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

[Hellisan]

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



Let's ponder this a second. Idaho was ranked for like the second time in the history
of the program just a couple of weeks ago. Now they're ranked #1 in the nation. In
a way, this has to be scaring the hell out of a guy like Coach Clark. Let's be clear.
John Dale Clark isn't afraid of much. And here I'm using "afraid" in place of the word
concerned. I like taking liberties like that. And I have a hard time not talking about
myself and inserting myself into every storyline. Oh... Where were we?

For any UI fan, the Ohio State victory has to go down as the top sports achievement
of all time. It was an incredible game, and the Vandals deserved the win. But they
absolutely do not deserve the #1 ranking in the nation.

So in addition to the prospect of facing Boise State - now ranked #4 this week and
also unbeaten like the Vandals - Clark must navigate the increased pressure that he
and his team face. A team littered with 2-star players and JUCO castoffs. Most of
whom never thought they would sniff a ranking let alone the #1 ranking in the land.

The Boise State game is interesting. The team plays on the road this week, but QB
Ryan Finley suffered a season-ending torn shoulder muscle last week. In the entirety
of Coach Clark's career, this could be the most fortunate thing that has ever
happened, in terms portending favorability in an individual game. Losing Finley is so
incredibly cruel for the Broncos, for numerous reasons. Finley is the only one of the
top three QBs that could be considered an "athlete." He's the only one with any
experience. Backup Josh Fontenot actually has a better arm, but he's much less
accurate and doesn't have the knowledge of the offense that Finley has. Looking at
this single injury, and knowing who the Vandals have taking snaps, the injury alone
moves this game from a likely loss to a very likely win. It's hard to see the Broncos
shutting down the Vandal offense enough to offset the fall-off they will experience
due to this injury.

To be quite honest with you, it's disappointing. Think about this. The Boise State
Broncos will host the ESPN game of the week. This has actually happened before - in
2010, when the Broncos were ranked #3 and hosted the #24 Oregon State Beavers.
I have to think ESPN were throwing Boise a bone, and playing to the nation-wide
interest the Smurfy ones were garnering at the time with their trick plays and huge
bowl victories; because it wasn't even the best game that week.

This game is. It's #1 vs. #4. It's easily the best game on the docket. And it's
going to be played between two teams that make their home in Idaho. That is utterly
insane.

Maybe the Broncos will see this article and themselves being written off, and surprise
everyone. I hope so, because I love being part of the story.



Week 8 Update

Indiana downs Michigan in a stunner

Why can't talented, highly ranked teams win in NCAA '14? It's honestly starting to
bug me. Enough that I'm breaking character here rather than just reporting on the
score. What the hell do I have to do? Sim games by the top teams or something?
Because this is starting to get ridiculous. NIU winning the 2013 BCS Title? Really?
Idaho just worming their way to #1 by virtue of a couple nice wins, in a weak
conference, by WEEK NINE?. I love this game, but sometimes I get frustrated
with it.


I don't feel like writing anything else this week.

It's too ridiculous.

[Cheese2121]

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

Fantastic column piece. I really enjoy the tone and persona you add to those pieces, it gives real depth and immersion to it. Huge huge game against Boise State. Even with the injury to Finley, this is going to be a great test of the team. Good luck man! Looking forward to this one!

[DynasticJumper]

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

GO INDIANA! :P. Boise State will certainly lose at some point, so the question is who else can compete for #1?

[LopaKa]

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

Oh man what a huge game coming up, take down the Broncos bro!

[Hellisan]

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

Fantastic column piece. I really enjoy the tone and persona you add to those pieces, it gives real depth and immersion to it. Huge huge game against Boise State. Even with the injury to Finley, this is going to be a great test of the team. Good luck man! Looking forward to this one!

Thanks a lot man. This character is based on a local writer here with a very similar name. I just get the impression he loves being in the know more than writing about sports. He's not a hack or anything, but he rubs me the wrong way. lol

GO INDIANA! :P. Boise State will certainly lose at some point, so the question is who else can compete for #1?

If they get past Idaho, their schedule is Mountain West all the way through. Can't think of another team that would be favored within the division and they avoid Fresno in the West this year.

Oh man what a huge game coming up, take down the Broncos bro!

Thanks Lo!

[Hellisan]

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

[Hellisan]

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



When I was hired to write for the Statesman a few years ago, we never sent
anyone to Moscow to cover the Vandals. When they hired coach J.D. Clark, I had
absolutely no idea who he was.

I do now. The Vandals are must-watch TV, much to the chagrin of the locals here in
Boise. Their success demands coverage, and their coverage within the pages of this
newspaper continues to increase year in and year out, to where it is nearly as much
as received by the home team.

Coach Clark created that from nothing. If they weren't the worst team in college
football they were certainly the least prestigious. And he has done it primarily by
being a good guy off the field and a snorting, pawing, pacing jerk on the field. The
referees know they're in for a long day if they cross this guy, believe me. Probably
even if they don't. He fights for his team every step of the way. He was at his
angry, haranguing best yesterday, then later could be seen with his jaw agape after
the final interception by Eric Lawson. He was a man on a mission. A mission that
failed.

Watching the three second-half interceptions, and hope of a championship likely
washing down the drain, Clark seemed devoid of energy afterward.

"We tried so hard, and just could not get it done today," he said. "We laid it all on
the line. We did everything the best way we know how. Sometimes that's just not
enough and that's what we're dealing with today."

I have to wonder if the post-game malaise was just that, or if Clark is growing leery
of the difficulty winning in Idaho. With Youmani Jones out for a couple of weeks and
Albert Hidalgo going down with a knee injury early in the game, the weapons
available to QB Eric Lawson were fewer and fewer. It sounds like an excuse, but
toward the end of the game it seemed like Lawson's options were just running out -
or on the sideline trying to catch their breath.

Clark also seemed miffed specifically to lose to Boise State particularly, then have to
deal with the local media afterwards. It's pretty normal for coaches and media types
to become chummy - believe me, I know. I think Clark sensed the excitement level
with some of the writers that cover Idaho after Boise's amazing win yesterday. It's
pretty safe to say the Vandals will always play second fiddle to the Broncos.

Well, strike that. With Clark around, it's a lot less of a given than it used to be.

[LopaKa]

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

Tough loss on the Smurf Turf bro. The Broncos have bee a thorn in my side in my Hawaii dynasty, so I feel your pain. However, I know you guys will bounce back and will have a shot at a great bowl game!

[gsutiger]

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

That was tough to read hate to see Idaho fall to BSU. That dang on blue turf crushed big dreams. hopefully you dont fall to far in the polls

[Deegeezy]

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

Tough loss, but knowing my guy Hellisan, this was probably viewed as a good loss. It is quite obvious that you weren't feeling your Vandals being top-ranked.

That said, that was a very un-Lawson like performance. Sucks about Hildago, but Montgomery is more than capable.

Love that camera shot of the Boise St. players celebrating. Great video game photography there as always my friend.

[Cheese2121]

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

Tough loss my friend but like Deegeezy said, I feel like the team was a bit over-hyped. Doesn't mean I still wasn't rooting like mad for you to win this one and blow the BCS wide open.

Losing Hidalgo is just insult to injury at this point, although I am not too worried about Montgomery picking up the slack.

Hang in there my friend and bounce back. This is still a very special season for you.

[Hellisan]

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


Week 9 Update

NC State takes Clemson out of contention with Overtime win

The Wolfpack played impressively - right up to the level of Clemson, outgaining the
Tigers by one yard and two first downs, and putting up an astounding 410 yards on
the ground. Freshman cornerback Andrew White returned a third quarter pass 72
yards for a touchdown, and senior Josh Mercer scored a touchdown from six yards
out in Overtime and the Tigers could not match.


Michigan loses second in a row, now likely done

Teams with truly credible seasons on display are dwindling. Rapidly. Boise State is
the only unbeaten in the Top 25, and after Michigan lost to Rutgers for their second
loss in two weeks, there are just four credible one-loss teams in the Top 10,
including Idaho. These teams are MSU, LSU, Wake Forest (trounced by Idaho earlier
in the year). There's also Oregon, lurking at #13, and Rutgers at #15 in the BCS
rankings. Oregon has beaten a pair of ranked teams. It has taken the polls a
while to warm up to them, but they could be dangerous in the last few weeks.
Rutgers, on the other hand, seems destined to fall short of getting in true
contention.

Idaho, it would appear, it still sitting pretty with two wins against top-ranked teams
and a close loss on the road to #1 Boise. They face #25 Fresno State in a couple
of weeks in a game that could gain them some additional clout, if they are unbeaten
when that game rolls around.






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COMMENTS!

Tough loss on the Smurf Turf bro. The Broncos have bee a thorn in my side in my Hawaii dynasty, so I feel your pain. However, I know you guys will bounce back and will have a shot at a great bowl game!

Thanks bro. It was a thorn in my side. Damn turf.

That was tough to read hate to see Idaho fall to BSU. That dang on blue turf crushed big dreams. hopefully you dont fall to far in the polls

It really was the turf at least in part. I swear I didn't see the defenders at times. On the field theoretically they shouldn't be losing defenders in the turf. Maybe the padded end zones and sidelines that are probably all blue. But in this game you're staring down at the field from a heightened position on pass plays. I'm telling you on 2 of those INT's I had no idea there was anybody in the area. Damn.

Tough loss, but knowing my guy Hellisan, this was probably viewed as a good loss. It is quite obvious that you weren't feeling your Vandals being top-ranked.

That said, that was a very un-Lawson like performance. Sucks about Hildago, but Montgomery is more than capable.

Love that camera shot of the Boise St. players celebrating. Great video game photography there as always my friend.

I didn't pre-plan the loss or anything but you're right, I was just uncomfortable with how easy it seemed to be to get ranked high. We did have the huge Ohio STate win, don't want to discount that. I would say I'm really happy how competitive the MWC is on a national scale though. Three top 25 teams and two teams that are still in the national title hunt. That's better to me than dominating. Not that I'm planning it, because that wouldn't be fun.

Thanks, I'm enjoying putting time into the pics. That is a fun thing for me. I try to get a few pics of everybody.

Tough loss my friend but like Deegeezy said, I feel like the team was a bit over-hyped. Doesn't mean I still wasn't rooting like mad for you to win this one and blow the BCS wide open.

Losing Hidalgo is just insult to injury at this point, although I am not too worried about Montgomery picking up the slack.

Hang in there my friend and bounce back. This is still a very special season for you.

Thanks, I appreciate that coming from a wise one such as yourself. We have a chance to still do huge things this year. Need to bounce back against UNLV. They look ripe for the picking. :-)

[Hellisan]

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

[Cheese2121]

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

That is how you bounce back! Fantastic game all around and Lawson was on fire. It really hurts to lose him though, especially against Nevada and potentially Fresno State. Hopefully he can be back sooner rather than later. I liked the move to give Archie some touches (even if he did lose his helmet for a minute ha!). Great stuff as always my friend!

[Hellisan]

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


Week 11 - Idaho Vandals at Nevada Wolfpack - November 4, 2017 - 1:00 p.m.


Idaho heavily favored against 1-8 Nevada

Kirk Herbstreit has thrown his weight behind the Idaho Vandals, picking the road
team to win easily in Reno, Nevada. That doesn't mean much to Coach Clark and
the Vandals, and it's not a surprise given the records.

Normally, the Vandals would be confident about facing a team like Nevada that has
a pair of good coverage corners because the safeties are suspect, and Eric Lawson
can tear up pretty much any defense, most of the time. Unfortunately, Lawson will
miss this game and backup Brad Wright will be running the show. He may be spelled
occasionally by Tyleke Tennison, the athlete turned wide receiver who played QB in
high school. Tennison has better running ability but likely will not attempt a pass in
the game unless it's something over the top to surprise the defense. In any case,
neither of these options are anywhere near the passer Lawson is.

Cornerbacks Dashon Hunt and James Harris will be looking to shut down the Vandal
wide receivers and have a good shot at doing so without Lawson in the game. Hunt
is a great player of his own accord, and has reigned in seven interceptions in his
impressive career. The Wolfpack have solid defenders at every level of the defense
including impressive 6'4" 234 OLB Noah Jefferson, and 6'2" 251 MLB Alec Moreno.

Offensively, the Wolfpack present problems with Senior QB Dante' Mayes willing and
able to pick up yards with his feet. If he gets into this mode he could wreak havoc
upon a Vandal defense that does the basic things pretty well. After all, they're #1
in the nation in terms of yards allowed.