So far we got blown out by a Miami (FL) team that just beat a ranked TA&M squad, and they’re now ranked themselves. We beat a bad UMass team, but it was by 2 TDs on the road with long weather delays.
We’re only 2 games in, but I want to ask you this: From what you’ve seen, are we better, worse, or about the same as you expected we’d be? Why?
I’m channeling what ballcoach said but I think he’s right. I bet we are pretty solid this year. Like 8 wins or more. If we beat UC then we have some idea of how high we can go. They are a tough team but not an unbeatable one.
This is a team that should have a good record, mainly due to how good they are relative to their competition. They should see wins against: Delaware St, @ Kent, BG, @ Western, Akron, Buffalo, and @ Ball St. That’s an 8 win season with a real shot of 9 with a win in Athens. I think they are what I expected at this point.
I am satisfied with where the passing game is headed (took advantage of the deep ball where it was available this week). J Tracy and Virgil should be key pieces of the passing game over the course of the season. The ability to use the full width of the field and layers in the passing game is a welcomed sight. The rushing game has to get going. This one is baffling…this roster has Mozee, Davis and Tracy who combined for 1,500 yards 2 years ago. This year we seem more intent on running between the tackles with Amos. I haven’t been able to tell if the lack of success is related to personnel, execution or play calling. I do hope to see the offense learn to play at a faster pace over the next couple of weeks.
Defense will be fine. I think we are still healing some DBs and will get good pressure on the QB with this front 4. If there are weaknesses, it may be the lateral speed of the LBs and tackling ability of the CB’s.
Better than last year. I love Amos,Larvadain, and Brett is back.
We need to start out 3-0 in MAC play… plain and simple. Compete vs Big12 UC and then crush DSU.
I think a little better than expected. Didn’t expect the Hurricanes would have taken quite the leap they took from last season. Probably as good as expected going into the fourth quarter down 24-3. I expected a bit more innovation from the offensive side. We were way too predictable to have much success against the talent in that defense. Our defense was quite worn down in the fourth.
UMass was such a weird game it’s hard to tell. We had a terrific but one dimensional passing attack dependent on a single receiver. He’ll be covered like a blanket by more talented teams and double teamed by less talented opponents. The running game was fairly one dimensional, too, but solid. Amos appears to be the big power back we missed the past few years. The bottom line is I think we need to get more people involved in the offense ,including Aveon, who stood on the sidelines the entire game. He’s a dangerous weapon we should be able to utilize beyond being the back up QB.
Overall, it looks like the MAC is about the worst G5 conference this season. Kent, Akron, Ball State, Western, Buffalo, Central and possibly NIU don’t look very good. I’d say we need to win at least 8-4 and be competitive at UC for me to see this season as any kind of success.
Imo Chuck has a team that is theoretically capable of winning 10 games. We’ll probably finish OOC at 2-2, he’s shown a few times that he’s capable of going 6-2 in MAC play, and he’s shown that he can win the MAC championship and a bowl. That being said, everything needs to go right and with him at the helm I don’t have confidence that we’ll do that. More likely than not we’ll finish the regular season at 6-6/7-5 with wins over bad/average teams, losses to the better squads (and probably one wtf game in there), and a bowl loss to some MWC team in Idaho.
Well, until CM proves otherwise, we are a 6-6, 6-7 team.
This schedule should = at least 7 wins. Be shocked with a win at sUCks. They are big and fast.