[NU Sports] It's over: Grab a Snickers, this one will "take awhile"

[wildelk2 at aol.com]

   Dennis and List Friends,


    Not sure when and how our defense regressed.  Maybe they looked too good against Central Michigan, Vandy, etc., but then they were supposed to, right?  I will try to not single individual players out as they aren't professionals, and its unfair to blame the 2010 Cats defense on 15 years combined bowl frustration. Imagine Fitz's angst; he's been here for 6 of the 8.
    I hear what Steve is saying. The last 3 games look like Greg Colby swiss-cheese wannabees.  Lousy tackling. Check. 7 yard gaps of DB's guarding WR's vs. a dink and dunk offense. Check. Crappy, shitty penalties. Check.(all on defense, none on offense?)
    On offense I could complain about Colter running out of gas or Watkins struggling with consistency,  but we were playing with guys who are expected to start in 2012.  I thought 38 points was outstanding.  We ran the ball well; a bit surprised we didn't see more of Jacob Schmidt, but Adonis looked pretty good.  We also put the kibosh on offensive penalties and turnovers, although we got lucky a couple of times.  And voila, there were 38 points scored.  
    Getting back to defense.  Look at  6 bowl losses.  All defensive headaches.  Texas Tech, Auburn, Missouri, UCLA, Bowling Green and USC (not counting 1996 vs. Tenn. or 2000 vs. Neb. as they were blowouts)  .  When we need stops, they aren't there.  In the past, we blamed Colby for good reason.  However, Mike Hankwitz is well thought of, and certainly isn't over his head in bowl games.  Not sure where this post is going, but I agree with Dennis,  we need better players on the defensive side of the ball.  Walker, and now Fitz has recruited athletes to address this need, with some success as we've been to 3 straight bowl games and have been bowl-eligible 4 straight years.  
   What's annoying is the poor tackling. Total BS of this crap off tryng to strip the ball all the time while the WR carries the defender another 5 yards.  
   I've complained enough. After 8 bowl losses in a row, I've had enough. Fix the problem already.


                          Eric




-----Original Message-----
From: Dennis W. Brandt <tbng at comcast.net>
To: nwu-sports at tssi.com
Sent: Sat, Jan 1, 2011 4:30 pm
Subject: [NU Sports] It's over


At last it's over.  Another damn loss in a bowl game, although hardly 
unexpected.  Three and a half hours of Chinese water torture watching the Texas 
Tech quarterback play an easy game of pitch-and-catch with his receivers.  Not 
surprisingly, the one interception we had was while playing tight coverage - and 
a good play by Mabin.  Our defensive line was downright awful all season, and 
they got worse as the year went on.  Not one blessed sack all day and only 
sixteen for the entire year and nary a hurry or a knock-down today.  Even when 
TT had to run out the clock, the D-line still allowed two critical first downs.  
Against a weak defense our offense made a nice comeback, but it only served to 
make our latest bowl loss even more tortuous to watch.  With Persa, we win.  But 
my God, folks.  We have to better than one player, even a quarterback.  TALENT.  
We need more football TALENT, especially in both lines and at running back.  I 
know how some of hate hearing that, but it's a fact.  I am sick to death hearing 
how we can't match up with our opponents.  It's true, but I'm fed up hearing it.

After today's game, I believe our number two QB might have to be named Colter, 
not Watkins, who doesn't seem comfortable in the spread offense.  And Adonis 
Smith needs an injection of anti-fumble serum.

Get well, Hunter (my grandson's name), and come back to us well and healthy next 
season.
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