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

[Hellisan]

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

[thesportsguru11]

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

Glad to see this back going.

[Matt10]

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

Bout damn time. Hope Ole MIss don't welcome you back with a beatdown.

[Hellisan]

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





Oxford, MS – The surging Ole Miss Rebels were the much stronger team yesterday as they embarrassed the Vandals by the final score of 70-14. It wasn’t so much the final score, but the way the final score was achieved, that was notable for any onlooker. The Vandal front, purportedly occupied by collegiate football players who previously had manned the line in high school, were knocked over more like preschoolers on several running plays yesterday.

The result of the offensive/defensive line domination by Ole Miss was several plays that were easy touchdowns from long distances. Quarterback Bo Wallace scored on option keepers of 80 yards, 57 yards, and 42 yards, and wasn’t touched once on any of the three.

“When you can’t even get a hand on the quarterback on a simple option keeper then obviously you’re not going to win that football game. I don’t need to even point that out,” said J.D. Clark.

Idaho had the ball first and was forced to punt when Chalich threw off the mark by 5 yards to a wide open receiver. After an early 42-yard run for a touchdown by Wallace, Chalich was sacked on 3rd down in field goal range, and cannon-legged kicker Austin Rehkow was short by a couple yards on a 57-yard field goal try.

Ole Miss then tacked on another touchdown on an option give to slot receiver Vince Sanders to make it 14-0, forced another punt, and Bo Wallace scored his second easy touchdown of the game, this time from 80 yards out on the first play of the drive.

Idaho scored touchowns on their nexst two drives, sandwiched around the Rebels’ fourth touchdown of the game, but they were almost out of gas. From that point forward, the Ole Miss defense was able to get a grip on what Idaho was trying to do and were able to shut them out in the second half.

“The most disappointing aspect of this loss wasn’t the score but the way we lost. There were at least 6 touchdown drives that were one minute thirty seconds or less, including a one-play drive and a two-play drive,” said Coach Clark. “We want to be a bend don’t break defense. Today we just flat broke.”

Maxx Forde effective in return

Defensive End Maxx Forde, the best player on defense by a wide margin, was missed over the past five weeks as he rehabbed a strained hamstring. He made his return against Ole Miss, following the bye week, and was good as new, racking up 7 tackles, 3 TFL, and 2 sacks.

“We’re glad to have him back,” said Clark. “Obviously he gives us a dimension we lack otherwise. We were overhwelmed today but he still did a great job and we expect he could be a big difference maker in a couple of games moving forward.”

[Knickerbocker91]

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

Rough loss, I know how you feel about the CPU scoring on that quick drives. Being a stats nut, it annoys me to see the CPU score drives under two minutes regardless of how many plays the drive consists of.

Still some winnable games on the schedule though, just going to have to bounce back in a big way.

[Hellisan]

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

Rough loss....

Yep, we just have eyes on the prize and that is winning the games the team is capable of winning. Believe it or not we've pretty much done that so far and we have landed some decent players in recruiting. Thanks for reading.

[Hellisan]

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


Coverage of Week 9

[Hellisan]

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

[Hellisan]

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






Moscow, ID – For a few minutes yesterday, it appeared the hometown football team that plays in the big barrel was going to win a game by a relatively large margin. That thought vanished within minutes with a furious Texas State comeback, and the Vandals ended up winning by a whisker in a single thrilling overtime period by the final score of 28-25.

The Vandals did a great job in the early going of controlling the ball, the clock, and the Texas State offense. After two quarters, the score was 10-0 and Texas State had registered just six first downs.

Coach Clark made a decision in the early going to punt the ball on 4th and short, and it set the tone for a slow paced, carefully played first half. Punter Austin Rehkow made the decision pay off by burying the ball at the Texas State 9 yard line. The Bobcats looked like they would go three and out until QB Arndt found TE Bradley Miller for a 39 yard gain, right over the top of Mark Millan, the Vandals’ best coverage linebacker. A few plays later the Bobcats were faced with a 4th and 1 at the 10 yard line, and decided to go for it. That plan backfired as they turned the ball over on downs.

Idaho responded with their first points of the game on a field goal, and on the ensuing drive DE Anthony Rice forced a fumble which the Vandals recovered. QB Chad Chalich gave the ball right back going deep a couple plays later (an “aggressive” INT, as Coach Clark later called it), but the Vandal defense forced a punt. The offense then put together a 12 play, 69 yard drive spanning 3:31 to take a 10-0 lead which lasted until halftime.

Texas State was listless on offense again to open the second half, settling for a three and out and looking predictable in so doing. Idaho could manage only a field goal to take a 13-0 lead, but they were looking solid. That is, until Arndt kept on a read option, got perfect blocking, and yet again Idaho was burned by a big play on a QB keeper as he went 60 yards in about 20 seconds and the Vandals couldn’t track him down.

The teams then traded a pair of touchdown passes. With a 19-7 lead, Idaho went for the two points and failed before the Bobcats scrambled back to striking distance at 19-14 on a 12 play, 69-yard drive. Idaho got a nice return and looked to score a touchdown to put the game away, but were forced to kick a field goal by a Texas State defense that forced a couple of key drops. The score was 22-14 with 1:50 left in the game.

Preparing for a long drive, Idaho was surprised when Arndt fired a strike over the top of the defense to WR B. Ijah, who went 58-yards to make it 22-20. Needing an extra point, Arndt then found an open man in the back of the end zone to tie the game.

The crowd was stunned, but the Vandals had 48 seconds left and a kicker with a howitzer attached to his right hip. Deon Watson returned the kick to the 37, but the team went three and out after the Bobcat defense forced a pair of highly contested drops by Dezmon Epps, and after a punt the game went to overtime.

The Vandals pulled off a major win with an open field tackle by Trey Williams that forced a field goal to open the overtime period. Kristoffer Olugbode then eased the tension by reeling off a 9-yard run on first down. Still, the defense recovered and forced a 3rd and 8 from the 10-yard line. Chalich dropped back and found a wide open Dezmon Epps on a quick hitch as the corner anticipated something deeper into the end zone, and Epps sauntered in practically untouched for the game winning score.

[Hellisan]

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

[Hellisan]

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


Coverage of Week 10

[Hellisan]

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








Seniors

#86 TE Michael Lagrone - He's had a fairly pedestrian season but is a great blocker, maybe the best we line up including the actual linemen.

#2 WR Najee Lovett - Has 20 Rec, 288 Yds, 1 TD and has delivered when called upon

#7 HB James Baker - Leads team with 639 Yds (4.3), 4 TD

#57 DT Quayshawne Buckley - Has been the only decent interior lineman fighting a losing battle all season, but we would be much worse off without him.

#39 OLB Matthew Willis - Has seen some spot starting work and racked up 33 tackles, 1 sack, 3 Pass deflections.

#12 QB Taylor Davis - Beaten out for the starting role by the much younger Chalich, he has manned the clipboard this season.

#87 WR Roman Runner - He's caught 18 balls for 299 yds, 2 TD, mostly early in the season. Punt returner has done a solid job with 9.6 yards per return.

#81 TE Taylor Elmo - Injured early in the year, he has played the role of #2 TE when healthy and doesn't stand out, in a good or bad way.

#70 RT Nick Von Rotz - He hasn't ended up playing much after getting beaten out in the spring.

#7 SS Trey Williams - Despite a lack of speed, he has been key to the defense, making 54 stops, 5 TFL, 2 sacks, and 2 INT. His work has earned him the role of impact player on D this year.

#85 TE Clayton Homme - Depth guy

#91 RE Vince Keener - Depth guy

#69 RG Larry Dugan - Depth guy

#20 CB Christian Whitehead - Sees the field in some dime and quarter packages, has registered 17 Tackles and a sack.

#98 DT Aaron Lazaro - The team mascot, he recovered an important fumble in the win against Texas State. The fact that he plays occasionally manifests our lack of talent on the D line. Nevertheless, we'll always want guys like Aaron Lazaro on the team!

[Hellisan]

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





Moscow, ID – As Daniel Powter’s “You had a bad day” blared over the Kibbie Dome loudspeakers following a 44-10 blowout triumph of Idaho over Old Dominion, Taylor Heinicke must have thought the song was being played just for him. He not only had a bad day, he had just about the worst day imaginable as a quarterback.

Heinicke threw two horrible interceptions in the early stages of the game as Idaho built a solid lead, sustaining multiple sacks in the process. As the pressure mounted, he decided to scramble one too many times and despite a nice gain, was tackled from behind by Mark Millan, who forced a fumble that the Vandals recovered. Later, Heinicke put the wraps on the game with an interception that Delency Parham returned for a touchdown. The final result: Three interceptions, seven sacks, a lost fumble and an interception returned for a touchdown. Truly a bad day.

“We had planned in advance to play the song if the Vandals won in a blowout this year, but admittedly it felt like rubbing it in a little bit,” said a sports department media staffer afterwards.

The Idaho coaching staff felt strongly this would be one of the few games all season – maybe the only game – in which the Vandal offense had a big speed advantage on the defense. With two slow safeties, the game plan was to get quick offensive players into open space on a couple of plays in the early going.

Najee Lovett took a reverse handoff on just such a play, and after finding a crease he made a quick move past the cornerback and was gone, going 74 yards for a 7-0 lead. The two interceptions by Heinicke ensued, each thrown directly at a defensive player. The Vandals turned those possessions into a short field goal and a 10-yard touchdown run by Chad Chalich, leading 17-0 at the quarter break.

Mark Millan forced a punt with a sack on third down and short, and the Idaho offense went right back to work with a 7 play, 56-yard drive spanning 1:54 as James Baker scored on a 14-yard run. Old Dominion kicked a field goal to get on the board, but he Vandals sensed blood and Chalich threw a 51-yard bomb over the top to Dezmon Epps to take control of the momentum for good. Epps finished with 5 receptions for 109 yards and a touchdown, but didn’t get the game ball as Coach Clark gave those to defensive players.

“We did some great things today, but the number one thing we did was play fast, physical, aggressive defense and took advantage of every opportunity. That’s how we’re going to shape this team in the future is to play that brand of football. We want to be the team people just hate to face,” said Coach Clark.

[Hellisan]

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


Coverage of Week 11

[Hellisan]

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


Coverage of Week 12