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The straight scoop from
Colonel Mustard

Oct. 21, 2002

This was the most devastating defeat of the year. We lost to an inferior team in a non-hostile environment. We were looking for a way to lose. Lord is laughing on the sidelines in the last minute of the game. Apparently he thought the defeat was funnier than I did. I saw nothing to laugh about.

This is a team completely devoid of leadership from the players. The team has no focus and seems to have lost interest. Frank has lost this team completely. His coaching staff is starting to take shots at each other. I can't express how hard this is for me to watch. It is as though our program is disintegrating in front of my eyes. We could talk about X's and O's, but they don't matter much when the team is unmotivated and disorganized and employs either poor or inconsistent strategies. How this team plays and fails has very little to do with the opponents and everything to do with the mental state of our team. The talent may be down, but this team makes so many blunders, how would you know.

Dreadful defensive performance. No pass rush, no sacks on a slow, stationary QB. We made a journeyman back in Bell look like an all-American. We couldn't even stop them from running at the end of the game when we knew that was what they were going to do. Maybe that was what Lord thought was funny. My buddy Darlington decided to cover Woods with his freshman making his first road start with predictable results. Our kid played 12 yards off and looked like he was playing on skates. Groce gave up one 5-yard TD to woods. So Woods caught 10 for 128 on Washington. Add that to Danielsen's 111 and in the two losses the other team's star receiver has accounted for about 1/3 of the opponent's total yards. This could have easily been the difference in the Oklahoma State game. Because if Miles was smart enough, Woods could have caught 20 balls.

Our offense is good for about 350 yards no matter who we play. We were unable to move the ball consistently on a bad defense. Horne made some nice runs. But we have a tremendous amount of breakdowns and mental errors. Add that to the fact that Lord's best play is a scramble and that is why we can't consistently move the ball. Shatel said Lord isn't the problem, but he also isn't the answer. He made some very nice plays, but as I have said his lack of consistent execution and field vision and turnovers holds this offense back. One has to question his leadership when he laughs at defeat. The worst coaching decision that Frank made all year was not letting Dukes play early so that he would be ready to take over the team by midyear. I would try Stuntz, because what can it hurt. The worst that happens is we get beat again. Horne needs to start. Diedrick goes from being the Big 12's leading rusher to a guy that gets about 10 carries per game. Is that motivation or coaching?

The play that puts this season in a nutshell is in the third quarter, we had three guys in position to down a punt and none of them managed to do it. That play puts the season in perspective to me. The pattern in the losses is the same. We give-up a long drive to open the third quarter and Lord has a turnover to put us in a big hole. It doesn't speak well for our halftime adjustments.

Frank needs to win one he shouldn't now to qualify for a bowl. And the program needs this desperately or we will miss a key month of practice. I think that if he doesn't make a bowl he might not survive. I believe that he should have a chance to revamp his staff. But if we can't get two more wins, the pressure might be overwhelming.
 
-- The Colonel

 

 
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