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I was only able to sit down and fully watch the game for the 4th quarter, so I’m not the one who is going to be able to tell you why our D’s inability to play anything resembling footballl is inadequate personnel, poor tackling, schemes and/or lack of effort (although for a result that poor all four almost have to be involved). So my thoughts this week are going to be more general.
Saturday was a kick in the gonads. I had thought we were beyond being able to lose a game like that. And the way we lost it — in Touchdown Husky wet dream fashion, where we were able to move the ball and score but looked unable to keep a tuna sandwich from breaking out of the refrigerator — was even more disappointing to me, because some level of D should be able to be played just on desire, as opposed to offense where if you don’t have the weapons there is not going to be much you can do. But that loss brought into play two factors. First, we were not as good last year as many of us thought/hoped we were. We were 8-0 outside the power conference teams, but none of the 8 were any good. Buffalo, at best, was marginal, and the other seven frankly sucked. And while the win against UNC counts, and absolutely was a feather in our cap (in addition to a great day), it’s always dangerous to read too much into bowl games, because of the long break between the end of the regular season and the bowl and the fact that different teams take the games more seriously, results don’t always really measure progress. Second, as I’ve said repeatedly, we lost 10 defensive starters and only one of the six LBs and DL this year were even on the roster last year, and we had no friggin idea how the defense would be. It did the job against Central, overall did well at Syracuse (great for 53 minutes and then a collapse), and then was a no show Saturday. The loss leaves a stain, but the season is by no means over. The next 3 games are winnable, 2 are at home (it matters a lot) and with defensive efforts like the first 1 3/4 games we should be fine. Get to 4-2 at the halfway point and see where you are. The stain of Saturday will not go away but the goal of reaching last year’s record should not be abandoned quite yet either.
Having eliminated the absurd punting snap problems, there was little to say about specials Saturday. Everyone did their job but it had little effect on the game either way.
I haven’t read it all but blaming the loss on JF, which I saw a good deal of, is beyond dumb and borders on the insane. Could we have won if he was better? Sure, but that’s the case in 99% of losses in which your QB isn’t an all American. Yeah, he missed some throws. He’s not Tom Brady. And yeah, his legs don’t scare the other team. He’s not a dual threat QB. But the numbers don’t lie either. When you’re completing over 70% of your passes, throwing for 350 yards and never turning the ball over, the loss isn’t on your QB for goodness sakes. It’s obvious that the loss wasn’t on the offense at all, but if you want to blame the offense for the loss blame it for not having done more with the running game. If I discard the one long run by Edwards and the one long run for Rosa, we had 30 carries for 93 yards. That, the inability to consistently control the line of scrimmage for our running game was why we couldn’t make the plays in the red zone we needed to make to win. One last note — shout out to John Nieder who is looking like he might be our second best WR.
As I alluded to earlier, the defense (or, to be blunt, the lack of defense), was so horrific that I don’t even know how to analyze it. We couldn’t stop the run, we couldn’t stop the pass, we couldn’t defend third downs and we forced no turnovers. So I’m not going to bother with analysis. Yes, for this one game we did look like the Edsall pre-Covid worst defense in NCAA history, but we did so for one game after two competent performances. I’m not going to assume that Saturday was the new normal as opposed to a statistical aberration, at least not yet, and give up on the season.
Nor am I giving up on Mora due to one horrific loss on the road. Look, as I and others said when he was hired, we were not hiring a miracle worker. Nothing in his history showed him as such. We were hiring a professional who had experience competently managing the various aspects of improving a football team and winning games. And to date, he has done at least as much as fans could have asked for. Yesterday was more than a loss — unlike the loss at Syracuse, this one does make you take a harder look at where we are and what we have left to accomplish. And if the defense plays like it did Saturday multiple more times this year, then ask me where we’re going. But not because we sucked on one Saturday on the road. I’ve seen Notre Dame lose at home to the MAC and then play itself into a national championship game. I’ve seen MIchigan lose in the Big House to Appalachian State. Yes, stains were left but the programs weren’t set back years. Let’s see where we go from here, starting with a truly bad Ball State team at home.
One last note, as a Giants fan as well, I’ve watched three OT losses in 8 days. Enough already. Whatever I’m being punished for, please stop it before I stop watching football.
Saturday was a kick in the gonads. I had thought we were beyond being able to lose a game like that. And the way we lost it — in Touchdown Husky wet dream fashion, where we were able to move the ball and score but looked unable to keep a tuna sandwich from breaking out of the refrigerator — was even more disappointing to me, because some level of D should be able to be played just on desire, as opposed to offense where if you don’t have the weapons there is not going to be much you can do. But that loss brought into play two factors. First, we were not as good last year as many of us thought/hoped we were. We were 8-0 outside the power conference teams, but none of the 8 were any good. Buffalo, at best, was marginal, and the other seven frankly sucked. And while the win against UNC counts, and absolutely was a feather in our cap (in addition to a great day), it’s always dangerous to read too much into bowl games, because of the long break between the end of the regular season and the bowl and the fact that different teams take the games more seriously, results don’t always really measure progress. Second, as I’ve said repeatedly, we lost 10 defensive starters and only one of the six LBs and DL this year were even on the roster last year, and we had no friggin idea how the defense would be. It did the job against Central, overall did well at Syracuse (great for 53 minutes and then a collapse), and then was a no show Saturday. The loss leaves a stain, but the season is by no means over. The next 3 games are winnable, 2 are at home (it matters a lot) and with defensive efforts like the first 1 3/4 games we should be fine. Get to 4-2 at the halfway point and see where you are. The stain of Saturday will not go away but the goal of reaching last year’s record should not be abandoned quite yet either.
Having eliminated the absurd punting snap problems, there was little to say about specials Saturday. Everyone did their job but it had little effect on the game either way.
I haven’t read it all but blaming the loss on JF, which I saw a good deal of, is beyond dumb and borders on the insane. Could we have won if he was better? Sure, but that’s the case in 99% of losses in which your QB isn’t an all American. Yeah, he missed some throws. He’s not Tom Brady. And yeah, his legs don’t scare the other team. He’s not a dual threat QB. But the numbers don’t lie either. When you’re completing over 70% of your passes, throwing for 350 yards and never turning the ball over, the loss isn’t on your QB for goodness sakes. It’s obvious that the loss wasn’t on the offense at all, but if you want to blame the offense for the loss blame it for not having done more with the running game. If I discard the one long run by Edwards and the one long run for Rosa, we had 30 carries for 93 yards. That, the inability to consistently control the line of scrimmage for our running game was why we couldn’t make the plays in the red zone we needed to make to win. One last note — shout out to John Nieder who is looking like he might be our second best WR.
As I alluded to earlier, the defense (or, to be blunt, the lack of defense), was so horrific that I don’t even know how to analyze it. We couldn’t stop the run, we couldn’t stop the pass, we couldn’t defend third downs and we forced no turnovers. So I’m not going to bother with analysis. Yes, for this one game we did look like the Edsall pre-Covid worst defense in NCAA history, but we did so for one game after two competent performances. I’m not going to assume that Saturday was the new normal as opposed to a statistical aberration, at least not yet, and give up on the season.
Nor am I giving up on Mora due to one horrific loss on the road. Look, as I and others said when he was hired, we were not hiring a miracle worker. Nothing in his history showed him as such. We were hiring a professional who had experience competently managing the various aspects of improving a football team and winning games. And to date, he has done at least as much as fans could have asked for. Yesterday was more than a loss — unlike the loss at Syracuse, this one does make you take a harder look at where we are and what we have left to accomplish. And if the defense plays like it did Saturday multiple more times this year, then ask me where we’re going. But not because we sucked on one Saturday on the road. I’ve seen Notre Dame lose at home to the MAC and then play itself into a national championship game. I’ve seen MIchigan lose in the Big House to Appalachian State. Yes, stains were left but the programs weren’t set back years. Let’s see where we go from here, starting with a truly bad Ball State team at home.
One last note, as a Giants fan as well, I’ve watched three OT losses in 8 days. Enough already. Whatever I’m being punished for, please stop it before I stop watching football.
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