There's a vehement debate in the sabermetric community about the power and existence of momentum. Bill Barnwell, the leading analytics-led thinker in all of football, thinks it doesn't exist. But you'd be hard pressed to find a coach in football that doesn't believe in the omnipotent ability of momentum.
Personally, I can remember from my own (incredibly meager) playing days, momentum didn't just exist, he was a person. Big Mo was always sitting on either our or our opponent's sideline, and his hairy crack was always hanging out.
Terry Bowden believes in momentum. Big Mo is far more than just an invisible power using his hidden hand to mysteriously alter games as he sees fit, he's real, Bowden will tell you, because he's seen him. In 2015, Akron was 3-5 after a Halloween loss to Central Michigan, but the Zips closed the year 8-5 after beating Utah State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. A year later, those same Zips were 5-3, deep in the fight for a second straight bowl game, which would have been unprecedented in Akron's history, but closed the year at 5-7.
Big Mo pulled him into the light one year, and plunged him into darkness the next.
Bowden was asked about momentum at MAC media days and, boy, did he have an answer. Watch how his body language totally shifts around the 10-second mark.
Akron Head Coach Terry Bowden on bouncing back from four straight losses to close out last season #MACtion#zips@SBNationCFBpic.twitter.com/FRAqfp2HXb
— SB Nation Radio (@SBNationRadio) July 26, 2017