No, I'm not posting here because I think it's time to fire Ault. If we play like this against San Jose State, we'll talk.
It's easy to forget this, but, when Oregon isn't playing NFL-level defenses fielded by SEC teams, this is precisely what they do to people. Even against LSU, they managed to score 27 points while committing four turnovers. Most teams would be fortunate to score at all under such conditions. Last year, they did what they are doing to us against just about every team on their schedule until Auburn proved that, yes, it's possible to stop Oregon's high octane offense if you field the Carolina Panther's starting defense against it.
The good news, at least from where I'm sitting, is our offense is moving the ball fairly effectively against a solid defense. Granted, there have been a few miscues, and it's clear our offensive line isn't as solid as it was last year, but Lantrip looks comfortable back there and our running game is holding its own. When we're not playing national championship contenders, it will be much more obvious that we've only lost half a step there since last year. Our defense, meanwhile... well, it's not really fair to knock them. Our secondary is about as mediocre as always, but our linebackers are doing a good job of pressuring the quarterback. Sadly, Oregon's offense is explicitly built to punish teams when they pressure the quarterback, or when they attempt to focus on coverage, or when they attempt to stop the run, or when they step on to the field at all.
The simple truth is Oregon is really, really good, and has a lot more talent on both sides of the ball than we do. They also have Nike funneling money into the program, while we have troubles filling a 30,000 seat stadium. As tempting as it might be to pin this one on Ault, it would be like blaming Belgium for not putting up a better fight against Germany in World War 2. We lost this game the instant it showed up on our schedule - the only question was whether or not Oregon would forget that. If they beat LSU, we might have had a chance. They didn't, so we didn't.
Don't feel bad - Oregon will make a lot of schools look silly. We're just their first victim of the year; we'll be in good company soon enough.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
FCA 2011
Suddenly it's September, and time to look forward to another season of Wolf Pack football.
This blog was created in 2007 by a couple of guys who were more than a little disappointed in the team's advancement in over the previous 3.5 seasons and felt more than a little crushed by it. More than anything it was an emotional response to a rather lackluster product; a product of men with the talents and skills to do better...much, much better. And in posts dating back nearly another four seasons we have produced ample testament backing up our stance of disappointment.
Disappointment is the recurring theme here.
But through all of that we never really wanted to see Ault terminated. He was and still is an institution in Reno and Nevada at large and should be able to maintain the dignity that goes along with that. Nevada football = Chris Ault in no uncertain terms, and none of us wanted to see him stripped of that dignity by a lackluster 3rd tenure. This, in a very simplified nutshell, became our raison d'être.
In 2010 a string of magical moments, too numerous to recount here, captivated the Wolf Pack Nation. There were ample times to doubt, but through it all Ault and the 2010 staff & athletes gave us all something truly special and for that all Wolf Pack fans are perpetually indebted.
Therefore, in honor of their collective efforts we will put a hiatus on our blogging efforts here.
Now that's not to say that we may not feel the need to pick back up even before the end of the season...time will tell for that one. We do love blogging about our beloved Wolf Pack, whether statistical analysis, post-game musings, or just plain randomness, so it may be a rather tough sabbatical. But as of September 5th, 2011 it feels like the right thing to do.
This blog was created in 2007 by a couple of guys who were more than a little disappointed in the team's advancement in over the previous 3.5 seasons and felt more than a little crushed by it. More than anything it was an emotional response to a rather lackluster product; a product of men with the talents and skills to do better...much, much better. And in posts dating back nearly another four seasons we have produced ample testament backing up our stance of disappointment.
Disappointment is the recurring theme here.
But through all of that we never really wanted to see Ault terminated. He was and still is an institution in Reno and Nevada at large and should be able to maintain the dignity that goes along with that. Nevada football = Chris Ault in no uncertain terms, and none of us wanted to see him stripped of that dignity by a lackluster 3rd tenure. This, in a very simplified nutshell, became our raison d'être.
In 2010 a string of magical moments, too numerous to recount here, captivated the Wolf Pack Nation. There were ample times to doubt, but through it all Ault and the 2010 staff & athletes gave us all something truly special and for that all Wolf Pack fans are perpetually indebted.
Therefore, in honor of their collective efforts we will put a hiatus on our blogging efforts here.
Now that's not to say that we may not feel the need to pick back up even before the end of the season...time will tell for that one. We do love blogging about our beloved Wolf Pack, whether statistical analysis, post-game musings, or just plain randomness, so it may be a rather tough sabbatical. But as of September 5th, 2011 it feels like the right thing to do.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)