It Could Be Worse

Jim Brown-USA TODAY Sports
When Bobby Petrino came to town, the motto of the football team became “It’s Show Time.” However, I have taken it upon myself to give this team a different, more apt motto: It Could Be Worse.
Coming into Saturday, WKU had lost two in a row in simply awful fashion. They controlled total yards. They held the ball for longer. They crossed the invisible yellow line more often. The big blow came in number of turnovers. But all (or, at least, most) of these didn’t matter, because WKU had lost where it DOES matter – the scoreboard.
In Atlanta, things were looking bleak. Sure most people thought that the Panthers should have been handeld easily, but there was always that danger that the Tops would find away to slip up and give Georgia St. a W. In a game that was very similar, statistically, from the previous two, the Tops did what they were unable to do – take the lead and maintain it until four zero’s were on the clock. And suddenly, all wasn’t lost. It wasn’t a great game – A.A. barely broke the century mark, Doughty played well and got injured trying to scramble (which will ensure he never runs again), – but it could be worse. Doughty could be gone for the season. A.A. could have been a non-factor. State could be celebrating their first win of the season.
So, now, WKU is above .500 again, and will continue their 3 game road swing by going to West Point to face another triple option threat in the Army Black Knights. Army, who has won 3 games so far, should be another game WKU can feasibly win. They will conclude the road trip by heading to San Marco vs. the already bowl eligible Texas State Bobcats, and will end the regular season against Arkansas St.
Worst case scenario? Tops go 1-2, finish at 6-6 and miss a bowl game (because let’s face it, even with Bobby P, a 6-6 Sun Belt team doesn’t get in over a bowl eligible school from any other conference)
Best case scenario? Tops win out, finish 8-4, make a bowl and actually win it, and have a bit of momentum heading into next season (then the Bobby P leaving speculation will begin).
Reality? In this writer’s eye, the Tops will go 2-1 down the stretch, a nice medium of the two scenarios, to finish with a final record of 7-5, which was good enough for a trip to Detriot for a date with Central Michigan a year ago. Bobby Petrino stays for 2014, and WKU is in C-USA.
But lets worry about the post-stretch first. Things will fall into place. The Black Knights are the focus now, and we have to crawl before we can walk, and walk before we can run.
Just remember one thing – it could be worse.
Stand up and cheers.