After 4 games my take on the Herd

[ohio herd]

At the start of the season I thought it would take the first 4 games to get a feel for on this years team . Here is my view . I think Stone Earl is doing a solid job. He isn’t going to be the next Cato but he is serviceable and I believe can win us some games. Turner has great potential and serves us well. The OL is playing better that I expect so props to them . Our WR have some talent but still drop some passes they should catch. The defense is about what I thought the one kid Mike Greenis lights out. They are plenty good enough to keep us in every game. I really think we have a chance to win the conference championship this year.

 

[HerdFan73]

At the start of the season I thought it would take the first 4 games to get a feel for on this years team . Here is my view . I think Stone Earl is doing a solid job. He isn’t going to be the next Cato but he is serviceable and I believe can win us some games. Turner has great potential and serves us well. The OL is playing better that I expect so props to them . Our WR have some talent but still drop some passes they should catch. The defense is about what I thought the one kid Mike Greenis lights out. They are plenty good enough to keep us in every game. I really think we have a chance to win the conference championship this year.

I wish I shared your optimism.

1. Looks like our run defense might be genuinely bad. That is always an issue for a team .

2. Have you seen JMU ?

 

[Rock98Dog]

As of today we are not a championship caliber team, but we are better than last year. I’m confused with some stuff as it happens, not as bad as the refs with downs, but still confused.

For example, Turner now has 348 yards rushing on 30 carries. How does a guy averaging over 11 yards per carry only average 7.5 touches per game? Houston has 115 yards on 33 carries. I understand keeping guys fresh, but a 20 yo should be able to carry the ball more than 8 times over 3 1/2 hours. He hasn’t had more than 9 carries in any of the first 4 games. Our QB gets more designed carries than a RB averaging 11 ypc. I’m starting to wonder if Stone is just playing a little hero ball, especially close to the goal line.

Next, we throw a 32 yard TD to our TE and never target him again. Was the TD, where he was wide open, an indication of a mismatch or a fluke? Don’t know, we never looked at him again.

On defense we just look disorganized. Many blown assignments, no gap discipline in the run game. We seem to just not be dialed in because I think we have talent. The LBers don’t shed blocks very well and try to run around them which gives too many cut back lanes. Got to work on that.

 

[greengeezer]

2. Have you seen JMU ?

They are scoring almost as many points per game as we have scored all season.

 

[The Real SamC]

It is early to know a whole lot about the matter. We were grossly over matched against Ohio State, one of the best teams in the country; and against Virginia Tech, who looks to be an ACC backmarker; grossly under matched against some random I-AA; so that brings us to WMU, which likewise has two overmatches (Ohio State and Wisconsin) and some I-AA. WMU did not look good at all, looks like a MAC bottom feeder. And we struggled to win at home vs. that.

6-6.

 

[greengeezer]

I’m just glad that Marshall pulled out a win at the end. I didn’t want to be in that long line to kiss Sam’s butt because he predicted a loss for us.

 

[cincyherdfan]

Sam this team owned you last year after saying they wouldn’t win a game after Albany and they’ve owned you the last 3 weeks.
We probably need a gofundme account for Sam as he’s lost his butt the last 3 weeks on his “bets”

 

[johns1124]

After 4 games I can conclude:

Huff et al, does not know the difference between an "Air Raid" and "Run and Shoot", offense.

 

[MUMAN3419]

Offense is improved from last year. The only position that I see as worse than last year is Rb. Although Turner could change my opinion of that. But he doesn’t get enough carries.

Defense is worse than last year. Poor alignments and poor run defense will be the end of this team going forward for a conference championship. If we were better on D I could see us competing with JMU.

Speaking of JMU, THAT is how you hire a coaching staff. I hope we call them and hire whoever makes their football hires. Because we have 0 phuking clue.

 

[johnathan h]

They are scoring almost as many points per game as we have scored all season.

Concerned about JMU. But will be interesting to see who can stay healthy through October and November.

 

[The Real SamC]

Sam this team owned you last year after saying they wouldn’t win a game after Albany and they’ve owned you the last 3 weeks.
We probably need a gofundme account for Sam as he’s lost his butt the last 3 weeks on his “bets”

You do know how to do math, right?

MU is 2-2. Having beaten a I-AA and a 1-3 (0-3 in I-A) MAC bottomfeeder. Yeah.

So it "owned" me by LOSING. Got it.

Last year, CH went 6-7, beating one team with a winning I-A record. Yeah.

His own lapdog incompetent AD called that performance "unacceptable" (before accepting it).

So it "owned" me by LOSING and turning in an "unacceptable" performance. Got it.

So here you are, all wanting to talk smack, because in the last 17 games, CH has beaten 6 I-A teams, one of which had a winning record.

You sound like a Spamite, c. 1990.

If this is success, what does failure look like in your world?

We are Marshall, we play for 5th place.

 

[johns1124]

Concerned about JMU. But will be interesting to see who can stay healthy through October and November.

Don't be. Three of their wins are against teams that are/were in the Bottom 10. They have yet to see any Defense. I would like to see them play a team with any sort of D. That may be next weekend.

 

[whf2]

I think Stone Earle is getting good, actually. And yesterday it felt a little like Cato and Shuler, with him and Metcalf; liked it.

The defense played a gazillion guys, getting amazing experience in the win. JMU is good, but they haven't played anyone close to our skill level yet; although I do worry about our CBs.

Give WMU coaches credit, they changed up the blocking assignments at half time, doubled our interior linemen, and it worked. Great ole fashion MU vs WMU football game. The rest of the season should be interesting, to say the least.

 

[elginherd]

I think Stone Earle is getting good, actually. And yesterday it felt a little like Cato and Shuler, with him and Metcalf; liked it.

The defense played a gazillion guys, getting amazing experience in the win. JMU is good, but they haven't played anyone close to our skill level yet; although I do worry about our CBs.

Give WMU coaches credit, they changed up the blocking assignments at half time, doubled our interior linemen, and it worked. Great ole fashion MU vs WMU football game. The rest of the season should be interesting, to say the least.

The defense was very slow to adjust to WMU's blocking when they emphasized running the C and D gaps.
The issue should've been resolved after the first drive of the second half.

I thought that Earle and the offense were pretty good, though I believe that they left some plays that should've been made.
It'd be interesting to ask why AJ Turner is only getting 8 or 9 touches a game. He's a RB who's smart, instinctive, quick and fast. Maybe it's pass protection issues??

 

[TwolfHerdfan]

Offense is improved from last year. The only position that I see as worse than last year is Rb. Although Turner could change my opinion of that. But he doesn’t get enough carries.

Defense is worse than last year. Poor alignments and poor run defense will be the end of this team going forward for a conference championship. If we were better on D I could see us competing with JMU.

Speaking of JMU, THAT is how you hire a coaching staff. I hope we call them and hire whoever makes their football hires. Because we have 0 phuking clue.

100% agree on JMU and their hires. They do it right.