Status check on W/L expectations?

[harphong]

Was hoping the portal would save us, lol.

Still at 5-7 to 7-5.

Optimism is that we don't get MTSU'd or Duked or FSU'd or CLemosned at all.

All losses by 14 or less, wins still possible late in the game.

Too many holes on defense from DT to CB, to safety...good DC tho.

Just stay competitive and don't tank recruiting by showing fight is all I expect.

Hoping 8-4 @DTP, but still expecting much, much less.

 

[Brains]

I'm not in agreement with the many posters who say they want "competitive games with everyone." I want to blow out weaker teams, and beat everybody we are supposed to beat.

As far as better teams go, sure, I'd rather lose by 10 than 30. But that is not important to me in comparison to beating those you are supposed to beat, and blowing out those you are supposed to blow out.

Our fanbase remains fixated on the "big name" games, and it's the wrong mindset to determine progress in 2023.

 

[DTP]

A&M is -6.5 right now at Draftkings.

I think they were right around the same last year when we went to College Station.

Sounds about right. We outgained them 392- 264 and had 27 first downs to their 16 last year. if Mario plays to actually win instead of playing it safe with field goal attempts, Miami wins that game outright.

 

[Manfred_Cane]

I'm not in agreement with the many posters who say they want "competitive games with everyone." I want to blow out weaker teams, and beat everybody we are supposed to beat.

As far as better teams go, sure, I'd rather lose by 10 than 30. But that is not important to me in comparison to beating those you are supposed to beat, and blowing out those you are supposed to blow out.

Our fanbase remains fixated on the "big name" games, and it's the wrong mindset to determine progress in 2023.

I'm looking to beat every team we're supposed to beat and not get blown out by Clemson. I don't think FSU is good enough to blow us out this year. I think we're better than last year. But doing that would be an indicator of us moving in the right direction.

In 2020, manny beat every team he was supposed to and got blown out twice. We thought we were headed in the right direction and it turns out, we weren't.

 

[Empirical Cane]

Was hoping the portal would save us, lol.

Still at 5-7 to 7-5.

Optimism is that we don't get MTSU'd or Duked or FSU'd or CLemosned at all.

All losses by 14 or less, wins still possible late in the game.

Too many holes on defense from DT to CB, to safety...good DC tho.

Just stay competitive and don't tank recruiting by showing fight is all I expect.

Hoping 8-4 @DTP, but still expecting much, much less.

Hopefully our Canes get bukkaked at least one less session this season.

 

[supacane]

After the first portal and staff changes i said 7-5. With the reinforcement of the secondary and WR position im at 8-4. I will not predict anything better than that. Manny won 8 games in 2020 with 11 games, so not difficult.

Anything better is gonna be dependent on the players improvements and the staff improvements which is something they have to show on the field. Blind faith days are over.

 

[DTP]

I'm not in agreement with the many posters who say they want "competitive games with everyone." I want to blow out weaker teams, and beat everybody we are supposed to beat.

As far as better teams go, sure, I'd rather lose by 10 than 30. But that is not important to me in comparison to beating those you are supposed to beat, and blowing out those you are supposed to blow out.

Our fanbase remains fixated on the "big name" games, and it's the wrong mindset to determine progress in 2023.

I'm in agreement. Let's win the games we should win. Keeping it close against Texas A&M last year was meaningless considering we got smoked by MTSU the following week.

 

[westcoastcanes]

Why are you throwing in the towel against Texas A&M? They went 5-7 last year too. They only won by 8 points at home last year. They have huge question marks at quarterback and all over their offense. They've recruited well and should have a good defensive line but I have no reason to see them as "clear favorites". They aren't a good football team.

It mostly boils down to roster talent. I am not going to bet on Mario beating a more talented team until he proves he can stay beating more talented teams. Both teams have new OCs so I am not really counting that for or against either. Their likely QB is a former top 25 player with an 8:0 TD:int ratio against college defenses so he will probably be ok. And that D Line will be more than good.

Folks can assume A&M will be bad, and historically, they are probably going to be right, but eventually that talent level is going to poke its head out and beat some teams they probably should, which would include us as of right now. I fully expect them to be the betting favorites despite being on the road.

 

[FuriousStyles]

Hopefully our Canes get bukkaked at least one less session this season.

View attachment 241880

 

[caneholic88]

8-5 with a win in our December bowel game against some mid tier sec/big10 squad (Indiana/Kentucky etc..)..most of our losses will be close and we’ll see clear progression going into 2024 with some nice recruiting momentum..

 

[Empirical Cane]

"...we got smoked by MTSU the following week."

You are far too kind.

 

[AndreiVasy88]

I'd just like to beat UNC. Haven't beat them since 2018.

 

[CANEMC]

 

[Brains]

I'd just like to beat UNC. Haven't beat them since 2018.

If we beat UNC, we are probably having a very good season that significantly exceeds expectations.

 

[mossmadness]

I’ve posted ad nauseam to the history of HC who have made huge leaps in yr 2.

However, imma take a different angle:
Randy Shannon -
Yr 1: 5-7
Yr 2: 7-6

Al Golden -
Yr 1: 6-6
Yr 2: 7-5

Manny Diaz -
Yr 1: 6-7
Yr 2: 8-3

Now these mutha fckas r all of our favorite most hated coaches, right? Mario is supposed to be 10x the coach of these losers, correct?

So imma put it like this, if we win less than 8 games in yr 2, Imma feel a certain type of way. I backed Mario & preached patience in yr 1 b/c of what was inherited, but there’s no reason y in yr 2, w/ an alleged roster more in his image that we should be losing more than 4 games this yr, not w/ this schedule.

We play:
G5 Miami (OH)
A TAMU team in influx
GT who fired their coach
FCS BCU
G5 Temple team that went 3-9 last season.

This right here should be NO LESS than a 4-1 start, but in reality should be a 5-0 start since TAMU still have QB ? marks.

We then play:
UNC who lost their two best WRs
Clemson
UVA that went 3-9 last season AND lost their starting QB
NCSt who’s replacing Leary w/ UVA’s trash
FSU

This stretch should be 4-1 if our mentality is right, but I’ll go 3-2 to be nice.

We finish up w/:
UL who’s bringing in a whole new staff
BC who’s weak af

2-0

Our regular season should be 9-3, period.

And allow me to nix the potential change in-staff excuse; Diaz went 8-3 in yr 2 w/ a whole new Offensive Staff from yr 1, brought in a new QB from the portal, & lost his best WR in KJ Osborn.

Only things I would say is:

Texas A&M was 39th in F+ last year. We were 80 something. It wasn’t reflected on the field when we played them, but they were a lot better than we were last year.
And now the thing that held them back, Jimbo’s playcalling, is supposedly removed.

UNC got a legit superstar WR in the transfer portal. That continued to play like a superstar for them in spring practice. We would trade probably anybody in our WR room for him.

NCSt 8/ replacing Leary with Armstrong. Armstrong was one of the top QBs in college football under Anae. Anae is now NC State’s OC. The basically got one of the best bands in college football back together for a reunion tour.

 

[Rellyrell]

Only things I would say is:

Texas A&M was 39th in F+ last year. We were 80 something. It wasn’t reflected on the field when we played them, but they were a lot better than we were last year.
And now the thing that held them back, Jimbo’s playcalling, is supposedly removed.

UNC got a legit superstar WR in the transfer portal. That continued to play like a superstar for them in spring practice. We would trade probably anybody in our WR room for him.

NCSt 8/ replacing Leary with Armstrong. Armstrong was one of the top QBs in college football under Anae. Anae is now NC State’s OC. The basically got one of the best bands in college football back together for a reunion tour.

I hear u, but again besides TAMU which is y I counted that as a loss, these other two Tobacco Rd teams, nah bruh…our roster & $8m+ coaching staff says we r supposed to beat this yr. TVD is supposed to be in a QB friendly offense now. The problem was supposed to be Gattis & Steele last season. Well, those two have been removed & upgraded, allegedly. So, let’s see.

Btw, I’m not taking away anything u said b/c those r valid points, but I’m not hiding behind those excuses.
-Our OL is supposed to be vastly improved this season

-Our S room is supposed to be considered top notch

-Our LB room is supposed to be vastly improved

-The DL while having some holes up the middle (pause), is supposed to be improved along the DE spots

-New OC who came from high octane offense

-New DC who’s supposed to be controlled chaos

-HOF DL Coach

Come on, if we still losing to NCSt & UNC this yr, that would be very disappointing. Clemson, TAMU, & even FSU I can excuse, no other squad on this schedule IF we stay healthy, b/c that was another reason for last season.

 

[Caneofcanes]

Whatever the Vegas odds are. I’m taking the OVER FOR $100

 

[CANEMC]

 

[GojiraCane]

I just keep it realistic. I listed out the games that I think we will lose.

A&M will be talented and probably better than us early. We haven’t won an out of conference power 5 game since 2017 ND and we haven’t beat an SEC team in 10 years.

We have lost 4 straight to UNC and 3-7 in our last 10. At their place with a 1st round QB

Clemson has beat us 4 straight times by a combined score of 178-30

We are 12-10 on the road in conference since 2018. NC State is well coached and will be tough to beat at their place

FSU has a significant experience advantage and one of the better teams we will see this year; at home after beating us two straight.

We have not played well at BC even when they aren’t good. I think Brohm’s offense will be playing well by November. It’s easy to think split

Sorry it’s not rainbows and sunshine. I don’t see the the depth or play makers to beat some of these teams that everyone chalks up as easy wins. Sometimes it seems like our fans don’t truly know how bad we’ve been.

There’s also some bias in that.

College football in 2023 is not like it was even two years ago. NIL and the portal have changed things. Some points to consider:

1) The worst that TVD will likely ever play on offense was last year. Bad scheme coupled with a truly wrecked offensive line, which in turn destroyed him. Offensive line was aggressively addressed this off season. OC should be a far better fit. We added four wide receivers. Colby is a year older. There’s tremendous upside here.

2) The cornerback play was catastrophically bad last year. Giving up 98 yard plays to Duke and M Tenn reflect this. It’s the fruit of years of bad recruiting by Manny. So Mario attacked this too, very aggressively in the transfer portal. And that’s proper use of the portal - to quickly correct mistakes while you get your recruiting back online. Even average cornerback play will be an improvement.

3) Linebacker was also badly recruited by Manny. This was the third position that was aggressively addressed. We’ve brought in talent both in the portal and through signings. Wesley is a year older. This group should also be significantly better.

The only area that gives me cause for concern is quarterback depth. Realistically we should win 8 games unless TVD goes down, and upside is probably 10-2.

 

[GojiraCane]

Was hoping the portal would save us, lol.

Still at 5-7 to 7-5.

Optimism is that we don't get MTSU'd or Duked or FSU'd or CLemosned at all.

All losses by 14 or less, wins still possible late in the game.

Too many holes on defense from DT to CB, to safety...good DC tho.

Just stay competitive and don't tank recruiting by showing fight is all I expect.

Hoping 8-4 @DTP, but still expecting much, much less.

Where are the holes? The only issue I see at this point is carrying only three quarterbacks into the season.