Thoughts

[gspointer]

Just got back from the game. Our D front seven had it handed to them. #40 was a beast and played offense and defense. He made moves that made guys miss but we tacked poorly at times but much of this was 40. Our ends (who are undersized a bit) just never got off blocks well enough. When we play upper level teams this becomes an issue. I recall when we were blown out by Tulsa they had 275-280 pound ends that killed us. We seem to recruit that size and then move them inside. That will not work against BCS teams.

I will say this again- our D line may be an issue next year. We are losing our best players there. Royster is a guy that I saw Pitt tackles just fall on top of. The guy has a motor and would be a good player at a lower level. Not against 320 pound lineman.

Matt held the ball way too long at times and took sacks he should not have. I do not like Greene against a defense like this. We needed a guy with more power and some shiftiness. Greene is shifty but was ineffective. I though Givens should have been given a shot as Coppet is a similar back. I was also surprised that Houston did not play

[FortWayneFalcon]

Greene is great in the MAC, but we were up against a different level tonight, and his size was exposed. That's about all I can say on that. A good coach SHOULD be able to build the program on the results of this season.

[jpfalcon09]

I honestly think the defense was taken by surprise by Pitt's physicality. They looked like they were trying to avoid contact on many of the running plays and you could tell Pitt's strategy was to get their RB into the secondary and cause havoc. Kudos to them on the game plan and the win. Boyd is also going to be a pretty impressive player for them.

This loss doesn't really sting a whole lot for me. We saw a team that was missing the biggest pieces of its coaching staff and the game planning/focus just wasn't there. I also honestly believe it was extremely tough for this group to get up for a bowl game after a very emotional MAC Championship Game. NIU showed similar wears tonight, not engaged, loss of focus, etc. Its no excuse, but something just seemed "off" during the game.

The season was a huge success, we set out to win a MAC title and it was accomplished, and I'll take that over bowl wins any day of the week. We defeated an unbeaten ranked opponent with a Heisman candidate on national television. We saw many young guys step into the fold and be major contributors on both sides of the ball. Yeah, it sucks to lose to BCS schools and it sucks to lose bowl games, but this group was very special and the foundation has been laid for Coach Babers to take the program to the next level.

[BGSUFanatic7]

Lost a game by 3 to an ACC school (granted, I know they aren't one of the better ones) with essentially our entire coaching staff knowing that they were gone. Amongst that staff, the biggest assistant coaches were out recruiting for another school throughout a good chunk of the prep time. It was obvious that we were completely unprepared, something you did not see under Clawson. We may have come out slow in games prior, but we were always at least capable of making some sort of positive adjustment. Tulsa, Kent State, Akron, Mississippi State, Toledo, Buffalo were all games that we played better in the second half. Today, we did not make those adjustments. I think it's a tribute to how far this team has come that we didn't get blown out . We were manhandled completely on both lines, lost our top CB in the first half and played with a known exiting staff, yet we were still able to be a possession away from a win. That doesn't happen in years prior, nor does it happen with the kind of talent we have and have coming back.

That being said. We were MAC champions for the first time in 21 years. Won double-digit games, ect.

Time to move on, that is it. Not going to sit here and derail a championship season over this game. Yeah we didn't tackle well, didn't play well and didn't coach well. It is hard to end a season with a loss and it's annoying to keep losing close games, games against BCS schools. But this season was one of the greatest in program history. That cannot be overshadowed in anyway.

Also, this senior class is something that I think is impossible to describe and explain how much they will be missed.

[unfalconbelievable]

This game and The Northern Illinois game last night should prove to everyone that when we have success enjoy it because that coach is going to leave in an instant. Best two teams in the MAC and both get handled by teams I thought they would both beat. If NIU would have beaten BG, wonder what kind of beating Baylor would have put on them. Best team in the MAC couldn't beat a middle of the pack ACC team. Tell me every excuse in the book, but next time a MAC team is 9 -0 or 10-0 late in the season, you won't hear me saying they should be ranked because they are Top 25 worthy.

[Falconfreak90]

I, too, was surprised at how physical Pitt was. They punched us in the mouth early and we never seemed to quite recover.

All in all, a very successful season! MAC CHAMPIONS...still sounds as good as it did on Dec 6th.

[mscarn]

This loss doesn't really sting a whole lot for me. We saw a team that was missing the biggest pieces of its coaching staff and the game planning/focus just wasn't there. I also honestly believe it was extremely tough for this group to get up for a bowl game after a very emotional MAC Championship Game. NIU showed similar wears tonight, not engaged, loss of focus, etc. Its no excuse, but something just seemed "off" during the game.

The season was a huge success, we set out to win a MAC title and it was accomplished, and I'll take that over bowl wins any day of the week. We defeated an unbeaten ranked opponent with a Heisman candidate on national television. We saw many young guys step into the fold and be major contributors on both sides of the ball. Yeah, it sucks to lose to BCS schools and it sucks to lose bowl games, but this group was very special and the foundation has been laid for Coach Babers to take the program to the next level.

100% right. We needed to be firing on all cylinders to have a chance and the old demons (particularly the stalled offensive drives) crept up and bit us again.

Pitt outphysicaled Notre Dame. They should have that advantage over us and are doing something very, very wrong as a program if they don't. Give us an NFL stadium and their recruiting budget and we could do the same thing. No shame at all. Without lurching into complete bitter/jealous professor mode, it's hard to envision a scenario where the outcome of a particular bowl game mattered less given the events of the last 3 weeks.

[kdog27]

I don't understand why Givens was burried down the depth chart after the MSU game. Him and Greene had been a great 1-2 punch up until then.

[BGWriter]

First and most important: The MAC title was and will forever remain the thing this team is remembered for -- and should be. They broke a 21 year drought that should have never happened and, God willing, will never happen again.

All of us who had high hopes for a bowl win should remember this game in the future, especially if the team has changed coaches. It's just not possible, in my opinion, for an interim coaching staff whose members are more focused on new jobs, moving, and recruiting for a new team, to prepare a team to win. That showed in this game. The preparation (both coaches and players) just wasn't there.

As noted above, Pitt punched BG in the mouth right off the bat and this team backed down and never recovered. Especially on defense. They had problems maintaining their lanes (which is a concentration thing) and displayed the worst tackling I've seen from a BG team in many years. Really bad.

On offense, I didn't like much of anything so far as the play calling goes. Pitt was one of the worst pass defenses in the country, but BG kept trying to run these slow developing plays, instead of getting to the line and running quick hitting pass plays, especially over the middle where Pitt seemed vulnerable. When the pressure up the middle was becoming a factor, the coaches didn't seem to have any plays to roll out Johnson and make use of his strong arm and ability to run, if needed.

Given the interim coach was also the special teams coach, I was also disappointed they gave up a special teams TD and basically gave up another TD after a long kickoff return because of poor coverage. The kick wasn't very good, either. I just didn't like the strategy.

It was obvious our interim coach isn't ready for the next step. I'm pretty sure he would agree if he's honest after watching the film of this game.

Bottom line: I'm a happy guy. BG won a MAC title! They beat a ranked team that had dominated the league for years, and hadn't lost a league game in a long time, and was nationally ranked to do it. It was probably the best game a BG team has played in decades on both sides of the ball. That is the game I'll remember, and the one that epitomizes this season...especially when you consider how down this team was after that awful loss to UT. They regrouped and did what few (including me) thought they were capable of doing.

Thank you, team and (departing) coaches.

Good luck Coach Babers. I have confidence you will pick up the reigns of this team and not miss a beat, especially on offense. I fully expect to win the East again, and hopefully another MAC title. You have some work to do on the defensive side, and I hope you bring in some top notch coaches to help you.

[gspointer]

This game and The Northern Illinois game last night should prove to everyone that when we have success enjoy it because that coach is going to leave in an instant. Best two teams in the MAC and both get handled by teams I thought they would both beat. If NIU would have beaten BG, wonder what kind of beating Baylor would have put on them. Best team in the MAC couldn't beat a middle of the pack ACC team. Tell me every excuse in the book, but next time a MAC team is 9 -0 or 10-0 late in the season, you won't hear me saying they should be ranked because they are Top 25 worthy.

I have to agree. The gap has been narrowed but is still there. In the NIU game they were talking about the NIU Des being 225-230 lbs. Utah state - 270. Sorry but that will not cut it. We need to work on that. We have DEs recruited. Please keep them there. The weakness in both games last night were the inability to stop the run. You cannot do that with LB size guys at the end.

[gspointer]

One more thing I need to get off my chest. Where was the crowd? They were present but not participating. All around me people were on their phones, one guy kept telling me how many yards 40 had as he was tracking it on his phone. Not a single one cheered within 20 yards of me the whole game. It was like a geriatric ward.... No sixth man and that is on the fans.....

[jpfalcon09]

One more thing I need to get off my chest. Where was the crowd? They were present but not participating. All around me people were on their phones, one guy kept telling me how many yards 40 had as he was tracking it on his phone. Not a single one cheered within 20 yards of me the whole game. It was like a geriatric ward.... No sixth man and that is on the fans.....

Not surprised. I think the fans who were engaged in the program all year went to the MACC. We were loud the whole game and I think the team really fed off it. The game being close to Christmas hurt too as I'm sure not nearly as many students were able to make the game. As I posted in another thread, there's a reason I went to the MACC and not the bowl game, because I knew which one would matter most to the students and alumni.

[BGSU33]

One more thing I need to get off my chest. Where was the crowd? They were present but not participating. All around me people were on their phones, one guy kept telling me how many yards 40 had as he was tracking it on his phone. Not a single one cheered within 20 yards of me the whole game. It was like a geriatric ward.... No sixth man and that is on the fans.....

I was at both the MAC Championship and the bowl game. The BG crowd for the MAC Championship was WAY more energetic and enthusiastic, by far. There were more BG fans there last night, but...how can I say this nicely there seemed to be a lot more season-ticket holders and way less students might sum it up best. The BG crowd at the MAC championship was electric. We were talking about how we wish it was like that for every home game, it was awesome. The crowd last night was bigger but just asleep. We were in section 127 which was right on the 50 and it had a "mature" crowd that didn't do a thing. We did our part to try and generate a pulse on third down but got little response. It was nothing like that in the MAC Championship.

[MajorFalcon92]

One more thing I need to get off my chest. Where was the crowd? They were present but not participating. All around me people were on their phones, one guy kept telling me how many yards 40 had as he was tracking it on his phone. Not a single one cheered within 20 yards of me the whole game. It was like a geriatric ward.... No sixth man and that is on the fans.....

I was at both the MAC Championship and the bowl game. The BG crowd for the MAC Championship was WAY more energetic and enthusiastic, by far. There were more BG fans there last night, but...how can I say this nicely there seemed to be a lot more season-ticket holders and way less students might sum it up best. The BG crowd at the MAC championship was electric. We were talking about how we wish it was like that for every home game, it was awesome. The crowd last night was bigger but just asleep. We were in section 127 which was right on the 50 and it had a "mature" crowd that didn't do a thing. We did our part to try and generate a pulse on third down but got little response. It was nothing like that in the MAC Championship.

The student section was missed. Pretty lame and quiet crowd IMO.

[TG1996]

I felt like I was bothering those around me just by standing up and shouting. Shouldn't have to feel like that, but was trying to be a little respectful. Was odd to see that many people who made a trip of likely an hour-plus, decked out in orange, but felt like even clapping was a chore.

Also sad to see Detroit likely gone as a bowl option for the MAC after seeing all the orange in the seats yesterday, regardless of how loud they were or weren't.