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- Jan 26, 2014
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Josh Pate, who I believe is one of the smartest guys who follows this sport, has been talking a lot about how fans need to recalibrate their expectations in this new era of college football.
The days of teams going undefeated or only dropping 1 game are over, especially for teams in harder conferences, which I know the ACC is not. However, a team like Louisville — one with first round talent on the field, one of the better defenses in college football, and a coach like Brohm? This was always going to be a tough spot for us, whether people want to admit it or not. We’re doing to be everyone’s Super Bowl, and if you don’t at least bring your “B” game, then expect a dog fight.
For the first time in over 20 years, we weren’t the laughing stock of college football anymore. Even in 2017, people made jokes because everyone knew we were a paper tiger. This was the first season since the early 2000s that most observers of the sport believed we were one of the top teams in the country. And clearly, the kids didn’t handle it well. I believe the combination of “rat poison” and the weird bye week schedule caused this team to lose focus.
I expected us to lose a game. People can go back and read my posts. This game scared me. So does Pitt and SMU. And while a loss is never good, having it early in the season is preferable. It will become a distant memory if we run the table the rest of the way. I’m going to enjoy not being the most talked about team in the country for the next 6 weeks. We need to be out of the spotlight — the team isn’t ready for that kind of attention.
So, with that all said, no one in their right mind believed we were running the table this year. Admit it — most of you had us down for 1 loss, maybe even 2 by this point. We had exceeded every fan’s expectations. Time to, as Josh Pate would say, recalibrate expectations. We did not lose to a bad team. We lost to a good team, playing a C- to D+ game, that will be ranked at the end of the year. It happens.
But it can’t ******* happen again. Mario, you just used your mulligan. Get this team back on track and let’s finish the job. No more room for errors. We have the resume to get to the playoff if we win out, regardless of making it to the ACC championship game.
I’ll save the frustration over a run scheme for a different thread. We all know there are areas we need to improve.
For now, let’s turn the page and get ready for Stanford. Don’t be a prisoner of the moment. Remember what this team has already accomplished and let’s finish out the season 11-1 and get to the playoffs. Go Canes!
The days of teams going undefeated or only dropping 1 game are over, especially for teams in harder conferences, which I know the ACC is not. However, a team like Louisville — one with first round talent on the field, one of the better defenses in college football, and a coach like Brohm? This was always going to be a tough spot for us, whether people want to admit it or not. We’re doing to be everyone’s Super Bowl, and if you don’t at least bring your “B” game, then expect a dog fight.
For the first time in over 20 years, we weren’t the laughing stock of college football anymore. Even in 2017, people made jokes because everyone knew we were a paper tiger. This was the first season since the early 2000s that most observers of the sport believed we were one of the top teams in the country. And clearly, the kids didn’t handle it well. I believe the combination of “rat poison” and the weird bye week schedule caused this team to lose focus.
I expected us to lose a game. People can go back and read my posts. This game scared me. So does Pitt and SMU. And while a loss is never good, having it early in the season is preferable. It will become a distant memory if we run the table the rest of the way. I’m going to enjoy not being the most talked about team in the country for the next 6 weeks. We need to be out of the spotlight — the team isn’t ready for that kind of attention.
So, with that all said, no one in their right mind believed we were running the table this year. Admit it — most of you had us down for 1 loss, maybe even 2 by this point. We had exceeded every fan’s expectations. Time to, as Josh Pate would say, recalibrate expectations. We did not lose to a bad team. We lost to a good team, playing a C- to D+ game, that will be ranked at the end of the year. It happens.
But it can’t ******* happen again. Mario, you just used your mulligan. Get this team back on track and let’s finish the job. No more room for errors. We have the resume to get to the playoff if we win out, regardless of making it to the ACC championship game.
I’ll save the frustration over a run scheme for a different thread. We all know there are areas we need to improve.
For now, let’s turn the page and get ready for Stanford. Don’t be a prisoner of the moment. Remember what this team has already accomplished and let’s finish out the season 11-1 and get to the playoffs. Go Canes!
