Season Wrap-Up/Review

MACReport · Post by **MACReport** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 8:43 pm

I've just posted our synopsis of the MAC football season at MAC Report Online. I also included our choices for each team's offensive and defensive MVP's.

Have to admit it was an interesting season with lots of highlights which I point out in the article, but there were some disappointments, the biggest for me was the fact that the MAC could not secure a third bowl game for Northern Illinois and the fact that other than Ohio's early season win over Pitt we did not have any marquee quality upsets and our top squads did not perform well in out of conference TV games (i.e. Bowling Green - Boise State and Toledo-Fresno State).

2005 Season Review

TG1996 · Post by **TG1996** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 8:56 pm

"Brandon could be on the hot seat next season"???

Despite what many around this joint believe... PLEASE.

Oh, and while the MAC commercial is a cool thing to have, it KILLS the load time of the front page of the site.

Dayons_Den · Post by **Dayons_Den** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 9:27 pm

TG1996 wrote:"Brandon could be on the hot seat next season"???

Despite what many around this joint believe... PLEASE.

Oh, and while the MAC commercial is a cool thing to have, it KILLS the load time of the front page of the site.

In MRO.com's defense it does say Brandon could be on the hot seat.

TG1996 · Post by **TG1996** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 9:57 pm

Dayons_Den wrote:In MRO.com's defense it does say Brandon could be on the hot seat.

If that's your defense... I hope you're never my lawyer.

Of course, I could be voted King of Prussia next week, too... Hmmm... Prussia.

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 8:41 am

TG1996 wrote:"Brandon could be on the hot seat next season"???

Despite what many around this joint believe... PLEASE.

Oh, and while the MAC commercial is a cool thing to have, it KILLS the load time of the front page of the site.

If Brandon's not on some sort of hotseat next season I'll take my criticisms up a level to the AD, even though I feel he's done a fantastic job.

Brandon has done NOTHING to warrant NOT being on a hotseat. He took over a program that was on the rise, and he took them up one more level in his first season. Since that year they've gotten progressively worse each year, and through his 3rd year we've seen pretty minimal impact of any of his own recruits.

Seems to me like the guys at MRO.com shouldn't have said could, but instead said should.

JWEIII · Post by **JWEIII** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 9:34 am

IMO, if Omar does not get injured, BG beats Akron (or mabey even Western), plays in the MACC and probably a bowl game. This year was disapointing, no doubt (it was supposed to be our year). And the Urban/Brandon teams have a history of being good teams that just couldn't get it done. But mabey this year Brandon had a bit of an excuse: three games without Omar and still tied in the MAC East (I don't know know if there could have been a more devistating injury).

I don't know...

Warthog · Post by **Warthog** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 9:50 am

JWEIII wrote: But mabey this year Brandon had a bit of an excuse: three games without Omar and still tied in the MAC East (I don't know know if there could have been a more devistating injury).

I don't know...

And that is exactly the point. A good coach has his team prepared to overcome adversity. Were you at the Western game? Omar got hurt and the ENTIRE team laid down and rolled over. A good coach doesn't let that happen. And he had an entire week to prepare for Akron knowing Omar wasn't playing, yet we laid an egg, again, at home no less

hammb · Post by **hammb** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 10:43 am

I have to laugh at anyone who uses Omar's injury as an excuse for Brandon. If you're telling me that we've built a team so dependent on one player that we cannot overcome their loss then I'm even less confident in our coaching staff.

1987alum · Post by **1987alum** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 10:52 am

hammb wrote:I have to laugh at anyone who uses Omar's injury as an excuse for Brandon. If you're telling me that we've built a team so dependent on one player that we cannot overcome their loss then I'm even less confident in our coaching staff.

Even though I'm a frequent Brandon defender, I agree with hammb here. Good teams overcome injuries. We didn't do that. I could grudgingly give some latitude for the WMU game, although I agree with Warthog that a good coach should be able to rally the troops in such a situation. The Akron game is a much different story.

Jacobs4Heisman · Post by **Jacobs4Heisman** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 10:55 am

hammb wrote:I have to laugh at anyone who uses Omar's injury as an excuse for Brandon. If you're telling me that we've built a team so dependent on one player that we cannot overcome their loss then I'm even less confident in our coaching staff.

I'm getting a little tired of hearing that one too. Even with AT (who is a very talented player, and highly recruited to boot) at the helm, we are a more talented team than WMU and Akron IMO. When you lose back to back weeks at home to lesser opponents with a division title on the line, questions need to be asked.

With Brandon, it isn't so much about X's and O's for me (although many including myself have balked at the play calling at times). It's about leadership and emotion first and foremost. Our teams just haven't been fired up for big games under Brandon and it's getting very old. We also have the head coach publicly throwing players under the bus and making excuses as to why we've lost games (and it wasn't just this year). I want to chalk everything up to Brandon being a new coach, and hoping that he'll improve, but it's been 3 years and it's gotten worse over that span.

I agree with most around here, that 2006 will be the make or break season for Gregg Brandon as BG's head football coach. Although my expectations are fairly low with or without Omar, I still expect us to compete for a weak MAC East, and at least be somewhat competitive in the big OOC games. If we do, and look better fundamentally in the process, Brandon will have impressed me. If we continue to be fundamentally poor, flat in big games, and if the coach continues to act unprofessionally in his comments to the media, he'll have solidified himself in many fans' minds as the wrong person to lead this team.

I hope hope hope it's the former, but I can't get the "fish rots from the head" analogy out of my head this offseason.

orangeandbrown · Post by **orangeandbrown** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 1:27 pm

Remember this:

Turner, a 6-foot-2, 226-pound redshirt freshman, was one of BG's most high-profile recruitsin the last several years. The maturity that led coach Gregg Brandon to say last season he could compete for the starting job as a true freshman came from experience in big games, but also from having prepared for this for a while.[/b]

JWEIII · Post by **JWEIII** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 2:29 pm

hammb wrote:
I have to laugh at anyone who uses Omar's injury as an excuse for Brandon. If you're telling me that we've built a team so dependent on one player that we cannot overcome their loss then I'm even less confident in our coaching staff.

I am not using Omar's injury as an excuse for "Brandon" (what ever that means). I am saying that but for Omar's injury this team is in a bowl game this year (for the 3rd year in a row). And, I don't think we are so dependent on Omar that we can't overcome his loss. I am saying that with Omar we get the extra win we needed for the MACC game. That's it.

Ya'll get two bowl wins from the guy and are ready to string him up when he misses by one game, when he had to play 3 without one of the league's top players (best player?). Come on.

2 bowl wins in the last three years and ya'll want his head? Who DO you want?

Goose · Post by **Goose** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 2:45 pm

JWEIII wrote: 2 bowl wins in the last three years and ya'll want his head? Who DO you want?

Bob Huggins

1987alum · Post by **1987alum** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 2:50 pm

JWEIII wrote:Who DO you want?

The list is long and varied, but words like millions and wealthy make several appearances.

Oh, you meant from the football team ...

Jacobs4Heisman · Post by **Jacobs4Heisman** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 3:05 pm

JWEIII wrote:
hammb wrote:
I have to laugh at anyone who uses Omar's injury as an excuse for Brandon. If you're telling me that we've built a team so dependent on one player that we cannot overcome their loss then I'm even less confident in our coaching staff.

I am not using Omar's injury as an excuse for "Brandon" (what ever that means). I am saying that but for Omar's injury this team is in a bowl game this year (for the 3rd year in a row). And, I don't think we are so dependent on Omar that we can't overcome his loss. I am saying that with Omar we get the extra win we needed for the MACC game. That's it.

Ya'll get two bowl wins from the guy and are ready to string him up when he misses by one game, when he had to play 3 without one of the league's top players (best player?). Come on.

2 bowl wins in the last three years and ya'll want his head? Who DO you want?

All I'm going to say, to avoid going on a bash Brandon tangent, is that I think the success of the last two years was more in spite of the coach than because of the coach.