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Sac State loss- season ruined....or not?
- Thread starter mrg85
- Start date
king
Active member
I don't think we will be able to make it in. This loss just about closed the door on our season. We would have to beat both Weber and Eastern convincingly and put up a good fight against Ole Miss to get the attention of the committe. I personall think we will lose to Weber and probably to Eastern as well. NAU has the potential to beat those two teams, but history shows that NAU has problems recovering from tough losses. Last year we lost all of our games after our tough loss to Weber, and this year we had problems with Northern Colorado after the tough overtime loss to Montana. I hope we can recover morally from this loss and bring down the cats and the eagles. I think we will lose at least one of those games if not both. It hurts me to say this but NAU's playoff hopes died in Sacramento on Saturday 
I still love my Jacks, win or lose I'm a Lumberjack to the end.
I still love my Jacks, win or lose I'm a Lumberjack to the end.
mrg85 -
I'm torn between fatalistic realism and (misguided ?) optimism.
Negatives:
NAU has a hellacious three game schedule to end the season. A recently-removed top 25 SEC team in U Mississippi who is undoubtedly P.O.'d at their struggles. As much as I think that the Jacks have the ability to at least make this game not resemble a blowout, I just don't see 2009's version of Appalachian State happening next Saturday in Oxford. I hate to drop the eternal optimist tag but here's one loss. NAU's season will be decided on the final two games in conference. Weber laid the proverbial turd last Satuday vs. the Grizzlies and looked horrid but that's not the team I've seen the rest of the season on bigskytv. Weber has a week to stew in their frustrations, heal up and prepare for NAU in Ogden which doesn't bode well. EWU has life still, as well. The Eagles are the only other team this season to give top-dog UofM a run for their money. Even without their stud receiver Boyce, they are a team to be reckoned with. MSU mathematically still has a shot at an at-large bid too. That's three teams in conference to compete with for only the slightest chance at an at-large playoff bid. The committee chosing at-large bids in FCS has never ever shown to have any kind of kindness towards west coast teams. If history is a good predictor, additional bids are more likely to go to the Colonial Athletic or the MIssouri Valley conferences than the Big Sky. The spectre of a repeat performance for NAU of the final four games from last season looms as well.
Positives:
Why the hell not the Lumberjacks? Yes, I realize there is something to lose at this point but if the Jacks play out with joyous abandon, shock the FCS with two big in-conference wins over ranked teams after they've been left for dead then they'll at least make the committee think twice about scratching their name off the list. I don't see this team quitting. They've faced adversity already this season with multiple starters/seniors lost to injury and what could have been a crippling OT loss to Montana. Neither of these things resulted in the Jacks giving up. Last weekend's loss to Sacramento State was another bit of adversity and was the result of one bad half of football. NAU played pretty well in the first half and their defense wasn't horrible in the second half either. Their offense started to press, made some miscues and couldn't muster any sustained effort in the second half but that has been a rare occasion this season. EWU has to win out to reach the requisite (?) 7 Division I wins. They close with a tough road game vs. a much improved Southern Utah before the last weekend in Flagstaff. WSU has two tough games left w/ NAU and Cal Poly but they're both at home. The Wildcats need to win out to reach 7 Division I wins as well. MSU needs to win out to reach 7 Division I wins and has two tough home games vs Sac State and UM and one easier (?) road game at Portland State. No conference team has an easy go in their quest for a playoff bid.
NAU can afford the Ole Miss loss but will need to sweep the final two in-conference games for a legit playoff shot. I agree with mrg85 that NAU's two losses against top 25 BCS schools won't be their undoing.
I'll be tuning in regardless of how it all plays out.
GO Jacks!
I'm torn between fatalistic realism and (misguided ?) optimism.
Negatives:
NAU has a hellacious three game schedule to end the season. A recently-removed top 25 SEC team in U Mississippi who is undoubtedly P.O.'d at their struggles. As much as I think that the Jacks have the ability to at least make this game not resemble a blowout, I just don't see 2009's version of Appalachian State happening next Saturday in Oxford. I hate to drop the eternal optimist tag but here's one loss. NAU's season will be decided on the final two games in conference. Weber laid the proverbial turd last Satuday vs. the Grizzlies and looked horrid but that's not the team I've seen the rest of the season on bigskytv. Weber has a week to stew in their frustrations, heal up and prepare for NAU in Ogden which doesn't bode well. EWU has life still, as well. The Eagles are the only other team this season to give top-dog UofM a run for their money. Even without their stud receiver Boyce, they are a team to be reckoned with. MSU mathematically still has a shot at an at-large bid too. That's three teams in conference to compete with for only the slightest chance at an at-large playoff bid. The committee chosing at-large bids in FCS has never ever shown to have any kind of kindness towards west coast teams. If history is a good predictor, additional bids are more likely to go to the Colonial Athletic or the MIssouri Valley conferences than the Big Sky. The spectre of a repeat performance for NAU of the final four games from last season looms as well.
Positives:
Why the hell not the Lumberjacks? Yes, I realize there is something to lose at this point but if the Jacks play out with joyous abandon, shock the FCS with two big in-conference wins over ranked teams after they've been left for dead then they'll at least make the committee think twice about scratching their name off the list. I don't see this team quitting. They've faced adversity already this season with multiple starters/seniors lost to injury and what could have been a crippling OT loss to Montana. Neither of these things resulted in the Jacks giving up. Last weekend's loss to Sacramento State was another bit of adversity and was the result of one bad half of football. NAU played pretty well in the first half and their defense wasn't horrible in the second half either. Their offense started to press, made some miscues and couldn't muster any sustained effort in the second half but that has been a rare occasion this season. EWU has to win out to reach the requisite (?) 7 Division I wins. They close with a tough road game vs. a much improved Southern Utah before the last weekend in Flagstaff. WSU has two tough games left w/ NAU and Cal Poly but they're both at home. The Wildcats need to win out to reach 7 Division I wins as well. MSU needs to win out to reach 7 Division I wins and has two tough home games vs Sac State and UM and one easier (?) road game at Portland State. No conference team has an easy go in their quest for a playoff bid.
NAU can afford the Ole Miss loss but will need to sweep the final two in-conference games for a legit playoff shot. I agree with mrg85 that NAU's two losses against top 25 BCS schools won't be their undoing.
I'll be tuning in regardless of how it all plays out.
GO Jacks!
mrg85
Member
While the weber game will be difficult, I believe we can do it. And Eastern Washington has another thing coming if they think the game on Nov. 21 in our house will be anything less than a hellish nightmare, regardless if we are still in the playoff race or not. I can gaurantee that us students will come out in force for that game and we will be ready for war. Our student section will be louder and meaner than ever and will love nothing more than to ruin EWU's season. I am eating my wheaties for that game. Hope to see you all there.
king
Active member
mrg85 said:
That's the spirit... A good crowd for our home games is exactly what our team needs. A nice home crowd will light a firecracker under their ass and get them ready to stomp the Eagles. Invite all your friends, it would be nice to see a packed Dome for a change. I'm sure the players will apreciate it and play extra hard for a full house. Can't wait to see that game. I'll be watching on TV wearing my blue and gold :mrgreen:
