Irish

Imagine how good it would feel if we had won - and should have but for Bubba's poor decisions and the lack of discipline and poor play-calling by our OC.

I don't want the guy I saw yesterday any where near the head coaching job. He is becoming more Bubba like day by day.

Totally frustrated - we had a good chance of beating the Bison at home and wiping of the smug from their obnoxious fans - then nope, Bubbaed again.

It doesn't define the season but it does define Bubba.

What the actual hell was that - couldn't have executed that more poorly. Bubba must be going mental.

I thought Freund would be a big influence on Bubba - turns out he is more Bubba like every game

Could we be any more undisciplined?

Horrible tackling

And that's with playing 11 mini-Ditkas

I totally agree with your point - my comment about play calling was more directed to earlier posts . There is no doubt that Bubba's philosophy is infused into the staff and team. With good recruiting (which we have generally been doing) this is a recipe for good teams that never quite get over the hump. What's frustrating to me is this philosophy seems to be hard-baked into Bubba - if not we would have changed after the Richmond fiasco. We look like world beaters against weaker teams, but when good teams catch on to our philosophy they stack the box and we almost never make them pay. Rinse, Repeat. Playing not to lose is a real momentum breaker and drives me nuts.

I don't think Bubba directly interferes with play calling. And we have lots of plays - it's just how we use them sometimes that is problematic. Bubba is one of the original "play not to lose" guys and has definitely put his stamp on things. The 2nd and 2 play calls were examples of this philosophy. We have no killer instinct - our tendency is to get conservative with a lead against a good team. We can wheel and deal against weaker teams, but when faced with a strong opponent we revert. In addition, we have no downfield threat in our arsenal which often comes back to bite us. How many times over the last several years have we seen 8 in the box - and we will continue to see this until we address this. It's not like this is a new issue. A running game against a stacked defense and 5 yard passes are not going to get us to the next level.

That is true about the FCS vs FBS - Montana beat #20 Washington for example - however Utah State is a Mountain West team that was 1-5 last year and in my opinion we were behind in talent in almost every area. We could neither cover their receivers or run the ball on them. Once they adjusted on defense we couldn't do anything. If by "active" defense you mean continually out of position and running to cover then you are correct. And for the last 3 quarters I saw exactly zero imagination from our offense - which resulted in a whopping 3 points. I agree that altitude was a factor but so was playing not to lose. We have potential but a lot of areas to clean up and improve in order to be close to a top 4 team. I hope we get there but so far we are not close. If we learn from this game we could take big steps to get there.

My take-aways after a night's sleep. We are not as bad as we looked for 3 quarters. We were punching above our weight and got exposed. However, I think there are serious issues that need to be addressed if we are going to have the season we expected. The inability to throw down field is not a new issue, yet here we are again. When good teams stack the box we are going to have a bad time. I was not impressed with our mental toughness - when things started to go sideways we folded like a cheap lawn chair. We were certainly not assignment sharp - blown coverage, out of place players etc. (not to mention being tackled by our own player). Line strength is a concern. While we will likely handle weaker opponents when we meet the big boys we are still in danger of getting spanked. Finally, overall coaching philosophy. Bubba coaches like he wants to re-live Lennon's championship year. It ain't going to happen. Danny is certainly an upgrade, but the 2nd and 2 calls were painful to watch and came at a critical time. We need to stop playing not to lose. We still have time to right the ship. Prediction - a good but not great season with flashes of really good play but not quite enough to carry us. Overall still a step away from where we need to be. Rinse repeat.

And it's not like this issue just popped up - Bubba makes adjustments at glacial speed - if at all.

My prediction is that the only thing worse than our collapse will be Bubba's post game presser.

How about our 2nd and 2 calls?

We've seen this before

Is Wentz made of glass?

Brady for sure has the risk of serious injury from a bad decision made instantly. I'd be less harsh in my judgement if she didn't proclaim herself the GOAT and strut around with a sequined GOAT on her leotard. That kind of arrogance requires an athlete to step up not fold.

Totally agree - this should end the GOAT talk about her. Imagine Jordan, Gretzky, or Brady bailing on the big game because they were too stressed.

So - following CDC guidelines and wanting to end this Coronavirus plague makes me Chinese? Your logic is impeccable.

So - Hugo's is the bad guy for following CDC guidlines to keep people safe? If a few more people like you were around in the 50's we'd still be battling Polio.

He's usually not the problem - but in tough games he's not the solution either.

Agree that we probably have Schuster starting for his eligibility. When our running backs are able to get to the second level he is a great game manager. However, when the other team loads the box and dares him to throw long his limitations are very visible. Not sure if he can take us to the next level. Totally agree that we need to beat the Bison to get a football buzz going again. Losing this year really put a damper on what was a good year. We also need more beef in the line to match up with the big boys.

Agree on all points - The big question for me is - if you can't get ready for this game what the actual hell? Neither players or coaches were ready. I agree there were some terrible calls - some emotion from Bubba would have been nice - seemed like he went into the Bubba shell early in the game. At this point in his coaching career the fact that we saw "deer in the headlights" Bubba is concerning.