Was so happy to see us for the most part play a good game against a good team. All season we have fallen pretty short against teams over .500, even though we lost I was happy to see us competing and having a chance in the game. If you look at the stats the game really came down to being -1 in the turnover battle. It also helped that we had players actually making big plays on their own, since we don't tend to have a lot of drawn up plays that can do that. Though I'll give coaches a slight pass in that teams haven't gotten smart and are committing the pass interference penalty more often rather than give up that big pass play we used to feast on.

As we have talked before this makes me encouraged for next year when we hopefully have a more healthy team and players that will be more experienced. This year was always gonna be a crap shot and unfortunately lady luck has just not been with us in many ways. No matter what happens next year though we should have the talent and experience to make our own luck.

Yuuuup. I completely agree. NIU, on-paper, is a better team and our guys fought hard.

Ah I never said we were a good team OhioStunter, I said we finally played well against an actual good team. Quite a difference there, but even with all those mistakes you mentioned we were still in that game till the end. And things could have been very different if we had played that game in warmer conditions, where Yaz would have had the distance on both his kicks. Not saying we would have won, but that could have changed the dynamics a bit since we wouldn't have been the team trailing the entire game.

I agree that they played well, but made just a few more mistakes than NIU made. I felt like the cold weather benefited NIU more than Ohio, and that in warmer weather, Ohio would have done better than they did. Even then, the game was pretty much even, and could have gone either way.

The team is substantially improved from how they were in week 1. That isn't to say that they are where I'd like to see them yet, nor where the players want to be. I expect them to continue to improve the rest of the season, whether it is one more game, or two, and then to work their tails off over the winter so that next year is not like this one.

Riiight, nooo credit to NIU. Did you see there was another team on the field?

That was a fight until the end with a very good team.

Quick analysis: What happened when it mattered, which is to say: What happened after we tied it 14-14? What happened in clutch time?

My distinct memory is that they rolled through us like a hot knife thru butter for seven and we turned it over on our last chance.

10 years in and this is it?



NIU--not a bad team. But not a real good team. stupd cow would crush--crush--them.

In the heat of the moment I have been irritated/frustrated a lot this year.

When I step back and look at the results after I have calmed down a bit I do see some positives. I'm more concerned with the way the teams builds off of this year going into next year. All of the reasons for the shortcomings this year will hold no water next year as far as a I am concerned.

There is no acceptable reason I can be given for us to lose a conference game by more than 7-10 points next year too. We should never get destroyed like we did against both directional Michigans this year. If we do it is because our coaching staff failed in recruiting, preparation, and execution.

I am most pleased with the fact that our loses have been more of a matter of Jimmies and Joes being too green or maybe the schemes and not attitude and effort. Whatever infected this team last year does not appear to be an issue, even in defeat.

Monroe, Are you surprised we lost to NIU? They are a good team...perhaps the best in the MAC. Isn't that significant progress from last season and 2012?