zipsoutsider

I see WMU is at #20 after struggling a bit to beat EMU. Is #20 the glass ceiling for them? Is it the glass ceiling for any MAC school? I see Boise State is #13. With fewer power 5 games being scheduled with group of schools, is it possible for a G5 school to hope to crack the top 10?

Yeah...such a bummer that we only had one season to watch him. I am not sure we would have won 5 games without him.

A couple of other quick thoughts. Yesterday's 3rd quarter reminded me a lot of the KSU 3rd quarter from 2015, where they never had an offensive play. We dominated the third quarter time of possession with 11:46. Interestingly enough, their first half ToP was 19:43 and ours was 10:17. Our second half ToP was 19:17 and theirs was 10:43. The difference was that we are able to convert on our opportunities and they had to go for a FG, once. I of think the ToP made not just a huge scoring and momentum change in our favor, but also seemed to somewhat demoralize BSU. It was almost like they had a, "They are who we thought they were" attitude about us.

Technically, there are no guarantees, but with the agreements we have with the MAC and the number of bowl games it is unlikely. IIRC, a 6 win MAC team (was it Ohio in 2014 or Toledo in 2013) did not go bowling in the not too distant past. By mid of November, usually some media outlet has run the numbers on the number of teams with six wins and the number of teams with enough games left to clinch 6 wins to project. I am not sure if last year was an anomaly or if there are legitimately too many bowls now for 5 win teams to be excluded. That being said, we should beat Buffalo and BGSU to put us at 7, and hopefully Ohio to put us at our most regular season wins as a D1 program, ever and get our chance at our second successive bowl bid!

The red shirt counts against the five year clock and wouldn't earn special consideration, from what I understand. That clock starts when you enroll as a freshman. So, if a kid redshirt as a freshman and then sits out a year as a transfer, he only can play for 3 years at the new school. Ball red shirted, then plated 3 full seasons. Th8s is his 4th year if playing and 5th of eligibility. The medical hardship is generally only used to extend the 5 year clock if the student athlete has missed 2 full seasons due to injury. Ball did not miss the majority of any of his other 4 seasons due to injury, unless it was not filed as an injury and was just filed.as a regular red shirt and he can prove he did not play as a true freshman due to injury.

Our games left: Buffalo Toledo BGSU - Bye - Ohio Ohio games left: Toledo Buffalo - Bye - CMU Akron We both have a bye week in front of us, but I think Ohio has a tougher road ahead of them. I see them losing to Toledo and CMU before they get to us. I think beating Toledo for us is also a reach. I can see why we are still favored to win the MAC East. That Tuesday night game before Thanksgiving is going to be a real barn-burner. I bet the kids are looking forward to being able to be at home for Thanksgiving, though.

Great team win, today. The first half felt like everyone was adjusting to different personnel but they seemed to gel towards the end of the first half. We are a different team with Tommy Woodson. It's not just his arm, it's his fire. He knows when to hold it, and when to throw it. He picked up a couple of nice first downs with his feet today at key times. I love that we can have the confidence to put the ball in his hands to throw a big pass at the end of the 4th to seal the deal. JoJo Natson continues to be a workhorse for us and a warrior. I love that other teams cannot focus solely on Jerome or Natson without paying for it with Coney or Wolf. It was also nice to see Newman Williams catch a couple, but he seemed to hobble out a bit after his second catch. I hope it was no big deal. Nice to see Jerome Lane looking more like Jerome Lane, again. I like that we are keeping TC5 engaged. You never know when he might be needed, again, but also, he does gives a good look inside of the 10 yard line and in 4th and sort situations. The OL and run game were impressive. So much for having the second least experienced OL at the beginning of the season. These kids are playing their butts off, and we lose none of them this year. Quigley did a very nice job playing for Gathney, today. When you look at the stats, the thing that sticks out to me is that all of our tackles are coming from LBs and secondary. None from a DL, today. I think what it means is that Chuck Amato pulled off some defensive scheme magic today to shut down a productive run game with a patched together unit. I have heard people belittle the team's record, saying we have only beat losing teams. Ball State is a .500 team and they probably won't end up with a winning record, looking ahead at the rest of their schedule, but they are no slouch, either and have played well this season. This team has overcome a lot of adversity this year and they continue to find ways to win. Part of it is a higher level of talent, and part of it is a different culture. I am not sure if it is me or if it is noticeable, but TB seems much more personally connected to the players this year. He is celebrating with them when they come off the field after a great play and there seems to be more personal interaction. There could be a host of reasons for this (more reasons to celebrate, no longer deeply grieving losses of nephew or Tank, he was more involved with recruiting these kids, etc..) The Good: 100% conversions (all TDs) in the Red Zone 0 interceptions thrown Nearly even time of possession 8/12 on 3rd down, 2-2 on 4th down conversions Offense gave up 0 sacks to the second leading sack defense in the country Team rushed for 177 yards, Van Edwards over 100 yards, set up the HB pass from Morgan. Both RBs stepped up played a big game for us. Van Edwards is explosive and starting to move to another tier of RB. Trick plays worked - Woodson lined up, as a WR, TC5 rushed for 1st down, pass from Morgan to Wolf Lane was more productive. Alvin Davis and Ulysees Gilbert are beginning to emerge as defensive threats. Kyron Brown, Jordan George, and Larry Hope are also playing well for us. Featherstone is also making an impact. 2nd half play calling made Milwee look like a genius. The Not So Good: 8 penalties for 51 yards, 3 from Letuli for illegal formation - not sure if it was a ref with a bug up their butt or if Letuli was doing something wrong. Seems odd to start getting them at this point of the season. Maybe he was so distracted by how badly the TV announcers butchered his name. Ekkins was getting an earful from TB about this. We had another illegal substitution on defense. We have to fix this It has been an issue for 2 straight games. The revolving door defense is surely contributing to this, but after 2 games, we need to find a way to address it. The revolving door is the new reality, for now and we have to make it work. We can't afford to give up those types of penalties. 1st half run defense was like a sieve. Kickoff tackling wasn't tremendous. Bizarre play calling for final drive of the first half. Let's hope a reporter actually asks about that drive this week. Had to depend on a couple of reviews being upheld on fumbles. Thankfully, they both fell our way, but let's do a better job hanging on so we don't have to depend on good officiating. Side notes: Neither team gave up a sack today. Bowden said something to the effect, "Losing teams talk about injuries, winning teams talk about the next man up." on the post game interview. We wore that same uniform combo at Marshall. Ball was listed as out, but was dressed. Hopefully, that means he will be back, soon. He might have had a 200+ yard day, today. Camara went down in the 4th. He is the back-up DL. We really can't afford to lose any more guys there. I hope he is OK. Let's go to Buffalo next week and become bowl eligible for the second consecutive year!

If you are a fifth year senior, I don't think you can ordinarily get a medical red shirt. If he was a 4th year senior, then he could, I believe. The 5 year clock only stops ticking for military or religious service.

+1

Teams usually sit their parents behind their team, not the visitor's team.

Sounds like fans were sore losers and mouthing off at the players

It would take an NCAA exception. You have 5 years to use 4 years of elligibility.

He was dressed but listed as out. Not surprusing. Last year we depended on the defense to win, th8s tear it's the offense. 100% agreed. Jeff Bowden was a terrible receivers coach 3 years ago, now, no one else talks about him.

3-1 in the MAC.... one game away from bowl eligibility.

Tremendous call with 1:1 coverage on Natson.

Me, too. That targeting will stand.

I think in reality, it has been the last 2 games. Might be the result of our patched together defense.

Alvin Dark....SMH

Yes, look for an INT.

Wow! Great 4th down stuff!

If these announcers knew anything about our season they would know that we have been successful with the run, we just haven't done it a lot. Our D will be fresh when they take the field, now.

That sure was a gutsy 4th down throw. Nice play by Lane to haul it in. That drive felt like we were finally starting to make the turn back to the team we were before Woodosn's injury. Let's see if the D can pull off a stop.

That was a strange way to end the first half.

Because if we miss Thu can be in the endzone in 2-3 plays.

I picked up an Amazon Fire Stick this year. I think the ESPN stream is much more consistent this year.