This Loss is on Hankwitz?

[Mr Wickerpark]

Not that this loss should be on anyone but msu outcoached us. Tossing the ball deep against ruiz has been a no brainer this year and msu took FULL advantage until hank put Newsome on Nailor to shut it down.
Listen, I know hank didnt lose the game but we were outcoached.
In hindsight, being arrogant and going for 4th downs instead of TDs wasnt smart, especially since we tried the same dive play repeatedly.

Not pissing, just putting out a perspective. Hank is responsible for many wins but his d was picked apart with a slow QBs legs and a few deep tosses against a cb who is inadequate against solid wr's in man coverage.

As it turned out, Joey Galloway was right. We went into this game thinking we were Alabama when we were a glorified Reece davis.

Sorry

 

[CatManTrue]

No Turk. Team loss. MSU outplayed and outcoached us.

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Not that this loss should be on anyone but msu outcoached us. Tossing the ball deep against ruiz has been a no brainer this year and msu took FULL advantage until hank put Newsome on Nailor to shut it down.
Listen, I know hank didnt lose the game but we were outcoached.
In hindsight, being arrogant and going for 4th downs instead of TDs wasnt smart, especially since we tried the same dive play repeatedly.

Not pissing, just putting out a perspective. Hank is responsible for many wins but his d was picked apart with a slow QBs legs and a few deep tosses against a cb who is inadequate against solid wr's in man coverage.

As it turned out, Joey Galloway was right. We went into this game thinking we were Alabama when we were a glorified Reece davis.

Sorry

There is plenty of blame to around. Ruiz had a bad game, but that happens to all CB’s not named Newsome. Ruiz has held his own up until this game. If your OL can’t pick up a yard when they need it you don’t deserve to win, let alone make the CFP. The Coaching wasn’t exceptional but neither were any of the players sans number 2.

 

[Mr Wickerpark]

There is plenty of blame to around. Ruiz had a bad game, but that happens to all CB’s not named Newsome. Ruiz has held his own up until this game. If your OL can’t pick up a yard when they need it you don’t deserve to win, let alone make the CFP. The Coaching wasn’t exceptional but neither were any of the players sans number 2.

yes, we didnt dezerve to win, we will be fine but it actually appeared that both the coaches and players took this team for granted. Ramsey was awful. Would have been better off pulling him. Injury prone throws all day long.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Not that this loss should be on anyone but msu outcoached us. Tossing the ball deep against ruiz has been a no brainer this year and msu took FULL advantage until hank put Newsome on Nailor to shut it down.
Listen, I know hank didnt lose the game but we were outcoached.
In hindsight, being arrogant and going for 4th downs instead of TDs wasnt smart, especially since we tried the same dive play repeatedly.

Not pissing, just putting out a perspective. Hank is responsible for many wins but his d was picked apart with a slow QBs legs and a few deep tosses against a cb who is inadequate against solid wr's in man coverage.

As it turned out, Joey Galloway was right. We went into this game thinking we were Alabama when we were a glorified Reece davis.

Sorry

Agree that we were outcoached .

 

[TejasCat]

We can't win every close game, and its going to be a close game or a loss when you only get 285 yds total offense and lose the turnover battle.

 

[FanatiCat]

No. The D gave up 20 points. Remember their first FG was off the INT return down into our red zone so I don’t count that. Maybe we didn’t have some of the right schemes to get pressure on the QB but I suspect it was more individual breakdowns of Ruiz on the 2 TDs (there’s 14 points) and failure to contain the edge on the QB runs (which kept them on the field and on their last possession, negated our chance at having any reasonable time to drive down the field).

Bottom line, if we’re a champions hip team we need our offense to be able to score more than 2 TDs against an inferior opponent. Their D was not supposed to be that good. This is on the O as much as it was the D - probably more on the O given the critical turnovers.

 

[TejasCat]

How do we not having anyone spying on the QB on that 3rd down and 10 run. We had just called timeout, did Hank not tell the team? Both Pace and Brown bit on the RB up the middle. Just pathetic. I'm guessing every NU fan knew exactly what they were gonna run.

 

[Jonny2TheP]

How do we not having anyone spying on the QB on that 3rd down and 10 run. We had just called timeout, did Hank not tell the team? Both Pace and Brown bit on the RB up the middle. Just pathetic. I'm guessing every NU fan knew exactly what they were gonna run.

We had a hard time holding the edge all game. Others who know more about X’s and O’s can share whether that was a good job by the MSU offensive line or more on us (my guess is it’s more on us).

On that last big 3rd down conversion by Lombardi, it looked to me like Brown didn’t do his job and bit on the fake, leaving that edge wide open for Lombardi. Considering the QB/run scramble was consistently their best play all game, I would hope our coaches told the players to watch out for that. Either way, didn’t happen and that was the back breaker.

 

[Mr Wickerpark]

We had a hard time holding the edge all game. Others who know more about X’s and O’s can share whether that was a good job by the MSU offensive line or more on us (my guess is it’s more on us).

On that last big 3rd down conversion by Lombardi, it looked to me like Brown didn’t do his job and bit on the fake, leaving that edge wide open for Lombardi. Considering the QB/run scramble was consistently their best play all game, I would hope our coaches told the players to watch out for that. Either way, didn’t happen and that was the back breaker.

it was the scheme. We had all LBs playing on the strongside with our weakside OLB lined up over center or maybe the weakside guard. The DE wasnt containing but getting his ass kicked, then nobody else was there to make a tackle.

MSU credit goes to coaching. Our opponents have had 2 weeks to prepare for us and that wont change this week. Sucks.

 

[Hungry Jack]

We had a hard time holding the edge all game. Others who know more about X’s and O’s can share whether that was a good job by the MSU offensive line or more on us (my guess is it’s more on us).

On that last big 3rd down conversion by Lombardi, it looked to me like Brown didn’t do his job and bit on the fake, leaving that edge wide open for Lombardi. Considering the QB/run scramble was consistently their best play all game, I would hope our coaches told the players to watch out for that. Either way, didn’t happen and that was the back breaker.

Exactly. Shame on Big E for getting fooled.

But a 3 and out on that final MSU possession probably does not change the outcome. Peyton was having a bad day, and our offensive line could not protect nearly long enough for downfield passing plays to develop.

If McGowan doesn't fumble that reverse, and we extend our lead, and make MSU one-dimensional....

What was interesting, as you note, was that MSU attacked the edge much of the game, and had a lot of success. Wisky attacked our run defense by stuffing the middle with an H-back and pulling guards. Both stratagems had some success until the field shortened.

I give MSU credit for their offensive game plan, and finding ways to exploit our defense. I wonder who plays opposite Newsome next game. Maybe Heard? I like Hampton and his balls skills but he lacks prototypical length for the role. Ruiz belongs in slot where he can bang a bit. He gets exposed on a longer field.

 

[IAWildcat79]

On that last big 3rd down conversion by Lombardi, it looked to me like Brown didn’t do his job and bit on the fake, leaving that edge wide open for Lombardi. Considering the QB/run scramble was consistently their best play all game, I would hope our coaches told the players to watch out for that. Either way, didn’t happen and that was the back breaker.

Unless Brown's job is to crash down on that and let the D gap defender take the QB, that was on Brown. What compounded the issue is that our D gap/alley defender (who was Pace) bit inside and allowed himself to get sealed inside by the arc block from their H back. The intent on the play was to run zone read right...if Brown stays put they take their chances with the zone play. If he crashes, the arc blocking H is in position to "lead" Lombardi. It's basic football and it looked like a lapse somewhere...option football is an assignment game and it didn't look like either Brown or Pace (or both?) knew their assignment when the play started.

 

[NorthNJCatsfan]

Blaming our DC for coaching deficiencies in this game is, IMO, misplaced. Players made mistakes or were simply beaten. Blaming our HC for several brain farts, however, is totally reasonable. Really, really frustrating to these sort of errors in judgment after 15+ years.....

 

[Purple Pile Driver]

Blaming our DC for coaching deficiencies in this game is, IMO, misplaced. Players made mistakes or were simply beaten. Blaming our HC for several brain farts, however, is totally reasonable. Really, really frustrating to these sort of errors in judgment after 15+ years.....

Are you talking about going for it on 4th down twice?

I don’t have an issue with either although it seems that is the minority opinion.

The first one was early in the game. Have confidence in the guys for one play. set the tone. MSU was stopped completely on their first drive. There was a good possibility they would be stopped in their tracks again.

The second one, NU was in no man’s land. A touchback would give us a 20 yard lift at best. I could see rolling the dice.

Neither one worked out, that’s what happens sometimes. Fitz has turned into a River boat gambler and most of the time he has made the right decision.

 

[NorthNJCatsfan]

Are you talking about going for it on 4th down twice?

I don’t have an issue with either although it seems that is the minority opinion.

The first one was early in the game. Have confidence in the guys for one play. set the tone. MSU was stopped completely on their first drive. There was a good possibility they would be stopped in their tracks again.

The second one, NU was in no man’s land. A touchback would give us a 20 yard lift at best. I could see rolling the dice.

Neither one worked out, that’s what happens sometimes. Fitz has turned into a River boat gambler and most of the time he has made the right decision.

Yes. Also, the failure to mix run and pass on the first drive. I suspect this came from Fitz, but may have been on the OC.