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On Friday, November 26, BG (3-8) will take on Ohio (3-8) to close the season. The game will be played at noon, and it’ll be broadcast on CBSSN.

Ohio enters this one as a 7 point favorite. Let’s see if we can show a little fight to end the season.

Suspect we'll see a lot of new faces in this game, and no one in the bleachers.

Can't say in enough ways how big a win would be. In 2011 the team ended a skid by winning big against Buffalo to close out the season with a win. The offseason had a ton of momentum and of course the 2012 team ended up being a great one with an all timer of a defense. Finishing with a win to end this year would enter the offseason with some momentum rather than the skid of bad games currently ongoing.

MarkL wrote: ↑Sun Nov 21, 2021 11:32 pm Can't say in enough ways how big a win would be. In 2011 the team ended a skid by winning big against Buffalo to close out the season with a win. The offseason had a ton of momentum and of course the 2012 team ended up being a great one with an all timer of a defense. Finishing with a win to end this year would enter the offseason with some momentum rather than the skid of bad games currently ongoing.

Also, and this is probably a reflection of a sad state of affairs right now, but 4-8 sounds a whole lot better than 3-9 for some reason. It feels like a team can go from 4-8 to 8-4 in one season pretty reasonably. 3-9 feels like a further jump to get to .500+.

Loeffler's pre-Ohio news conference has been posted:

https://twitter.com/BG_Football/status/ ... 30056?s=20

Coach says early in the season, the offensive line got by with "smoke and mirrors" but the past two games have exposed that unit. That makes some sense to me.

MarkL wrote: ↑Sun Nov 21, 2021 11:32 pm Can't say in enough ways how big a win would be. In 2011 the team ended a skid by winning big against Buffalo to close out the season with a win. The offseason had a ton of momentum and of course the 2012 team ended up being a great one with an all timer of a defense. Finishing with a win to end this year would enter the offseason with some momentum rather than the skid of bad games currently ongoing.

I completely agree, but it's not gonna happen. These guys beat us like a drum when we play them anymore. Both teams come in with the same overall record, but they're a much better team than we are and it's going to show on Saturday in what is essentially a meaningless game for both teams.

Schadenfreude wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 1:13 pm Loeffler's pre-Ohio news conference has been posted:

https://twitter.com/BG_Football/status/ ... 30056?s=20

Coach says early in the season, the offensive line got by with "smoke and mirrors" but the past two games have exposed that unit. That makes some sense to me.

So...in other words...he can't coach up an OL?

Schadenfreude wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 1:13 pm Loeffler's pre-Ohio news conference has been posted:

https://twitter.com/BG_Football/status/ ... 30056?s=20

Coach says early in the season, the offensive line got by with "smoke and mirrors" but the past two games have exposed that unit. That makes some sense to me.

...huh?

This is basically admitting that opponents have figured out what you're doing and you don't have an answer for it. The scheme hasn't changed all season. No idea what he means by this.

jpfalcon09 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 2:03 pm

Schadenfreude wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 1:13 pm Loeffler's pre-Ohio news conference has been posted:

https://twitter.com/BG_Football/status/ ... 30056?s=20

Coach says early in the season, the offensive line got by with "smoke and mirrors" but the past two games have exposed that unit. That makes some sense to me.

...huh?

This is basically admitting that opponents have figured out what you're doing and you don't have an answer for it. The scheme hasn't changed all season. No idea what he means by this.

I think he means creativity and gimmicks can only get you so far and at some point talent does matter. Bowling Green has what I assume is one of the smallest and most inexperienced offensive lines in the country. There's only so much that can be done to cover up for that kind of deficit.

Schadenfreude wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 2:13 pm

jpfalcon09 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 2:03 pm

Schadenfreude wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 1:13 pm Loeffler's pre-Ohio news conference has been posted:

https://twitter.com/BG_Football/status/ ... 30056?s=20

Coach says early in the season, the offensive line got by with "smoke and mirrors" but the past two games have exposed that unit. That makes some sense to me.

...huh?

This is basically admitting that opponents have figured out what you're doing and you don't have an answer for it. The scheme hasn't changed all season. No idea what he means by this.

I think he means creativity and gimmicks can only get you so far and at some point talent does matter. Bowling Green has what I assume is one of the smallest and most inexperienced offensive lines in the country. There's only so much that can be done to cover up for that kind of deficit.

That's pretty much how I read it. You know how when you are developing a bad team in one of the NCAA football video games how early on your OL is just awful? You can hack your way around it with scrambling QBs, screens, draws, passes to the backs, and quick routes. You can tear up bad defenses and do some damage to decent defenses, but you've got a low ceiling. And at some point you hit a wall until you have a better o line at which point you can dominate games just by running and overpowering defensive lines, then making the pass game just an accessory for big plays.

At least that's how I always approached it when I had time for such things. Point is, Loeffler and coaches were able to hack early defensive schemes but at some point to win games you need a stout OL. Of course actual defensive coordinators are WAY smarter and less predictable than the CPU so schemes to win despite the OL work way better against technology than actual brainpower. That's where we are right now.

Schadenfreude wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 2:13 pm I think he means creativity and gimmicks can only get you so far and at some point talent does matter. Bowling Green has what I assume is one of the smallest and most inexperienced offensive lines in the country. There's only so much that can be done to cover up for that kind of deficit.

I should add that these kids may be working hard and it would not at all surprise me of some of them grow into very good MAC offensive linemen. I don't want to be too hard on them. But clearly, at the moment, they are as a group outmatched. My sense is it is often tough for any freshman to come in and dominate at that position.

jpfalcon09 wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 2:03 pm

Schadenfreude wrote: ↑Mon Nov 22, 2021 1:13 pm Loeffler's pre-Ohio news conference has been posted:

https://twitter.com/BG_Football/status/ ... 30056?s=20

Coach says early in the season, the offensive line got by with "smoke and mirrors" but the past two games have exposed that unit. That makes some sense to me.

...huh?

This is basically admitting that opponents have figured out what you're doing and you don't have an answer for it. The scheme hasn't changed all season. No idea what he means by this.

Exactly...seems like what he's saying is that defenses adjusted to what they're doing and they haven't made adjustments to deal with it. It's as close to a coach admitting "I don't know what I'm doing" as I've seen

The smoke and mirrors where we were running for 20 yards a game? They stunk then and now. With 11 games of experience they should be more capable not worse.

So they ran out of answers mid season. Just like they run out of answers most second half’s of games.

Expecting this line to make great strides is just ridiculous. It is going to take time to develop them and Expecting this group to jell and be competitive at this time is just ……..