Without a doubt! He was getting heaps of praise for it too. I didn’t make it back in time to enjoy that part.

A great team can weather the storm when a key player goes quiet. Aggies did just that!

three since the Davis game. All big time players defensive players. One of them has a chance to be back (no clue on odds).

Gunner Talkington (3rd string) has played late in some games late in the season. But not as much as Barriere got to play while Gubrud was still kicking. Coach has been frank about needing to play Barriere and give him reps. That was in garbage time early in the season, but now that he is the starter it means leaving him in until the other team concedes. Nicholls was still kicking onsides at 2:00 so Gunner only got a couple snaps on Saturday.

If you are asking if I saw the Davis/UNI game, yes in part. I got home from the Eastern game in time to sit and watch the second half of talks game. The defensive discipline was impressive, especially getting key turnovers. I feel like Doss disappeared late in the game. Wanted to see him make an impact to put the game to bed, but defense did the job just fine. I thought you guys channeled the Weber way more than the Eastern way on Saturday, to give a style comparison of what I saw.
And y’all got the outcome I was cheering for.

We took our heaviest losses at PSU between qtrs 1-3. Lost three defensive starters in that game. The radio guy is convinced they were dirty hits, but I didn’t see them and I am not very inclined to believe that players hit to injure. I have never looked at a Big Sky team and left thinking I saw a dirty team. I don’t side with the people complaining about that game. Gage’s injury was ambiguous, can’t pinpoint when it happened (it’s a toe/foot thing) he kinda pulled up limping mid game, finished the game out but never saw the field after that until they announced his surgery. Punter/Kicker has been nursing injury for a while, pretty sure it’s an over use type non contact injury. Lost a big DB contributor in practice in August. I am relatively certain the grand total is seven starters done for the year or borderline. Might find out more tonight at the coach’s show.

We are deep into our roster everywhere on the field, but it’s just been the usual football attrition. It’ll be a major feather in the caps of all these guys who have been thrown in the fire, when they see how well they stepped up to the plate. The expectations for them are the same as all the starters.

I’ll not cover for anyone, Coach has a philosophy and an approach. It won’t be what everyone wants to see, and I definitely understand being irritated at running up the score. He has been a part of EWU football almost as long as I have been alive. When he talks I get the distinct feeling that he makes the decisions that are best for Eastern football and he will shoulder the consequences/responsibility for those decisions. He addressed this exact topic with the fans after PSU. Not everyone likes seeing the scoreboard get lit up like that, but everything that happens in the game is much more reasoned than “let’s turn heads”

Not every team is lucky enough to have their own former players at the helm. Guys where you don’t have to question their loyalty or whether choices they make are for themselves (and their careers) first. When he talks about his players he talks like he is one, he’s not running them out there to get hurt. How do you guys feel about Hawkins? He’s a product of Davis, right?

Barriere has all the tools you could ask for. But consistency is far from being there yet. If you had the chance to watch him on Sat you would see many throws hitting receivers in the feet. Those reps never show up in highlights unless the receiver bails him out with the stunning. And I wish I could link you to highlights of his interception, it was a 100% mental lapse throwing to the boundary seeing only the over defender and not the under. The polish on his passing game pales in comparison to Gubrud. That polish may mean the world to a team that has lost two recent semifinals by a single play.

I will respectfully maintain that he needs every last throw he gets. He got eaten alive by the Weber defense, I’d imagine NDSU’s defense will be just as talented. Davis second string in a game is better than practice, and better than many first string I’d imagine.

And to the Aggies credit, that was not a 59-20 game. Turnovers made things look ugly, not one team dominating and running it up. In my opinion the Aggies only need to have a 5-7 play cleaner performance to make this the game it should have been. It’s not a 39pt difference between them, and it certainly didn’t feel like that to me on the day. You guys watched that game, how did you come out feeling? Other than what you have said about the last few minutes.

I’m totally stoked about the fact that the Big Sky has had four teams win a playoff game in the same year. Our conference belongs at the top, and the draw has made it more than likely that someone represents in Texas. If it’s the Aggies, then Eastern will be part of the road/growth that got you there. Just like Weber and Davis would be apart of ours.

Sophomore QB as a midseason injury replacement, needs every last game speed rep he can get. Even when the the third string guy goes in, he gets the whole playbook since the freshman is now the backup.

I expect teams will have taken exception to the play calls, but Coach is playing the hand he was dealt when he lost his Walter Payton candidate.

Just offering a different perspective.