Thoughts On Last Nights Loss.

[meangreenbob]

1) If it were not for the new stadium being built across the highway, this program would be finished. It would not pass a student vote today.

2) Never have I ever witnessed a crowd react with such "intense anger" as I did last night concerning the incompetence of the officals on so called fumble by Riley. The fans anger forced the officials to review that call. I believe they were actually scared.

3) Our kids lost this game last night but ulimately the coaches are responsible.

4) This "entire" coaching staff needs to go. The high school experiment has failed. We need change and a new spirit.

5) I feel for our kids. It is a brutal game physically. They work hard and go to school as well. I am very proud of all of them regardless of the record.

6) The loss didn't sting. Not a good sign or maybe it is.

[UNTFan23]

2) Never have I ever witnessed a crowd react with such "intense anger" as I did last night concerning the incompetence of the officals on so called fumble by Riley. The fans anger forced the officials to review that call. I believe they were actually scared.

I think a big part of that anger is seeing a potentially good season go down the drain. Many are tired of the excuses and want to see wins.

Had that call not been reviewed, it would have been the personification of the season -- another blown opportunity that we weren't going to get back.

Still, that had to be the worst officiated game I have ever witnessed.

[BDPG]

We gave this game away. This team cannot afford to make the mental errors and expect to win games. Even with the amount of injuries, we still show that we have the atheletes to compete with anyone. Our future lies with the offensive line and coach Chico. May the force be with us.

[GrandGreen]

My thoughts on the game and other comments:

The game was a hard fought between two bad teams.

Anyone criticizing Riley about his performance in the last two games, is either football ignorant or so wrapped up in "blame the Dodges" that they are blind to reality.

Was I the only one that wondered why NT didn't go for two on their first td of the fourth quarter when they refused an off side penalty to take the extra point? Not necessarily because of fear of missing an extra point later on, but to make that extra point the winning score.

The offensive line even with the third center should be better, I wonder how much a relatively inexperienced offensive line coach is a factor.

Defensive ends are still a problem, I did like McCoy starting; but there was no pressure on the QB except on blitzes and NT paid dearly for those blitzes.

Lack of defensive back depth was also evident in this game. Mason is a good QB but NT's defense made him look great.

Is every team we play going to score on the first possession, I thought NT had them stopped three times only to have first downs made on penalties.

Ex the final extra point, the special teams played maybe the best game in the Dodge era. Chancellor looks like the real deal.

I wonder if Dodge spoke to the referees about the continued calling of offensive counts by the defense. This is usually something that is stopped when recognized.

We now all see the reason that challenged plays cannot be shown at the stadium. Terrible calls by the refs. I wonder if they could really tell anything from their instant replays and didn't just reverse the call based on the big screen.

Games balls to Dunbar and Dodge; Good games by Atkisson, Jackson, Robertson, Phillips and great plays by McCoy and Olawale.

Overall, just too many bad mistakes to beat almost any team.

T. Dodge fate was basically sealed with this loss. He certainly was not really for the job in the beginning, but I would have liked for him to have at least a fighting chance this year; but the injuries are just too much to overcome.

Fans deserting the team, flogging the coaching staff, and otherwise expressing great displease with the state of NT football are certainly abundant and have more than ample justification. However, the team has had an unbelievable string of bad luck, the coaches fate is almost sealed, and change is coming. The team has not given up despite all that has occured. Based on those circumstances, why not continue to support the team and look forward to better days. I know you have heard that mantra many times, but unlike in the past there are actually some tangible reasons that things may be changing in the right direction for NT.

[Censored by Laurie]

1) "Thoughts" is used too liberally around here.

[keith]

Was I the only one that wondered why NT didn't go for two on their first td of the fourth quarter when they refused an off side penalty to take the extra point? Not necessarily because of fear of missing an extra point later on, but to make that extra point the winning score.

I didn't think about it on the first TD, but I definitely thought about it on the second one. Conventional wisdom says you do that (go for the win right then and there) on the road and not necessarily at home, but I just thought that this was an opportunity to make a statement and put the game away without looking to OT. Of course if we did that and didn't make it than everyone would be yelling for heads to roll (as if they aren't already). Hindsight is 20/20 and we have been good on PATs so far this year, just not when we needed one the most. Seems like that is our calling card these days.

Keith