No, we didn't stick the landing
We didn't land on our ass, either, but it was closer than it should have been. We nearly provided the Bulls with their first win of the season.
It is not as I had hoped this morning. This team is not out of the woods. They will struggle with everyone they play this year, particularly on the road. And yes, everyone in the East has two losses now, and we have the opportunity to give Akron, Kent and Miami their third losses. Yes, I know we could win the East without beating Miami. I am less than confident, today, that we can win the East losing to Miami and Toledo, though, and I am less than confident we can win those games.
This is just not last year's team.
Yes, I know the defense is improved. I suppose. Its hard to tell against who we are playing. In the pre-game show, Coach Brandon was hoping to see the defense continue its momentum against a struggling Bull attack. Even though we held them to 7 points, the Bulls had over 300 yards in offense, ran for 198 net yards on 4.2/yards per carry. We completely shut down their freshmen led passing attack, which also gave us two interceptions, and had a nice goal line stand to hold off another score. The defense kept us in the game, so that's fine, but they weren't exactly "lights out."
The offense, on the other hand, is clunking and clanking along. Omar had his worst MAC game ever, and if it wasn't for Buffalo's inability to stop the run, and their extending two drives by roughing Nate Fry, we could have lost this game. Omar was 18 of 34, with 1 TD and 2 INT--his first 2 INT game. He simply is not having the year he had last year.
Last year, our team was downright hard to impossible to stop. This year, Boise has done it, and OU and Buffalo have done it for long periods of time before being worn down in the end. we were 4 of 15 on third down--unheard of last season--and only barely won the TOP battle.
BJ Lane had a great day, with 141 yards on 5.6 yards/carry, and he is pretty much responsible for the team winning today. He scored three times, twice on long runs. Cudos to the offensive staff in seeing what we had working, and getting enough of it to win.
I don't know why, but we seem to run increasing numbers of plays under center. I don't know why, but they seem to smell run when we do it, and it doesn't go anywhere. Also, I am becoming increasingly convinced that this offense will not work with a strictly drop-back QB, which Omar is. You have to be able to add the threat of running to keep the coverage loose, and no one fears Omar running the ball.
Obviously, I didn't see today's game, but I followed it on the radio and have the stats here.
Special teams have been a problem, and were less disasterous than normal, with a missed XP, and two kickoffs out of bounds. Fry was nearly blocked twice, but those turned into penalties, which saved our butt.
Its amazing. Flash back to the end of the first quarter on a sunny day in Madison. We're in the lead, our offense is the world class group we had expected, and everything looks great. Look at us now. I know, we're 4-2 and 3-0, and that's nothing to complain about. But this team will still have a hard time beating a good time on the road, and I really worry we could head to a bowl game 7-5.
Things could change. Maybe the defense really is better. They seem to be, but the competition is tough to judge. Maybe the offense will get it put together, but it increasingly appears to be systemic and not an anomaly.
Either way, this wasn't the year we expected when we started.
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