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We are coming up on 10 years since the Blazer's trip to the Hawaii Bowl (Our only bowl appearance). Is our program at a point where its a failed season if we dont make it to a bowl game? Even with a new coach this season?

Skate or Die?

I think everyone WANTS a bowl game, but our program has been so bad for so long that you can't consider it a failure if our first year coach doesn't make a bowl game next season. I think four-five wins would be a very good season for us.

Might as well say its a failed season if we don't win the national championship this year.

Given that 6 wins would triple our win total for last year, no.

Ditto Smaug. That said a bowl would be a great shot in the arm for everyone. Doable but not expected.

It's a failed season when the team doesn't show up for games, like it has done numerous times the last few years. It's much easier to handle a loss when just a couple of things going one way or the other could change the game. It really sucks losing by 800 to teams that haven't been competitive all year.

I don't think a bowl game is likely this year. I haven't thought that in years. I do think showing signs of improvement, especially on the defensive side, is likely. Outside of maybe a couple of teams in the conference, UAB should be able to play competitive football with every team in C-USA. As always, the Troy game will set the tone for the season. Hopefully this year if we have a QB playing lights out we won't put another in for the third series just because that was the game plan.

I just want the team to progress throughout the year... Whether that's winning 2 or 12.

Absolutely not. Show us some progress. We are so far from a bowl team in terms of talent (at least based on the last 2 years). Just go out there and compete for 60 minutes every Saturday. That's all I'm looking for

A strong QB showing will be very positive for a better UAB season. What we can EXPECT today when we haven't even seen the team practice, may be overstating what we feel. We do know that the team lacked that as a factor in previous seasons (since Joe Webb). More multiplay drives (fewer 3 & outs) will help the "D" to improve its performance as well. I am hoping to see stronger play in the second half - particularly the 4th quarter - as a sign of improvement over 2012 & 2013.

One thing I will say is we have a pretty good group of guys at the skill positions. McGee didn't fail in that area. Everywhere else, who knows? There are far too many question marks at this point, but I at least feel like we have a coach who knows what he wants to do now.

Unless the defensive backs have learned something about positioning, spacing, and tackling, it will be another long season. Hopefully some of the JUCOs we brought in are D-1 corners.

Bill Clark should be named National Coach of the Year if we make a bowl this year.

The only way the season can be a failure is if we have the same win total as last year. 4-6 wins will be success. Anything more than that, we'll need to extend coaches contract.

(04-16-2014 12:38 PM)cb4029 Wrote:  The only way the season can be a failure is if we have the same win total as last year. 4-6 wins will be success. Anything more than that, we'll need to extend coaches contract.

Or if Legion Field collapses during a game. Or if they play a game and literally no one shows up. Or if someone dies from hot dog poisoning.

Anything but a 62-27 loss to a team that had not won a game in 2 years. At home.

Worst loss in UAB history.

(04-16-2014 09:08 AM)4thDownBlazer Wrote:  We are coming up on 10 years since the Blazer's trip to the Hawaii Bowl (Our only bowl appearance). Is our program at a point where its a failed season if we dont make it to a bowl game? Even with a new coach this season?

Yes

Two factors in UAB's bowl quest -- We are likely to have improved performance by our whole team and there are more minor bowls this coming season. We can really expect that the former will be more critical to a bowl invitation than the latter. I expect to see some part of the former played out Friday evening.

(04-16-2014 11:36 AM)TPBlaze84 Wrote:  Unless the defensive backs have learned something about positioning, spacing, and tackling, it will be another long season. Hopefully some of the JUCOs we brought in are D-1 corners.

And they're not hung out to dry by a total lack of a pass rush.

I just want to see solid progress. Six wins is a long way from impossible, but I'm not marking lines in the sand in a coach's first season. Just be better, don't quit, and if we catch a little luck, well...

We'll see.