On the opening long kickoff return, it looked like one of our guys near the ball carrier just stopped running. Maybe it was the angle.

Saw the same thing, I think it was the kicker. I just watched that play again on the ESPN highlights and there were several things that really jumped out at me, but I will refrain unless anyone really wants to go there. It made me watch our opening drive to get to the kickoff, man we had some chances... SERENITY NOW!!!

The camera angle may not be fair.

-The old adages that "Defense Wins Championships" and "You Must Run to Win" still hold true. Illinois State did both of those things very effectively, and won. We didn't. That's the ballgame. — Pacifico2

I'm going to quibble a bit that Illinois St played good defense. They didn't. We put up 533 yards and 31 points. Now, were 14 of those points scored in garbage time when the game was over? Sure. But the yards weren't. Our offense had 11 drives, had 1 3 and out and only punted 1 time (which were the same drive). Of the other 10 drives, we gained at least 47 yards on 8 of them. The other two we gained 21 yards turning it over on downs and had a 25 yard TD drive.

They made a couple big stops when it mattered when we turned it over on downs and held us to a couple FGs. And credit to them for that. But coming up big on a couple plays doesn't mean your defense was good. Can't believe NDSt couldn't move the ball on them a week ago.

The game easily could have been a 41-17 Davis win. We just ran out of bodies. The DL was running on fumes. It came down to ISU seniors OL against our Frosh/Soph DL.....

Next year is going to be fun....

And JC transfer DL. Julius Ray played quite a bit.and had two tackles

yeah I count about 6 plays in the first quarter that if they went our way, we’re up 35 at half. Most were on offense in the redzone. We had a dropped INT in which the next play they scored. These made it close. But oh well they’ll be ready next year.

Good points, all of them. You hit it on the head; they got stops when they needed them. We put up a ton of passing yards (402 of the 533 total yards), but they held our TB to 71 yards rushing and our QB scrambled for another 26. Our second TB went for 25 yards on 3 carries. However, both the starting TB and his backup each had 23 of their yards on one. So, I would consider a 42-17 lead with 3:35 to play in the game against one of the top offenses in the nation an outstanding defensive performance. I'm certain that you're not discounting the ISU Defensive effort. I just think scores are often misleading, and it felt like we got our ass whipped sitting there last Saturday.

I think our defense got whipped and our offense made a couple bad plays at the wrong time.

4th and 7 from the 13 fake FG came up a foot short
4th and 2 at the 3, went for it and lost a yard (thought this was a bad play call)
65 yard pass play that ends in a fumble
2nd and goal from the 2 and we throw a pick

At that point it's 35-17. Let's say instead of those outcomes, on those four drives they kick a FG, still go for it and don't convert, get a FG (he would have been down at the ISU 20) and get a TD. That's relatively conservative. That's 13 extra points and it's 35-30. Sometimes the score can be a bit deceiving. I didn't think we were 32 points better than ISU last year despite what the score ended up at.

ISU was the better team on Saturday, but I think we were fairly even overall.

Good data, and I agree, especially that they were the better team last Saturday. Unfortunately, that's all that matters.

Has anyone else noticed the number of interceptions thrown inside the 5 yard line this season in college and professional football? It has become a regular occurrence. Make FULLBACKS part of the game again!!!

For sure. Don't want it to sound like I thought we deserved to win or should have won the game based on how both teams played. On another day we could have. But on that day, the right team won.

The longer we sustain drives, the defense gets a rest, regroups, and those 'conservative' 13 points are motivational.

The fake FG was a gutsy call, and it looked like the hole he ran through was tiny.

We were the victims of several sustained drives while their defense regrouped... Hard to score when the offense is sitting on the bench.

Agreed, the fake FG was gutsy and didn't look like it had much of a chance. I applaud Plough for his willingness to take some of those chances. I hate FGs unless they're game winners, personal preference.