Post Game Civil War
We have to be careful to take solace in the Beavs playing fairly well. Meaning, if they lost 70-2 everyone would be calling for change, but since it was a 1 point game with good effort, maybe people give Ranker a pass and think, “we’re close! Next year is the year!” This would be human nature.
On a similar note, we can’t act like this loss is as bad as Washington or Stanford. At least the players showed up for the game.
That being said, the coaching staff, specifically Riley, cost his team another game. The biggest error was not taking the FG in the 3rd quarter. It would have put the score at 23-24, which was totally fine for that juncture of the game. Another error was throwing a deep pass on 4th and 1. Deep passes have the lowest completion percentage of any play, so what’s the logic in using it when you need a yard? It’s overkill, like shooting mice with a 12 gauge. Finally, and this is a tough one, but I think he should have milked the clock at the end of that game and taken the winning FG attempt. As soon as Bolden scored, I turned to my girlfriend and said, “Too much time on the clock; the Ducks are going to win.”
One final point: in typical Beaver fashion (i.e. luck o’ the Beavs), we got the worst of both worlds: a close game so fans can say, “hey, at least it wasn’t a blowout”…yet no win. So, status quo complacency remains, but without the win. “At least it wasn’t a blowout” is music to Riley’s ears. But it’s sad that’s a popular paradigm. Those fans are clearly a major part of the problem, but I’m preaching to the choir and beating a dead horse and [insert your favorite idiom] with that.
Luck o’ the Beavs.