FB: American Southwest Conference

[Ron Boerger]

I don't think we've ever seen a three-loss team get a Pool C bid, though admittedly the rules this year seem to factor in quality of opposition more than they do in the past. 

The most likely scenario for HSU to get into the playofss may be that UMHB loses two games while HSU wins out ... and that is darned unlikely.

[Sender]

  It is like McM cannot catch a break since about 2001.  They have been so close so much.  Man, I read about that, it was a tough loss.   

[Weak Safety]

They are young. With the exception of Carrillo the entire receiving core were sophomore's and Feaster also. Things could be very bright in the future for them I hope they respond well and finish strong.

Thrwdp,
Your comment about HSU's youth made me curious.  I looked at the starting lineups and player participation from the game stats, compared them to team rosters and found the following:

Starters

HSU          UMHB

6 Seniors            13 Seniors
9 Juniors             6  Juniors
5 Sophomores      2  Sophomores
2 Freshmen         1  Freshman


Reserves

HSU          UMHB

5 Seniors             4 Seniors
5 Juniors              3 Juniors
13 Sophomores      5 Sophomores
12 Freshmen         5 Freshmen


Total Players Participating

HSU            UMHB

11 Seniors            17 Seniors
14 Juniors             9 Juniors
18 Sophomores      7 Sophomores
14 Freshmen         6 Freshmen

57 Total                39 Total

This gives me hope as an HSU fan.  We have a lot of talented young players.  We will return 8 starters on both sides of the ball next year, and I really think we will win the rest of this year's games. 

Although we got manhandled by UMHB, they are a veteran team.  I agree with Coach Keeling that UMHB is better right now than they've ever been.  You hear people talk about how fast their defense is, but until you've seen it in person you have no idea.  Plays that would have gone 20+ against most teams were stopped for short gains on Saturday.   

[Toby Taff]

Weak Safety:

I think HSU will be strong for the next few years.  Feaster impressed me.  I thought for sure he would have been dropped for a loss on a few plays and he was able to scramble out and make a play.  I have video to prove it.

About the video and Youtube... I will get it up, but I'm having some editing issues. 

The question of UMHB playing their starters for so long came up this morning.  Just wondering what those of you who saw the game thought.

[Josh Bowerman]

I didn't think they played their starters an inappropriate amount of time Saturday.

[Toby Taff]

Josh,

I looked for you after the game.  I snapped a shot of you working from the other side of the field.

[thrwdp]

Weak Safety:

The question of UMHB playing their starters for so long came up this morning.  Just wondering what those of you who saw the game thought.

I think this is way overrated. I am glad and i think the players and coaches at HSU are also, that they did keep the starters in as long as they did. If you dont want to get blown out then stop them. The only reason to take out starters is to avoid injury in my book.

[thrwdp]

sorry about that appearing to be an entire quote from mhb but hope you get the point.

[thrwdp]

ok weak safety i mean. My age is coming out now!

[Josh Bowerman]

Josh,

I looked for you after the game.  I snapped a shot of you working from the other side of the field.

I left the field for the press box with about 30 seconds left in the game, Toby.  Right about the time the UMHB fans started chanting "This is our house".   

[Kelly Boggs]

UMHB will be playing UW-W in three weeks. It's my opinion that they need to let the starters stay in even longer in each of the next two games so the CRU is ready to go a full 4 when they face the Warhawks. If the scores get ugly, well that's just life on the old gridiron.

[Weak Safety]

Weak Safety:

I think HSU will be strong for the next few years.  Feaster impressed me.  I thought for sure he would have been dropped for a loss on a few plays and he was able to scramble out and make a play.  I have video to prove it.

About the video and Youtube... I will get it up, but I'm having some editing issues. 

The question of UMHB playing their starters for so long came up this morning.  Just wondering what those of you who saw the game thought.

I can't say I blame them for leaving the starters in, particularly the defensive starters.  If you put the wrong players on the field against the HSU offense, the score can change quickly.  Also, maybe they wanted the defensive starters to get as much experience as possible against a good offense, and those guys were on a roll.

That being said, my sophomore year I was a second string cornerback and didn't get into the game in a huge blowout.  It was a little difficult to understand.  Made me wonder if the coaches really thought I was bad enough to blow a 40 some odd point blowout!

[CruAlum39]

By the way I've heard and read about the game panning out on Saturday, it looks to me like the same ol' UMHB teams from the past when playing tougher opponents.

UMHB opens giving up some yards on defense ( bend but not break philosophy), then make some great halftime adjustments and shut down the other team in the second half.

On offense, the running game just continually wears down on opposing defenses, until it becomes too much for the opponent and UMHB starts to capitalize and make big plays.

That's the great thing about RUNNING THE FOOTBALL that other teams in the conference don't do.  Take advantage of the clock, score your points and keep your defense off the field, no matter how good they are!   Good ol' "Powder River" baby!

[Rick Akins]

UMHB always plays at least 2 defensive lines.  I saw at least 4 DE's and 5-6 DT's in the game yesterday, and not just in the 4th quarter. The same thing goes for the offensive line and backs also. I expected Welch to come out maybe one series sooner, and I was a little surprised to see the LB's and DB's play as much as they did toward the end, but I know I saw new LB's and DB's in for at least one series in the 4th; however, I expect the coaches wanted the defense from a conditioning and preparation standpoint  to play 4 quarters this year since every previous game was 2 to less than 3 quarters at most. Also, HSU can score in a hurry and UMHB  probably wanted to keep it at 14 especially after McMurry's 16 points against reserves.

It is the closest game UMHB has had by far and I did not think the score was so out of hand that it was inappropriate.

[crufootball]

Not sure if this was on the show but here is Jim Rome talking to Mike Flynt

http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/videopage?videoId=3050844&categoryId=2963048