GVFootball.com

Tonight was the first Chuck Martin Radio show of the 2008 season. And… it’s our first blog post since the signing class waaaaaayyyy back in February. It’s been a long time but just because the front page has been silent, the forum is definitely buzzing and so is the coding behind the scenes to bring some new features to this year. We’ll get to more of that later.

The Chuck Martin Show is broadcasted live from Main Street Pub every Thursday night during the season between 6 and 7 pm. People not in the Allendale area can tune in to 1230 AM every week to here Steve Lloyd Jones and Dick Nelson quiz Chuck Martin on last weeks game and this weeks opponent. Dick Nelson also includes a segment called “Going Deep with Dick Nelson” to recap the rivalry with the upcoming team.

Bold lines are Steve/Dick. Non-Bold lines are Chuck Martin.

I didn’t make it to Main St. until about 10 minutes into the show so Chuck was already in the middle of discussing the offensive positions at that time. Here is what I caught from tonights show:

—– START —–

Offense

Tight End: Both Blasko and Matthews both had great camps and should play a major role in our offense this year.

Wide Reciever: Koster and Bass are returning and will both need to step up to show leadership as the season progresses. Behind that there is lots of talent but no one is ready to start.

Will we see more Smolen? Yes and no. I think we played him a fair amount last year but he will basically every everywhere (except TE but only be he can’t block).

Running Back: Blake, Gates (only newcomer that is ready), Kimble, and Gay. They all have lots of talent and will make plays if they are given holes.

Quarterback: Iciek: smart, expecting big things (both ways), makes coaching easy, sees the same things that the staff sees, etc. Behind him, Eastman and Somerville both had good camps and will provide depth.

Budweiser Hot Seat: Who is the worst golfer on your staff? *thinking* I would have to say Barnett but that is only a guess based on the reaction he gives to “Do you want to go golfing?”

Defensive Line: Skuta is doing very good and will make lots of plays. Richard is darn good. The two of them are probably the most dynamic duo in D2. Behind them we have some depth if we can stay healthy. Travis and Lawrence will start on the ends. Gilde and the transfer from Cinncinati (name?) will alternate at nose. Loosing Beaty Carruth and Adams was hard but we have some talent coming. Howard will start and it might be scary but he has the talent. Wojo will be the backup for him. Anderson will take Kirk’s spot and had the best camp of anyone on the team. With Bueke and Flutur behind him. At corner, Huley (Juco kid from IL) will start and had a great camp. Either he is really good or our WR’s will have problems because he was dominating them. Most definitely a play maker. Darden will back him up with Carlisle and Edwards on the other side. Parte might play some here as well. We have both our safeties back and will expect big things from Samad and Jake. Breen and Baker are right behind them with some good local talent.

Going Deep with Dick Nelson - Mobile QB

• more movement expected
• using the spread O, you need a QB that can read the keys. Anes was very mobile and good with the keys in his junior year but after the knee problems was not as good at this.
• Iciek isn’t much of a runner that we had with Cullen but keys are more important than the running.
• In the past, was the coach scared to run or could they not truly run? Maybe both but with the formation they were trained to drop back and pass. That doesn’t mean some were not good runners though.
• When did this become popular in the GLIAC? In the late 90s. Brian Kelly brought the spread in 2001 after having a slow start for a few years after the 1999 decision to start a group of freshmen.

Indianapolis has already played this season with a 40-14 victory over Kentucky Wesleyan. Concerned?  That does give them a slight advantage because they had a chance to figure out what the new kids can and can not do but it is not much and we aren’t worried.

Indy’s coach has basically grown up in the GLIAC and had been in his position for 15 years - does this help? yes experience always helps and especially in the same place for so long.

They seem to have a pair of good RB’s - prepared? They have Jenkins (who we saw two years ago) and Campbell. Jenkins is a big physical runner who had 1000+ yards in 2006. Campbell isn’t so sure of himself and sometimes runs away from the action. Last week, they had 413 yds but that could be the fault of bad defense. They are a good team that always seems to be on the cusp but normally have one bad loss and end up around 500.

Wrapping Up

Definitely ready for the season to start with the ‘Saturday Nights under the Lights’ at Lubbers Stadium. Anyone who has been there knows how it feels. The fans are there early and stay late.

Turf Building? Very nice facility that we are lucky to have and it was very nice today when it was raining. As we were leaving, the baseball team was coming in to practice but the facility is not just for the varsity sports as classes and intramurals will also be held there. It will really benefit the student body as a whole.

—– END —–

During the show, I took some random notes of other things that I overheard and found note worthy.

• The team is very good on paper and has the talent and depth
• The OL has some great players but no experience
• Indy? They play a running game but shouldn’t be a problem. they were 8th in the GLIAC poll and their DB’s suck. expect lots of players to see the field.
• Gilde will be swapping with gawronski. He had an awesome camp and just keeping coming and coming.

Until next week…

I was unable to make it to the Chuck Martin show tonight due to other obligations. Anyone else have any notes? Email me if you have some notes to share..

The Chuck Martin Show is broadcasted live from Main Street Pub every Thursday night during the season between 6 and 7 pm. People not in the Allendale area can tune in to 1340 AM every week to here Steve Lloyd Jones and Dick Nelson quiz Chuck Martin on last weeks game and this weeks opponent. Dick Nelson also includes a segment called “Going Deep with Dick Nelson” to recap the rivalry with the upcoming team.

Bold lines are Steve/Dick. Non-Bold lines are Chuck Martin.

Here are my rough notes from 10/25:

GVSU owns the D2 streak record - Ferris Week this week at GV

51-20 over Northwood. Offense on display. over 600 yards in 3 quarters ya no question we played quite well with not much to critique. one or two drives that we missed one thing but it was pretty much touchdown touchdown touchdown. we threw into the wind in the 2nd and 3rd like it was nothing at all.
2nd QB to have 2 games over 400 yards 2 games over 400 and only played 7 games. it would have been 3 at mercyhurst. the oline is doing great with blocking and WR are doing great at catching. he is just putting up ridiculous numbers. his QB rating is number than anes rating when he won the harlon hill. he is doing great but its a huge compliment to the whole offense
trent was in as a blocker but he ended up with possessions ya he is definitely making plays. i think he has a TD in every game. he started coming up last year. he has played more of role with eric/terry gone.
RB stats, nothing stands out but all 3 is impressive ya we are trying to rotate them a lot. when all 3 are playing as impressive, no reason for them to play tired. there is a kid on the bench that can do the same thing. garris had a tremendous game. he got a 43 yard TD play off a play that was basically done. there were a few missed tackles that killed the play but he turned it around along with some tackles by the WR. blake is kind of my new cullen. he drives me nuts. i pick up the stats sheet and i think “why am i yelling”
offense line never missed a beat without allen all of them have played tremendous but nick XXXX did great as a real starter. he has been rotating but stepped up great for allen. they make it easy to play QB in 2007.

Budwieser Hot Seat
51-20 win, set record, you have not been winning but crushing. do you worry that credit is not given where due? don’t really care. all the records from the past do not have playoffs so I think its a lot harder to set the record with the playoffs. 7 of the 8 rounds in this streak have been the best teams in the country. ES doesn’t matter really.
Adjusting to the woodbone and then going back to spread? ya its been an adjustment. this offense is more like findlay and normal spread but then start motioning guys in the option. This has been an offensive year this year and every game it seems like the stats are averaging 31ish points and our defense stops them. NU was averaging 27 and they were 11th in scoring.
Bye week for NU, throw anything new out? Nothing much was different. tried harder to get at the AA block and they put their best blocker to get him cut. AA has just wrecked their option since 2004 basically on his own. They did a better job this year.
Berezik is listed with Lesniak 908 as Fresh Roach 736 True fresh Jimmy has XXX? hurting because of rotate? ya it really hurts all three but we talked about that last week. the guys we have are unselfish but they are about winning games as a team. jimmy needs to continue to be unselfish which he is. if anyone has a reason to be selfish it’s preston because he is a SR.
best game by safeties? cain/mcguckin? ya they made a ton of tackles. both made a lot of open field tackles against skilled players

*talked to Martin during the break* 15 yards of last weeks penalties were truly Cain’s fault. The rest was the refs.
*I didn’t see the end of the face mask but Chuck said the NU player was sitting on Cain punching him.*

Matt Yoches - Defensive Line/Strength and Conditioning Coach
Gaydosh chasing him done we are doing great. Ryan being one of them. We had to adjust quite a bit without jones/mcfadden.
Few positions that replace Mike/Derrick  we have done good with Skuta and Gaydosh. Skuta got used to it last year so he is doing tremendous this year. We were unsure of his athleticism but it has worked perfectly. Danny is coming up but still has a ways to go.
Strength coach, adjustment? not huge change but excited to take on. I’ve been doing it behind the scenes with Mitchell for years. I definitely wanted to get into it and I had a great mentor. I haven’t changed much from the program that he started. He has great knowledge in this area. If I keep thinking, “what matt mitchell would do” then I will be fine.
He had a different idea ya definitely. when I was a player we just played around. there is more rhyme and reason now and it depends on the type of player. we are trying to build a bit more athleticism. the olympic lifts requires you to move multiple joints at the same time.
your dad was a coach, long desire? absolutely. I have always wanted to follow. *soon to be a dad as well*

Going Deep with Dick Nelson

This was the start of the streak 3 years ago.
It’s been a great rivalry but one side. 22-12-1. We’ve kicked their butts so many times they can hardly sit. The press box used to wiggle (my wife wouldnt even go).
In 2001, The SID said Dick you will love it. Its great but… its sealed. 1.8 million dollars. I hope that when GV builds a new one they allow crowd noise.
1998 - Wildest game ever. You would swear there was no one on defense. 56-53 in OT.
1984 - Worst game ever - 13-11. People ask all the time “How can you stay excited at 50-0?” Easy. I remember that game. The next day - the whole coaching staff was fired.
But, since then we have had winning seasons so maybe it was a blessing.

Spoiled as GV fans since 2000 but the 90’s Ferris was the big dogs. Well 4 years in the 90’s and I think we tied one of those years. They really don’t really the whole story when they say a decade of Ferris football.

Ferris Preview - Host Bulldogs at 7 on Saturday

4-4 this year. lost shootout to ashland strange team if you are big at compatitive scores. beat hillsdale (2 losses), almost beat ashland (37-35), but turn around and lost to games where they should have won. they had more expectations after coming off last year. you can gaurantee the cold team isn’t coming on Saturday.
if they could end GV’s winning streak, its their game of the year their QB has twice as many carries as anyone on their offense. he has proven durable. big physical kid. we really need to stop him. they are averaging 31 a game and he is some of the reason. the run stop is going to be the most important.
bigger QB’s of the year actually bigger at any level in the country. 240. very athletic for his size. noted for his feet but can throw as well.
also played WR as well he was a weapon last year and they wanted to get him in. he plays basketball as well.
defense starts up front. best down 4 in the league. visser - kid from coopersville is great player. he has 65 tackles so far this season. great overall. one of the best players in our league. The kid *missed his name* next to him already has NFL scouts. last year our D did good and O was iffy. we were sacked 4 times and that doesn’t happen.
neasman running with the ball. freshman. iciek is sophomore. quel going elsewhere? ya he is a great QB and you dont want to move a good guy somewhere else. he could definitely do it but he is pretty much a QB at heart. he is just starting to hit his stride.
like dock? ya jeff couldnt have moved but still a quality backup for lots of players
are the bulldogs going to be more excited for lakers or opposite? wow, you hit me after thursdays and with how we play I am surprised I come here week after week. If you watched a thursday practice, you would be surprised we win anything. You know they will be excited but you know the opposite is true as well. If we match there intensity then we should do fine.

Chuck you have a chance to break a new record you were listening at the press conference as well. you play 3 years to break the record and they talk the whole time. We break it and now we are always breaking the record and people stop talking about it.
But you can set GLIAC right? 29? Or is that not next week? No that’s 27.
So that’s until next year? No, we need the next 3 games. At least by my count.

Big game. always good. let’s keep it so they can’t sit down ya there is always more pressure for this game. all the laker alum and lots of stories between this game. you make a lot more people happy if you win this one.

The Chuck Martin Show is broadcasted live from Main Street Pub every Thursday night during the season between 6 and 7 pm. People not in the Allendale area can tune in to 1340 AM every week to here Steve Lloyd Jones and Dick Nelson quiz Chuck Martin on last weeks game and this weeks opponent. Dick Nelson also includes a segment called “Going Deep with Dick Nelson” to recap the rivalry with the upcoming team.

Bold lines are Steve/Dick. Non-Bold lines are Chuck Martin.

Here are my rough notes from 10/18:

One more win and they will have the D2 winning streak record at 35
GV tromped Indy last weekend for the homecoming game for game 34

Probably the best team, best performance? Its hard to say with 3 turnovers in first half but besides that we played well. We put them in some bad spots. Our offense did very good with 28 points 200 yards and 3 turnovers in the first half. That is the second time this year that we had a hard time holding onto the ball. Indy is definitely a good team and our kids were excited to play them.
Anytime you have a young team in critical positions, if they hit adversity how do they handle it? We have enough senior leadership to bring us through. It has been since the begining of summer camp. We just turn around and look forward for the next play. our program has always had that attitude. If you dont let it snowball then it will be fine and won’t happen. Cullen scrambled and made tons of plays. When we get flushed and Brad gets out of the pocket, he is not a great athlete. If you look at tapes, we have just as many scramble plays but Cullen would scramble and run. Brad scrambles and still finds receivers. Cullen was like a LB playing QB - brad isn’t big, fast or physical.

Situation with GV. it seems like a milestone approaches every week stop stop. I want to clear this up. GV holds consecutive GLIAC games at 29. We hope to break our own record.
Hilldale record - I dont think anyone can argue with you on this Dick because no one has been here long enough. But I know they didn’t have the 4 round playoffs so I think ours is worth more.
Chuck Martin has never won GLIAC coach of the year. One of the biggest oversights in my opinion. I am not really worried about that one.
He is worried about national coach of the year Dick Ya the dinner for that is a bit bigger.

Budweiser Hot Seat
What was the scheme for the O? We really didn’t do anything special. We just did our basic run plays. Their DLine definitely had a chip on their shoulder after the 200 yards in the first half.
Berezik is averaging 10 yards per carry. 200 yards away from freshman record 1977. Is he going to carry more? Yes probably a bit more. Smolen has 7 and Garris is averaging 5. Garris normally does more of the short yardage work because we trust his knowledge a bit with 3rd and short. We just keep spreading it around. Once jimmy understands our routes, Jimmy will be catching as well. 4 out of 5 routes he is currently running wrong.
4th true freshman We knew he was good. We didn’t know his good. If you block it up good then he has quite a chance for a big run. Astin was more of a guy between the tackles. Jimmy can add that long run.
Success of jimmy - Gaydosh, Stevens, and Carr. Does it make ya think maybe more FR should play? We leave it open and don’t make that choice until they get here. We are going to be hurting next year without those 3.
Versatility in the offense. go to receiver? Yes but it depends on route. There is no fowler. Some routes Horn, some Garris/Smolen, some Edwards, some Trent. We are only asking the guys to what they do well.
Koster seems to fill in more yes he is definitely doing some more and he has some red zone abilities that we need.

Discussion about part of the streak success, lots of different guys willing to work in different positions Lots of ppl have asked this same thing. There have been upsets. We have great kids that are very talented. I was sitting around last night looking at stats. We have #1 o and #1 d for scoring. individual stats - We have no one. Nothing in top 5 for rushing or top 25 tackles, etc. Its hard to find kids that will play and split time but yet not complain about not getting the ball more. With the numbers they are putting up, you can’t make all league or american. Its really a credit to our assistant coaches who work with these coaches day in and day out. They all really want the ball more but they aren’t going to complain about it. We really are trying to give all of them more time with the ball.
It should be more like minutes vs tackles Our kids just don’t worry about that kind of thing. They look at it but they say they don’t know.

I am still a D guy at heart. thinking about defending our offense - i would have no clue what to do. we had 4 guys in there at one point and no one was playing their primary position.

How do you keep it going? Do you look for guys that are unselfish? It’s something we have worked on for years but really what keeps it going are the senior leaders. If the seniors are doing it then the freshmen learn that and do it themselves. You will hear it in practice, “Hey its not about you. It’s about us.” That is just how we do it at Grand Valley.

Going Deep with Dick - Northwood
Huge week for GV. 35 years ago that Harkamen was hired. First win in Gv’s history. One of the biggest accomplishments. Beat NMU after they were national champions.
this is a big record. 50 years old. I was a batboy for the cubs when this record was set.

If you want to see a great football game and the possibility to see history, then definitely make the trip to midland.

Northwood Preview
Always played tough. Bye week last week. 3-3 this year. They are usually 5-1 or 6-0. Still dangerous? Yes they definitely are. They are 1st or 2nd in rush offense in the country. The kid from rockford has taken over QB. They have added the dimension of throwing the football. They have a very talented WR that we will need to watch. They lost some big players on D. Kyle (Hudsonville) is a senior this year and we are very happy about that. They still have great big play potential but they have always given up lost of good plays. We are hoping they still make some mistakes.
Adding the passing game, puts pressure on CB Carr and Brechin are quite talented so we trust them. But they have the 6′2″ WR that is going to be tough. Last year, our D really won the game with 7 turnovers and scoring twice. We are hoping for a repeat performance like that this year.
3 RBs? They use the FB as another RB and that’s hard to watch for. Stopping the QB is next. You basically have to use all 9 guys to stop their run. It is pure assignment football.

My Memories of Northwood - I still remember when they were here for the first night game ever. It was my third game at GV. I still take out the tape and show out defense this. This is what happens when you are not prepared for the options and play sloppy assignments.

We have heard about players reading keys They are all keying in on a player and you need to read the key to figure out which option they are playing. Reading is definitely important for defending Northwood. It starts with the ends and then works inward.

Midland with kickoff at noon. 96.1 MAX FM

Any conversation with record to the players No. Not even after the game. Everyone knows and we aren’t afraid or have no superstitions. We want to break it but we are just excited to play northwood. If we sit around talking about records, then someone else is sitting around preparing for the game. They pride themselves on making big plays and we want to stop that.
This is potential a season saver for northwood Definitely, they are not where they want to be. It could be quite the spring board for them to get a win.

As they come off the bye week to host GV. kickoff at noon in midland. pre-game show at 11:30.