CrazyFan wrote:Can someone who was at the game explain to me what happened on the last play? Did the refs blow the play dead before he fumbled? Did his knee hit the ground? Why couldn't the quarterback advance the ball after the fumble if neither of the other two above happened?
If there is a fumble on fourth down, only the player that fumbled the ball may advance it for the offense. If another offensive player picks it up, the play is dead and by rule the ball is placed at the spot of the fumble.
I'm happy about the win as well, but this season is not about wins and losses for me. I want to see growth.
Just one more thing. While everyone is applauding the offense for their 500+ yard performance, pay attention to how many drives end up stalling due to running the same play 3 times in a row, or that we just plain got close to the endzone and things bottled up. The scheme that we ran last night just stalled when we got close to the endzone because they knew the 5 plays we were going to run.
I don't even know what to think anymore.
Before this game (because I had been unable to watch the Wisconsin game), I didn't want to make any judgements because I hadn't seen the team play.
Now that I have, I'm not pleased.
Where to begin? I guess where everyone else has. WHAT IS GOING ON WITH OUR ST'S? I do not understand how we can continue to line up in that formation with those players out there. I've heard it said more than a few times that the definition of insanity is repeating the same actions over and over and expecting a different result. Need I say more?
As far as the offense goes, I was pretty annoyed as well. I understand the idea of sticking with what works, the old "if it aint broke, don't fix it" thing. I understand wanting to stick with a play that works, but our coaches were beating the same 5 plays until they broke and then trying to fix them. Bad strategy, guys.
Also, I cannot believe that on two or three consecutive plays in the 4th quarter with the game on the line, we ran the same damn play that failed the last drive.
I understand we have athletic QBs. I understand they can run the ball, but did we not have a (very) successful opening drive while using our running backs in conjunction with them? I know I heard at least a few people making the comment that they would be shocked to hear anything but "(x) yard run by (Turner/Barnes)" from the PA system. Wasn't the idea of putting AT at QB to give us a better chance at a passing game? I can't remember more than a dozen or so pass plays (although I'm sure there were more), and only one or two of those were worthwhile.
I guess, in half sarcasm, I can say that the endless QB running game had one benefit. That was when Turner rolled out on the play in OT and the whole defense thought "Here we go again!" and then he put that touch pass in for the TD. That and the long play to O'Drobinak were the only passes I can remember clearly.
To me, this looks like it comes down to coaching. When you have this kind of athleticism on your team, this kind of talent, and you just cannot make it work, that's gotta be the coaching.
As far as the game as a whole, it was downright depressing at times, really exciting at times and outright exhausting overall. I could barely walk by the end because the whole 3OT thing just killed me. I was jumping around like a crazy person just hoping we could make it work, and when we finally did, I'm not sure if I was more relieved about winning or finally being able to go home. 6 hours at the Doyt is fun, but damnit, it's exhausting.
I have no idea if any of this makes any sense. Like I said, I was exhausted from the game, and I'm still up at 6AM (no idea why), so this could all be nonsense.
Either way, here's hoping for a better game next week, hopefully with some better STs and playcalling. I don't think I can survive a season full of games like this.
- Terry S.
- Freddie Falcon 2007-2008
- Class of 2009
The 2nd Annual Alzheimer's Memorial Charity Golf Tournament
To benefit the Alzheimer's Association's Greater Michigan Chapter
July 16, 2011 http://alzheimersmemorial.org
Well, let's see. It is Sunday morning, BG is hard to beat at home, and our schedule couldn't be better for a developing team. Steady as she goes.
Meanwhile, Toledo is toast, Northern Illinois pointed their 12 bore the wrong way, and Akron dusted down N Carolina State. So much for the MAC West. Think I'll just take a moment to pause and stretch - not used to all this relaxation. Mmm. that's better. I got a bit tense listening to the radio last night, you know.
I did chicken wings for dinner last night - completely coincidental, and the irony didn't dawn on me until this morning. Red hot wings, some celery, a couple of carrots, a bit of blue cheese salad dressing, and then a couple of REALLY cold beers to follow to settle those taste buds down. Mmm. I like chicken wings - I could eat them for breakfast!
It is sunny and warm in the UK today. Late summer spells like this are called "Indian summers". I don't know why, but it doesn't matter. I think I'll bbq some ribs today. Best served with cold beer, but you know maybe I'll hit a decent bottle or two of red instead while the going's good. Since there's nothing better to think about today, I'll spend some time thinking about that.
Brandon's day will likely be a little different, and I can imagine how he might have one or two choice words for a couple of people, but well, he's paid for that. I've always wondered that since he works for an academic institution, maybe he has to be careful about his language. Actually, I'm more worried about the ribs. Bit of lemon, some chopped onion, start them in the oven, finish over charcoal. Must remember to get a lemon today.
Oh yeah, the game. If BGSU wins using two plays instead of 5, who cares? If winning means handing off to Macon every play, fine. I don't think Brandon has an entertainment clause in his contract - that's for Tressel. Lemon. Maybe two.
Win the game, move on, and win the next. I don't care how. FIU next, and if I dare to look beyond the next game, Kent State in preparation for a what's shaping up to be a CRUCIAL party in them tha'r wild hills. Wine, I think.
And now that I've said winning is all that counts, I would like to finish by flying in the face of my ramblings by saying I would be even angrier than hammb if we'd won 3-0. I'll take a 48-40 cardiac arrest any day - the memory lasts a lot longer.
Has anyone ever, in the history of stadium gatherings, been struck by lightening? I should think the probability of slipping on a wet surface would be much greater. And was it for our "safety" or the need to avoid a liability suit. Whatever, that and the play calling and the play of the special teams took the fun out of the game for me. Whatever happend to all those razzle-dazzels, double passes, etc. they used to run in a pinch? Why was everything sooooooooooo predictable today Preparing for a BG team must take all of about five minutes. First play, quaterback run up center after fake handoff. Second play quarterback fake handoff, run left. Third play, quaterback fake pass run up center. Fourth play, kicker comes in, lines up behind three blockers, has kick blocked --- other team scores.
CrazyFan wrote:Can someone who was at the game explain to me what happened on the last play? Did the refs blow the play dead before he fumbled? Did his knee hit the ground? Why couldn't the quarterback advance the ball after the fumble if neither of the other two above happened?
If there is a fumble on fourth down, only the player that fumbled the ball may advance it for the offense. If another offensive player picks it up, the play is dead and by rule the ball is placed at the spot of the fumble.
We have the Oakland Raiders and Dave Casper to thank for this rule.
"An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with his fools."
- Ernest Hemingway
Dr. Reality wrote:Has anyone ever, in the history of stadium gatherings, been struck by lightening? I should think the probability of slipping on a wet surface would be much greater. And was it for our "safety" or the need to avoid a liability suit.
Lightning kills football team
All 11 members of a football team were killed by a bolt of lightning which left the other team unhurt, a Congolese newspaper has reported.
Thirty other people received burns at the match in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Kinshasa daily newspaper L'Avenir said local opinion - known to believe in charms and spells - was divided over whether someone had cursed the team.
The two sides were drawing 1-1 in the match in eastern Kasai Province when the lightning struck the visiting team.
We had drives end on the ground and we had a drive end with a pick...we had some varitey there. The only complaint I have with the offense is the lack of use of our FB. The guy rips off runs of 20 and 18 yards on the first drive and doesn't get another carry? On a wet field? We have a great Oline and Buffalo was a tired defense at the end of the game. Why we weren't going at them with a 250lb guy who can move is beyond me.
We need to involve Winovich in the passing game. Send him straight downfield. There isn't a LB in the MAC that will cover him or a safety that will tackle him one on one.
Flipper wrote:We had drives end on the ground and we had a drive end with a pick...we had some varitey there. The only complaint I have with the offense is the lack of use of our FB. The guy rips off runs of 20 and 18 yards on the first drive and doesn't get another carry? On a wet field? We have a great Oline and Buffalo was a tired defense at the end of the game. Why we weren't going at them with a 250lb guy who can move is beyond me.
We need to involve Winovich in the passing game. Send him straight downfield. There isn't a LB in the MAC that will cover him or a safety that will tackle him one on one.
Winovich can't be bothered with that, he's too busy with going in motion to block for the QB sweep.
Flipper wrote:We had drives end on the ground and we had a drive end with a pick...we had some varitey there. The only complaint I have with the offense is the lack of use of our FB. The guy rips off runs of 20 and 18 yards on the first drive and doesn't get another carry? On a wet field? We have a great Oline and Buffalo was a tired defense at the end of the game. Why we weren't going at them with a 250lb guy who can move is beyond me.
We need to involve Winovich in the passing game. Send him straight downfield. There isn't a LB in the MAC that will cover him or a safety that will tackle him one on one.
Winovich can't be bothered with that, he's too busy with going in motion to block for the QB sweep.
That is so true!
Seriously though, we need to involve Winovich and Sean O'D too. Both have done positive things every touch!
Ok, time for me to chip in and despite just wanting to talk about this game I will do my weekly grade of the positions because I think some people enjoy reading in this style...
QB Grade A-: As much as people think we didnt have a passing game or that Barnes should be the QB, Anthony Turner quietly had a solid night passing 16-23 for 204 yards 3 TD's and 1 INT. I'd like to see the coaches use more passing plays for Turner and keep FB somewhere else because Turner was also a more effective runner on all the QB keepers and I think that is entirely up to his better passing ability.
RB Grade A+: I'm going to give this group a perfect score, because our 2 QB's were essentially RB's and got 100 yards, Macon played a great game both running and catching. Also Winovich is definitely the "x factor" of this offense not only blocking but running as well. The stats dont lie we averaged over 6YPC with a limited playbook and that shows talent from our RB corps.
WR Grade B+: Although still the only sign of a weakness in our offense, this unit is still very solid. O'Dro and Ruiz are almost undefendable over the middle because of their body mass, Brandon Jones with a clutch catch in OT for the win, and also an extremely important 2-pt conversion catch by Zach Charles. Overall, the WR's did their part in helping the O score points, and helped BG win the game.
OL Grade A+: I'm going to really stick my neck out here and say that BG has one of the top 10 best OL's in the country. I really do believe that we are that talented. Yes, I am factoring in the UW game in as well, but this is 2 games in a row where the by far majority of our plays are QB keepers and the D still cannot stop us. The only times they do stop us is because their isnt enough room to spread them out, or they time the snap and get in for a stop. Still 9 out of 10 battles between our OL and either UW's or UB's DL, our OL has prevailed. Very, very impressive!
DL Grade B+: Also very impressed with this group on our team. The only thing keeping this from an A is the lack of consistency, but for the most part the DL played very well. Devon Parks stepped up as a true leader last night, Brad Williams had his motor running all game long, Briggs with a key sack looks to be getting better and better off of an injury, and Hardwick with the forced fumble to essentially win the game. I really like this group and their activeness in the backfield.
LB Grade A: Wow what an awesome performance by Terrel White and Erique Dozier. These 2 guys combined for 41 tackles, 5 tackles for a loss, and a sack! It's clear that Lovett is really getting the most out of his talent at this position, both of these guys wreaked havoc all night and made about 40% of our tackles! Well done LB's, now becoming a strength in our young D?
DB Grade B: Holding Drew Willy to 21-32 for 138 is pretty darn good for a young secondary. Also Sanderson made some nice plays and some nice tackles for us tonight. The only thing keeping this from a higher grade is that UB isnt much of a passing team anyway, but it was still nice to see our DB's keep everything infront of them! I think one thing we all predicted in this "rebuilding year" was some blown assignments by our freshman in the secondary, and I can honestly say that I havent seen that happen once, which is VERY impressive!
ST Grade F: This is so unexcusable its not even funny. Look at how good of grade I gave every position and keep in mind that we are playing Buffalo and you would think that we won by 4 TD's right? Wrong because ST's which IS THEE BIGGEST PART OF ANY GAME, was SOOO BAD that we damn near lost this game and actually deserved to. Once again we come out with our pants on fire after an opening drive TD and we piss it all away on a KR for a TD. Unacceptable. Next we have a blocked FG. Unacceptable. Next we give up ANOTHER blocked punt for TD!!! Unacceptable, especially after last week's debacle. Next we give up a 55 yard punt return. Unacceptable considering that the strength of our formation is supposed to be the coverage not the keeping it from being blocked. Next we have a blocked XP. Unacceptable. Yes this is all in one game... ok next we have a 15 yard punt. Unacceptable, but not surprising since we dont know how to face adversity or to respond to a bad situation, instead we just get rattled and play like whoever is paired with Tiger Woods on a Sunday round at a major. And lastly, maybe even most importantly, we miss an XP to win the game in OT. That is thee most ridiculous amount of mistakes in one area of a football game, by a GOOD football team that I have ever seen in my life. Coaches... you suck at life.
Coaching Grade D-: I'm sparing the coaches from an F, ONLY because we did manage to win the stinking game. Other than that, it was thee worst coached football team I have ever watched in my life. The offense ran 5 plays all night and still managed to score 48 and get nearly 600 yards of offense. That isnt good coaching, thats good football players playing around the fact that their coaches suck. Thats right, sheer will, determination, fight and Buffalo's D (shatty) equaled us putting in such a stellar Offensive performance. I truly love Brandon as an OC and thought he was a calculated genius when it came to running an offense. I was not impressed by the offense we ran tonight and I can only somehow hope that we are saving the majority of our play calling for bigger games like UT and Miami. However, I have a feeling that is not the case and those teams along with others are going to put 8 guys in the box and sellout for the QB keeper all night, and that we're going to get shutout. Thats right, I think our playcalling was so bad that if we played a top notch D we could have been shutout. Luckily we played UB and our players played with vigor and we scored a lot, without much help. As for the D coaching I have almost no complaints. Good play calling on that side of the ball, and I'm really starting to notice Lovett's impact on our team. As for the ST's coaching, well there just wasnt any. Now I am a huge fan of GB, but I think I might have to change that to "I was". The thing that bugs me the most is that he wasnt even MAD about what happend. In the interview after the game instead of being so livid that he cant even see straight enough to give an interview, no he's not even mad at all and thinks we will be a "force". WTF???? Are you kidding me? We played a damn near perfect game on O and D and beat UB in 3 OT's at home!!! We are going to get the SH*T knocked out of us if we continue to play like that on ST's because eventually the O or D is going to have an off night and stop carrying this team. I am so mad that he is not mad about this, but in that same respect its good that he isnt. You know why? Because it shows he really doesnt care. Gregg Brandon does not care about special teams at all... there I said it. Let me be clear though and say it again... GREGG BRANDON DOES NOT CARE ABOUT SPECIAL TEAMS. That would happen to be thee most important part of football. The place where the biggest plays happen, and games are constantly won and lost. His goal is to not even give a crap about ST's and just make the O and D good enough to cover up for it. Well guess what buddy, the lump under the rug is getting pretty darn big right about now. We need to hire or assign someone new to ST's immediately and PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE it before our next game and continue that pattern for the rest of the season. Otherwise for the first time in my life, I do not care if GB is fired or asked to resign. And that is the feeling that hurts so bad, and has me so torn on the inside I dont know what else to say. Either get the ST's act together soon, or we arent going to win any more games this year, despite our young QB's and DB's playing like veterans...
4th & 13 on PU 32yd line.. 56,000 fans up on their feet screaming, i held my breath the entire play trying to make as little noise as possible.. wouldnt u know Sharon would make the biggest touchdown catch in the history of BG Football, FALCON UP!
What a game! 2 rain delays (and boo for having to evacuate the stadium) + 3 overtimes= 5.5 hour game. I was exhausted, mentally and physically following the game. I can't even imagine what the players and band members felt. Kudos to the team for finally pulling out the W.
I was appalled by our special teams. Our offense was boring, using the same plays over and over. It's like a person with a one-track mind was calling the plays. Our defense was decent, although I'm pretty sure I could tackle as many times as we were.
The highlight of the game for me is....one of the students turning the plastic cover that the players walk on to protect the grass using it as a Slip 'N Slide. It was hilarious. He did not get caught and inspired one other person to do it. Moral to the story: don't force us to evacuate and let us play football.
I agree about the lightning and the slippery surface. Following the first rain delay, my roommate went running for the front seats because we wanted them. She slipped and ran into the corner of the seats, and is now sporting a nice cut with a lump the size of a golf ball on her leg.
Other funny moments from the game: having one of the former Freddie's yelling at the coaches to run different plays as well as "Bye Bye Brandon", Freddie and Freida dressed as pirates during halftime, one of the cheerleaders pointing out that if they hadn't have changed the rules on timing then the game would have been even longer, and getting peed on by the Doyt. During our forced evacuation, my group went down into one of the ramps, but they were packed. So we stood there right at the edge of the seats where the overhang comes in from the higher up seats. The concrete was not sealed, so it was leaking water. A couple of the students, who I am hoping were quite inebriated, filed up their helmets and drank the water. It had to have been nasty with the concrete flavor and whatever assorted fluids could be mixing with it.
Overall, I'm glad I didn't miss the game, even though it liked to have killed me. I definitely fell asleep during the OSU-Texas game. I'm still tired today. But bring on FIU!
GO FALCONS!!
"Our (insert sport or band) team is vastly superior to your (same sport or band) team!"
We ran 84 offensive plays last night. 43 of them were some type of QB keeper...
4th & 13 on PU 32yd line.. 56,000 fans up on their feet screaming, i held my breath the entire play trying to make as little noise as possible.. wouldnt u know Sharon would make the biggest touchdown catch in the history of BG Football, FALCON UP!
My thoughts on the game? We looked like an offense that has no creativity and is worried about our young QB's throwing the ball in certain situations. It's painfully obvious Brandon and the gang still doesn't want to completely give the reins over to AT or Freddie, and it's going to end up hurting our chances in future games down the line.
Onto Buffalo...we barely beat a team who didn't even win a game last year. Say what you want about the weather delays and stuff, but had we played a better MAC team (Akron, Miami) with our predictable playcalling, we would've been waxed on our own field. The ST's is leaving our defense hanging out to dry, and it sucks and is completely unfair to how well they have played.
I honestly think we played a better, cleaner game vs. Wisky than we did yesterday...yesterday we looked at times like a football team that was looking for answers in all the wrong places. Sure, Buffalo may be improved this year, and a new coach breeds new life among the players, but our breakdowns on both offense and ST's allowed that game to be up fro grabs when we should've all been able to go home at halftime.
I'm predominately a positive person, I always look for the best things and use those in my evaluations of BGSU athletics, but besides our defense, namely Dozier and White, we would likely be 0-2.
For the next game vs. FIU, I want this team to convince to me that they can win a game without the headaches and close calls, and play a solid 60 minutes of football without dumb mistakes. Part of it is players, but most of it is our head coach being stubborn and not changing things, particularly because he eeked out a win in 3 OTs.
I was very positive after the Wisky game, and after last night, my optomism is starting to wain just a little bit.
Dr. Reality wrote:Has anyone ever, in the history of stadium gatherings, been struck by lightening? I should think the probability of slipping on a wet surface would be much greater. And was it for our "safety" or the need to avoid a liability suit.
Two years ago during a soccer game there was terrible weather. Rain was coming down, lightning thunder and all the works. Lightning did hit the football stadium light (tower). Our student athletes were under the Doyt trying not to get wet at the time.
That is so true! 
