1) Obviously most would agree that we are a real long shot to beat BG next week. However, we have seen teams in the past, that were given no chance, beat a clear favorite.
I am struggling to think of strong examples of when this has been true in recent years.
Penn State and Marshall (several times). Yes and yes. Those are at the top of the heap of Frank's signature win list.
Against upper level MAC schools we normally do not rise to the occasion. Since the big game winning field goal win against BG back in 2011, we have been their whipping boy. And even in that game it took some heroics to barely beat a 2 win squad.
It has more commonly been the opposite-that we crapped the bed when having a chance to win something and/or get a win against good opposition. Sprinkle in some bad beatdowns by teams we should have at worst lost by one possession to.
2010-Kent State bed wetting
2011-Buffalo collapse, Balls collapse, MACC collapse
2012-Miami collapse, BG loss at home with about 50 turnovers, Ball State thrashing, Kent beatdown *Did have a great performance in Independence Bowl with healthy team
2013-Bad home loss to average CMU team, 27 point loss to Buffalo, 49-0 loss to BG, 44-13 loss to Kent
2014-18 point loss to CMU, 18 point loss to BG, 21 point to WMU, 7 point loss to NIU-maybe one of the few games where we had a chance to win late in the game.
The game results show that we are not a top flight team within our conference, especially when the grind of a season gets to full strength.