Birdsong with a pick six. Fitting way to end the game. I havent seen a Marshall offense this inept since Skinner/Morris
There have been several and he hit his receiver in the hands beyond hhs marker on a 3rd down, how is that the wrong read? I'm not saying birdsong has been playing lights out but his line has been a joke, he hasn't been able to get in rhythm because of penalties and the offense has no chemistry. also remember we had 4 less days to prepare for this game than they did. The only side of the ball that hasn't played well is Defense.
Defense either wore down or giving up on the last OU drive. Ran right down the field and their running back bounced outside over and over as Danniel and Thompson had absolutely no containment at the defensive end positions.
Someone needs to point out to Doc that, hey, they play pretty darn good football at somewhere else besides south Florida. Check the OU roster, only a handful of players from Florida AND Georgia.
As for offense, pretty damn vanilla the whole game- - -basically the KISS concept (keep it simple stupid). Legg and Doc both have a stubborn conservative streak related back to Don Nehlen's philosophy at WVU. Pretty easy to see why Solich had a very successful HEAD COACHING career at the highest level, Nebraska, while Doc spent 3 decades as an assistant coach- - -there are several reasons, folks!!!
Finally, if its really true that a team makes the most improvement from GAME 1 to GAME 2, we are in really, really DEEP DOO DOO!!
There's been one. Not several.
Look, I admire you for having Birdsong's back but this game is on him. Take away Rock's run and the three points from the muff and we were extremely close to being shut out.
I don't think the season is over and I'm not giving up on the redhead yet but I think we're in serious, serious trouble.
So we are really going to start with this crap? Doc is one of the best coaches in our teams history and we are going to start throwing him under the bus this quickly. What do you mean "point this out to doc that they play football other places"??? Are you saying you're unhappy with our recruiting? Would you rather be OU? Best marshall every two years and finish the year 6-6 or be marshall and lose to OU every 2 years and finish with 8-10 wins? I'd rather be a marshall fan but if you feel like cheering for the Bobcats because of how great Solich is, go ahead.
Redsfan, if our "recruiting" is so damn superior, then it must be coaching that is why OU has beaten, and frankly embarrassed us, 3 out the last 4 meetings. I mean, after all, they play in a decrepit high school stadium, right? Nobody outside of Athens cares about them, right? They play in the mediocre MAC, a conference we have left in our rear view mirror, right? Solich has the acumen to figure out the flaws/weaknesses in MU's system and how to exploit the same. Doc, and staff, for some reason, have a problem adapting to, and combating, what Solich throws at the Herd, and if we as MU fans aspire to higher goals in FBS, we are not going to come close being under .500 against the likes of Ohio U.
Yeah I mean it's not like we've won in Athens anytime recently. Also we can still win our conference... But this is why our fans bug me "we lost a game! The season is over!!!!! Second game of his marshall career the QB sucks!!!!" Same people wanted Holliday gone 4 years ago
I've counted at least 3.
Our running game has been anemic.
We've had dibilitating penalties on almost every drive.
Ohio's secondary has been all over our receivers all game. Very solid coverage.
It's easy to say "ah it's on birdsong! He's no Cato! It's all on him!!!" But this is on everyone from special teams to play calling to Johnson, to the o-line, to birdsong.
No QB on our roster wins this game tonight. And idk if Cato wins this game.
I think that fans hanging this game on Birdsong are over simplifying our struggles tonight. Penalties on every special teams play, offensive penalties every drive, Johnson fumbles, line couldn't block a plastic bag and wideouts drop passes. Yes birdsong has been bad, but I feel like throwing this guy under the bus this early into the season for a road game where we always struggle, is a little over the top.
Cato's deep ball was a thing of beauty.
Birdsong's is miserable. Need more throws down the seams.
I understand everyone's frustration about losing yet again in Peden Stadium. What I don't understand is how so few fans saw it coming. If you've watched this series over the years you must have had some clue that things might go very badly. And what makes anybody think we would have won it with Cato? He didn't win in Athens either. 0-2.
The good news is we don't play there again until 2020. And when that game comes around there will be people on here predicting a blowout victory for the Herd and scratching their heads afterward, wondering what happened. One guy picked us to win by 27. Made me scratch my own head.
The season is not over. They aren't going to play this poorly every week. But another conference title, well that might be a tall order this year?
Because our defense played lights out.. If Cato would have got that kind of defensive effort against Ohio in 2012 and at home in 2013 the only game against Ohio Cato would have lost would have been 2011 when he was a freshman playing in his second college football game ever
Comparing apples to oranges man. Birdsong is an older player, had a year to learn the playbook. Now, had he had an average game in Athens, nothing fancy, nothing to jump out of your seat about and not such a butt ugly performance and still lost, then so be it. I think it would be easier to accept. Some of the things that we witnessed in the first game and the second game cant be taught or corrected by coaching. What we learned is he cant handle pressure, has no touch on the ball, doesn't know the playbook like everyone expected and basically playing like a true freshman who has never taken a snap. That last one is the more deflating issue. We wrote off some of the issues we saw against Purdue, because........well its Purdue, was supposed to be one of the toughest and more talented teams we would face this year, but I don't think we can say the same about OU. Penalties hurt, yes, but that isn't what caused such a major sub par performance by our QB. This is up to him to recognize the issues and try to overcome them. The only thing I will put on the coaches besides the penalties is not pulling him to see if someone else could spark the offense, Gunner at least has been here long enough to earn a chance.If, if, if. Cato beat Ohio only on his 4th try and only at home. Never in Athens.
Birdsong is not entirely responsible for the loss. How many of the 198 penalty yards was he responsible for?
This reminds me of 2000 when everybody was ready to run Leftwich out of town after a few games.