...My thoughts....

[DogsWin]

Yep. It was very similar to the TX A&M game when we were down 7-34. We can certainly come back in the late 3rd + 4th quarter, but with our porrous defense our offense MUST get engaged in the 1st quarter to keep the point differential from being too big. This has not happened against the better opponents on our schedule this year.

[Bigdog13]

No they shouldn't have to, but they do. We KNOW what our defense is like. It doesn't come as a surprise.

The point total by the offense is the defining issue

Knowing your defense is bad and offense is good does NOT change the definition of what good and bad defense/offense is!!!!!!!!

[oletimer]

What was wrong with #78? That guy had so many false starts it wasn't funny.

[LookingForResults]

Yep. It was very similar to the TX A&M game when we were down 7-34. We can certainly come back in the late 3rd + 4th quarter, but with our porrous defense our offense MUST get engaged in the 1st quarter to keep the point differential from being too big. This has not happened against the better opponents on our schedule this year.

I'm convinced that our game planning is so poor or so simplistic, and our game recognition is so slow, that late-game adjustments are the only adjustments of which we are capable.

[Bigdog13]

It was pretty bad, that no-call pass interference against Patton at the end of the first half was terrible.

No excuses for a poorly thrown int. , BUT that NO CALL on the Pass Intereference was right before that first INT. If that is called the situation changes completely and that INT probably never happens.

[hoppinmad]

"Ok, who has money on Utah .... ok, let's make sure they win."

[dawg80]

"Ok, who has money on Utah .... ok, let's make sure they win."

Funny.

But....maybe true?

[rangerdawg]

I'm convinced that our game planning is so poor or so simplistic, and our game recognition is so slow, that late-game adjustments are the only adjustments of which we are capable.

I can assure you that it may be poor, but NOT simplistic by any stretch. It is very complex......but it usually does not change. On D, we have 2....TWO calls basically. Three LB's or Nickel. There you go. There are variations of it, but we approach every game the same way.

That being said. There is no ONE play or poor officiating, or interception that loses a game. It is a total body of work throughout the game. If this were the case, we could say that the very first play on defense against USU cost us the game.

[Avi8r]

Well this has been going on all year. The Wac refs are not up to par as they should be. Very poor officiating on there side. It doesn't take 15 seconds to set a ball, especially under a minute left in the game. I'm glad that we are leaving this conference and hopefully non of the refs will follow.

[MiloBumP]

It was pretty bad, that no-call pass interference against Patton at the end of the first half was terrible.

I did not think the DB ever turned his head to look for the ball. That call and A FEW OTHERS should have been no brainers. The pass interference that was called was a great call for Utah State. It saved them six points b/c Patton was going to be wide open of the flea flicker play.

[MiloBumP]

Let me get the negative stuff out of the way first, in no particular order...

1. The WAC Officials: I know our economy hasn't completely recovered yet, but I hope every WAC referee and official will never be employed in college football again. The Conference USA officials have to be more competent than the WAC officials we've seen the last few years...right?

2. The Defense (first 3 quarters): Our offense is the reason you can never, ever count this Louisiana Tech football team out of a ball game. Our defense is the reason why you may count Louisiana Tech out.

3. Cameron's 2 INTs: The law of averages finally caught up with Colby Cameron tonight. College quarterbacks who throw 440 straight passes are supposed to have a few INTs here and there. Colby's happened to occur at the worst possible time when our team was in or near the red zone twice.

4. The final play of the game: I've spent about 2-3 hours trying to process the last play of the game by Louisiana Tech. I still don't know what the heck the coaches were thinking. I realize others here will bring up other plays during the game there were as puzzling. My question is: why would a team run the ball up the middle against the #5 rushing offense in the country on 4th and 3 in overtime knowing you will lose the game if you don't convert? You don't do it.

Now for the positive stuff...

1. Matt Nelson: He was uber-clutch tonight. Whatever was wrong with him the past few weeks seems to be gone. He was money when it counted with 5 seconds to go in the game.

2. The crowd: 25,614 in attendance. The crowd was into the game, and they knew when to be loud and cheering with almost no prompting from the disembodied voice. Some fans left after Utah State's last TD in the 3rd and after Colby's 2nd INT late in the game, but many of the fans stayed until the very end. The excitement and fan experience is light years ahead of where it was in the dying days of the Bickenll Era.

3. Dixon and Patton: Patton went into beast mode in the second half. Dixon was really good as usual.

4. Defense (4th quarter): Did LA Tech and Utah State switch defensive coordinators after the 3rd quarter ended? I don't know what happened in the fourth quarter, but the defense shined in the fourth quarter. They seem to be like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, either really bad or really great with no in-between.

5. D.J. Banks: He fumbled a kickoff return earlier in the game, but he redeemed himself when he returned a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown late in the third quarter.

The reality is Louisiana Tech is a 9-2 team right now. Hopes of a second WAC Title are all but finished and the BCS Bowl hopes ended tonight. Tech can still have its first 10-win season in the program's span in the FBS ranks, and they can go to a better bowl than the Independence Bowl (no offense to those who like the I-Bowl).

POS #6 Our O-Line did a great job .

[MiloBumP]

How many times did we have the ball in the red zone and not score? They did not stop us. We just didn't score.

THREE I know of, and I think it was four. Four times inside the red zone and no points to show.

[Brian96]

Yes, they were tough, but no touger than A&M. The USU defense didn't stop us. We stopped ourselves.




If CC hadn't slipped down he'd have gotten out of bounds to stop the clock, but yes, the ref was obviously taking extra time to allow the defense to set.

One thing a good defense does is gets you off your game.

[DownSouthDawg13]

First time poster here, but I think your analysis is right on the money. The special teams blunders and turnovers didn't help, and with a defense as bad as ours those are things we can't afford. That being said, we gotta go out to San Jose and beat these guys to get a share of the title. Something has to be done about the defense in the offseason in order for us to get better next year.

[RougeDawg]

That was the Hawaii game. I was there for that one too. But, the officiating at this game was MUCH worse.

According to RealityCheck, this was the same crew!