Sadness Accrues: "It’s the reality of where we’re at right now"

After the game Saturday, that's what Scot Loeffler said...

"It’s the reality of where we’re at right now."

And I think that's what Falcon fans have to realize.  This thing was left in bad shape after last season, probably worse than even pessimists thought, and it's not going to get fixed overnight or over many nights.

Yesterday's game could not have been a clearer indication.  The 62-20 defeat to Kent is a brace of very cold water.  Kent was picked to be the #4 team in the East...and even if that turns out to be a mistake and Kent is the surprise team of the MAC, it's still a team in the MAC.  Losing by six touchdowns to a team in your conference is just something that shouldn't happen.  It's a pretty bitter pill.

Just for context, Kent racked up a school-record 750 yards of total offense.  That would also be a school record for the Bowling Green offense...our record is 725.  It's not the most we've ever allowed...OSU put twenty-some more against us a couple years ago...but that was a top-5 ranked OSU team and this is a team in the MAC.

We allowed UT 66 a couple years ago, so it's not the most points allowed to a MAC opponent.  It is the most Kent has ever scored on us, and we have been playing them for a very long time.

I repeat:

"It’s the reality of where we’re at right now."

Kent averaged 8.9 yards per play and BG had 4.9...so on every snap of the ball we were four yards down and then ran about 10 more plays than us on top of it.  BG had 2 turnovers and Kent 0.  BG gained 3.8 per rush, which is very poor.  Meanwhile, Kent gouged the Falcons for 7.8 yards per rush.  You can go right down the line.  Loeffler said the passing game was "hard to watch."

Enough of that game.  It's as bad as it can get.  You hope it's rock bottom, but there's no reason to think it is.  It is possible we're the worst FBS team right now.

Here's the thing.  We are where we are today because of the two coaches who came after Clawson left.  Babers won a title, obviously, and had three Big 10 wins, but he didn't recruit to BG and you don't see much in the classes where his players should be.  And Mike Jinks has been discussed enough.  Essentially, the program was mismanaged for five years and here we are.

Here's another Loeffler quote: “We knew that we were a ways away. Did I think that we were this far away? No.”

A couple of thoughts.  First, we have to stick with this coaching staff.  Loeffler simply has to succeed.  This is the worst four-year cycle in our program's history and if we crash out again we're looking at what Kent and EMU have traditionally been.  Loeffler simply has to turn this around. 

Second, I think he's building it the right way...the way Clawson did, with sound fundamentals, strong coaches and good recruiting.  He's not taking short cuts.  I don't know if he's going to get us back to being a MAC title contender (no one does), but I believe this is the only path we can take to get us back to where we can sustainably compete.

It's painful for a fan, and therefore it's 10x more painful for the players and coaches.  So they need some support right now.  The people responsible for this mess are long gone and it won't be cleaned up this year or next year.

Here's what Loffler also said, quoted in The Blade:

“Three years, four years [from now], you’re going to ask me that question and go, ‘How are you going to keep their heads on straight?’ when we’re winning,” Loeffler said. “That’s going to happen — it’s just going to be a process. We’ve got work to do in every aspect.”

Yeah, yesterday was ugly and it stings.  Let's stand by our guys and let them try to turn it around.