Reflections through first four games

[ohio herd]

Coming into this season I was of the view we would have a good season. I still feel that way. I figured we would at least go 2-2 OOC and maybe with a few breaks 3-1. As frustrating as the past two games have been we are about where I thought we would be. Actually we are ahead of where I thought we might be because we had a chance to be 4-0 at this point. Going forward the rest of the season I still think we go 7-1 in conference, win an east division and return to the C-USA title game, A win there and a bowl win would bring us to an 11-3 season which is good in my book

 

[W-S HerdFan]

Coming into this season I was of the view we would have a good season. I still feel that way. I figured we would at least go 2-2 OOC and maybe with a few breaks 3-1. As frustrating as the past two games have been we are about where I thought we would be. Actually we are ahead of where I thought we might be because we had a chance to be 4-0 at this point. Going forward the rest of the season I still think we go 7-1 in conference, win an east division and return to the C-USA title game, A win there and a bowl win would bring us to an 11-3 season which is good in my book

Absolutely ohio herd. Well stated. 9-3? Yeah, most college football teams’ fan bases’ would approve…..

 

[oldeherd]

Given the overall caliber of CUSA football, 2021 version, which is PUTRID, I would recently have said that 9-3 could easily be obtained. However, given some of our Fourth Quarter questionable decisions and faux pas the last two games, now I am not so sure!!

 

[RhinoD]

We have two wins, a one-point loss and a choke... Which isn't exactly out of the norm for us in recent years.

I still think we win 8-9 games given the state of the conference and who is on the schedule the rest of the way. Let's win the division and get back to the CUSA championship game.

 

[ilmherdfan]

At 8-4 we’ll need help to win the East. I think 9-3 is doable (loss to UAB) but we could easily go 7-5 (some combo of UAB, FAU, WKU, N Texas, Charlotte).

Anything less than 8-4 I would consider a failure.

 

[The Real SamC]

Given the overall caliber of CUSA football, 2021 version, which is PUTRID,

Would you be including 3-1 UNCC? How about 4-0, wins over a Big 10 team and a team from the vaunted THE AMERICAN!!!!!! UTSA? How about 3-1, losing only to eventual national champion Georgia, UAB? 3-1 UTEP? Or 2-2, with two losses to Top 25 teams, LTU?

Just need to know who is "putrid".

 

[riflearm2]

Would you be including 3-1 UNCC? How about 4-0, wins over a Big 10 team and a team from the vaunted THE AMERICAN!!!!!! UTSA? How about 3-1, losing only to eventual national champion Georgia, UAB? 3-1 UTEP? Or 2-2, with two losses to Top 25 teams, LTU?

Just need to know who is "putrid".

I’m guessing he is referring to the ratings from highly respected computers showing that, once again, C-USA is performing the worst of any conference in the country. But hey, we have you, Samantha, once again trying to argue against every expert and every other reasonable person. It’s probably that ESPN conspiracy taking place that has been trying to hold Marshall down for the last 17 years, huh?

And UTEP is still putrid. They struggled against a bad FCS team, beat a pretend FBS team (NMSU), and won by seven against a New Mexico team that was thrashed by Covid tracing so badly that they had six of their top eight receivers stay home.

 

[caliherd]

We will finish 9-3 or 10-2 because as always CUSA is as always awful. CUSA had exactly one team that has accomplished anything this year so far and that is UTSA which we won’t play unless it’s in the championship game.

By the way Sam with your stupid knock on the American you realize that we lost at home to one of the worst teams in the AAC in 1-3 ECU. You know the same ECU who lost to Charleston Southern.

I will never stop saying it as long as we are in this putrid conference the OOC is the only chance that we have if getting any national notice. If we are 4-0 right now we are probably in the top 25. But instead we can completely run away with CUSA and nobody will care.

 

[19MU88]

We will finish 9-3 or 10-2 because as always CUSA is as always awful. CUSA had exactly one team that has accomplished anything this year so far and that is UTSA which we won’t play unless it’s in the championship game.

By the way Sam with your stupid knock on the American you realize that we lost at home to one of the worst teams in the AAC in 1-3 ECU. You know the same ECU who lost to Charleston Southern.

I will never stop saying it as long as we are in this putrid conference the OOC is the only chance that we have if getting any national notice. If we are 4-0 right now we are probably in the top 25. But instead we can completely run away with CUSA and nobody will care.

uh, ECU didn't lose to them and they are 2-2. carry on.

 

[ilmherdfan]

The ECU loss looks worse today after they barely beat South Charleston/Charleston Southern. The are not good but we made them look great.

20/20 hindsight, 3-1 is where we should be. Losing a 1 point game on the road to a very good team is ok.

We are 2-1 against bad or very bad teams. We had our chance to show that we belong in the upper tier of G5 but blew it.

Even if we win the East, people will still look at our OOC results because of how bad CUSA is and question how good we actually are. Need to beat UAB to change perspective.

 

[Rock98Dog]

WKU, FAU, UAB and, if we play them, UTSA are all more than good enough to beat us. Charlotte and Middle are capable of beating us. I could see a 5-3 conference record.

On the other hand, if our defense quits being horrid, we could go 8-0.

 

[elginherd]

The ECU loss looks worse today after they barely beat South Charleston/Charleston Southern. The are not good but we made them look great.

20/20 hindsight, 3-1 is where we should be. Losing a 1 point game on the road to a very good team is ok.

We are 2-1 against bad or very bad teams. We had our chance to show that we belong in the upper tier of G5 but blew it.

Even if we win the East, people will still look at our OOC results because of how bad CUSA is and question how good we actually are. Need to beat UAB to change perspective.

To be fair ASU WAS the better team. So 3-1 is what the record should be.

 

[The Real SamC]

Even if we win the East, people will still look at our OOC results because of how bad CUSA is and question how good we actually are. Need to beat UAB to change perspective.

What “people” ? Chuck Landon? Some low IQers on ESPN who haven’t been 15 miles from I-95 in their privileged lives? Pat Forde? Paul Feinbaum? The rotten super-fan contingent here? Some Spamites who, as what seems to be their penultimate season in the P5 implodes, once again, assuage their failures with their favorite game of “But Marshall…” ? Mark Martin? What “people”?

Fact is life in the G5, EVERY conference, is one team goes to the access bowl, and EVERY other team, in EVERY conference, goes to some early bowl named for some obscure product. We lost what little shot we had at the access bowl against ECU.

Most every bowl prediction site has us in New Orleans in the R&L Carriers Bowl (its a trucking company, look it up) vs. Louisiana Lafayette.

The only real goal left is to find 4, or better 5 or 6 more wins and get bowl eligible. That still seems likely, 7-5 is about what we should expect.

 

[riflearm2]

.
still seems likely, 7-5 is about what we should expect.

Marshall fans should expect to go 5-3 in the worst conference in the country and 2-2 with a non-conference slate that includes an HBCU and three G5 schools?

Raise your standards, Samantha.

 

[MUMAN3419]

We should be happy we even have a stadium! Cringe....

 

[GoHerdMarshallYes]

Absolutely ohio herd. Well stated. 9-3? Yeah, most college football teams’ fan bases’ would approve…..

Not ours.
"WE SHOULD BE WINNING CUSA TITLES LEFT AND RIGHT!!! THIS LEAGUE SUCKS!!!"

Remember?
Seems that CUSA titles are the mark of a successful season and not W/L records.

But given a not completely bare cupboard of talent, MU should be in contention.

 

[Jartard]

We should be happy we even have a stadium! Cringe....

…and give us hot dogs, or give us death.

 

[TwolfHerdfan]

I don't think we should ever win the title or go to a bowl game. That's asking way too much. Fans of the other 129 D1 playing football schools agree.

 

[RhinoD]

As all teams do, we have some ridiculous posters on here both ways. The "we should never lose another CUSA game" crowd gets old, but the camp that thinks "we are lucky to be competitive" is also tiresome.

I think most reasonable fans look at the returning talent, the schedule, and set a reasonable expectation before the season starts. Over the summer a vast majority of the predictions were somewhere between 8-4 and 10-2. Given the players we have back, the landscape of CUSA and the non-conference slate, expecting this team to win 8 or more games is not unreasonable. I still think we get there.