All Things considered

[ohio herd]

All things considered I say we are doing a bang up job. To start with, we had to replace our all time leading QB (CATO) in the stat dept and one of our best ever. We also lost Shuler one of greatest WR ever. We lost many others of whom I will not name. We enter the season with 2 guys - Rock and Van Horn who are NFL draft material. Both have been hurt almost the entire season.Their injuries have affected this team in a major way. Imagine losing Pennington and Moss off of the 1997 team? I am not saying Rock and Van Horn are better I am pointing out how hard it is to lose your best 2 players.Our starting QB -Birdsong goes down, guess what ? Next man up. It turns out he may have been the better guy I don't know and right about now don't care. All I know is we have found a gamer to lead this team the next 3 years.We lost our best defensive player at DB AJ Leggett due to team rules. There is no doubt his absence has hurt at times. We also lost AJL at the WR which I think would have helped spread the field more and give us better options.. Remi has been hurt and Butler let go and now we find out we have at least 5 guys at RB that can flat out play some football..On the Offensive line we have struggled some. I really think some of it is due to continuity and maybe forcing a few guys to play a year early in a game day role. I am not worried about our big guys, we have some good young guys now getting some playing time with a whole army of talented OL in the pipeline to make all of them get better in the future. This season could have tanked easily but the coaching staff and players really stepped up. I really think the next few years will be lights out in Herdland! I will gladly take a 9-10 win season in a "down year."

 

[The Real SamC]

Yep. A lot of us have forgotten the dark hopeless days of KO Marcum, the worst AD in the history of the world (Ollie Luck included) and his boy Tan Man; the afternoons spent sitting in a rotting Fairfield watching outmatched teams lose game after game; AND TOO MANY OF US HAVE FORGOTTEN WHEN WE DID NOT HAVE A TEAM.

OK, 9-3 or maybe 10-2 and some minor bowl game. And reload and hope for even more next year.

 

[19MU88]

Looks like we could have just kept Snyder and lightened up the out of conference schedule and joined the Sun Belt..........everyone would be happy.

 

[ohio herd]

Looks like we could have just kept Snyder and lightened up the out of conference schedule and joined the Sun Belt..........everyone would be happy.

Okay 88 what should we do? I don't recall the SEC asking us to join. Are you seriously saying that the MAC was/is better than C-USA? You might argue that they are now even but certainly not better now and not better when we left. I don't know how old you are but it is an undeniable fact that the SOS during the years 1997-2002 were no harder than they are now. I am pretty sure the 2011 SOS was better than any of those years. During the MS years we unfairly upped the SOS when we were recovering from NCAA sanctions, a coaching and conference change. We were doomed to start out every year with a 1-3 or 0-4 OOC record.Clear thinking prevailed and we made adjustments so Doc could put in place the pieces needed to bring the program back. You don't do that by getting clobbered the first 3-4 games each year. Now that the program is getting re-established MH is doing the right thing by scheduling better games and more challenging teams as we move forward.In conclusion, nobody wants to trend down, many of us just want to use a common sense approach that works. It worked for us under BP and it is working for us now, Fasten your seat belt buddy things are moving in the right direction.

 

[i am herdman]

9-3 with this schedule is like 6-5 with an even decent schedule. Even in a down year who on our schedule should have lost to?

Old dominion, Kent, Norfolk State, Charlotte, FIU, FAU, North Texas? Those teams are atrocious. Purdue is our biggest win and they are not very good. Taking Purdue out of it, I bet non of them might win a FCS conference championship.

This is my predication coming true. Look how good we are 9-3 in a rebuilding year. Well, no doubt. Look who we play.

 

[ohio herd]

Yep. A lot of us have forgotten the dark hopeless days of KO Marcum, the worst AD in the history of the world (Ollie Luck included) and his boy Tan Man; the afternoons spent sitting in a rotting Fairfield watching outmatched teams lose game after game; AND TOO MANY OF US HAVE FORGOTTEN WHEN WE DID NOT HAVE A TEAM.

OK, 9-3 or maybe 10-2 and some minor bowl game. And reload and hope for even more next year.

Thank you Sam. I too am old enough to have sat through many of those Saturday's. I remember going 4-7 in Reggie Olivers Sr yr and thinking we had hit the big time as a boy. I can remember joining the Southern Conference and getting pounded week after week by the likes of Furman, Western Carolina and VMI. I can also recall the Saturday we tore down the goal posts with our first 1-AA NC. I remember like it was yesterday watching us beat Toledo for our first MAC title. I do not take for granted where we are at now because I know where we have been

 

[Refiner's Fire]

I remember when we were playing WVTech just to get a win over any team to try to turn the losing attitude. Snyder's teams got saddled with playing money games that nobody expected us to win, especially since the previous staff caused us to be limited on our recruiting. Anyone that has followed us knows we have relied heavily on props. Doc has been given an opportunity to right the ship with a weaker schedule that was made even weaker with conference realignment. Our future non conference schedule is looking better. Go Herd and make the 75 proud.

 

[Tim Hensley]

Yes, in some ways it's been disappointing, but we're still going to a bowl. Next year, we will be more experienced and better. MTSU and WKU will be down; Southern Miss may give us a game. I figure Van Horn can get a medical redshirt. What about Rock?

 

[Herdstruck]

I think everything is sort of falling into place for a well oiled machine in the next several years...

The schedule is bad, but it has been won for the most part...continue on that path, we win out, we gain confidence.
Hamrick listened to your reverse complaints about the schedule (after you guys kept complaining about "being tired of starting 0-3") and re-did it...but as he's said several times, a team like KSU, was scheduled when they won 12 games and were 1 win from a BCS bowl berth...he can't help that they couldn't stay consistent and sucked till we played them. But if they were still as good as they were to that point, and we beat them? Well...it sure looks good, doesn't it?

But with the evolution of Chase Litton, the fact the injuries have set the team back are bad...BUT...in a solution focused approach, one could say the younger players, not as good at this time, getting reps with him and others, is allowing them to eventually gel as one and be a much better, and even flowing unit in the years to come.

Combine that with the improved schedule...wins against teams who may not...be so good...but notable to the naked eye, and one or two who might have a real good season...with the years coming, the experience piling on, and the wins increasing, this team can only move forward.

Then it all really comes together with the team in a few years when Chase is a senior and the team has played alongside one another since year one...and with more notable teams on the schedule, this team can really come out with confidence and beat anyone they play.


I look at all of this as a success...as I have said a million times...just seeing the injuries and issues this team has had...forget the padded schedule...it's still D-1 football players they're playing...it's still a matter of holding yourself together. Funny that people don't seem to take the teams we play seriously, but Marshall's team...is taking every game seriously. They don't laugh and joke around in practice because they're playing Charlotte...they don't take days off because their next opponent hasn't won a game all season...they get out there and do their damn thing each day!

Go Herd!

 

[redsfan5590]

9-3 with this schedule is like 6-5 with an even decent schedule. Even in a down year who on our schedule should have lost to?

Old dominion, Kent, Norfolk State, Charlotte, FIU, FAU, North Texas? Those teams are atrocious. Purdue is our biggest win and they are not very good. Taking Purdue out of it, I bet non of them might win a FCS conference championship.

This is my predication coming true. Look how good we are 9-3 in a rebuilding year. Well, no doubt. Look who we play.

This isn't a "down" year. Going into the year this would have been considered a down year. When your starting running back halfway through the year, was your slot receiever a few weeks before... It becomes more serious. I'm not going to defend the schedule at all its atrocious. But wins are wins and im proud of our record even if we lose to WKU.

I noticed Those of you telling the tales of Snyder's greatness have all glossed over that home loss to New Hampshire