And putting it into perspective with how other highly ranked FCS teams did against their FBS opponents certainly takes some of the sting off of our performance Saturday. Thanks for that.

When the voters, none of whom got to watch the game, see the box score, they’ll see the 61 pass attempts by Nichols and only a 59% completion rating, their 1-yard-per-carry rushing average, and the 4.3 yards-per-play average, and realize that the Tech defense didn’t play that poorly, after all.

I think, by now, most people realize that the top FCS teams are better than half the FBS teams. It’s amazing that with their football programs, they can’t get bigger stadiums built and move up. Earning close to $1,000,000 a year from BCS opponents would seem to add up quickly. All they need is an average attendance of 15,000, and a school like UMass could get it, having 20,000 undergrads and being in Amherst and close to Springfield.

Better to have all those mental errors in week one than week six, anyway.

.. From an Earlier post – It was great the defense got 3 interceptions and 3 sacks.( arguably the deciding factors.) The third side of the game looks to be rusty or at least unpracticed i.e. special teams – penalties, a kick blocked on extra point attempt (again a flash of excellence by Taylor Charbonett to block their FG attempt) but then 2 x flat missed kicks and a poor punt. And if I am not mistaken 2 or 3 punt returns for over 15 yards by EWU?? – ( Extra comment for this post) So we gave up over 1.5 + football fields in penalties – yikes! Yes I have read for years how we don’t like to reign in aggressive fast play. Still I have to wonder – listened to the game and I am pretty sure we committed 4 – 5 fouls on special teams. Finally a flat A%#$ turnover by a senior returner on a punt? That’s not our identity. TTU is noted for Excellent attention to detail when the other team is pressing for an advantage. Especially in the transition game. More special teams energy appears to be in order.
Then the 4.3 yards a play averaged by EWU on 61 passing attempt (right? ) …looks like we were playing defense pretty well. Note to self (and fellow Pirates) – Raider Defense is getting it done. And in the post game interviews by B Duncan" .. " not quite what we want ..just yet..". Nevada may get mugged by the defense next week. No doubt the Eagles team was a "sleeper" quality opponent and # 9 in the FCS to boot. Can’t agree more with the DTN thread that a tune up, wake up and or gut check is good right now. I.e. don’t read your press clipping they are written by people who have way too much time on their hands like a certain DMN "what ever" sports writer. We can expect that Coaching now gets pretty directive and pointed.

It’s hard to say in any game how it would have ended up had any single event not occurred because the game changes from that point forward. But, by my count, penalties resulted in at least a 10 point swing, maybe more.

Penalties:

It wasn’t just the number of penalties that hurt, it was the untimeliness of several of the penalties. On EWU’s first scoring drive, the Tech D held them on 1st & 2nd down, but had a penalty during the 2nd down, giving EWU 1st & goal at the 4. They may have scored anyway, but it changed from a passing down to a run-run situation for a TD. A pass interference call extended a drive stalled at 3rd and 10 that resulted in EWU’s 3rd TD (drive 12). Tech also gave them great field position through a halo violation that set up the 2nd touchdown. And, basically taking points off the board, a false start and an offesive pass interference moved Tech from 1st and 10 at the EWU 13 out of scoring position (missed 47 yrd field goal).

Ranking:

Generally speaking, teams don’t drop much in ranking if they win, regardless of the “quality” of their play that week or the margin of victory over a poor opponent. Good teams find ways to win, even when they don’t bring their A game. That is rewarded and shows depth and the ability to overcome adversity. I don’t expect Tech to be punished by the pollsters for winning by 25 points with solid defensive play.

Like djollie111 pointed out, Michigan would have killed for a 25 point win over App St last year (and Lloyd Carr might have kept hs job). EWU was given a number of gifts (above) that they took advantage of. Kudos to them. Tech did a good job of stopping them the rest of the game.

Crab-who?

I missed the game for my daughter’s birthday party, so I don’t know if EWU had 2 DBs and an orangatan on on MC’s back, but on paper his performance was pretty mediocre. I was glad to see that we ran the ball 25 times (good call Seth) for over 100 yards.

Needless to say, Tech did not get its emotions under control enough to focus. That is what needs to improve most. Hopefully they have gotten the first game jitters and anxiety from the preseason hype out of their system. Let’s just hope they learn to play fired up but not loose their heads. Overall, I think they probably earned a B-.

This will likely serve as a wakeup call. While we are talented, we aren’t like USC where we can just show up and win the game in pre-game warmups. We don’t intimidate anyone (offense is all finesse, defense is, well, a work in progress), so we have to work all game long.

I’m anxious to see how the Nevada game plays out. They racked up a boat load of rushing yards Saturday, so the game will have a different tone than the EWU game. If Tech can continue to get the Britton, Morris and the RBs heavily involved that will make life easier. I’m thrilled they didn’t try to force things to Crabtree just to do it. He will probably see a significant drop off in his numbers this year due to the success of 07, but that’s fine. Win. Just win.

i was so pumped going into the game thinking like the rest of the tech fans. This is going to be a good showcase for our stars to show what they have and for the most part they did about 1/2 the time they were on the field. After a couple of days to read around and see what others are thinking also, i agree with most people and that this game will be a blessing. Kinda like the OSU game last year. Or atleas that is what i am hoping as a fan that it will be. I did enjoy the game. The first play for the defense an interception. comeon that was great how could you start the year off any better for any defense…..maybe keep that going for the entire game…iam also glad to see our running backs playing well…and the one return by wall deep in the inzone i was nervous based on his playing from last year i think wall has improved as a corner back….and crabtree had his hands full all night…i don’t think i noticed him not being double teamed….but all and all a win is still a win and the students that had “i had a dream 11-0” still have a dream like all the rest of us….GO TECH!!!!!