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After 8 games, have we seen any improvement?

VinnDogg said:
We've improved in 2 out of 3 categories. Speical teams are light years ahead of the recent teams and the offense is more balanced, though the running game has been in a slump. Hustle, effort and team attitude have been better as well IMO.

Lots of work to do on the defensive side of the ball. 2 of our 3 best defenders are freshmen(Chick-Perryman). Not a single playmaker or ballhawk in the back. Not too much you can do until the roster has been purged.
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This. We are still missing a game changer on the D. I still believe we have a power issue in the trenches. That comes back to Swasey.
 
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I don't buy into the relevance of losing close games. With better personnel, maybe we win. With better bounced or without a flag, maybe we win. In close games, things become arbitrary -- good teams lose, and bad teams win. I know that people say winning close games is a matter of coaching, but what if you just go out and blow people the **** out?

To me, Golden is getting a mulligan for this year. If you look at the first year for Meyer, Stoops, Carroll, etc., those teams were bad. As it is, Golden doesn't have a full class under his belt.

When I give someone 3-4 years, I try to stick to that. So to me, this year was going to be a wash.
 
LuCane said:
I think that's exactly why we'll get a major glimpse of the future over the next 4 games. My concern is that we've consistently been on the wrong end of close games. It's a red flag.
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I don't think it's necessarily a red flag on the coaches yet. Sometimes a team just needs to learn how to win. You see this a lot in the NBA playoffs. A young team will come in the playoffs and get swept one year, then make a good run the next because they learned what it takes to win in playoff intensity. If some of the early close games go our way, maybe some of the recent ones do as well. Auburn won some close ones early last year and that gave them the confidence that they were going to come back and win others, no matter what the situation in the game was.
 
With the mess Golden inherited I give him a good 3 years. Hard to get rid of the mentality instilled in this team the last 8 or 9 years. He needs to work on getting the old mentality back and winning will fall in place even with current players. That is something hard to change in a few short months
 
Don't think our problems have anything to do with the roster. People use the suspensions on defense as an excuse for the maryland game but if our offense doesn't allow 14 points we win or atleast are lookin pretty dam good. Not buying the roster excuses.
 
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mapcane said:
I don't buy into the relevance of losing close games. With better personnel, maybe we win. With better bounced or without a flag, maybe we win. In close games, things become arbitrary -- good teams lose, and bad teams win. I know that people say winning close games is a matter of coaching, but what if you just go out and blow people the **** out?

To me, Golden is getting a mulligan for this year. If you look at the first year for Meyer, Stoops, Carroll, etc., those teams were bad. As it is, Golden doesn't have a full class under his belt.

When I give someone 3-4 years, I try to stick to that. So to me, this year was going to be a wash.
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For me I think winning and losing close games is more on the players than the coaches, for sure.

This same group of guys we have been seeing just haven't been able to pull out the close games and its been a habit.
 
canesfan2002 said:
You win close games by dominating at the line of scrimmage for the entire game. You do not win close games because you have developed a habit. It is not a habit or a trait. It is the ability to be and remain stonger/tougher for an entire game. Yes, it will appear like the skill players will make the difference at the end, but that is only how it looks. They will make a great run, or catch or throw or break up a pass to "win it" or "save it.
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This. Too often people try to make winning out to be some kind of mystical trait that some people have but other people don't. It's not some tangible quality. It's the ability to outwork people on the fundamentals. In football, that's your line play. Look at the close losses we've had. They're mostly because our lines was dominated. Auburn had very solid O- and D- lines last year, and they were able to pull out those close games.
 
TeamSports said:
Don't think our problems have anything to do with the roster. People use the suspensions on defense as an excuse for the maryland game but if our offense doesn't allow 14 points we win or atleast are lookin pretty dam good. Not buying the roster excuses.
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Do you really believe our roster, even without the suspensions, was solid? Jeez, the erratic, inept recruiting odyssey that was the Corch Shammin era was nothing short of laughable. Virtually every quarterback we recruited left us at the altar (even the plan b and c guys), the lion's share of blue chip recruits did the same on signing day, and the entire defensive backfield cupboard was barren for a half a decade under that clown. That is the legacy Golden inherited. This team, particularly the young'uns, have made significant improvement over last season, and as they purge the cancerous lesions from the program, (I believe) they will develop into the cohesive, disciplined football team Al envisions for this program.

JMO,AD
 
It blows my mind that our defensive backfield is so thin. How do you fail to have good talent at corner and safety at Miami of all places?
 
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deviance said:
This. Too often people try to make winning out to be some kind of mystical trait that some people have but other people don't. It's not some tangible quality. It's the ability to outwork people on the fundamentals. In football, that's your line play. Look at the close losses we've had. They're mostly because our lines was dominated. Auburn had very solid O- and D- lines last year, and they were able to pull out those close games.
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I'm with you for the most part but I strongly disagree about it not being a tangible quality.

Editing the tangible/intangible part.

Just saying that a teams belief it will win close games isn't meaningless. It doesn't bear as much weight as dominating line play, but it can definitely be a factor.
 
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JHallCanes said:
I'm with you for the most part but I strongly disagree about it not being a tangible quality.

Editing the tangible/intangible part.

Just saying that a teams belief it will win close games isn't meaningless. It doesn't bear as much weight as dominating line play, but it can definitely be a factor.
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Don't get me wrong, confidence is a factor. But confidence is reflected in how you play all game long. It doesn't flip on like a switch in the final seconds. It's really the law of averages. If you play well all game and control the line of scrimmage, on any given play, you have a higher chance to succeed than a team that doesn't control the line. Over the course of a game, a team can perform well below its average, but it won't be able to perform below its average forever. In any one play scenario, obviously it helps to have the higher chance to succeed.
 
Yeah obviously when you're comparing guys like say Brady vs. Romo, you're talking about special cases. Most everyone else lives in that gray area in between when plays more often come down to the things you described.

I almost deleted my post to begin with because its almost silly to argue against a point I agree with.

At least we have been bouncing back better after those types of losses.
 
AugieDoggy said:
Do you really believe our roster, even without the suspensions, was solid? Jeez, the erratic, inept recruiting odyssey that was the Corch Shammin era was nothing short of laughable. Virtually every quarterback we recruited left us at the altar (even the plan b and c guys), the lion's share of blue chip recruits did the same on signing day, and the entire defensive backfield cupboard was barren for a half a decade under that clown. That is the legacy Golden inherited. This team, particularly the young'uns, have made significant improvement over last season, and as they purge the cancerous lesions from the program, (I believe) they will develop into the cohesive, disciplined football team Al envisions for this program.

JMO,AD
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Not buying the roster excuse. Look at our roster then look at NC at&t. (just one example) Ours is better. Then you look at how those players played vs the same team. Just doesn't make sense. Furthermore, you look at the strategy those DC's employed with weaker rosters than ours. The roster becomes a non-issue. It's a coaching thing IMO.

I just will not believe that teams with worst defensive personel than ours perform better vs the same teams. The biggest difference is game planning.
 
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Same ****, new year. I gave him 2 years to turn it around. He did nothing. Still doing nothing that tells me this team will be any different that 4 years ago.
 
TeamSports said:
AugieDoggy said:
Do you really believe our roster, even without the suspensions, was solid? Jeez, the erratic, inept recruiting odyssey that was the Corch Shammin era was nothing short of laughable. Virtually every quarterback we recruited left us at the altar (even the plan b and c guys), the lion's share of blue chip recruits did the same on signing day, and the entire defensive backfield cupboard was barren for a half a decade under that clown. That is the legacy Golden inherited. This team, particularly the young'uns, have made significant improvement over last season, and as they purge the cancerous lesions from the program, (I believe) they will develop into the cohesive, disciplined football team Al envisions for this program.

JMO,AD
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Not buying the roster excuse. Look at our roster then look at NC at&t. (just one example) Ours is better. Then you look at how those players played vs the same team. Just doesn't make sense. Furthermore, you look at the strategy those DC's employed with weaker rosters than ours. The roster becomes a non-issue. It's a coaching thing IMO.

I just will not believe that teams with worst defensive personel than ours perform better vs the same teams. The biggest difference is game planning.
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Lol
 
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