Silver Lining!

zoogies said:
I'll never understand the logic that we would rather miss the CCG entirely than watch us get beaten down. I'd rather win enough to get there and take our chances. If we're beaten down, we're beaten down. It is a very powerful Ohio State team, after all.

You'll never be the best if you don't play the best. You'll certainly never be the best if you shy away from doing so.
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Let's say hypothetically that OSU beat us 63-14 like they just beat Penn State. Unfortunately that is not a far fetched scenario.

Would you rather be say 9-3 and add on that loss, or perhaps 9-3 and lose out on a division tiebreaker where Michigan received such a beat down in our place?

That is the logic, we may then end up in a better bowl than Michigan even.

While I approach every game with the mindset that it is winnable, the reality is were not very good right now and unlikely to improve enough to be competitive against OSU.

 
zoogies said:
I'll never understand the logic that we would rather miss the CCG entirely than watch us get beaten down. I'd rather win enough to get there and take our chances. If we're beaten down, we're beaten down. It is a very powerful Ohio State team, after all.

You'll never be the best if you don't play the best. You'll certainly never be the best if you shy away from doing so.
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I think just the fact that almost everyone thinks if you make the CCG, you'd get beaten down, indicates a big problem.

 
I don't see how anyone can possibly think that this team is going 9-3. I'm thinking 7-5 at best. Any team with a pulse is going to give us trouble, and every team remaining on the schedule has a pulse.

 
Yeah, better to have won the division and gone to the CCG than to have not even earned the right to be there.

If we get blown out by a far superior team, that's fine by me. What bowl we happen to end up in is meaningless because 'a better bowl' doesn't at all make up for not being able to win the division in the first place. If that's how we got to the better bowl, we didn't earn it, and there's not that much take home value from a better bowl than a slightly worse one.

If we get blown out of the water as underdogs then it happens. No shame in losing a game to a superior opponent. I don't think that's near comparable to the last CCG situation though, that's left a bad taste in our mouths, when a 7-5 Wisconsin team we had already beaten earlier in the year came in as the underdogs and wiped us off the map. Zero chance of shame, remote possibility for glory, and a division title to fall back on. What's not to like?

 
Silver linings playbook

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There is shame in giving up 50-70 points and losing by 4 or more touchdowns as we have done now to Michigan, OSU, and Wisconsin twice now. Unfortunately its become the new normal against those teams away from home. I'm simply not jonesing to be in the CCG this year under this regime, and do not see OSU as an "opportunity" I want for this team. Urban Meyer v Bo Pelini is a HUGE mismatch.

I also believe ugly losses like that are bad for the program.

 
My silver lining was that there were 2 very cute UM coeds sitting next to me during the game. They were fun to hang out with and they were actually rooting for the Huskers. One of them looked particularly nice in her Husker leggings. So at least I had some distractions from the product on the field.

 
Cina said:
Silver lining, if we keep being bad at football we won't have to play in any of those pesky bowl games either! Who needs 'em.
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Along those same line....we won't have to worry about getting embarrassed on national television because those losses will only be at 11am on the BTN.

 
On a positive note, our loss to MN looked a lot like OSUs struggle against Iowa. The difference was they had the horsepower to still win 34-24. It would not take a lot for us to swing that pendelum either, performances like we had against Illinois and Purdue would do it.

What OSU did to PSU was very impressive though and indicates the Buckeyes are on par with Bama, Oregon, and FSU. Unfortunately for them the playoff is coming a year to late, should they be the odd team out of more than two unbeatens.

 
zoogies said:
Yeah, better to have won the division and gone to the CCG than to have not even earned the right to be there.

If we get blown out by a far superior team, that's fine by me. What bowl we happen to end up in is meaningless because 'a better bowl' doesn't at all make up for not being able to win the division in the first place. If that's how we got to the better bowl, we didn't earn it, and there's not that much take home value from a better bowl than a slightly worse one.

If we get blown out of the water as underdogs then it happens. No shame in losing a game to a superior opponent. I don't think that's near comparable to the last CCG situation though, that's left a bad taste in our mouths, when a 7-5 Wisconsin team we had already beaten earlier in the year came in as the underdogs and wiped us off the map. Zero chance of shame, remote possibility for glory, and a division title to fall back on. What's not to like?
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I can sort of understand this reasoning but I don't totally agree with it.

You are right, there is no shame losing a game to a superior opponent. And, getting to the game, there is always a chance. However, with what we've witnessed from this team to date it is logical to assume we really have no chance and there would be plenty of shame getting our doors blown off on national TV in the CCG yet again this year. Plus, I have watched tOSU play a few times this year. If they are considered far superior to us, that is an embarrassing situation to begin with.

I subscribe to the thought that if you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. Problem is we are no where near being the best at anything. We really don't even qualify as being marginally good other than at brief points during some games against lesser opponents. I am just worn out being ashamed and embarrassed by and for our football program. So yeah, given the choice of going to the CCG to get blown out or not going at all, I will take not going.

 
The silver lining? We have good running backs, a couple good qb's coming up, we're 5-2 not 2-5, the game was very winnable, Herbie Husker didn't dance with the Gopher, we have excellent receivers who are capable of big things the times the ball doesn't bounce off their head, we have a kick returning receiver who can probably take a short slant pass to the house, our special teams has been pretty good, our fans stay and yell at the team instead of walking out with 5 minutes left, our OC is like Peyton Manning---so tricky he even fools his own players....I suppose I could think of more.

 
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