FalconTurf wrote:The only problem I have with some of our fans is they complain vigorously when the team loses and then only apologize for being slightly wrong when the team wins. When I chose to follow BG as my primary, if not only, college team I came in with the reality that even when conference titles were won I was going to watch a program that was a notch or two below national power. I follow BG because I graduated from BG, my parents graduated from BG and I feel BG has athletics more in perspective than most of the Power 5 types.
Our Falcon is a small bird, a fast bird, and fierce bird but it will forever be an underdog. And being an underdog simply makes it that much sweeter when we take down the big prey. That's what I live for as a fan of BG.
THIS!! 100% AGREE!!!
"Regarding BGSU, I would think their biggest strength is that they never give up, They never slow down and they battle hard even after the other team scores. We have to be on our game and never, ever take the foot off the gas for a second." ~~USCHO Poster "BG was relentless. It's like they know that a good first pass on the breakout from a defenseman will almost always result in an odd-man rush against them - but they go in anyway and dare you to make that pass. All three of their goals were just grit and effort. That's a team any fan can be proud to support...they give all they've got." ~~USCHO Poster, AFTER Tech beat us #NeverGiveUp
#NeverSurrender
#Relentless
#Resiliant
I'm in the opinion that everyone can react to a win or loss however they want. I don't characterize anyone here as a bandwagon fan. A bandwagon fan wouldn't take the time to use this forum. The bandwagon fans are the people the people that went to their first BG game in 5 years when we played in Detroit. If those people would just show up to a game or two a year we wouldn't have an empty looking stadium almost every week. I would agree that many of us over react but that's because we care.
I have made my opinions known about our defense after the first 2 games and don't really feel like I need to say anything more about it. Not much has changed. I thought the IU game was awesome. One of the most enjoyable games I have watched in years. Still had my concerns afterwards but it sure was nice to finally win a close game and against a power 5 team was icing on the cake.
I'm concerned with the style we play. Maybe it will be great in a couple years but right now it clearly isn't. I think this style is one of the major reasons we have so many guys hurt. Put a defense on the field for 186 plays in the first 2 games instead of 130, and they basically played 3 games worth of plays in 8 days. Offense ran 113 in one game. Awesome yes but we clearly don't have the depth at WR for it.
Yes we're 2-2 and that was the record I thought was most likely after 4 games. The problem is I think the 2 losses have told us a heck of a lot more than the two wins. Wisconsin was clearly a bad match up for this team so I have let it go. The WKU game scares me the most because this is a team that it is pretty comparable to the teams we play in our conference. We have played 4 teams and all four moved the ball pretty easily on us and 3 of them scored pretty easily.
We're still 0-0 in a very winnable east but like JP says i think the concerns are justified.
I agree. Ware dead last in total defense. Enough is enough . If you think that is acceptable you are getting what you deserve. Excuses - Wisky was too big blah blah. Look Wisky did not light up anyone like that anyone like that. Not even mighty Western IL….We have bad coaching, Bad play, bad scheme.
The issue I have with this new coaching staff is poor scheming. In the Wisconsin game, our stated strategy was to load the box and force Bucky to pass the ball. On most plays, ALL the linebackers lined up at the line of scrimmage to try create penetration. The flip side of that coin is that if the O-line is able to create a hole in the wide line, there is no one behind the linemen to fill the gap except the safeties. The result was that every time we lined up, Wisconsin's O-line created their gap, and the back was able to move through the second level of the defense unopposed. The linebackers were unable to react to the blocking scheme because of their alignment, and were then left with bad pursuit angles and d-backs trying to close for 1v1 tackles against the trucks UW calls running backs.
Offensively, our strategy is to wear down defenses with a fast tempo and a spread passing game a la Oregon and Baylor. When it works, it works really well. The downside is twofold: Whether the offense is executing or not, the defense is playing the balance of the time. Also, our playcalling has no rhyme or reason. Rather than executing sequences that set up the defense for play fakes, we run the same amateur-ish misdirections repetitively. There's the poor play action fake on virtually every pass play. There's the QB fake throw on draw plays. There's the delayed sweep handoff that got blown up several times against Wisky. There's no motion, no effective play fakes, and few options on a broken play.
I'm not terribly disappointed with a 2-2 start, but I am disappointed with the lack of improvement from Week 1 to Week 4. I'm also disappointed that Coach Babers publicly called out the fans after beating IU, only to get embarrassed a week later against UW. I don't think creating an "us vs. them" mentality in the locker room is healthy, and it certainly doesn't match the culture of the rest of the athletic programs. I'm not giving up on this team, but I'm definitely not drinking the kool-aid.
FalconTurf wrote:The only problem I have with some of our fans is they complain vigorously when the team loses and then only apologize for being slightly wrong when the team wins. When I chose to follow BG as my primary, if not only, college team I came in with the reality that even when conference titles were won I was going to watch a program that was a notch or two below national power. I follow BG because I graduated from BG, my parents graduated from BG and I feel BG has athletics more in perspective than most of the Power 5 types.
Our Falcon is a small bird, a fast bird, and fierce bird but it will forever be an underdog. And being an underdog simply makes it that much sweeter when we take down the big prey. That's what I live for as a fan of BG.
THIS!! 100% AGREE!!!
Well said. GO FALCONS.
Michael W.
BGSU-12 TIME MAC CHAMPION
FALCON FOOTBALL ROCKS!
jg4242 wrote:The issue I have with this new coaching staff is poor scheming. In the Wisconsin game, our stated strategy was to load the box and force Bucky to pass the ball. On most plays, ALL the linebackers lined up at the line of scrimmage to try create penetration. The flip side of that coin is that if the O-line is able to create a hole in the wide line, there is no one behind the linemen to fill the gap except the safeties. The result was that every time we lined up, Wisconsin's O-line created their gap, and the back was able to move through the second level of the defense unopposed. The linebackers were unable to react to the blocking scheme because of their alignment, and were then left with bad pursuit angles and d-backs trying to close for 1v1 tackles against the trucks UW calls running backs.
Offensively, our strategy is to wear down defenses with a fast tempo and a spread passing game a la Oregon and Baylor. When it works, it works really well. The downside is twofold: Whether the offense is executing or not, the defense is playing the balance of the time. Also, our playcalling has no rhyme or reason. Rather than executing sequences that set up the defense for play fakes, we run the same amateur-ish misdirections repetitively. There's the poor play action fake on virtually every pass play. There's the QB fake throw on draw plays. There's the delayed sweep handoff that got blown up several times against Wisky. There's no motion, no effective play fakes, and few options on a broken play.
I'm not terribly disappointed with a 2-2 start, but I am disappointed with the lack of improvement from Week 1 to Week 4. I'm also disappointed that Coach Babers publicly called out the fans after beating IU, only to get embarrassed a week later against UW. I don't think creating an "us vs. them" mentality in the locker room is healthy, and it certainly doesn't match the culture of the rest of the athletic programs. I'm not giving up on this team, but I'm definitely not drinking the kool-aid.
Perfect statement. Honestly, for all of the people on here that are complaining, I'm sure this is what they're trying to say but not using the right words. This is exactly what I've been thinking.
People vent on here, it's the nature of message boards. BG doesn't have a call in show for people to vent, most people don't have coworkers who care about BG football. This place is pretty much the only place people have to discuss BG football.
I'm not ready to give up on anything yet. This season is exciting if for no other reason than, I have no idea what to expect each week. The defense ranks 121 in rush D, 124 in pass D, 119 in scoring D, and 125 in total D. Yikes. This non conference was stacked with good offensive teams, WKU has scored 59, 34, and 47 this year. Indiana has one of the best offenses in the Big10 and Wisconsin may be the most physical team in the country. The only game that worries me about this team was the VMI game, that is the 1 game, BG was clearly physically superior and the defense still gave up 418 yards and let them possess the ball for almost 40 minutes.
BG can still win the east and the MAC. If for no other reason than no one in the conference is very good this year, the Indiana win (especially after they won @ Mizzou) is the league's best.
The UMass game scares me. Big game for them back on campus, should be playing with lots of energy and other than Penn State they have been right there with Power 5 schools. If we get past that one, I could see this team running off 6 in a row before the UT game. A loss and this teams psyche could be crushed.
I think our biggest issue is having 8 starters injured. That is the difference between the Wisconsin's of the world and our team...we don't have the 2-3 players depth without a big drop off in talent at most positions. Most of our 1's can play with the Power conference schools...but when we have lost 2-4 kids every game so far that is tough to recover from. I am beginning to question our strength and conditioning program...I have never seen a team with this many injuries week after week?? I wonder who got banged up this week?
As far as Babers and the "bandwagon" goes....I would tell him to keep those thoughts to himself. You are a new coach (at this school) and to make a statement like that is ridiculous in my mind. Just coach and figure out a way to win. Everyone on here will be around a lot longer than he will be and to piss off the media and your fan base is not a smart move in my mind. A little LESS talk and a lot more WALK is what he needs to do. Stop worrying about being "cute" on videos...interviews etc. Keep your mouth shut and figure out a way to win...or at least don't look ridiculous in a loss.
BTW...I doubt VERY HIGHLY if he ever looks at this blog. Most coaches I know don't have time to sit around on the computer and read fan blogs. He was mainly addressing those remarks to the media who have had the gall to question his coaching decisions.
When our gameplan works the defense is not playing the balance of the time...against IU...when we more or less played to the plan..time of possession and number of plays were both in favor of BGSU...number of plays was 113 to 78...TOP was closer... 32/28. Again..from my perspective, execution has been a bigger issue than the scheme.
Agree that the bandwagon comments were ill advised...I don't cre if your Gregg Brandon blaming the fans for the Buffalo loss in 2008 or Babers after a huge win...you don't call out the fans. So far as this site goes, I don't know about Babers or Clawson, but Gregg Brandon's wife and son read this site and former basketball coach Dan Dakich most certainly did. We have a SID registered here, so I'm pretty sure people in the department are at least somewhat aware of what is said here.
It's not the fall that hurts...it's when you hit the ground.
Falcon137 wrote:People vent on here, it's the nature of message boards. BG doesn't have a call in show for people to vent, most people don't have coworkers who care about BG football. This place is pretty much the only place people have to discuss BG football.
Excellent point! This board is our main outlet for people to gather and discuss the good and the bad. This is where we come, and this is about the only thing we've got. As you said, there's no call-in show for us to ask questions and express concerns and if your co-workers are like mine they're all Buckeye fans and don't want to discuss BG or any MAC team (or any other school but OSU and UM for that matter), and my wife stopped wanting to hear or talk about it years ago (can't blame her). As a die-hard fan of BG, I like seeing others get excited AND complain on here. Why??? Because it means we CARE! If people didn't care then nothing would be being said right now. Well right now, this board has been buzzing with activity. I wish it was for a different reason, but that said, it would be almost worrisome if this board was dead right now. If those of us on this board don't care, then who else does?? Think about it. Many of us on here are the heartbeat of our fan base. If we aren't excited or pissed off, then who is???
Suzy Dieter wrote:
BTW...I doubt VERY HIGHLY if he ever looks at this blog. Most coaches I know don't have time to sit around on the computer and read fan blogs. He was mainly addressing those remarks to the media who have had the gall to question his coaching decisions.
I don't think the coaches themselves sit around reading sites like this, but you can bet that they have somebody very close to them that does and they usually have a very good feel for the pulse of places such as this.
For instance I know for a fact coach Brandon's wife knew EXACTLY who I was since I was a vocal critic.
I remember him posting right after his final season about how he was going to light it up in the nfl when he was the 4th or 5th option here. I remember his posts being angry and hard to interpret sometimes. Don't remember hearing anything from him since then
. If you think that is acceptable you are getting what you deserve. Excuses - Wisky was too big blah blah. Look Wisky did not light up anyone like that anyone like that. Not even mighty Western IL….We have bad coaching, Bad play, bad scheme.
