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Simpson Review

The best part about last Saturday afternoon is that it's now over. Momma once said you'd have days like the Norse had last Saturday in a 28-9 loss to Simpson.

The most disappointing aspect of the day was defense. Every indication through the first two weeks of the season was this Norse squad was going to play good enough defense to keep them in every game. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case on Saturday. The Storm racked up 427 yards in total offense, including 263 yards on the ground. Returning all-conference running back Adam Reutzel was everything as advertised running for 209 yards and earning conference player of the week honors. Give Reutzel a ton of credit, Luther's tackling did leave a lot to be desired. Rarely if ever did a Storm offensive player take the big hit to send a message from the Norse defense. That's something we saw a lot of against Dubuque. Explosive plays were a problem as well as the Storm had five plays of ten yards or more, and three of more than 50 yards. Way too many to have consistent success.

The offense did do some nice things at times, but the consistent good play by play just isn't there yet. The Norse did have some good drives into Simpson territory, but failed to get any points out of them. Right now, the margin for error is just not there to not captailize on opportunities like that. The Norse ended up getting down 21-0 at the halftime break. That's a tough margin to come back from for anybody, especially with the growing pains the Norse offense presently. What makes a 21-0 margin even more difficult is Simpson's ability to run the ball. The effectiveness of the Storm to run the ball and control the clock makes a 21-0 lead almost insormontable.

There were a couple of positives on the day. The punt game, which caused a lot of headaches the first couple of weeks, was a lot better on Saturday. Rarely if ever was Andrew Burkle under pressure and he averaged 37.8 yards per punt. Backup quarterback Trent Stonerook did a very good job long snapping, as almost every snap was right on the money. If the snap is good, the punter only has to worry about kicking the ball. It's one aspect that was a negative in weeks past that at least for the moment has turned into a positive.

Also, credit wide receiver Darren Oxton with a nice game. Oxton caught eight balls for 61 yards, most of them on the underneath tough yards route. Over the past couple of weeks, Oxton has become a little bit of a favorite target for Chris Reynolds. It's nice to see a weapon develop that the Norse can go to.

This week it's Central. Some of the more entertaining games in recent Norse history have come against Central, including a victory over the Dutch at Homecoming 2004. That win for Luther was the last time Central lost a regular season home game. It's been since 2003 that Central has started the conference 0-2. The Dutch rebounded from a tough loss to Wartburg at home two weeks ago, going to Michigan and defeating Albion 13-12.

Published Tuesday, September 30, 2008 at 8:01 AM by Darin Svenson

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