Al Golden losing to the defending national champions in the middle of 26 straight wins is a bad coaching job? Let's go back and review the game shall we.
Up 23-10, throw a pass to the endzone, Berrios drops the TD that would have made it 30-10. Golden's fault obviously.
The FG on that drive is missed. Obviously that was on Golden.
Come out running a little more, but still moving the ball in the 2nd half, but the TE fumbles. C'mon Al, protect the ball.
Again, run the ball some more, still moving it, but Kaaya is missing open guys this half. That's on Al, he controls Kaaya' accuracy.
The defense looks to make a stop, but a tipped pass goes for a TD. Obviously Al made that ball tip at the appropriate angle for them to catch for the TD.
Again, running the ball, but Kaaya is still missing his throws when needed. All on Al.
Kaaya throws into triple coverage to end the game. Al threw the pass really.
C'mon guys. Be real here. The players did not make the plays to win. They came out milking the clock, but were still moving the ball on the ground with 4-5 yards a carry. The problem was when they'd let Kaaya throw, he was not accurate in the 2nd half. Nothing is on Al. We still were trying to get 15 yard passes over the middle and had the guys, Kaaya was just getting his passes batted at the line or just missing guys completely every time.
Al didn't turn the ball over 3 times, miss a FG, or look like an idiot blocking on an XP. Al didn't let a tipped pass get caught for a TD. Al did not drop a TD pass to make it 30-10 that would've likely sealed the deal. The players simply did not make enough plays to win. They almost did, but just didn't.
Please return to being a moper, call me a slurper. I don't care. I still believe we'll wipe the floor with UVA and Pitt. If we struggle or even lose, I'll come back here and start having 2nd thoughts. But right now I think we win out easily and are likely to get a favorable bowl game. I feel we'll win it too.