Sometimes all it takes is a little luck in close games to get to 8-4 but yes they could easily go 5-7 or 6-6. Hell our 2015 team could have lost to Louisville Cincinnati or Memphis that year but we managed to get out of those games with very close wins.
The “how” is his problem, not mine. At the end of the day, if the players aren’t executing, that’s the coach’s fault – either for not instilling discipline in them, or having an excessively complex scheme, or for not finding players over the last 4 years who could execute his scheme.
It’d be a lot more forgivable if our players were getting outsped or overpowered or otherwise physically outmatched but still playing solid, clean, fundamental football. They’re not. They’re committing absolutely boneheaded penalties, losing containment, and missing assignments. Some of that’s natural – Football is, of course, a game played by humans – but minimizing those types of errors are at the core of a coach’s job.
If the basketball team was losing games because they were constantly in foul trouble, or if the baseball team was losing games because hitters kept swinging at balls in the dirt, those coaches would deserve criticism for that, too.
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I agree with all your points.
And after jumping on the bandwagon during our unexpected 13-1 2015 season topped with a Peach Bowl win over FSU, then being brought back down to earth after a 34-10 2016 Bowl loss against SDSU, 33-27 2017 Bowl loss against Fresno State & a 70-14 smacking in a 2018 Bowl loss against Army, I’ve learned to temper my expectations.
Having said that, I never believed we’d go undefeated this season. However, I still think we’re a good team, just haven’t been able to sustain good, complimentary football thru all 4 Quarters…think about it, we had 3 Picks in 1 game; 1 Pick Six, multiple Sacks & showed some fire on Offense in the last 2 Quarters, enough to get us the win on a tough road game against an opponent that is theoretically supposed to be better.
I’ve gotten over the disappointment of letting the W slip away against Tech.
What still hurts mine heart is that THAT win was supposed to be a statement win…One where we showed the Nat’l Media that we could carry a good brand of Football into any arena, play hard and win.
It was also an unspoken battle for the potential Recruits that both we & Tech are after.
Optics matter.
And when we haven’t beaten Tech in 10-ish games, well that probably says a lot to the 3*, 4* & maybe even 5* that we’ll both be going after.
P.S. Must’ve been an awkward meeting today with Brett Yorkmark after our heartbreaking loss to Tech.
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Saw the headline on this thread and thought it was about the mental state of some of our fans.
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Have you seen UNC this year? They may have the worst defense in FBS this year. Florida A&M scored 24 on them, then almost got shut out by Jackson State
Tx Tech plays NC State.
Underdogs by 9 or so.
Looking ahead we play a 2-0 Kansas, let’s pack TDECU!
We were so close to being 2-0, but it was a great college football game. It could be worse, we could be A$M or ND or UT.
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That makes more sense. Thanks for the clarification.
Although NC State should have lost to ECU.
My breakdown after 2 games:
The defensive coaching staff deployed the perfect scheme to choke a 3 point lead in less than a minute. They did it twice in successive weeks. And one time, the opposition had no timeouts.
I’ve never seen anything like that. Two games in a row the defensive coaches let the kids down.
I have plenty of optimism for the kids, but absolutely none for the DC or his staff.
I’m interested for this week’s game to see if they can do that for a 3rd week in a row. I’ll be listening.
Go Coogs
https://twitter.com/Joseph_Duarte/status/1569733663075581956
The quiet part has been said out loud.
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Weird after UTSA you think we would have realized
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And the coaches didn’t “coach” them out of that mindset? What an asinine thing for Belk to say. Great job of throwing the kids under the bus while admitting that you didn’t do your job.
That’s our DC? The next big thing? Seriously?
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Tech had four punts, threw 3 interceptions, were held to a FG twice, held them on 4th once, and held to one missed FG. If you’re counting that’s 11 possessions and six points.
Our defense held a powerful passing attack to 20 points in regulation. On offense we were better on 3rd dow efficiency and yards per pass.
They had 20 more attempts than us and 16 more completions. But keep in mind the game was tied at the end of regulation with only 20 apiece. So their passing game was yielding squat or at least less than ours.
The reason they had so much time of possession is because they ran the ball 15 more times than us. And they yielded less yards per carry! For our part we out-failed them in the running game by generating only 88 yards total. A killer. You are going to have a hard time on the road rushing like that.
IMO we lost the game not on one play. We lost it because:
- 121 penalty yards to their 44
- We allowed them to convert on 2/3 4th downs while they stopped us on our lone attempt.
- We gave them 15 more rush attempts at roughly the same yards per carry.
Our run game is not good. If you have complaints about play-calling I agree. I just want our rushing to improve if we’re gonna do it.
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I respect this breakdown.
But from my memory, it was far simpler. UH lost because dumbass Dawson called a pass when he should have run it, and gave TT an extra 25, 40 seconds, whatever, that killed us.
I really can’t abide the utter stupidity of this coaching staff. Great kids, great facilities, etc. don’t matter when they are saddled with dumbassery…
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You’re wrong. The only way to seal the game was a first down. Running would’ve forced them to use all their Time outs but with first downs stopping the clock that doesn’t matter as much
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Like I say, I empathize with anyone challenging the play-calling. I really want to know the thinking on some of it.
I wish Dana had like a live chat. I would ask him on there. I’d turn down the sound so I wouldn’t hear him yell at me. Better yet I’d just log on under “sleh” or “DarthCougar” and ask it that way.
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The defense wasn’t great but they did plenty enough to win the game. Offensivly, we only scored a total of 13 points in regulation against TT, 24 points against UTSA. That’s bad. Way too many penalties, too.
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Tbh I think app st would beat us right now
The defense has been good, but they literally had the chance to close out both of the last two games with very little time on the clock. I can’t agree that they did enough to win, given that. If you cough up a lead with less than a minute left, you haven’t done enough.
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I love the confidence you have to call somebody a dumbass when you are wrong about what you are calling them a dumbass for. Coogfans legend in the making.
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