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Topic: Today is a MUST win

Topic: Today is a MUST win

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D.A.
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Member Since: 8/6/2010
Location: Georgetown, ME
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Today is a MUST win

Posted: 9/15/2018 3:42:15 PM

There, I said it. Will it be the end of the season if the Cats don't bring home a W...no. But if this team is what I believe the 2018 Cats should be, they have to bring their A game and fly the flag. My biggest concern for the 2018 season: Can our Defensive Coordinator remain singularly focused on Bobcats football and not allow his attention to be deflected to his son on game days. This Hoos squad was beaten 49-7 by the Midshipmen to end last season, and they have lost defensive depth/talent from last season, so even if this is a track meet, we HAVE TO be able to outscore Virginia. Virginia is no FB powerhouse, and Bronco will find UVA tougher to recruit to long term than BYU, no offense to the ACC.

Prove me right men.

The Few, The Proud, The Bobcats!

And for the record, I hate tOSU, and Ricordati and Torgerson are DB's.

"This isn't just another walkover from the MAC." Kirk Herbstreit, another DB, on College Football Gameday

ou79
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RE: Today is a MUST win

Posted: 9/15/2018 5:59:38 PM

I totally agree D.A., if we claim to be the MAC favorite then we have to win a game like this. Virginia is NOT that good.

OhioStunter
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RE: Today is a MUST win

Posted: 9/17/2018 11:10:50 AM

I just can't see the logic in why this was a MUST WIN game. Win or lose, the result of this game has no bearing on a MAC title.

If anything, this game exposed the weakness to giving up the big play so that the team can work to better address it.

I think it also helped the team understand the importance of playing all 60 minutes. This team could have easily laid down. It didn't. The team fought back against guys who have more athletic talent.

There's a lot of work to do, but you have to be encouraged by the fight in this team.

Doc Bobcat
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RE: Today is a MUST win

Posted: 9/17/2018 11:18:06 AM

OhioStunter wrote:

Well said.

Take a team with weaknesses and improve them.

I truly believe Rourke learned from the Howard incident and I hope the DBs and others learn from the UVA debacle.

I�m not predicting a win on Saturday....justt hoping we see some improvement.

Last Edited: 9/17/2018 11:18:49 AM by Doc Bobcat

bshot44
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RE: Today is a MUST win

Posted: 9/17/2018 11:34:39 AM

Doc Bobcat wrote:

OhioStunter wrote:

Learn from the UVa debacle!? How did they not learn from the Howard debacle!?

I don't have a lot of hope for this unit. The secondary has been an issue for years for this defense ... and this year is no different. Failure to tackle, turn their heads in coverage, ability to cover in general. These are all things we've seen for a while now.

Doc Bobcat
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RE: Today is a MUST win

Posted: 9/17/2018 11:50:47 AM

bshot44 wrote:

Doc Bobcat wrote:

OhioStunter wrote:

We shall see.

You may be right.

This could be our worse team ever...but I doubt it.

Doc Bobcat
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RE: Today is a MUST win

Posted: 9/17/2018 12:32:16 PM

Last Edited: 9/17/2018 12:33:30 PM by Doc Bobcat

Deciduous Forest Cat
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RE: Today is a MUST win

Posted: 9/17/2018 12:40:45 PM

OhioStunter wrote:

Actually, Howard did a bang-up job already of exposing that weakness and we did not improve at all even with a bye-week to work on it.

D.A.
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RE: Today is a MUST win

Posted: 9/17/2018 4:10:55 PM

OhioStunter wrote:

I just can't see the logic in why this was a MUST WIN game. Win or lose, the result of this game has no bearing on a MAC title.

My logic was based on the claim, to paraphrase where Frank felt the team was going into the season, we are ready to perennially compete for a spot in the top 25 and conference championships. Nothing that I saw on Saturday, in competition with a team picked to finish last in their division in the ACC, instilled confidence in me that we can compete at that level. I completely agree, and conceded as much in my comment, that a loss on Saturday did not crater our season or prevent us for competing for a championship on the first weekend in December. All kinds of crazy things can happen between now and then. But I'm not going to polish a turd, either. This team isn't what I thought it was going to be this year, and if you have watched some of the other team's games in the MAC, we are not close to them, or where Frank stated he thought the team would be...at this point in time.

Last Edited: 9/17/2018 4:12:41 PM by D.A.

bobcatsquared
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RE: Today is a MUST win

Posted: 9/17/2018 4:45:51 PM

OhioStunter wrote:

I just can't see the logic in why this was a MUST WIN game. Win or lose, the result of this game has no bearing on a MAC title.

The one maxim among posters on this site, used to detract the importance of winning non-league games in both football and basketball, that I couldn't disagree with more.

Ohio needs to beat the UVa's and UC's on its football schedule and the Xaviers and Purdues on its basketball schedule if we want our teams to be the best they can be. These wins won't win MAC titles but you can't tell me you weren't pumped when the football team beat Penn St. and the basketball team beat Michigan and took UNC to the wire one week later. These are the games that give MAC teams national recognition if the results are wins.

Last Edited: 9/17/2018 4:48:34 PM by bobcatsquared

OhioStunter
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RE: Today is a MUST win

Posted: 9/17/2018 6:23:58 PM

bobcatsquared wrote:

OhioStunter wrote:

I just can't see the logic in why this was a MUST WIN game. Win or lose, the result of this game has no bearing on a MAC title.

Well sure, of course winning all your games will give you national recognition. That's why UCF continues to celebrate its national title.

Yes, this was a MUST WIN game if you wanted an undefeated season. I'm not sure going 2-0 against Howard and UVA would create much ripple in the sports world, so every game would then need to be a MUST WIN game. I do want to win every game. I also want a date with Miss America. Some things are statistical improbabilities.

But look ahead to the reality of what Ohio Football is -- a great program that will compete for a conference championship and qualify for a lower tier bowl game essentially every year. There's nothing wrong with that.

There's also nothing wrong with hoping for a magical undefeated season and a bid to an Orange Bowl or Fiesta Bowl the way WMU and NIU earned it. I think we all want that too.

But let's not call the season a failure now and light the pitchforks because they lost an OOC game.

Akron is basking in some national love thanks to its defeat of Northwestern. Good for them. Good for the MAC. Will that define their season or will their final place in the MAC/bowl picture define their season?

I'm in it for the long haul.

Doc Bobcat
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RE: Today is a MUST win

Posted: 9/17/2018 6:37:01 PM

Pitchforks were lit in the first quarter of the UVA game.

A win against UC might extinguish them...until the next loss.

SBH
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RE: Today is a MUST win

Posted: 9/17/2018 6:52:52 PM

Pitchforks are out because we've looked incompetent at times during the first 2 games. Just as we looked incompetent against Louisville, in having three punts blocked against BG...and so many other times. This is year 14 of this program.

OhioStunter
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RE: Today is a MUST win

Posted: 9/17/2018 6:59:12 PM

SBH wrote:

Can you name a team that hasn't looked incompetent at times? What program do you aspire to be like?

Buckeye to Bobcat
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RE: Today is a MUST win

Posted: 9/17/2018 7:58:22 PM

OhioStunter wrote:

SBH wrote:

Can you name a team that hasn't looked incompetent at times? What program do you aspire to be like?

It's not a question of looking incompetent at times, it's the question of how are we so consistent at doing so. It is the same consistent theme over and over again and it's one of those things you wonder if a change in the program would do anything to help this situation. I mean don't get me wrong, as I have said before Solich has done a great job getting us to this point. But it is to the point of being Doug Collins, no further can this man get us. Therefore, I believe it is time to consider having Solich retire, along with the fact that interest in the program is waning.

If I aspire to be like any program in the MAC it would either be NIU or Toledo here as of late. Of course Toledo's theme was crappin the bed down the stretch for a while but then again their division was tougher than the East and of course they got multiple titles in the last 50 years.

Bobcat Grad 86
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RE: Today is a MUST win

Posted: 9/17/2018 8:57:04 PM

UVA was and will continue to be one of the worst teams in the ACC which as a whole is down. Their OL and DL are total patchwork and they dominated.

The team that beat Penn State before the Sports Illustrated jinx story would have easily beaten this team on a neutral field.

OhioStunter
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RE: Today is a MUST win

Posted: 9/17/2018 11:18:12 PM

Buckeye to Bobcat wrote:

Therefore, I believe it is time to consider having Solich retire, along with the fact that interest in the program is waning.

If I aspire to be like any program in the MAC it would either be NIU or Toledo here as of late. Of course Toledo's theme was crappin the bed down the stretch for a while but then again their division was tougher than the East and of course they got multiple titles in the last 50 years.

1. What evidence points you to facts that interest in the program waning?

2. Do you see a big difference in the performance of these programs over the last 10 years?

A. 9.1 wins per season, 2 losing seasons, 2 bowl wins, top AP rating: #16
B. 8.0 wins per season, 2 losing seasons, 3 bowl wins, top AP ranking: #19
C. 7.8 wins per season, 1 losing season, 3 bowl wins, top AP ranking: #23

Last Edited: 9/17/2018 11:48:21 PM by OhioStunter

Buckeye to Bobcat
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RE: Today is a MUST win

Posted: 9/18/2018 12:37:40 AM

OhioStunter wrote:

Buckeye to Bobcat wrote:

1. What evidence points you to facts that interest in the program waning?

A. Band Day attendance was at 18,000. That game usually sells out and the fact we couldn't fill the barn for a 9 win team is a serious problem, especially considering the bands fill X number of seats.
B. Season ticket sales are not where they're supposed to be. Heard from a source it's below 6K for the first time in 5 years. Sure you can attribute it to 3 weekend games, but it's not a good sign for athletic finances. Also on this note, less season ticket holders translate to odds of development revenue off of seats being down.
C. Judging by a look at the student section, safe to say that the attendance issues are a temporary thing is wrong.
D. Just wait until Parents Weekend and Homecoming. Revenue numbers are going to be off big time this year for those games, especially because prices dropped and less people are going to show up. Basic math: less people+lower ticket price=less $$$$=budget problems.
E. Losing Marshall as a home-and-home is foolish for financial purposes. Series should have never taken a break. Simply done to ensure we could get to 8 wins a year. Our scheduling formula has gone meh for 4 years with giving UMASS a pass for being a one-night stand in the MAC. And from my contacts at Cincy, they are trying to buy themselves out of coming to Athens so let me know how that goes over.
F. And also judging by BobcatAttack, I would say activity on this site is down over the last year.

2. Do you see a big difference in the performance of these programs over the last 10 years?

A. 9.1 wins per season, 2 losing seasons, 2 bowl wins, top AP rating: #16
B. 8.0 wins per season, 2 losing seasons, 3 bowl wins, top AP ranking: #19
C. 7.8 wins per season, 1 losing season, 3 bowl wins, top AP ranking: #23

Could careless for the blind resume test. Just cherry-picked stats to make OU look half decent. Bottomline is you care to put conference championships in there? OU has a goose egg there and that is all that matters along with NIU going to the Orange Bowl along with Western has been to the Cotton Bowl.

And yes, Toledo hasn't been there yet, but our facilities right now trail their facilities big time. Looking at our facilities against the MAC, I am confident in saying our facilities are in the bottom four in the league as a whole along with other sports. Sure we have history, but history is going to crumble in a real hurry if money is not being invested in our facilities. And yes, there is a war and peace thread out there somewhere I wrote once to how to solve this problem on BA somewhere.

Answers are in the quotes. Hopefully that answers your question.

Last Edited: 9/18/2018 12:40:20 AM by Buckeye to Bobcat

OhioStunter
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RE: Today is a MUST win

Posted: 9/18/2018 12:52:24 AM

I agree that conference championships are an area where OU is clearly deficient. If you want to compare programs solely on conference championships (cue the Monroe rants), then yes, OU does not measure up to other programs. I am also perplexed why OU hasn't won a conference championship under Solich.

But I tend to look at the bigger overall picture of program success. And whether you call them cherry-picked stats or not, average total wins, number of losing seasons, bowl wins and highest AP ranking over a 10-year period is a pretty solid way to gauge a program's success.

And there isn't much difference in the three programs listed. Win totals for NIU are higher, but you could attribute those to the extra conference championship game wins. And we already know that's OU's weak spot.

If you want to aspire to be either of those great programs, fine. But it doesn't look like a huge leap in overall success to me. And I wouldn't call OU's efforts over the last 10 years "half decent."

Last Edited: 9/18/2018 12:54:22 AM by OhioStunter

Buckeye to Bobcat
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RE: Today is a MUST win

Posted: 9/18/2018 12:59:11 AM

OhioStunter wrote:

Totally agree on all fronts here. I wish we could win more and not blow the traditional games we tend to do. I also have always said being the best in the MAC is like being the tallest vertically challenged individual (trying to stay PC here).

That said facility wise in the MAC, would like to be like Miami or Toledo. The facilities on both ends are pretty good for a group of 5 set up I believe and could compete with some of the bigger boys. Miami's football stadium is so-so, but the end-zone facilities and Toledo's suites allow those schools more opportunity $$$ wise and better operations than us.

Sam bobcat
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RE: Today is a MUST win

Posted: 9/18/2018 6:38:12 AM

Buckeye to Bobcat wrote:

Therefore, I believe it is time to consider having Solich retire, along with the fact that interest in the program is waning.

Lol please explain how you plan to �have Solich retire�.

Buckeye to Bobcat
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RE: Today is a MUST win

Posted: 9/18/2018 9:50:47 AM

Sam bobcat wrote:

Buckeye to Bobcat wrote:

Therefore, I believe it is time to consider having Solich retire, along with the fact that interest in the program is waning.

Lol please explain how you plan to �have Solich retire�.

You act like this is hard to do. Based on what I've gathered that equation will get a lot easier with a new CFO coming in and adding to the bureaucracy. From what I have heard, this was not an athletics dept. hire, it was a university hire. Assuming that the university wants to step in on athletics, they're going to turn screws on revenue and at some point here in the next couple years, someone is going to want to change the scenery to see if that spices up finances. With that being said, either Schaus becomes a puppet for them since the Saul Phillips hire is not going as planned and could potentially not trust him to make the next hire depending on which donors get in the president's ears. If the wrong one gets in there and convinces them athletics has a problem, changes can happen in a hurry. Not only that, with our president wanting to do this not even a year into his tenure, it's obvious he wants athletics to begin cutting back on spending.

Last Edited: 9/18/2018 9:52:09 AM by Buckeye to Bobcat

SBH
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RE: Today is a MUST win

Posted: 9/18/2018 2:02:17 PM

Based on what I've seen thus far - both from the Bobcats and other MAC programs - this could very well be a 5-win season. If that is the case, I believe Frank will hang 'em up. That could work in our favor given that Schaus will not feel compelled to pass the baton to a member of the current staff.

OhioStunter
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RE: Today is a MUST win

Posted: 9/18/2018 2:20:35 PM

A 5-win season works in our favor? Who do you want to run this program?

Doc Bobcat
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RE: Today is a MUST win

Posted: 9/18/2018 2:33:11 PM

OhioStunter wrote:

A 5-win season works in our favor? Who do you want to run this program?

This looks to be a decent recruiting class.

A 5 win season could change that.

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