Boise Unkind To Falcons Again....or were the Falcons Unkind to the Falcons

Well, another day spent badly in Idaho for the Falcons, as they were defeated 20-7 by the Broncos. I listened to the Falcon gamestream...some general impressions.

At best, we played about two quarters against Boise. They simply owned us in the first half, and we can't win when we play like that. We also made three turnovers to their one, and it shouldn't be a big surprise. Special teams were ineffective again. Its hard to beat anyone like that, much less a team that good and that good on their own field.

The game was never in doubt from early on. We had some chances in the fourth quarter, but they were mostly on the level of extreme comeback scenarios. Obviously, when we got the TD in the fourth, if we had the two FGs from early it would have been a different story. But, we seemed to stall out just inside their 40--that's not the kicker's fault.

The second half clearly was better than the first half. I don't think Boise had a big enough lead to be taking it easy....I think our defense gets some credit for adjusting and playing much better football in the second half.

There's two ways to look at that though. There have now been three games, and in each one the opposition has blown us out in their first few possessions, and then we get stronger and adjust. At Pitt and Boise, in particular, the first few possessions were downright awful.

Don't get me wrong. I'm glad we're adjusting and playing better D. (Boise had only four first downs in the second half and one turnover, and one of those first downs was on a roughing the passer play).

But, we're getting in the hole in every game, and when you're playing from behind, its tough to win. We've got to start the game ready to play, or we're not going to get the consistent results we need in the MAC to win.

The offense moved the ball OK, we had 22 first downs. But, we turned the ball over, and we didn't finish. Look at where these drives ended without points:

• Boise 24
• Boise 38
• Boise 17
• Boise 39
• Boise 32
• Boise 29

Our team is built around the ruthless completion of drives. And, we simply weren't getting it done. We got it that far, we should have been able to finish.

From the Blade

“We really have to emphasize on finishing,” Sheehan said. “We struggled against Minnesota last week and obviously against Boise State this week.”

Coach was trying all kinds of things to get something started. He even put Andrew Beam in for some snaps.

Finally, Anthony Turner, Freddie Barnes and Erique Dozier were all injured, and each could be serious. We have a fortunate bye week before we head back out to Wyoming, and have three weeks before we have to start playing in the MAC. Let's hope these guys are healthy.

I'm not pushing the panic button. The road to the title is hard, and its only going to get harder. OU is now looking like a tough contest, as is NIU, both on the road. This team needs to assess what is going on with the offense and fix it. There's time, and I think there's ability, though health will play a role.

Its not the line. It seems like we are getting protection. There always something wrong---a misthrown ball, a dropped ball, or a fumble. When we are just ready to put our foot on their throat, we seem to let them up. We seem to play it very, very safe, too. Lots of safe passes behind the line and not enough downfield, maybe.

One other note. We have a new offensive coordinator team, so maybe there are some adjustments being made. That's fine and understandable. Coach Brandon is an OC--we need to look around at where we are, without illusions, and make the corrections we need.

Because we were outright beaten last night. But, you know, the difference wasn't enough to be excusable.