It’s hard to even want to chew on this game again. My preference is just to relegate it to a dark place in my mind as a memory best forgotten. We were out fought, out shot, and out coached. Could our team have done better? Could our team have won this game because they were the better team? Did they need to get embarrassed before a national audience to shake them from their perch as reining national champions and return as a team hungry for their next opponent?
Hindsight is always easy. Nice players from Stanford get beaten up by a hungry, scrappy team from Texas. Sounds familiar? Looks familiar, too. I sat in Conseco Fieldhouse In Indianapolis a few years ago and watched our team get outfought in the last quarter by Texas A&M. Vic Schaefer coached the defense in that game just like he coached this one. He also knows how and when to test the refs—in the fourth quarter.
So what went wrong? All the thing that others have already noted above. I can only add that, since we were outscored by ten in the last quarter, we must have lost our edge and conceded the game because our team ran out of gas.
This season has been fun watching fifteen players contribute in the games and scrimmage that led up to this game. By contrast, it was painful watching just six or seven players get banged around in this one. Maybe it would have dampened the development of our younger player if they had played in such a physical game, or maybe they would have risen to the challenge. Most coaches probably would have gone with the veterans as Tara did. Sometimes, though, when things get tough a whole new approach seems warranted, and sometimes it backfires.
I was impressed with the team's determination in the waning minutes. They almost came back; they had just dug too big of a hole for themselves and couldn’t prevent the sharpshooters from Texas from getting free and scoring.
I just hope that our team can recoup and hit the road against the tough opponents who are coming up. Some of those opponents will be encouraged by what appears to be a vulnerable team in Stanford. But great teams rise up against adversity, and I will be cheering for this one to do just that in in Nassau. We have plenty of star-power to win every game we play. So, why not choose this time to rise!
Hindsight is always easy. Nice players from Stanford get beaten up by a hungry, scrappy team from Texas. Sounds familiar? Looks familiar, too. I sat in Conseco Fieldhouse In Indianapolis a few years ago and watched our team get outfought in the last quarter by Texas A&M. Vic Schaefer coached the defense in that game just like he coached this one. He also knows how and when to test the refs—in the fourth quarter.
So what went wrong? All the thing that others have already noted above. I can only add that, since we were outscored by ten in the last quarter, we must have lost our edge and conceded the game because our team ran out of gas.
This season has been fun watching fifteen players contribute in the games and scrimmage that led up to this game. By contrast, it was painful watching just six or seven players get banged around in this one. Maybe it would have dampened the development of our younger player if they had played in such a physical game, or maybe they would have risen to the challenge. Most coaches probably would have gone with the veterans as Tara did. Sometimes, though, when things get tough a whole new approach seems warranted, and sometimes it backfires.
I was impressed with the team's determination in the waning minutes. They almost came back; they had just dug too big of a hole for themselves and couldn’t prevent the sharpshooters from Texas from getting free and scoring.
I just hope that our team can recoup and hit the road against the tough opponents who are coming up. Some of those opponents will be encouraged by what appears to be a vulnerable team in Stanford. But great teams rise up against adversity, and I will be cheering for this one to do just that in in Nassau. We have plenty of star-power to win every game we play. So, why not choose this time to rise!