Final: UD-27, ODU-17

[∞∞∞]

Good game Delaware.

[Rob Iola]

Clearly, Delaware is over rated.

Clearly - stupid too (how do you not see the fake punt coming a mile away?) - gonna be real sad when Towson whoops them at JohnnyU in October...

[BlueHen86]

If this is truly the best the CAA has to offer consider me unimpressed. We played terribly today, huge penalties and mistakes all over the field and we were still winning in the 4th quarter in Delaware.

Can't wait to get JMU at home and get our rematch against W&M

UD probably isn't the best the CAA had to offer. Most people think it's W&M, we'll see. As for today I was more impressed with ODU today than I was by the Hens. That said, both teams made mistakes. It's not as if UD played a perfect game and ODU was winning. UD handed ODU a TD, missed a short FG and still won.

[BlueHen86]

Clearly, Delaware is over rated.

Clearly - stupid too (how do you not see the fake punt coming a mile away?) - gonna be real sad when Towson whoops them at JohnnyU in October...

Because the defenders were more than a mile away at the time.

[Ivytalk]

If this is truly the best the CAA has to offer consider me unimpressed. We played terribly today, huge penalties and mistakes all over the field and we were still winning in the 4th quarter in Delaware.

Can't wait to get JMU at home and get our rematch against W&M

UD probably isn't the best the CAA had to offer. Most people think it's W&M, we'll see. As for today I was more impressed with ODU today than I was by the Hens. That said, both teams made mistakes. It's not as if UD played a perfect game and ODU was winning. UD handed ODU a TD, missed a short FG and still won.

Right. Some sloppy special teams play on both sides. UD had the edge in QB play. Entertaining game, anyway.

Did Biden show up? I'm guessing no, because UD won!

[ODUalum11]

Great game Delaware. I was working/training at a new job up until about 3 pm so I missed the whole entire game and didn't see a second of it. Trip sent me a update at halftime and was very impressed we were only down 13-7 and thought from then we must have a good chance to win this game. Because of that, I'm not considering this a moral victory...this loss definitely stings and can't wait for the next game/home opener against UMass. Like Bobby Wilder said, you can't dwell or gloat after 1 game in the CAA we still have a pretty good chance to be a good team this year. Only thought I have on the game is after one of my friends said Demarco didn't look all that great and that he was consistent with missing open receivers...I simply just said 1. Demarco's passing ability has always been a major concern, 2. It was against the national runner-ups from last year so what do you expect? A 400-yard passing game from a 5'11 QB? 3. Coincidence as well that I said that isn't Joe Flacco out there. (He's a ravens fan FYI) Anyway great game Delaware, as far as this week's smack talk is concerned, no hard feelings I hope it was all in just fun and games and I truly wish you guys the best of luck the rest of the season.

[CAA Flagship]

Only thought I have on the game is after one of my friends said Demarco didn't look all that great and that he was consistent with missing open receivers...I simply just said 1. Demarco's passing ability has always been a major concern

Major concern? Really? You don't think that DeMarco is good enough to rise above the category of "major concern"?
Did your friend mention the dropped passes? Did he mention the tight coverage downfield all day?
Yes, he was off on a few throws. And others he had to throw away. And on at least one occasion, the post play body language indicated that him and Evans were not on the same page on the route (Evans went one way and DeMarco threw the other). But after the 26 games he has played, many with very inexperienced players surrounding him, "major concern" is not something that comes to mind with me.
Passing ability factors in many things. I think Delaware fans would say that DeMarco's arm is stronger than Donnelly's. Interceptions have never been a problem with DeMarco so decision making is good (I suspect that Vaughan ran a wrong route that caused yesterday's interception. He tipped a ball intended for Gill that caused Gill to tip it into the hands of a defender). Players have good games and bad games. DeMarco didn't have a good game, but it wasn't awful either. He needed to thread the needle all day to have a good game and that is difficult for any QB.

[Rob Iola]

Only thought I have on the game is after one of my friends said Demarco didn't look all that great and that he was consistent with missing open receivers...I simply just said 1. Demarco's passing ability has always been a major concern

Major concern? Really? You don't think that DeMarco is good enough to rise above the category of "major concern"?
Did your friend mention the dropped passes? Did he mention the tight coverage downfield all day?
Yes, he was off on a few throws. And others he had to throw away. And on at least one occasion, the post play body language indicated that him and Evans were not on the same page on the route (Evans went one way and DeMarco threw the other). But after the 26 games he has played, many with very inexperienced players surrounding him, "major concern" is not something that comes to mind with me.
Passing ability factors in many things. I think Delaware fans would say that DeMarco's arm is stronger than Donnelly's. Interceptions have never been a problem with DeMarco so decision making is good (I suspect that Vaughan ran a wrong route that caused yesterday's interception. He tipped a ball intended for Gill that caused Gill to tip it into the hands of a defender). Players have good games and bad games. DeMarco didn't have a good game, but it wasn't awful either. He needed to thread the needle all day to have a good game and that is difficult for any QB.

You seem very sensitive about negative DeMarco comments. From what I saw yesterday he's a good runner and sees the field well on his progressions, but has great difficulty in consistently hitting his receivers on timing routes. He missed badly on 2 open receivers on the last drive in the 4th quarter, for example. He's got a fullback's build (we had that once - a tight end forced into service as a QB - that didn't end well) and probably does have a stronger arm than Donnelly, but didn't have nearly the touch that Donnelly had on both short and long passes.

[bluehenbillk]

Thoughts on the game:

Frustrating not being able to finish drives & convert TD's. UD attempted a school record 6 FG's. UD could've put some separation early but botches a punt on a freak play & fumbles in the red zone.

Credit to ODU's run defense, very impressed, they shed blocks well & stuff holes better than any CAA team I've seen. Plisco came in as advertised as well, has an NFL leg, however ODU doesn't cover punts or kickoffs very well at all.

Don't know whether to say UD's defense is much better than I thought they'd be or ODU's offense wasn't very impressive. DeMarco was not very accurate at all, yea there were some drops but most if not all of those drops were on balls that were in the dirt, behind, high, just not where they were supposed to be.

ODU put a lot of emphasis on the run & tried to use a lot of man coverage on UD's wideouts - I think Keeler & Hofher made a mistake not going intermediate & deep more as Nihja & Jones were open a lot.

[MadMaxMonarch]

Major concern? Really? You don't think that DeMarco is good enough to rise above the category of "major concern"?
Did your friend mention the dropped passes? Did he mention the tight coverage downfield all day?
Yes, he was off on a few throws. And others he had to throw away. And on at least one occasion, the post play body language indicated that him and Evans were not on the same page on the route (Evans went one way and DeMarco threw the other). But after the 26 games he has played, many with very inexperienced players surrounding him, "major concern" is not something that comes to mind with me.
Passing ability factors in many things. I think Delaware fans would say that DeMarco's arm is stronger than Donnelly's. Interceptions have never been a problem with DeMarco so decision making is good (I suspect that Vaughan ran a wrong route that caused yesterday's interception. He tipped a ball intended for Gill that caused Gill to tip it into the hands of a defender). Players have good games and bad games. DeMarco didn't have a good game, but it wasn't awful either. He needed to thread the needle all day to have a good game and that is difficult for any QB.

You seem very sensitive about negative DeMarco comments. From what I saw yesterday he's a good runner and sees the field well on his progressions, but has great difficulty in consistently hitting his receivers on timing routes. He missed badly on 2 open receivers on the last drive in the 4th quarter, for example. He's got a ****'s build (we had that once - a tight end forced into service as a QB - that didn't end well) and probably does have a stronger arm than Donnelly, but didn't have nearly the touch that Donnelly had on both short and long passes.

That's a fair assessment Rob. Although he is diminutive, I like DeMarco's toughness and ability to run when necessary. TD has never displayed great touch and is probably not a "natural" qb, but as a fan I appreciate the job he's done and his leadership on a fledgling team.

[State Line Liquors]

Congrats to ODU and a hearty welcome to the CAA. There is a bright future and fun times in store for your football program in the coming years.

Your run defense was very stout, and I think certainly controlled that portion of the game, which I'll admit I definitely did not predict. Go figure that our passing game was what won the game for us.

That said, it's a long season and there will be quite a few challenges still in store for both teams. I'm still not entirely sure where UD stacks up in the national picture, but think this was definitely a step up in quality to our previous games against West Chester and DSU. I was very disappointed with some of the mistakes we made both running the ball and on special teams. Against more experienced teams we CANNOT make those mistakes and expect to win games. Some very sloppy things.

[CAA Flagship]

Major concern? Really? You don't think that DeMarco is good enough to rise above the category of "major concern"?
Did your friend mention the dropped passes? Did he mention the tight coverage downfield all day?
Yes, he was off on a few throws. And others he had to throw away. And on at least one occasion, the post play body language indicated that him and Evans were not on the same page on the route (Evans went one way and DeMarco threw the other). But after the 26 games he has played, many with very inexperienced players surrounding him, "major concern" is not something that comes to mind with me.
Passing ability factors in many things. I think Delaware fans would say that DeMarco's arm is stronger than Donnelly's. Interceptions have never been a problem with DeMarco so decision making is good (I suspect that Vaughan ran a wrong route that caused yesterday's interception. He tipped a ball intended for Gill that caused Gill to tip it into the hands of a defender). Players have good games and bad games. DeMarco didn't have a good game, but it wasn't awful either. He needed to thread the needle all day to have a good game and that is difficult for any QB.

You seem very sensitive about negative DeMarco comments. From what I saw yesterday he's a good runner and sees the field well on his progressions, but has great difficulty in consistently hitting his receivers on timing routes. He missed badly on 2 open receivers on the last drive in the 4th quarter, for example. He's got a ****'s build (we had that once - a tight end forced into service as a QB - that didn't end well) and probably does have a stronger arm than Donnelly, but didn't have nearly the touch that Donnelly had on both short and long passes.

Not really sensitive about negative DeMarco comments regarding the Delaware game. But watching him play (live or TV/video) for at least 22 of the 26 games, I feel I have to defend the blanket statement on his "passing ability". He certainly did not have a great game yesterday. I'm giving the credit to UD for that. Nobody plays great every game. But I will say that a few of those dropped passes could have turned a sub-par game to a decent game. Not saying it would have changed the outcome though. QB'ing a spread offense is a difficult task for anybody. Do it with a young team without big receivers (like White) and it is harder.

[ODUalum11]

Only thought I have on the game is after one of my friends said Demarco didn't look all that great and that he was consistent with missing open receivers...I simply just said 1. Demarco's passing ability has always been a major concern

Major concern? Really? You don't think that DeMarco is good enough to rise above the category of "major concern"?
Did your friend mention the dropped passes? Did he mention the tight coverage downfield all day?
Yes, he was off on a few throws. And others he had to throw away. And on at least one occasion, the post play body language indicated that him and Evans were not on the same page on the route (Evans went one way and DeMarco threw the other). But after the 26 games he has played, many with very inexperienced players surrounding him, "major concern" is not something that comes to mind with me.
Passing ability factors in many things. I think Delaware fans would say that DeMarco's arm is stronger than Donnelly's. Interceptions have never been a problem with DeMarco so decision making is good (I suspect that Vaughan ran a wrong route that caused yesterday's interception. He tipped a ball intended for Gill that caused Gill to tip it into the hands of a defender). Players have good games and bad games. DeMarco didn't have a good game, but it wasn't awful either. He needed to thread the needle all day to have a good game and that is difficult for any QB.

He's done pretty good against teams that we're supposed to beat....that we're SUPPOSED TO BEAT. Look at his numbers against tougher competition (WM, Cal-Poly, and now Delaware)...very pedestrian if you ask me. And his passing stats might be a little bit misleading because from what I've seen most of those passes have been check-down routes. I can only remember 1 play so far this year that he really threw it down the field and completed it and that was our very first offensive play of the season against Campbell when he completed a deep pass to Prentice Gill.

[CAA Flagship]

Major concern? Really? You don't think that DeMarco is good enough to rise above the category of "major concern"?
Did your friend mention the dropped passes? Did he mention the tight coverage downfield all day?
Yes, he was off on a few throws. And others he had to throw away. And on at least one occasion, the post play body language indicated that him and Evans were not on the same page on the route (Evans went one way and DeMarco threw the other). But after the 26 games he has played, many with very inexperienced players surrounding him, "major concern" is not something that comes to mind with me.
Passing ability factors in many things. I think Delaware fans would say that DeMarco's arm is stronger than Donnelly's. Interceptions have never been a problem with DeMarco so decision making is good (I suspect that Vaughan ran a wrong route that caused yesterday's interception. He tipped a ball intended for Gill that caused Gill to tip it into the hands of a defender). Players have good games and bad games. DeMarco didn't have a good game, but it wasn't awful either. He needed to thread the needle all day to have a good game and that is difficult for any QB.

He's done pretty good against teams that we're supposed to beat....that we're SUPPOSED TO BEAT. Look at his numbers against tougher competition (WM, Cal-Poly, and now Delaware)...very pedestrian if you ask me. And his passing stats might be a little bit misleading because from what I've seen most of those passes have been check-down routes. I can only remember 1 play so far this year that he really threw it down the field and completed it and that was our very first offensive play of the season against Campbell when he completed a deep pass to Prentice Gill.

First, we are not "supposed to beat" anyone. Why would you say that? We have a young team clinging to whatever talent we got from our first couple of recruiting classes. Second, we played many games where teams had little to use to scout against us. We now have two seasons of tendencies built up. Defenses are taking away the long ball on us. Without Crawford, they are challenging Harper and Goodwyn. Georgia St did for the entire game while we continued to run it down their throats (to Wilder's surprise they didn't adjust). He threw a good deep ball to Gill against Hampton but the defender was step for step with him and broke it up. Like every QB that has ever played, he will have good days and bad days. Heck, Brady threw 4 picks today against the Bills and it cost the Pats the game. You mentioned the tougher competition games. Had Nick Mayers caught that perfectly thrown ball where he was alone 7 yards behind the defender, that game might have ended differently. I'm not hanging up the phone on DeMarco.

[93henfan]

Don't bash DeMarco too badly. I recall at least two throws of the 30ish yard variety where he would have hit his receivers on the hands in stride, but our DBs just made great plays.

[Steamin' Cleveland]

I think the main thing with Demarco is that he throws 85% of his passes low and hard. It makes it very difficult for anybody to catch it. He doesn't throw many interceptions, but it's at the expense of completion percentage. He did this several times when his receivers were wide open on Saturday. He just needs to recognize when he should throw it with normal power and height (open receiver) and when he needs to throw it so nobody has much of a chance to catch it (tight coverage). At the end of the day, he has been an effective qb and team leader ever since the program restarted. I honestly can't see anybody else on our roster that brings all of the intangibles to the game as Demarco. He may not be all CAA, but he will be more effective as the season moves on and as he sees more high caliber defenses.

[ODUalum11]

He's done pretty good against teams that we're supposed to beat....that we're SUPPOSED TO BEAT. Look at his numbers against tougher competition (WM, Cal-Poly, and now Delaware)...very pedestrian if you ask me. And his passing stats might be a little bit misleading because from what I've seen most of those passes have been check-down routes. I can only remember 1 play so far this year that he really threw it down the field and completed it and that was our very first offensive play of the season against Campbell when he completed a deep pass to Prentice Gill.

First, we are not "supposed to beat" anyone. Why would you say that? We have a young team clinging to whatever talent we got from our first couple of recruiting classes. Second, we played many games where teams had little to use to scout against us. We now have two seasons of tendencies built up. Defenses are taking away the long ball on us. Without Crawford, they are challenging Harper and Goodwyn. Georgia St did for the entire game while we continued to run it down their throats (to Wilder's surprise they didn't adjust). He threw a good deep ball to Gill against Hampton but the defender was step for step with him and broke it up. Like every QB that has ever played, he will have good days and bad days. Heck, Brady threw 4 picks today against the Bills and it cost the Pats the game. You mentioned the tougher competition games. Had Nick Mayers caught that perfectly thrown ball where he was alone 7 yards behind the defender, that game might have ended differently. I'm not hanging up the phone on DeMarco.

So you don't think we're supposed to beat teams like Campbell, Savannah State, NC Central? I'm not giving up on Demarco yet either but his numbers against quality teams is a very small sample size which is only 3 games. I was saying all offseason we're gonna see the real quarterback that he truly is.