Everybody, particularly the coaches, knew this was going to be a tough season. Nobody knew the magnitude of the challenges they would face. It starts with the injury to Alize, the leader not just of the defense, but the entire team. Blumrick, the only SFA experienced QB, out for I suppose the season. Coach has to literally take five quality guys off the bus loaded to go to Waco due to the much discussed eligibility mess. Carthel and staff set out to build this team for the long run by going heavy to high school guys rather than loading up on transfers. So, a young, thin team gets the fairly usual in-season injuries plus the other issues, and it adds up to a brutally tough situation for all involved.
Against SUU, freshmen took something like 869 snaps. If there were 170 plays total, then about 46% of our snaps were taken by freshmen. We played true freshmen at CB, with one of those being a walk on. After injury to an o-lineman, we finished the game with three freshmen in the line, including center.
Be absolutely assured that Carthel is not using, nor accepting, any of this as an excuse. It simply is reality. They will continue to work hard to get better both as a team, and as a coaching staff that is learning about D1 football.
Relative to the last 1:12 of the SUU game, there were several factors involved. SUU had all three timeouts left. There was concern about the ability of our defense to hold up if the ball was turned over to them quickly. The defense SUU was playing provided opportunity to get some good runs, which happened for a play or two. Ruiz is a much better kicker than the SUU guy, so we believed that gave us an advantage in OT. Remember that third and thirty play SUU had in OT. If they don't get that bogus PI call, they are attempting a long field goal with limited chance to make it. Also, remember a very questionable holding call that took away our TD run. If we score there, we were going to go for two. Sure, with hindsight, coach would do something different. Nobody knows if the result would have been different. This young staff is learning too.
The future is bright. The positive of all of these freshmen playing is the experience they are gaining now. They will get better every week. As others have said, my focus is not on the record, but on the team and coaches getting better. They all need our patience and support, not scorn and ridicule. The scorn and ridicule can come in a couple of years if wins are not there. Right now, I believe that will not be a concern.
