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One of our pass problems, apart from drops, is that our receivers, particularly our long ball threat receivers, have been hugely outmatched in either height or skill for the second part of the season. It's not like we have guys running down field, wide open and we aren't trying to get them the ball. It seems like our long passes have been fairly well covered and as in the case of the BGSU game, their secondary out-played our receivers, taking the ball out of our hands. This greatly reduces the ability to use shorter plays to set up bigger plays. I disagree about the effectiveness of using the short passes. Our problem is that really, only Williams and Bickley make plays after the catch, and you have to limit your use of Bickley due to his size. Tyler Williams effort after the catch has been excellent for the last 3 to 4 games. Chisolm can also be effective in this scenario, but it seems as though defenses are aware of that and waiting for him. I doubt most of you who are criticizing the play calling know how to read the defenses like the offensive coordinator and coaching staff and I really don't put a lot of stock in your criticisms. I would imagine that the early play calling has had a purpose, but when you fail to execute on the game plan early in the game, you have to adjust accordingly. Overall, it is easy to sit here and pick apart the coaches, telling them who they should play and who they shouldn't, but honestly, what do we know? We don't know the dynamics of practices or if there are lingering injuries. We don't know which kids have attitude problems. Critiquing the play calling when the talent level isn't there yet is also an easy cheap shot. Everyone wants a fix today, but you can't take the worst team in college football and fix it overnight. Bowden has had 2 recruiting classes and a large chunk of the second one is likely red-shirting this year. Even though he carries a big name, recruiting with the mess he walked into with the program is going to take a little time. Buffalo had talent and had the recruiting leverage - they didn't fall apart until early this season. The same could really be said of the other recent losses, Ball State, Ohio, and BGSU. I realize that many have lost their patience, but some of the posts, more or less calling for coaches to resign, are nothing short of ignorant. We had our hopes built up early by a good game against PSU (who really is not that good this year) and a win over Pitt, where Pitt was clearly unprepared and out-coached. Apart from Howard and Pitt, our offense has never looked great all year. Red zone scoring has been a problem since PSU and it has not improved. We have found ways to score, at times, but never a real since of consistency. I wouldn't mind seeing Woodson run the offense for the rest of the season, either. I agree with Captain Kangaroo: at least there was a sense of urgency when he led the team. There did seem to be a little better chemistry, at times, with the receivers, too.

He was the one guy that looked like he wanted to win the game. I wish Capi or Brown had his heart, instead of quitting in the second half (when the game was still well in reach). It reminded me of a quote from Lee Owens years ago regarding his lethargic defense - "I might put Charlie Frye out there (on D)...at least he'd try to make a play!" I am tired of Pohl's touch-passes too. Everything out of his hand is a floater. Even his short passes look like someone trying to throw a dart at a dart board rocking back and forth trying to float one into the bulls-eye. The only decent half of offensive football I've seen in a month was from Woodson at Ball State. When he came in at game's end @ Buffalo, he played with a purpose and a tempo that at least made the Buffalo defense think (instead of easily reading everything and teeing-off). Play Woodson against UMass. Post-concussion Pohl is like the old gray mare...he ain't what he yousta' be.

I'm with you on this. I've been trying to point this out all along as some people on here had been beating this "we were fine until Pohl went down" drum. And it's not as if we were some marvel on Offense against Pitt either. We struggled most of the first half, and got a couple of great breaks with the a fantastic play on the ball by Bennett on a long pass, and a big play by Hundley to open the 2nd half. Truth is....We've struggled to get much going offensively for almost 2 years, with the exception of a few stretches of a very few number of games.

You're right. And Bowden et. al. will rally the troops to a victory.