The FSU game

[Microwahevo]

How much did that loss affect this team? Do you think it ruined the morale from that point forward, or was our demise already beginning to happen?

I can't help but wonder had we won that game, would our performances had been better? Or would our deficiencies still rear it's ugly head and cause us to lose all of these games?

 

[idseer]

How much did that loss affect this team? Do you think it ruined the morale from that point forward, or was our demise already beginning to happen?

I can't help but wonder had we won that game, would our performances had been better? Or would our deficiencies still rear it's ugly head and cause us to lose all of these games?

i'd say if the mental makeup of this team was that fragile it was bound to happen anyway.

 

[poewelch84]

Yeah this was going to happen at some point.

 

[ChicagoIrish]

The turnovers and all the missing bodies on the defense is what hurt this team.

 

[bksballer89]

The Navy game IMO is what did us in...we also had some significant injuries in the Navy game

 

[poewelch84]

The Navy game IMO is what did us in...we also had some significant injuries in the Navy game

Once Schmidt went down the defense was sunk.

 

[purguy12]

How much did that loss affect this team? Do you think it ruined the morale from that point forward, or was our demise already beginning to happen?

I can't help but wonder had we won that game, would our performances had been better? Or would our deficiencies still rear it's ugly head and cause us to lose all of these games?

No injuries ruined this team. 15 Frosh played this year and 10 a lot down the stretch. The players knew a 1 loss ND would get in so losing to FSU wasn't a Big deal in hindsight. Now getting screwed by the refs might of hurt but I think they were fine. It was the Injuries that did us in and Golson turning the ball over once every half.

 

[jjc2009]

No injuries ruined this team. 15 Frosh played this year and 10 a lot down the stretch. The players knew a 1 loss ND would get in so losing to FSU wasn't a Big deal in hindsight. Now getting screwed by the refs might of hurt but I think they were fine. It was the Injuries that did us in and Golson turning the ball over once every half.

I don't think that the FSU is what did this team in. If it did, then I agree with idseer that they lacked the intestinal fortitude to see it all the way through and it would have happened eventually. I honestly thought that the way they lost at FSU would have had them fired up and mad as hell and take it out on Navy. They had an extra week to get over the loss anyway. I was disappointed when they did not, but that is also the games where there were injuries. Up to that point, they looked like a team that could play with anyone, even when they underperformed, I never really worried about them because the offense seemed to have no problems moving the ball.

I tend to side on the injuries side definitely hurt. Schmidt was the key to the defense, but we had DL depth problems that once J. Jones was hurt, and make no mistake, he was playing hurt for several weeks until done in by the lisfranc, things started to unravel. Cage and Day were the straws that broke the camels' back. There was nobody to substitute for anyone left.

But Kelly didn't modify his offense at all to help his defense out. The already inexperienced, and ultimately banged up defense saw way too many snaps. His way of dealing with that problem was to put even more pressure on the offense, and by that I mean, Golson, who I think is broken becasue of it. I am not one of these mindless fans that drones on and on about having a running game be the alpha and omega of the offense, but this is a situation where it would have mattered and should have been used more.