(12-28-2013 08:53 AM)Huskie73 Wrote:  As a Bears, Browns & Cub fan I was mentally prepared for disappointment heading into this game, but it doesn't alter the fact that I'm still uber upset over the loss. (Deep breathes. Deep breathes.) Ok. Moving on now.

Browns??! Glory be you've suffered, my friend! I just watched the Youtube documentary that covered the 1999-2012 years. I have never seen anything like that level of disappointment.

(12-28-2013 09:00 AM)baltimorehuskie Wrote:  

(12-28-2013 08:53 AM)Huskie73 Wrote:  As a Bears, Browns & Cub fan I was mentally prepared for disappointment heading into this game, but it doesn't alter the fact that I'm still uber upset over the loss. (Deep breathes. Deep breathes.) Ok. Moving on now.

Browns??! Glory be you've suffered, my friend! I just watched the Youtube documentary that covered the 1999-2012 years. I have never seen anything like that level of disappointment.

Not sure what I did in previous lives to piss off the Sport Gods, but I stick by my teams through thick & thin. Cubs & Bears since '83, Browns since '86, NIU since '92 and the Blackhawks since late '80s (They've done fairly well in the last 6 years, no?!?) Go you, Huskies!!!

I think everyone buried the lead on this game. There's been so much Carey bashing that not many have taken Lynch to task. His last two games....he just kinda sucked. Not saying he didn't have help sucking, and Lynch has had the occasional bad game, but the turnovers were shocking to me. They were BAD turnovers too. It's one thing to be off throwing the ball, but his decisions were....man. Hard to believe bad, at times.

And boy do bad special teams make a coach look terrible. Horrible punting and a kicker that just lost "it." NIU had the special teams and offense rolling early in the year, and the special teams fell apart and the offense (Lynch) slowed down and the defense COULD NOT compensate.

(12-28-2013 11:47 AM)The Frisky Biscuit Wrote:  I think everyone buried the lead on this game. There's been so much Carey bashing that not many have taken Lynch to task. His last two games....he just kinda sucked. Not saying he didn't have help sucking, and Lynch has had the occasional bad game, but the turnovers were shocking to me. They were BAD turnovers too. It's one thing to be off throwing the ball, but his decisions were....man. Hard to believe bad, at times.

And boy do bad special teams make a coach look terrible. Horrible punting and a kicker that just lost "it." NIU had the special teams and offense rolling early in the year, and the special teams fell apart and the offense (Lynch) slowed down and the defense COULD NOT compensate.

Not too many have taken Lynch to task for good reason...we were in the MAC Championship and in a bowl game primarily due to his extraordinary efforts. The problem is that this team could not beat a formidable opponent when Lynch was simply ordinary. One play which illustrates the point is late in the 3rd quarter when we sent trips to the wide side and had single coverage with Brown who beat his man on a simple fly route. Jordan missed him; he has made that play all year. That was a game changer, and he will be the first to admit it. We have simply become accustom to JL being flawless, an impossible standard to live up to.
If there was ever a game when the defense DID compensate it was against Utah State.
The better team did not win on Thursday. We didn't play our best football the last two games, but we had an incredible season. It was an honor and a privilege watching Lynch and Harnish over the last several years. Proud of our Huskies...every one of them.

I've waited a few days before posting, so hopefully the sting has worn off. Been perusing around the forum for a few weeks. I don't think that NIU has had that tough of a schedule. There have been some good teams on the schedule and Iowa for example was actually a very strong win. Certainly stronger than any win USU had or probably any MWC team. Fresno beating Rutgers in OT was probably the best MWC win and Rutgers isn't as good as Iowa. A lot of games against just absolutely horrid teams. Not only that, the MOV wasn't much to write home about in a lot of them either.

USU on the other hand, while not having a juggernaut of a schedule ranked 30 places more difficult than NIU. While not having any marque wins, played tough close games against Utah, USC, and Fresno. USU's Defense is really really good. And in addition to that, their strength was defending NIU's strength which is running. We faced several dual threat QBs this year and did a decent job of containing them on the ground. Game plan was to make Lynch beat us through the air. Even though our pass protection is not a strength, we were pretty good except for when we played the really good passing QBs. We even did ok against some of them.

NIU may not have played their best game. Some of that could be due to their own things, but some of it was due to things USU did as well. These teams are really close according to a lot of the power rankings and stats I'm seeing. My guess is that in 10 games, each team would win 5, but USU got NIU in this one. Our offense was pretty abismal. Been sort of a trend the last few weeks. We've relied on our D to shut down other offenses and/or commit turnovers and/or score points of their own.

One last thing. Look at your season as 12-2 and not 0-2 in the last 2 games. If you had started off the season and lost 2 Iowa and some other team, but went on to win 10 straight games, you'd feel pretty good about your season. Sort of sucks at the end, but either way NIU was a great team that had 12 wins. I'd take it!!!

(12-28-2013 09:32 PM)glendayle Wrote:  I've waited a few days before posting, so hopefully the sting has worn off. Been perusing around the forum for a few weeks. I don't think that NIU has had that tough of a schedule. There have been some good teams on the schedule and Iowa for example was actually a very strong win. Certainly stronger than any win USU had or probably any MWC team. Fresno beating Rutgers in OT was probably the best MWC win and Rutgers isn't as good as Iowa. A lot of games against just absolutely horrid teams. Not only that, the MOV wasn't much to write home about in a lot of them either.

USU on the other hand, while not having a juggernaut of a schedule ranked 30 places more difficult than NIU. While not having any marque wins, played tough close games against Utah, USC, and Fresno. USU's Defense is really really good. And in addition to that, their strength was defending NIU's strength which is running. We faced several dual threat QBs this year and did a decent job of containing them on the ground. Game plan was to make Lynch beat us through the air. Even though our pass protection is not a strength, we were pretty good except for when we played the really good passing QBs. We even did ok against some of them.

NIU may not have played their best game. Some of that could be due to their own things, but some of it was due to things USU did as well. These teams are really close according to a lot of the power rankings and stats I'm seeing. My guess is that in 10 games, each team would win 5, but USU got NIU in this one. Our offense was pretty abismal. Been sort of a trend the last few weeks. We've relied on our D to shut down other offenses and/or commit turnovers and/or score points of their own.

One last thing. Look at your season as 12-2 and not 0-2 in the last 2 games. If you had started off the season and lost 2 Iowa and some other team, but went on to win 10 straight games, you'd feel pretty good about your season. Sort of sucks at the end, but either way NIU was a great team that had 12 wins. I'd take it!!!

Excellent perspective. Thank you!

That post was pretty good until the "imagine you started 0-2 and won 12 straight" part. We lost the most important games of the year. Winning late in the year is all that really matters in college football. Our coaches/players fell off big time in the most important games of the year. You can't sugarcoat that. Congrats to USU and on to 2014.

(12-29-2013 01:08 AM)armour248 Wrote:  That post was pretty good until the "imagine you started 0-2 and won 12 straight" part. We lost the most important games of the year. Winning late in the year is all that really matters in college football. Our coaches/players fell off big time in the most important games of the year. You can't sugarcoat that. Congrats to USU and on to 2014.

I feel you. I mean, we lost our CCG too and that totally sucked.

Our fans were freaking out when we were 3 and 4 with no more Chuckie. Trust me, I would trade a win over Utah with a loss to NIU any day of the week. Maybe not all of our fans would, but I would. I HATE losing to Utah and BYU no matter how good or bad they are.

In any event. Good programs have a way of continuing to win even when great players graduate. NIU is still in a good place. Now you may not win 12 games next season, but you certainly should be in a good place and if the cards fall right, you may just get there again. I'll be paying attention next year for sure.

(12-28-2013 06:10 PM)Djud Wrote:  

(12-28-2013 11:47 AM)The Frisky Biscuit Wrote:  I think everyone buried the lead on this game. There's been so much Carey bashing that not many have taken Lynch to task. His last two games....he just kinda sucked. Not saying he didn't have help sucking, and Lynch has had the occasional bad game, but the turnovers were shocking to me. They were BAD turnovers too. It's one thing to be off throwing the ball, but his decisions were....man. Hard to believe bad, at times.

And boy do bad special teams make a coach look terrible. Horrible punting and a kicker that just lost "it." NIU had the special teams and offense rolling early in the year, and the special teams fell apart and the offense (Lynch) slowed down and the defense COULD NOT compensate.

Not too many have taken Lynch to task for good reason...we were in the MAC Championship and in a bowl game primarily due to his extraordinary efforts. The problem is that this team could not beat a formidable opponent when Lynch was simply ordinary. One play which illustrates the point is late in the 3rd quarter when we sent trips to the wide side and had single coverage with Brown who beat his man on a simple fly route. Jordan missed him; he has made that play all year. That was a game changer, and he will be the first to admit it. We have simply become accustom to JL being flawless, an impossible standard to live up to.
If there was ever a game when the defense DID compensate it was against Utah State.
The better team did not win on Thursday. We didn't play our best football the last two games, but we had an incredible season. It was an honor and a privilege watching Lynch and Harnish over the last several years. Proud of our Huskies...every one of them.

I still can't give him a pass on the turnovers. It's one thing to be off; the turnovers were killers. It is true that Lynch carried this team and clearly wasn't allowed to be off....it's hard to argue anyone in the country was more important to their team.