Reflections on our Season to date....

Well, it was certainly a disappointing day out there.  There isn't much to be said.  Coach talked in the post-game presser about us simply being overwhelmed.  He used the phrase that it almost "wasn't fair" for our offensive line to be expected to hold off a line like theirs with a true freshman and two guys who used to be on defense--one of them even when the season started.

We knew this was going to be a tough season.  I remember Coach Clawson pointing it out before last season started.  You always talk when a new Coach comes in about whether the cupboard was bare.  I guess in our case, the front of the cupboard was OK, but there was nothing in the back of the cupboard.

Even so, I didn't think it would be a 1-11 or 2-10 season.  We have had some close losses when we were healthier, but as the team's injuries have continued to mount, our lack of depth has been completely exposed.  And, just to bare it out, we were exposed by a decent MAC team but not a great MAC team.  Out last season with 2 wins was 2000.  Our last season with 1 win was 1953.  We've never lost 10 games in a season.

One thing about football is that a bad recruiting class is like a time bomb.  You don't expect players to be great while they are working their way through the system, but you need seniors to win, and we just had a lot of attrition.  If anything should have prompted the last coaching change, this is it, more than a losing game to Buffalo.

The whole thing has a 2000 feel to it....with one exception.  In 2000, we were on a downward trajectory with no way to see us coming up.  This is certainly a bad year....but I don't think we are on a downward trajectory.  We are heading to the bottom of the J, and we are (I hope) generating the momentum to start climbing back up again.

We will emerge with players who are much more game-tested much earlier than would have been expected.  And I think our guys have ability, and our Coach is a proven winner.

This is tough on the fans, and ten times tougher on the players and the coaches.  But, it doesn't feel like it did the last time.