Final: Western Michigan 52 Eastern Illinois 21; WM QB throws for 364 yds and 5 TDs

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Been telling people they have a heck of a QB . Should be a real test for our improved defense.
 

I think it will be very difficult for the Gophers to go 4-0 going into the conference play. The next two opponents are not push-overs. Syracuse lost by one to Northwestern and gave USC all they wanted today. I saw somewhere that Western Mich. is one of the favorites to win their conference. Should be some real tough entertaining games.
 

Will be tough, but this is where the Gophers take a step forwards. It wasn't today. The next two weeks will tell us alot.
 

afurry91 said:
Will be tough, but this is where the Gophers take a step forwards. It wasn't today. The next two weeks will tell us alot.
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I agree. These first two games are really ones the Gophers should never lose. The next two are legit opponents, one a likely conference champ and the other from another major conference who has been playing good teams tough so far.

We win these two games and there's a real chance the Gophers make a bowl game, they lose both then maybe not as much progress has been made as we think. A split of the two and there's still an outside chance of a bowl game but we probably still have made good progress.
 


Eastern Illinois is one of the worst teams in NCAA. This game was 14-14 after 1Q.

Alex Carder 26-43 239 YDS 1 TD 3 INT vs Illinois. WMU had 13 FD and 259 yds TO vs Illini. Good luck, Broncos.

Syracuse could be 0-3. Good luck, OrangeThings. No Minnesota Nice. Take no Prisoners.
 

Eastern Illinois was 2-9 in the FCS Ohio Valley Conference. We need to take Western Michigan seriously, but no need to quake in our boots.
 

Illinois stoned western michigan last week and now illinois is being bitch slapped by ASU. No worries.
 

highwayman said:
Eastern Illinois is one of the worst teams in NCAA.
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Well, no, since NCAA also includes Division II and Division III. But certainly not a good team. Our thumping of New Hampshire is much more impressive.
 



highwayman said:
Eastern Illinois is one of the worst teams in NCAA. This game was 14-14 after 1Q.

Alex Carder 26-43 239 YDS 1 TD 3 INT vs Illinois. WMU had 13 FD and 259 yds TO vs Illini. Good luck, Broncos.

Syracuse could be 0-3. Good luck, OrangeThings. No Minnesota Nice. Take no Prisoners.
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E. Illinois is still one of the top 200 football teams on this planet....just like UNLV :cool02:
 


They have a decent QB. I'm guessing we're going to see a lot more of the run game when the Gophers have the ball again. It doesn't matter how good the QB is, if the D Line is getting pressure and forcing him into early throws or throws that he doesn't want to make, the Gophers should win by 10 or so.
 

Given their passing game, the O-line for WMU is likely a big upgrade from UNLV or New Hamphire Tech, College, State or whatever they're called.

The DL play thus far has been great but they're about to start facing some big and bigger uglies the rest of the way. UNLV's starting QB was a RS-Frosh and NH had to play their back-up (another Frosh).
 




The formula that seemed to work for Illinois was to stifle their running game (-6 rushing yards on 19 attempts vs. Illinois). Then they become one dimensional, making turnovers more likely (3 interceptions thrown vs. Illinois). WMU actually out-gained Illinois by 11 yards, but the 4-1 turnover ratio was the big decider.

WMU's defense looked pretty good against Illinois, allowing only 133 passing yards and 2.3 yards per rush.
 

Illinois looked really bad yesterday vs. ASU...I'm expecting a win. The team better not overlook them. But this should be a win against W. Michigan.
 

mcrow said:
I agree. These first two games are really ones the Gophers should never lose. The next two are legit opponents, one a likely conference champ and the other from another major conference who has been playing good teams tough so far.
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Not sure where you've been reading, but "likely conference champ" is a terrible pick. Ohio is far and away the class of the MAC, and I'd pick either NIU or Toledo to come out of the West before I'd pick WMU.
 

I have led the "gophers have not played anyone yet" group.

However they are winning the games they are supposed to while all the time gaining experience and confidence. They don't have to win both of the remaing non-conference games to threaten a bowl birth; a sweep would be nice but a split is all that is needed in what appears to be a down year in the Big Ten.

I would consider a 6 win season and flirting with a bowl game more than a successful season considering the last two seasons we have had.
 

The OL for Western Michigan is B1G in size. However, their play is not physical enough from what I could see in their game with Eastern Illinois. Pretty good in pass protection, although they ran against that FCS team but got nada against Illinois. My guess is they will be passing against us. I am confident that the Gophers will pull away in the second half.
 

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