Staff Blog

Central Recap

Fun. Entertaining. Exciting. Wild. Weird. Back and Forth. All are words that can be used describe Saturday's 44-36 loss to Central. That and every Luther vs. Central matchup in the Jeff McMartin and Paul Hefty era. The last four games have been decided by a total of 25 points, with two going to overtime.

The difference in Saturday's game got down to turnovers, field position, special teams and big plays. The Norse lost all four of these categories and that led to the game being lost. Now, the breakdown.

TURNOVERS-The Norse turned it over four times and took it away once. In the three straight 6-4 seasons, the Norse's turnover ratio was towards the top of the league. Last year, the ratio was even. So far, this year it is negative two. Yesterday it was negative three. Luther actually scored more points off of turnovers than Central, but the costing of possessions and offensive opportunities is what hurt the most. For the second week in a row, the Norse turned it over on a punt return, giving their opponents an oppotunity inside the Norse 35. That's a trend that needs to stop. Among the two interceptions, one off the hands of a receiver, is correctable, the other came from Central's pressure, causing Feldt to shortarm the ball and the pick was made. The fumble at the end of the game came from Feldt trying to make a play for his team and those things happen. But against a team like Central, who won't beat themselves, you can't help them out as much as the Norse did Saturday.

FIELD POSSESSION-The Average starting field position Saturday was won by Central, by a good margin. Central averaged starting at its own 43. Luther averaged its own 30. On only four of 17 possessions, the Dutch started inside its own 30 yard line. Also, four times they started in Luther terrority. Luther, on ten of its 17 possession, started at its 32 or further back. Four times they started inside its own ten, twice at the one. Through a combination of the other factors being discussed, the field possession battle put both the Norse offense and defense at a disadvantage. It was especially clear in the third quarter. Luther started its third quarter drives at the 27, 6,4, 42 and the 27. Central started its possessions at the 42, 45, Luther 45 and its own 16. On the possession they started its own 16, it was one play and a score. The third quarter is when the Dutch pulled away.

SPECIAL TEAMS-Other in the kick return game, Central defeated Luther in all categories. The Norse kick returners had 200 yards in 8 returns, with Tyler Bass, Tyler Sherden and Mike Tangen all having some solid returns. Central punter Kurtis Brondyke had a great day, averaging 38 yards per punt, had three punts inside the ten, including two at the one yard line and a long of 53 yards. To go along with that, the Norse muffed three punts, lost one of them and had -17 yards in punt returns. That made the net average 40 yards per punt. The coverage unit of punt returns need to improve as well. The Dutch averaged 23.3 per return, including taking one back for a score. That needs to get better as well. The kick coverage was adequate, giving up 20 yards per return. This a battle that the coaches told me they needed to win. Unfortunately, it didn't happen Saturday.

BIG PLAYS-especially in the passing game. The Norse have given up 603 yards passing in the first two games and seven touchdowns. In the St. Olaf game they gave up plays of 47 and two plays of 40 yards. In the Central game they gave up plays of 84,33 and 22 yards. The big play has killed this team in the first two weeks. Yes, the secondary needs to improve. However, the defense as a whole needs to step up. The front line and backers did a good job of getting consistent pressure on Tim Connell, the Central quarterback, all day. Often they were just a smige away from getting sacks, and they were able to get to him twice. To Connell's credit, he took a licking and kept on ticking. But when you're that close to sacks, the line could get off the ball just that much quicker or possibly take a better angle to the quarterback to get the sack accomplished. Whether it's slight adjustements scheme or little things the players could do better, getting better against the pass will be a team effort, not just the secondary.

Of course there was positives from Saturday. Tyler Sherden had 205 yards on 40 carries and scored four times. Sherden now has five scores on the season in the first two games. He now has 30 touchdowns, tied for fifth on Luther's all-time list. The effort moves Sherden into 8th on the all-time rushing list for the Norse. By the way, the single season touchdown record is 16, set by Bernie Peters back in 1969.

The offensive line has performed very well all season. The Norse have rushed for 468 yards in two games and are averaging four yards per carry. Also after giving up four sacks at St.Olaf, they only gave up one on Saturday. Definite improvement. Most of the time, Feldt had time to throw and make decisions and reads. Most felt the line would a strength of the team coming into the season, and it definately has. Also there were very few problems with the shotgun snap between John Stohltenberg and Feldt. Definite improvement there.

We all knew the schedule was going to be challenge over the first three weeks. So far Luther is 0-2 and a nationally ranked Wartburg team comes to town next week. Another tough team. Another challenge. But not an impossible one. We've seen enough good over the first few weeks to think the Norse have an adequate chance going into next Saturday. But the offense, defense and special teams all need to perform better. Some areas need more improvement than others, but with two loses by a total of 15 points to two nationally ranked opponents, everyone can look to themselves first to get better. A good consistent 60 minutes of football with give Luther a good chance next Saturday. But, like with most things, it's easier said than done.

Published Sunday, September 16, 2007 at 10:29 AM by Darin Svenson

0 Comments:

<-- Back to Blog Home | Post a Comment

Staff Blog

Central Recap

Archives