2-1 could easily have been 0-3

[blevins]

Forget the scrimmage against Norfolk State. We have been outplayed in all 3 games against FBS teams; yet we won 2 of them due to special teams, inept opposing QBs, and friendly officiating. Our OL has been terrible in all 3 of those games, our QB play poor to average in all 3, and our WRs have been average at best. The defense has played good enough to win but not exceptional. It is a good thing our schedule is weak or we might be looking at a losing season (we still might). I keep hearing that we have a lot of talented players and good depth on offense - other than DJ (who can't seem to stay healthy) I don't see it. Were Cato and Shuler that much better than what we have now that they made us a feared offense in 2014 instead of the feeble one we've witnessed thus far in 2015?

 

[WV_Celt]

Litton is undeniably talented. If you act or say otherwise, you're simply being a contrarian. Pittman is a pretty talented back, and Yurachek shows how good he is when he actually gets the ball. The O line isn't very good, granted, but the recruiting has been there for the past few years to turn that around.

That was a pretty good defense they went up against yesterday. And a TRUE FRESHMAN QB lead the team to a come back victory.

 

[Herd Fever]

Who gives a shit, we are 3-1 and I saw a gritty blue-collar don't give up. That is our 2015 image, it might not be pretty but we know how to fight and win

 

[Herd Fever]

If this was 2005-2010 that team would have folded when it was 19-7 and then got blown out

 

[ThunderCat98]

Our fans are a bunch of whiny bitches.

 

[WV_Celt]

My biggest issue with people making rants and whining like this is, what school do you think you're rooting for? It's Marshall University, not some SEC school, or WVU, or even Boise State. Doc and company don't have the huge resources to go out and recruit blue chip prospects or lure high profile transfers. Get the wins you can, which are a lot, win the conference, and win bowl games. Cut and dry.

 

[pj(HN)]

I believe we witnessed a preview of the FAU game. 51 for Kent will probably be playing on Sunday's. We won. We 3-1. We have a two game home stand coming up. Let's go Herd.

 

[RhinoD]

While this team certainly has some issues, which have been talked about at length on this board, I don't think any of us are in a position to be upset about "not winning convincingly enough"... With a freshman QB, a below average receiving core and an offensive line that does not pass block very well, this team is going to have to win ugly. Run the ball, play action pass, play good defense, limit penalties and win the field position game.

Fortunately this team is 3-1 and with a CUSA schedule the rest of the way will have a chance to win every game from here out. I'm not saying that is going to happen, in fact I would bet it won't, but we should not be overmatched by anyone left on our slate.

 

[lexkyherdfan]

3-1. I will take it and our Freshman QB learning on the job and doing quite well. Some get you to experience and complain when others want to see someone get experience (Froh's last year here) so they are ready when the start graduates. Now we see growing pains with a freshman QB and our fans whine. Can't make some people happy.

Again 3-1 is all that counts.

 

[cocky jeremy]

If this was 2005-2010 that team would have folded when it was 19-7 and then got blown out

100% true. Good to see a team that actually fights back.. even though we should never have to "fight back" against Kent.

 

[W-S HerdFan]

For the OP: Directed @ you only as a representative of what I like to call The Eyore Club (TEC).
So, if I can liken MU football & TEC to something outside of athletics, it would be a comedy club. MUFB is the comic up on stage, & TEC is the part of the audience in the back of the room. Now, there has been quite a bit of buzz leading up to his appearance . He had a breakout 14 game tour last year, and even though he is breaking in a lot of new material, folks are pretty excited.

Opening night, he gives a solid performance. The reviews are encouraging. Then his 2nd week act is just that-weak. TEC starts giving him hell from the back of the room. The 3rd week, he has an easy night & TEC is mostly
silent. Now, in the 4th week of his act, he has an up & down evening, but saves the night with
a brilliant delivery on his last joke. This pleases the crowd in the front rows, who are made up
mostly of his family & friends.

But TEC is not happy. No, not happy at all!
They begin heckling the comedian, trying to get
him off of his game........

That seems to be where we are as a fan base, & we have been there for a long time.
I am all about being in the front row. Just wanted TEC to know you can still redeem your
free drink coupon. So, drink up & join us down
front. I promise you will have a good time.

Go HERD!!!!

 

[blevins]

OK fellows I get the point: We are 3-1 and should be happy about that. I AM!!
The point of my post was to point out that we are fortunate to be there due to some really poor offensive play. I don't see my comments as "whining" - I see them as stating a set of facts for discussion. Someone said Litton was extremely talented and I hope you are correct. It is still too early to judge his effectiveness after only 2 games: One against an outmatched Norfolk State and the other against a poor Kent State team. He has the tools and I too think he will become a good QB for Marshall. Someone also mentioned that Kent had a pretty good defense. I disagree. Illinois put 52 points on them - Yes the same Illinois that lost to North Carolina 14-48 2 weeks ago and had to mount a late drive to beat Middle Tennessee 27-25 last week. As a long time Herd fan, I love the team as much as anyone on this board. But I thought a football forum was meant as a place to discuss the current state of our team, not an alter to worship them.

 

[Herdstruck]

Few things...

One of the better things about this team isnthat they have experienced the pripr season of winning...that sort of feeling is big and often contageous, meaning, they will do whatever they can to win again. I think you all saw that against KSU.

One of the bright spots that nobody seems to talk about is the Special Teams play. We have one hell of a punter and overall, a solid group who helped make it as difficult as possible for KSU or anyone, to get good field position. Combine that with probably the best conditioned defense in America because of their time spent on the field...you have the makings of a team who cannot break.

And yes, with the jimmy carter of coaches AKA snyder, Marshall would've folded and quit midway through the 3rd...Doc may not be a solid X's and O's type, but that team sure as hell refuses to lose.

 

[Herdstruck]

OK fellows I get the point: We are 3-1 and should be happy about that. I AM!!
The point of my post was to point out that we are fortunate to be there due to some really poor offensive play. I don't see my comments as "whining" - I see them as stating a set of facts for discussion. Someone said Litton was extremely talented and I hope you are correct. It is still too early to judge his effectiveness after only 2 games: One against an outmatched Norfolk State and the other against a poor Kent State team. He has the tools and I too think he will become a good QB for Marshall. Someone also mentioned that Kent had a pretty good defense. I disagree. Illinois put 52 points on them - Yes the same Illinois that lost to North Carolina 14-48 2 weeks ago and had to mount a late drive to beat Middle Tennessee 27-25 last week. As a long time Herd fan, I love the team as much as anyone on this board. But I thought a football forum was meant as a place to discuss the current state of our team, not an alter to worship them.

If you are so happy, why do whine like a dumb child?
You claim you have discussion for facts...what facts? What discussion? This sort of thing has been discussed at great length all weekend.

I dare ask the moderators to allow 1 thread, entirely dedicated to complaining...just 1...cause that is where your thread would go.

You claim to be some longtime fan...but honestly, you, like several others, expect Marshall to be perfect and complain so much when we aren't.

Fact is, KSU ranked 3rd in the NCAA and top of their conference.
Fact is, Litton was still adjusting to the offense.
Fact is, our backups for our starters on the lines were absolutely outmuscled.
Fact is, Litton likely didn't expect the pocket to collapse on him as much as it did...I was critical of him not getting rid of the ball faster.
Fact is, Litton was able to lead the offense to a come from behind victory on the final down of the final play of the goddamn game.

Fact is, we won.

 

[PizzaPieSally]

They are not going to have a losing season. They're not going to go 13-1 but they will be ok.

3-1 is good. The win over Norfolk State counts. The win over Kent counts too. Kent could have won the game by 3 points in regulation if their coach wasn't such a bone head. But he is, and they didnt.

Reminds me of all those games we used to lose because of penalties and idiot coaching. Nice to see it happening to somebody else.

 

[W-S HerdFan]

PPS - Oh gurl, you are SO bringing back the memories from "back in the day". You got so used to losing close games late that you could not afford to completely invest your emotions because the let down would be so severe.....

 

[i am herdman]

Luckily the schedule is a dung pile so, we will get bowl eligible no matter how down we are. If we can't we have big problems. Honestly 7 or 8 wins is ho hum with our schedule, IMO.

After the next two weeks we will be 5-1. We play well at home.

 

[TheGreenhouseEffect]

Someone once said, "win baby just win"

That's exactly what this group of back up, mis fit, learn as you go, herd players and team have done.

Love it, Go Herd!

 

[PizzaPieSally]

I think the play will improve eventually. They are better than they've been playing.

 

[W-S HerdFan]

@blevins: always good to get perspective from another's viewpoint. We are all I this together!
Go Herd
WS

 

[blevins]

Fact is, KSU ranked 3rd in the NCAA and top of their conference.
Fact is, Litton was still adjusting to the offense.
Fact is, our backups for our starters on the lines were absolutely outmuscled.
Fact is, Litton likely didn't expect the pocket to collapse on him as much as it did...I was critical of him not getting rid of the ball faster.
Fact is, Litton was able to lead the offense to a come from behind victory on the final down of the final play of the goddamn game.

Herdstruck - Lets examine your "facts" individually:
1) You may be correct on your first fact. I do know that after the Marshall game Kent State is still 4th in total defense based on yards/game. If you look a little closer you will notice that their defense is ranked somewhere around 81st in points/game. Since the job of a defense is not to give up points, KSU is not a good defense. Their attacking style (which I like) gets a lot of tackles near the line of scrimmage but gives up points beyond the LOS.
3) Have we been playing with backups on the OL every game? I ask because Purdue and OU pushed them around too.
2 & 4) Litton is young and still adjusting. He will get better at getting rid of the ball when pressured. You are correct on this. But wouldn't you agree Birdsong was pressured in both the Purdue and OU games too and we didn't give him that excuse for his so-so play?
5) Litton did not win on the final play of the game. Our defense had to hold KSU in both regulation and 2nd overtime to secure the victory. But he did lead us to a TD late in regulation, in the 1st OT, and in the 2nd OT. I was very impressed with him and his teammates for getting those scores at crunch time.
6) Your last fact was WE WON! I'm as happy as you are about that.

Now let me give you some stats about our offense which was the point of my original post.. Playing against really weak competition we rank 101 tied in total offense, 106 in 3rd down conversion %, and 123 in turnovers lost out of 127 FBS teams. To be fair - an offense's job is to score - we are ranked 57 tied in scoring. Those are very low rankings for a once proud offense and a big drop off in just 1 year's time.
I hope we get our problems fixed soon since conference play is now here.

 

[beefcake0520]

Herdstruck - Lets examine your "facts" individually:
1) You may be correct on your first fact. I do know that after the Marshall game Kent State is still 4th in total defense based on yards/game. If you look a little closer you will notice that their defense is ranked somewhere around 81st in points/game. Since the job of a defense is not to give up points, KSU is not a good defense. Their attacking style (which I like) gets a lot of tackles near the line of scrimmage but gives up points beyond the LOS.
3) Have we been playing with backups on the OL every game? I ask because Purdue and OU pushed them around too.
2 & 4) Litton is young and still adjusting. He will get better at getting rid of the ball when pressured. You are correct on this. But wouldn't you agree Birdsong was pressured in both the Purdue and OU games too and we didn't give him that excuse for his so-so play?
5) Litton did not win on the final play of the game. Our defense had to hold KSU in both regulation and 2nd overtime to secure the victory. But he did lead us to a TD late in regulation, in the 1st OT, and in the 2nd OT. I was very impressed with him and his teammates for getting those scores at crunch time.
6) Your last fact was WE WON! I'm as happy as you are about that.

Now let me give you some stats about our offense which was the point of my original post.. Playing against really weak competition we rank 101 tied in total offense, 106 in 3rd down conversion %, and 123 in turnovers lost out of 127 FBS teams. To be fair - an offense's job is to score - we are ranked 57 tied in scoring. Those are very low rankings for a once proud offense and a big drop off in just 1 year's time.
I hope we get our problems fixed soon since conference play is now here.

Ok, lets look at something a little closer here. The only gimme game we have played is NSU, so lets look at the other 3. A B10 opponent with a B10 defense who held BGSU in check most of the game when others couldn't and with birdsong, the next game OU, they always give us fits no matter who is behind center in Athens just how it goes up there and many of us feared this game from the beginning, by the way they should have beaten Minn. KSU, another away game against a very aggressive defense with a very young QB and young or inexperienced tackle getting his butt beat a lot, had a chance to beat Minn too.

I don't think you can put a whole lot into offensive rankings with the games we have had to play to date. Litton, as young as he is, didn't make a whole lot of mistakes at KSU, cudo's to that kid for hanging in there. Addison is obviously better than Collins, coaches learn like we do at times as some players show up when the lights come on better than others. Pittman, we are in good hands when DJ graduates. Recievers, well they have no where to go but up. Last but not least, this season is looking more and more like a 2013 repeat, almost to the T, except we beat our P-5 opponent this time around. I see us losing two more games at MTSU and WKY, so 9-3. Hell all of us would have taken that no matter the schedule at any time since 2004.

This team showed me a bit, because honestly, I was sure they were going to lose down 19-7 and not moving the ball.