Well Mules fans, Saturday's 14-10 loss to Washburn was certainly a disappointing one, but a season it does not make or break. The Mules had plenty of chances in what was a great NCAA Division II college football game, but they also made some key mistakes that cost them their chance to take control of the contest. To Washburn's credit, they were able to convert the big play and get the short yardage gains to sustain drives when they needed to. That's what championship teams do, and this Ichabod team is full of guys that competed on the 2005 MIAA title team. Hopefully, the Mules will learn from the few key mistakes they made and be ready to go for the remaining two months of the league season. Remember, there are eight games left in league play and as the coaches around the league tell the players every week, never get too up or too down after midnight on Sunday. You've got to be ready for the next big game and for the Mules, it's on the road at Truman State.

Observations from Saturday:

Toby Korrodi is one tough, talented football player. The leg injury he suffered on the first drive would have kept many football players on the sidelines. He came back with a couple of braces on and a bunch of tape both inside and around the outside of his shoe and played virtually on one leg the rest of the way. How about some of those passes both into and with the 20-30 mph winds throwing off of his back leg? I think his first quarter injury really forced the Mule coaching staff to simplify the offensive package and get rid of roll-out plays that ironically, are designed to max protect the quarterback. Look for Toby to be ready to go on Saturday at Truman State.

The Mule defense might be pretty salty. These guys looked fast playing against an offense that has a bunch of talented weapons. Linebacker Rod Washington and Defensive End Andrew Jilles were all over the place. Size was, and still is, a bit of a question, but this group fits very well into the way Coach Fritz likes his defense to fly around the field and make plays.

I thought the Central Missouri Family Weekend crowd was outstanding! Over 9,900 in attendance and making noise when Washburn had the football. Kudos to the students who were painted up and having fun at the game. That's what college football is all about. The next home game is October 7 when Missouri Western comes to Walton Stadium/Kennedy Field, so all of you that come to the home games should be in for another great football game when the Griffons come down.

How about a 14-10 game with no turnovers? You won't see that too often.

This game made me proud to work at the NCAA Division II level in the MIAA. Great players, coaches, fans and atmosphere. Fun stuff.

Trey Lewis and Eric Lawrence are the real deal on Washburn's defensive line. They are big and fast and make plays. Certainly, Fletcher Terrell gets a lot of attention at corner (and he deserves every bit of it) but make no mistake, these big guys up front help the 'Bods secondary make a ton of plays. Punter Ben Boswell was huge for Washburn. He turned the field with a 70 yard punt in the third quarter. So the ball moved from the Washburn 11 to the Central Missouri 18. With 2:07 to play in the game, Boswell delivered again, with a 51 yard punt into the stiff southerly breeze that moved the football from the Washburn 31 to the Mule 18 yard line. If he doesn't hit a beauty, the Mules would have had decent field position. He delivered in the clutch and was a key factor in the outcome of the game.

My one-year old daughter likes being at the home football games. Obviously, I can't spend time with her during the games, shows, etc. But Saturday, as soon as the game was over and we went to commercial break, my wife was standing behind me holding a smiling little girl. In an instant Associate Athletic Director and Mules play-by-play announcer Shawn Jones was just Daddy. That's my favorite title.

The Mules are a good football team, but obviously so is Washburn. The same can be said for many teams in this conference. You never know what's going to happen over the next couple of months, but it should be very entertaining.

This Saturday we head to Kirksville for the 90th all-time matchup with the Bulldogs of Truman State. Truman is working to get back to the level of success they had in the 80's and 90's under guys like Eric Holm, Bruce Craddock, Jack Ball and the late John Ware. It looks to me like they have upgraded the talent-level of their personnel for the 2006 season, it just has not resulted in a win yet this season. They are a veteran team with 17 seniors who want to make big strides in their final go-round and as their media guide says, "The Time is Now".

For the Mules, this is a huge bounce back week and they need to put it all together and make the big plays early they lacked in key situations against the Ichabods. Kickoff is set for 2:00 PM Saturday from Stokes Stadium in Kirksville. Bob, Hass and I will have the call beginning with the Bob Showers Financial Tailgate Show at 12:45 PM on 1450 KOKO, 98.5 MIKE-FM and at game time on 90.9 FM. You can listen on the web at www.kwkj.com.

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