We have reached the all-important stretch of the season. The preceeding 11 may have been more up & down than fans are accustomed BUT now we're in the second season and no other team can boast as much experience in December!
That experience helped propel them to a 63-point win
63
63
Sixty-three
Everyone who has followed the team was aware of the sort of talent being accumulated but it wasn't until after Brookings that the code of how to best utilize it seemed to be cracked. I don't say that to discount the whole of the preceeding schedule but the closest performance to today's was week two against Maine.
Black Bears looked as okay as anyone can when losing by 37 points but finished with just two wins so that early season perception was way off. Which also lends credence to the dramatic improvement the team made over the course of the year.
This thorough embarrasing came at the expense of a quality team. No, of course they aren't a national champion contender but few are. They were an undefeated outfitted in a Pioneer League that had four teams with seven wins. That's a nice resume but the Bison still put them down like a penny in front of a freight train.
Is it enough to satiated the contingent who were wringing their hands over a "bad" season and the struggles through it? Probably not. But the view of that segment has the least validity of the whole season.
The only thing that went wrong today was the ball security. The two fumbles can't be brushed aside just because of their lack of impact but I'm also not going to fret about them. Not with Code Green taking it back three more times than it was lost.
Five turnovers in a playoff game is almost as absurd as the margin of victory!
Go ahead and add the nearly 400 yards of total offense that Cam Miller & Cole Payton combined for on the list as well!
Raja Nelson, Eli Green, Barika Kpeenu & Zach Mathis all made highlight plays to help out along the way but it was the maestros that deserve all the recognition that they are already getting and will continue to receive.
And now, for all that, they get to go to Montana State in the next round
Even if they eliminate the two turnovers there is almost no way that they will have the same amount of success. So the best thing for them might be to not hear a peep about Drake again after tonight. Not on the radio. Not on TV. Not on any of the apps. It should be a total flush job.
It goes without saying that that's a pipe-dream but the practicality of a such an approach is clear. As much as they've improved and as good as the season was, they can't afford to be riding high on inflated egos off of a first round W. All the postseason experience that they have should help stymie that but human nature can be a flickle thing.
So enjoy it tonight because it was a treat of a performance, but then put it to bed so that the look ahead can be undisturbed!
Comments