Killer Instinct
Does the football team lack the killer instinct to put games away? Or at least stomp on the throat of the opponent when you have them down? Specifically to go up by 2 scores.
- Fumble on the 1 yard line against Indiana to go up by 2 TDs
- Missed FG against Ill on 4 and short
- Interception by Denard in the Red Zone against Purdue
I am going to chalk this up to a young offense, with nearly everyone returning next year. We did well against some of the non-conference schools, but in the B10 teams are much tougher, and no one rolls over (save Indiana against Wisconsin).
I was glad to see the Hopkins TD put away Purdue, And I would qualify that as improvement, not only for the game, but for the season as a whole. I certainly hope we get a couple of opportunities in the next 2 weeks to put a game away and the offense jumps all over it.
Tin foil hat alert : The possibility does exist that Rich Rod and Dave Brandon have teamed with the BTN, ESPN, and Rotel/Velveeta to keep games close and sell more ads.
November 15th, 2010 at 3:00 PM ^
Thank you sir.
November 15th, 2010 at 10:49 AM ^
In addition to the youth of the offense, there are two additional factors:
1) Our defensive woes make the offense think that we have to score on every possession, causing them to press too hard and make questionable throws/decisions; and
2) Our kicking woes lead us to believe every possession is TD or bust. Most teams can count on a reasonable likelihood that they will get 3 points if they get within the 20. We probably only have about a 25% chance of making a short kick, and also have a 25% chance of the kick being blocked.
Having even mediocre defense and special teams would make our offense even more effective by causing it to force the ball less.
November 15th, 2010 at 11:20 AM ^
"Yeah, I'm gonna need you to come in on Saturday" I think the problem is a total lack of perfection, if these little so and so's would just practice perfection better we would not have these stinking mistakes. Also if we changed the name from Red Zone to Blue Zone it would be verrrrrry beneficial. We should never call anything the Red Zone or the Green Zone from this day forward it is officially known as the Blue Zone and we will play perfectly. Seriously it is good to be able to have humor in my life again. Thanks to each and everyone of you, for the last two years would have been horrible without you.
November 15th, 2010 at 3:08 PM ^
- Fumble on the 1 yard line against Indiana to go up by 2 TDs
- Missed FG against Ill on 4 and short
- Interception by Denard in the Red Zone against Purdue
Except that we were already up two scores (14-3) when Denard threw the pick . . . and I'm not real sure how a fumbled snap and missed field goal have anything to do with a lack of "killer instinct." .
November 15th, 2010 at 10:48 PM ^
I know some people want perfection while other people just like to see the negative in everything (I tend to be one of those people) but the reality is simple.
Our Defense = Bad
Our Special Teams = Worse
Our Offense = Napalm half the time and a Turnover-a-saurus the other half.
Every where you look we are young and the few spots we have experience play like they're young. Yet we are 7-3 with an outside shot at 9-3. All we can do from this point forward is improve (I seriously can't imagine getting any worse in most areas) and once that happens the 'killer instinct' will be all too apparent.