First Quarter:

Obviously, Renel's opening kick return was incredible. Then, to follow it up with a pick on the next play got Wayne into an even better position. From there, they had three straight possessions where they looked like the Wayne offense from two years ago...Mohner not seeing the underneath coverage on the first pick, and then under-throwing Burrell after he got behind the defense two possessions later. It wasn't all Mickey's fault, the O just looked tight and out of sync in total...kind of odd to me considering the TD return and ensuing pick should have eased a lot of the pre/early game tension. This last possession before the end of the quarter was more of what we'd expect from Wayne, especially the last two years...imposing their will on the ground and stuffing it in. Awesome run by Davis to get them into the red zone. Warriors doing OK on D as well...first time I've seen Jeremy Jones play up close in a couple of years...he's something else. That Dreiling for PSU is one heckuva playmaker as well. We'll see how PSU responds to the Wayne TD as we open the 2nd with Wayne up 14-10.


End of First Half:

Massive shift in this one with the blocked FG return for a score. Wayne had another decent drive going (thanks to the second big run by Toney Davis on the day), but having a potential scoring play go the length of the field in the opposite direction for a 10-point swing like that really stings. Had to like Wayne's chances of recovering from the blow on the next Pitt State possession, but giving up the go route on 3rd and 16 is a killer. Wayne has the chops to be in this game, but right now the intangibles that helped get them through four straight road games and seemed to in their favor after two plays are now their nemesis: three giveaways and that blocked FG for a score hurt bad. Have to wonder as well about what the offense will be able to do in the second half. Mohner still looks unsettled in spots, and not having Renel is really slowing down the run game. Davis has played well, but if you really look close it's mostly been those two huge runs. He hasn't been ripping off six to ten yards per carry other than that. Plus, even when he's running he doesn't look 100%. Davis and Renel have to be two of the toughest SOB's around to keep making plays/trotting back out there hurt like they are. Let's see what adjustments the teams make for he second half, as PSU will get the ball to start the third quarter up 27-14.


Third Quarter:

Wayne is fighting hard, but attrition is beginning to take its toll. Losing Renel was bad enough as it was putting all of the load on Toney Davis who missed the second half last week and doesn't look to be at full power today. But now, Renel being out put Troy Burrell out there for a punt return and now he's not out there. The line can't do what it wants and is not opening consistent holes for Davis and the Wayne offense is going to have its work cut out for it down by two scores in the 4th quarter. Defense has to make a play, but appeared to be suffering from that same "attrition" as well as the PSU ground game really started to go late in the third. Score is still 27-14, but PSU is driving to open the 4th and the situation looks awful tough for the Warriors with only 15:00 to go...


Fourth Quarter:

Well, Wayne got the turnover they needed early in the fourth and then mounted a terrific drive capped by Toney Davis's second TD of the day. The drive ate more than six minutes off the clock, however, and may have aided Pitt State in the end as it left WSU still behind by six with a condensed time frame left. From there, the play of the game for me was the first down post route on the fake fly sweep with about four-and-a-half minutes to go...it took a whole lotta guts to run that one! It got PSU inside the Warrior ten, and for my money finished off the game. Even if they don't punch in the TD they managed to stretch it to a third down and ran almost another 2:00 off the clock. If they hadn't scored on that play they would have then had a chippy to make it a two-score game and would have burned another :40 or a Wayne time-out in the process. The WSU offense just isn't set up for throwing the ball down the field to begin with, let alone without Burrell (their best WR) or when the D knows that is what's coming. Wayne deserves a TON of credit for having zero quit in them, as they responded to the PSU score-and-deuce to drive to the Gorilla side of the field but the final pick (which was a nice play by the PSU defender) sealed the game.