Over The Pylon

Another Monday, another teleconference, for everyone’s favorite conference… the MAC! Last week’s conference call was certainly optimism filled and a nice change of pace for Coach Stan Parrish after victory #1. This week, back to the established routine of complimenting the opponent, chatting about BSU’s mistakes, and looking forward to tough upcoming games while trying his best to be somewhat positive.

Stan’s Opening Statement
“Well, we had a very hard fought down to the wire game with Ohio U, where we took the lead with 6 minutes left and they drove down and scored and stopped us at the end. Particularly on defense, our young group did very well. Offensively, we had to manufacture what we could get. Then caught them with a little bit of a razzle dazzle to take the lead.”

On the Penalties:
We had a season high 9 penalties. When you make that many mistakes and you are as youthful as we are, there’s just no way you can win.

The Reason for the Penalties:
I think a lot of it in the heat of the battle many of them were on our young players who just have to learn to play with a little bit more poise. You know, we had a touchdown called back because of a holding penalty. Just focus issues and things we have to get corrected.

Overall on Ohio:
We had a chance to beat a team that is going to contend for the MAC East. I’m still very very optimistic about this football team.

On the Similarities Between Ohio and Temple:
We played two of the very very best teams in the East right to the wire. They’re both good teams who know what they are.

On Ohio’s Kicker Matt Weller, who hit 4 field goals including a 52-yarder:
I think in the MAC there’s no one more important than your field goal or kick off guy. He’s the best I’ve seen all year. He’s a real real weapon.

On QB Tanner Justice’s play:
Well, he struggled. He plays hard. He’s a senior. Obviously some of his limitations in throwing the ball hurt us. He’s a cerebral QB who knows what to do and when to do it but not like the big arms we’ve had here. He managed the team and played hard. We had a chance to win the game with 5 minutes to go.

On the switch to midweek games:
Well, we did 4 in a row last year. We caught a break being off this week. During the week, our Sunday becomes a Tuesday. Monday becomes a Wednesday. It’s rough for the kids. We’ll get back at 4 in the morning from Northern Illinois, but we’ve got to get right into preparation for the next week’s Wednesday game. I think having a little bit of time off will really help us. These are three of the toughest games we’ll play all year. We’re certainly capable of playing in those games.

Ohio head coach Frank Solich was quick to compliment the Cards as well, saying, “It was a hard fought football game. Typical mac game that was up for grabs coming down the stretch. Thought their coaches did a great job of preparing. This team’s spirit is not broken.”

While the spirit may not be broken from Solich’s perspective, it’s becoming increasingly harder to listen to Coach Parrish compliment yet another opposing player as one of the best they’ve seen. It seems like each and every week someone puts up gigantic numbers against these Cards, and frankly, if that continues the infinitesimally small chance at an upset of one of the three remaining teams goes right out the window.

BSU has this week to gather itself, prepare, and get ready for their road date at Northern Illinois on November 12. NIU’s 5-3 record is exceptionally decieving, since their 3 losses were by a combined 12 points and against the likes of Wisconsin, Idaho, and Toledo.

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