Staff Blog

Undermaned.......or were they?

Going in, you didn't have your starting quarterback. Your all-American right guard didn't play most of the game. Your all-American running back didn't play the second half. Two defensive starters went down in the second half. Kris Agenda and the training staff definitely earned their pay Saturday afternoon. Despite that, it was a Norse victory, and a hard-earned one at that.

The Norse were able to win three battles on Saturday that didn't go their way in the first three ballgames, but what impressed me the most against Cornell was the way the guys that were called on to step up did. Darin Schneider replaced Justy Feldt at quarterback, who sat out with turf toe. Schneider got more comfortable as the game progressed, as his mistakes early were ones of a quarterback excited to get his first start, such as overthrowing receivers and not setting his feet. He distributed the ball real well connecting with eight different receivers of his eleven completions.

The combination of Adam Lamos, Tyler Bass and Andrew Lauer did a very solid job replacing the injured Tyler Sherden in the second half. After Sherden rushed for 98 yards on 18 carries scoring Luther's only touchdown. Lamos and Bass combined for 85 yards in the second half. A lot of that had to do with the blocking of Lauer and the offensive line. It also helped you were facing the statistically worst run defense in the league.

Jon Stavast did not play the last three quarters. Obviously you want and need Stavast in the lineup, but fortunately there has been enough depth developed in the offensive line that you have more than adequate replacements. Sam Curtis moved from the left guard to the right guard position and Ben Schott moved in at left guard and did a solid job. It's also fortunate having guys that can play multiple positions on the line. It adds to the depth.

The defense played its best game of the year, holding Cornell to 250 yards and keeping them off the scoreboard for the first 39 minutes of the ballgame. The big play hurt this team big time in the first three games. That's something they did not give up on Saturday. The defensive line for the Norse continues to play at a very high level. They often affected passing plays with the pressure they put on Cornell's quarterback and running between the tackles was difficult for the Rams all day. I've talked a lot about making key plays at key times. One stat Saturday reflected that, third down conversions. Offensively, the Norse were 8 for 19, Cornell was four for fourteen. The offense was able to stay on the field. The defense was able to get their offense off the field.

Sources say none of the injuries were believed to be serious and as of this time many of the walking wounded are expected to be back next week. Of course, that could change.

What can you say about Tyler Pease. The senior from Stuart West Central Valley stepped up and not only set a school, but an Iowa conference record six field goals in the victory. (I wish I could start in the fantasy league this week.) Pease made field goals from 27, 33,27,22, 28 and 26 yards on the afternoon. Along with that, credit long snapper Chad Nelson and punter Andrew Burkle, who held on Saturday in Justy Feldt's absence.

Back to my original point, the Norse won the field position, special teams and turnover battles Saturday, something they lost the first three weeks. The average starting field position in the game for Luther was its own 44 as compared to Cornell starting at its own 29. On the special teams front, we've already mentioned Pease, but Andrew Burkle averaged a season high 38.5 yards per punt, including a season long 46 yards. Both the return coverage and return games had decent days. Also, a plus two on the turnover ratio helped out as well. These three facets have been the reason for the losses in the first three weeks. They turned around Saturday. Hence, the victory.

The number one thing to work on this week is turning the threes into sevens. As nice as it was for Tyler Pease to set a conference record for field goals, you turn three of those field goals into touchdowns, it ends up a 37-20 game and Cornell doesn't have hope inside of a minute remaining in the game.

As one member of the Norse told me after the game, "The first one is the hardest to get." Hopefully things start to snowball with three straight Saturdays at Carlson Stadium.

Published Sunday, September 30, 2007 at 10:12 AM by Darin Svenson

1 Comments:

Anonymous on September 30, 2007 9:12 PM

Darin,

Great commentary on a great game! I listened to a good part of the gam on KWLC.

Go Norse!

Claude
http://faculty.luther.edu/~mertzecl/

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