The only thing that really depresses me

[BGSU Falconz]

About the debacle in Wisconsin is that our BCS dreams are shot, as is likely any chance of Omar winning the Heisman. That bothers me more than winning the MAC. Why?

I'm not sure why it matters to me, but I've been on a personal crusade along side the BGSU football team to get our presence not just as a team but as a SCHOOL, noticed. I'm absolutely sick of hearing people in OUR OWN STATE not know where BGSU is located, or even know if they play D1-A football.

It's important to me that the school I am an alumni of gets some respect and recognition. The football team is the only vehicle I can see that can do this.

For these reasons, beating any major opponents on national TV is more important to me than winning the MAC. Getting our quarterback to win the most prized award in college football is more important to me than winning the MAC.

The way I see it, nobody outside of a few states in the mid-west gives a flying crap about who wins this conference. And nobody will until these MAC teams start showing up and impressing in a national spotlight in a consistant manner.

Until we start dominating outside of our own little MAC-world, nobody will ever care.

[Rightupinthere]

Who cares what anyone else thinks? [expletive] 'em.



This life's philosophy respectfully submitted by one of the quality moderators of Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba.com, Rightupinthere.

[BGSU Falconz]

Who cares what anyone else thinks? [expletive] 'em.



This life's philosophy respectfully submitted by one of the quality moderators of Ay-Ziggy-Zoomba.com, Rightupinthere.

If we don't care what anyone else thinks, why care about college football at all? We could just scrimmage against ourselves 12 times a year.

I was reading another message board just now, and saw this quote in response to how the defense fell through in the Wisky game (and this isn't even a Wisconsin fan):

Defense is half the game, and its exactly why BGSU will never be a BCS worthy team.

I care that people have this sort of attitude toward my school. It's almost like a racial slur to me.

[Rightupinthere]

What they are saying is true. BG, basically, concentrates on developing the offensive side of the ball. We need balance and I believe that balance is on its way.

What I'm saying is that other people's opinion shouldn't be the your concentration nor your worry. We must take care of our own.


Again, I say, [expletive] 'em. A vast majority of them are insane.

[BGSU Falconz]

What they are saying is true. BG, basically, concentrates on developing the offensive side of the ball. We need balance and I believe that balance is on its way.

But what they're saying is that we don't have what it takes to EVER make it big.

[orangeandbrown]

To worry more about Omar winning the Heisman (are you joking)--ie, having the major money powers of college football hand off the keys--than winning a conference championship is, IMO, perverse. What they are saying is that they don't think we'll ever be equal to them--and they are right. They won't ever think that.

Furthermore, while we have had a nice record of success over the last four years, we have yet to win a conference championship, which would seem like an important part of winning anyone's respect.

Win games, win championships, on the field. Respect yourself, don't exepct anybody else to.

[TG1996]

But what they're saying is that we don't have what it takes to EVER make it big.

And in 2000, people might have said BG doesn't have what it takes to EVER have another .500 season. And look where we are now. The offense is there, there are parts in place to keep it going, and it's obvious that the defense is holding it back. Now the effort needs to be made to strengthen the players and gameplans on the defensive side of the ball (albeit ALOT at some times), but to say "EVER" is just ignorance.

[BGSU Falconz]

To worry more about Omar winning the Heisman (are you joking)--ie, having the major money powers of college football hand off the keys--than winning a conference championship is, IMO, perverse. What they are saying is that they don't think we'll ever be equal to them--and they are right. They won't ever think that.

Furthermore, while we have had a nice record of success over the last four years, we have yet to win a conference championship, which would seem like an important part of winning anyone's respect.

Win games, win championships, on the field. Respect yourself, don't exepct anybody else to.

My point is this:

Ask a casual CFB fan, or a fan of a BCS team, or even a serious CFB fan who doesn't have the time to follow all 117 D1-A teams who won the 2004 MAC championship, and the chances are they won't recall it was Toledo (nor will they likely care.)

But, if you ask them what mid-major team broke the BCS in 2004, chances are any self-respecting CFB fan would know the answer is Utah.

This is important, as these fans make up not only your passive game-attending audience, but also a collection of future players, coaches, athletics personnel, sports writers, et. al....all people that could affect the success of our future.

I definitely agree winning the conference is important, don't get me wrong. But to me it shouldn't be an end all be all win it and don't worry about anything else philosophy. It's a necessary part of a greater picture.

After all, there's a MAC champion every year. There has been for 50 some-odd years. However, there hasn't ever been a MAC team in a BCS game because there hasn't been a MAC team good enough.

[Schadenfreude]

I guess this is my official back-from-Wisconsin post.

I share a lot of BGSUFalconz angst.

I know a whole lot of people are saying the important thing is to win the MAC, and that games with the likes of Wisconsin aren't as important.

But this Wisconsin game was important. There are millions of fans who really do believe beating the likes of Wisconsin is a much bigger achievement than winning the MAC.

So I'm not going to minimize what happened Saturday. If we could have gone in there with Texas Christian's defense -- heck, if we could have gone in there with Northern Illinois' defense -- I think we might have blown Wisconsin's doors off and been running downhill toward an Orange Bowl berth.

That dream is dead.

On the bright side...

I think we have an increasing number of fans who really do believe in this program with all their heart.

I was really happy to see all the fans who made the trip. Not sure how many tickets we sold, but I really feel like we made an impression. We were loud, we were singing Ay Ziggy Zoomba again and again. It felt good.

Obviously, we have a continuing issue with our run defense. It was painful to watch.

But my faith in this team isn't shaken. I really believe the Falcons can win every game that remains on their schedule.

And when I look at all those fans who made the trip, I don't think I'm alone. I don't think what happened Saturday is going to shake people's growing enchantment with our program.

I'm not into moral victories. We are beyond that point.

But Bowling Green scared the heck out Wisconsin. We did. I was there, and I saw it. No MAC team has ever gone into Camp Randall and charged up and down the field quite the way we did. Those fans were terrified -- and I'm sure Alvarez was, too.

And think about it: The final score was not a Big Ten score. It was a MAC score. In a sense, we forced them to play MAC football. We made 'em score more than 42 points to beat us. Sure, they got those points and they got 'em the old fashioned way -- but still, we made 'em do that.

I'm damned glad I made the trip. Because it was a damn fun game to watch overall. It was terrific entertainment. It was like watching PS2.

That kind of stuff doesn't drive fans away. It doesn't drive ESPN away, either. Sure the talking heads will take their shots -- but you better believe the program directors are just itching to get us on television again.

In a weird way, that game moves our program forward I think. The legend of this wacky football team out in the corn and bean fields of Northwest Ohio will continue to grow because of what happened Saturday.

As long as more fans come to our games in growing numbers, our prospects for building this thing into a program that can beat Wisconsin at their place grows better.

[TG1996]

Very well said, Schad!

Assuming the group that posts here is a decent cross-section of the BG fan base, or at least our opinions are shared with 10 or 15 friends that don't post here, how can we expect anyone to be excited if all we do is harp on the negatives? Sure, the tackling was flag football-esque, but even if they don't make a tackle the rest of the year, I think the offense proved that it can step up and carry this team to an extent. We gave up 300-some yards rushing, and TOP was at least 2 or 3-to-1 in the second half, I believe, but were a foot away from trying an onside kick with a minute left to tie the game. This offense is good. Scary good. And even if we lose every game 56-42 (or higher), it would almost worth it to watch that offense work.

Blowing off the season because of a non-conference loss is only going to lead to attendance complaints down the road, I believe. The loss stung, but the main goals are still intact. Time to tighten up and take care of business in the MAC, and see where the rest of the chips fall for us. All the BCS talk was a reach anyway. I thought we could do it, and it wasn't totally unreasonable to think that. But it's not like we were 11-1 last year and *just* missed getting a bid, or got screwed out of a bid. That might make it hurt.

I guess I can stop rambling now and get back to remembering the great time I had in Madison, despite the outcome of the game. (Even though I missed the first score, I'll NEVER forget seeing the referee announce the results of the replay review from the tunnel, seeing his arms raise and a chorus of boos flow down... and of course breaking into AZZ and hearing it echo down the tunnel!)

[kdog27]

Good points Schade. The Wisconsin fan sitting next to me told me when it had that 4th and 1. Had they not converted, that game would have turned ugly. Of course Calhoun ran it in for a TD, but this game was real close to turning out how many of us thought it would. I am excited for the rest of the season, the defense can only get better and the offense is probably better than it has ever been. We have to get better on D and special teams though

Right now I would say that NIU is the best team in the conference. They have a good offense and at least a solid defense. Can't get a good read on UT until they play a good team.

[CapitalFalcon]

Good points Schad...Besides, maybe there will be a silver lining...Maybe with this loss, Omar won't be as hot of a commodity at the end of this season, our defense will bulk up, and we will have a great season next year with a pretty great OOC schedule...

[transfer2BGSU]

About the debacle in Wisconsin is that our BCS dreams are shot, as is likely any chance of Omar winning the Heisman.

The loss to Wisconsin has no effect on...

1. Our winning the MAC East
2. Our winning the MAC Championship
3. Our winning the Motor City Bowl


Let's be realistic - Omar is not going to win the Heisman Trophy. Omar has no shot to win the Heisman Trophy and never did have a chance to win the Heisman Trophy.

Why?

Because the Heisman Trophy that is awarded today is awarded to the player that comes from a BCS program and is decided by people that cater to the BCS leagues. It is not awarded to the best college football player as it was in days past.

Now as far as Omar and the free publicity - I work in the Office of Admissions at the University. I love the free publiciity that we are getting because of Omar. I hope Omar continues to put up the numbers that he has in the past and ESPN, Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, the Dallas Morning News, and all of the other newspapers and magazines continue to write about us. All of the publicity gets our name out there.

We lost to Wisconsin. Get over it. Quit the damn whining and crying.

The game against Ball State is a helluva lot more important to this program than the Wisconsin game.

Go ahead and flame away if you want. I'm no longer going to be reading this thread so I could care less (:lol:) what you say about me.

[Schadenfreude]

Omar has no shot to win the Heisman Trophy and never did have a chance to win the Heisman Trophy.

I disagree, but I don't feel like arguing with you.

[Jacobs4Heisman]

I think he did have a shot -- a small one that required a lot of things outside of his control to go his way. Now that we've lost a game I think the "campaign" is over.

Do you think he had a good shot before or do you think he still has a shot?