September 10, 2016 wasn’t a good day for beloved coaches of their alma mater who’ve been annually coveted by other teams but have opted to stay close to home.
Granted, that pool isn’t necessarily a large one, but for Mike Gundy of Oklahoma State and Pat Fitzgerald of Northwestern, the bitterness will last a solid few years, easily.
First, the case for Pat Fitzgerald.
NW’s coach had built-in reason to grouse coming in, 0-1 on the heels of a loss at home to Western Michigan of the MAC. Illinois State of the FCS was supposed to be the elixir, or if nothing else, a chance to get back on track. That’s why you schedule FCS teams. Not to pack the house and excite the fans, but to get in some rhythm and feel good about yourself because if nothing else, you’re 1-0 that day.
NW showed ISU plenty of respect all week, but you don’t pay someone six figures to come in and demoralize you, which the Redbirds did on a last second CLANGA field goal to win 9-7.
And now, the case for Mike Gundy.
For the Cowboys, the brutality of the loss was somehow worse than losing to an FCS team at home where you score only 7 points and the opposing kicker missed an extra point and needed the goal post to get the 33-yard game-winner through the pipes.
After an intentional grounding play that should have ended the game (by rule, not by opinion), Central Michigan … they of no wins over ranked teams since 1991 … got a dead ball play and used a Hail Mary hook and ladder play from midfield to take it on the last play.
From a coach perspective, that sucks, because if you raise enough hell about it, the refs probably get mentally triggered as to what the actual rule is and the game ends. It’s a stupid rule to begin with … that a team can take a down-costing penalty and effectively ensure themselves the win (surely Bill Belichick was making notes of this for some time in the future), but it’s apparently a rule.
The Pokes, coming off of one of those first games where you sort of look really good and no one knows if it’s legit or not because you’re paddling an overwhelmed opponent, saw their expectations come to a grinding halt against CMU.
The Verdict
Neither are in an enviable position such that you take away the fact that they’re beloved millionaires with a skeleton key at their alma maters in terms of how they’re feeling this evening, but easily the frustration is in Fitzgerald’s corner. If you’re Gundy, not that it makes you feel any better, you lost on a blown call to a decent FBS program and are 1-1.
If you’re Fitz, you’re 0-2 wondering where a win is going to come from to stop the discouragement within the locker room. That can’t be easy, no matter how mentally tough of a team you have. Fitzgerald has pushed all the right buttons … and some amazing ones at his time in Evanston, but if they’re to turn this one around, it’d be his most fantastic act to date. Players know when they’re not meeting expectations, and it’s not a good feeling nor is it an easy one to change.
