Have a few conversations with many diehard fans who don't post on Rivals or message boards since Saturday's hard to fathom result. And I asked the question of 3 separate people and got 3 different answers.
Is this Sparty game the most important game in the Schiano era??
On a general level, the answer is NO, and it's a silly thing to even say, but if we are still upset about Illinois, how does that impact the rest of this season (Sparty and the earned bowl game).
If RU bounces back after a really difficult loss, it would be a tremendous accomplishment and solidify a solid 7-5 season, where the offense appears to be fixed and takes some of the sting away from Illinois....if that's followed up with a bowl win and it's 8-5, by any measure, it's a major step forward.
If RU goes to East Lansing and loses to Sparty, it would be up there in losses to a team with similar talent, but a still green QB, who isn't accurate. A loss to a 5-6 Sparty team, isn't a bad loss....it's on the road and after a difficult defeat....many RU fans may be currently in this category of "there are too many injuries, the loss was deflating, they won't bounce back etc...almost in a way understandable if they lost and some mentioned, they wouldn't be shocked if they lost by 10 to 14 or more points.
If the loss is bad and then the bowl game goes against RU, at 6-7, is momentum stalled or is that not a concern at all??
The adage of one loss beating a team twice or potentially 3 times, could be a crossroad type of situation for GS 2.0.....
Is this Sparty game the most important game in the Schiano era??
On a general level, the answer is NO, and it's a silly thing to even say, but if we are still upset about Illinois, how does that impact the rest of this season (Sparty and the earned bowl game).
If RU bounces back after a really difficult loss, it would be a tremendous accomplishment and solidify a solid 7-5 season, where the offense appears to be fixed and takes some of the sting away from Illinois....if that's followed up with a bowl win and it's 8-5, by any measure, it's a major step forward.
If RU goes to East Lansing and loses to Sparty, it would be up there in losses to a team with similar talent, but a still green QB, who isn't accurate. A loss to a 5-6 Sparty team, isn't a bad loss....it's on the road and after a difficult defeat....many RU fans may be currently in this category of "there are too many injuries, the loss was deflating, they won't bounce back etc...almost in a way understandable if they lost and some mentioned, they wouldn't be shocked if they lost by 10 to 14 or more points.
If the loss is bad and then the bowl game goes against RU, at 6-7, is momentum stalled or is that not a concern at all??
The adage of one loss beating a team twice or potentially 3 times, could be a crossroad type of situation for GS 2.0.....
