mgriff
Useful idiot
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Well, I've waited long enough before posting my thoughts following the game, so here goes:
It was absolutely embarrassing today. While I fully expected to lose this game, I thought it would be more competitive. The defense, overall, kept the offense in the game for awhile, but there are still major problems with that unit, as well as on the offensive side of the ball. The offense, defense, and special teams all need to improve, and I think everyone can agree on that. Now, as to why these units are not performing up to par, there are plenty of reasons.
BK and his staff just implemented a new offensive and defensive scheme, and no matter how great your athletes or coaches, it takes repetition, see practice, to improve the execution. The off-season and four games is not enough time to be completely perfect in every facet of the game, so we see the glaring errors in execution every weekend on our televisions. I think everyone is pretty upset with the performance these last few weeks, and that can be blamed on the players, as well as the coaches. They haven't had enough time, and they aren't where, we, the fans would like them to be. There is obviously talent on the team, and BK, along with his staff, have been successful at their previous stops.
There is plenty of blame to go around, I think the shortcomings are to blame on the players and the staff, but I don't think it's reasonable to condemn BK or the ND players because they lost these first three games. They aren't as bad as you think, and they aren't as good as some thought; obviously.
I predicted an 8-4, or 9-3 season to start, and while that last number is most likely out the window, many of us overestimated the returns we would see simply from a coaching turnover. The players weren't properly developed or experienced, and to think BK could fix all the issues with the program in one off-season was delusional. It appears these high win totals were based more on confidence in BK, than in reality, at least that's what it seems like to me. Moving forward, there are still positives, and negatives to look at.
Many people who think the sky is falling see two games we could/should/might (use whatever one you like) have won in Michigan and Michigan St., followed by a pretty thorough beating by Stanford. This leads them to believe that we lost to two middle of the road teams in Michigan and Michigan St., and looking further down the schedule, they see a few more teams like them. Now this is not to say that Pitt and BC can't beat us, they can, but they are not as good as we thought at the beginning of the season, just like we aren't.
BC is a must win game for the rest of the season, in my opinion. Beating BC, which is a very doable task, sets the table for a home win against Pitt and then a cruise into the easy part of the schedule. Winning from now until Utah still sets the table for a possible 8-4 season, or 7-5 if we drop Utah and USC, not the marked improvement we all wanted, but an improvement nonetheless. This run I'm talking about is obviously not a given, but the BC and Pitt games are going to define our season, one way or the other. The team can fight back, or they can lose the games and go into a freefall, possibly dropping a game during our easy portion. We have to beat BC and Pitt.
Now for the eternal optimists, BK is not the savior everyone though he was, he can't turn water into wine, and he sure as hell can't take a **** team and take them to the BCS in one off-season. To many, this isn't a surprise, but to some, it's a ****ing shocker. BK has made enough questionable calls for me to realize he is human, he is not perfect, and he is not the best football coach in America. He doesn't have to be any of these things. He just has to get the team moving in the right direction, on which I will reserve judgment. It's not fair to bash this guy and his coaching capacity after four games, just like it wasn't fair to suck his **** when he was named the coach, just because he turned around other programs.
BK isn't working with the best team in America, and that is why we aren't 4-0. If he had the best team in America, we could reasonably expect to be 4-0, because we would win on talent. Look at Kiffy down in L.A. He's a horrible coach, but he's got a ****load of talent to make up for his deficiencies. There are plenty of problems on the team, and while I completely understand not being 4-0, we still had the opportunity to beat Michigan and Michigan St., and us coming up short falls on his shoulders as well. If he had done some things differently, we could have won those games, just like if the players made a few more plays we could have won, but no one did anything different, and we lost, so we deal with it.
Ultimately, ND isn't what any of us wanted this year, but it's not a shock to me. They could be 3-1, but they aren't, and that blame falls on the players and the staff. It is, however, not lost yet. A success will be showing improvement throughout the year, and ending a better team than when the season began. 8-4 is an improvement I can live with, and while 7-5 can be considered one as well, I wouldn't be thrilled or encouraged. I realize, however, and this is the most important part of being a fan; that my expectations, and whether the team meets them or not, does not determine success or failure. Only time is going to tell the impact BK will have on the program, so for now, comment all you want, but try and be level headed, intelligent, and mature when doing it. We've established that BK isn't Jesus, the team isn't as great as we thought, or hoped, due to a multitude of factors, but they aren't as bad either. Whether you think BK is great or a goat, you ultimately have to wait and see because nothing has been settled yet.
It was absolutely embarrassing today. While I fully expected to lose this game, I thought it would be more competitive. The defense, overall, kept the offense in the game for awhile, but there are still major problems with that unit, as well as on the offensive side of the ball. The offense, defense, and special teams all need to improve, and I think everyone can agree on that. Now, as to why these units are not performing up to par, there are plenty of reasons.
BK and his staff just implemented a new offensive and defensive scheme, and no matter how great your athletes or coaches, it takes repetition, see practice, to improve the execution. The off-season and four games is not enough time to be completely perfect in every facet of the game, so we see the glaring errors in execution every weekend on our televisions. I think everyone is pretty upset with the performance these last few weeks, and that can be blamed on the players, as well as the coaches. They haven't had enough time, and they aren't where, we, the fans would like them to be. There is obviously talent on the team, and BK, along with his staff, have been successful at their previous stops.
There is plenty of blame to go around, I think the shortcomings are to blame on the players and the staff, but I don't think it's reasonable to condemn BK or the ND players because they lost these first three games. They aren't as bad as you think, and they aren't as good as some thought; obviously.
I predicted an 8-4, or 9-3 season to start, and while that last number is most likely out the window, many of us overestimated the returns we would see simply from a coaching turnover. The players weren't properly developed or experienced, and to think BK could fix all the issues with the program in one off-season was delusional. It appears these high win totals were based more on confidence in BK, than in reality, at least that's what it seems like to me. Moving forward, there are still positives, and negatives to look at.
Many people who think the sky is falling see two games we could/should/might (use whatever one you like) have won in Michigan and Michigan St., followed by a pretty thorough beating by Stanford. This leads them to believe that we lost to two middle of the road teams in Michigan and Michigan St., and looking further down the schedule, they see a few more teams like them. Now this is not to say that Pitt and BC can't beat us, they can, but they are not as good as we thought at the beginning of the season, just like we aren't.
BC is a must win game for the rest of the season, in my opinion. Beating BC, which is a very doable task, sets the table for a home win against Pitt and then a cruise into the easy part of the schedule. Winning from now until Utah still sets the table for a possible 8-4 season, or 7-5 if we drop Utah and USC, not the marked improvement we all wanted, but an improvement nonetheless. This run I'm talking about is obviously not a given, but the BC and Pitt games are going to define our season, one way or the other. The team can fight back, or they can lose the games and go into a freefall, possibly dropping a game during our easy portion. We have to beat BC and Pitt.
Now for the eternal optimists, BK is not the savior everyone though he was, he can't turn water into wine, and he sure as hell can't take a **** team and take them to the BCS in one off-season. To many, this isn't a surprise, but to some, it's a ****ing shocker. BK has made enough questionable calls for me to realize he is human, he is not perfect, and he is not the best football coach in America. He doesn't have to be any of these things. He just has to get the team moving in the right direction, on which I will reserve judgment. It's not fair to bash this guy and his coaching capacity after four games, just like it wasn't fair to suck his **** when he was named the coach, just because he turned around other programs.
BK isn't working with the best team in America, and that is why we aren't 4-0. If he had the best team in America, we could reasonably expect to be 4-0, because we would win on talent. Look at Kiffy down in L.A. He's a horrible coach, but he's got a ****load of talent to make up for his deficiencies. There are plenty of problems on the team, and while I completely understand not being 4-0, we still had the opportunity to beat Michigan and Michigan St., and us coming up short falls on his shoulders as well. If he had done some things differently, we could have won those games, just like if the players made a few more plays we could have won, but no one did anything different, and we lost, so we deal with it.
Ultimately, ND isn't what any of us wanted this year, but it's not a shock to me. They could be 3-1, but they aren't, and that blame falls on the players and the staff. It is, however, not lost yet. A success will be showing improvement throughout the year, and ending a better team than when the season began. 8-4 is an improvement I can live with, and while 7-5 can be considered one as well, I wouldn't be thrilled or encouraged. I realize, however, and this is the most important part of being a fan; that my expectations, and whether the team meets them or not, does not determine success or failure. Only time is going to tell the impact BK will have on the program, so for now, comment all you want, but try and be level headed, intelligent, and mature when doing it. We've established that BK isn't Jesus, the team isn't as great as we thought, or hoped, due to a multitude of factors, but they aren't as bad either. Whether you think BK is great or a goat, you ultimately have to wait and see because nothing has been settled yet.
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