Watching Endicott/HSU game, I was surprised Endicott was able to hold up to the degree they did against HSU run game. Size isn't everything, but Endicott DL was relatively small comparatively. I think CRU DL matches up much better with their size, but can they effectively slow down Garcia (dude is impressive) consistently with only 5 in the box? If so, they'll have a field day in secondary. I think they'll have to bring an extra defender up though against HSUs overload sets and pulling plays.

Ultimately I like the CRU at home if D can force HSU to pass into the Tampa 2 and Phe can protect the ball (7 ints and at least 2 fumbles lost). If so, I think UMHB wins this by two scores (10 to 14 pts).

That Brayden Whitehead part. Been intrigued by him since last season after watching some of his highschool tape. He stood out to me above all the other incoming candidates last season. But who knows if that's translated to the college level. I have to assume there are valid reasons why he hasn't been getting the reps.

I know transfer portal is just a reality of today's game, but honestly the sheer volume of transfers on the varsity roster is a bit disheartening to me. I find it hard to believe that most transfers can ever truly assimilate and be 100% committed to the program and culture in one season with the team.

Really hoping it pays off, especially with the ones who still have multiple years of eligibility. Hopefully they actually bleed purple and gold and are Unselfish. Hate to think this is just an opportunity for them to get some game tape and then just transfer out again to a bigger program.

I really wish I could have seen the intrasquad scrimmage, so I could have seen the improvement from the UANL scrimmage to now. I'm just ready for the season to start this Saturday and looking for The CRU to bounce back this year so that I have a chance to attend some Cru playoff football later this fall!

Quote from: Toby Taff on November 07, 2023, 10:41:41 AM

Quote from: crufootball on November 06, 2023, 10:00:09 PM
We are a team that is having its worst season in over 2 decades, if we weren't struggling with low morale I would concerned that the players didn't care enough. I won't pretend its not concerning that players are quitting but when you bring in over 100+ freshmen a year on the promise that they could win a national championship and the team goes 6-4 (at best) things are going to be hard.

One thing I will point out though, when things are going badly it is easier to notice things like penalties and Coach Harmon even commented that he was embarrassed by them. However while this years average (65 yards) is higher than it has been since 2016, before that year 65 yards a game would have been the lowest season average since 1999. Pretty much every year from our start till 2016 we averaged in the low 70's in penalties. Obviously some very good things started happening in 2016, maybe discipline was emphasized more in that time frame but we can't say a new coach came in and cleaned things up.

Clearly there are issues that need to be resolved but I have feeling that if we were 9-0 this year and committing the same amount of penalties we might be concerned that it could hurt us come playoff time but I don't think many would be paying much attention to it.

The penalty yards are not my issue, it's the type and placement of the penalties. It's the personal fouls and unsportsmanlike on 3rd when you stopped them and suddenly they have a 1st when you should have the ball. It's committing the same false start penalty over and again when HSUs D line shifts. Those are sensless and have cost the team severely this seasaon.

Agreed on it's not so much the yardage as much as it is the type of penalties being committed... especially the 15yrd personal fouls/unsportsmanlike penalties.

Literally a situation the program has not been in in 20yrs. Also now with a completely different mindset between building a program in the early days and still having something to play for (respect/future) and not making the playoffs vs expectations of yearly playoffs (national championships) and not making playoffs at all and thinking, "well what's the point?"

Back in the day, I know I always felt like playoffs were a given and I didn't feel like the season actually started until playoffs started. The 10 games leading up to that were all just necessary BS that we had to navigate so the "real season" would begin.

I may be delusional haha but I'm still not ready to hit the big red button and blow everything up. To me, I still think this current team would have been 8-1 or 7-2 at this point in the season had they not played that gauntlet of a non-conference schedule with an overall inexperienced team.

Also think Phe maybe reminds me of a more mobile Jace Hammock? Definitely a passer but doesn't seem real comfortable running the ball. Hammock was a Stagg Bowl winning QB with the all time leader in every major  UMHB rushing category behind him (Miller), TJ Josey, Reed, a young KJ Miller, legit OLine, and an all time great UMHB defense on the other side of the ball.....maybe my current evaluation is a bit harsh on Phe then considering what Hammock had around him in 2018. IDK, still would like to see Whitehead get reps. Out of all the QBs they added to the program this year, I thought his tape stood out. Granted it was HS tape but still thought he might be one we would see in 2024 or 2025.

Quote from: CruFrenzy on October 28, 2023, 08:05:27 PM
Congrats to Hardin Simmons on the win, look forward to seeing how the rest of your season plays out.

Now, in regards to UMHB.. I think it's clear a business decision has to be made for the sake of the program. I've been around UMHB football since the early 2000s (basically the beginning, just before our first stagg bowl appearance) and while we likely still have top 10 talent in D3, if not better, we have clearly lost some things as a program that are substantially more important than talent.

Many of us saw this coming last season when we couldn't put 4 qtrs together with the best offense in the nation returning almost every starters.

So yes, a business decision must be made immediately to maintain the UMHB football standard of excellence. Otherwise we will likely continue to move backwards, which is really hard to believe at this point but here we are. We have the BEST facilities in the country, we have 3 national titles in the last 7 seasons including 5 appearances and numerous recruiting advantages over 99.9% of the other institutions in D3. My worst fear is letting this mediocrity linger... I know we aren't used to it as a program but the search needs to begin tomorrow.

I believe this is more than a fair assessment and I'm open to any pushback, I really just want our program to be at the top again and I see no reason why it shouldn't be given the advantages.

Pushback:

Toughest non conference schedule in program history while trying to completely rebuild the offense. One returning starter on line. One returning receiver (3rd option in 2022), Trying to find a QB (Tingler didn't get any meaningful snaps in 2 yrs on Varsity, had to settle on a sophomore 3rd string).

With a typical CRU non conference schedule, UMHB is probably 7-1 or 6-2 after dropping the HSU game.

Agreement:

Last season's offensive play selection was questionable at times and seemed to rely too much on throw it up to B. Jordan. Great option to have but definitely more effective when you are distributing the ball to other receivers.

Although I don't think this is the new norm for the CRU, some big-time soul searching and analysis needs to be done by the coaches and players to ensure this seasons lack of discipline does not become a trend.

My Insight:

Personally, I don't think Phe is the long term solution at QB. He doesn't seem to have the zip necessary on the ball to be a top notch passer. Also have seen him throw some bad balls into coverage that he lucked out didn't get picked against the weaker teams in the ASC. I'm interested to see what the freshman Whitehead can do. Wonder if they will start finding ways to play guys to see what they have for next season.

God lord the penalties this year have just been atrocious. Maybe that is entitlement or not bringing in the right character guys in favor of "talent"...idk, but CRU have been undisciplined all year and giving way too much free yardage all season. Harmon has to get that under control next year!

I think it's going to come down to turnovers. Last year HSU had our boys on the ropes until a 2min stretch of turnovers that completely altered the dynamic and course of that game in the CRU's favor.

Although I don't anticipate that level of craziness this time around,  I still hold that the team who wins the turn over battle wins the game.

Right now I believe UMHB is -2 on the season in turnovers and HSU is +4. Edge HSU.

Also HSU will more than likely get to Phe at times in Saturdays game given the CRU offensive line's pass pro struggles. Phe will need to be willing to take a sack here and there and protect the football vs trying to get rid of it into coverage. Lean on your D to get stops and live to fight another day.

Although I've seen improvement in the CRU running game over the past few weeks, not sure that the current read option RPO dump to the tight end is going to cut it against a team of HSU's caliber UNLESS that running game can get 4.5-5yd+ per carry type production.

I think this game is a TD or less spread and can see it going either way but obviously hope it'll end in the CRU's favor!

Quote from: UMHB03 on October 15, 2023, 12:03:56 PM
On a side note, they need to find some way to remotely cut Skeeta's mic during the game. He's always forgetting to turn it off. He seems like a nice guy and I get a kick out of his enthusiasm, but I prefer to hear the announcers during the game action rather than his cheering and conversations on the sideline drowning them out.

Some folks I know love it! Especially when you get the enthusiastic "HOLDING" call haha but personally it's pretty cringe worthy from a professional broadcast standpoint and really does bring down the quality of a broadcast that already deals with suspect quality.

I think we heard a whole phone conversation from Skeeta this past Saturday haha

Quote from: Etchglow on October 08, 2023, 01:01:23 PM

Quote from: CRULive1845 on October 08, 2023, 11:51:18 AM

Quote from: Etchglow on October 07, 2023, 10:35:45 PM

So, I know that Ozias Wright has played in a lot of late game situations the last two games... But he is UMHB's 2nd rusher with 231 yards in 16 attempts. Cormier has 261 on 69 attempts.

Possibly skews the numbers, but is he seeing it better than than the other backs? Haven't really been able to watch many games this year.

Do know most of his yards have come against lesser comp than the 1st 3 games, but then again he really didn't get any run during those games I don't think.

He had runs of 32, 9, 86, 4 (called back because of holding), 14, 12, 2,6 and 0.


32 yard rush:

https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxZL0-C1sPc0eALG2VpXHt_RMwz1nmMqvF?si=GlEo6lAE5K0tlkda

86 yard rush: https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxSb8kuCjjv53o3DP7IucQj70rageo-h4_?si=1MlBygMoUgJgtgmP

Thank you for the links! See I can watch the whole game from here!

Quote from: Etchglow on October 07, 2023, 10:35:45 PM

So, I know that Ozias Wright has played in a lot of late game situations the last two games... But he is UMHB's 2nd rusher with 231 yards in 16 attempts. Cormier has 261 on 69 attempts.

Possibly skews the numbers, but is he seeing it better than than the other backs? Haven't really been able to watch many games this year.

Do know most of his yards have come against lesser comp than the 1st 3 games, but then again he really didn't get any run during those games I don't think.

Quote from: Etchglow on September 24, 2023, 02:15:50 PM

Quote from: UMHB03 on September 23, 2023, 10:06:28 PM
That looked a lot more like Crusader football tonight, at least in the second half.

The defense appears to be making some progress. I'm seeing signs of the kind of dominance at the LOS that we've become accustomed to in recent years. Lots of instances where the DL simply overwhelmed the blockers and engulfed the ball carrier at or behind the line. They're starting to attack and swarm with their speed, which is good to see. However, they have to get the penalty issues corrected. Way too many costly offsides penalties.

Special teams have improved as well. I don't cringe on every punt snap anymore, and the return game was pretty strong.

The O-Line was bad (again) in the first half, but managed to wear McMurry down in the second. I'm not sure if Ozias Wright is as good as he looked or if it was just because he was facing a tired defense, but I'd like to see a lot more of him. He looked like our best RB in the action he saw.

All in all, a nice step forward for UMHB. They still have a lot of work to do if they want to get back to where they're accustomed to being, but there were plenty of positives to build on.

I don't know, but from what I saw of Wright I'd like to see him get more playing time.  Overall it was good to get back into the win column.  It was great watching them get the swing pass and short passes to the TE going.  Seemed like those were there most of the night.  TJ Rone continues to be super impressive (as a freshman!).  Looks like he is 6th overall in the ASC in yard per catch, and 7th in yards per game.

I was a bit disappointed at how few people were there for homecoming and all though.  I understayd why, but would've loved to see a packed house.

I don't know if Wright is the answer considering the bulk of his carries came against lesser comp....BUT I have to think over 8yds per carry vs the other backs being under 4yds per may mean something???

Not sure if you UWW underperformed, considering their second half performance against SJU last week, or if The CRU took another major stride forward this week, but as a homer, I will choose to believe it is option number two haha

If option number two is correct, I believe this sets The CRU up with a legitimate shot to challenge HSU for the ASC title as per usual except not being the favorite.

I still believe this team's ceiling is second round / quarterfinal round of the playoffs at most.

Agreed.

The only other elite team in the ASC is HSU. HPU and ETBU have had ability to surprise you if you take them for granted, but neither has shown elite consistency.

We have literally faced what just might be Qtr final/semi final (maybe even Stagg Bowl) level competition in the 1st 2 weeks. UWW will be just about the same or better competition. With an inexperienced team trying to find their identity, growing pains are bound to happen.

Just like we saw a bit more fight and improvement from WK 1 to WK 2, hoping to see more fight and improvement in WK 3.

Go CRUUUUUU!

Sure people would disagree, but I think even a close CRU loss is (in some way) a positive step in the right direction after the flop in week 1. I can't imagine the CRU would play THAT bad two weeks in a row, but then again if you go back to the preseason scrimmages, they were struggling there as well.

Hopefully, opponent familiarity and a renewed commitment to protect The Code will bring about more favorable results.

CRUUUUUU!!!

Man I'm just excited for the game against Trinity this Saturday! CRUUUUUU!