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Message: [QUOTE="OttoinGrotto, post: 372783, member: 297"] First off, nice job by the team of putting up a victory when they really needed to keep their season alive. With that said, I'm very troubled that this win could set the program back another season. Stay with me here, there is some thought behind this. Let's look at two sets of numbers: Time of possession: 32:40, 29:14, 29:42, [B]26:22, 25:30[/B] Plays from scrimmage: 84, 87, 80, [B]64, 64[/B] While the sample size here is small, we've gone from having an offense that averages 33 points a game that about breaks even on time of possession and runs at an Oregonian like pace to having an offense that averages 8.5 points a game (let that sink in for a minute), loses time of possession handily and has the pace of the James Square Nursing Home senior citizen's touch football league. "But OttinGrotto," you may wheeze, with Dome Dog on your breath. "We only lost to the Gophers by a touch and we won vs. Pitt!" And those are true statements. But here's the problem - if we're slowing the pace down in the hopes that it helps our defense, we got lucky last night. You simply cannot be shut out for three quarters and expect to win. That is asking far too much of the defense. Every failed drive adds a 1 to the number of times that the defense cannot give up a score. [B]Worse, with the slow down offense we expect more out of our defense while at the same time making them spend more time on the field.[/B] I'm terrified that the lesson the staff will learn is that our best bet is to go back to white knuckle. That is so shortsighted. You cannot consistently win that way. You can't maintain excitement in a program if every game is a rock fight. Last night's win was depressing, because I saw fans so hungry to cheer for a single win that they were ecstatic to see a return to "winning ugly." It is such fool's gold. We beat the odds in 2010. If we return to that style of play we have sentenced our program to sub .500 status and will continue to be passed by the rest of college football, taking comfort in how many "close games" we play. We are dangerously close to being as unwatchable as the rest of the Big East, and even less successful. I fear last night's win will prove itself to be a Pyrrhic victory. If it's true that we turned a corner this season, I suspect we're next going to make a U-turn. [/QUOTE]

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