The Capitol One Bowl was also the first time the team was healthy (with the exception of Barron).It's off-season so let's delve into amateur psychology. Was talking to my friend the other night. He loves us enough he's been to BDS twice despite living in the confines of Eugene, Oregon (and being disabled)......but he brought up our occasional post-season flops and asked what I thought contributed to them.
And I noted something immediately that he never thought of - that the games in question were played in the Big Easy, New Orleans.
2009 Sugar Bowl vs Utah (New Orleans)
2014 Sugar Bowl vs Oklahoma (New Orleans)
2015 Sugar Bowl vs Ohio State (New Orleans)
I mused aloud whether or not playing in New Orleans with all of its potential distractions contributes to the problem.
We had no problems in Shreveport (2007), where there's no trouble you can get into; the Capitol One Bowl against Michigan St was probably our BEST performance for 2010;
With the exception of Dillon Lee and Ryan Anderson being sent home from Miami, right?and, of course, we took the measure of both Notre Dame and Clemson in Miami and Phoenix respectively.
Three, five, and three. Those are the number of turnovers in the three games you're discussing. Those turnovers led to 10, 28, and 7 points respectfully. The opposition earns some credit for causing those turnovers. However, spotting the other team a touchdown a game isn't going to help much when playing a team highly ranked.But I would say our two WORST performances in the post-season both have the New Orleans connection in common. Of course, they both have something else in common - there was no title waiting at the end of the year, but that was also true in 2010.
Your thoughts? I'm just spit balling here. It's not that I'm looking for excuses, just wondering if anyone thinks it may contribute to the mental part of concentration here. We all would admit New Orleans has far more distractions than, say, Phoenix.