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MTSU Post-Game Analysis (****ed Off (But Rationale) Fans Only)

FL Cane

FL Cane

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Aug 26, 2018
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Let's start by saying the obvious, today was an unmitigated disaster. Coaches and players are responsible for this absolute dumpster fire of a loss. Without a doubt, this is a top 5 loss in program history. There are few situations worse than this one. Nevertheless, some observations on today's game and the weeks ahead:
  • Something is seriously wrong with TVD. He hasn't adapted to the scheme, and it looks like he's psychologically beat. His body language today was absolutely terrible, and he had no fight in him whatsoever. I'm always rooting for our guys, but I wouldn't be surprised if Garcia jumps him and stays in the driver's seat all year.

  • TVD has regressed. There needs to be a serious look at what Frank Ponce is doing and why this regression has happened. To me, it looks like TVD hasn't gotten the scheme, he has no chemistry with any of the WR's, and he's mentally beat.

  • Jake Garcia has an opportunity to take over as QB1 and stay there. He did a nice job tonight but missed some passes (Arroyo wide open in the back of the endzone). His body language was night and day with TVD. He's got moxie, and the team showed signs of life with him leading.

  • Will Mallory shouldn't take another significant snap for the rest of the year. He's a below-average to average TE that never shows up or makes a play when you need it. Arroyo and Skinner have potential. Give them the snaps they need.

  • WR's, at points, showed signs of life. Garcia's has way better chemistry with them, and we need someone to emerge. Either way, they still didn't do what they needed to.

  • The OL and DL weren't ready today. They did so well against A&M and just couldn't get anything going whatsoever today. We've seen what they can do when things work, but the second they faced adversity, they crumbled.

  • It's evident that this team took this game for granted and couldn't respond to getting punched in the mouth. 18 years of terrible culture and recruiting evals tends to do that. However, it's on coaches to make sure that these guys were locked in, and they weren't.

  • Addae has his work cut out for him at DB. We got burned more times than I can count. Ivey returned to his usual ways, and Tyrique Stevenson mailed it in.
Here's the reality of where we are and what we need to focus on:
  • Personnel --> The fact of the matter is that we don't have the guys we need to be better than a 6 or 7-win team. The Richt and Diaz eras were not kind for recruiting, and it's obvious that we missed on the overwhelming majority of our evals. Things won't get better until we have better guys. Stacking talent is the only way out of mediocrity.

  • Culture --> We've been mediocre for 18 years. In that time, the winning culture we used to possess has completely rotted away. Replacing that once winning culture was a new culture dominated by mediocrity, mental weakness, and complacency. When you've been bad for so long, and you've passed an entire generation without a winning culture, it takes time to clean out the rot. I am sick of hearing about the future as much as anyone else, but the reality is that a winning culture is not established within a season after 18 years of mediocrity. We need guys that believe in a winning culture, and we need to cycle out of the guys that are incapable of doing so.

  • Recruiting --> For all his coaching faults, Mario is a great recruiter. Do we have recruiting momentum right now? Nope, none at all whatsoever. Luckily for us, there's 2/3 of a season left to play. Additionally, you get guys to buy into a vision of what can be (if they're here), not what is. Part of our appeal is being a once proud powerhouse that needs playmakers to get back to glory. There are plenty of kids in this class that have bought into that vision. There's plenty more we're going to pursue. I'm not going to pretend that we won't lose guys. People are going to negative recruit the **** out of us right now. But it's too early to write recruiting obituaries.

  • Timeline --> We all knew it wouldn't be easy, albeit we never thought it would be like this. Clearly, this is a 2-3 year rebuild on being a consistent 9-win team and a 4-5 year rebuild to be nationally competitive. The only way we get there is through culture, recruiting, and coaching. Least worried about culture and recruiting and most worried about coaching at the moment.
Overall, we're in a bad place right now. This team looks mentally beaten and broken. I guess it shouldn't surprise any of us that a team that went 7-5 last year hasn't changed much. It's infuriating all the same. Mario has two weeks to figure out a formula for what will work moving forward. We need to go into UNC with the mentality that this is a new season. As much as people are sick of hearing this, this season isn't over by a long shot. Call me naive, a slurper, or whatever, but I'm not going to call it a day for a staff four games into a season after inheriting a team that's gone 28-21 over the last four seasons. Mario needs to be better, Gattis has to adjust, and Steele needs to figure out what happened with his D today, but it's too early to give up on this staff. Imho this team can finish anywhere between 5-7 to 8-4. Coaches and programs are made by how they respond to adversity. Watch the finish and how our guys will respond. That'll be the biggest indicator of our future.
 
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Also, to state the obvious, we're gonna ride or die with this staff. Imho it's way too early to call them a failure. Plenty of ball left, and this new staff has just started. Major changes are needed, though. In the words of Sheldrick Redwine, "don't be a fan later."
 
FL Cane said:
Let's start by saying the obvious, today was an unmitigated disaster. Coaches and players are responsible for this absolute dumpster fire of a loss. Without a doubt, this is a top 5 loss in program history. There are few situations worse than this one. Nevertheless, some observations on today's game and the weeks ahead:
  • Something is seriously wrong with TVD. He hasn't adapted to the scheme, and it looks like he's psychologically beat. His body language today was absolutely terrible, and he had no fight in him whatsoever. I'm always rooting for our guys, but I wouldn't be surprised if Garcia jumps him and stays in the driver's seat all year.

  • TVD has regressed. There needs to be a serious look at what Frank Ponce is doing and why this regression has happened. To me, it looks like TVD hasn't gotten the scheme, he has no chemistry with any of the WR's, and he's mentally beat.

  • Jake Garcia has an opportunity to take over as QB1 and stay there. He did a nice job tonight but missed some passes (Arroyo wide open in the back of the endzone). His body language was night and day with TVD. He's got moxie, and the team showed signs of life with him leading.

  • Will Mallory shouldn't take another significant snap for the rest of the year. He's a below-average to average TE that never shows up or makes a play when you need it. Arroyo and Skinner have potential. Give them the snaps they need.

  • WR's, at points, showed signs of life. Garcia's has way better chemistry with them, and we need someone to emerge. Either way, they still didn't do what they needed to.

  • The OL and DL weren't ready today. They did so well against A&M and just couldn't get anything going whatsoever today. We've seen what they can do when things work, but the second they faced adversity, they crumbled.

  • It's evident that this team took this game for granted and couldn't respond to getting punched in the mouth. 18 years of terrible culture and recruiting evals tends to do that. However, it's on coaches to make sure that these guys were locked in, and they weren't.

  • Addae has his work cut out for him at DB. We got burned more times than I can count. Ivey returned to his usual ways, and Tyrique Stevenson mailed it in.
Here's the reality of where we are and what we need to focus on:
  • Personnel --> The fact of the matter is that we don't have the guys we need to be better than a 6 or 7-win team. The Richt and Diaz eras were not kind for recruiting, and it's obvious that we missed on the overwhelming majority of our evals. Things won't get better until we have better guys. Stacking talent is the only way out of mediocrity.

  • Culture --> We've been mediocre for 18 years. In that time, the winning culture we used to possess has completely rotted away. Replacing that once winning culture was a new culture dominated by mediocrity, mental weakness, and complacency. When you've been bad for so long, and you've passed an entire generation without a winning culture, it takes time to clean out the rot. I am sick of hearing about the future as much as anyone else, but the reality is that a winning culture is not established within a season after 18 years of mediocrity. We need guys that believe in a winning culture, and we need to cycle out of the guys that are incapable of doing so.

  • Recruiting --> For all his coaching faults, Mario is a great recruiter. Do we have recruiting momentum right now? Nope, none at all whatsoever. Luckily for us, there's 2/3 of a season left to play. Additionally, you get guys to buy into a vision of what can be (if they're here), not what is. Part of our appeal is being a once proud powerhouse that needs playmakers to get back to glory. There are plenty of kids in this class that have bought into that vision. There's plenty more we're going to pursue. I'm not going to pretend that we won't lose guys. People are going to negative recruit the **** out of us right now. But it's too early to write recruiting obituaries.

  • Timeline --> We all knew it wouldn't be easy, albeit we never thought it would be like this. Clearly, this is a 2-3 year rebuild on being a consistent 9-win team and a 4-5 year rebuild to be nationally competitive. The only way we get there is through culture, recruiting, and coaching. Least worried about culture and recruiting and most worried about coaching at the moment.
Overall, we're in a bad place right now. This team looks mentally beaten and broken. I guess it shouldn't surprise any of us that a team that went 7-5 last year hasn't changed much. It's infuriating all the same. Mario has two weeks to figure out a formula for what will work moving forward. We need to go into UNC with the mentality that this is a new season. As much as people are sick of hearing this, this season isn't over by a long shot. Call me naive, a slurper, or whatever, but I'm not going to call it a day for a staff four games into a season after inheriting a team that's gone 28-21 over the last four seasons. Mario needs to be better, Gattis has to adjust, and Steele needs to figure out what happened with his D today, but it's too early to give up on this staff. Imho this team can finish anywhere between 5-7 to 8-4. Coaches and programs are made by how they respond to adversity. Watch the finish and how our guys will respond. That'll be the biggest indicator of our future.
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Too much to read broda. Get rid of Gattis and Ponce........make the appropriate hire's in their place. That is the answer. CFB isn't that complicated.
 
hanna445 said:
Tyrique got hurt.

I think all positions should be up for grabs, no more seniority. The only issue with a full scale youth movement is that there’s a lot of important football to go. This is why you get paid the big bucks as a head coach.
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Completely agree. Everything needs to be reopened this week. Top to bottom eval. As terrible as things look, season's not over yet.
 
FL Cane said:
Also, to state the obvious, we're gonna ride or die with this staff. Imho it's way too early to call them a failure. Plenty of ball left, and this new staff has just started. Major changes are needed, though. In the words of Sheldrick Redwine, "don't be a fan later."
Click to expand...
It is not too early to call them a failure for this season. A MTSU loss is inexcusable and is a failure for the season. Even if we go undefeated the rest of the way (which we won’t), we can look back at this as a game that, in no circumstances, should’ve been lost
 
Artist Formerly Known As said:
It is not too early to call them a failure for this season. A MTSU loss is inexcusable and is a failure for the season. Even if we go undefeated the rest of the way (which we won’t), we can look back at this as a game that, in no circumstances, should’ve been lost
Click to expand...
The loss is inexcusable and a failure. We should've never lost this game, but I don't agree that we can call them a failure this season. Not saying we will, but if we finish 8-4/9-3, it'll have been because this staff and team responded. Hopefully, it can be a turning point.
 
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FL Cane said:
Let's start by saying the obvious, today was an unmitigated disaster. Coaches and players are responsible for this absolute dumpster fire of a loss. Without a doubt, this is a top 5 loss in program history. There are few situations worse than this one. Nevertheless, some observations on today's game and the weeks ahead:
  • Something is seriously wrong with TVD. He hasn't adapted to the scheme, and it looks like he's psychologically beat. His body language today was absolutely terrible, and he had no fight in him whatsoever. I'm always rooting for our guys, but I wouldn't be surprised if Garcia jumps him and stays in the driver's seat all year.

  • TVD has regressed. There needs to be a serious look at what Frank Ponce is doing and why this regression has happened. To me, it looks like TVD hasn't gotten the scheme, he has no chemistry with any of the WR's, and he's mentally beat.

  • Jake Garcia has an opportunity to take over as QB1 and stay there. He did a nice job tonight but missed some passes (Arroyo wide open in the back of the endzone). His body language was night and day with TVD. He's got moxie, and the team showed signs of life with him leading.

  • Will Mallory shouldn't take another significant snap for the rest of the year. He's a below-average to average TE that never shows up or makes a play when you need it. Arroyo and Skinner have potential. Give them the snaps they need.

  • WR's, at points, showed signs of life. Garcia's has way better chemistry with them, and we need someone to emerge. Either way, they still didn't do what they needed to.

  • The OL and DL weren't ready today. They did so well against A&M and just couldn't get anything going whatsoever today. We've seen what they can do when things work, but the second they faced adversity, they crumbled.

  • It's evident that this team took this game for granted and couldn't respond to getting punched in the mouth. 18 years of terrible culture and recruiting evals tends to do that. However, it's on coaches to make sure that these guys were locked in, and they weren't.

  • Addae has his work cut out for him at DB. We got burned more times than I can count. Ivey returned to his usual ways, and Tyrique Stevenson mailed it in.
Here's the reality of where we are and what we need to focus on:
  • Personnel --> The fact of the matter is that we don't have the guys we need to be better than a 6 or 7-win team. The Richt and Diaz eras were not kind for recruiting, and it's obvious that we missed on the overwhelming majority of our evals. Things won't get better until we have better guys. Stacking talent is the only way out of mediocrity.

  • Culture --> We've been mediocre for 18 years. In that time, the winning culture we used to possess has completely rotted away. Replacing that once winning culture was a new culture dominated by mediocrity, mental weakness, and complacency. When you've been bad for so long, and you've passed an entire generation without a winning culture, it takes time to clean out the rot. I am sick of hearing about the future as much as anyone else, but the reality is that a winning culture is not established within a season after 18 years of mediocrity. We need guys that believe in a winning culture, and we need to cycle out of the guys that are incapable of doing so.

  • Recruiting --> For all his coaching faults, Mario is a great recruiter. Do we have recruiting momentum right now? Nope, none at all whatsoever. Luckily for us, there's 2/3 of a season left to play. Additionally, you get guys to buy into a vision of what can be (if they're here), not what is. Part of our appeal is being a once proud powerhouse that needs playmakers to get back to glory. There are plenty of kids in this class that have bought into that vision. There's plenty more we're going to pursue. I'm not going to pretend that we won't lose guys. People are going to negative recruit the **** out of us right now. But it's too early to write recruiting obituaries.

  • Timeline --> We all knew it wouldn't be easy, albeit we never thought it would be like this. Clearly, this is a 2-3 year rebuild on being a consistent 9-win team and a 4-5 year rebuild to be nationally competitive. The only way we get there is through culture, recruiting, and coaching. Least worried about culture and recruiting and most worried about coaching at the moment.
Overall, we're in a bad place right now. This team looks mentally beaten and broken. I guess it shouldn't surprise any of us that a team that went 7-5 last year hasn't changed much. It's infuriating all the same. Mario has two weeks to figure out a formula for what will work moving forward. We need to go into UNC with the mentality that this is a new season. As much as people are sick of hearing this, this season isn't over by a long shot. Call me naive, a slurper, or whatever, but I'm not going to call it a day for a staff four games into a season after inheriting a team that's gone 28-21 over the last four seasons. Mario needs to be better, Gattis has to adjust, and Steele needs to figure out what happened with his D today, but it's too early to give up on this staff. Imho this team can finish anywhere between 5-7 to 8-4. Coaches and programs are made by how they respond to adversity. Watch the finish and how our guys will respond. That'll be the biggest indicator of our future.
Click to expand...
Netflix GIF by Daybreak
 
BoxingRobes said:
The God of Death came for us.

Two weeks ago, it was Texas A&M...last week it was Notre Dame...and this week, the God of Death came for us.
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I've read a lot of stupid **** when studying world religions during my BA, MTS, and M.Div days, but this right here is the dumbest I've ever read.
 
There’s some hope in the op’s post. After years of the same old same old one has to wonder if there’s merit.
 
This upcoming offseason will tell us a lot about Cristobal. Hopefully he does what Butch did with Bill Miller and adjusts accordingly. Aside from Gattis, I have no clue what exactly Ponce is doing. While I hope the light bulb clicks and the offense is humming by the end of the year, that does not seem likely. If a change is needed, I hope it is an OC/QB coach combo that plays to our strengths and a separate WR coach.
 
BiltmoreCANE said:
There’s some hope in the op’s post. After years of the same old same old one has to wonder if there’s merit.
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I agree. It's the same old **** until it isn't. Every team that's been down has gone through this same process. The only coach that's ever turned around a .500 team in one year is Urban Meyer. Even Nick Saban couldn't do it.

This loss was inexcusable, and its a stain on this staff and team. However, that stain will be less apparent if we finish strong and get to a decent bowl game. As ****** as it sounds, with how mediocre we've been for 18 years, we need to take a long-term outlook here.
 
FL Cane said:
The loss is inexcusable and a failure. We should've never lost this game, but I don't agree that we can call them a failure this season. Not saying we will, but if we finish 8-4/9-3, it'll have been because this staff and team responded. Hopefully, it can be a turning point.
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Nope. It’s a failure. This loss is up there with LA Tech and FIU. We weren’t in this game from the first whistle.
 
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FL Cane said:
The loss is inexcusable and a failure. We should've never lost this game, but I don't agree that we can call them a failure this season. Not saying we will, but if we finish 8-4/9-3, it'll have been because this staff and team responded. Hopefully, it can be a turning point.
Click to expand...
Pass the hopium if you think we can go 6-2 or 7-1 the rest of the way.

Please list the wins. What have you seen the last 3 games that makes you think a turnaround is in the cards?
 
Hard if not understandable. Baffled. TVD getting killed, but this is not on him.
 
MiamisMoperiestMopes said:
Pass the hopium if you think we can go 6-2 or 7-1 the rest of the way.

Please list the wins. What have you seen the last 3 games that makes you think a turnaround is in the cards?
Click to expand...
Not saying we have a turnaround; just saying it's a possibility, and we need to see how this team responds to adversity. Imho, we can't write an obituary of this staff four games into its first season. Changes need to be made, and we got outcoached. That godawful team we had last year was 2-4 going into week six before we won the next 5/6 against some decent teams. Gotta see how this team responds.
 
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