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Very proud of our team. They never gave up a bit.....I really thought we would come back today but too much pass rush keeping Breylin having that extra second to get the ball downfield. ISU defensive line and LBs were terrific, big and strong. I noticed a lot of plays they never got into 3 point stance but just played d-line like a LB would....our defense played very tough upfront against a very good o-line with a extremely good RB...hats off toe ISU #25 RB James Robinson.....we mostly kept him bottled up between the tackles but those sweeps were very damaging...I suspect he avg 10+ yards on sweeps.....defense held ISU below their season avg and below our defense season scoring avg....several defenders really had good agmes...TJ Campbell led with 7 tackles, a sack and another TFL and several ferocious hits including one on the QB in the open field....

We used TEs better and more today....wish we would have used some TE screens and slants earlier.....the attempt to run in the A gap on 4th and 2 on about the ISU 20 late was puzzling.....with all our receivers it seemed like a short pass would have been a better choice than a run into an 8-man box which we had not busted up all day...would like to have seen Kierre some more today with a few screens...Blackman is just an awesome competitor...

...and exactly what was the call on the punt in Q4 where we held on 3rd down and would have had the ball at about U45....well after the ball was away and maybe even after it hit the ground a flag was thrown and a 15 yrd penalty marked off...there certainly was no roughing or even running into the punter (the punter walked backward into one of our rushers who had been blocked)…..

Oh well, thanks to the Bears for a fine season and exciting football....Go Bears!!

Defense played well, especially in the second half. You can’t give playoff teams three turnovers and multiple penalties and expect to win. We were sloppy, didn’t block all that well and we’re basically out coached in every phase. Stupid penalties, about 5 offsides, most of which resulted in the extension of drives.

Breylin smith missed one wide open pass, albeit on the run, that would have gotten us to 21-14, but also missed some really easy throws. Given the games that he’s excelled in, I have to ask if he is 100%??? I was scratching my head at some of the decisions being made.

Hats off to ISU. They flat dominated the lines and beat us. But good lord did we leave a lot of points on the field.

Next year should be good, lot of returning starters and contributors. Hopefully ken collums isn’t among them

This team has one
Glaring weakness
and it's been there since
the first game.

The inability to control
the line of scrimmage
on offense.

Improvement in this area
will help with the play
Calling...

Check the season rushing numbers
for confirmation.

Huggy bear Breylin got hit pretty hard..when he got up one time I notice he staggered. Sure enough he has a concussion! He took several pounding.. hate that the coaches did not notice it.

Ma Bear, I remember that play and yes Breylin did get up staggering on his feet. Has he seen a doctor yet? I hope he is ok! Please keep us posted. I think Hales should have been put into the game after that nasty hit. While I am at it how about that targeting violation at the start of the game. (# 38 Luke Ross suffered) That violation wasn't called by the so called officials that coach Brown lost his temper and had to stand up for what was right. The refs wouldn't even review the play. That bad call set the tone for the game. I think the officials got off the bus with the red birds. I feel bad for the Bears because this isn't the way the season should have ended. I still am with the Bears no matter what.

Let me say this first: A HUGE thanks to Coach Brown, his staff, and these young men for an incredible season. I knew coming in that we were young and this still may not be our year. I figured we were 1-2 years out from being dominant again. This team showed so much heart from game one versus WKU all the way though making the game interesting yesterday.

We simply ran into a better defensive team. ISU did everything right: They controlled the LOS on both sides, they threw Breylin out of his rhythm, got to him too many times, and did not give us a chance to consistently stop their great running back. Dude is a stud, no doubt. Hats off to ISU for a great game.

Yes, the officiating was horrendous. I kept wondering if the crew was from the MVFC. But the officiating cannot be the blame for how we played or the outcome. Yes, many penalties were bogus, but only a couple really hurt us (the "leaping" penalty was a bogus call, and the ref knew it. We were layout out to block a ball at the same time a defender came into attempt a low block. White hat held that flag until the very end to throw).

I got there mid Q1 and missed the punch thrown, but kudos for Nathan for getting all over the refs in that moment. I would not have blamed him for getting a 15 yarder.

Instead of a game review, I'd like to post what I think is needed for 2020 and beyond:

Offense

I'm going to echo the sentiments of many here, and things I've said all season: Either Collums needs to be removed from the play calling, or Nathan needs to be more involved. I look at where we were 2 years ago to now. Sure, we're younger, but the play calls are just not there. We knew what we were up against and played into ISU's strengths all day. This is a team you have to play dink and dunk on, and then sneak in a couple of runs. They were big and physical up front; no way we were going to consistently win that battle.

The two plays that made up my mind about this were:

1. The 4th and 1 or 2 where we went for it (rightfully so), but looked completely unorganized as to what to do. They loaded the box. We should have called a TO and discussed what to do there. Instead, they went with the play we had and we got stopped. It was not the right play in that situation. We should have at least discussed it when we saw them bring everyone up.

2. The whatever and goal from the 2 (was with 4th?) and we try to run Breylin on a sneak off the right side. Wrong play. That's a Carlos play all day. Play the dive. Nothing against Breylin, but with a strong defensive line against our O-line, we needed size and power off the right side.

Just poor play calling and decisions at critical moments.

Regardless of what happens at the OC position, the good news is our young guys got a lot of experience. I know Breylin is going to be reviewing film in the off-season and learn from his mistakes as well as learn more about defensive coverage and finding our open guys. I know the O-line is going to get bigger, stronger, more explosive off the ball. Playing a lot of freshmen and sophomores (who many got their first full season starts this year) was a tall order, but they will get better. They learned a lot and generally improved over the course of the year. That was encouraging to see. Even against a good team yesterday they were able to get some openings for runs. They have got to assert themselves more on pass blocking and keep the pocket secure for Breylin next year.

Also, has anyone thought about our receiving corp next year? We get Brandon Meyers back from injury, Winningham back, Hudson will be back, Blakely back, etc. Camargo back at TE plus we're decently deep there. We very well may have the best receiving corp in FCS next year. We're losing Carlos, which stinks, but I know Kiki wants revenge after this year. I'll be interested in seeing some of these young guys coming up next year to replace Carlos' power running game.

As a whole, I'm excited about the offense. Sure, I think we need some changes around play calling, but I think we'll be more assertive and dominant next year IF we stay healthy during offseason and pre-season camp.

Defense:

I thought defensively we got better, and honestly played pretty well in the second half. We adjusted well. Two things we were not good at all year though:

1. We were not good against mobile QB's. We needed someone to play scout to keep the QB from scrambling on us. It hurt us yesterday and throughout the season.

2. We're bad on the edges. We're pretty stout up the middle. We would not contain the RB's on the edge at all yesterday and that is where they got their big gains (along with the QB scrambles/draws). Again, this is experience that this team will use to grow from, no doubt.

We're losing a couple of playmakers in the secondary, so I hope we have the next guys ready to go. No doubt we're reloading nicely from the recruiting reports I'm seeing on Twitter.

I don't know about everyone else, but I feel we have the brightest future for winning football in the state, and maybe the conference. It's a good feeling to be a Bear, and like Ma Bear said, better feeling than being a fan of the team on the hill!

Go Bears, and let's make 2020 even more special than 2019 was!

Based on the game accounts here, I'd venture that if the coaches did not notice, it's because they didn't want to.

Hate to see our guys couldn't pull this game out. Looking forward to next season already though! Curious if there will be some accountability to the offensive play calling from Saturday though. It was rough.

Only time will tell. I think some of the issue comes with the age difference between Coach Brown and Coach Collums. Coach Brown has spoken on numerous occasions about how much respects Coach Collums. Its like CB almost feels kind of bad and doesn't want to correct CC. Just by opinion. I'm sure things will improve next year!

Crossley didn't get a single snap until 4:44 left in the third quarter and none after that. Guess who they honed in on?

If not Carlos, then it was Smith with 12 rushes...yeah, put your qb at risk.

Were our other RBs hurt?

But what was most frustrating was this:

4th quarter:
4th and 2 at ILS22 Blackman, Carlo rush for no gain to the ILS22 (Clark,Tuvone;Lewan,Jason).

With 4 seconds left on the play clock someone from the UCA sideline yelled something and it caused Breylin to look back at the sideline. Play busted. Why did that happen? Why wasn't a timeout called to sort things out on a BIG play in the game?

Looking at stats the Redbirds only had 6 TFLs and 4 sacks. UCA had 11 TFL and 3 sacks.

But the biggest stat is 3 INTs and 1 Fumble. Hard to beat an MVFC team doing that. But even at that we had a strong chance to get it close at the end.

The players had a great year and none of them should take any blame for what happened. It's football. I do question, as it appears some on here do, the play calling.

I know nothing can be done now. I thank the seniors for their efforts and wish them well in whatever they choose to do in life.

Just frustrated we reverted back to run one player or put our QB at risk like we did. Just a fan though...

Red Birds Defense just held North Dakota State to 3 FG 1st 1/2 9 - 0

and scoreless in the 1/2 half - final 9-3 Illinois State defense was very impressive