I have to imagine avoiding big plays by Cochran was a big key for Miami. As such, it probably opened things up for Foster, Waters and Blankenship.

I didn't read anything on this thread that "trashed" Vick's performance.

 

Well said sir! 
+1

 

And we were hitting what certainly looked to be an easy stretch.

Then, we lot to CMU at home on homecoming when a w woulda put us at .500 for all time (right?).  Then, we were 7 yards away from being down 28-21 mid-third quarter vs. EMU.  And we kept doing nothing runs up the middle, continuing to do so to no good effect at key moments (starting drives of second halves).

The last paragraph is a recitation of facts.  Facts.

Now we seem to need to win out in order to make the MACC.

So, some of us who do not wear TheHappyFace and believe that OHIO can do no wrong at all, begin to wonder if we are the very solid team that put away some tough opponents after the loss to Louisville or if we are the struggling against lesser competition team which we've been lately.

Those who see ONLY the good, who can't be somewhat realistic need not respond since 100% absolute, unfailing, all the time happy, everything is perfect is wrong, boring, and precludes discourse.  Talking to someone who refuses to consider both sides of an issue--what's the point.






 

The last four games, Bowling Green trailed Akron midway through the third quarter, didn't put away UMass until the third quarter, had bad first halves against Mississippi State (not a good SEC team) and Toledo and lost both those games. A couple weeks before that, they got hammered by Indiana (not a very good Big Ten team; they scored 10 points when Indiana is otherwise giving up 42 points per game.)

Northern Illinois was tied with 1-7 Idaho in the fourth quarter and trailed FCS Eastern Illinois in the fourth quarter in back-to-back weeks. Kent State led Northern Illinois in the third quarter. Akron lost by only a touchdown to NIU. Central Michigan was tied with NIU in the third quarter.

All-in-all, I don't think there's a lot of differences in the letdowns these other top teams have had, other than the fact that one of Ohio's came back to bite them in the form of a loss to Central Michigan. That's part of the fun of sports - games don't always go exactly how we think they should.

I absolutely agree with your facts.

In fact, I think we played poorly against CMU.

Again, I agree with most of what you're saying. We are not playing at a consistently high level.

I think games like the last two tell you absolutely NOTHING about how good you are; the opponents were dominated on both sides of the line, and that's about all you can tell.

And that's not indicative of much else.  It's hard for any team to look good when they're losing up front on both sides of the ball.

The parts where I disagree with you, though, is that the wheels are falling off the apple cart, and it's clearly because a player took some plays off, or appeared disinterested to you.

I think the play calling looks a bit safe; but is that because of the lead, or in spite of it?

And I always thought that we'd have a tough road to the MACC; it just seems year after year that no one flies into that game with a 2 game lead.  Frankly, I think if we play our best, we'll have our hands full with Northern Illinois, assuming we get there.

This next game against Buffalo will tell the tale.  I am very much looking forward to it.

GO BOBCATS!

-john


 

Having losed to CMU, it appears that we pretty much have to win out make the MACC...right?

That loss to CMU was not good and could have big repercussions.