Quote from: stealth on December 22, 2009, 01:59:57 PM
The entire O benefitted this year from having consistency in coaching. Which included having the QB from the 07 champs stay with the program for 2 years as an assistant O coach and QB coach. All you have to do is look at the pros to see the benefits of having a system in place for an extended period of time. That's one reason MU is so good over time and now UWW. Or for that matter any of the top teams.  Same system,plug and play a good athlete and boom. 
For the Shorts lovers, Uh sorry but Shorts was not the best single player on the feild that day. IMHO. If he was it would have been the Rocco to Shorts call every play because #7 on UWW couldn't cover him so UWW changed up coverages. Did he get his, yes. Was he the MVP, no, winner or not, did he have the biggest impact on the feild that day, no. Was he a threat, sure.
But enough about all that.  Great game and I have watched it 3 times now with the same result. YEAH.

Quote from: warhawkindian on December 22, 2009, 11:54:00 AM

Quote from: Pat Coleman on December 21, 2009, 05:42:37 PM
Even if Donovan had been 100 percent healthy last year in the Stagg Bowl it wouldn't have been the same. That extra year starting is a huge difference.

Jeff improved a lot from last year to this year.  His level of health had little to nothing to do with how he played in the Stagg Bowl last year. 

The hunger generated from getting there and losing helped motivate the entire team, including Jeff.  I'm sure he wanted to play better than he had last year and wanted to go out on top.

I'm sure spring helped to solidify his understanding of the offense and gave him opportunities to work on his technique and reads.


One thing that is being underrated IMO is the development of 3 really good receivers.  All 3 have their strengths and weaknesses but the bottom line is that they catch the ball when its thrown to them and they know all their routes.  That was a huge thing for Jeff, having guys that knew their stuff and were not only dependable but playmakers.

Coach Zebrowski also deserveds credit for working with Jeff and teaching him his offense and getting the most out of him.  Coach Z deservingly won that coordinator of the year this year because Jeff was his pet project and you can see that it turned out very well.

Consistency in coaching is big but the quality of that coaching is just as important.  Consistently bad coaching will produce consistently bad teams for instance.  But I do agree, the consistency in schemes and coaches as a whole is a big factor when considering sustained success. 

As you alluded to, talented players and an attractive facility and school also play into it.  Transfers have played key roles on UWW teams in recent years.  Lane Olson, Kyle Supianoski, Adam Brandes, Paul Wick, Jake Ustruck, Matt Weber, and more as starters from this team alone. 

And I do not understand how you can't see that Shorts was the best player on the field.  When one on one with one of Whitewaters most athletic and supposed best players in Shumpert, he was absolutely enforcing his will.  Troney couldn't pass interfere or do anything to stop him.  He was probably the fastest guy on the field and maybe the most athletic overall as well.  Whitewater has a trio of really good receivers and that kid was in a whole other class.  He was a smooth, confident athlete that was able to make plays and draw enough attention to keep his team in the game basically.

Quote from: Pat Coleman on December 21, 2009, 05:42:37 PM
Even if Donovan had been 100 percent healthy last year in the Stagg Bowl it wouldn't have been the same. That extra year starting is a huge difference.

Jeff improved a lot from last year to this year.  His level of health had little to nothing to do with how he played in the Stagg Bowl last year. 

The hunger generated from getting there and losing helped motivate the entire team, including Jeff.  I'm sure he wanted to play better than he had last year and wanted to go out on top.

I'm sure spring helped to solidify his understanding of the offense and gave him opportunities to work on his technique and reads.


One thing that is being underrated IMO is the development of 3 really good receivers.  All 3 have their strengths and weaknesses but the bottom line is that they catch the ball when its thrown to them and they know all their routes.  That was a huge thing for Jeff, having guys that knew their stuff and were not only dependable but playmakers.

Coach Zebrowski also deserveds credit for working with Jeff and teaching him his offense and getting the most out of him.  Coach Z deservingly won that coordinator of the year this year because Jeff was his pet project and you can see that it turned out very well.

Quote from: TooForRaider on December 21, 2009, 03:28:27 PM

Quote from: Pat Coleman on December 21, 2009, 03:11:30 PM
I think that's the hit that is in the photo on Keith's postgame story from Saturday:
http://www.d3football.com/notables/2009/12/19/1815/defense-key-for-warhawks.html

#17 played a fantastic game. The one thing I noticed the most was his intensity throughout. I thought he was representative of what I played against the first 3 go-arounds, and watched the last few. WWW always comes to play.

Lane is a beast.  He originally signed with Southern Illinois as a DB and played corner while he was there.  That's how fast and athletic he is.  Even though he is short, he is one of the strongest guys on the team and you can see his explosiveness in his hits (the two fumbles forced, knocked out the QB against Wittneberg, etc.). 

I thought the linebackers as a whole really set the tone though.  If you go back and watch they were just laying hits everywhere.  Kyle "Sup" Supianoski and Max Ford were getting their licks in as well.  I think this group really set the tone for the D early on and continued to play well througout.  I think each LB had a sack and they all were laying the wood to everyone in their path.

  I agree I thought Coppage was very good but I think you won more because of Donavan.  I think the best player on the field was Shorts but you can't give the MVP to a player on the losing team in a game this great IMO.  [/quote]

I think Levell was deserving because of the 3 TD's and the big catch and runs.  He didn't get many opportunities when compared to what he is used to but still managed over 100 yards on the ground and 3 scores.

Jeff was playing great through the first half but really got slowed down until the very end of the game when we finally put together a game winning scoring drive.  That's the only reason he doesn't win it for me, because the D was able to get him out of his game for almost an entire half while the MUC offense got them back in the game. 


Shorts was the best player on the field.