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Week 4 @ South Bammer

Cave_Johnson

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Well, last week was certainly some deja vu for me. Back in 2015 it was commonplace for Idaho to build a big lead and then do everything they possibly could to choke the game away. You would think that finishing the 2016 season with 4 of your last 7 wins coming in blowout fashion would mean that this wouldn't be an issue. But no. Because the Vandals can't ever make anything easy.

Idaho entered last week's loss to WMU with a two score leading going into the fourth quarter. Up 28-19 Linehan fired a ball deep down the sideline to Alfonso Ununwor who......fell down. The ball was intercepted and WMU went on to score 18 in the fourth quarter while Idaho went scoreless after letting that one interception turn the momentum completely around.

That was the last of three major momentum swings.

The second was a pretty straight forward drive in which Idaho went down the field in about 3 minutes and took a 21-19 lead in the third quarter. Idaho followed that drive with a huge TD from Linehan to Onunwor.

The first momentum swing though? Oh fucking Christ what a shit show. It started with a huge punt return by Darius Phillips in the third quarter. Sounds simple enough, but it was more the officiating after the play that really took the wind out of Idaho's sails than the play itself. During the return a WMU player committed textbook targeting and for some unfathomable reason, the officials picked up the penalty entirely. First of all, I was amazed because I don't think I've ever seen it completely overturned. I've seen them call targeting on two guys and let one off the hook, but never this. But it also blew my mind because I have seen guys get ejected for WAY less than what I saw on Saturday.

I'm not at all a fan of these horseshit targeting rules. The rules are bad and 90% of the time the officials aren't actually calling one player leading with they head to hit another player in the head or neck. However, in this case that's exactly what happened. By rule, this actually made sense to call it. Of course these MAC officials, much like the Sun Belt crews, probably spend more time cleaning up their own drool and having nurses change their Depends at the local special needs center than reading an actual college football rule book. Seriously, there needs to be a committee to review every single targeting call every week. And if they find a player was unjustly ejected, then the officials get suspended or fired. I'm fucking tired of these mouth-breathing dullards getting to go out there and ruin football games with no consequence.

Just to be clear:

Shoulder to shoulder. This was targeting

hit.0.jpg


Helmet to neck. This is not

L3WjQas.png


At least be consistent with your bullshit if you're going to throw in these types of rules that can get people ejected into the game.

Oh, and let's not forget later in the game when the officials called a questionable offensive PI on Idaho and later picked up a personal foul against WMU after several minutes of deliberating.

This was my favorite though. This occurred right after the officials fucked up on the targeting call. These fucking clowns called this down by contact:

yjwXDU9.png


Ball clearly out. What the fuck.

The good news out of this one was that the offense actually looked decent for three quarters with Duckworth having a huge game (two 60+ yard plays), Saunders looking solid (6.5 ypc), Onunwor stretching the field with a big TD, and Linehan throwing for 3 TDs. Problem was the defense got gassed and Petrino's offense sucked some dick in the fourth. No excuse for that, as Idaho STILL should have won this game. WMU really didn't look that hot. But shit, if these officials aren't piss drinking morons the game is likely closer.

Alright, I'll do the USA review in a separate post. These tends to get long when I get to rant about retarded people doing their jobs poorly.
 

Cave_Johnson

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Alright, let me try to calm the fuck down now.

South Alabama always seems like a really hard team to figure out. Last year they dazzled in non-conference play but then went 2-6 in conference and somehow still made a bowl game at 6-6 due to getting two FCS wins after their game with LSU was cancelled. A waiver to make a bowl with two FCS wins also helped them out there.

This year they've been blown out by Ole Miss and Okie State while blowing out A&M. Alabama A&M that is.

It's difficult to tell how good this team really is. They did compete against Ole Miss for about a half, but were dominated in the second half of that game. I'm not sure how good Ole Miss is either though, as they have yet to impress this year despite a 2-1 record. The other two games are hard to draw much from as well since Okie Lite is a top 10 team and A&M is god awful.

I'll just start with my opinion I guess. I do think this is a solid Sun Belt squad and I'm sticking to my prediction that they will go bowling again this year.

Idaho's offensive line will be put to the test against a USA d-line that returns 5 key rotational players The Jags also return two preseason all-conference defenders in DB Jeremy Reaves and Oregon State transfer and LB Darrell Songy. USA's defense struggled at times last year though so I think Idaho can move the ball if they come out playing like they did against WMU for the first three quarters. Well, minus Matt still not knowing when to get out of dodge and getting blindsided for two strip sacks.

Offense is where the questions start coming up for USA. I expected JR Dallas Davis to be the defacto starter this year but he actually lost the starting position to fellow JR Cole Garvin. Garvin went out with an ankle injury against Okie State however and Davis has been the starter since. From what I understand Garvin was questionable for the Alabama A&M game but Davis ended up suiting up and threw for 255 and 2 TDs on only 12 attempts. Garvin may be back this week as he is still questionable, but who starts is anybody's guess.

For what it's worth Garvin looked solid against Ole Miss but barely played against Okie State. Davis went for 320 and three total TD's in a loss to Idaho last year. Garvin actually spotted Davis in that 2016 game for one play which ended up being a 6 yard TD pass. I'm not convinced it really matters who starts for USA as both QBs are competent.

Idaho's secondary will have a challenge either way, but I still feel good about this defense as long as they can stay off the field and get their needed rest. Jalen Hoover played very well in place of Denzal Brantley last week. Dorian Clark also looked decent despite playing hurt.

USA's rushing attack has also been a bit odd this year as their leading back from 2016, Xavier Johnson, has ceded carries to sophomore Tra Miller. The workload has been split evenly and both have had some success. So again, I'm not sure it matters too much who carries the ball for them. Idaho is in for a challenge either way but I'm again optimistic about this defense if the Idaho O can keep them off the field.

Prediction:

Well....the line of USA -4.5 indicates this should be a close one. This is a really important game for Idaho as they only really have 6 winnable games left. They'll need to win 5 to go bowling and I just don't think they'll run the table in those winnable games if they drop this one. I am optimistic that they can compete here but I think USA is more battle tested. With home field and a bit of a depth advantage I'm taking USA (I had them winning this one in my Idaho preview anyway)

Jaguars 28
Vandals 27

Go Vandals, make me wrong you fucks.
 

Cave_Johnson

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Idaho already fucking up to the point where it's clear this game is already over.

Fumble on second play of the game, dropped a sure interception the next play. Yeah, this is going to be bad.
 

Cave_Johnson

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This is really fucking pathetic now. Should be something like 24-10 but Idaho just keeps giving this game away. Awful calls on third and fourth down, roughing the kicker, and against a team that honestly looks like shit. Their QB is hurt too and can barely throw. This is embarrassing.
 

Cave_Johnson

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Thank god the video feed just went out, now I don't have to watch this shit anymore. What a god awful game.
 

Cave_Johnson

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Big delay, finally coming back with it tied at 13. Time to come out flat and lose by 2 TD's in the last 7 minutes.
 

Cave_Johnson

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Possibly the worst college football game I've seen in several years. Really fucking pathetic to lose the way they just did. Two games in a row now that they should have won and they choke it away. Fuck this team. They won't win another game until November.
 

Cave_Johnson

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Possibly the worst college football game I've seen in several years. Really fucking pathetic to lose the way they just did. Two games in a row now that they should have won and they choke it away. Fuck this team. They won't win another game until November.
Boy, don't I look silly. I don't know how USA managed to lose that one. Pretty terrible on their part. Idaho lucky to come away with a win after some terrible turnovers and bad calls by the officials.
 

FaCe-LeE-uS

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7 hour game... Fuckin A. 2 lightning delays?

Glad I missed this game. That first delay I would have drank myself silly while stewing on their poor performance.
 

Cave_Johnson

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7 hour game... Fuckin A. 2 lightning delays?

Glad I missed this game. That first delay I would have drank myself silly while stewing on their poor performance.
Yeah, this was just an unpleasant game to watch. Sort of the opposite of last week with the officiating. Bad/questionable calls benefited Idaho more this time although there were bad calls going both ways. Neither team looked that impressive and the only reason USA didn't ice the game away was an illegal formation penalty called back a third down conversion with about 2 minutes left in the game. That, and USA had two pick 6's called back due to penalties.

Don't get me wrong, Idaho looked solid on that game tying drive and the defense was great in OT. But up to that point it was a string of fumbles and dropped passes mixed in with the odd big play that got things moving. They definitely didn't look as bad as they did against UNLV but this was just a sloppy game overall.
 
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FaCe-LeE-uS

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Yeah, this was just an unpleasant game to watch. Sort of the opposite of last week with the officiating. Bad/questionable calls benefited Idaho more this time although there were bad calls going both ways. Neither team looked that impressive and the only reason USA didn't ice the game away was an illegal formation penalty called back a third down conversion with about 2 minutes left in the game. That, and USA had two pick 6's called back due to penalties.

Don't get me wrong, Idaho looked solid on that game tying drive and the defense was great in OT. But up to that point it was a string of fumbles and dropped passes mixed in with the odd big play that got things moving. They definitely didn't look as bad as they did against UNLV but this was just a sloppy game overall.
The chemistry just doesn't feel like its there yet. Inconsistencies in all phases.
 

cheerupcharlie

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Is John Friesz still their starting QB? I grew up in Idaho and he was the first player from U of I that I really liked. Actually thought he would be a decent backup QB in the NFL. Damn, that was a long time ago.
 

Cave_Johnson

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Is John Friesz still their starting QB? I grew up in Idaho and he was the first player from U of I that I really liked. Actually thought he would be a decent backup QB in the NFL. Damn, that was a long time ago.

Ha, that'd be a lot of medical redshirts or something if he was still chugging along in Moscow. Last time I saw Friesz at a game was when they retired his number several years ago. I think he still lives in Coeur d'Alene but I haven't seen him at the Dome in at least 5 years. Granted, I can only really make 1-2 games a year anymore.
 
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