Doc said . . .

[bbneutralfan]

That the team that shows the most improvement between games one and two is usually successful! Obviously we went the other direction at Ohio and that is not surprising considering Doc's record in Athens. What is truly disappointing to me was the appearant lack of preparation for that game. Consider that both teams won their opening games and had the same amount of time to prepare. Moreover OU had to fly home from half way across the country and two time zones to prepare. We had an hour and twenty minute bus ride to Athens! I realize it was only the second game but sitting in Peden once again watching Marshall which - offensively, looked like a team going into the first. Yes, Ohio did not exactly sit the world on fire either. Does anyone know (Woody please answer) what the Marshall record for penalties and penalty yardage for a single game is? Last night had to be a record breaker. And someone in a previous post talked about giving Litton a shot in the Norfolk State game. Might not be a bad idea. Just my opinion.

 

[NoPuntIntended]

OU played on 9/3 and had a long week to prepare. We played on 9/6 and had a short week. I agree we were not nearly well enough prepared. Just wanted to set that straight.

 

[beefcake0520]

I saw things in the Purdue game regarding Birdsong that worried me, the only time he completed passes that mattered was when they decided to give our wr's a cushion, if it was man coverage he had issues. Ok that was one issue, another is he doesn't have field vision and locks onto one receiver presnap never going through the progressions, he got away with it mostly vs. Purdue, but he did not get away with it vs. OU and will not get away with it from here on out, teams now know what he is doing. Issue number 3, he doesn't check down into the right plays which leads me to believe he has no idea what he is looking at when looking at what the defense is showing him, calls his own number A LOT. All we need him to do is the manage the offense, not be a world beater or even half of what cato gave us. Issue number 4, he has no pocket presence, can not see or feel where rushes are coming from, lead to two fumbles in two games, hangs on to the ball way to long. Issue number 5, when pressured he gets wild with the ball, very inaccurate, no touch on the ball for man to man coverage.

So two games in, he is not improving and some might argue he is regressing. I do not care that it was in Athens, our defense played well enough to keep us in the game until the very last score. They do not need to be on the field for an average of 90 plays a game. Any offense whatsoever would have won that game. I put more of this on Birdsong than on Legg, hopefully they get him where he needs to be or make the necessary change. 2 games in and we already have a crucial decision to make.

 

[Tim Hensley]

Long trip home from Athens. I told my buddy Henry that, if I live to be a hundred (I'm well past halfway there!), I'll never make another trip up to OU. Just too much frustration and disappointment these last three times. Hard on an old man and I am just emotionally wrung out. We have a great coach and coordinators, but Solich really seems to have our number on his home turf.

Birdsong has a long way to go. I am beginning to wonder if he is the answer. I hope it's just rust. We miss the creativity of Cato & Shuler. If things don't start to click in these next two games, it might be time to turn it over to Litton and let him develop. Our receivers need to step up.

Doc said we would be "great" this year, but I am beginning to wonder if we are not rebuilding, instead of just reloading. We lost much more than what we're letting on.

And what vanilla play calling by Legg. Not one vertical, downfield pass. We're lucky not to have a couple of "pick sixes" returned against us. Desperately need a two-back set, if Johnson is to be played to his potential.

In essence -- and no disrespect to Norfolk State or Kent, we have two weeks to get it together before the conference schedule...

 

[bbneutralfan]

Tim I'm with you. Been watching Marshall since 1961. I thought the game in Athens four years ago the team should have got on the bus at halftime! I just don't get Doc. Seems like he is satisfied with his assistants. Can't believe as the HC he didn't tell Legg to stop that stupid swing pass. OUs corners were waiting on every attempt. Mr. Birdsong, yes it's early and he has not played in a year but looks as if he simply may not be the guy IMO. Way to much time after the snap to decide and OU had good coverage. Had our defense not risen to the occasion we probably would have been stomped. As I said in Athens Solich owns Doc! Every game there better prepared, Simply no excuse for that performance and the penalties! Whew!
Like I said Doc (if he is here) has four years to prepare for 2019 and back to Peden Stadium.

 

[bangtheherd]

Like I said Doc (if he is here) has four years to prepare for 2019 and back to Peden Stadium.

Just go ahead and mark a loss down for us in 2019.

 

[beefcake0520]

Tim I'm with you. Been watching Marshall since 1961. I thought the game in Athens four years ago the team should have got on the bus at halftime! I just don't get Doc. Seems like he is satisfied with his assistants. Can't believe as the HC he didn't tell Legg to stop that stupid swing pass. OUs corners were waiting on every attempt. Mr. Birdsong, yes it's early and he has not played in a year but looks as if he simply may not be the guy IMO. Way to much time after the snap to decide and OU had good coverage. Had our defense not risen to the occasion we probably would have been stomped. As I said in Athens Solich owns Doc! Every game there better prepared, Simply no excuse for that performance and the penalties! Whew!
Like I said Doc (if he is here) has four years to prepare for 2019 and back to Peden Stadium.

They were waiting on every attempt because it took soo long for the play to happen, it is supposed to be a quick swing, instead Birdsong dropped back like he was going to sling it down field, set his feet and then threw it. Not saying it would have been successful if it was faster but that play is not supposed to take that long to complete, QB simply isn't fast enough for it or wasn't last night anyways. No touch on the ball either. Maybe the whole team was still hung over from fighting their heads off sunday, I dunno but I do fail to believe that Ohio has a better team than Purdue. Anyways that is beside the point. Maybe the lack of downfield throws were recognized as a deficiency for Birdsong and his lack of command for the playbook left little variety. Who really knows the reasons for the plays, all I know is what we knew when Cato mastered the offense, a number of plays he could chose from based on what he saw in the defense. I do wonder if Birdsong called those plays out of the options given because he doesn't believe in his self? His level of play could suggest that. something to think about.

 

[whf2]

Beef...I was wondering the same thing about birdSong.

 

[Tim Hensley]

As for the penalties, I honestly believe that the MAC refs were waiting on us, especially -- if you all will recall -- at critical times throughout the game (every time we threatened to tie it up) and especially in the first half so that we couldn't get any rhythm. They didn't try to even it up until it was obvious that OU was in control of the game.

We may never get to join a P-5 league, but the best thing we ever did was get out of that rinky-dink conference. You younger guys don't remember but it was atrocious how they treated us after the plane crash. Their panel of droll, Midwestern academicians had the audacity to come and sit officiously at one of our home basketball games after they had announced a rejection of our reinstatement. As Russell Lee, Mike D & Co. stomped the crap out of Bowling Green, two of our finest stood before them during a time out and unfurled a banner of Marco taking a dump that proclaimed "The Herd Sends A Turd to The MAC!"