You know those times that you stub your toe and end up screaming an obscenity over what is really nothing. I really hope that's what this post is, I hope is a loud curse over a minor injury and the 10 minutes later I'll regret yelling $&^% within ear shot of my kids.
I had hoped, because I expected UB to lose big, that such a loss would not make me want to vomit.. But you have to go back to the pre-Turner Gill Era to fins a conference game in which UB played such an awful game.. The lone bright spot of the game, our defense, and they were so abused by our special teams and ooffense in the first half that even they were borderline useless as the game wore on.
Before I get too far into this lets just go through the UB 2010 checklist:
- Piss poor special teams .... check
- Piss poor passing .... check
- Piss poor ball control .... check
- At least one pick deep in our own zone .... check
- A defense strong enough to keep us in the game for the first half but worn down by short fileds and UB 3 and outs? .... check
I've now put aside any dreams of six wins. I watched EMU / Ball State and parts ot the Miami CMU game. Right now those are all losses. Maybe we get lucky and knock off Akron, then again maybe we end up being Akron's first win. Right now we are not an FBS level football squad.
Ok now lets hand out grades.
Offense:
Quarterback: F
I'm sorry but it's time for a change. Given last weeks poll most UB fans felt that Davis deserved the rest of the year and if he had a marginally respectable game, what he did was have about the worst game of the season.
Sub 33% passing, how in the world do you do that? how in the world does he make it into the 4th quarter playing like that. If you take away the one blown coverage late in the first Davis was 6 for 22, for 20 yards and a pic. NIU's defense is good, but they are not that good. Every down Davis is under center from this point on may be a waste.
I know Zordich was playing scrubs when he went in but his passes were crisp, and on target.
Running Backs: F
Sub 4.0 yards per carry, again. Fumbles, again. Of UB's 130 yards running forty came on two plays and one of those was a davis scramble.
Wide Receivers: C
It's hard to have a great game when you don't get the ball.
Offensive Line: C
The lack of production running the ball had a lot to do with NIU's complete lack of respect for our passing game, and most of that was not because Davis was being harassed.
Defense:
Defensive Line: B
They did a great job considering the short field and the amount of time they had to be put in.
Linebackers: B
Decent containment of a very quick NIU team
Defensive Backs: C
Way too many open looks for Harnish
Special Teams:
F, F, F and F...