Sadness Accrues

 Yeah, it was ugly.

No flag this week...and the best chance BG had of winning again this year.  Could still happen, but just a very ugly performance last week.

Tom Arth is 3-21 at Akron.  There's a win over Bryant and two over BG.  That's the whole list.

As Coach said after the game, that's how you lose a football game.  BG played about as poorly as you could play, up and down the line, against a team that for the first third of the game was distinguishing itself by playing even worse.

One key point came when BG scored to go up 10-0.  Akron fumbled on their first play from scrimmage and BG started on the UA 29.  They drove to the 10, converted a fourth down and were six inches from the goal line when they ran four plays that did not get into the end zone.  I agreed with going for it...you just gotta be able to make that and the Zips offense had been so bad to that point that you had to figure it was a good bet to leave them that deep if you didn't make it.

And that part worked out.  The Zips threw a pick and BG was back in business again.  Unfortunately, the sequence came to naught when McDonald was intercepted.  Is 13-0, should probably be 28 to nothing.

A couple possessions later, Akron drove 8 plays/70 yards for a TD.  The first warning sign was when a 59-yard TD pass was called back for an unrelated penalty, but the Zips scored anyway to go 13-7.

Way closer than it should be, but the offense bounced back.  BG drove down the field--mostly with the run--and got inside the 30, when McDonald hit Austin Osborne inside the 10.  Austin looked set to score but he bobbled the ball and it ended up right in the hands of the Zips.

From there, there was no bouncing back.

Akron drove to the BG 18 and stalled, BG blocked a low-kicked FG to end the half.

Akron, now operating with their 3rd string QB, drove 75 yards in 5 plays to score to take the lead 14-13

    BG fumbled on the first play from scrimmage

Akron took the short field and scored a TD, up 21-13.

    BG made a first down, took a 10-yard sack, made 2 net yards and punted

Akron took a poor BG punt, drove 57 yards in 7 plays to go up 28-13.

    BG made a first down, but stalled out and punted from mid-field to start the 4th.

Akron took the ball from its own 9 and scored on 10 plays to go up 25-13.

That was it.  BG scored a garbage TD, but it was over.  In one quarter, BG allowed Akron 3rd string QB and an o-line as young as BG's to march down the field without resistance while BG's offense failed to help out.

It was ugly.  Obviously, you don't win playing like that.

The tale of woe:

5 turnovers, plus the 4th down turnover.

McDonald was intercepted 3 times, sacked 4 times and hurried twice.  He also missed open receivers and even made poor throws on passes that were completed.  He was strip-sacked as well, as his slow arm action came back to haunt him.  He's certainly not the only problem out there, but it was by far his worst game this year.  Gibby said after the game that teams are leaving a safety under our post routes...he didn't adjust and (this is me now, not Gibby) BG doesn't have enough variety going downfield in its routes to change it up.

(I'm not yank-the-QB guy.  The backup QB is always the best player on the team.  Having said that, I wonder if Arth wishes he had gone to Gibson sooner.  I hope we don't have a blind spot here.  In 2013, Clawson had Schilz as his starting QB to start the year.  I also know I don't see practice.  I hope we don't have a blind spot.)

BG netted 233 passing yards on 39 attempts, less than 6 yards per attempt.  Also, 20 percent of that came on one play.

Zach Gibson, who came in when Kato Nelson was injured, was 14 of 15 for 177 and 3 TDS.  He also ran twice for 16 yards.

BG's tackling was terrible. A throwback to last season.

There were other things...drops, etc.

It was ugly.  Akron played badly and BG played worse.  It was a setback.  Maybe not unexpected, but painful to watch.  It doesn't get easier.  BG is playing NIU next--on the road.  NIU was picked last in the West, with nearly as few votes as BG had.  They won a P5 game (as BG did) and are 2-0 in the MAC, including a win in the Glass Bowl.

We are improved.  No doubt.  We shaved 13 points off last year's loss to Akron (gallows humor).  But we are better than last year.  But not even close to being good enough to consistently compete.