Sadness Accrues: First thoughts on the Rocket loss

Well, hell.

That was one hell of a night.  It started with BG having perhaps the worst quarter imaginable, rallying from 30-7 to have a chance to make the game close again, but always find themselves one step from being back in the game.

BG turned the ball over 5 times, and even if you give them the one at the end, where you had to make something happen, you still had 4 turnovers.  As Coach said after the game, we didn't get beat by the "bogeyman."  We got beat by ourselves.

In all fairness, the turnovers are not the whole story.  UT had a very good defensive game plan and they won the battle on the line of scrimmage, especially with the defensive line.  They did a great job of limiting the big play.  BG's longest pass play before garbage time was a 17-yard completion.  BG's longest run was 12 yards.  That's not what BG is used to seeing.

Also, BG had some poorly timed penalties, including a holding call on a big TD run by Matt Johnson that would have been a huge play in the game at that time.

As noted by the Falcon Radio Network, the Rockets were not blitzing.  They were getting pressure with four or even three rushers.  That's a worst case scenario for the offense because you have a QB under pressure throwing into heavy coverage.  I didn't think Matt Johnson ever really looked to be in a groove or comfortable out there and the offense really never clicked.

The first third of the game was pretty bad.  The defense was getting gashed and UT was running on us like crazy. Now, BG's defense did rise to the occasion, as they have done throughout the season.  They forced two red zone FGs in the first half, and kept the team in the game waiting for BG's offense to cut the game to a 2-point lead, which the Falcons were never able to do.

A very interesting thing happened in the last seconds.  Coach Babers called a time out and the entire team took a knee in front of him, just like they might have done after a practice.  I don't know what he said, but I have never seen a coach do that.

Look, that's 6 straight to the Rockets.  That is ridiculous.  It seemed like this year was the year to break the streak, but BG played its worst game of the season on November 17, and that was the wrong night when it came to this rivalry.

Worst game of the season and it wasn't close.  And that's very disappointing.  Incredibly disappointing, especially with the huge crowd.  I feel you.  It's almost midnight, and I'm pretty down right now.  This is a game you want to win.

Before you do, I will point out that Coach is 0-4 with a clinched East title.

OK.

First, Chris Jones was on twitter for BG and he pointed out that he was part of a winning game against UT and didn't play in the MAC title.

Second, BG lost to UT in the championship year.  In fact, the loss might have been the best thing that happened to that team.  The production that we saw AFTER that game cannot be compared to what we saw before that game.  And that was with Gabe Martin injured in the UT game.  So, there is life after losing to UT.

Now, if you want the season to be over because of the game tonight, OK.

But, as Coach pointed out, there are 3 games ahead of us.  Ball State, the MAC title game and then a bowl game.

If BG reacts like the '13 team did, they can still win the MAC title.  There is plenty of talent.

Coach also said that "hopefully we will see more energy and execution" in those games.

And that's the key.  The BG system is either executed perfectly or it becomes very clunky.  BG won 7 straight games (a point Coach did not fail to make), and the team is capable of doing what it needs to win.

It won't come with what we saw tonight.  It just won't.

But, it could still come.  Yes, the goal was to beat Toledo and win the MAC.  That's gone.  The question that remains is whether this team can rebound and win the MAC.  Let us watch and see.