A Letter to You

Dear Bison Nation,
I would like to bestow my sincerest apologies for my words in last week’s column. It was foolish of me to prophesize an undefeated season for the Bison football team. If you want to parallel my foolishness with that idiot who tells his pitcher he’s throwing a no-hitter before taking the mound in the ninth, then be my guest. I deserve it. However, I know Brock Jensen and Grant Olson wouldn’t want me to take all the blame.

The fact the Bison lost could have been caused by some kind of creepy karma or voodoo, but it doesn’t mask the Bison mistakes and how they just flat out didn’t play well enough Saturday night to win. We saw last year’s undefeated team have the same hiccup in the Youngstown game a year prior.

Mistakes made a season ago came to the forefront again against the Sycamores as the Bison continually shot themselves in the foot. Brock Jensen threw his first interception of the season snapping his 140 passing attempts without a pick streak, resulting immediately in six points for the Sycamores. What was more shocking was it took only twelve attempts before throwing his second of the season.

With the Bison trailing ISU by just three points, three plays into the fourth quarter, Jensen dropped back to pass, staring down his favorite target Ryan Smith. With a Sycamore defender draped all over Smith, the pass deflected off his back should pad and into the awaiting arms of the infamous number 28, Johnny Towalid. Towalid raced it all the back into the end zone while simultaneously telling the student section to “shove it” for his second pick-six of the evening.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen,” was thought across the student section. The life got sucked out of the crowd completely. Heads were hung as profanity was shouted; the Bison fans were in a different place. Back against the wall, I forgot how to deal with adversity. It was creepy.

Both Indiana State and YSU were unranked coming into the Fargodome, and that’s why I find it completely plausible the Bison just overlooked a weaker opponent yet again. The team can downplay the number one ranking as much as they want, but for the underdogs coming in, they see it as an opportunity to make a statement.

YSU was a game over .500 last year, looking to save their season. In an attempt to woe voters into getting them into the playoffs, the Bison game became do-or-die. The Penguins survived putting themselves in good position to earn a playoff birth. Although they dropped their last game and missed the playoffs, they proved a David versus Goliath-like outcome happens from time to time.

Last Saturday wasn’t much different. The 5-2 Sycamores came into last weekend’s game looking for respect, and respect is what they earned.

In the Missouri Valley football conference, you have to bring your best week in and week out. Running the table for the whole season is a difficult achievement; just ask Randy Moss or any other member of the ’96 Marshall Thundering Herd.

It’s reasonable to think going undefeated involves a little luck. Perfection isn’t everything, friends. We’re still the fourth ranked team in the country, and we’re about to rebound, just as Kim Kardashian has three times.

Let’s go smoke some Coyote tail and get back in the win column. Enjoy celebrating, Bison Nation.

Sincerely,
Joe