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Cave_Johnson
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Alright, I'm officially running out of good ideas for movie themes. I actually have no idea what this film is about. I only know that the title had the word "Disappointments" in it and that seemed like a good place to start.
Going into this year there was a lot of hype surrounding Idaho's offense. The general consensus was that the Vandals would be putting up points on O while also surrendering a lot of points on D. Well, the latter is certainly true. The former? Not so much. Paul Petrino was quoted as saying they would be shooting for 40 points per game this year. If he was talking about points conceded per game he's dead on. As far as points scored goes they're not even half way there.
Yes, Idaho has been a bit odd this year. Although the box score doesn't show it, the defense is vastly improved from last season. The amount of talent in the LB corps is insane and while the defensive line isn't on that level they've been serviceable. Seems to me the problem with the front seven is generally that they get worn out by the end of the game. The depth there is still not the best and the offense has struggled lately to stay on the field leading to a lot of possessions for the opposing team. The defense has played well early in games. They just can't seem to keep it up for a full 60 minutes.
As far as the secondary goes there's not much to say. The depth there is much better than last year but the level of play is about the same. In general, it's real bad but they have been able to create a few more turnovers this season.
Back to that Vandal offense that was supposed to be so good. Yeah.....they've been below average at the absolute best. The third year starter at QB who was supposed to have a breakout year? Again, mediocre at best and putrid at worst. Linehan just looks like a different player than last year. He's shown signs of his former self, but the consistency is just not there. I have no doubt that if Jake Luton had not transferred he'd be the starter right now.
Oh well. The game this week is going to be hard to predict. The match up last season came during the middle of the year when both teams were riddled with injuries. Idaho ended up winning a fairly one-sided game 27-13 that wasn't as close as the score indicated.
This year both teams are relatively healthy and both teams have started off the season getting their asses kicked by a slew of very good teams. ULM comes in with two blowout losses to Oklahoma and Auburn and a close loss to Georgia Southern ( okay maybe Southern isn't THAT good. They did lose to an 0-4 stAte team earlier this week).
Anyway this is a game both teams had marked as a potential victory when the schedule came out. Both squads know that this is a must win if they want to get to a bowl game. That being the case I'm expecting both coaches pull out all the stops here. I'd be surprised if there wasn't a trick play or two. And just because this game will likely be close, we may even see Petrino not go for in on fourth and <4 every single time. The ULM offense is one that Idaho could potentially stop. As such, the field position battle will be important and it will likely benefit the Vandals to utilize Austin Rehkow and pin ULM back as far as possible. Maybe....I don't know. We'll see.
I talked down the Warhawk offense a bit there, but they do have the potential to be dangerous if the Vandals can't contain Garrett Smith. The Sophomore QB currently leads the team in passing and rushing. Idaho tends to struggle with mobile QBs so there's a chance Smith may have a big game. I have a feeling there will be no middle ground there though. Either Idaho shuts him down or he goes off and looks like a Heisman candidate.
Speaking of going off, that's what Matt Linehan has done to ULM the last two times the teams have met. In those contests Linehan is averaging 3 TDs and over 300 yards per game. Idaho has been just as good in those match ups on the ground averaging about 150 yards per game. This could be just what this offense needs to get back on track....or not. Okay probably not.
Prediction:
On paper Idaho is the better team, but so far this year ULM has looked much more competent. For the Vandals to pull this one off they've go to do a few things.
1. Establish the run and stick to it. ULM has the worst run defense in the country. This needs to be exploited. Feed Duckworth the ball behind the big O-line, control the clock, and keep those chains moving.
2. Utilize the middle of the field in the passing game. This can be opened up a ton if ULM bites on a play action fake ( all the more reason to establish the damn run). Linehan almost looks scared to throw down the middle of the field this year. It seems like 75% of the passing plays end up with the ball being thrown outside the hash marks. I guess he feels like those throws are safer but damn, you gotta get the ball to Cowan in the seems and Hightower on the crossing routes to really run this offense effectively.
3. Score TDs in the red zone. I harped on this last week. Idaho had two chances early on to score TDs and put Troy in a big hole. They didn't and it only took one big play for the Trojans to swing all the momentum in their favor after they went up 7-6.
4. Make tackles in space. This is another issue that has plagued the team all year. Just can't seem to bring many ball carriers down with the first guy.
5. Catch the damn ball when it hits you in the hands. What else needs to be said here? When Linehan is able to hit guys in stride they seem to drop the rock half the time. This is basic shit guys.
Pretty obvious bullet points I guess, but what the fuck do you want from me? This team is still struggling with some fundamentals here.
I was feeling optimistic about this one earlier in the week but that only goes so far. It seems like Idaho should bounce back with a big game and a win just to be consistently inconsistent, but ULM is favored by 5 and Vegas tends to know their shit.
I got 27-24 either way. As of now I'm taking the Warhawks to walk away with a victory, ending any real hope of Idaho making a bowl.
Going into this year there was a lot of hype surrounding Idaho's offense. The general consensus was that the Vandals would be putting up points on O while also surrendering a lot of points on D. Well, the latter is certainly true. The former? Not so much. Paul Petrino was quoted as saying they would be shooting for 40 points per game this year. If he was talking about points conceded per game he's dead on. As far as points scored goes they're not even half way there.
Yes, Idaho has been a bit odd this year. Although the box score doesn't show it, the defense is vastly improved from last season. The amount of talent in the LB corps is insane and while the defensive line isn't on that level they've been serviceable. Seems to me the problem with the front seven is generally that they get worn out by the end of the game. The depth there is still not the best and the offense has struggled lately to stay on the field leading to a lot of possessions for the opposing team. The defense has played well early in games. They just can't seem to keep it up for a full 60 minutes.
As far as the secondary goes there's not much to say. The depth there is much better than last year but the level of play is about the same. In general, it's real bad but they have been able to create a few more turnovers this season.
Back to that Vandal offense that was supposed to be so good. Yeah.....they've been below average at the absolute best. The third year starter at QB who was supposed to have a breakout year? Again, mediocre at best and putrid at worst. Linehan just looks like a different player than last year. He's shown signs of his former self, but the consistency is just not there. I have no doubt that if Jake Luton had not transferred he'd be the starter right now.
Oh well. The game this week is going to be hard to predict. The match up last season came during the middle of the year when both teams were riddled with injuries. Idaho ended up winning a fairly one-sided game 27-13 that wasn't as close as the score indicated.
This year both teams are relatively healthy and both teams have started off the season getting their asses kicked by a slew of very good teams. ULM comes in with two blowout losses to Oklahoma and Auburn and a close loss to Georgia Southern ( okay maybe Southern isn't THAT good. They did lose to an 0-4 stAte team earlier this week).
Anyway this is a game both teams had marked as a potential victory when the schedule came out. Both squads know that this is a must win if they want to get to a bowl game. That being the case I'm expecting both coaches pull out all the stops here. I'd be surprised if there wasn't a trick play or two. And just because this game will likely be close, we may even see Petrino not go for in on fourth and <4 every single time. The ULM offense is one that Idaho could potentially stop. As such, the field position battle will be important and it will likely benefit the Vandals to utilize Austin Rehkow and pin ULM back as far as possible. Maybe....I don't know. We'll see.
I talked down the Warhawk offense a bit there, but they do have the potential to be dangerous if the Vandals can't contain Garrett Smith. The Sophomore QB currently leads the team in passing and rushing. Idaho tends to struggle with mobile QBs so there's a chance Smith may have a big game. I have a feeling there will be no middle ground there though. Either Idaho shuts him down or he goes off and looks like a Heisman candidate.
Speaking of going off, that's what Matt Linehan has done to ULM the last two times the teams have met. In those contests Linehan is averaging 3 TDs and over 300 yards per game. Idaho has been just as good in those match ups on the ground averaging about 150 yards per game. This could be just what this offense needs to get back on track....or not. Okay probably not.
Prediction:
On paper Idaho is the better team, but so far this year ULM has looked much more competent. For the Vandals to pull this one off they've go to do a few things.
1. Establish the run and stick to it. ULM has the worst run defense in the country. This needs to be exploited. Feed Duckworth the ball behind the big O-line, control the clock, and keep those chains moving.
2. Utilize the middle of the field in the passing game. This can be opened up a ton if ULM bites on a play action fake ( all the more reason to establish the damn run). Linehan almost looks scared to throw down the middle of the field this year. It seems like 75% of the passing plays end up with the ball being thrown outside the hash marks. I guess he feels like those throws are safer but damn, you gotta get the ball to Cowan in the seems and Hightower on the crossing routes to really run this offense effectively.
3. Score TDs in the red zone. I harped on this last week. Idaho had two chances early on to score TDs and put Troy in a big hole. They didn't and it only took one big play for the Trojans to swing all the momentum in their favor after they went up 7-6.
4. Make tackles in space. This is another issue that has plagued the team all year. Just can't seem to bring many ball carriers down with the first guy.
5. Catch the damn ball when it hits you in the hands. What else needs to be said here? When Linehan is able to hit guys in stride they seem to drop the rock half the time. This is basic shit guys.
Pretty obvious bullet points I guess, but what the fuck do you want from me? This team is still struggling with some fundamentals here.
I was feeling optimistic about this one earlier in the week but that only goes so far. It seems like Idaho should bounce back with a big game and a win just to be consistently inconsistent, but ULM is favored by 5 and Vegas tends to know their shit.
I got 27-24 either way. As of now I'm taking the Warhawks to walk away with a victory, ending any real hope of Idaho making a bowl.
