(07-29-2014 01:15 PM)ECU-DMB Fanatic Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 10:54 AM)rosewater Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 10:21 AM)PiratePanther189 Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 08:18 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 08:00 AM)ECUGrad07 Wrote:  Was the Cincy/UNC bowl game just an aberration? I will admit I didn't watch many UC games last year, but I did watch the bowl game... and from THAT game, I can't understand the fairly unanimous selection of UC @ #1. We all have bad games (see ECU vs Marshall last year) so I can understand that.

A couple things stood out from that game... UC's offensive line was without 3-4 players for that game (including a couple 1st team all conference performers). Second, a major downfall in that game for the Bearcats was the performance of their special teams. UC gave up a punt return for a TD, gave up a bunch of other long returns, shanked a bunch of punts, missed some field goals, etc. Special teams was a huge factor in the outcome of that performance. When you constantly give your opponent great field position you are not going to win games that often.

Re: UNC-- I know you ECU guys like to flash the final score of your game earlier in the season with the Tar Heels, but that was a different UNC team that played in the Belk Bowl. They got significantly better after they switched QB's mid-season.

On a final note, the prior season generally does not reflect how teams are ranked in a pre-season poll (although it is a factor). Writers also look at what the teams return (in this case UC has 16 returning starters v. ECU 11) and schedule.

I don't think UNC got trememendously better because of Quise Williams last year. In fact, I think the only reason he had any success was because of the lack of film on him. He really isn't all he's hyped up to be (and he didn't get all too much hype), and UNC has a RS Freshman QB that I think will be starting by the end of this year.

UNC got better from when they played us because they learned how to use Ryan Switzer as a scat back. Hell, when we played UNC he wasn't even returning their kicks, I think AJ Blue was.

I was at the Belk Bowl, and I'll tell you first hand. UC lost that game because of the lack of discipline on defense and special teams. Your offense was flat out screwed over multiple times in that 2nd half. It was my first look at UC in a long time and I my jaw almost hit the floor.

We (Cincy) were bad in the Belk Bowl. We were injured and undisciplined and I have no idea what was done in the extra practices; however, we have not talked about ECU and their bowl bid. I was totally unimpressed by the performance against the Bobcats. The Bobcats were fourth in the Mac. A close victory against a so so Mac team does not inspire confidence.

Close??? We beat them by 17 points…It took a little while to get our offense going but we controlled that game from the outset. Game was never really in doubt, the Bobcats came ready to play which is a credit to their great head coach.

Right, it was a tie game with 9 minutes left. 435 to 568 total yards. If OU does not turn the ball over 3 times to your 0 they might win.

tulsa's coach on being picked last

Bill Blankenship after #TulsaFB picked last:"I actually thought that was an alphabetical listing when I first saw it"

(07-29-2014 01:26 PM)rosewater Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 01:15 PM)ECU-DMB Fanatic Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 10:54 AM)rosewater Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 10:21 AM)PiratePanther189 Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 08:18 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  A couple things stood out from that game... UC's offensive line was without 3-4 players for that game (including a couple 1st team all conference performers). Second, a major downfall in that game for the Bearcats was the performance of their special teams. UC gave up a punt return for a TD, gave up a bunch of other long returns, shanked a bunch of punts, missed some field goals, etc. Special teams was a huge factor in the outcome of that performance. When you constantly give your opponent great field position you are not going to win games that often.

Re: UNC-- I know you ECU guys like to flash the final score of your game earlier in the season with the Tar Heels, but that was a different UNC team that played in the Belk Bowl. They got significantly better after they switched QB's mid-season.

On a final note, the prior season generally does not reflect how teams are ranked in a pre-season poll (although it is a factor). Writers also look at what the teams return (in this case UC has 16 returning starters v. ECU 11) and schedule.

I don't think UNC got trememendously better because of Quise Williams last year. In fact, I think the only reason he had any success was because of the lack of film on him. He really isn't all he's hyped up to be (and he didn't get all too much hype), and UNC has a RS Freshman QB that I think will be starting by the end of this year.

UNC got better from when they played us because they learned how to use Ryan Switzer as a scat back. Hell, when we played UNC he wasn't even returning their kicks, I think AJ Blue was.

I was at the Belk Bowl, and I'll tell you first hand. UC lost that game because of the lack of discipline on defense and special teams. Your offense was flat out screwed over multiple times in that 2nd half. It was my first look at UC in a long time and I my jaw almost hit the floor.

We (Cincy) were bad in the Belk Bowl. We were injured and undisciplined and I have no idea what was done in the extra practices; however, we have not talked about ECU and their bowl bid. I was totally unimpressed by the performance against the Bobcats. The Bobcats were fourth in the Mac. A close victory against a so so Mac team does not inspire confidence.

Close??? We beat them by 17 points…It took a little while to get our offense going but we controlled that game from the outset. Game was never really in doubt, the Bobcats came ready to play which is a credit to their great head coach.

Right, it was a tie game with 9 minutes left. 435 to 568 total yards. If OU does not turn the ball over 3 times to your 0 they might win.

So they just handed the ball to us? ECU had nothing to do with those turnovers? Whatever, not sure why I am even having this discussion with you. I was not the one railing on the UC loss to a very bad UNC team. I was at the game…I assure you while the score was close until the 4th we were clearly controlling the game and kept them in the game due to our inconsistency on offense which tends to be an issue for a lot of teams in bowl season due to layoff from the end of the season. But whatever makes you feel better…Ohio kept a game close with us until the 4th…Do you feel better now? Still does not change the outcome of your game.

ECU, we will see you in November. We can settle it then.

(07-29-2014 10:52 AM)HartfordHusky Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 10:37 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 10:29 AM)EastCarolinaU. Wrote:  Why are all uconn fans so high on uconn? I know they played Michigan close, and ended the year with 3 wins. But you guys got absolutely smacked by the 3 best teams in the league. Beating Temple, Rutgers, and Memphis is nice but it wouldn't exactly fill me up with confidence. Not to mention 2 were home games and the 3rd was in Philly in front of one of the most apathetic football fan bases right now.

I am not a UConn fan but my guess is their fans are very excited about having a new coach. They absolutely hated Paul Pasquloni and felt he set the program back a few years. The optimism is the belief that Diaco will take them to the next level.

I forgive anyone for not following UConn football outside of the old BE, but before PP, we were quite a solid program. We expect that we can get back to that relatively quickly. We are not used to being a bottom feeder and we don't accept that position. We have had good players the last 3 years but the coaches sucked. I put way more blame on the staff than the players. We trust our guys will respond to the new leadership.

UConn doesn't accept being a bottom feeder in anything. The school will make whatever moves it needs to make in order for the football program to excel.

(07-29-2014 01:17 PM)ECU-DMB Fanatic Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 12:06 PM)BullsFanInTX Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 10:52 AM)HartfordHusky Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 10:37 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 10:29 AM)EastCarolinaU. Wrote:  Why are all uconn fans so high on uconn? I know they played Michigan close, and ended the year with 3 wins. But you guys got absolutely smacked by the 3 best teams in the league. Beating Temple, Rutgers, and Memphis is nice but it wouldn't exactly fill me up with confidence. Not to mention 2 were home games and the 3rd was in Philly in front of one of the most apathetic football fan bases right now.

I am not a UConn fan but my guess is their fans are very excited about having a new coach. They absolutely hated Paul Pasquloni and felt he set the program back a few years. The optimism is the belief that Diaco will take them to the next level.

I forgive anyone for not following UConn football outside of the old BE, but before PP, we were quite a solid program. We expect that we can get back to that relatively quickly. We are not used to being a bottom feeder and we don't accept that position. We have had good players the last 3 years but the coaches sucked. I put way more blame on the staff than the players. We trust our guys will respond to the new leadership.

I agree. UConn was a very solid program in the old BE. Some of the newbies don't realize this. The UConn of before PP would have ground most of these teams into powder.

They did have a good run there for a couple of years. Not unusual for teams a few years after they move up from FCS. Those transition years of signing a ton of players usually equates to a solid team when those classes come to age.

In our case, our best years happened about ten years after that jump. Our first classes that came of age in 2005, 2006 resulted in losing seasons both years.

UC was not the same team. Offensive line injuries. Do not judge the team by that game.

(07-29-2014 08:00 AM)ECUGrad07 Wrote:  Was the Cincy/UNC bowl game just an aberration? I will admit I didn't watch many UC games last year, but I did watch the bowl game... and from THAT game, I can't understand the fairly unanimous selection of UC @ #1. We all have bad games (see ECU vs Marshall last year) so I can understand that.

UC is picked to win it....that is NOT a position we are used to here in the Nati. Usually we are picked fifth and then win it or come real close to winning it. It will be interesting to see how the team responds to this preseason love......developing

pretty bold putting UC #1 with an untested young qb if you ask me....

(07-29-2014 07:24 AM)Piratelife4me Wrote:  Official write up from American.org

1.Cincy-(17)-311
2.UCF-(7)-296
3.UH -(6)-268
4.ECU-262
5.SMU-158
6.USF-157
7.Memphis- 133
8.Temple- 105
9.Uconn- 98
Tulane-98
11.Tulsa-94

I believe this is fairly close to what will occure. I'd make a couple minor adjustements though.

1.USF
2. UH
3. UCF
4. Cincy
5. ECU
6. SMU
7. Memphis
8.Temple
9. Uconn
10. Tulane
11. Tulsa

JMHO (This may be just s little bit of a Homer choise.)

FWIW, if there was one team that could win it all outside of the top 4, it would be USF

(07-29-2014 06:07 PM)AirRaid Wrote:  FWIW, if there was one team that could win it all outside of the top 4, it would be USF

Thanks for those knd words. We're still rebuilding though.

(07-29-2014 06:07 PM)AirRaid Wrote:  FWIW, if there was one team that could win it all outside of the top 4, it would be USF

i disagree.. usf has too much to climb on offense and replacing too much on defense..true freshman arent changing that year 1

temple, tulsa (if last year was just an anomaly) and memphis are the teams i could see break the top 4..(im not say these teams are the next best 3 but have the higher cieling "if" they do end up good)

(07-29-2014 06:17 PM)pesik Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 06:07 PM)AirRaid Wrote:  FWIW, if there was one team that could win it all outside of the top 4, it would be USF

i disagree.. usf has too much to climb on offense and replacing too much on defense..true freshman arent changing that year 1

temple, tulsa (if last year was just an anomaly) and memphis are the teams i could see break the top 4..(im not say these teams are the next best 3 but have the higher cieling "if" they do end up good)

Lets agree to disagree then. USF is the only school that has seriously stepped up recruiting. Temple will definitely be better but top 4 better? I don't see it. I have no idea how Tulsa will do, but even with considerable improvement, I see them doubling their win total at best.

(07-29-2014 01:44 PM)UConnHusky Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 10:52 AM)HartfordHusky Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 10:37 AM)CliftonAve Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 10:29 AM)EastCarolinaU. Wrote:  Why are all uconn fans so high on uconn? I know they played Michigan close, and ended the year with 3 wins. But you guys got absolutely smacked by the 3 best teams in the league. Beating Temple, Rutgers, and Memphis is nice but it wouldn't exactly fill me up with confidence. Not to mention 2 were home games and the 3rd was in Philly in front of one of the most apathetic football fan bases right now.

I am not a UConn fan but my guess is their fans are very excited about having a new coach. They absolutely hated Paul Pasquloni and felt he set the program back a few years. The optimism is the belief that Diaco will take them to the next level.

I forgive anyone for not following UConn football outside of the old BE, but before PP, we were quite a solid program. We expect that we can get back to that relatively quickly. We are not used to being a bottom feeder and we don't accept that position. We have had good players the last 3 years but the coaches sucked. I put way more blame on the staff than the players. We trust our guys will respond to the new leadership.

UConn doesn't accept being a bottom feeder in anything. The school will make whatever moves it needs to make in order for the football program to excel.

Says every team in this conference. That is what will make it exciting. We are going to beat the hell out of each other.

(07-29-2014 06:21 PM)AirRaid Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 06:17 PM)pesik Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 06:07 PM)AirRaid Wrote:  FWIW, if there was one team that could win it all outside of the top 4, it would be USF

i disagree.. usf has too much to climb on offense and replacing too much on defense..true freshman arent changing that year 1

temple, tulsa (if last year was just an anomaly) and memphis are the teams i could see break the top 4..(im not say these teams are the next best 3 but have the higher cieling "if" they do end up good)

Lets agree to disagree then. USF is the only school that has seriously stepped up recruiting. Temple will definitely be better but top 4 better? I don't see it. I have no idea how Tulsa will do, but even with considerable improvement, I see them doubling their win total at best.

teple with PJ as a true freshmen for 6 of the 7 games he started ahd the lead or tie going into the first quarter but collapsed.. they blew 2 different 21 point leads...
in they end they still lost but those games showed they have the talent to compete ..
the inexperience they had showed they have room to grow.. temple is a legitimate sleeper...

this isnt USF first "good" recruiting class ..statistically they had the 3rd best roster based on recruting rankings last year aswell..had a preseason top 10 ranked DLine (note i said preseason) which include a DE that was supposed to be a top 10 pick...they were still horrible..recruit ranking dont make teams..yes it shows USF talent on their team but talent alone doesn't win games especially not a true fresh...

(07-29-2014 06:35 PM)pesik Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 06:21 PM)AirRaid Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 06:17 PM)pesik Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 06:07 PM)AirRaid Wrote:  FWIW, if there was one team that could win it all outside of the top 4, it would be USF

i disagree.. usf has too much to climb on offense and replacing too much on defense..true freshman arent changing that year 1

temple, tulsa (if last year was just an anomaly) and memphis are the teams i could see break the top 4..(im not say these teams are the next best 3 but have the higher cieling "if" they do end up good)

Lets agree to disagree then. USF is the only school that has seriously stepped up recruiting. Temple will definitely be better but top 4 better? I don't see it. I have no idea how Tulsa will do, but even with considerable improvement, I see them doubling their win total at best.

teple with PJ as a true freshmen for 6 of the 7 games he started ahd the lead or tie going into the first quarter but collapsed.. they blew 2 different 21 point leads...
in they end they still lost but those games showed they have the talent to compete ..
the inexperience they had showed they have room to grow.. temple is a legitimate sleeper...

this isnt USF first "good" recruiting class ..statistically they had the 3rd best roster based on recruting rankings last year aswell..had a preseason top 10 ranked DLine (note i said preseason) which include a DE that was supposed to be a top 10 pick...they were still horrible..recruit ranking dont make teams..yes it shows USF talent on their team but talent alone doesn't win games especially not a true fresh...

I get it, you dislike USF. No problem.

You did forget to mention that the talent that was in the cubboard at USF was recruited by the previous coach who ran a different style offense and defense. You further forgot the various injuries that USF had and the fact that when some of the previous players were pushed to the bench for not playing well, they quit. All the tallent in the world is pretty useless if they aren't playing the right asignments.

I can at least be honest and state; while I expect USF to be far better then they were last year, I'm not expecting them to win the conference.

Although just for you, I'll "Homer" pick them every time over UH.

(07-29-2014 06:47 PM)USFRamenu Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 06:35 PM)pesik Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 06:21 PM)AirRaid Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 06:17 PM)pesik Wrote:  

(07-29-2014 06:07 PM)AirRaid Wrote:  FWIW, if there was one team that could win it all outside of the top 4, it would be USF

i disagree.. usf has too much to climb on offense and replacing too much on defense..true freshman arent changing that year 1

temple, tulsa (if last year was just an anomaly) and memphis are the teams i could see break the top 4..(im not say these teams are the next best 3 but have the higher cieling "if" they do end up good)

Lets agree to disagree then. USF is the only school that has seriously stepped up recruiting. Temple will definitely be better but top 4 better? I don't see it. I have no idea how Tulsa will do, but even with considerable improvement, I see them doubling their win total at best.

teple with PJ as a true freshmen for 6 of the 7 games he started ahd the lead or tie going into the first quarter but collapsed.. they blew 2 different 21 point leads...
in they end they still lost but those games showed they have the talent to compete ..
the inexperience they had showed they have room to grow.. temple is a legitimate sleeper...

this isnt USF first "good" recruiting class ..statistically they had the 3rd best roster based on recruting rankings last year aswell..had a preseason top 10 ranked DLine (note i said preseason) which include a DE that was supposed to be a top 10 pick...they were still horrible..recruit ranking dont make teams..yes it shows USF talent on their team but talent alone doesn't win games especially not a true fresh...

I get it, you dislike USF. No problem.

You did forget to mention that the talent that was in the cubboard at USF was recruited by the previous coach who ran a different style offense and defense. You further forgot the various injuries that USF had and the fact that when some of the previous players were pushed to the bench for not playing well, they quit. All the tallent in the world is pretty useless if they aren't playing the right asignments.

I can at least be honest and state; while I expect USF to be far better then they were last year, I'm not expecting them to win the conference.

Although just for you, I'll "Homer" pick them every time over UH.

i wouldn't want it any other way

It may be hard for some teams to break into the "top four" because of the "top four" only has to play two of the other teams. At best 2-0, worst 0-2. Those programs that have to play all four have a much tougher road to the top, even if they are solid. Especially if they "drop" a game to a "lesser" team. If the "top four" drop several games, then it will be easier...but still a tough task.

(07-29-2014 10:29 AM)EastCarolinaU. Wrote:  Why are all uconn fans so high on uconn? I know they played Michigan close, and ended the year with 3 wins. But you guys got absolutely smacked by the 3 best teams in the league. Beating Temple, Rutgers, and Memphis is nice but it wouldn't exactly fill me up with confidence. Not to mention 2 were home games and the 3rd was in Philly in front of one of the most apathetic football fan bases right now.

So, you picked UConn's worst season as the most telling? UConn fans expect success. simple as that. There's nothing in the school's past 10 years of playing football to go against that. UConn last year had 23 players on NFL rosters. They've had succesful players. They've had successful records (i.e. winning) against the 3 teams that went to the ACC. In other words, we see the Pasqualoni years as an aberration. Has nothing to do with Michigan. Has more to do with holding our own against P5 conference competition.