New Orleans Bowl
- Thread starter bbneutralfan
- Start date
That's about as good a game the Herd could have hoped for. Rajun Cajuns were #16 in the AP poll this morning, and I believe #22 in the final CFP poll. Game is at their stadium, right?
Absolutely the best opponent we could have gotten... Let's hope we give them a game and show we are ready to compete in the Sun Belt whenever we get there.
This is the best team we have played all year. We will be at least 17 point underdogs and I don’t see how we keep it that close.
This is the year I would have been happy to play a 7-5 MAC team so that we’d have a chance to end the year on a positive note.
This is the year I would have been happy to play a 7-5 MAC team so that we’d have a chance to end the year on a positive note.
This is an exact reason we have underachieved as a program for a decade. We still have the draw or recognition. We get to play the Sunbelt Champ and they are ranked.
We have to get better.
They are going to want to whip the shit right out of us.
We have to get better.
They are going to want to whip the shit right out of us.
Good lord, man. No we won’t.
Louisiana is good but they aren’t spectacular. Lots and lots of close wins this year over mediocre teams.
Good lord, man. No we won’t.
They beat mediocre teams. We lost to 3-4 mediocre teams and never beat a good team.
They beat App twice. They blew them out once and never trailed the second game.
They beat mediocre teams. We lost to 3-4 mediocre teams and never beat a good team.
We were leading Appy by 9 going into the 4th quarter. Appy lost to Louisiana by 8. We play the bowl until the end of the 3rd quarter and should be up by 1. At that point, we quit and declare ourselves the winner! 😀
Let’s get back to the topic we were discussing.
Are we or are we not 17 point underdogs?
We are not according to Vegas. I thought it would be in the 14-17 range. I was wrong.
This could be a replay of the bowl game against UCF a couple of years ago.
I hope I’m wrong.
If Zban quarterbacks it will probably either be three runs and punt or two runs and a five to ten yard pass then punt.
Good luck to anyone trying to convince MU fans that we're wholeheartedly capable of competing with Louisiana. For some reason, maybe because so many think going to SBC is a step up from C-USA (Bad Mistake on that belief, by the way), folks think we can't compete. With more experienced coaching this year our team would be ranked too. They will have 30,000 rabid fans in the Super Dome, good for them.
I watched Louisiana and Appy yesterday. Louisiana reminds me of Cato/Legg offense of old. If you keep their 5’10” qb in the pocket we will give them all they want. If you let him run around and throw (pick up game/street ball) we get beat.
I’m excited for the opportunity. It should be fun.
I’m excited for the opportunity. It should be fun.
If Marshall ans James Madison went into the SBC right now we would be the fourth best team in the division. We have to get better.
We will have to play our best football game against Louisiana. We can win but will have to play very well to win.
Just for the record, their fans are not at all happy about having to play us... They wanted either (UTSA a conference champ, NIU, a conference champ, or BYU).
Basically, the Ragin's went 12-1, won their conference, are ranked in the top 20 and their reward for a great season is a quasi-home game against a 7-5 Marshall team coming off a blowout loss to WKU.
Lose your head coach and get stuck with a 7-5 CUSA team in a bowl game. Tough week for our future Sun Belt mates.
Basically, the Ragin's went 12-1, won their conference, are ranked in the top 20 and their reward for a great season is a quasi-home game against a 7-5 Marshall team coming off a blowout loss to WKU.
Lose your head coach and get stuck with a 7-5 CUSA team in a bowl game. Tough week for our future Sun Belt mates.
Maybe they'll come in not as focused and we can start fast and whip them.
LOL. If the roles were reversed, this board would be going ape sh!t as well. Don't blame them. GO HERD!
won't it be glorious when we win the Belt??? this is what the champion gets?
As opposed to the awesome matches the champions of the other G5 conferences usually get?
Once again, ALL FIVE G5 bowl matrixes are about the same.
And, of course, you presuppose that this crew is ever going to win a conference championship;
This is a classic bowl deal that reminds me of 20 or 30 years ago. The local chamber of commerce types gin up a bowl between a team local enough to roll into town and lay out some $$ and some northern school they should beat easily. It is what the NOB has been for all but a handful of years.
We have a roll to play.
Thinking maybe the bowl did Marshall a favor, since it's the top team moving into the Sun Belt. Scorned WKU and UTSA, and picked the Herd instead.
The mindset continues. Whereas we loved to bash CUSA, now we start to bash the Belt even before we get there.
I don't think we are bashing the Belt as much as we are bashing ourselves... Can you imagine the meltdown on this board if we went 12-1, were ranked #16 in the country and we were sent to the New Orleans Bowl to pay a 7-5 team from the MAC?
We got placed in this game because of storylines and name recognition, and as has been pointed out many times, that is how the bowl season works for G5 teams... The commentary for 3 hours will focus on Marshall and Louisiana being "future Sun Belt rivals" and talk about the two teams "history" of being among the top G5 programs (even though this year we aren't).
If we win, that's a good deal and they will play it up as "announcing ourselves as Sun Belt contenders"... If we lose, it will be "Louisiana is the class of the conference and a G5 power player."
In the end, everyone wins, except the diehard Louisiana fans... The bowl gets to sell a bunch of tickets by having a good local team, Marshall gets a game against a ranked opponent, ESPN gets a "marquee" matchup between two teams with some level of brand recognition for their final Saturday night bowl game time slot.
We got placed in this game because of storylines and name recognition, and as has been pointed out many times, that is how the bowl season works for G5 teams... The commentary for 3 hours will focus on Marshall and Louisiana being "future Sun Belt rivals" and talk about the two teams "history" of being among the top G5 programs (even though this year we aren't).
If we win, that's a good deal and they will play it up as "announcing ourselves as Sun Belt contenders"... If we lose, it will be "Louisiana is the class of the conference and a G5 power player."
In the end, everyone wins, except the diehard Louisiana fans... The bowl gets to sell a bunch of tickets by having a good local team, Marshall gets a game against a ranked opponent, ESPN gets a "marquee" matchup between two teams with some level of brand recognition for their final Saturday night bowl game time slot.
THIS.
Group of 5 football means the access bowl, which this crew is light years from having a shot at, or some goofy sponsored, goofy named bowl versus another G5, or a 6-6 also ran P5. For CUSA, for the AAC, for the SBC, for the MAC, and even for the MWC.
This year Cincinnati got the access bowl, actually the playoffs, where they will be assreamed. G5 vs. P5 bowls are 6-6 Louisville - Air Force; 6-6 Auburn - Houston; 6-6 Florida - UCF; and 7-5 Oregon - Utah State. Every other G5 team is playing another G5 team. THAT is how the system works. I like it better than our MAC time when the champion, and only the champion, went to a “bowl” in frozen Detroit suburbs played before 10% capacity. But if you cannot be happy with the bowl system as it is today, then nothing that happens is ever going to make you happy. Find something else.
Normally, I would point out Sam's grammatical error, but - in this case? I actually think he is spot on. We will fill the role of the toilet paper, and the Cajuns? Well, they will use us thusly and then flush.
I am not afraid of the Cajuns. They beat a lot of bad teams close (not that they do not have some good wins over good teams) . This will be a good game. I am excited about this bowl and it is about the best we could have expected.
Agree! A LOT of close calls, but a win is a win. Their most impressive wins are the first game against App and then against Liberty. https://ragincajuns.com/sports/football/schedule/2021
Assuming the Herd has their QB back to playing, I think it will be a closely fought game, one that the Herd could win. If GW plays, I'm picking the damn Herd to win. If the QB doesn't play, then Herd is probably in for a very long afternoon/evening.
Actually, UTSA and WKU got interesting opponents as well.
UTSA I think got San Diego State and WKU got App State.
I'm just trying to figure out how I'm going to be able to stay up and watch the Herd game, since it starts at 9:15 on a Saturday night. That starts about 30 minutes after I normally pass out from my day drinking problem.
I agree 100% that the narrative makes the game watchable and you can always find a narrative.
ESPN managed to make a small school in Idaho interesting for a decade.
I usually drink a mixed drink that has some liquid caffine in it or a shot with the same thing, problem solved.
Similar threads
