Finally got back after the game! What a different experience it is going from Jack Trice to Urbandale, as opposed to just rolling a mile down the street.
Anyhow, I'm mad tired, but wanted to get something on here real quick. I was happy with the win no doubt, and honestly this game reminded me of the North Dakota State game from last year. I know the quality of the opponent this year was better, but the way it all went down was very similar.
ISU controlled the game for the most part, which was nice to see. At the same time, they took their foot off the accelerator in the 2nd half, and I thought ISU was fortunate to be in situations they could add onto the score. A couple of things go the other way, and it's a different game.
I've been talking about how NIU doesn't have a QB, and NIU fans were defending it. Well, it turns out that having "3 good QBs" is equivalent of having 3 nobodies. I'm sorry, but a 48% completion percentage of 3 picks, isn't the kind of QB play I'd expect, from a position NIU fans were not worried about.
With the Cyclones, A-Rob looked good. That 63 yard TD run was impressive! Seeing him beat 3 defenders to the spot and run past them was pretty sweet to see!
With ISU, some things still worry me though. The linebackers seemed to make all the tackles on run plays, and we couldn't get a ton of pressure on the QB without blitzing. After having a good start, Arnaud did slip a little bit into the Arnaud we saw last year, forcing passes he shouldn't and causing turnovers. In both situations, he was pressing, and trying to do too much. Against a better opponent, those mistakes would have cost us big. Also, don't be fooled by the bad passing totals from NIU; their receivers beat our secondary on a semi-regular basis, only to be overthrown a few times by their QB.
All in all it was kind of a "meh" game. I know that sounds kind of wack coming from a game in which we won by 17 points, but ISU should have dominated this game. ISU just doesn't have that mentality to keep it going when they are ahead, and the 3rd quarter straight up scared me.
The biggest laugh I had, however, was during the closing seconds of the first half. NIU sets up for a field goal, gets the snap, and misses it, only to find out ISU had called a timeout just before the snap. Some of us are like "damn, that sucked". When after the timeout, they get the snap off, kicker hits it off the posts, and it turns out ISU called another timeout. Now we're like "WHAT THE HECK! WHY ARE WE CALLING TIMEOUTS!". In my mind, I was like "now the kicker is going to nail it". But instead, they get the snap off, kicker shanks it, and the half ends with a missed field goal. 3 chances from 33 yards, and all three missed (even though only 1 counted).
Tomorrow, I'll break some of this down more and get into it, but just a few things on my mind before my head hits the pillow. Have a good night, enjoy the Cyclones victory, and the Labor Day Weekend!
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