Toppers served turnovers to a hungry visiting Ragin Cajun football team and they wasted no time in converting those into caloric points on the board that the defense was unable to burn off.
While the Topper's were successful passing and running, they failed to do so well at critical times in this gridiron matchup and gave up a regrettably memorable pick 6 on 4th and 1 at the goal line. That play will live along with the select few of disasterous plays to plague the Tops in recent memory, the final play against North Texas of the 2008 Homecoming game, the kick off return by Middle Tennesse last year and the fumble in the end zone recoverd by a Middle Tennessee defender and returned for 6 several years ago.
But disasterous plays are never the fault of one player or one element. No, it is a team effort. First and foremost, they should have kicked a field goal. The Tops had spoiled 3 chances to score, and being up 10 – 0 a field goal would have made it. 13 – 0. An acceptable situation. Plus Uncle Mo stays on your side. That is on Petrino. Secondly, after the Cajuns called time out, they placed two defensive backs on the strong side, clearly with the intention of blitzing. Seeing those guys there, Doughty or the coaches should have called time out, because it was clear they were ready for the play the Tops had dialed up. Thirdly, using Andrews as a decoy is a good idea, but, hey, he was WIDE OPEN in the endzone on that play, as in ALL BY HIMSELF! But, the play was designed to go to three potential receivers on the strong side, all of whom were basically not open, and the pursuing defenders greated a surprised Doughty as he turned to roll right. Able to escape initial contact, he was chased and able to get the ball out of his hands before being hit but the throw was weak, short and squarely placed between the numbers of a Cajun defender, who raced down the sidelines like Smokey and the Bandit trying to get some Coors back to Georgia. Seeing their leader in jeopardy, a reciever could have moved towards their QB giving him a closer target. So, even though Doughty threw the interception, the disaster was a group effort.
Now, one play doth not a game make. But, in this instance, the deflation caused by this play was palpable throughout the sparsely attended Houchens Smith Stadium, and apparent for the rest of the game. Here is to hoping that this one play doesn't decide the season.
The shadow of past debacles was apparent to this writer as the bright idea of a ''Black Out'' was once again trotted onto the field. First of all, the Toppers have never won in black. So, yeah, I'm superstitious and opinionated. Ditch the gimmicks already. Taggart wisely got rid of them and now they are back, and need to be given away to charity. OK, they look good, but who cares if you can't win in them? Right. It rots being beat by a team with ugly uniforms, doesn't it? (Seriously folks, the Tops Unis look great, Oregon may look better, but not always.)
Defensively, the Toppers had their derrier handed to them in the second half. I'm not going to trot out the numbers here, but, I think the Tops had the ball for 2 minutes of the third quarter. Hand it to the Cajuns, they simply plowed the Tops under in the third quarter. Painful to watch.
I predicted the Tops to win by 14, but I prefaced that with the ''everything being equal clause.'' Meaning, no turnovers. Simply put, even with the second half demoralization of the Topper defense, the Toppers should have won by 14, considering the ability to throw the ball and last but not least the brilliant running of Antonio Andrews, who quietly put up 154 yards rushing.
Even though the Tops lost, there were mostly positive things happening offensively. Defensive has got some work to do, they still can't stop a QB. It is just that a couple of plays turned this game around, and a couple of bad decisions on 4th down led to the final score.
The Tops and Hilltopper nation gets time to lick their wounds before the Troy Homecoming game. Now, the season is half done, and the rest of the season will decide what kind of season this year will be. In fact, you could say it is a whole new season. This is a season where next week is too late.
For all of the numbers that Doughty puts up, his lack of mobility make him a liability in the college game, and part of the problem is that the word is out that Doughty won't run and ev while our O line is good, they aren't superheros, anything over 3 seconds, the QB who doesn't run will get tackled, or be forced to throw a bad throw.
What has become apparent, is Doughty is great in good situations, but when it gets tight, he has yet to really shine. It sort of reminds me of Phil Simms when he first started with the Giants. He spent most of the time on the trainers table, but when the O line started blocking, then he was able to dominate.
Fishback looked great in his series of downs, scoring a TD and making some good plays. Who starts at Homecoming? Who knows? I'm not sure anyone does at this point.
I'm a performer. I understand how fast things happen on the stage or on the field. Monday morning QBs are a dime a dozen, and I am the last one to throw folks under the bus, especially when they are obviously doing their best. Being ''the Guy'' means also being ''the Goat'' sometimes. We'll see how things go for these young men in the coming weeks. But, they deserve the best of our support, because coming back after such events is not such an easy thing to do, but, the Topper spirit is one of never say die and keep pushing to the end.
There is still a lot of ball to go, a Bowl Game to get into and a solid winning record at stake. The Sun Belt may not be the SEC or Top 25, but make no mistake, there are some really good teams in it with some outstanding players.
Hilltopper nation must show up for the second half of the season. Go Tops!