Stats are nice, and I mean it when I say I'm glad we won. That's the most important thing.

Let me pause here and re-iterate that I'm glad we won and being 2-0 in the MAC is the most important thing and I'm looking forward to EMU next week. I had a great day today tailgating and taking in a classic Fall day in Athens. It was spectacular.

but there must have been 10 pivotal situations in the last 20 minutes of this game where just making a play would have iced the game, and we whiffed every freaking time. and god help us if we ever did make a play because you can bet we roughed the qb or did something else stupid like trash talking to extend a drive to nullify any good play. Right now, this team has done a couple things well... Q1 against Kansas, and our overall defensive performance against UT. Otherwise, we've done just enough to skate by some bad teams. And these are bad teams. Could we still be MAC East champs? Yes. Could we be better with our full complement of running backs? probably. Although I think Dorian Brown is the only one who would approach AJ in productivity. So yeah, credit the opposition, talk up their schedule, say conference games are tougher and closer, but the only common thread through it all is that our offense hasn't produced points when we've needed them.

On another topic, Kansas missed a shot at a good win today but couldn't hold a 9-pt 4th quarter lead.

"....but the only common thread through it all is that our offense hasn't produced points when we've needed them."

Just a reminder. At the end of the Ohio line in the MAC standings there is this "W3." Seems some "points" have been "scored" "when needed."

Another thing, Bowling Green missed a shot at a good win today, but, they let Ohio put up 20 in the 2nd to put the game out of their reach.

****pours giant glass of green kool-aid****

****chug, chug, chug****

Good to see you absolutely refuse to acknowledge Ohio wasn't perfect in a win over BG.

I said it earlier in week. This was a game the should win. And they did just that. Just won.

Had chances to ice game many times...and just flat didn't do it. Even Frank was disappointed and concerned about that aspect in postgame radio. Funny how the head coach can admit things weren't perfect, yet you just keep your head...well, let's just say in the clouds.

Elijah Ball drops deep ball late that would've had Ohio 1st & Goal

Kylan Nelson with absurd taunting penalty after stopping BG in 3rd & long...auto 1st down

Casey Sayles roughing call on another 3rd & long to keep drive alive.

These undisciplined plays keep happening. Lucky it didn't cost Ohio game last week vs Miami.

Ohio can continue to play this way and beat bad teams....but stuff like this could bite them in ass in games like next week and at Kent and especially at home vs Akron. Three games they really have to get to win dreadful MAC east.

Nothing about yesterday changed my opinion that we are an okay team that should win East but will get curb-stomped by MAC west elite (CMU, WMU & UT)

Had blast at game and Homecoming. Happy as hell about the win. Just realistic about what I saw.

Wish you could be the same....but then again this is what we all come to expect from you.

Thanks, not really, for bringing your "expected" laundry list of negatives from the game. Me just not allowing a win over BG, first one in a while to be all disappointing.

Again, we have never seen Monroe and BCat in the same room together. I am not 100% convinced BCat isn't Monroe's parody account.

 

Random thoughts on the game/visit to Athens:
1. We seem to lack a "killer instinct." Late in the game we had a first down on about the 20 yard line and we elected to run Bo Hardy two or three times to burn the clock. It was almost a certainty we would not get a first down and would punt the ball back to BG--which is exactly what happened. Don't know of that's Solich or Albin or a combination, but that kind of thing just sucks the life out of the team.
2. The crowd support is dismal. Of course, my previous in-person game was Tennessee, but the contrast is so unbelievable, the two atmospheres really can't be compared. The PA guy would implore people to get loud on third downs and the crowd response was... well... pathetic.
3. On the other hand, the flow of the game is maddening. On one third down occassion, after being asked to "get loud," the BG QB was taking forever to snap the ball, making the limited noise making even more stretched and pathetic. I think he then called a timeout, which turned into a TV timeout. We get back to the game, the announcer again calls for noise, and some other whistle occurred (flag, timeout, can't remember). Momentum busting.
4. After #13 got a pick from BG late in the game, he immediately started taunting the BG bench. Not a good move. There was then a flag thrown and I was sure they were going to get him, but it was something else. Either way, this kind of stuff will get this team screwed. Now, I don't doubt the trash talk was going both ways, and I don't know what got #13 riled, but it doesn't matter. We got away with one. Next time we may not.
5. #23 yanked himself out of the grasp of a ref who was trying to talk with him. That got us a 15-yard penalty. I thought he'd be ejected. Again, I don't know what caused it. Again, it doesn't matter. We screwed ourselves out of a much-needed defensive stop. Later, I saw #23 back in the game. Not too sure about that decision making. As a fan, I can't know the whole story. But I do know it gave a bad impression.
6. "Friendly" Ohio State Trooper "greeted" us as we approached the Richland Ave intersection with our plan to turn right toward south green. That's no longer possible. OK, no problem. State Trooper seemed to take personal offense. I threw up my hands as if to say, "sorry, didn't know." He wouldn't have it, and was barking at me to get into the center lane, which I immediately did. Great guy. Welcome to campus!
7. Love the way Bo Hardy runs the ball. He reminds me of Oullette. Hard-nosed runner and seldom goes down on first contact. Fun to watch!
8. Our punt in the second half was an absolute beauty! I think we punted from about the 25 yard line. With the roll, we downed it inside the BG 1 yard line. One of the best distance punts I've seen.
9. #53 for BG (Dietz?) was one big dude. BG ran several off his back side. Our ends had their hands full with him.
10. Maxwell had a couple of really nice passes. Not sure why he came in when he did, but he looked good.
11. Union Street is becoming an extension of Court Street. Saw a few bars/restaurants that are new to me. Lots of activity down that way.
12. Ran into a student at a carry out on Mill Street early Saturday evening. He was completely wasted. Couldn't string a comprehensive sentence together. Tried to engage me in conversation, but clearly did not have any clue what he was talking about, or maybe even where he was. What was he doing there? Buying beer, of course!
13. Back to the game and crowd support. Again, the evacuation of the crowd after half time was a joke. You can't get a much more competitive game, so I don't think that's a factor. Students simply don't care about the game--simple as that. I would argue many (most?) of the alumni don't really care either. It's a social scene, man! Who cares if we win or lose?
14. Why are replays so inconsistent? Sometimes they are shown, sometimes not. It seems controversial plays are generally not shown. True?

I have a question about the last 1:23. When Ohio recovered the onside kick, there was 1:23 left and the scoreboard I thought showed just 1 BG timeout. Reviewing on ESPN3, they showed BG with 2 timeouts left. BG called a TO after the first play. But, if they had two, then they let the last 30 seconds of the game clock run off. If they only had one, why did Ohio even run the first play with Hardy? Three kneel-downs would end the game if there was 1:23 and one BG timeout.

Thanks, I checked the BG board and it looks like ESPN missed a timeout. So, why run Hardy on first down?

The entire series was confusing for me, but I side on a mistake as the likeliest outcome.

Hardy runs when a handoff wasn't necessary.
Windham kneels after looking to burn a few seconds and either took a shot or got real close to taking a shot.
The Ohio sideline yells "do not snap the ball" prior to the 3rd down knee, and takes a time out.

I'd be interested in knowing why that was the decided course of action. I thought at the time we took the timeout just to make sure Windham was ok. Why risk the last snap with a timeout in your pocket. But perhaps someone on the Ohio sidelines thought BG had another timeout.

I walked away feeling like that type of performance will get us killed by the better teams in the West. I'm hoping we are just playing down/up to our opponents, but that has a way of biting you in the rear eventually.

Agree, I don't think it's something that can be fixed. It's part of what makes our fan base different from the P5. There may be only a handful of schools in the G5 that have rabid football fans, two come immediately to mind:
Marshall
Appalachian State

Both of those teams tasted success at the AA level. Maybe that's a factor. Once you prove you can "win it all" at whatever level, you spawn a core fan base that has high expectations and brings a rabid mentality to game day.

Hard to believe anyone could categorize our fan base as having "high expectations." Then again, we should be careful what we wish for.