Brandon Presser....Some questions to answer

Coach Brandon is back with his weekly presser. Saturday was bad medicine. Wise-cracks in orange.

HEAD COACH Gregg Brandon

You said you needed to look at the film on Saturday to evaluate things. What has that brought to your mind? (The closing scene to Apocalypse Now comes to mind. Or, insert any B-grade horror flick where Miami has a kitchen appliance for an arm and BG is a buxom teenage girl).

`It was a game of missed opportunities. We start the game with a great kickoff return and then we go take a sack. We had an open receiver and we didn't get that done. I think there is a confidence thing right now that we have to get our swagger back, so to speak, like we had in the first four games. I think that is lingering and we are struggling through that right now. When things started to go bad Saturday, the doubt started to creep in, and I think that's why it turned into a rout. You look at that game, it was 14-0 and we drop an interception that should have gone for a touchdown. Now it's 23-7 and we are still fighting. We kick off they fumble the kickoff and we don't get it, and then we give up a big play. To me (if) we go in 23-14 in the half instead of 30-7 ... to me, that is the game. We didn't capitalize on their mistakes and they did on ours -- that is the game in my opinion. I think they slugged us in the chops early and we didn't respond."

This is pretty accurate, in my opinion, though it represents the most favorable version of the truth. It doesn't mention that Miami blew holes in our line and could have kept scoring, except they were so far ahead. It doesn't mention how poorly we took care of the ball.

There was also a key drop there in the first half.
"Third and 10, they blitzed it and we didn't execute. We handle that, we keep a drive moving and maybe it's a different game. (You know, I'm not a proponent of this thought process where you can track a 33 point defeat down to one play, and that was where the whole thing went bad. I watched the game. Chances are if we make that first down, we don't make the next one and they win. Probably 47-14.) They made the plays and we didn't; that's what it came down to. (Yessir!!) After watching the film I did realize that we just got blown out and got dominated. (Now, we are on the right track. To me, this is the only honest way to capture the game). Miami played well, I'll give them credit, but we didn't exploit their mistakes like they exploited ours."

Last year you guys went on a five-game losing streak at the end of the season. What did you learn from that, that you can apply to this team maybe so that it won't happen this year?

"I think last year was a completely different deal than this year, aside from the confidence. We need to get our confidence back, but last year we were just fighting to figure out how to score some points. This year we have demonstrated that we can score points. We didn't get that done Saturday, but we can do that. (Well, we have done that. However, teams seem to have a pattern to defend us....drop way into coverage. They've adjusted, and we have to prove we can still score. ) The thing that we have to do is stay focused with the kids, stay positive with them, and make sure that they understand the reason we lost the Miami game was critical errors and we didn't take advantage of their errors. Like I said if we do that it's a different game. (Maybe. Its probably 47-24)."

One bright spot that comes out of the Miami game is Roger Williams continues to show that he's a big threat in the kick return game. When did you realize he had that kind of potential?
"When we put him back there last year we knew he had a burst. In camp this year he was struggling at times to field the ball; that's why you didn't see him early. We just worked him and worked him and worked him. He kept handling kickoffs and handling kickoffs until he got comfortable back there with it. He has really emerged back there as a force for us. I think with the kickoff being from the 30 that has helped a kid like him because he gets the ball and gets going now. He's a load; he can break an arm tackle." He is our best KO returner in many years. Can't wait until he breaks one.

Is he just a kickoff returner?
"He is a back up defensive back and we are going to continue to use him there. He has played some at corner; we are going to continue to bring him on there. He's a good athlete."

Temple beat Akron on Saturday, and it seems that everyone is trading wins. Does that help you remember that, even though you lost to Miami, there is still a lot to play for?
"We can't be discouraged. It was a tough loss, but coming off the Boston College game and going on the road to Miami is going to be tough anyway. We didn't get it done down there, but we've got to understand that we are on the road again at Kent and anything can happen. It has been demonstrated in this league, anybody that shows up on Saturday that plays well has a chance to win. There is no dominant team right now."

Boy, that's for sure. This conference is going to be wide open. We are not out of it, but we have to run the table to have a shot. That starts with a tough assignment on Saturday.

This question has been asked quite a few times. You have felt that you could pass on anyone; obviously, Miami stopped that a little bit. (Dan) Macon ran on them a little bit. Is there going to be a little more balance?
"I think we will do what we need to do to score points. Running the football -- if that is what we need to do to take a little pressure off of Tyler (Sheehan) as he gets through this slump right now, then that's what we will do. He has been effective for us and he has to fight through it and we have to help him fight through it. If running the football is the way to do it, then we can run the football. We know how to do that and we have the ability to do that."

This answer mystifies me. We "know how" to run the football. Well, I hope so. I guess I want to believe that. However, every time we have tried, it has not gone well, and the lack of trying suggests the opposite to me....that we know we CAN'T run the football. Anyway, the attitude continues. Running is only needed because Tyler is in a slump.

You mentioned that Kent likes to run the football and (KSU's Eugene) Jarvis is pretty good at that. Is that their main focus?
"Well, I think their quarterback (Julian Edelman) is the guy. He's a run-around guy, a little playmaker, he's a fighter. A very competitive guy. They're just struggling with some untimely turnovers right now. They can move the ball; they can run the ball. They ran the ball against Ohio State. He's the guy I think, he's effective."

Guys like Edelman typically eat us alive, and if we don't stay in our lanes and fill the cutbacks up, he will look like a Heisman trophy candidate.

How about their defense?
"Their defense is very good. They're first in the conference in rush defense, and in total defense. They are built for speed, they run well."

More later in the week, but I think we match up poorly against Kent.

After a game like the Miami game, what do you try to do to keep the kids from getting discouraged?
"You just have to keep stressing that if we play fundamentally sound we have a great chance of winning a game. Usually errors occur when guys forget their fundamentals, or just don't do their responsibilities or techniques -- that happened Saturday. When Miami jumped up on us, some guys were trying to play outside of the system, and that is when you give up big plays. We just have to settle down and play a fundamentally sound football game. Play our techniques, play what we are coached to do, play the call. Don't try to put a cape on your back or an 'S' on your chest. If you play within the system, the system has worked. We can stop people defensively, we can score points offensively. I think the thing is, when some bad stuff happens, we have to remember to play fundamental football and do what we are coached to do. If we do that, we can get it back."

Well, as this team matures, we should be able to play fundamental football under duress. It has been a persistent, if occasional--weakness in the past few years.

You mentioned that you are looking for 11 fighters to get on the bus. Do you think there will be problem to find that?
"No, we talked about it again last night. There are enough kids on this team that were embarrassed by that loss that they will respond."

Good. Let's beat the Flashes.

Push the Button

So, the last time I felt like this, we had just gotten humiliated on our home field last season by Kent State. I went back and looked at what I wrote that day, as a reference. You can, too, if you like. One thing is true. This week, coach didn't say he saw it coming. He said that he was embarassed, and more or less acknowledged that fans who love this program are right to feel upset about it.

The game yesterday was awful. Without redeeming characteristics. We were skunked in every facet of the game. This Miami team--that had trouble scoring points, and using reserve players--ran through and over us with ease. This team that had much trouble stopping the pass shut us down big time.

We turned it over--and didn't really get many turnovers. We were completely out-classed, out-played and out-coached by a team that isn't a Big 10 or Top 10 team, but an average team in an average conference. This never should have happened.

The entire game can be summarized from the first quarter. The remaining 45 minutes were only variations on a theme.

• Starts off great, Williams races to Miami 38 with opening kickoff
• Then, Sheehan is sacked on second down. loses 12 yards. We punt.
  
• Miami starts on 20, goes 80 yards in 9 plays, running through our D with virtually no resistance, huge holes, poor coverage.
• Williams returns the ball to midfield AGAIN. One pass, and we're on the Miami 40. Sadly, from there, we go 3-out, including a wide open Marques Parks alligator-arming a perfectly thrown pass.
• We stick Miami on the 5. At this point, things are not looking too bad. They go 3 and out, and punt us back to our 35. Bullock fumbles on the first play from scrimmage, Miami recovers.
• We get a first down sack, but Miami covers 38 yards in two plays to go up 14-0 with 6:41 left.
• Miami squibs the kick, and we start on our own 46. On the second play from scrimmage, Ty Pronty catches a pass and fumbles it. Miami recovers.
• We hold Miami off and start on our 20. Things are still not out of touch. Tyler hits Corey for 22 yards, but alas, we are penalized for illegal formation. Drive ends when Sheehan loses 23 yards on two straight sacks and then our punt in the end zone is blocked for a safety. (16-0)
• Miami gets the ball and turns it over on a fumble. If we can score, its still a long game. Sadly, we go 3 and out.

And so on.

Miami dominated every facet of the game. Nowhere was this more evident than on the line. The Miami O-line simply manhandled our D-line. Pushed us around, created gaping holes for the RBs. Our defense fell into an old bad habit, which is to leave cut back lanes wide open in the interests of undisciplined approaches, and they ran right throught them. And, sure as shit, when you start to see Jarrett Sanderson making tackles, you can count on the other team going over the top for a big play. Which Miami did.

Starting on the line, but moving to every part of the game, our defense was dominated for nearly every play.

When we had the ball--not a lot better. Because they know we aren't gong to run the ball, the Miami defense was dropping into coverage, and covering well. Our receivers couldn't get open. They got sacks on Tyler, but they were mostly coverage sacks. Here I fault our team for an arrogant belief that we can pass on anyone. We simply believed--and stated--that we didn't need to run the ball. But, yesterday, some of those sprint draws and runs into a defense backpedaling into coverage and all spread out would have made a big difference.

Let's understand the facts. We had 26 rushing attempts. There were 9 by Sheehan (most not really runs). Our of the remaining 17, 6 were Turner and 2 were Glaud. Leaving us with 9 freaking carries by our RBs. Ryan in the Blade noted that we have only two TDs from a RB this year, both by Dan Macon, and both in garbage time. This was simply exposed by Miami Saturday.

To make matters worse, the word is out that Tyler doesn't throw deep, so we had Miami cramming the short and medium routes, creating even less space. Sheehan looked indecisive and confused. He's still a young QB, and we know what he's capable of. Miami schooled our entire offensive unit yesterday. No QB could have rescued us. At the same time, he will need to be more confident for us to compete.

Finally, we had a disturbing number of dropped passes by a receiving corps that played flat most of the day, with the exception of Corey.

And, of course, we didn't take care of the football.

Finally, we had special teams problems. Roger Williams was brilliant, but we gave up 2 points on a blocked punt, which never should have happened.

Now let's think back to our Kent debacle. Falcon fans will remember that we will bounced back from the Kent game to win @ OU, in what was our best game of the season. We will need exactly that next week against Kent.

You can say all you want about how the players have to execute, college football is a coach's game. Good and bad days point to the coach. I'm encouraged that he is committing himself to fixing it, rather than making excuses like he did last year. You can see the earlier post--he knows that never should have happened.

It doesn't get easier, it gets harder. Now we have some health problems...From The Blade

INJURIES: Defensive tackle Sean O'Drobinak and cornerback Antonio Smith did not return after suffering injuries in the first half. O'Drobinak's left arm was in a sling and Brandon believes the senior hyper-extended his elbow. Smith hurt his hamstring.

Losing O'Drobinak would be costly as BG is already missing linemen Nick Davis and Michael Ream. Defensive end Joe Schaefer returned after missing three games but was used sparingly. Brandon Mack, listed as an offensive lineman on BG's roster, saw his first action of the season - at defensive tackle.

(Note: Citizens of the Falcon Nation, who didn't understand moving Mack to O-Line and then not using him, while moving O-Drob to DT will take perverse pleasure in this. It is unlikely all that movement for Mack was an indication that he was a productive D-lineman, however).

So what we need to win....

First, we need to run the table. That is a huge challenge, but not undoable. Candidly, if we don't turn things around, we could literally lose every East game left on our schedule. But, if Coach can right things, there is no team so dominant that we can't compete with them. Heck, Temple beat Akron, this whole division is unpredictable.

Second, Miami must lose twice. They play @Temple, Buffalo, Akron, @OU. They could literally lose any of those games, especially if Temple is coming around.

So, is all lost? No. But, our team has to go from what was an abjectly miserable performance to competitive football by next Saturday. Or, we're 3-4 and fighting to be .500.

From Ryan in The Blade

"Either the 16 points Miami was averaging before yesterday are extremely misleading or the Falcons are truly a wreck on defense."

Coach Says it All

The Nation will at least be pleased that he didn't attempt to spin it...

"That was one of the most embarrassing games I have ever coached in. I'm going to bust my butt to not let that ever happen again. For all Falcons and everybody that loves BG, that's not who we are. Somewhere down the line we have lost our confidence. We are going to have a gut check week"

Abomination

Its almost over. 47-14. An absolute abomination--total and complete embarrassment.

Unbelievable.

More later--but this never should have happened.

Oh God

First Quarter is everything we feared...maybe the worst quarter we have played in years. Two fumbles, alligator arms, penalties, blocked punt. We're lucky its only 16-0.

Miami dropped way back in coverage, since they don't have to worry about the run. No one open for Tyler.

Its Back Squared

No, not the cold weather, though today it is 30 degrees here in the lovely Great Lakes. No, not the falling leaves of autumn.

No, I'm talking about two things.

First, today is Louis Orr's first practice with the Falcons hoopsters. Everyone in the nation is excited to see our hoops program turnaround.

Second, today we have meaningful Falcon football. I tried to think back to the last one---at the most its the UT game at the Doyt when we could have won the West. I looked back at the 2006 debacle. In retrospect, I'm going to say that once Kent blew us out at home we knew that we weren't going anywhere. But, really, I think we knew that anyway.

So, for the first time, since November 05, the Falcons take the field in a meaningful game--one that will decide if we stay in control of our own fate or if we will be scoreboard watching and playing catch up. This is a road game against a team that is at least as good as us--but they aren't healthy. If we're playing well, we can win this game.

I'm real excited. Like counting the hours excited.

Addendum: Miami is throwing all its spears. Today, they are retiring Big Ben's number.