Lions are Road Beasts

Win Second Straight Road Game, First against Winning team

I think all Lions fans have to be, for perhaps the first time, actually encouraged by a result. The win over Chicago was fine, but we played very badly, and we beat a poor Houston team again not playing well. But the win yesterday was one where we actually played pretty well. No major errors, decent running, solid passing, and a solid defense against Michael Vick. And on the road.

I thought we covered well, even without Bly, we got pressure for the first time this season, and I thought the LBs covered Vick scrambling. We had a good game plan, played within ourselves, and won the game.

Best of all, Roy Williams is not seriously hurt and might play against the Packers--who are ripe for the picking @ Ford Field this week, coming off a Monday night. Gotta believe we could win again.

And this is without Kevin Jones. Healthy, this team has a chance--a chance--at a wild card run. The biggest downside I see is that our schedule, especially with the Giants, has gotten a little tougher than it looked at the beginning. But if we 4-1 with two division wins, we have to be taken seriously.

Nice Win

Good win for the Falcons today, cruising to an easy victory that wasn't in doubt after the opening minutes, and certainly not in the second half. You go on the road, and you get an easy win, that's a good thing in the league, and we needed it.

As I had expected, CMU ran all over us, and then couldn't do too much in the air. Their first QB got knocked out, but came back in (was it my imagination, or did he act erractically after he came back in. A coach who puts a player with a concussion into the game should be arrested).

Anyway, Seymour certainly gained his yards, and they beat us on a reverse because our guys flow to the ball so much. Which, if true, would seem to help us on the non-reverse plays, but there you go. Coach Brandon says that scoring defense is all that matters, and no question, its important. But giving up a lot of yards could be a sign of trouble later, especially when we play Marshall and UT, and like it was against NIU.

Omar was awesome. Leading rusher, and 75% completions (or there about) and no big mistakes. In the post-game, Coach Brandon said he was playing better than Josh was. Certainly, there has been no fall-off at QB. He's going to be a real good one--in fact, he already is. Cole had his first big game this year, and Sanders obviously is very good.

With Magner, Sharon, Sanders, and Hawkins, we have the ability to make a lot of problems for defensive secondaries. What worries me is that PJ didn't run very well yesterday, and has kind of had a down season. We need the ball in his hands more often--running is a big part of the spread offense, and their should be holes for him with our line and receivers. I hope PJ can get into the flow.

(I know he had a good game at Temple, but I'm talking about real opponents).

We also avoided special teams problems, except for the botched Fake FG. Nate Fry punted well, and CMU didn't get any big returns.

CMU is well-coached. They came out trying some new things with their defense while we were adjusting our plays, but we counter-adjusted pretty well. Kelly ran the spread at GV State (at one point referring to it as "his" offense), and should know how to attack it. Coach also said in the post-game that we thought we had them figured out in certain situations, and they crossed us up.

CMU will be a force in the West in the very near future. In the meantime, it was a good day for the Falcons, let's hope for another laugher with the home crowd this Saturday against BSU.

The Chips

Falcon fans have some bad memories of the Chips, none worse than the image of a fat punter running a fake punt 80 yards, ruining our 1994 season, and setting in a curse that wasn't lifted until we similarly trick-fuc*ed Northwestern with the Magner reverse when they were expecting an extra point.

Last I looked, BG was a 14-point favorite, and let's hope we can live up to that. Its on the road, and its homecoming at CMU. Furthermore, I'm afraid they can hit at our weaknesses. They run well (4.5 yards per carry) and Jerry Seymour went 28-123 on us last year. He is at least as good as the Wolfe kid @ NIU. They run the ball about 54% of the time, a little higher than the typical MAC average.

Our D has to prove that it can stop the run this week, or we could easily lose again. Some things are working in our favor. NIU's starting line is bigger. They go 290-310-290-295-310 across the front, while CMU goes 328-287-294-294-275. CMU has two seniors and two juniors on the front. The other thing working in our favor is that I don't think they have the ability to go over the top like NIU did if you pull in. Their QB has only 49.1% COMP, and 4 TD's. Their best receiver is only getting 4.5 catches a game.

That should help. Still, we need to tackle better and pursue better and contain better.

CMU has also had raging good special teams. Brian Kelly says its the quickest way to turn a team around, and you saw the same philosophy from UM. We need to cover returns well, and block our kicks well. We don't need big plays on the road going against us.

There's plenty to worry about here. On the plus side, teams have throws on CMU, and if Omar can build on the big game in Philly, then we should be fine.

Sound Familiar Falcon Fans?

Urban happy in Utah. Family comes first.

In the article linked below, Urban spouts a familiar line. He is happy at Utah, the work is unfinished, his family his happy. Furthermore, he calls the experience leaving BG "devastating." Apparently he expected a hug. If so, maybe he should avoid saying things like this, two days before leaving...

"that's silly ... The future is fantastic here ... I'm proud to be the football coach here.

"Once they get to know me, know my family, know how important it is to have continuity, my kids going to school somewhere."

He's a brilliant football coach. And he's going to win some national championships. He seems to be able to learn a lot...except how to not paint himself into a corner on questions like this. Or maybe he doesn't want to learn. Does he really care about how people feel once he has left them behind. I don't get that sense.

Utah Paper Falls for usual Urban Lie

Falcons Skunk Temple

Well, I guess we had something to prove in Philadelphia. We lit up what is probably an awful Temple team 70-16. Still, they are a a I-A team, and 70 points is an accomplishment. Obviously, we dominated every part of the game. PJ Pope had a great game, Omar had a great game. Six TDs on the ground, four in the air.

When are we going to let Jason Washington throw a pass? Just wondering. Special teams were strong (BJ Lane is leading the MAC in KO returns), and we only threw five incomplete passes.

On the defensive side, Temple only averaged 2.8 yards per carry on 35 rushes, were 13 of 24 in the air, for just under 200 yards. Defense is a little hard to judge when the game is such a blow out. It was one of our top offensive performances, and the first half was also nearly a record setter.

With that out of the way, the remainder of the games are in the league, and there is no margin for error. CMU is next, and they have a very good RB who could torch us. More later in the week to preview CMU.

Temple Game

Not much preview on the Temple game, due to severe Huskie hangover. Falcons should win this one with ease...Temple is a program headed in the wrong direction. If we don't get a big win, then many of the fears of Falcons fans will be coming forward. They have a running QB who can't throw, and lots of JUCO guys. Hopefully, we will get a win and some confidence to enter conference play against CMU the next week.

Third Hoops Recruit

According to the Sentinel, we have added Nick Wilson, 6-5, from Trenton NJ to our verbals. They also confirm the other two found here.

Wilson visited last weekend.

He is a G/F, 192 lbs, who is strong on D and can drive or shoot, accordingly to himself. He was 14.3 and 3.0 rpg last year, and was all-league for a 21-6 team. He also visited Tenessee-Martin, and coaches saw him play in KS, FL and Las Vegas this summer. He has passed the SAT.

Sounds interesting. Hopefully, another player who will hold up the MAC trophy someday.

Dude went to The Hun School. That's bad.

http://users.aol.com/johnh86395/private/news.html

(Search for Wilson)

http://www.prepstars.com/event_coverage/2004/kingwoodclassic043004.jsp

(search for Wilson--"electrifying")