Tressel was interviewed at halftime and said the time when your team peaks is critical. This team peaked early in the season, I'd say WVU, and has fallen off since. The last three weeks we've either lost or squeaked by the bottom teams of the MVFC. The second round will be against a seeded team, and we've not been competitive in any of the games versus currently ranked teams. Since we are barely beating ISUb and SIU, I don't think we'd again beat ISUr or UNI if we faced them again. Playing with a QB who routinely gets negative yards rushing ( and still isn't ranked in the top 10 of any conference passing stats, although Mays is) is playing with one hand tied behind your back. A Chevy Cobalt will never drive like a Ferrari no matter how much you drive it, or say it just needs more time (even though its had a ton of time. *bad example...Cobalts are not stationary*
Only one team (Murray State) scored less on SIU than YSU. No one scored less than YSU against NDSU (MSU also scored 3). No one scored less than we did against ISUb. See a pattern?
Compare that to #9/#10 WVU (8-1/5-1). Only two teams so far scored more on WVU than YSU.
Round two can be won, but like Sun Tzu wrote, "the battle is always won or lost long before the armies take the field." I want to be proven wrong, but this team can go deep this year, but won't unless you play with a QB with a complete skill set. You can't limp and stumble your way into the playoffs with an offense ranked in the bottom two of the Valley in scoring O, passing O, and total O...and expect a round two win.
With Mays, we would've likely also beat SIU and ISUb, and lost to NDSU, but this kid with potential could've gained valuable experience before the playoffs. Again, I want to be proven wrong, but we are doing everything we can to prevent a deep run.
