"Debacle"

So, let's wallow a little bit in how the "debacle" (in Coach's words) unfolded yesterday at the Doyt.

BG came out incredibly flat, given that Coach says they prepped well and we were telling ourselves it was our "Super Bowl."  If it was, we were the Denver Broncos of 1989.

Anyway.  BG came out incredibly flat.  We deferred and UB got the ball and moved 75 yards on 8 plays, facing only 1 3rd down and it was a 3rd and 1.  Essentially, BG put up no opposition. UB up 7-0.

BG got the ball, converted a 3rd and 23.  A false start put them behind the sticks and then on 3rd and 15 McDonald threw a pick.

UB drove to the BG 6 before the Falcons finally diagnosed the QB keep part of the option play and a FG was forced.  10-0.

BG went 3 and out (net -3 yards) and made 29 yards on a net punt.  UB started on our 48, were on the 1 after one play and then in the end zone, up 17-0 with 4:36 left in the first quarter.

I guess that would qualify as a flat start.

BG went three and out and after a 29 yard punt, UB had the ball in BG territory.  BG had them 3-12 when they fumbled and Jordan Anderson returned it down to the UB 31.  Seems great, except BG got a 15-yard sideline penalty and started on the UB 46.

McDonald hit Sims for 35 yards to the UB 6. This is seemingly when BG gets in trouble.  We have trouble getting running space all over the field, but it is trouble X 10 inside the 5. On 3 plays, BG lost a yard and had it 4th down from the 7.  They lined up for a FG, ran a fake where the holder was supposed to lateral it to the kicker, who was sprinting to the left.  He got the ball but fell down in the open field, UB picked the ball and returned it back to the house but had a penalty.

That was BG's first chance to get the game to 17-7.

UB then went on a 15 play drive from their own 15 to the BG 1, before the Falcon defense rallied and stopped them on 4th down.

Still, BG starting on its own 1?  The Falcons, hindered by two penalties of its own and aided by a PI, drove the ball to their own 34.  This time they got a good punt, leading to a fair catch on the UB 19.  Unfortunately, BG was called for fair catch interference, and UB was out to the 34. 

The defense got a three-and-out and then Embry had a 42-yard punt return to start BG on the UB 33.  Jaison Patterson took the ball, made a great move at the line and another at the second level and seemed to be heading for a score when he fumbled, UB recovering on their own 1.

That was BG's second chance to get the game to 17-7.

It was the last time there was even the most remote chance of BG getting back into the game.  On 3rd down from the 8, Washington broke loose for a 92-yard TD run to put the Bulls up 24-0.

BG went 3 and out, highlighted by a botched Statute of Liberty play. 

UB got the ball on their own 36 and finished it off, aided by two BG penalties drove into the end zone to make it 31-0.

Just a complete disaster.  As bad as you can play and in a MAC game you have been pointing to.  A team you beat last year.  Just so disappointing.

To illustrate the issue, I went through and found the following plays for both teams that were:

• 20+ plays
• Turnovers
• Pre-snap penalties
• Unsportsmanlike/Un. Roughness
• Bad Punts/Other ridiculous plays like watching the QB catch the throwback pass
• Sacks +6 yards

BG Negative/UB Positive Plays

1. Snyder,Cole pass complete short right to Washington,Mike for 0 yards to the BGSU49 fumbled by Washington,Mike at BGSU49 forced by Tau,Kitione recovered by BGSU Oladokun,Jordan at BGSU49 Oladokun,Jordan return 20 yards to the UB31 (Snyder,Cole), out of bounds PENALTY BGSU UNS: Unsportsmanlike Conduct 15 yards from UB31 to UB46.
2. Snyder,Cole pass complete deep left to Williams,Quian for 33 yards to the BGSU31 (Simms,Trent), 
3. PENALTY BGSU False Start (Grant,Jalen) 5 yards from BGSU49 to BGSU44.
4. McDonald,Matt pass intercepted by Fuqua,Marcus at UB40 Fuqua,Marcus return 20 yards to the BGSU40 (McDonald,Matt), out of bounds.
5. Washington,Mike rush middle for 20 yards gain to the BGSU14 (Bacon,Chris), out of bounds, 1ST DOWN.
6. Sir,Sami punt 39 yards to the UB42 Williams,Quian return 10 yards to the BGSU48, out of bounds at BGSU48.
7. Snyder,Cole pass complete deep middle to Gassett,Jamari for 47 yards to the BGSU01 (Simms,Trent), out of bounds, 1ST DOWN.
8. Sir,Sami punt 29 yards to the BGSU47, out of bounds at BGSU47.
9. Lawler,Mason rush left for 9 yards loss (-18) to the UB16 fumbled by Lawler,Mason at UB20 recovered by UB Cobb,Keyshawn at UB16 Cobb,Keyshawn return 9 yards to the BGSU00 TOUCHDOWN nullified by penalty, clock 00:48 PENALTY UB Illegal Block in Back (Blades,Elijah) 10 yards from UB25 to UB15.
10. Williams,Quian pass complete deep left to Snyder,Cole for 15 yards to the BGSU28 (Bacon,Chris), 1ST DOWN.
11. Snyder,Cole pass complete deep right to Marshall,Justin for 21 yards to the BGSU06 (Anderson,Jordan), out of bounds, 1ST DOWN.
12. Johnson,Jamal rush middle for 3 yards gain to the BGSU15 (Dolac,Shaun) PENALTY BGSU Personal Foul (Grant,Jalen) 6 yards from BGSU12 to BGSU06. NO PLAY.
13. PENALTY BGSU False Start (Warner,Bronson) 5 yards from BGSU30 to BGSU25. NO PLAY.
14. Sir,Sami punt 47 yards to the UB19 fair catch by Williams,Quian at UB19 PENALTY BGSU Kick Catch Interference (Wimberly,PaSean) 15 yards from UB19 to UB34.
15. Patterson,Jaison rush middle for 32 yards gain to the UB01 fumbled by Patterson,Jaison at UB09 forced by Muse,Jahmin recovered by UB Fuqua,Marcus at UB01, End Of Play.
16. Washington,Mike rush middle for 92 yards gain to the BGSU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 02:43, 1ST DOWN.
17. PENALTY BGSU UNS: Unsportsmanlike Conduct (Brooks,Karl) 15 yards from UB35 to UB50. NO PLAY.
18. McDonald,Matt rush middle for 10 yards loss to the BGSU15 fumbled by McDonald,Matt at BGSU17 recovered by BGSU McDonald,Matt at BGSU15, End Of Play.
19. Snyder,Cole pass incomplete short right to Marshall,Justin broken up by Burton,Jalen PENALTY BGSU Offside (Saad,Ali) 5 yards from BGSU42 to BGSU37. NO PLAY.
20. Snyder,Cole pass incomplete short middle to Gassett,Jamari broken up by Horne,Brock PENALTY BGSU UNR: Unnecessary Roughness (Horne,Brock) 11 yard from BGSU22 to BGSU11, 1ST DOWN. NO PLAY.
21. Snyder,Cole pass complete deep right to Curry,Boobie for 20 yards to the BGSU01 (Bacon,Chris), out of bounds, 1ST DOWN.
22. Sir,Sami punt 29 yards to the UB40.
23. Johnson,Jamal rush middle for 0 yards to the UB03 fumbled by Johnson,Jamal at UB02 forced by Patterson,James recovered by UB Patterson,James at UB03 Patterson,James return 97 yards to the BGSU00 TOUCHDOWN, clock 08:33.
24. Lawler,Mason kickoff 65 yards to the UB00, Touchback PENALTY BGSU Offside (Taylor,DJ) 5 yards from UB25 to UB30.
25. McDonald,Matt pass incomplete short right to Croom,Cavon broken up by Bass,Jaylon PENALTY BGSU UNR: Unnecessary Roughness (Grant,Jalen) 15 yards from UB26 to UB41.
26. McDonald,Matt sacked for loss of 9 yards to the UB32 (Kante,Ibrahim).
27. Cook,Ron rush left for 28 yards gain to the BGSU47 (Huskey,Jalen; Simms,Trent), 1ST DOWN.
28. McDonald,Matt sacked for loss of 7 yards to the BGSU13 (Michel,Max).
29. I almost forgot allowing the fake punt to work.

BG Positive /UB Negative Plays

1. McDonald,Matt pass complete deep right to Broden,Tyrone for 23 yards to the BGSU49 (Dolac,Shaun), 1ST DOWN.
2. Snyder,Cole pass complete short right to Washington,Mike for 0 yards to the BGSU49 fumbled by Washington,Mike at BGSU49 forced by Tau,Kitione recovered by BGSU Oladokun,Jordan at BGSU49 Oladokun,Jordan return 20 yards to the UB31 (Snyder,Cole), out of bounds PENALTY BGSU UNS: Unsportsmanlike Conduct 15 yards from UB31 to UB46.
3. McDonald,Matt pass complete deep left to Sims,Christian for 35 yards to the UB06 (Fuqua,Marcus), 1ST DOWN.
4. Venneri,Anthony punt 46 yards to the BGSU25 Embry,Jhaylin return 42 yards to the UB33 (Venneri,Anthony), out of bounds.
5. Snyder,Cole sacked for loss of 10 yards to the BGSU21 (Hawkins,Anthony).
6. Johnson,Jamal rush middle for 23 yards gain to the UB46 (Cobb,Keyshawn), 1ST DOWN.
7. McDonald,Matt pass complete deep middle to Bench,Andrew for 27 yards to the UB43 (Patterson,James), 1ST DOWN.
8. McDonald,Matt pass complete deep middle to Lewis,CJ for 26 yards to the UB49 (Murdock,Khalil), 1ST DOWN.
9. McDonald,Matt pass complete deep middle to Lewis,CJ for 24 yards to the UB25 (Murdock,Khalil), 1ST DOWN.
10. McDonald,Matt pass complete short middle to Hiliare,Odieu for 3 yards to the UB38 (Muse,Jahmin) Roughing The Passer (Williams,Daymond) 15 yards from UB38 to UB23, 1ST DOWN.
11. Mosley,Nick rush right for 13 yards gain to the UB49 (Cobb,Keyshawn), 1ST DOWN, PENALTY UB Face Mask (Cobb,Keyshawn) 15 yards from UB49 to UB34, 1ST DOWN

Well, I suspect that we are running out of runway on the program's current staff.  Who knows, but at 2-4 and playing this poorly, it is hard to imagine us making a bowl game.  With the AD situation, the best thing for BG would be for Loeffler to earn a credible one-year extension and then let the new AD come in and evaluate.  I think the administration will be forced to move, which might mean the new AD will pick a football coach with only weeks or days on the job.

I wouldn't be shocked even to see it happen mid-season, though without an AD in place to start the coaching search, a mid-season change makes even less sense than normal.

Ultimately, the first six games are a good test of where we are in the rebuild.  And a rebuild is fine, but eventually, something needs to be rebuilt.  You have a team with one good win, one skin-of-the-teeth win over a 1-5 team, and then losses to your FCS opponent and a blowout to a MAC team, both at home.  The problems seem systemic.  Somehow, the operating system doesn't work and the whole is less than the sum of its parts.