I hope we really inflate our positive offensive numbers in this game and deflate our negative defensive stats to date.

Not sure how much this means, but Idaho hasn't won a road game since 2011 when they won at San Jose St and hasn't won east of the Mississippi since 2010 at WMU. Given the malaise of our offense the last two games, this could be tougher than we expected three weeks ago. The key point tomorrow will be for our offense to take advantage of their porous defense.

I wonder if we won't see someone else returning kickoffs, say Robbie Walker, instead of Devin Bass, to keep Bass fresher for defense.

Looking at the Idaho stats, their QB has run the ball 24 times on the year for -21 yards. Thus, I presume most weren't called runs. Based on that, it appears that Idaho calls about 70% passes, 30% runs. They average 7.8 yards/pass, which is good, but on 2.4 yards/rush, which is terrible. Even if you remove the QB runs, they only average 4.1 yards a rush. The situation is worse for them when you figure they are missing some starting offensive linemen.

With their passing-based attack, it should be an interesting matchup for the Ohio press coverage. As always, Ohio will come out attempting to stop the run, and they should be very effective. I doubt if Idaho manages 100 yards rushing in this game. If it becomes clear that Idaho can't run the ball, Ohio's dlinemen will start getting after the QB.

I think I heard that Idaho has given up something like 10 sacks this year, and given that sacking is a strength for Ohio, I'd guess Ohio will get at least 5 tonight. To avoid them, Idaho will have to throw the ball faster, which is where the press coverage comes in. When Ohio's DBs are up in press coverage, the uncontested short passes will be harder to come by, and the defense could get some picks.

Thanks goodness we started 178 libs to run up the middle. Fumble.

Then OUellette in for a 50 yard run.

My big gripe, again: PLAY THE RIGHT PEOPLE.

+1

Daz is very good in space, but when there's a crowd he can't handle the guys stripping the ball. Even Edmond scares me; he carried the ball pretty loosely in his 4th Q run. Oullette is definitely the best at protecting the ball.

Penalties - we have an issue - WAY too many last couple games. Unsportsmanlike on an extra point kick - C'mon!

Thanks, Ted. I love watching the replays, so I can play them in stop-action and see the details better:

On those long passes, the young OLine was doing a great job. They are coming along nicely. Sprague under-threw a lot of them, sort of floated them in, and the receivers made great catches. By contrast, the Idaho QB had a lot more zing on the ball.

On Polings big interception return to the 4, Jovon Johnson immediately recognized the INT and had a huge block on the receiver to spring him. I'm not sure why Poling turned in, initially, where in ran into Basham, instead of going outside.

On OUellette's nice run off left tackle, it was Lowery at LT and McQueen at LG. The DE went deep, and Lowery sealed him there, while McQueen did a great job of locking up the DT, and Sebastian Smith had a beautiful block on the OLB, and AJ beat the CB on his own.

On Sprague's TD, it was a classic, um, QB Trap. Pruehs pulled left for the trap block, while McQueen, Lucas, and Powell drove their guys to the right. Seriously, considering that the QB in the Pistol is lined up about where the FB is in an I-formation, I guess it makes sense to run the FB trap with the QB.

My final observation is that the guy that tackled Poling after his last interception, and who took a stiff arm, then slung Poling out of bounds was the Idaho QB. He was a big, strong, athletic guy.

I cringed when I saw that.

I guess the question is, how often do people get hurt throwing blocks? I still think most injuries come when players get hit unexpectedly, or when they get hit at the wrong time such as when cutting, or when they simply roll over an ankle, not in normal contact.

Personally I loved the block. It kind of sends a message "hey, when the time comes, I'll block for you, so you better be blocking for me all the time".

So do Peyton Manning's teammates block less well for him because he doesn't take on linebackers off the edge?

Using a QB as a lead blocker is doing a dumb thing for little reward for a hypothetical morale boost no one can prove. The upside is four extra yards. The downside is your season is over because you have your third string QB playing.

Actually, since QB blocks are rare, and usually done on things like reverses, they may be the difference between a 3 yard loss and a 40 yard gain. Your hypothetical 5 yard gain is possible as well, but the outcome of the block can be widely variable.

I might be more concerned about the possibility of an injury if I had ever seen a QB hurt while blocking.