I wish....

[mmisbg]

I wish that our football team had played FIU last Saturday, and Buffalo this Saturday.

For as inexcusable as getting sent to triple OT by Buffalo was, I believe a few things about that game. One, our defense didn't do too bad at containing Buffalo's offense. There are some overpressuring issues there, and they need to get better at wrapping guys up. But, they forced Buffalo's QB out of the pocket several times, broke up plays, and made good adjustments after the half...IMO. I think it is a sign that our defense is improving, just not at the speed we would like. Two, the special teams need revamped...which goes without saying, because Buffalo would have been sent home in regulation otherwise.

Three, and this gets me to my point, is that our offense needs a chance to experiment. One person's cowardly play-calling is another person's conservative play-calling. I really think that if we had gotten up by a few scores, we would have seen our offense experiment more. But, Buffalo, while not a MAC contender, is a MAC opponent. I have no delusions that we will beat OSU, but doing so will be the only chance we have of seeing the rankings. Assuming that will not happen, we must also assume that we can beat everybody else on our schedule and still not get noticed.

Which is why I wish we had played FIU last Saturday instead of Buffalo. While a loss to FIU would have been embarrassing, a MAC team can have embarrassing OOC losses and still win the MAC. Akron proved that last year, and Toledo has proved it a few times (not to offend our friends from the North, but rather to make the point).

Many of us have mentioned that we would be willing to forgive losses if it is for the interest of improving our game. I think that conservative play-calling would not have been necessary against FIU, win or lose. We knew we wouldn't be getting any respect this year unless we pulled off some unlikely upsets. But, when we play MAC opponents, we have to run the plays are most likely to earn us the win. This is why I understand, and agree with, the plays we saw last Saturday. Had it been against FIU, I would have wanted more volatile plays called, simply because the offense needs the experience, and the game doesn't mean anything in terms of winning the MAC.

Hopefully, they will seize the opportunity this Saturday. Hopefully, there are more high risk plays ran, and the special teams get some things figured out...win or lose. I really think those two things will get us on the path we need to be in order to be ready for the latter part of our schedule. I know that is an optimist's perspective on things. However, I really think that those two things, combined with some experience, will put us in MAC title contention.

No team in the MAC is without its problems this year. That has been proven in the past few weeks. Out of the upper MAC teams, we are probably the one going through the most rebuilding this year. However, we can overcome it if we play our cards right. I just wish we had the advantage of having FIU a week earlier to jump-start the process before we faced off with a MAC opponent.

Go Falcons!

[Jacobs4Heisman]

As long as the coaches get it figured out before the death run at the end of the schedule, we'll have as good a chance as anyone to win the East. Even if we do drop one to Ohio or Central, we'll still most likely control our own destiny going into that brutal stretch.

I don't care if we lose to FIU and OSU, as long as we figure out what we want to do on offense in the process. If we beat FIU by 100 by running 100 QB sweeps I'll be just as pissed off as I was Saturday night, because that does nothing to advance us towards our real goal.

Here's to a fun game on Saturday -- free of injuries and full of surprises.

[1987alum]

I wish I were rich, famous and good-looking, but I struck out on three pitches. Heck with it. I just want to be rich.

[Flipper]

I wish I was a little bit taller...I wish I was a baller...

Man, I really liked that video back in the day.