For those who followed BG throughout 2005, I have a question. Great teams sometimes have "off" games, with the result being that they lose to a team that they would normally beat. In your opinions, was LexCath definitely a better team than BG? Is there any reason to suspect that on a different day, it very well could have been BG beating LC and winning it all in 3A?

LC was dominant and would win a vast majority of games against BG, from my perspective. But it was evident, especially after talking to some folks from the west, that BG had a meltdown and wasn't THAT much worse than LC.

I was not there, but it sounds like BG simply never faced a QB and passing attack like Lexington Catholic threw at them.

I was not there, but it sounds like BG simply never faced a QB and passing attack like Lexington Catholic threw at them.

 

As outstanding a player as Burke is, that is not why LexCath won. The LexCath defense was why BG lost.

I was not there, but it sounds like BG simply never faced a QB and passing attack like Lexington Catholic threw at them.

The passing attack had nothing to do with Catholic winning. Burke didn't even have a TD pass for the first time in 30 something games. Sphire was aware of that too, as he was throwing deep up 42-7 which led to Burke's only interception.

I believe BG had a melt down. I beleive if these two teams played 10 times it could very easily be split 5 and 5. A lot of the turnovers were unforced, nervous turnovers. If the BG's corner didn't slip on the wounded duck thrown early in the game, I think things could have been a lot different.

 

With that said, on that day Lex Cath was better.

 

Just to set the record straight I have no dog in the fight and had not seen either team play all year. This is just what I saw. If BG sticks with veer and gives the football to the fullback a couple more times, it could have been a shootout.

The passing attack had nothing to do with Catholic winning. Burke didn't even have a TD pass for the first time in 30 something games. Sphire was aware of that too, as he was throwing deep up 42-7 which led to Burke's only interception.

 

Actually, that interception was about a 15 yard out. That's what they do, they throw the ball, had nothing to do with anything else. He doesn't need to pad Burke's stats, they speak loud and clear as is...

Lex Cath was an excellent team, and they had a very good game plan. Not sure what the outcome would be in best out of 3, but that BG team that played Sat. was not the BG that played all year. 7 fumbles, 3 personal fouls. I think the wheels came off with the Anthony Davis fumble. Bad call, he was down, in my opinion. If BG maintaned possesion there, I wonder... Then it seemed every thing that could go wrong did. Hibbet never fumbles, the MLB got hurt in the second quarter, 2 of those personal fouls were very questionable. (not on the DE, that was stupid by him) I know Lex Cath plays on turf, but BG doesn't...does it make any difference?

As outstanding a player as Burke is, that is not why LexCath won. The LexCath defense was why BG lost.

How right you are! Bowling Green's offense was awful maybe as a result of Catholic's great defense. Very small but quick.

If your judging BG on that performance in the state championship game then you are not giving them the fair shake they deserve. Break them down on 4-5 films and you can see they were a great team especially on defense. Offensively they don't do a lot never really have. Vear and Quick Pitch is their favorites and throw in some option and you have thier offense. Never been a team that was comfortable coming from behind having to throw the ball.

 

On defense they had the speed and size. They played aggressive and physical. In thw state championship game the wheels did come off. BG committed too many turnovers and gave LC the short field too many times. Now you have to give the LC defense credit for forcing the turnovers and taking BG out of their offensive gameplan. BG is better then what they showed in the final game but unfortunately for them they don't have another chance to prove that to their critics.

If the BG's corner didn't slip on the wounded duck thrown early in the game, I think things could have been a lot different.

I agree. The entire complexion of the game would have radically changed.

 

Bowling Green's success was built on defense and field position. The Purples did not have the most explosive offense, as evidenced by their scores against the truly good teams on their schedule. They scored a lot of points during the year because their defense constantly produced turnovers and/or shut opponents down, often giving them a short field to work on.

 

The Purples had not played a very good passing team all season, and it showed. All of the really good passing attacks in western Kentucky this year were in 4A, and none of those teams were on their schedule.

 

That's not a criticism of Bowling Green's schedule ... three of their non-district games were against ranked teams. It's just that those teams didn't prepare for the style of offense they faced last weekend.

 

Combine that with the turnovers, which killed their efforts to establish the edge in field position, and it amounts to a truly bad performance by a great team.

A part of me wants to come on here and say "BG was terrible" from what I saw last Saturday. They had size, but I sure didn't see any speed, I thought they were undisciplined and they sure didn't take care of the ball on Saturday for such a huge game. I also thought there q.b.'s were very limited in their abilities. There's also part of me that wants to say that LexCath exposed every, and I mean EVERY, weakness they had. Something no other team in the west did or could do. Along with the fact that BG just did not face any good football teams, with the exception of St.X early on. There's also a part of me that wants to remember a ball game back in 1999 that BG was clearly a top ranked, very respected team, with a boat load of talent and a stud middle line backer named Reynolds. LexCath beat them that night as bad or worse than last Sat. So, part of me wants to say some teams just have another team's number. As of right now, LexCath just has BG's number. So, therefore, a part of me says that the LexCath coaching staff just had a better plan to win the state championship this past Sat.

A part of me wants to agree with the "wheels coming off theory", but BG had plenty of chances early on to stop LexCath from blowing the game wide open just like they did- i.e., taking care of the football. Part of me wishes Coach Wallace would let Coach Bishop install some sort of passing game and start looking for a dual threat q.b. so this doesn't happen to BG again which has led me to thinking so much about this ballgame. I like BG and have a great amount of respect for the history of their program, but they got BLASTED by a very good LexCath team in the state championships. So, part of me wants to say that.

I hear Inmotion on the different parts of the game.

 

I did think that every so often you saw a flash of what Bowling Green could do with their running game. Indeed, at the beginning of the second half, I wondered if they would pull it together and grind out 3 rushing TDs to take the lead.....but they fumbled on the second play and the game was over.

From my vantage point, LexCath's defense just flat-out disrupted their playmaking abilities and decisions.

 

One point.... well into the second half, a couple BG players got frustrated and got flagged for personal fouls. That happens when you get frustrated, and, at least from where I sat, I thought the coaches did a good job getting control of the situation well before it could get out of hand. Indeed, it seemed players displayed better sportsmanship after that (particularly after one great tackle against LC's Israel)

I admire what Bowling Green's coach did after the multiple personal foul penalties......had the entire team huddle and indicated this type of representation of their school and community would not be tolerated. They showed class after that (except the thug who threw his headgear about 40 yards to the endzone after the game).

If anybody wants a piece of INMOTION, take it now, he is already divided up into many parts.