FalconBlog--Triumphs and Trials in the BGSU Falcon Nation

Its Over. 4-8

It is always among the worst days of the year. The day when I realize that I have to wait ten more months before I watch another Falcon football game.

Last night's 31-21 defeat to the Rockets was not, in fact, that close. The Rockets shot to a 28-7 lead, and then we skinnied it back a little bit to get the margin to 10. I guess you could say we never gave up, but I'm not sure the Rockets were exactly pressing, either.

The player of the game for us was Corey Partridge, who tied a school record with 14 catches. He was an absolute warrior out there. He took huge hits, and caught bad throws, but he made nearly every play in his direction, sending the doddering Lou Holtz into fits of manlove. Corey also had a big punt return that got us into position for our TD in the late 2nd, which at least sent us into the locker room with some hope.

As for Turner, what can you say? He was just disasterous in the first half, and was eventually replaced by Tyler Sheehan, who was just as bad. In fact, Sheehan threw the pick 6 that gave UT a 21 point lead, and pretty much ended the game.

Late in the second, Corey broke a big punt return, and then UT got a personal foul, and from there our offense managed to move inside the 10. AT came back in, threw a TD pass, and then his performance improved a lot in the second half. At least on paper. Again, it is hard to tell how much of it came from picking apart a soft defense which was routinely dropping 8 men into coverage.

We lost this game on the line of scrimmage. We couldn't run the ball at all, and the UT line was regularly opening up gaping holes that moved our line back 3-4 yards. I don't know if we are out of gas, or what, but UT dominated the line of scrimmage, and we had no answer for that.

During the year, I have generally defended the Falcon playcalling. People feel it has been too conservative; I feel they don't have confidence in our ability to execute a more open offense, and there is plenty of reason to think that is true.

Last night, however, it was a little frustrating. We had a tendency to call the same play twice in a row, and UT had a tendency to make a stop on the second one. The QB draw play was going nowhere--UT had that play completely wrapped up. Yet, we continued to call it. I know we have limited options and it is worse with Freddie Barnes being injured. I don't envy them.

We rushed for less than 100 yards. Dan Macon actually led the team. Meanwhile, Chris Bullock had his second struggling game in a row. As a freshmen, he might simply be out of gas. I believe with more preparation, he and Macon can still represent a formidable running threat.

A more complete and obsessive evaluation period will come on this blog in the coming weeks. But, the bottom line is that we have had our first losing season in the Meyer/Brandon era. While we avoided the shellacking I feared most, we still finish on a five game losing streak. So much for young teams getting better as the season goes on. It was an unsatisfying season on a competitive basis, and, for reasons I will explain soon, very unsatisfying as a spectator.

Coach Brandon has two years left on his deal. I fully expect him to Coach our team for those two seasons. Let's hope that our young players turn into good players.