Wait till we play the big boys. We better man up or we will get abused. I hate to say that, but it is the truth. Guys we have developed a reputation for being soft and our opponents know that. If you heard the NIU Coach last night he more or less said they knew who they were going up against and told his team that if they would come down here, play physical and take the fight to us for the full 60 minutes they would win. Conversely, I feel like we have a mindset of finding a way to lose rather than finding a way to win. We have to change that. Our opponents smell that and know that if they can apply some pressure we will fold.
It may be time to make some drastic changes and shake things up. Play some different people. Change our schemes. Move some coaches around. Do something!
Go Jackets!
Jerry. IMO this is the most astute comment I have read in quite a while. I could tell from the 1st snap that we were surprised by NIU's fight and intensity. Their crisp blocking and gang tackling was impressive. They seemed to have spies on Gibbs and Sims , knowing we didn't have much else on offense, especially since we never even tried to throw to the TEs. To their credit, when NIU got the ball late in the 4th quarter, I KNEW they would score a TD and go for two. I was just hoping they wouldn't convert the extra points.
My summary of the game was that we:
1) Overlooked this game, as many GOOD teams can and still win......but at this point we are nowhere near GOOD. ( Fault- COACHING for putting the idea in the player's heads that they are already elite- without any results on the field to confirm that.)
2) We are mentally unprepared to start the game. When an opponent smacks us in the mouth, we tuck tail. ( Fault - Players with an assist from coaching. Where is the
leadership and the pride ? Is this how they played in high school ?
3) No in game adjustments. When you spot an overmatched ( supposedly) opponent 2 TDs in the first half you should be able to recover.....we ALMOST did. When we play superior teams , which almost all teams on our schedule have, they will BURY in the 1st half. ( Fault - COACHING, COACHING, COACHING )
4) Can't make FGs in your own half empty stadium with ideal weather conditions by an experienced FG kicker from makeable distance ( Fault -coaching and kicker)
5) Poor technique on OL in sustaining blocks and DL in shedding blocks......with experienced players- especially the OL. ( Fault- Players- Seniors and Juniors need help with basic technique at this point ? IMO, this was lack of effort and toughness.)
6) Poor clock and game management........again ! ( Fault - CGC. Wasting 2 TOs in the 3rd quarter in a close game was inexcusable).
Thanks for letting me vent. I still don't feel better though because I have very little confidence that anything I mentioned above will change with the current HC and staff.