CSUN ANALYSIS: MATADORS' LUCK CAN'T LAST : PLAYOFF RUN WILL BE SHORT UNLESS DEFENSE RALLIES.Byline: Brian Dohn Daily News Staff Writer The offense is so talented and explosive, it offsets the deficiencies of the defense. So a week ago coach Bob Toledo Bob Toledo (born March 4, 1946, in San Jose, California) is an American football coach, recently hired as head coach at Tulane University. He is best-known as the thirteenth head coach at UCLA. took his defense to task. However, we're not talking about UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX . This is Cal State Northridge, but many of the same ``offense is fantastic, defense is soft'' principles apply. Taking into account the history of the Division I-AA NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association selection committee, the Matadors should make the playoffs. Discounting the outcome of the Montana State at Montana game next Saturday - which could help CSUN CSUN California State University Northridge grab the Big Sky's automatic bid - a Matadors win at Idaho State, which is more baked than a potato at this point, puts No. 24 CSUN (7-3) in a very, very favorable position Noun 1. favorable position - the quality of being at a competitive advantage favourable position, superiority advantage, vantage - the quality of having a superior or more favorable position; "the experience gave him the advantage over me" . And since the Bengals are 2-8 and widely considered the worst Big Sky team, it would take a colossal co·los·sal adj. Of a size, extent, or degree that elicits awe or taxes belief; immense. See Synonyms at enormous. [French, from Latin colossus, colossus; see colossus. collapse for the Matadors to fall short. Now, back to the defense. A trip to playoffs doesn't figure to last long if the current defensive play continues. True, the Big Sky is a pass-happy league, but teams have run the ball mercilessly against CSUN. Even in Saturday's 42-38 escape win at Southwest Missouri State, the Matadors yielded 284 yards rushing. Opponents average 199.4 yards rushing per game, second worst to Idaho State. ``If we win at Idaho State and go into the playoffs, we're going to have to play much better,'' CSUN rush end Brennen Swanson said. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what else to say.'' Much of it has to do with a nonphysical defensive line that's been easily pushed around. CSUN's saving grace might be the return of Sean Beard beard, hair on the lower portion of the face. The term mustache refers to hair worn above the upper lip. Attitudes toward facial hair have varied in different cultures. and Jacob Mageo, both of whom missed extensive time this season but could return at Idaho State. They should offer some help. There's also the points factor. While CSUN is in the middle of the Big Sky pack in allowing 23.8 points per game, it has given up 28 or more points in a game five times and 32 points four times. The Matadors lost two of those games. ``The reason (Southwest Missouri State) was scoring so much was because we kept running cover three to stop the run, and with that I'm almost four yards further back than I usually am,'' said CSUN safety Jeremy Golden, who added 12 tackles to stretch his team-leading total to 88. ``The quarterback kept checking either to a run or to passes on the outside. They would never go up the middle. And they had a good line, too.'' To be fair, the defense had strong efforts in wins against Northern Arizona Northern Arizona is dominated by the Colorado Plateau, the southern border of which in Arizona is called the Mogollon Rim. In the West lies the Grand Canyon, which was cut by the flow of the Colorado River while the land slowly rose around it. , a Brian Ah-Yat-less Montana, Southern Utah and Weber State. There's also the Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde play in the last two games. The defense didn't come alive until the final minutes, when enormous plays were made to preserve wins. ``When you allow (opponents) to score that many points, (the defense is) going to have to show up some time,'' CSUN coach Ron Ponciano said. ``It seems like when it gets down to the wire, they've been making big plays. There's that level of intensity and concentration and effort that we have at the end of the game that we haven't had early and in the middle of it.'' There are also the quick-hit scoring drives that don't give CSUN's offense time to catch its collective breath. Of Southwest Missouri State's five touchdown drives, none took more than three minutes "Three Minutes" is the 46th episode of Lost. It is the twenty-second episode of the second season. The episode was directed by Stephen Williams, and written by Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz. It first aired on May 17, 2006 on ABC. and three lasted less than 75 seconds. ``I don't get too frustrated frus·trate tr.v. frus·trat·ed, frus·trat·ing, frus·trates 1. a. To prevent from accomplishing a purpose or fulfilling a desire; thwart: because I'm trying to think positive out there,'' CSUN quarterback Marcus Brady Marcus Brady (Born September 24, 1979) is a quarterback for the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL. College career He attended Cal State Northridge as a business major, where he started 43 straight games. said. ``We stopped ourselves a couple times and came off the field and they scored. We were hoping the defense would get a stop. ``It's tough, but with our offense we should be able to score at any time. Our defense, sooner or later they come up big.'' But at some point the offense won't be able to bail the defense out. And when that happens, CSUN's season will end. CSUN STATUS REPORT Game: 10 Result: CSUN 42, SW Missouri State 38 Record: 7-3 This week's GPA GPA abbr. grade point average Noun 1. GPA - a measure of a student's academic achievement at a college or university; calculated by dividing the total number of grade points received by the total number attempted : 2.88 Cumulative: 2.81 QUARTERBACK: A+ If there was a better grade, Cal State Northridge's Marcus Brady would get it. Four touchdowns, 466 yards on 34 of 40 passing, no interceptions, a touchdown run, a touchdown catch. Not bad. RUNNING BACKS: B Jaumal Bradley ran hard for 52 yards and Marcus Bivines picked up a first down on a fourth-and-1 in the third quarter. Bradley added three catches and a touchdown reception, but his value is as a motivator in the huddle. RECEIVERS: A+ Aaron Arnold and Drew Hill combined for 14 catches and 278 yards and Brady completed passes to eight Matadors. Hill's re-emergence as an inside threat opens the field for Arnold. OFFENSIVE LINE: A Brady was given time to throw, though he was sacked five times. Rushing game remains a limited factor, but when the offense puts up 532 yards and 42 points, how can it be a bad day? Right, it can't. DEFENSIVE LINE: D+ Shawnbay Jones had three sacks and seven tackles. Other than that, this depleted de·plete tr.v. de·plet·ed, de·plet·ing, de·pletes To decrease the fullness of; use up or empty out. [Latin d group didn't do very much besides get blown off the ball. Maurice Daniels ran for 248 of the Bears' 284 yards rushing. Ouch! LINEBACKERS: C- CSUN could have used Cos Abercrombie. Shayne Blakey made 10 tackles, but 38 points doesn't reflect well on any part of the defense. Insignificant defensive line play also affected this group. DEFENSIVE BACKS: D+ Chazz Moore got beaten twice for touchdowns, Mel Miller The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. Please help [ improve the introduction] to meet Wikipedia's layout standards. You can discuss the issue on the talk page. once and Donnell Day once. What's supposed to be the best part of the defense was beaten time and again. SPECIAL TEAMS: B Punter Punter 1. An trader who hopes to make quick profits. Basically, another term for speculator. 2. In the U.K., it is generally used to describe someone who gambles. It is also used to mean a client or customer of any business. Ethan Beck was pressed into place-kicking duties and made all six of his PAT attempts. Nothing else stands out, which falls into the ``no news is good news'' category. COACHING: B This is where offense and defense cancel each other out. Not much a coach can do when the defensive line is getting blown off the ball, but a win on the road is worth something. - Brian Dohn CAPTION(S): 2 Photos, Box PHOTO (1) Receiver Aaron Arnold caught five passes for 154 yards against Southwest Missouri State. Myung J. Chun/Daily News (2) JEREMY GOLDEN He made 12 tackles in CSUN's 42-38 win Saturday, for a team-leading 88 this season. BOX: CSUN STATUS REPORT (see text) |
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