UB vs BSU Game Thoughts

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I purposely chose to wrote this edition of post game thoughts the next day, to see if the loss would sting any less. It didn't work. This was a game that saw UB play a dreadful first half, and about 29 good minutes in the 2nd half. Unfortunately, we needed 30 minute of good second half football to get out of Muncie with a win.

 

 

-The Good

 

-Our opening drive was impressive. It saw one of our only 3rd down pickups of the game. It also saw a nice long ball to Rivers down the sideline. That reverse pass by Jackson to Rivers was also nice, and was a good way to end that series. It's unfortunate this was the only positive in the first half.

-The way we fought back for more of the second half was a positive. I credit the coaching staff for adding another down-lineman in the 2nd half to help stop the run. The 3-4 was getting eaten up. It was also vital that we got some passing game going.

-The drive that put us ahead was encouraging. We went about 80 yards, took a lot of time off the clock and finished with a TD and not a field goal.

-Oliver had another decent game. It's important for Oliver that we have some sort of passing game, so that he actually has some room to run through.

-Finally, the Game Chat was fun. The good thing about us getting killed in the first half was that it lead to a fun and entertaining drinking game throughout the rest of the game.

 

-The Bad

 

-The first half. Our offense couldn't move the ball. Our defense couldn't stop Ball State. If they hadn't missed two field goals, the score could have been a lot worse going in to half.

-Dropped passes. I hadn't seen Rivers drop a pass in a while, but he had one along the sideline that just hit his hands. Terrell Jackson... Or should I say Terrence Jackson... had one clank off his helmet on a perfectly thrown ball by Chazz. These were both drops that would have lead to a first down.

-The final BSU drive. This is what hurts the most. If you want to win games, you can't give up two fourth down conversions on the final drive. That 4th and 20 pickup by Keith Wenning was unacceptable from a UB standpoint. That's a situation where you have to keep everything in front of you, make them pass it short or lob it up. Instead, we opted for man coverage and a simple seam route beat it easily. We should have been playing man coverage on that 4th and 7, but instead that's when we opted for the soft zone, leading to a wide open receiver sitting in the zone for an easy first down pickup. On the touchdown, there was just nothing Lester could have done. A quick slant at the 2 yard line, where he was partially picked is almost unguardable. The question I have is where was the safety or LB help across the middle? Lester had no backup there, which is a lot of pressure for a freshman starter.

-From here on out, we have to put a huge emphasis on stopping the run first and foremost. This team is built to rush to passer. That's what a 3-4 defense does. If we don't stop the run vs UCONN, which will be really hard to do, we will not win. That will open up the extremely easy play action passes to the tight ends and fullbacks which are just easy first downs. If we want to compete the rest of the season, our run defense must step up.