Minnesota at BGSU --- Sept. 6

9/6/2008

Let s not over analyze why BG lost tonight. Folks, it s simple.

FIVE TURNOVERS AND POOR SPECIAL TEAMS PLAY.

That s it. There s not much else to discuss. To say BG was unprepared or overconfident after last week s win is not only an easy way out, but it s wrong. BG s energy was fine tonight against a pretty good Minnesota team. Yes, I said a pretty good Minnesota team. The Gophers win no less than six games this year, I will almost guarantee it.

Remember Jim Mora s Playoff speech? Well, the underrated part of his tirade is rarely shown on TV. It goes as follows.

I don t care who you play, whether it s a high school team, a junior college team, a college team, much less an NFL team when you turn the ball over five times . You ain t gonna beat anybody I just mentioned. Anybody.

Again, don t overanalyze this game. Ball security is huge in all levels of football. BG simply coughed up the football too much, and the Gophers were good enough to capitalize every time.

Coach Brandon was asked if he had an explanation for the miscues.

Nope, he said.

He was later asked how he explains his team struggling to take care of the football after doing such a good job of it against Pitt (just one turnover).

I can t, he said.

He s right. You can t explain why three of BG s best players --- Willie Geter, Freddie Barnes and Roger Williams --- accounted for four lost fumbles.

With that said, BG could have played a clean game and still lost. Let me say it again, Minnesota ain t bad. The Gophers are OK on defense, but I really like quarterback Adam Weber. He s only a sophomore and will be a big time player before his career is done. Remove the turnovers --- and honestly, you can t say that as turnovers are part of the game --- and BG was right with the Gophers.

A few positives.

-No injuries to report, according to Brandon.

-Diyral Briggs is some kind of special. Three sacks on top of two from last week. He s already matched his sack total from last year. It s extremely early, but should Briggs continue this dominance he ll make a case to win MAC Defensive POY.

-The offensive line was fine, definitely good enough. Through two games I d say that they ve earned a C+ or B-. The line doesn t look like it s going to be a detriment. I especially thought Jeff Fink did a good job at right tackle.

-The crowd was incredible, but I m afraid that the attendance will be down significantly when the Falcons play their next home game four weeks from now. It was not a sellout, but dang, it sure as heck looked like it. The seats were full and another 500 or so were standing outside the fence.

-The MAC took a beating today, and nothing that I saw indicates that BG is not currently the best team in the East.

In recap, your team is fine, folks. A win would have been great, but you would have signed up for 1-1 after two games.

Don t let this game ruin the rest of your weekend. You have two very important things to look forward to tomorrow ---- the first full day of the NFL season and the season premier of Entourage.

PREGAME:

I m expecting a pretty nice turnout considering the student section is nearly filled with 50 minutes left before game time. There s quite a party outside the stadium with tailgaters, pickup football games, a live band, etc I don t know if it will be a sellout, but at the very least it will be darn close. This is an atmosphere that Perry Stadium hasn t seen in five years.

No real surprises on the depth chart. It looks like Bullock will start at RB as coach Brandon indicated Monday. Adrian Baker, who tweaked a hamstring at Pitt, is in uniform.

There has to be at least 40 recruits here with their friends and family members. Obviously this is as good of a weekend to play host to these kids.

The MAC has had a solid day but has few wins to show for it. Ohio gave the Buckeyes a battle, but I m not convinced the Bobcats are better than an average MAC team. A motivated OSU team wins that game by four touchdowns. OSU did what it had to do to win and obviously looked over OU, which is fine because the Buckeyes won and stayed injury free. You can t get hyped up for every game or you re going to be worn out by November.

Michigan on the other hand is really bad. Most are saying the Wolverines will be vastly improved by midseason, but I m not so sure. The talent just isn t there yet, but Rodriguez is an excellent coach and will be competing for championships soon. But not this year.

Now back to this game. Minnesota is better than you think and can beat BG. Don t rule out a game similar to last year s meeting.

I won t be posting during the game as we have a brutal deadline tonight. I ll share my thoughts from the game once I get back home.