Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba.com

So it looks like we're better than I expected us to be. The offense is moving the ball, even though I hope we incorporate the run in MAC play. The defense looks like a top MAC D at this point. They still need to tighten up on the big plays, but 100% better than last year. Special teams, other than Kickoff coverage and return looks to be fixed. We played two decent games against two teams that will be in the bottom half of the B11. I can live with that.

A few things that really bothered me today though, as I feel we really gave some things away.

1. We left 3 points on the field at the end of the first half. How do you go into the half kicking a 55 yard field goal with a timeout IN YOUR POCKET? We should have used that TO at some point and had two more plays to get closer. If we had gotten those 3 points, the end of the game plays out much differently. Very poor clock management.

2. Punting on fourth and 1 from the opponents 40 is almost never a smart thing to do. It is unquestionably dumb when you're down 7 on the road to a good team and are just starting to gain momentum back. I had a seizure in my living room when we punted that damn ball. I can't reconcile that GB had the stones to go for two last week, but punted that ball today. Schizo.

3. That old halftime adjustment rant again. Have we ever made one? Just one? Something? BG First half...35-21. BG Second half...6-38. This isn't a new problem. We might want to get on that.


It may sound like I'm pissed, but I'm really not. The team was well prepared by the coaching staff today, especially on D, and they played very well for the most part. I'm encouraged by what I've seen so far, but I still feel like some of these little things are still really holding this program back. We must learn to adjust at halftime at some point.

Nice game Falcons. I think this team can legitimately compete in the MAC.

Pretty well said J4H. I too am happy overall, but there are defintely some things for this team to work on. I think we could have given them an even better game with CP and Ransom healthy, but its better to have those guys for MAC play!

Jacobs4Heisman wrote: 1. We left 3 points on the field at the end of the first half. How do you go into the half kicking a 55 yard field goal with a timeout IN YOUR POCKET? We should have used that TO at some point and had two more plays to get closer. If we had gotten those 3 points, the end of the game plays out much differently. Very poor clock management.

Something was funky there. I thought a receiver caught a pass and got OB with :40 left, then all of a sudden they're snapping the ball with a running clock at :15. Do you burn your last TO with :40 left? As it was, they got OB after a catch on the play with :15 left, leaving :04 or so to kick the FG. At that point, I'm fine with having the TO in your pocket (after doing some math, maybe I'm missing a play somewhere and I'm way off, but if I'm right, I'm okay with having the TO)

Jacobs4Heisman wrote:So it looks like we're better than I expected us to be. The offense is moving the ball, even though I hope we incorporate the run in MAC play. The defense looks like a top MAC D at this point. They still need to tighten up on the big plays, but 100% better than last year. Special teams, other than Kickoff coverage and return looks to be fixed. We played two decent games against two teams that will be in the bottom half of the B11. I can live with that.

A few things that really bothered me today though, as I feel we really gave some things away.

1. We left 3 points on the field at the end of the first half. How do you go into the half kicking a 55 yard field goal with a timeout IN YOUR POCKET? We should have used that TO at some point and had two more plays to get closer. If we had gotten those 3 points, the end of the game plays out much differently. Very poor clock management.

2. Punting on fourth and 1 from the opponents 40 is almost never a smart thing to do. It is unquestionably dumb when you're down 7 on the road to a good team and are just starting to gain momentum back. I had a seizure in my living room when we punted that damn ball. I can't reconcile that GB had the stones to go for two last week, but punted that ball today. Schizo.

3. That old halftime adjustment rant again. Have we ever made one? Just one? Something? BG First half...35-21. BG Second half...6-38. This isn't a new problem. We might want to get on that.


It may sound like I'm pissed, but I'm really not. The team was well prepared by the coaching staff today, especially on D, and they played very well for the most part. I'm encouraged by what I've seen so far, but I still feel like some of these little things are still really holding this program back. We must learn to adjust at halftime at some point.

Nice game Falcons. I think this team can legitimately compete in the MAC.

1. I agree. Clock management is something we need to work on. The same thing almost caught up with us at the end of the Minnesota game too. Both times I was yelling and screaming to use em, not like they do any good in the locker room..

2. I completely disagree. Although my heart wanted GB to go for it, my brain said it was the right move. Our defense had been playing well and there's no reason to give them the ball near midfield when we can help it. If I recall we got the ball back pretty quickly too.

3. Yeah, we suck in this department.

rc_ziggy84 wrote: 2. I completely disagree. Although my heart wanted GB to go for it, my brain said it was the right move. Our defense had been playing well and there's no reason to give them the ball near midfield when we can help it. If I recall we got the ball back pretty quickly too.

You go for it every single time. It's like going all in with AA preflop. It's always the right move.

You simply don't gain enough in field position by kicking unless you get lucky to pin them inside the 5.

Why give them a short field, especially when we hadn't run the ball all day?

rc_ziggy84 wrote:Why give them a short field, especially when we hadn't run the ball all day?

The point is, the overwhelming majority of the time, you'll get the yard. There have been many computer simulations run, covering tens of thousands of games, that have all concluded that you have a better chance of winning if you never punt on fourth and less than 3 in plus territory. Fourth and 1 from the 40 should be a no brainer go-for-it situation.

rc_ziggy84 wrote:Why give them a short field, especially when we hadn't run the ball all day?

25 yards of field position is not nearly valuable enough to give up on what SHOULD be a better than 50/50 proposition of making the 1st down.

Punting from the 40 is just never a good idea if it's 4th and short...if you're nursing a lead I could tolerate it, but it's the wrong call when you're down a TD in a hostile environment. It's your chance to seize momentum.

Yep, without a doubt we should have went for it.

For those of you who don't agree, please read this story from "Tuesday Morning QB". Scientific proof that it is better to go for it on fourth and short instead of punting in that situation.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/st ... ortCat=nfl

Overall, I'm happy with the effort and the hope this team has given us so far. That in itself is great and I can only hope it is a sign of things to come this year in the MAC. But I am always disappointed in a BG loss no matter what. It doesn't matter the sport, how close the score, or who we play. A BG loss is never good.

TG1996 wrote:Something was funky there. I thought a receiver caught a pass and got OB with :40 left, then all of a sudden they're snapping the ball with a running clock at :15.

Bingo. I do wonder if they thought the clock was going to stop. It seemed like it should have stopped. It seemed like he was out of bounds.

3rd-and-one and 4th-and-one have been problems for our offense the last few years. Probably because we usually have the QB take it straight up the middle off the snap and the defense knows it's coming. So I wasn't that upset that we punted. MSU started their next possession on their own 13, got a few 1st downs, and then punted back to us. It wasn't a disastrous decision as it was only the 3rd quarter.

If Geter hadn't dropped the ball on the 3rd down play, it looked like he could have taken off since the other receivers on that side had their guys blocked.

Schadenfreude wrote:

TG1996 wrote:Something was funky there. I thought a receiver caught a pass and got OB with :40 left, then all of a sudden they're snapping the ball with a running clock at :15.

Bingo. I do wonder if they thought the clock was going to stop. It seemed like it should have stopped. It seemed like he was out of bounds.

I was *a little* off, but not much. We apparently had 2 timeouts left, so we probably shoulda/coulda used one a little earlier. But here's how it broke down (God bless you DVR!):

-Dozier pick gives BG the ball at their own 28 with :58 left

-Pass over middle to Geter picks up 7 or 8 with :49 left, clock running.

-Ball snapped at :33, pass to Parks at the BG40. He's hit as he catches it, and his first step takes him OB. Clock stops at :28.

-Clock starts on ref's whistle, as if they marked him inbounds, but just reset the chains. Ball snapped at :19, Sheehan scrambles OB at MSU47 with :12 left, BG with 2 timeouts.

-Pass to Barnes, gets OB at MSU38 with :04 left. BG calls 2nd timeout.

-Vrvilo kicks.


The clock running after the Parks catch would have been the only spot I might have used a timeout there. You need one in case you get caught in bounds and don't even get the FG try off. And the other one was probably too early to use on the Geter catch that deepish in your own end. When they got to the point where they would have used a TO, they got the clock stopped regardless. I wouldn't question the clock management as far as timeouts go, but there were probably a few seconds to be saved by getting back to the line and set earlier.

The biggest area of improvement needed I saw was the kick off coverage. Too good of field position was given.

Defense was good, punt was good (although close to being blocked - I'll take it), and offense was overall good until MSU made halftime adjustments. I would attribute the Offensive struggle in the 2nd half to the O line being worn down (expected), a young QB (1-1 agaist the Big 10 is great) and a major component of the O mising in Partidge (smart to save him for the MAC considering the circumstances).

How can anyone not be optimistic about the direction this team has started? They may not be the best BG team ever but they will do us proud.

Our defense is VASTLY improved...our speed is getting us to the ball in numbers ...the DL is enaging the OL and keeping them occupied...you aren't seeing our LB's and secondary getting mashed by the OL too much.

They're going to be fun to watch on that fast track at the Doyt