Is anyone really surprised this happened?

Seriously? Anyone?

I've been loyally following this program for 20 years and when tonight ended, I simply shrugged my shoulders, looked at my buddy and said "saves me money on going to Detroit."

I wasn't upset. I wasn't crushed. And that's sad.

But that's what the current state of this program has done to me.

This is a text my buddy (who went with me to Toledo game last week) sent me tonight:

"I can't remember who told me last week that the Bobcats would stomp Toledo and turn around and lose at Akron"

I was genuinely crushed when Grobe & Co lost at Marshall in 1997.

I was mildly bummed when they lost to CMU in 2006 in Detroit.

I was livid when they lost to NIU in Detroit in 2011

Then 2012 happened...Ohio beats Penn St ...gets ranked...and then lays ultimate egg at awful Fiami. That's when it all hit me ...

Ohio simply can't handle success. They thrive on falling flat in big spots.

2013 opener ... all the hype about how good they were... play at Louisville ... destroyed

2010 ... chance to win east ... lose at awful Kent

2012 & 13 ... November nosedives

2015 ... late game collapse loss at Minny ... sitting at 5-1 ... and get drummed three straight weeks

2-6 bowl record ...

And then last night. On the verge of national relevance again ... real chance to break thru and win MACC ... and they throw up all over themselves.

To an Akron team using 2nd string QB ... two starting defenders ejected ... 175 yards of penalties

You can't write a bigger gag job.

And I'm emotionless.

This is what I've come to expect from Ohio football. When the going is good ... just wait for them to drop a turd in the punch bowl.

Can't wait to freeze my ass at Buffalo watching ...

Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again

Here's what will perfectly cap off this season:

Kent State beats Akron, we mail it in (again) at Buffalo and lose. Then we go to Boise for the Tater Bowl and all of a sudden remember how to play and stomp a team as underdogs, leaving us all asking "Where the ____ was this in late November!?"

Hello.

It’s almost . . . . to scripted.

Let me toss out a scenario for everyone on here...

What will happen to you if we beat Buffalo, Kent beats Akron and we get to Detroit that way? Will backing in erase this feeling? If we make it this way and then lose big to Toledo will that make it bad again? I just hate the rollercoaster ride.

I wouldn't call that "backing in." We'd be 6-2; Akron would be 5-3. We'd have the better record and the outright division championship. Granted, it wouldn't feel as good as beating Akron would have, but we would have the better overall season record, and that's what being champs is all about.

Losing big to Toledo would be extremely disappointing but not unexpected. Our seniors played out of their heads on Senior Night, something that was dreadfully lacking last night. I'm not sure if Akron just handled us better or we had an emotional letdown. If it's Ohio-Toledo in the MACCG, Toledo will be ready for us.

FYI, what I would "backing in" is Akron loses at Kent then Buffalo gets ten feet of snow next week and our game gets cancelled. We're 5-2; Akron's 5-3.

boo hoo hoo.....we lost a game and you're so upset....there there honey, everything is going to be just fine. The sun came up, didn't it? We played on national TV and it was an exciting, tight game. Our players and coaches want to win and to suggest anything else is absurd. Just enjoy the game. There will be a few more this year.

That’s what I was thinking. We gave them a tough game. They will think about us for an hour. Look mom, we were on tv. Johnny brought the juice boxes as expected. What’s not to like. We had great participation. Cheers everyone. Oh wait, at least Ohio A& M lost. TOS to Ohio, oops I meant Ohio A & M. Gotta go now, honey can you hand me my fragile rock lunch box. I can’t wait to see what is at the bottom of my Cracker Jack box, I may sneak into my lunch box a little early. I can’t wait to see if my coworkers saw us lose by a field goal, that was a close game. I hope they saw the 110. Frank looked strong. I may wear my Ohio suspenders today. If someone says that I am wearing floods, I will blame it on my groovy suspenders.

8 wins in 11 years against teams that finshed .500 in the MAC, can we get a participation ribbon since we showed up but lost to another bad team.

This is the odd (and sad) thing...

We "gave away" two games this year and "stole" zero. Usually, the randomness of the college football universe (due in large part to the fact that it is a game played by very large kids) dictates that a season is laced with a couple of "given away" and "stolen" games. UMass was closer that it should have been, but in the end, it turned out as it "should have". Toledo was an upset, but you can't say that 38-10 is a "stolen" game. I'm not a fan of "shoulda, coulda", but it's not a stretch to say that we "could" be standing at 11-1 right now. Not sure I know why...just an odd (and sad) observation.

BTW - EMU was a close win, but I don't think it would have been "stolen" or "given away" if either team won.

The good thing is that I can now think of the Akron game without throwing up in my mouth...oooommmph...never mind.

Well said.

Look...no one is arguing Frank Solich gave this program a much, much needed facelift, rebuild, etc.

But c'mon ... quit the "we sucked for decades and should just be happy with where are now cause it sucked for the better part of 3 decades"

Enough.

A 1970 Ford is better than a 1937 Ford ... but neither are as good as a 2017 Ford.

Why settle for "okay" when better is attainable?

I'm not suggesting Ohio needs to beat Alabama .... but for goodness sake, is it too much to ask to beat CMU & Akron when you're 10+ pt favorites?

Just because Ohio sucked for a long time .. everyone should just be happy they don't suck now? Really?

Dumb.