Agreed BUT NW and UC games were winnable if we had an independent/talented OC and a HC who is a good game day coach . I am concerned - we have a very experienced team with a HC who has been with the program for 10 years. We should be 2-1 with a close loss to ND. The next two games will tell us if CM is able to make needed adjustments or he remains set in his ways and plays for the other team to make mistakes and plays for us not to lose.
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I think we played well in all three. I just think it takes a lot out of us. We have often lost starters in those first games ( Brett at UK comes to mind). I like to ease into the season. We never have the opportunity to do that. I said we would win 8 games and I still believe that.
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We lost Coldiron in the first quarter of last year’s Miami of Florida game.
ideally, a G5 schedule should start with an FCS home game, followed by a G5 away game, a G5 home game or winnable P4 road game and a highly challenging big payday P4 away game - not with three straight P4 games.
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That schedule isnt hard enough. We already play 8 G5 games. 10 G5 games and an FCS game is too easy
Plus we need 2 power 4 money games.
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Have to play 2 P4. Especially if we want to be in CFP consideration. Hard to schedule winnable games bc they are scheduled years in advance. We have to recruit and develop better
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I disagree with Ballcoach on one point. I believe we should never schedule one of the top 10 programs in FCS. We have nothing to gain by a win and in most years we will have a strong possibility of emerging with a loss
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I would rather have a test that we can and should win than a game we won’t win and may lose players to injury. I am not afraid of competition. I don’t like “gimme” games, but what do I know huh?
Let us not act like we are some distinguished P5 program that may suffer from a disreputable loss. If Miami can schedule a game with a regional FCS that can draw people to Millet; do it. I’d rather see that game, than an A$$ beating from Notre Dame or Ohio A&M.
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Who did we lose to injuries in the first three games this year?
I’d counter this point by saying that you don’t NEED 2 P4 games to be in CFP contention. Liberty was the top G5 team last year and their non conference schedule was BG, Buffalo, Old Dominion, and UMass
For the sake of argument, let’s set aside the fact that Liberty is a glorified money making operation disguised as a university and doesn’t need buy games to supplement income.
From a purely making the CFP point of view it would probably be easier to run the table against the G5 than play buy games & hope you squeak out a couple wins even if that would give you a tougher schedule & make you look better.
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Just glad we got out of the P4 games relatively healthy.
https://x.com/s_helwick/status/1838613460550103259?s=46&t=iks34uxihN5C4hJJ57kxog
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I would hate to lose the opp to play top 20 teams. Sometimes, upsets can happen. Not common but neither is being handsome like me.
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What does getting regularly smoked to for
Building a winning culture and fan base?
I think the minute you stop believing you can’t ever beat bigger teams is when you should consider not playing at the highest level. We don’t need 3 games against top 25 teams every year but we shouldn’t be afraid to play one.
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Side note about scheduling, but keep in mind that most OOC buy games are planned 5+ years in advance unless something weird happens like our Mizzou cancelation/Rutgers replacement. If you schedule a team like OSU it’s a decent bet they’ll be good when you play them in the future, but most other programs could be anywhere with how the portal and realignment have drastically affected medium-term fortunes for P4 teams.
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Nobody said that.
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That’s what I’m saying.
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I know you are. Everything you have said has come true. I’m the only one who follows your clues. 8 wins is a fine year after what we experienced last year.
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Right. So I’m not sure a viable reason to avoid scheduling 3 buy is to avoid injuries. IIRC, our QB almost had a career ending injury against a non-buy game. They cane happen in any game.
What can’t happen in any game is getting paid $1-$1.5M.
It’s never just one thing on these topics….so I don’t want to make it that…. I just think the fear on injuries when we play a buy game isn’t as fearful to me.
Look how many players ND lost before our game. The bad luck happens to every team. The P5 just has more depth.
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