-With all of Aveons shortcomings throwing the ball, McWood injury, etc, we had no excuse to lose that game
-We had several designed runs with Aveon, but NONE in the last couple series, and guess what… we got no where.
-12 penalties. MUST HAVE BEEN BECAUSE WE PLAYED SUCH A TOUGH NON-conference schedule!!! AWFUL
-We run a fucking reverse from the 6 yard line after dominating the line of scrimmage the entire game. Settle for a FG. That’s 4 points
-We call a timeout with all momentum at the 1 yard line. Next play, Shelton false starts in the backfield on a QB SNEAK. The worst false start in the history of football. No reason to call a TO in first place. We settle for FG. Miss out on another 4.
-Ty wise jumps offside. Cmon
-THEN WE CALL A TIMEOUT ON THEIR LAST DRIVE on 3rd and long… for WHAT??? They get to talk the play over and tell Snyder to throw to Marshall. Instead of us just fucking playing.
EVERYTIME we call a timeout, we come out the next play completely unprepared.
Our two wins have come against teams with a combined record of 1-9. We just lost to a 1-3 MAC team. We are starting to resemble the bottom feeders of the MAC guys on the board frequently refer to. At this stage of our program’s development, I don’t believe we’re in that company because of inferior talent. That is disturbing.
I disagree with that assertion. Our overall performance makes us the very definition of mediocrity. Until those 2-3 plays you describe disappear - or at least aren’t so important that they cause us to lose to other mediocre teams - we are mediocre among the mediocre range of the FBS. And EMU just struggled mightily against UMass.
It appears to me the entire MAC is mediocre - and that there isn’t much of a range from top to bottom. Until someone separates from the pack, I will stick with that opinion.
And I’d sure as hell rather have had our result than lose like EMU did to Buffalo.
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We were 1-2 horrible, inexcusable plays away from our best record in almost 20 years at this poing
I have seen everyone play. I have ESPN+ and I’m retired…I watched Bowling Green beat Marshall the week after Notre Dame lost to the Herd. Telling me we’re better than Akron doesn’t go very far in dispelling my argument that - until we can prove otherwise - we are no better than most other MAC teams.
I think what bothers me the most is what I have seen game after game in the last number of years. Our offense, even when it has been effective, never looks crisp. There is an odd hesitation to our game in general. Handoffs develop painfully slowly. Our O-line, no matter what iteration, never moves lines off the ball. Our D, even when good, gives up big plays to mediocre teams. I just need to accept that we aren’t that good. We have an FCS caliber football program. Perhaps scheduling against the big boys just isn’t a formula for success. It gets in the psyche - our students and folks new to the program see us drop 3 or 4 early season games; it does not build excitement.
It is painful to type these words. I love the Miami of the 70’s that punched above its weight class. It was amazing seeing the resurgence in the 90’s culminating with Ben’s last year. But those moments are in the past.
We are supposed to be a proving ground for young coaches moving up in the world. What the hell are we doing with a 9th year coach that has not truly built anything to rival what Miami had been capable of in the past. And, the headwinds are stronger than ever. Hell, downgrade the program and put some money into a basketball arena and double down on hockey. I don’t know how we get this thing ever being more than a banged up team after a couple of brutal early season, non-conference games, and decent in the worst conference in Div I.
We are producing 3 to 4 potential NFL players the last couple years, per year…and yes if Pace, Lonnie make it…we’ll take credit…so I’m torn on your FCS take…but I get the rest if not all of your post.
The delay hand off is a thing in FBS for years now, but it pains me that we never just lineup under center hand off and hit the hole…or bust it outside…our OL seems capable this yr in run game, we just have a coach who’s biggest downfall is in game. We are never in rythmn.
Look at Kansas with a new MAC coach…look at Minnesota with row your boat, there’s a reason we still have Chuck, and 8 wins max are it…
Coaching, coaching, coaching.
Under Martin we consistently hit how we are constantly outcoached and how our team’s coaching costs us games.
I almost feel Martin really does not have confidence in his own teams. His game time decisions are baffling. Play calling is predictable and our opponents are rarely on their heals and confused. The penalties show lack of discipline year in and year out. His calling of time-outs or not calling time-outs under certain conditions is epic failures.
We discuss these every year and every year with no improvement.
Coaching, coaching, coaching
With our overall reputation and newly built modernized facilities we should be winning far more consistently than we are. If we are recruiting well, and by most standards we are, then the problem must be coaching. Dropping down to FCS should not be an option. We have nothing in common with Youngstown State, Indiana State or Murray State.
As far as piquing fan interest, there are things we can do. Winning more games in September is one of them. Bringing an interesting and beatable G5 team into Oxford early might help. As was pointed out by Chris Vaninni in his recent article in The Athletic, we need to institutionalize a rivalry game we can win more often than we lose - with Ohio - and anchor it to a mid-October Saturday.
And we need to flip this thing sooner rather than later before everyone who remembers Miami as a successful program dies off.
i’m not so sure how well we’re recruiting…we have a backup quarterback who, most times, can’t the ball within 10 feet of his receiver… our OL isn’t dominating the LoS … need i say anything on defensive backfield?
on the other hand, i do like the RB / WR cadre … and they did a nice job putting back together a front seven
i’d say chuck’s staff is slightly above average, as it relates to recruiting … i can tell you that the OL / DL coaches are top notch … so the rest is either not recruiting as good as talent as reviews claim, or coaching / development issues.
A friend of mine was down in Oxford for a big deal at the Pike House last week - unveiling their new fire truck. He mentioned something about our students being on fall break over Homecoming weekend. Could this be true?