These are kids with less experience than the kids that played in colleges games yesterday. 100% agree with the approach to play the hardest competitive possible to be tested and prepared; however, it is not everyone’s approach. Clemson does the exact same thing with scheduling weaker at the college level. Sometimes it works to their benefit and sometimes it does not. There are different philosophies in everything. Stands and armchairs are the easiest places to coach from. Anyone that has coached long enough has made mistakes. The good ones get a chance to make mistakes on a big stage. EF has been more than ready for big games in the past playing a soft schedule so I’m a big believer that mindset preparation for a game has to be most important regardless of the experience brought into the matchup. It becomes even more important when you haven’t been tested and “undefeated” can carry undesired pressure with it. The greatest adversity that EF faced Friday night lived in the heads of staff and players that struggled and that is not remotely a slight to Hough. EF defense played well considering the added pressure turnovers and field position problems created. Controlling the mental approach is hard. Culture of a program carries it further faster, but nobody has it to an exact science, especially these days. The college playoff scenario creates no days off because one bad game can take you out of the playoffs. Look how many shocking results there has been at that level. Mental preparation is a bigger part of shocking results than anything else. As humans, we have off days. Winners wear it, learn and bounce back stronger. Fully expect EF to do that. Always believe that big games are decided by which team believes they will win the longest. Mistakes are more obvious on bigger stages and stick around longer. Congratulations to Hough. They played hard and their fans & coaches conducted themselves with class.
