Nick’s Picks just can’t seem to get it going this year as I went a paltry 8-4 taking me to 26-10 year to date, which is well below by 80% average through the years. On a positive side there several picks with the scores almost spot on and on the other end my upset of the week (Central) got blasted below and just when I had lost faith in Bowling Green they get a quality win over a Big Ten even if that team’s name is Indiana. And speaking of the great state of Indiana, thanks to Ball State’s loss to the Sycamores the MAC continues their trend to have at least one loss per season to a I-AA/FCS team each season. That’s a dubious tradition that just can’t end soon enough.

Nick’s Week 3 Power Poll:
1. NIU – still the class of the MAC…by far
2. Akron – off week has them moving up…will they stay here?
3. BG – looked very good this weekend; is this the real Falcons under Babers?
4. Ohio – hey, I don’t think there is a #4 team in the MAC right now but someone has to be here
5. Ball State – ugly home loss to ISU was a surprise under the Lembo regime
6. Toledo – found a QB but the defense is as pathetic as ever
7. UMass – best 0-3 team the MAC has had in years, how far have we sunk too to be able to say that?
8. Central – reality check came this weekend against Syracuse
9. Western – there is a pulse in the program now so let’s row that damn boat already!
10. Buffalo – after a one-year wonder a few seasons ago this program just cannot get it going
11. Miami - and the losses continue to mount
12. Kent State – there is a lot of competition down here for the “battle for the bottom”
13. Eastern – Eastern Michigan is where coaching careers end…Coach Creighton will be looking back soon and thinking that Wabash College has never looked so good




Nick’s Pick: Cincy 37 – Toledo 23
Actual Score: Cincy 58 – Toledo 34
Initial thought: The Rockets looked terrible last week against Missouri and now have a shorted week to prepare for Cincinnati who will be playing their first game of the year. UT had some significant injuries last week too and will be breaking in another young QB, Cincy should roll.
Final response: The Rocket defense is much worse than advertised evident with Gunner Kiel throwing six TD passes in his first collegiate start…there was rarely even a DB on the TV screen for some of those

Nick’s Pick: Baylor 73 – Buffalo 10
Actual Score: Baylor 63 – Buffalo 21
Initial thought: How ugly will this be? If the Bears offense gets rolling early it will be a TKO by the end of the 1st quarter.
Final response: Went as expected

Nick’s Pick: Indiana 42 – BGSU 21
Actual Score: BGSU 45 – Indiana 42
Initial thought: Indiana thumped BG at home last year and has had two weeks to prepare for this game after a lackluster 28-10 win over Indiana State. Playing at home gives BG a boost and this is a game they can win…considering how bad the Big Ten looked last week I’m sure all of their schools are on notice to make a statement this week.
Final response: This was the most entertaining MAC game of the weekend as the Falcons won an exciting game and had a really nice home crowd to enjoy it

Nick’s Pick: Marshall 34 – Ohio 23
Actual Score: Marshall 44 – Ohio 14
Initial thought: This is always a good game and Ohio has had Marshall’s number over the past few seasons…look for that to change this Saturday.
Final response: After years of frustration the Herd finally beat up on their fellow Ohio River rival

Nick’s Pick: Central 27 – Syracuse 26
Actual Score: Syracuse 40 – Central 3
Initial thought: My upset of the week…Fire Up Chips! I’m starting to become a believer in this team and Syracuse barely beat Villanova earlier in the year. Here is a nice “name” team a MAC school can beat right now.
Final response: Can I have a re do? After leading 3-0 early in the 2nd quarter it was all Orange

Nick’s Pick: Vandy 16 – UMass 14
Actual Score: Vandy 34 – UMass 31
Initial thought: Vandy has looked horrible so far this season under their new coaching staff and UMass nearly beat Colorado last week and played Boston College tough for three quarters. UMass can win this game but I see them falling just short of that goal.
Final response: Went as expected…and UMass missed a chip shot FG at the end that would have put the game into OT

Nick’s Pick: Ohio State 52 – Kent State 0
Actual Score: Ohio State 66 – Kent State 0
Initial thought: Refer back to the Indiana/BG game note…all Big Ten teams will be looking for sound victories after last week’s pathetic showing and OSU will want to take their anger out on someone after their 14-point home loss to V-Tech.
Final response: Went as expected

Nick’s Pick: Ball State 28 – Indiana State 20
Actual Score: Indiana State 27 – Ball State 20
Initial thought: Should be a competitive game between these two intra-state rivals.
Final response: Right score but wrong winning team

Nick’s Pick: Michigan 45 – Miami 10
Actual Score: Michigan 34 – Miami 10
Initial thought: If Miami cannot beat Eastern Kentucky at home they can’t beat Michigan in Ann Arbor even though this is not a good Michigan team by their standards.
Final response: Went as expected

Nick’s Pick: Idaho 24 – Western 20
Actual Score: Western 45 – Idaho 33
Initial thought: I want so much to be wrong on this game…but so far Western has shown us all so little under the new regime.
Final response: I had stated that I wanted to pick the Broncos and obviously I should have…

Nick’s Pick: Old Dominion 30 – Eastern 18
Actual Score: Old Dominion 17 – Eastern 3
Initial thought: Again, I want to pick Eastern but after they struggled with Morgan State and then got thumped at Florida it’s hard to see them winning again other than against another MAC bottom-feeder.
Final response: Went as expected


Nick’s Pick: NIU 37 – UNLV 28
Actual Score: NIU 48 – UNLV 34
Initial thought: Hopefully at the end of the year this non-conference will look better…NIU is still the class of the MAC even though they are not the defending champions.
Final response: Went as expected

(09-14-2014 09:04 AM)Nick in Cleveland Wrote:  Nick’s Picks just can’t seem to get it going this year as I went a paltry 8-4 taking me to 26-10 year to date, which is well below by 80% average through the years. On a positive side there several picks with the scores almost spot on and on the other end my upset of the week (Central) got blasted below and just when I had lost faith in Bowling Green they get a quality win over a Big Ten even if that team’s name is Indiana. And speaking of the great state of Indiana, thanks to Ball State’s loss to the Sycamores the MAC continues their trend to have at least one loss per season to a I-AA/FCS team each season. That’s a dubious tradition that just can’t end soon enough.

Nick’s Week 3 Power Poll:
1. NIU – still the class of the MAC…by far
2. Akron – off week has them moving up…will they stay here?
3. BG – looked very good this weekend; is this the real Falcons under Babers?
4. Ohio – hey, I don’t think there is a #4 team in the MAC right now but someone has to be here
5. Ball State – ugly home loss to ISU was a surprise under the Lembo regime
6. Toledo – found a QB but the defense is as pathetic as ever
7. UMass – best 0-3 team the MAC has had in years, how far have we sunk too to be able to say that?
8. Central – reality check came this weekend against Syracuse
9. Western – there is a pulse in the program now so let’s row that damn boat already!
10. Buffalo – after a one-year wonder a few seasons ago this program just cannot get it going
11. Miami - and the losses continue to mount
12. Kent State – there is a lot of competition down here for the “battle for the bottom”
13. Eastern – Eastern Michigan is where coaching careers end…Coach Creighton will be looking back soon and thinking that Wabash College has never looked so good




Nick’s Pick: Cincy 37 – Toledo 23
Actual Score: Cincy 58 – Toledo 34
Initial thought: The Rockets looked terrible last week against Missouri and now have a shorted week to prepare for Cincinnati who will be playing their first game of the year. UT had some significant injuries last week too and will be breaking in another young QB, Cincy should roll.
Final response: The Rocket defense is much worse than advertised evident with Gunner Kiel throwing six TD passes in his first collegiate start…there was rarely even a DB on the TV screen for some of those

Nick’s Pick: Baylor 73 – Buffalo 10
Actual Score: Baylor 63 – Buffalo 21
Initial thought: How ugly will this be? If the Bears offense gets rolling early it will be a TKO by the end of the 1st quarter.
Final response: Went as expected

Nick’s Pick: Indiana 42 – BGSU 21
Actual Score: BGSU 45 – Indiana 42
Initial thought: Indiana thumped BG at home last year and has had two weeks to prepare for this game after a lackluster 28-10 win over Indiana State. Playing at home gives BG a boost and this is a game they can win…considering how bad the Big Ten looked last week I’m sure all of their schools are on notice to make a statement this week.
Final response: This was the most entertaining MAC game of the weekend as the Falcons won an exciting game and had a really nice home crowd to enjoy it

Nick’s Pick: Marshall 34 – Ohio 23
Actual Score: Marshall 44 – Ohio 14
Initial thought: This is always a good game and Ohio has had Marshall’s number over the past few seasons…look for that to change this Saturday.
Final response: After years of frustration the Herd finally beat up on their fellow Ohio River rival

Nick’s Pick: Central 27 – Syracuse 26
Actual Score: Syracuse 40 – Central 3
Initial thought: My upset of the week…Fire Up Chips! I’m starting to become a believer in this team and Syracuse barely beat Villanova earlier in the year. Here is a nice “name” team a MAC school can beat right now.
Final response: Can I have a re do? After leading 3-0 early in the 2nd quarter it was all Orange

Nick’s Pick: Vandy 16 – UMass 14
Actual Score: Vandy 34 – UMass 31
Initial thought: Vandy has looked horrible so far this season under their new coaching staff and UMass nearly beat Colorado last week and played Boston College tough for three quarters. UMass can win this game but I see them falling just short of that goal.
Final response: Went as expected…and UMass missed a chip shot FG at the end that would have put the game into OT

Nick’s Pick: Ohio State 52 – Kent State 0
Actual Score: Ohio State 66 – Kent State 0
Initial thought: Refer back to the Indiana/BG game note…all Big Ten teams will be looking for sound victories after last week’s pathetic showing and OSU will want to take their anger out on someone after their 14-point home loss to V-Tech.
Final response: Went as expected

Nick’s Pick: Ball State 28 – Indiana State 20
Actual Score: Indiana State 27 – Ball State 20
Initial thought: Should be a competitive game between these two intra-state rivals.
Final response: Right score but wrong winning team

Nick’s Pick: Michigan 45 – Miami 10
Actual Score: Michigan 34 – Miami 10
Initial thought: If Miami cannot beat Eastern Kentucky at home they can’t beat Michigan in Ann Arbor even though this is not a good Michigan team by their standards.
Final response: Went as expected

Nick’s Pick: Idaho 24 – Western 20
Actual Score: Western 45 – Idaho 33
Initial thought: I want so much to be wrong on this game…but so far Western has shown us all so little under the new regime.
Final response: I had stated that I wanted to pick the Broncos and obviously I should have…

Nick’s Pick: Old Dominion 30 – Eastern 18
Actual Score: Old Dominion 17 – Eastern 3
Initial thought: Again, I want to pick Eastern but after they struggled with Morgan State and then got thumped at Florida it’s hard to see them winning again other than against another MAC bottom-feeder.
Final response: Went as expected


Nick’s Pick: NIU 37 – UNLV 28
Actual Score: NIU 48 – UNLV 34
Initial thought: Hopefully at the end of the year this non-conference will look better…NIU is still the class of the MAC even though they are not the defending champions.
Final response: Went as expected

BGSU is at the bottom of the MAC in terms of Total Defense with an OOC schedule so far that is below Toledo's, But UT is the one with the bad defense?

Ball State loses at home to Indiana State with Toledo losing to the SEC runner up and an AAC formidable opponent and yet are the worse team ranked? The resentment of the loss has you delusional.

Iowa is not on the same page as Mizzou or Cincy at the moment. They lose to Iowa State, the same Iowa State team that lost at home to North Dakota State.

(09-14-2014 09:33 AM)Boca Rocket Wrote:  

(09-14-2014 09:04 AM)Nick in Cleveland Wrote:  Nick’s Picks just can’t seem to get it going this year as I went a paltry 8-4 taking me to 26-10 year to date, which is well below by 80% average through the years. On a positive side there several picks with the scores almost spot on and on the other end my upset of the week (Central) got blasted below and just when I had lost faith in Bowling Green they get a quality win over a Big Ten even if that team’s name is Indiana. And speaking of the great state of Indiana, thanks to Ball State’s loss to the Sycamores the MAC continues their trend to have at least one loss per season to a I-AA/FCS team each season. That’s a dubious tradition that just can’t end soon enough.

Nick’s Week 3 Power Poll:
1. NIU – still the class of the MAC…by far
2. Akron – off week has them moving up…will they stay here?
3. BG – looked very good this weekend; is this the real Falcons under Babers?
4. Ohio – hey, I don’t think there is a #4 team in the MAC right now but someone has to be here
5. Ball State – ugly home loss to ISU was a surprise under the Lembo regime
6. Toledo – found a QB but the defense is as pathetic as ever
7. UMass – best 0-3 team the MAC has had in years, how far have we sunk too to be able to say that?
8. Central – reality check came this weekend against Syracuse
9. Western – there is a pulse in the program now so let’s row that damn boat already!
10. Buffalo – after a one-year wonder a few seasons ago this program just cannot get it going
11. Miami - and the losses continue to mount
12. Kent State – there is a lot of competition down here for the “battle for the bottom”
13. Eastern – Eastern Michigan is where coaching careers end…Coach Creighton will be looking back soon and thinking that Wabash College has never looked so good




Nick’s Pick: Cincy 37 – Toledo 23
Actual Score: Cincy 58 – Toledo 34
Initial thought: The Rockets looked terrible last week against Missouri and now have a shorted week to prepare for Cincinnati who will be playing their first game of the year. UT had some significant injuries last week too and will be breaking in another young QB, Cincy should roll.
Final response: The Rocket defense is much worse than advertised evident with Gunner Kiel throwing six TD passes in his first collegiate start…there was rarely even a DB on the TV screen for some of those

Nick’s Pick: Baylor 73 – Buffalo 10
Actual Score: Baylor 63 – Buffalo 21
Initial thought: How ugly will this be? If the Bears offense gets rolling early it will be a TKO by the end of the 1st quarter.
Final response: Went as expected

Nick’s Pick: Indiana 42 – BGSU 21
Actual Score: BGSU 45 – Indiana 42
Initial thought: Indiana thumped BG at home last year and has had two weeks to prepare for this game after a lackluster 28-10 win over Indiana State. Playing at home gives BG a boost and this is a game they can win…considering how bad the Big Ten looked last week I’m sure all of their schools are on notice to make a statement this week.
Final response: This was the most entertaining MAC game of the weekend as the Falcons won an exciting game and had a really nice home crowd to enjoy it

Nick’s Pick: Marshall 34 – Ohio 23
Actual Score: Marshall 44 – Ohio 14
Initial thought: This is always a good game and Ohio has had Marshall’s number over the past few seasons…look for that to change this Saturday.
Final response: After years of frustration the Herd finally beat up on their fellow Ohio River rival

Nick’s Pick: Central 27 – Syracuse 26
Actual Score: Syracuse 40 – Central 3
Initial thought: My upset of the week…Fire Up Chips! I’m starting to become a believer in this team and Syracuse barely beat Villanova earlier in the year. Here is a nice “name” team a MAC school can beat right now.
Final response: Can I have a re do? After leading 3-0 early in the 2nd quarter it was all Orange

Nick’s Pick: Vandy 16 – UMass 14
Actual Score: Vandy 34 – UMass 31
Initial thought: Vandy has looked horrible so far this season under their new coaching staff and UMass nearly beat Colorado last week and played Boston College tough for three quarters. UMass can win this game but I see them falling just short of that goal.
Final response: Went as expected…and UMass missed a chip shot FG at the end that would have put the game into OT

Nick’s Pick: Ohio State 52 – Kent State 0
Actual Score: Ohio State 66 – Kent State 0
Initial thought: Refer back to the Indiana/BG game note…all Big Ten teams will be looking for sound victories after last week’s pathetic showing and OSU will want to take their anger out on someone after their 14-point home loss to V-Tech.
Final response: Went as expected

Nick’s Pick: Ball State 28 – Indiana State 20
Actual Score: Indiana State 27 – Ball State 20
Initial thought: Should be a competitive game between these two intra-state rivals.
Final response: Right score but wrong winning team

Nick’s Pick: Michigan 45 – Miami 10
Actual Score: Michigan 34 – Miami 10
Initial thought: If Miami cannot beat Eastern Kentucky at home they can’t beat Michigan in Ann Arbor even though this is not a good Michigan team by their standards.
Final response: Went as expected

Nick’s Pick: Idaho 24 – Western 20
Actual Score: Western 45 – Idaho 33
Initial thought: I want so much to be wrong on this game…but so far Western has shown us all so little under the new regime.
Final response: I had stated that I wanted to pick the Broncos and obviously I should have…

Nick’s Pick: Old Dominion 30 – Eastern 18
Actual Score: Old Dominion 17 – Eastern 3
Initial thought: Again, I want to pick Eastern but after they struggled with Morgan State and then got thumped at Florida it’s hard to see them winning again other than against another MAC bottom-feeder.
Final response: Went as expected


Nick’s Pick: NIU 37 – UNLV 28
Actual Score: NIU 48 – UNLV 34
Initial thought: Hopefully at the end of the year this non-conference will look better…NIU is still the class of the MAC even though they are not the defending champions.
Final response: Went as expected

BGSU is at the bottom of the MAC in terms of Total Defense with an OOC schedule so far that is below Toledo's, But UT is the one with the bad defense?

We're only a bad defense when opponents throw the ball

Yeah, Toledo is definitely better than Ball state. Both aren't exactly what people thought they were gonna be. (Granted before the season I thought ball state was probably a 6-6 type team)

It's kind of grasping straws though for who should be ahead of who since neither are shooting the lights out.

Hunt looks good, but that defense is bad. If hunt has a bad day (unlikely), Toledo is in big trouble trying to keep up. They have some weapons, but almost none of them besides hunt have been playing consistent football.

Bad week for the MAC. Kudos to WMU to get a W!

Now I'm gonna somewhat contradict myself since I said choosing who's better than who is grasping straws, it was directed at Toledo BG.

There is no way Ohio is #4. I mean Kentucky looks better than expected so that loss isn't horrible, but yesterday was an embarrassment. Their only win is a 3 point win over an atrocious Kent team.

(09-14-2014 01:00 PM)HuskieJWN Wrote:  Now I'm gonna somewhat contradict myself since I said choosing who's better than who is grasping straws, it was directed at Toledo BG.

There is no way Ohio is #4. I mean Kentucky looks better than expected so that loss isn't horrible, but yesterday was an embarrassment. Their only win is a 3 point win over an atrocious Kent team.

Pretty much what Nick said: they don't deserve to be #4, but no one else does either.

(09-14-2014 01:03 PM)axeme Wrote:  

(09-14-2014 01:00 PM)HuskieJWN Wrote:  Now I'm gonna somewhat contradict myself since I said choosing who's better than who is grasping straws, it was directed at Toledo BG.

There is no way Ohio is #4. I mean Kentucky looks better than expected so that loss isn't horrible, but yesterday was an embarrassment. Their only win is a 3 point win over an atrocious Kent team.

Pretty much what Nick said: they don't deserve to be #4, but no one else does either.

That's true. Hasn't been very pretty for the conference so far.

Things just got difficult for Ball state to go bowling. They needed to get to 7 wins for bowl eligibility with two FCS teams. With games vs army, niu, Toledo, BG, Akron, and CMU all bowl type teams could be tough.

(09-14-2014 10:39 AM)rocketinchitown Wrote:  Ball State loses at home to Indiana State with Toledo losing to the SEC runner up and an AAC formidable opponent and yet are the worse team ranked? The resentment of the loss has you delusional.

Iowa is not on the same page as Mizzou or Cincy at the moment. They lose to Iowa State, the same Iowa State team that lost at home to North Dakota State.

I wouldn't put too much stock in these rankings.. He buried Buffalo in the bottom of his rankings after they lost to the seventh ranked team in the nation.

\Things just got difficult for Ball state to go bowling. They needed to get to 7 wins for bowl eligibility with two FCS teams. With games vs army, niu, Toledo, BG, Akron, and CMU all bowl type teams could be tough.
[/quote]

I thought the rule was you could only count one FCS victory per season for bowl eligibility; if I am correct the loss to Indiana State had no effect on the six win requirement. If someone has a better understanding of the rules please clarify.

I wouldn't put Akron at #2 at the moment. They haven't really proven anything besides having a decent defense. We'll see what we're made of when Marshall comes to town on Saturday.

(09-14-2014 05:25 PM)ncchip Wrote:  \Things just got difficult for Ball state to go bowling. They needed to get to 7 wins for bowl eligibility with two FCS teams. With games vs army, niu, Toledo, BG, Akron, and CMU all bowl type teams could be tough.

I thought the rule was you could only count one FCS victory per season for bowl eligibility; if I am correct the loss to Indiana State had no effect on the six win requirement. If someone has a better understanding of the rules please clarify.
[/quote]

I guess I just assumed you had to get 7 wins since they don't usually lose to FCS teams. Maybe you're correct.

That's brutal though, you schedule two FCS teams which shouldn't happen in the first place, then they lose. Not exactly what they thought would happen I bet.

MAC fans need to realize that the FCS conference that MAC teams play most often (Missouri Valley) is pretty salty and probably the best top to bottom in the FCS

1) ND ST despite losing their coaching staff and a bunch of starters whooped Iowa State in their opening game by 20 (34-14), Weber State 24-7 & Incarnate Word (who is probably praying they never schedule them again) 58-0

2) Northern Iowa lost their opener at Iowa by only 8 (23-31) and lost to a Hawaii team (24-27) that lost to Washington at home by only 1 and Oregon State by only 8!

3) Indiana State gave Indiana a game in their opener falling 28-10. beat Tn Tech 49-14 before upseting Ball State.

4) Youngstown State had a 9-7 lead on Illinois going into the 4th quarter of their opener before falling 28-17. They have beaten Duquesne & Butler by a combined 78-36.

5) Missouri State lost to ranked Oklahoma State 40-23 and beat North Dakota 38-0
OK ST beat UTSA by 30 (43-13) and gave defending National Champ FSU a heck of an opening game losing 31-37

6) SDST lost their opener to Mizzou 18-38. Mizzou has beaten both Toledo (49-24) & UCF (38-10) by larger scores. SDST beat Cal Poly 44-18 & Southern Utah 26-6

7) SIU while not playing any FBS teams has beaten EIU, SE MO and Taylor by 133-50

8) ISU has beat MS Valley State 62-0 and EIU 34-15.


Sure would be nice to absorb some of those MVC teams

(09-14-2014 09:04 AM)Nick in Cleveland Wrote:  Nick’s Picks just can’t seem to get it going this year as I went a paltry 8-4 taking me to 26-10 year to date, which is well below by 80% average through the years.

It's been a very odd year IMO. My picks were abysmal in the first two weeks of the CFPOOL, then there was this week

http://www.cfpool.com/2014/results1403.txt

Other than NIU this is shaping up to be the worst year in MAC football in quite some time...so many uncompetitive teams this year! Ugly!

How in the world will we be able to field 4-5 credible bowl teams?

We will have 3 good teams. The others wont have a chance to win a bowl game. Toledo and bg will score on some people but will have trouble out scoring other bowl teams. NIU may not lose more th 1 game.

I really enjoyed watching the BG-IU game, but BG's seemingly lack of any real defense has me worried...Toledo's pass defense is so bad I don't know what to say...I think Nick mentioned (correctly) that on many catches there were not even any UT DB's on the camera.

BG's defense was interesting. At times they were tough and stuffed the run, pressured the QB and stopped IU on some 4th downs. But they got gashed late by a guy whose pretty dang good. Definitely an improvement over the WKU game, but still don't have the depth of last year's team.

On offense, BG ran 113 plays. Two short of the record.

The coaching had some quirks. The onside kick was clever and almost worked. The decision to go for 2 was really bad and almost came back to haunt BG if they didn't score the TD at the end, it would have been an OT battle that probably would still be being played right now.

(09-15-2014 10:59 AM)MacLord Wrote:  BG's defense was interesting. At times they were tough and stuffed the run, pressured the QB and stopped IU on some 4th downs. But they got gashed late by a guy whose pretty dang good. Definitely an improvement over the WKU game, but still don't have the depth of last year's team.

On offense, BG ran 113 plays. Two short of the record.

The coaching had some quirks. The onside kick was clever and almost worked. The decision to go for 2 was really bad and almost came back to haunt BG if they didn't score the TD at the end, it would have been an OT battle that probably would still be being played right now.

Some of the offensive play calling was very questionable. As was the run out the clock decision at the end of the half.

Going for 2 when they did made good sense, however, I really wonder if it's worth a TO at that point. And then the play was pretty poor.

Lots of work to do by Babers.

(09-15-2014 10:59 AM)MacLord Wrote:  BG's defense was interesting. At times they were tough and stuffed the run, pressured the QB and stopped IU on some 4th downs. But they got gashed late by a guy whose pretty dang good. Definitely an improvement over the WKU game, but still don't have the depth of last year's team.

On offense, BG ran 113 plays. Two short of the record.

The coaching had some quirks. The onside kick was clever and almost worked. The decision to go for 2 was really bad and almost came back to haunt BG if they didn't score the TD at the end, it would have been an OT battle that probably would still be being played right now.

BG defense held IU to 4-12 on 3rd down conversions and 1-4 on 4th downs. They were able to get off the field at times, but there were some very costly breakdowns...particularly in the second half. With 2 starters out (DT Colvin ad LB Lynch) and a number of guys banged up in the secondary, I think it was a good effort to keep things close.