee Whitlock, Tommy Koustsos, Muhammad Abdulquadirr, etc.
I think Lester and Elliot are a good 1-2 punch. The transfer from EIU Benefield is a scat back like Larry Lightning...we'll see if he's as successful. Strong had some nice moments last year, but didn't get a ton of playing time and was hurt for a good chunk of the year. It'll be interesting to see how many carries he gets this year b/c the previous two years he was averaging over 5 per carry on limited attempts (6-8 carries per game). He was also pretty good at catching the ball out of the backfield.
As far as the Freshmen, I think Wagner is an intriguing guy. He's been doubted at every level and has thus far produced at an extremely high level. If he's able to adapt to the D1 level, watch out. Don't know much about the other new guys (Athens, Reed, Willingham-Davis), but there are only so many carries to go around.
If you look at last years stats from the RB group, almost everyone's numbers were down...I think that was more an O-line issue than it was a RB issue. I guess we will see.
Not a Strong fan - he should be playing a different position. Tough kid but nothing special at RB IMO. Couldn't juke my Grandma. Reed barely played at WIU. Benefield played for a bad EIU team but did not light the place up in a weaker league.
Zac Willingham-Davis is a big dude - might be a goal line guy.
Wagner and Athans, incoming freshmen, were impressive in HS.
Until proven wrong, I don't see close to the kind of RB talent we had under Kill and not even sure how interested NH is in the running game - we pass a lot I think.
I agree you have to have good blocking - Williams had one outstanding year but I think he had a better O line that year. However, a RB with a burst and good shimmy (Larry Warner) or the strength to break a wimpy tackle can do a lot on his own.
Looking at last year, we passed more than twice as much as we ran and more than any team but UNI (outstanding passer) and SDSU (played four more games than us). Wouldn't call that a balanced Offense.
Team RushPlays PassPlays
UNI 1721 3173
North Dakota St. 3986 2026
Youngstown St. 2225 2160
South Dakota St. 2769 2999
North Dakota 1771 2738
Southern Ill. 1345 2927
Charleston Southern transfer Vinson Davis might make an impact at least in special teams. He's 5-7 but was 2nd team Big South last year.
Was a 3 star out of HS and was recruited by Arizona State & Baylor
This team has potential. However, one thing I chronically whine about with NH is the play selection. With respect to the running game, 99 times out of 100 on first down, it's a run up the middle. A blind 8th grader scouting SIU would diagnose this in one quarter of play. So easily predictable and yet another reason the running game is anemic.
March on triumphantly!
@mr_woogers I don't think the run/pass discrepancy was by design as much as it was by necessity. When you are averaging 3.2 ypc that puts you behind the sticks a lot. I think he tried to supplement some of the run game with those quick bubble screens, which go down as a pass but in effect are just an extension of the run game. They got absolutely nothing between the tackles consistently last year.
I think Hill would much prefer to run the ball on early downs as long as they are picking up good yardage and the season stats show that...probably the same for most coaches.
Not sure where you got those numbers, but from SIU's website here is the season breakdown they give for run/pass. I've included all his years as the HC. Every season except his first, he runs the ball at a higher clip. As the YPC average has gone up so has the run % and vice versa. There are a lot of different in game scenarios that could drive those numbers one way or the other game to game, but overall if he can have success on the ground, he wants to run the ball. Note in 2019 DJ Davis and Javon both rushed for over a 1000 yds and averaged over 5 ypc.
| Year | Rush Att | Pass Att | Run % | YPC |
| 2022 | 416 | 369 | 53 | 3.2 |
| 2021 | 477 | 440 | 52 | 4.4 |
| 2020 | 416 | 298 | 58 | 4.5 |
| 2019 | 545 | 271 | 67 | 5.1 |
| 2018 | 494 | 372 | 57 | 4.8 |
| 2017 | 421 | 380 | 53 | 4.3 |
| 2016 | 421 | 472 | 47 | 3.6 |
@mr_woogers I don't think the run/pass discrepancy was by design as much as it was by necessity. When you are averaging 3.2 ypc that puts you behind the sticks a lot. I think he tried to supplement some of the run game with those quick bubble screens, which go down as a pass but in effect are just an extension of the run game. They got absolutely nothing between the tackles consistently last year.
I think Hill would much prefer to run the ball on early downs as long as they are picking up good yardage and the season stats show that...probably the same for most coaches.
Not sure where you got those numbers, but from SIU's website here is the season breakdown they give for run/pass. I've included all his years as the HC. Every season except his first, he runs the ball at a higher clip. As the YPC average has gone up so has the run % and vice versa. There are a lot of different in game scenarios that could drive those numbers one way or the other game to game, but overall if he can have success on the ground, he wants to run the ball. Note in 2019 DJ Davis and Javon both rushed for over a 1000 yds and averaged over 5 ypc.
Year Rush Att Pass Att Run % YPC 2022 416 369 53 3.2 2021 477 440 52 4.4 2020 416 298 58 4.5 2019 545 271 67 5.1 2018 494 372 57 4.8 2017 421 380 53 4.3 2016 421 472 47 3.6
By necessity yes. Those are MVFC stats from last year - yardage.
I misread it. We were 10th of 11 teams in yards per rush - awful! Only WIU was worse. Maybe we should have passed more! LOL
Seriously, I think you have to be able to run the ball to be successful most of the time.
Anyone know when fall camp starts? I'm assuming sometime in early August, but wasn't sure if anyone had heard/seen anything. Given the first game is on Sept 2 and the below rules, maybe they get going July 31st? Need to build in some off-days and I'm not sure two-a-days are all that common anymore.
- Team can only have 29 practices before its first contest
- No consecutive two-a-day practices
- No two-a-days in first five days, also known as the acclimation period
- One-a-day practices can be no longer than three hours in length
- Two-a-day practices can be no longer than five total hours in length
- Walk-through does not count as part of the practice time, following the acclimation period
- Freshman must have six hours of academic orientation
With the Cardinals in the toilet, I've been ready for football season since late June!
Football starts practice Aug. 2 https://siusalukis.com/news/2023/7/17/football-countdown-to-kickoff.aspx
QB Zach Zebrowski has transferred to Central Missouri. QB Stone Norton is gone - don't know if he transferred or what.
QB roster is now Nic Baker, Michael Lindauer, Hunter Simmons (Marion), and Tre Baker - RS Fr. from St. Louis.
Interesting that Zebrowski goes D2. Hopefully Lindauer is fully healthy and the backup. I still think Lindauer is probably the highest upside QB on the roster.Football starts practice Aug. 2 https://siusalukis.com/news/2023/7/17/football-countdown-to-kickoff.aspx
QB Zach Zebrowski has transferred to Central Missouri. QB Stone Norton is gone - don't know if he transferred or what.
QB roster is now Nic Baker, Michael Lindauer, Hunter Simmons (Marion), and Tre Baker - RS Fr. from St. Louis.
