"Fear The Wheat!" A Wichita State Shockers Dynasty.

[kswgrad2012]

Quote: Originally Posted by bryceisdabest

Do you have any plans on moving to a bigger conference, like the Big 12, later in this dynasty?

I've thought about it. Part of me wants to bring the Big 12 back to twelve (include Wichita State). A bigger part of me wants to see the Mountain West become a Power 6 conference. Time will tell.

[DavidTheGreat20]

Was that a subtle shot at Michigan in the preview? "Just glad to be back on the national stage" made me laugh, but not in a negative, sarcastic way.

It would be fun to see you in the B12 one day. C-USA is not a step up so obviously that's out of the equation.


Sent from my iPhone using Operation Sports

[kswgrad2012]

Quote: Originally Posted by DavidTheGreat20

Was that a subtle shot at Michigan in the preview? "Just glad to be back on the national stage" made me laugh, but not in a negative, sarcastic way.

Maybe...maybe not.

[moose141]

Quote: Originally Posted by kswgrad2012

Figured you would say that. Not that it matters, but every team you like I oppose. Your Steelers to my Bengals. Your Penguins to my Blue Jackets. Just ribbing you a little.

Great work on the preseason recaps, roster, etc. But, haha, yeah no worries, hopefully we can find some common ground as non-enemies with my blue and gold against your black and gold Although, they did knock us out of the Tourney one year...

[kswgrad2012]

Shockers bring back football with victory
31,000 in attendance for nail-biter game

August 28, 2016
by Ronald Wells

It was a sellout crowd in attendance at Cessna Stadium yesterday, for Wichita State's first home football game in 30 years. And the fans were treated to a nail-biter of a game that ended in a victory for the Black & Gold. The Shockers played host to the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats of the FCS Division, a team that hasn't enjoyed much success in recent years. It was a hard-fought game from start to finish, displaying the Shockers' ability on defense above all else.

Mario Rivera was named the starting quarterback before kickoff, and had a rather forgettable performance. While he showcased his ability to move the chains on the ground (21 rush, 69 yds, TD), he also showed his inability to pass, throwing 3 interceptions. This all while only attempting 14 passes in the game. That is something head coach Kaelyn Willingham hopes changes going forward.

Quote:

Willingham: "Mario didn't play a great game today, and he knows that. Sure, he showed he can run the ball. But a quarterback's gotta be able to throw it above all else."

The pass game wasn't effective, but the run game was very effective. The Shockers ran for 287 yards, with a healthy balance of Rivera and top running backs Damien Ervin & Rusty McIntire. Ervin ran wild on the Bearcat defense early, before leaving the game in the 2nd Quarter with an injury. McIntire played the rest of the way and continued the effort, toting the rock 15 times for 69 yards. Even the receivers got in on the action, with sophomore D'Juan Torres taking a jet sweep 39 yards to the house (pictured above).

But the most impressive effort on the day for Wichita State came on defense. Sophomore DT Timmy Mayes had a night to remember with 4 sacks, breaking a school record that had stood since the 60's. He also had 4 tackles for loss and a forced fumble. The defense as a whole had 8 sacks (a team record), and held NW Missouri State to field goals through the first three quarters. The Bearcats took a 3-0 lead early on but the Shockers led the rest of the way. It was a low-scoring game, but the Shockers took the victory, 21-19.

Defensive dominance.

Wichita State hits the road next week to Iowa City for a date with the Iowa Hawkeyes, before coming home for the bye week.


Key Stats:
Passing
Mario Rivera: 6/14, 57 yds, 3 INT

Rushing
Mario Rivera: 21 rush, 69 yds, TD
Rusty McIntire: 15 rush, 69 yds
Damien Ervin: 11 rush, 83 yds, TD
D'Juan Torres: 2 rush, 50 yds, TD

Receiving
Nothing interesting to report.

Defensive
Timmy Mayes: 5 tackles, 4 TFL, 4.0 sacks, FF
Terrelle Heffner: 6 tackles, TFL, 1.0 sacks
Eddie Berg: 3 tackles, 3 TFL, 3.0 sacks

[kswgrad2012]

Shocker Football: News & Notes:


**Many of the games played in this dynasty will not get in-depth reports. I'm a college student and don't have time for that. Plus, reporting blowouts isn't nearly as fun. Games I feel deserve a write-up (like above) will get one. For the rest, we'll report on them briefly in the News & Notes section.


-So after the home opener, the Black & Gold took the road to B1G Country for a date with Iowa. Damien Ervin missed the game with a bruised chest muscle, which hampered the running attack. With no Ervin, and Mario Rivera struggling in the passing game again, that game went about as well as expected. Iowa won it 48-3.

-Not much happened over the bye week. Coach Willingham worked on his recruiting board, which is still in its infant stages. We'll report on that later. The week after, the team hit the road to Waco. The Baylor Bears were another tough opponent, and once again the team struggled to do anything. Well, that's not true. The defense played well. The offense once again was lost. But as one would think, the D can't do everything. Baylor won it 30-9. I'm sure Coach Briles was disappointed with the 30-pt showing.

-Through three games, Mario Rivera passing stats are 19/55, 167 yds, 5 INT.

-Timmy Mayes was named MWC Defensive Player of the Week in Week 1 for his 4-sack performance.

[kswgrad2012]

Around The NCAA: News & Notes:


**During the season, the News & Notes section will be split in two: one for Shocker Football, the other for Around the NCAA.


-In Week 1, Alabama marched one step closer to a title repeat. In Week 3, they took ten steps back. The Crimson Tide fell on their faces on the road in College Station. The Aggies of Texas A&M took down the Mighty Tide in an early-season SEC tilt. With Bama's loss, Clemson is now the new #1.

-Florida State also suffered a surprise upset, at the hands of the lowly Virginia Cavaliers.

-The Mountain West is having a good start to the season, with its teams winning big out-of-conference match-ups. The most notable is San Jose State, who yelled "Timber" in Palo Alto when they took down #8 Stanford. The Spartans' defense shut down Christian McCaffery and limited the Cardinal's passing game. Boise State also had a big victory in Seattle, taking down the #6 Washington Huskies.

[kswgrad2012]

Shockers fall flat in MWC Debut
Offensive woes continue; UTEP RB runs for near 300

October 2, 2016
by Ronald Wells

The Wichita State football team was excited to take the field in El Paso, TX this weekend for their first-ever Mountain West Conference game. And that game happened to be against another newcomer to the conference, the UTEP Miners. Having struggled the past few weeks, the Shockers hoped to right the ship in time for the conference slate. Those plans took a detour on Saturday when the Shockers were run off the field rather quickly. Wichita got the ball first and put together a good drive, until Mario Rivera's struggles as a passer resurfaced. The freshman threw a pick deep in the redzone, killing any momentum the team had built up. The Shocker defense did its job, forcing UTEP to punt, but Rivera screwed up again and gave the Miners the ball right back, this time deep in their own territory. That led to a field goal, and UTEP led 3-0 after one.

The Miners came into the game at 3-1, having rolled over their first three conference opponents. That's not hard to do, however, when your first four opponents include the likes of New Mexico, Colorado State, and "FCS Midwest". They were led by their All-Conference tailback Aaron Jones, who ran wild on the Shocker defense. The Miners didn't throw much but they didn't have to. Don't need to throw the ball when you can run it for 294 yards. All this despite running just 48 plays offensively.

And let's not knock the Shockers. They had their moments too, on offense. But it's hard to get any momentum going when you keep turning over the ball. It was only 13-7 at the break, but head coach Kaelyn Willingham grew sick & tired of his freshman QB. Sophomore Matt Bergstrand played the rest of the game, and wasn't much better. You could argue he was worse. While the run game worked for Wichita (HB Damien Ervin had himself a great game), the pass game was nonexistent. Amazingly, the Shockers were 10/14 on 3rd Down. They could run the ball, they just couldn't score.

The defense wore down in the second half, and Aaron Jones went off. He ran wild for 200 yards in the half (281 for the game) and a beast-mode-like touchdown in the Fourth. All in all, UTEP had a good game, winning it 32-10. Wichita State comes home for their conference home opener against UNLV, and hopefully the QB situation is resolved by then.


Key Stats:
Passing
Mario Rivera (WSU): 9/13, 84 yds, 2 INT
Matt Bergstrand (WSU): 5/8, 30 yds, 2 INT
Zack Greenlee (UTEP): 9/15, 81 yds, TD

Rushing
Aaron Jones (UTEP): 26 rush, 281 yds, 2 TD
Damien Ervin (WSU): 26 rush, 122 yds, TD
Mario Rivera (WSU): 12 rush, 56 yds

Receiving
Chris Freytag (UTEP): 3 rec, 45 yds, TD
Dion Glover (WSU): 3 rec, 38 yds
Brian Hackett (WSU): 3 rec, 30 yds

Defensive
DeMaurice Smith (UTEP): 7 tackles, TFL, 1.0 sacks, INT
Grant Bresolin (UTEP): 6 tackles, TFL, 1.0 sacks
Nick Usher (UTEP): 6 tackles, INT
Jalen Harris (UTEP): 5 tackles, INT
Terrelle Heffner (WSU): 9 tackles, TFL
Ike Hancock (WSU): 5 tackles, TFL, 1.0 sacks