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Post by Outsider on Sept 10, 2023 15:06:00 GMT -6
ACU's first big test comes upon us now. It's Family Weekend, so I REALLY hope we have a big crowd. This is a game where we need to make a lot of noise and keep boosting the team. Massey has us at a 41% chance of winning. I don't know if I would argue too much with that. I really do think we can win it, but it's going to take a near perfect game for us and some key mistakes by them. Gone are the days where we used to beat up on them on a regular basis. This game can be huge for our conference, as well as us. I want to hear back from you all, especially the parents. What do we need to keep doing that we are doing well? What do we need to do differently? I know we are pumped up after two big wins and back at home. Let's continue to take care of business...
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Post by kjmike1956 on Sept 10, 2023 15:55:39 GMT -6
ACU's first big test comes upon us now. It's Family Weekend, so I REALLY hope we have a big crowd. This is a game where we need to make a lot of noise and keep boosting the team. Massey has us at a 41% chance of winning. I don't know if I would argue too much with that. I really do think we can win it, but it's going to take a near perfect game for us and some key mistakes by them. Gone are the days where we used to beat up on them on a regular basis. This game can be huge for our conference, as well as us. I want to hear back from you all, especially the parents. What do we need to keep doing that we are doing well? What do we need to do differently? I know we are pumped up after two big wins and back at home. Let's continue to take care of business... We are a 3.5 point underdog at home. An upset win would be great.
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Post by ybp80 on Sept 10, 2023 17:03:49 GMT -6
This is a very winnable game, but it will take an outstanding performance from everyone, but especially the defensive line and secondary. Calzada is indeed a Power 5 quarterback and you could see his poise, confidence, talent and size coming through in the game against N. Colorado this weekend. He will pick apart a soft defense. This is a win that would put ACU on the FCS map - I hope we get it.
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Post by Outsider on Sept 10, 2023 17:42:47 GMT -6
This is a very winnable game, but it will take an outstanding performance from everyone, but especially the defensive line and secondary. Calzada is indeed a Power 5 quarterback and you could see his poise, confidence, talent and size coming through in the game against N. Colorado this weekend. He will pick apart a side defense. This is a win that would put ACU on the FCS map - I hope we get it. Our secondary was consistently getting beat yesterday. We would play off a little and then they would throw in front of us. Several times we waited for the athlete to come to us to tackle. That simply isn't who we are right now. That will have to change on Saturday. **Let me change that to several times we just tried to bump the athlete to the ground. Now, not every time, but definitely more than what we had been doing. I don't know why we reverted, but that will also have to change.**
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Post by dallasalum on Sept 11, 2023 10:37:20 GMT -6
This is a very winnable game, but it will take an outstanding performance from everyone, but especially the defensive line and secondary. Calzada is indeed a Power 5 quarterback and you could see his poise, confidence, talent and size coming through in the game against N. Colorado this weekend. He will pick apart a side defense. This is a win that would put ACU on the FCS map - I hope we get it. Our secondary was consistently getting beat yesterday. We would play off a little and then they would throw in front of us. Several times we waited for the athlete to come to us to tackle. That simply isn't who we are right now. That will have to change on Saturday. **Let me change that to several times we just tried to bump the athlete to the ground. Now, not every time, but definitely more than what we had been doing. I don't know why we reverted, but that will also have to change.**
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Post by dallasalum on Sept 11, 2023 10:39:46 GMT -6
The defense has to show up. Can't be a repeat of PV. Also need better blocking for our DBs.
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Post by jCat on Sept 11, 2023 14:12:28 GMT -6
When I think back to previous encounters with UIW, here's what comes to mind: - Speedy tempo on offense. Ridiculous at times.
- Our harried defense, hopelessly chasing receivers. And every few snaps, there was a blown coverage (especially after play action)
- We could move the ball and battle at the line of scrimmage. But the Cats threw into coverage and turned the ball over constantly.
This year's Cardinals team isn't those teams of the past. Their defense doesn't look like it has the same ball hawks or scheme. Their offense looks a little slower. And they seem over-committed to running the ball out of spread formations. If we defend the run, we'll be ok. Zach Calzada is a good FCS QB but a step down from their previous gunslingers. I don't think he's as elusive, but he does have decent wheels and a strong arm. Looking at the Northern Colorado game, Calzada was 23-32 for 255 yards (3 TDs, 1 Int). UNC had 6 pass breakups and one int. That means they either caught the ball or had a breakup/int. There were zero throw aways, missed throws, etc. He was on the money every time. And these weren't long throws. 188 of the Cardinal's passing yards were after the catch. The longest pass play was 38 yards (including YAC). If you go back to the UTEP game, the Miners broke up 5 passes and had an INT. If there is a big window between the receiver and defender, Calzada will fit the ball into that space. You might even be able to use film and geometry to know exactly where the window will be. He might even try when someone is covered. We need disruptive play from our secondary.
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Post by Cap'n Cattitude on Sept 11, 2023 15:33:04 GMT -6
As much as I like to give Outsider a hard time, he is right to think that the defense needs to step up and get more stops. The Cats did a great job of making PV start their drives deep in their own territory and then make them grind it out until we stopped them or they made a mistake. Giving up 300 rushing yards was painful.
This is probably heresy but I’m not sure that the Panthers offense isn’t as good as or better than the Cards. It’s going to make some fans crazy but we are going to have to give up some yards to UIW. If you don’t keep them in front of you, they will burn you deep every time.
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Post by lynxferus on Sept 11, 2023 17:13:50 GMT -6
This is a very winnable game, but it will take an outstanding performance from everyone, but especially the defensive line and secondary. Calzada is indeed a Power 5 quarterback and you could see his poise, confidence, talent and size coming through in the game against N. Colorado this weekend. He will pick apart a soft defense. This is a win that would put ACU on the FCS map - I hope we get it. Speaking of the FCS map, ACU owns the second largest land area on the FCS Imperialism map and can add a large chunk of land with a win over UIW:
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Post by dallasalum on Sept 11, 2023 17:48:50 GMT -6
This is a very winnable game, but it will take an outstanding performance from everyone, but especially the defensive line and secondary. Calzada is indeed a Power 5 quarterback and you could see his poise, confidence, talent and size coming through in the game against N. Colorado this weekend. He will pick apart a soft defense. This is a win that would put ACU on the FCS map - I hope we get it. Speaking of the FCS map, ACU owns the second largest land area on the FCS Imperialism map and can add a large chunk of land with a win over UIW:
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Post by dallasalum on Sept 11, 2023 17:51:56 GMT -6
Help me out. What does all of this mean? Should I care? Never heard of this. Best that I can tell the Big Country has gotten really big.
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Post by Outsider on Sept 11, 2023 18:00:05 GMT -6
As much as I like to give Outsider a hard time, he is right to think that the defense needs to step up and get more stops. The Cats did a great job of making PV start their drives deep in their own territory and then make them grind it out until we stopped them or they made a mistake. Giving up 300 rushing yards was painful. This is probably heresy but I’m not sure that the Panthers offense isn’t as good as or better than the Cards. It’s going to make some fans crazy but we are going to have to give up some yards to UIW. If you don’t keep them in front of you, they will burn you deep every time. It's going to be a difficult balance to keep. We need to play aggressive, but you are right in not letting them get behind us. What I hope is that we simply study the film really well, both theirs and ours, and key in on sound fundamentals. Most of all, I want us to play with emotion and excitement. Both PV lines surprised me a little. It will be interesting to see how our trench play is on Saturday. If we stay on their receivers and hassle their QB, I like our chances. Can we do that and still stop the run?
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Post by Outsider on Sept 11, 2023 18:06:26 GMT -6
Help me out. What does all of this mean? Should I care? Never heard of this. Best that I can tell the Big Country has gotten really big. It's simply a game where land territory is awarded based on points from wins and losses. Land is either gained or taken over by other teams as the season progresses.
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Post by Outsider on Sept 11, 2023 18:09:51 GMT -6
As much as I like to give Outsider a hard time, he is right to think that the defense needs to step up and get more stops. The Cats did a great job of making PV start their drives deep in their own territory and then make them grind it out until we stopped them or they made a mistake. Giving up 300 rushing yards was painful. This is probably heresy but I’m not sure that the Panthers offense isn’t as good as or better than the Cards. It’s going to make some fans crazy but we are going to have to give up some yards to UIW. If you don’t keep them in front of you, they will burn you deep every time. PV has VERY skilled players in a lot of positions. It just surprised me how well they executed their game plan. You were right though in that they committed to it so much that we were able to exploit our other skills. If we weren't multidimensional, we wouldn't have ended up with the score we did. We will need to remain multidimensional this whole season. It is something we have slowly been getting better at.
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Post by jaminthebody on Sept 11, 2023 20:31:56 GMT -6
Help me out. What does all of this mean? Should I care? Never heard of this. Best that I can tell the Big Country has gotten really big. An imperialism map renews at the beginning of each season as each team owns the land of every county nearest to their campus. If a team wins a game, they win the losing school’s land. ACU started with a big portion of land because there are not many teams near Abilene, and there are many counties not as near to other colleges. Before the season Northern Colorado owned more land than ACU, which ACU took after the first game. ACU then took a small portion from PV, which owned their own territory and the land they won from Texas Southern. This is a big topic on the Reddit boards. There is also an FBS imperialism map, which FCS teams can win. A FBS team can not take territory from an FCS team. Ironically, UIW owned some land on both maps last season. I think there is maps for D2 and D3, and a college basketball map. It’s a fun hobby to follow.
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