You choose your attitude

JohnnySwoop '85 · Post by **JohnnySwoop '85** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 1:45 pm

Jeez!!! So much angst out there in all of these threads, glass is half-full, pessimism running rampant

An Ugly win is still a win. If we beat Miami or Toledo in that game we wouldn't be recovered yet, we'd be thinking what a great win. It's just that it was what it was...ugly...but a win nevertheless. Go ask Kent State, N.Illinois, or Toledo if they would have settled for such on Saturday?

So let's start looking at some of the more positive signs:

Brad Williams got BGSU a blocked kicked...that saved the game and we didn't even know it yet.

Terrel White, all he did was run a round in overtime tackling anybody wearing a dirty white jersey...I think 7 OT tackles or assists.

Dozier was Full Metal Jacket just about all day long.

All of you that are griping about the qb situation, how about that 25 yard strike Turner to Jones?

Optimistically speaking, our O only had to face one 3rd down in OT, Buffalo had several conversions that they needed to make to stay alive.

O'D continues to deliver big time yards and probably is our most underutilized weapon on O.

For you lovers of stats, look at each players yards per carry, yards per completion, yards per attempt....we do move the ball.

Devon Parks blowing a gasket yelling at the punter or long snapper on the sideline, maybe both of them (could not tell)....a team breaking apart...no, I would call that leadership coming from a captain.

It's Monday, and I am sure that they'll start focusing on all the ugly things that wins sometimes mask...if the punter is hiking too high, take a step or two back...placekicks and punts getting blocked, do some drills that focus on getting them off quicker and higher (think sandwedge vs. 3 iron)...understand the personnel packages so you don't waste timeouts like in OT, and maybe the running back and forth of Barnes as a supposed substitution gone awry is to confuse the competition. From now on Special Teams coverage should only employ, to steal a Greg B. term, "war daddies"

Let's start focusing on some of the positives, hell nobody has even mentioned that we lead the MAC East right now.

Globetrotter · Post by **Globetrotter** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 2:05 pm

this team offensively could be the class of the MAC, As usual. You dont usually find me being the optimistic one on here, but take out the ST's gaffs.

Tricky_Falcon · Post by **Tricky_Falcon** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 2:05 pm

Good points. It happens every year in every sport. Our fans get so pumped about the season and when it finally gets here we seem to not enjoy it. This is a young team with a lot of talent.

Falconfreak90 · Post by **Falconfreak90** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 3:11 pm

Swoop,

I'm all over that. O and D look very good right now. Get the ST's corrected and this will be one tough team to beat. I just can't get the sight of how badly our ST's played out of my head right now.

I sincerely hope they get corrected...starting this week in Miami.

JohnnySwoop '85 · Post by **JohnnySwoop '85** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 3:50 pm

Freak,

May I also add that you are one of "AZZ's" WAR DADDIES!

Also, to further my optimistic bent, I believe that with just a little more seasoning we will reduce the number of penalties.

That element of the game negated a very good tackle breaking run in the 3Q.

Falconfreak90 · Post by **Falconfreak90** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 3:58 pm

JohnnySwoop '85 wrote:Freak,

May I also add that you are one of "AZZ's" WAR DADDIES!

Also, to further my optimistic bent, I believe that with just a little more seasoning we will reduce the number of penalties.

That element of the game negated a very good tackle breaking run in the 3Q.

I like that name....War Daddies. BTW, I'm going to make a copy of the Wisky game for ya. Just need a little time to get everything done here on the new job.

Jacobs4Heisman · Post by **Jacobs4Heisman** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 4:37 pm

JohnnySwoop '85 wrote:
An Ugly win is still a win. If we beat Miami or Toledo in that game we wouldn't be recovered yet, we'd be thinking what a great win. It's just that it was what it was...ugly...but a win nevertheless. Go ask Kent State, N.Illinois, or Toledo if they would have settled for such on Saturday?

The point is, that performance would not have beaten any team that wasn't horrible. Yes we won, and yes that's good. But being satisfied with winning has cause our coaching staff to let very bad things go unchecked.

I do choose my attitude. I choose not to be satisfied with a team that consistently underperforms based on it's talent level. I refuse to be satisfied with beating a bottom 5 program in 3OT. I refuse to be satisfied with a coaching staff that seems incapable of fixing any problems.

I do agree we should try and stay positive. I posted at great length about the positive things I took away from the game, and you and I agree on many of them. This team does have some great potential for this year and beyond, but I am terrified they'll never get there. And we all know why.

BGSUFootballFan · Post by **BGSUFootballFan** » Mon Sep 11, 2006 6:13 pm

Am I really choosing a poor attitude or is it that you are choosing denial?

bgsufalcon24 · Post by **bgsufalcon24** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 12:04 am

BGSUFootballFan wrote:Am I really choosing a poor attitude or is it that you are choosing denial?

You are really acting like a pessimistic jerk right now. Denial?! After a WIN?! You're out of your damn mind.

Having attended both games thus far, I remain VERY optimistic about this season. If our special teams unit improves at all, seeing NIU's possible demise, we could fricking win the MAC this season. And I think the odds of that happening are almost 100% seeing as NOBODY ever gives up 14 points a game on ST's for a whole season.

Bleeding Orange · Post by **Bleeding Orange** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 12:15 am

bgsufalcon24 wrote:
BGSUFootballFan wrote:Am I really choosing a poor attitude or is it that you are choosing denial?
You are really acting like a pessimistic jerk right now. Denial?! After a WIN?! You're out of your damn mind.

Having attended both games thus far, I remain VERY optimistic about this season. If our special teams unit improves at all, seeing NIU's possible demise, we could fricking win the MAC this season. And I think the odds of that happening are almost 100% seeing as NOBODY ever gives up 14 points a game on ST's for a whole season.

I don't think he's out of his damned mind, I think he is being pretty realistic given the sources we have been given over the past two weeks. It isn't like these special teams gaffs just popped out of nowhere. They were there last week, and they were there last year. That is a major, if not grave, concern.

Still, I am hopefull that things will get turned around. I was about ready to throw GB under the bus on Saturday, but upon reflection, I'll give him a week or two. The hammer is getting very, very close, though...

bgsufalcon24 · Post by **bgsufalcon24** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 1:20 am

Bleeding Orange wrote:
bgsufalcon24 wrote:
BGSUFootballFan wrote:Am I really choosing a poor attitude or is it that you are choosing denial?
You are really acting like a pessimistic jerk right now. Denial?! After a WIN?! You're out of your damn mind.

Having attended both games thus far, I remain VERY optimistic about this season. If our special teams unit improves at all, seeing NIU's possible demise, we could fricking win the MAC this season. And I think the odds of that happening are almost 100% seeing as NOBODY ever gives up 14 points a game on ST's for a whole season.
I don't think he's out of his damned mind, I think he is being pretty realistic given the sources we have been given over the past two weeks. It isn't like these special teams gaffs just popped out of nowhere. They were there last week, and they were there last year. That is a major, if not grave, concern.

Still, I am hopefull that things will get turned around. I was about ready to throw GB under the bus on Saturday, but upon reflection, I'll give him a week or two. The hammer is getting very, very close, though...

Let me get this straight. You were not willing to drop the hammer on Dan Dakich all last season while we lagged to a 9-23 disaster, yet you'll beat up on Gregg Brandon after a victory, after a time period in which he has led us to 3 straight winning seasons and 2 bowl victories. Seems to me like you have your coaches mixed up completely.

JoeFalcon · Post by **JoeFalcon** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 11:29 am

This team has an offense and defense fit to win the MAC championship and defeat any conference opponent.

At the present time, the special teams can negate both of those and cause us to lose to any team on the upcoming schedule.

Luckily, ST's is the most correctable of the Big 3 (in theory), so it stands to reason that the future is very bright IF they can get things straightened out.

BGFan · Post by **BGFan** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 12:05 pm

JoeFalcon wrote:This team has an offense and defense fit to win the MAC championship and defeat any conference opponent.

At the present time, the special teams can negate both of those and cause us to lose to any team on the upcoming schedule.

Luckily, ST's is the most correctable of the Big 3 (in theory), so it stands to reason that the future is very bright IF they can get things straightened out.

Exactly! J4H keeps saying that this is a poorly coached team. I tend to disagree because that is a blanket statement. One aspect of the team has been poorly coached and Branden has acknowledged that and is working to fix it. The offense and defense seem to be coming along fine. Fix the special teams and every aspect of the team will be fine.

I suspect that if the STs had performed well this past Saturday very few, if any, of these negative threads would exist since the game wouldn't have been close. There would still be those of you complaining about the limited play calling, etc., but that would be minor. BTW, isn't it possible that the limited play calling was due to the weather conditions more than a lack of confidence in the QBs? Just wondering. And yes, I know, there were some series where the play calling could have been better, but we still moved the ball quite well overall.

Jacobs4Heisman · Post by **Jacobs4Heisman** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 12:20 pm

BGFan wrote:
JoeFalcon wrote:This team has an offense and defense fit to win the MAC championship and defeat any conference opponent.

At the present time, the special teams can negate both of those and cause us to lose to any team on the upcoming schedule.

Luckily, ST's is the most correctable of the Big 3 (in theory), so it stands to reason that the future is very bright IF they can get things straightened out.
Exactly! J4H keeps saying that this is a poorly coached team. I tend to disagree because that is a blanket statement. One aspect of the team has been poorly coached and Branden has acknowledged that and is working to fix it. The offense and defense seem to be coming along fine. Fix the special teams and every aspect of the team will be fine.

I suspect that if the STs had performed well this past Saturday very few, if any, of these negative threads would exist since the game wouldn't have been close. There would still be those of you complaining about the limited play calling, etc., but that would be minor. BTW, isn't it possible that the limited play calling was due to the weather conditions more than a lack of confidence in the QBs? Just wondering. And yes, I know, there were some series where the play calling could have been better, but we still moved the ball quite well overall.

I speak in generalities for the most part. If you want more brutality, I can definitely be more specific

When I say coached, assume I mean Brandon unless I specify otherwise.

The offense has serious potential IMO. If the play-calling is not overhauled, it will never get there. That's coaching. I tend to think Brandon and Stud will do better here because of their track record.

The defense has been much better, but they still don't tackle well. I was and am a big fan of Lovett, and I think we're starting to reap the rewards of that hire. The defense will be among the best in the MAC by the end of the season IMO. They are young, fast, talented, and they fly to the ball and play with intensity.

The special teams horse has been beaten to death. This aspect falls directly onto the HC. It's said that special teams is one of the clearest windows into how well a team is coached. That pretty much sums it up right there. All the reasons why I think this team is (blanket statement

) poorly coached have been hashed out elsewhere.

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Tue Sep 12, 2006 12:58 pm

I'm with J4H. This team is poorly coached, and has been poorly coached for 4 years now. Nobody believed me when we won, but I was saying we were winning in spite of our coaching, not because of it. Slowly but surely all those players that had Meyer's attitude have graduated, and slowly we have eroded as a team.

There is talent here, but we do not get the most out of it, and that is very discouraging.

Defensively we don't tackle, but I like the speed on this unit. They are in position to make plays and against most MAC teams they will be able to make them. Dozier & White actually do know how to tackle, and showed that Saturday in a big way. If they can rub off on the rest of this unit, it would be great.

Offensively our playcalling is bland, and quite frankly, I think displays a total lack of trust in the QBs on the part of the offensive coaches. With the track record our coaches have in this regard, I have to believe it will be corrected, but so far I'm not liking what I see. Last year when AT played we saw a puny playbook and we were told that was because he was just filling in and couldn't run the offense the same way Omar did. That was okay, understandable we said. This year we come out in the first game with Barnes at QB and do nothing but run. That's okay we said, because Turner is the real QB of this team. Now this Saturday we have Turner in at QB and the playbook appears just as limited as it did against UW & all those games last year. What's the deal? The predictability hurt us in the redzone during regulation, and could have cost us the game. I expect to see things expanded, because if we do not, then I doubt very seriously if we will continue putting up grand yardage totals.

STs are pure coaching, and nothing more really needs said about that unit.

As a whole I do think we are poorly coached, just moreso in some areas than others. I have always felt that STs, blocking, and tackling are the best ways to grade a college coach. How well does he teach his players the fundamentals of football? We suck at STs, and the tackling is mediocre at best. Our OL is among the best in the country this year, so no complaints there. Still, that just makes me thing we still have an OC trying to pass off as a HC...

You choose your attitude

You choose your attitude

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