The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

[Deegeezy]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

Mills looks like he'll be a godsend, at least on paper. With his size and movement skills along with being as tough as a linebacker in contact, we look for big things. Thanks man. Archie, I'm worried about. His speed may make things too easy. lol (97) What I like is that doesn't mean he will be a 99 with my improvement system, I don't think kids get faster in college generally so I work that into the improvement model. Only rarely will players improve on speed and they are usually slow ones.

What you call "making things too easy," I call "taking your team to the next level."

Get creative and have fun with your recruiting prize. Looks like an awesome pass-catching option out of the backfield and return man candidate. Time to put Idaho on the map!

[Matt10]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

Ridiculous amount of depth put into this report, Helli. One of my favorites by far. I can't wait to see how the season goes without Bully though. Glad I get to be caught up right at the start of a new season.

[Hellisan]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

What you call "making things too easy," I call "taking your team to the next level."

Get creative and have fun with your recruiting prize. Looks like an awesome pass-catching option out of the backfield and return man candidate. Time to put Idaho on the map!

he can't catch, actually. LOL. A bit one dimensional, we'll try and work him in there about half the time, i envision a thunder/lightning combo. I'm sure he may be able to catch the occasional screen pass, however if the game is on the line he won't be getting a shot most likely.

Ridiculous amount of depth put into this report, Helli. One of my favorites by far. I can't wait to see how the season goes without Bully though. Glad I get to be caught up right at the start of a new season.

Thanks Matt. I'm gonna miss that old lug. lol.

[Hellisan]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

[Hellisan]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)





Clark Talks Goals for the Upcoming Season

Q: You've won 10 games twice in a row but you're still not satisfied with where the program is. Why is that?

A: We still blow it when we have a chance to do great things. The media knows better than anyone what our failings are, but I'm not happy with some of it. We're 0-7 against Top 25 teams. We're 1-3 against rivals (Boise State and WSU). I'm still pissed about that bowl game we lost two years ago where our effort wasn't there. Last year we had a chance to get back into the Mountain West championship game, and got blown out by Fresno. They're a good team and they earned that win, but we have to keep improving and get that fixed this year. We have to be more patient against them and do a better job of playing them straight up.


Q: So what is the #1 goal for Coach Clark this season?

A: Conference Championship. Straight up. We need to win the conference championship. Doing that will put everythign else in its place.


Q: You lose Bully this season, and he was the heart and soul of the offense during his two seasons here. How do you replace him?

A: You really don't. We're going to be a different type of offense this year. That doesn't mean we can't be better. We still have a ton of talent in my opinion. If you asked me to predict overall yards, I'd tell you we're going to improve. What we might see being different is the conversions on short yardage. The time of possession. Things like that. Don't forget we lose Austin Rehhkow too. He was a game changer for us. Getting points anytime we got past the 50 yard line practically (laughs). That's ridiculous. Our expectations and goals on each drive are going to be different now.


Q: What does Richard Montgomery bring to the table? He's a good receiver but not a good runner, right?

A: His average yards per carry isn't stellar for his career, but this is a guy who has worked hard. He's not a speed burner, but he's a helluva lot quicker and faster than Bully. He's a running back that can do it all. He will split out wide and you'll see him catch the ball a lot. He might be our leading receiver this year. You'll see Albert Hidalgo in the backfield a lot, and you'll see guys switching in and out of roles. We have to manufacture and scheme more offense than we did before, when we just handed it to Bully and said, "go."


Q: What do we look for from Youmani Jones?

A: He's a guy that showed up with one thing to offer and that was speed. But he's an incredibly hard worker, and he's starting to add things to the equation. He's got good awareness. He already has the best hands on the team. His routes are improving. He can make somebody miss after the catch or take it to the house if he gets the chance. He's already got experience making big plays, winning the Randy Moss award last year. That's big, and now he just has to take that mentality to the other position. He'll be on the field at all times, but he doesn't have to be the #1 receiver this year. We have so many targets, and we trust Lawson to make the right decision. He'll find the open man.


Q: Thanks Coach Clark

A: You're welcome. Go Vandals!

[Hellisan]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)


2017 Preseason Report

[BookWork123]

Re: The Coaching Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

Pretty decent schedule. Just one question, why is Temple listed as your opponent in bowl week?


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[Cheese2121]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

Fantastic season preview man! I loved reading it. Seeing the roster and getting ready for the start of the season, makes me very excited that you decided to hang around in Idaho for at least another season.

Love the pieces you have in place on offense. I think Lawson is going to have an amazing season and you heard it here first but I think Montgomery will actually surprise some people on the ground and be more than just a receiving back.

Can't wait to see you square off against Ohio State!

[Hellisan]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

Pretty decent schedule. Just one question, why is Temple listed as your opponent in bowl week?

Thanks, typo and bleed-through from previous schedule. Fixed.

Fantastic season preview man! I loved reading it. Seeing the roster and getting ready for the start of the season, makes me very excited that you decided to hang around in Idaho for at least another season.

Love the pieces you have in place on offense. I think Lawson is going to have an amazing season and you heard it here first but I think Montgomery will actually surprise some people on the ground and be more than just a receiving back.

Can't wait to see you square off against Ohio State!

Thanks Cheese. On the topic of Lawson, I find it fascinating how hard it can be to avoid throwing interceptions, from a perch 30 feet above the field where you can see just about everything. When you let the ball fly and there's a guy open, he hits the guy in stride the vast majority of the time. Just great accuracy. And on paper, our team is vastly improved in the pass block game. We have an adequate amount of weaponry. So I think you're right. If I can avoid being a dunce, then he could have a great great season.

Where I think you're wrong, is on the topic of Montgomery as a runner. I want to know if anyone else agrees with me that sometimes the ratings for the player may not line up with what you see on the screen. This guy..... Just shaking my head man. He gets the ball and anytime he gets anywhere near an off. lineman he will stumble. He takes forever to get moving. FOREVER. I keep thinking it's mental, and that he should be better like his ratings say, but he just keeps sucking. The blocking usually is a bit worse for him than others. Even when it's not, he seemingly turns 10 yard gains into 4 yard gains every damn time. He goes down at the first contact EVERY SINGLE TIME. I'm not sure how long I will give this guy but he gets another chance.

[beast10]

Re: The Coaching Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

Haha, I know the exact feeling. It may have to do with my low run block slider, but my backs are constantly doing exactly what you just said. They are, however, actually rated low but sometimes they screw up potential big gains because of their rigid running.

And btw, I've been following this for a while. Love the layouts and detail you put into your work, has deinitley inspired me. Good luck this season

[Deegeezy]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

Where I think you're wrong, is on the topic of Montgomery as a runner. I want to know if anyone else agrees with me that sometimes the ratings for the player may not line up with what you see on the screen. This guy..... Just shaking my head man. He gets the ball and anytime he gets anywhere near an off. lineman he will stumble. He takes forever to get moving. FOREVER. I keep thinking it's mental, and that he should be better like his ratings say, but he just keeps sucking. The blocking usually is a bit worse for him than others. Even when it's not, he seemingly turns 10 yard gains into 4 yard gains every damn time. He goes down at the first contact EVERY SINGLE TIME. I'm not sure how long I will give this guy but he gets another chance.

I am going through the same issue actually. My starting RB is an 85 overall rated senior with 88 speed and 90 btk, his backup is a 79 overall juco sophomore that has only 84 speed and 79 btk and for some reason, the latter guy is just flat-out the better player.

Davis, the senior has 301 yards on 70 carries, drops passes left and right, fumbles left and right, and it just "feels" like the OL doesn't block as well for him.

Meanwhile the sophomore Johnson has 645 yards on 113 carries and 7 touchdowns. And in turn it feels like the OL blocks better for him and I have an easier time finding holes to run through with him. So weird.

I must say I am very impressed with your roster overall. You guys are positioned to dominate this year. You may have some issues with your back-7 on defense, but with that ammo you have on offense, I still see you out-scoring almost all of your opponents.

I think you guys, on paper, can hang with Ohio State. That QB and RB combo along with the speed you have at WR should keep you in most games. And that O-Line looks VERY above average.

What's up with the D+ special teams though? They don't look THAT bad.

[mattrd39]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

Love the depth of the roster preview! Must have been at least somewhat difficult to redshirt some of the incoming guys with superior physical attributes like Archie, Roach, and Gonzalez. I know you have okay depth in front of them at RB/CB in terms of OVR, but obviously sometimes those guys can change games while playing just a few select snaps or situations.

Agree that sometimes the kicker/punter can make a big difference sometimes and Rehkow will be tough to replace.

I'll go opposite of Cheese and project that it'll actually be Albert Hidalgo that ends up leading the team in rushing. His edge in STR, BTK, and TRK make him more appealing than Montgomery to me.

Surprised your "AD" was able to get both Wake Forest and WSU to visit the Kibbie Dome this year! Looking forward to that test at the Horseshoe!

[Hellisan]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

Well, this was what I kept saying was the bright spot to NCAA football going away. A 4-month break mostly due to work but also due to getting back into Skyrim again (I swear I'm still finding new things in that game). I couldn't be more excited to get back into this, but my work load hasn't really eased. I'm going to be a little more aggressive about sticking to an 8-10 hour work day and take at least one weekend day off per week and see if that can get me back into the swing of things. Nevertheless, I'm still pumped about this team, this dynasty, etc. I know most of us either have crazy school or work hours - it's hard to get by these days - so I'm not exactly alone.

I must say I am very impressed with your roster overall. You guys are positioned to dominate this year. You may have some issues with your back-7 on defense, but with that ammo you have on offense, I still see you out-scoring almost all of your opponents.

I think you guys, on paper, can hang with Ohio State. That QB and RB combo along with the speed you have at WR should keep you in most games. And that O-Line looks VERY above average.

What's up with the D+ special teams though? They don't look THAT bad.

We lost our kicker and punter who had a 97-99 leg throughout his career. And, I think I may have had a low-rated returner subbed in there as well. So call it probably a C+. Now we have a below average kicker/punter for a team of our status and it's going to be interesting having to make every special teams tackle. I think we're gonna give up a few long returns and maybe a couple TD this year since we're kicking it to about the 1 yard line area on average, and aren't likely to get many Touchbacks.

Love the depth of the roster preview! Must have been at least somewhat difficult to redshirt some of the incoming guys with superior physical attributes like Archie, Roach, and Gonzalez. I know you have okay depth in front of them at RB/CB in terms of OVR, but obviously sometimes those guys can change games while playing just a few select snaps or situations.

Agree that sometimes the kicker/punter can make a big difference sometimes and Rehkow will be tough to replace.

I'll go opposite of Cheese and project that it'll actually be Albert Hidalgo that ends up leading the team in rushing. His edge in STR, BTK, and TRK make him more appealing than Montgomery to me.

Surprised your "AD" was able to get both Wake Forest and WSU to visit the Kibbie Dome this year! Looking forward to that test at the Horseshoe!

Thanks Matt. I always enjoy putting the preview together and take my time with it, and this year is even more the case because this is pretty much all my team (recruited players) now. Or original Vandals that are in their 5th year with us :-) .

Yeah - it was a little bit of a challenge redshirting some guys, particularly Archie and Gonzalez. But I feel that we can afford to wait so why not do it. Plus Coach Clark has a little bit of equity :-)

I feel Roach is pretty comparable to Hidalgo but when we get him on the field maybe he'll be more of a badass. I'm learning more and more that you just have to put the RB in there and see who gets the most yards most consistently and then make changes again when they don't do so well.

I think your projection on Hidalgo is pretty good, I anticipate they may have similar running numbers when all is said and done.

As far as Wake and WSU playing in the Kibbie Dome, yeah I know what you mean. Sometimes "realism" changes as you go along and make up storylines and in this one the Vandals are getting good and have renovated the Kibbie Dome + sell it out every game. The Battle of the Palouse has been played many times in Moscow but not since 1966 so I think it's realistic to see a return now that the Vandals have surpassed WSU in terrms of success and are close in attendance.

Wake was dictated by having 5 road and 3 home games in MW play this year I tried to set it to an away game and I think it switched.


Thanks as always you two (and many more) for the insightful comments. I always start by saying this is primarily for my enjoyment and while that remains true the comments and insight increase the enjoyment even above what it would be.

[Hellisan]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

[djp73]

Re: The Career of J.D. Clark (NCAA 14)

Build the JD Clark statue now! Very impressive comeback win, that should build some serious momentum for this season.