Will you be sated with 10-3……..??

Comish

Comish

All-Conference
When we stuff Iowa and win a modest (but still superior to a Big 12 also-ran) bowl game, we will finish at 10-3.

Before the season, most rational folks were expecting 2-4 losses given the new coaches/ new conference/ daunting schedule/ player losses, etc.

Yes, there is currently plenty of grumbling/bitching/whining around because of the timing and style of the losses. And, it is tough to get the stench of Saturday out of our mouth quickly.

However, 10-3 would fulfill that objective preseason expectancy.

This is by NO means suggestive that we should ever be SETTLING for this record................. but given our expectations going in………………..would a 10-3 final be cause for optimism during the eight month off-season approaching?

 
10-3 is a good finish, however it is NOT the way folks thought it would play out.

10-3 might be a fortunate finish....given some of the games we've had. A few others could have gone the other way.

 
We are not a 10-3 team this year, so I would be fine with that at this point.

Also, we likely should have lost to Ohio State.We could easily lose to Iowa. And the bowl game odds can be determined by the Iowa game this Friday. If I was to be a betting man, I say we're likely looking at another 9-4 seasons....which is somewhere between acceptable and mediocre.

 
I am not surprised by the continued offensive inconsistency.

I AM surprised by the very porous Defense.

10-3 would be ok-ish. 9-4 means either a loss to IA or in a bowl, and I think that is hot seat material. 8-5 would make for a long, long, long off-season.

 
Comish said:
When we stuff Iowa and win a modest (but still superior to a Big 12 also-ran) bowl game, we will finish at 10-3.

Before the season, most rational folks were expecting 2-4 losses given the new coaches/ new conference/ daunting schedule/ player losses, etc.

Yes, there is currently plenty of grumbling/bitching/whining around because of the timing and style of the losses. And, it is tough to get the stench of Saturday out of our mouth quickly.

However, 10-3 would fulfill that objective preseason expectancy.

This is by NO means suggestive that we should ever be SETTLING for this record................. but given our expectations going in………………..would a 10-3 final be cause for optimism during the eight month off-season approaching?
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10-3 is one game better than I predicted at the beginning of the season. I predicted a 4 loss season then... and I still surmise we will have a 4 loss season when this is all done. But, perhaps we do finish 10-3. Which....

really would be a 5-3 in conference w/ a bowl win (counting games against the weak non-conference teams we played is ehh... they don't count --- except the one w/ Washington). So, if we finish as you suggest we might, at 10-3... we would be 7-3 against D1 competition w/ a couple of blowout losses. That would be better than I expected at the outset of the season.

But the record is not, for me, the point. The way the team played is. And the direction the arrow is pointing (toward improvement or towards regression). Unless they really do something uncharacteristic these next two games and really turn it around, I'd surmise the season will be a downer... heartless lack of preparation all together too often manifest --- and the arrow, if anything is at best reflecting no improvement or decline --- and is, more likely pointing the wrong direction as we are getting worse.

 
I don't mind the record at all. I am only nervous about the way it happened, and maybe recruiting, we'll see if the staff can make up ground as usual.

More than anything, it's this doghouse stuff that leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Again if Bo would just come out and say, "This guy broke the rules and is not up to our expectations right now, so he's sitting"...people would probably applaud that.

 
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10-3 is decent, no arguing that. And, considering it is our first season in the B1G, better than I thought we might end up. Also, we are not 10-3 by any stretch of the imagination yet. Iowa could beat us and we could lose our bowl game just as easily as assuming 2 wins it could be 2 losses. 9-4 or 8-5 are not good considering the competition we will have played against. I tend to look a lot more at how we play than simply if we win or lose. I have not been impressed with how we are playing. IMO the B1G is fairly weak this year. Wisconsin has shown signs of being really good but they have also laid some turds. MU, MSU, tOSU, and PSU are all fairly solid but nothing to write home about. Given the amazing turn of events in the top 10 this past week maybe this is just how it is nowadays. Personally I just wish for consistently good play and we have been neither consistent nor good. I am already in looking ahead to next year mode. There is nothing that can happen to salvage my opinion of this season unless we come out and play 2 complete killer games to end the season. I can see 2 wins but I don't see them being pretty.

 
I'd take 10-3. That's where I thought we'd end up. How we came about those 3 losses is an entirely different story though. I thought the days of our 30 point beat downs were past us though. didn't see that one (two) coming.

 
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Yeah, I'm ok with it. We just played the five toughest teams in the B1G and beat three of them. Sure I'd rather be 11-2 or 12-1. But 10-3 is acceptable in view of the schedule we got handed this year. The 10-3 record would be even easier to accept if the "3" didn't include 2 blowout losses.

 
I can live with 10-3 or even 9-4 (depending on our bowl draw), just so long as the recruiting comes in and we hear how Bo and Co. will fix the problems going on without creating new ones. Nine wins, even in spite of inflation in the number of games played, is still not something to piss away, especially in the current CFB climate and our new conference (which has a way of making even the best teams go 7-6.

Half of our problems, IMO, was the amount of young talent we had on the field--kids playing way below and above their talent at times. I would like to think this will be tempered by the coaching staff and age.

The other half...IMO is coaching related. Of note:

-I think we can safely say that we do miss Marvin Sanders something fierce, as he was able to get even the younger kids to a level of competence where they could produce and compete successfully--I don't see that with Raymond, and while I would love to be proven wrong, I don't believe I will.

-Beck is still growing as an OC--if he was able to get out of our offense what he did in just one year on the job, imagine what things will look like when he's got two, three, five, or more years under his belt and kids are used to the schemes in question.

-And both Bo and Carl are getting more years under their belt. No one in life knows on day one what to do to be successful--they may have a general idea or direction, but sometimes it takes falling flat on our face to make changes in how we approach situations going forward. Just like we saw Bo mature on the sidelines (how many times did he blow up like he did in 2010? Two, maybe three times total--as opposed to two or three times a game?) Bo will stumble, but he'll learn.

And just remember folks, things could be worse--a lot worse. For example:

We could have lost to KSU, MU, OU, OSU, and likely A&M all in one year, all while having a picture of a uterus on our helmet.

We could have been #2 in the nation, only to have lowly Iowa State jump up and bite the best players T. Boones Farms Pickens could buy.

We could have losses to Baylor and Texas Tech on the schedule.

 
NUance said:
Yeah, I'm ok with it. We just played the five toughest teams in the B1G and beat three of them. Sure I'd rather be 11-2 or 12-1. But 10-3 is acceptable in view of the schedule we got handed this year. The 10-3 record would be even easier to accept if the "3" didn't include 2 blowout losses.
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...exactly...

 
NUance said:
Yeah, I'm ok with it. We just played the five toughest teams in the B1G and beat three of them. Sure I'd rather be 11-2 or 12-1. But 10-3 is acceptable in view of the schedule we got handed this year. The 10-3 record would be even easier to accept if the "3" didn't include 2 blowout losses.
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that got me thinking. do you feel fans would be more accepting of the 3 losses had they been to Wisconsin (by a slim margin), falling just short in our comeback against Ohio State, and Michigan (by again, a slim margin). I keep saying "the 2 blowout losses were embarassing" and "getting beat by a down northwestern team shouldn't be happening in year 4" - yet, going .400 against teams that you had the potential to beat would be upsetting. The margin of victory would have made me at least think we are closer to a finished product...but I'd still be pretty down about our inability to execute when we need to. in this scenario you'd look back on the season and say you only had a single quality win (michigan state). Penn State was a mess when we played them...i can't judge that one way or the other. At season's end it would not surprise me if not a single B1G team finished in the top 20.

And ultimately - I think as of now we still only have the single quality win. Ohio State wasn't a good football team...and I think we kind of got lucky that Braxton got banged up. Play them today and we'd get rolled IMO.

 
kchusker_chris said:
NUance said:
Yeah, I'm ok with it. We just played the five toughest teams in the B1G and beat three of them. Sure I'd rather be 11-2 or 12-1. But 10-3 is acceptable in view of the schedule we got handed this year. The 10-3 record would be even easier to accept if the "3" didn't include 2 blowout losses.
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that got me thinking. do you feel fans would be more accepting of the 3 losses had they been to Wisconsin (by a slim margin), falling just short in our comeback against Ohio State, and Michigan (by again, a slim margin). I keep saying "the 2 blowout losses were embarassing" and "getting beat by a down northwestern team shouldn't be happening in year 4" - yet, going .400 against teams that you had the potential to beat would be upsetting. The margin of victory would have made me at least think we are closer to a finished product...but I'd still be pretty down about our inability to execute when we need to. in this scenario you'd look back on the season and say you only had a single quality win (michigan state). Penn State was a mess when we played them...i can't judge that one way or the other. At season's end it would not surprise me if not a single B1G team finished in the top 20.

And ultimately - I think as of now we still only have the single quality win. Ohio State wasn't a good football team...and I think we kind of got lucky that Braxton got banged up. Play them today and we'd get rolled IMO.
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I'm not sure about that. But it would be easier for me to accept if our losses to Wisc and Michigan were by a touchdown or so. Rather than blowout scores.

As it is, I feel like we should replace Lil Red with a Dr Jekyl/Mr. Hyde mascot--given the up-down nature of our season.

 
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I think I'm sad to say that I would be happy with a 10-3 record, but what really worries me is that we seem to be slipping farther and farther away from national relevance.

 
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