We can still make the playoffs if we win out

@DMoney Given some of the snippets coming from the committee and the obvious landscape of our situation, do you know if the staff is aware that winning the last 4 games may not be enough and that style will play a huge part in whether we have a chance to make the CFP?

I ask because even if they go out an execute the way they seem to want to it likely won't jump out to people. I think Miami needs to show something different that changes the gameboard and then can be pointed to and said, "look, we figured something out, we're a different team now". Alabama changed the narrative very quickly after the loss to FSU because they looked different.

I hope the staff is aware and I hope they approach this from a, "f*** it, let's play like we have nothing to lose", perspective. I think that's the only way. Honestly, with as bad as the last 4 weeks have been, if this team goes out in the last 4 games and plays with heart and balls to the wall I think I would be pretty proud and happy, even if they don't make the CFP.
 
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@DMoney Given some of the snippets coming from the committee and the obvious landscape of our situation, do you know if the staff is aware that winning the last 4 games may not be enough and that style will play a huge part in whether we have a chance to make the CFP?

I ask because even if they go out an execute the way they seem to want to it likely won't jump out to people. I think Miami needs to show something different that changes the gameboard and then can be pointed to and said, "look, we figured something out, we're a different team now". Alabama changed the narrative very quickly after the loss to FSU because they looked different.

I hope the staff is aware and I hope they approach this from a, "f*** it, let's play like we have nothing to lose", perspective. I think that's the only way. Honestly, with as bad as the last 4 weeks have been, if this team goes out in the last 4 games and plays with heart and balls to the wall I think I would be pretty proud and happy, even if they don't make the CFP.

TrumpyCane thinks its very difficult to all of a sudden "turn it on"

This team "is what it is"
 
I get what yall are saying but we play no one but Pitt. Pitt has a gauntlet before they get to us though. Even with how ****** we have been playing we only lost by one possession in each of the losses against some scheme gurus. There’s a chance we win out if changes are made and we stop running up the centers butt each play.
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I agree, but I have zero faith we win out. Our staff has shown zero ability to adapt, and Mario isn’t all of the sudden going to not be a gaping ****** on gameday.

However, say we win out. In that case we would have won out and probably won’t at a ranked Pitt. The CFP says our issue is consistency. 10-2 to end the year and a ranked win means there’s zero chance 10-2 ND gets in over us. We’d have the head to head, equal records, and more ranked wins. Either we get in over ND, or neither of us gets in.
Friend the committee will always put in ND over an ACC team with similar resumes, especially Miami. ND is a cash cow to the CFP. It doesn’t matter that we beat them because their reasoning will be that ND lost to two ranked teams early in the season while Miami stumbled midseason and lost to two unranked teams when they played.
 
TrumpyCane thinks its very difficult to all of a sudden "turn it on"

This team "is what it is"

The team last year fell into that category. They weren't fixing the defense. This is effort and focus. If that "is what it is" from Mario's perspective then he really doesn't deserve to be the coach.

Sports are funny and how people react to them is funny. I remember in season 2 of the LeBron Miami Heat run, Boston is up 3-2 in the ECF. It looks like the experiment is about to fail and LeBron is about to cement his legacy as someone that can't get it done. Up until that point there was really no hope. But he comes out of the tunnel in game 6 and looks like he doesn't give a f*** anymore. Crazy angry and focused as if to say, "If I go down then I go down, but I'm going down on my own terms. Forget everything else". That zombie attitude where you can knock me off you 100 times and I never think for a second that I'm failing. Just that I'm never going to stop attacking.

That level of acceptance that you get in sports where you stop fearing failure and play without any limitations is the point this team needs to be at. People have already accepted them as a failure. They really don't have anything left to lose. That mindset can attach to anyone in sports. It's not something people have or don't have, it's just whether they can find it.

If I was Cristobal I would say to my coordinators and my players, "Just go f***ing play without fear. If you do that you won't regret anything".
 
I can appreciate your detail and optimism. But there’s a bigger set of issues to consider.

We see the lack of discipline with the penalty numbers game after game. Obvious to anyone who watches. Beyond the impact on the game, the ripple effect of the lack of discipline and corrective action, specifically as the o-line goes, has caused a lot of disdain on the other side of the ball. This is a championship caliber defense that given their performance, has done an admirable job considering their snap counts are indicative of a top team that’s played 10 games thus far instead of eight. The physical toll it’s taken is unacceptable and again I KNOW there’s some major animosity building over it.

I’ve been an advocate for Mario since before he got here. In part it’s due to his ability to acquire talent. But maybe just as big, for those who aren’t older or at least a middle aged man, is this program’s inability to retain or obtain competent staff for decades. The shine and luster of what we have in our hearts for this program has been misaligned with the appeal of working here no doubt. Hence a guy like Mario was appealing to be the guy to knock that rust off.

But the truth is he’s on the verge of losing this team because of HIS failures from a discipline and accountability perspective. It’s one thing to get penalized because the guy across from you is just physically superior. That’s not the case most of the time with this team. Yet there’s little to no sit your *** down the rest of the quarter or game or minimal adjustments to who gets the nod to start. For a guy who got to where he is as a coach and who he was as a player it’s stunning considering his grit and intensity. He has a huge disconnect at this point with marrying his traits with the accountability he NEEDS to have with those he leads. IMO there’s nothing more toxic of a trait for a leader in any walk of life than that.

I’ll close by saying this. Anything short of a “**** or walk” mentality from Mario immediately will result in this thing going down in flames. It starts with him having the balls or competence to take corrective action and let his guys, especially the ones who aren’t the principles in the problem, knowing it’s unacceptable and that he’s leading them first and foremost.

Buckle up because at this point the tail is wagging the dog. At this point I’d be concerned more about who aren’t principles in the problem sticking around another year or the guys we anticipate arriving on campus staying on schedule. That’s my concern.
 
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I remember the “path to win the coastal” threads after you lost control of our destiny.
There are 9 locks for the tourney at this point (including the G5).

We are basically out of the ACC championship game already (Duke has MUCH better chance of making it than we do)

If we win out, we need BYU to win out, we need all SEC and B1G teams to have at least 3 losses (we’d lose tiebreakers to any teams from those conferences with same amount of losses). We’d need ND to lose another game too.

We need a lot of help because our HC chooses identity over everything. Lack of discipline and lack of creativity and lack of killer instinct.
 
They keep acting like it’s unlikely, but if we win out we will be in. We do need style points, no doubt. Teams ahead of us have tough matchups and many will drop one or more games.

#3 TX A&M still to play at #22 Mizzou this week and at #11 Texas last game of the season.

#4 Bama still has LSU who is still talented AF and #12 Oklahoma

#5 Georgia has #11 Texas and 8-1 Georgia Tech who took them to 25k OT’s last year.

#6 Ole Miss plays no one

#7 BYU has #8 Texas Tech, 6-2 TCU, and 7-2 Cincinnati

#8 Texas Tech- see above - I think they beat BYU.

#9 Oregon has a gauntlet! #20 Iowa, 6-3 Minnesota, #19 USC, and #23 Washington.. do they drop 1?

#10 ND has nearly same road as us. Either 1 of us could lose to Pitt.

#11 Texas will drop 2 of their 3 remaining games.

#12 OU has #4 Bama, #22 Mizzou, and LSU, but only 1 game separates the two..

#13 Utah plays no one but strength of schedule is buns- we should pass them if they win out

#14 UVA plays Wake who SHOULD be 5-2 and Duke who can beat anyone in the ACC.

#15 Louisville plays SMU and Clemson even though Clemson sucks, they are still talented.

Our biggest concern is just winning games though. We haven’t done well in controlling our destiny..
Winning out is a chore in itself. Then, can’t just beat teams - pedal to metal & style points,
 
The longer He stays, the more the program suffers and the harder it will be to replace him.

We all know what needs to be done.
 
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They keep acting like it’s unlikely, but if we win out we will be in. We do need style points, no doubt. Teams ahead of us have tough matchups and many will drop one or more games.

#3 TX A&M still to play at #22 Mizzou this week and at #11 Texas last game of the season.

#4 Bama still has LSU who is still talented AF and #12 Oklahoma

#5 Georgia has #11 Texas and 8-1 Georgia Tech who took them to 25k OT’s last year.

#6 Ole Miss plays no one

#7 BYU has #8 Texas Tech, 6-2 TCU, and 7-2 Cincinnati

#8 Texas Tech- see above - I think they beat BYU.

#9 Oregon has a gauntlet! #20 Iowa, 6-3 Minnesota, #19 USC, and #23 Washington.. do they drop 1?

#10 ND has nearly same road as us. Either 1 of us could lose to Pitt.

#11 Texas will drop 2 of their 3 remaining games.

#12 OU has #4 Bama, #22 Mizzou, and LSU, but only 1 game separates the two..

#13 Utah plays no one but strength of schedule is buns- we should pass them if they win out

#14 UVA plays Wake who SHOULD be 5-2 and Duke who can beat anyone in the ACC.

#15 Louisville plays SMU and Clemson even though Clemson sucks, they are still talented.

Our biggest concern is just winning games though. We haven’t done well in controlling our destiny..
No chance. I don’t believe we go 4-0. 3-1 if we’re lucky if we keep playing this ground and pound garbage
 
i said the SMU game would be the season when we lost to Lville.

nothing changed in our approach since that loss. we havent learned a single thing from that loss. we looked lethargic against stanford. got out coached again against SMU. well win this weekend, but NCSU is a complete toss up and that game at Pitt to end the year is going to be tough. this team has the talent to finish 10-2 and sneak in possibly and make a run, but the coaching has to have a come to sky daddy moment.
It’s crazy how different this team looks now compared to the first half of the season. If you go back and watch the Notre Dame, USF, Florida games this doesn’t even remotely look like the same team. There’s no doubt coaching is to blame for many of our problems, but I also think the energy, focus, toughness….all these things have fallen off dramatically. Like I said, it’s the craziest thing and I can’t really explain it.
 
It’s crazy how different this team looks now compared to the first half of the season. If you go back and watch the Notre Dame, USF, Florida games this doesn’t even remotely look like the same team. There’s no doubt coaching is to blame for many of our problems, but I also think the energy, focus, toughness….all these things have fallen off dramatically. Like I said, it’s the craziest thing and I can’t really explain it.
we got scouted. we dont change anything so like what FSU said, they know what we are doing on both sides.
 
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