When I played with the Tigers in the late 70s I saw this first hand. When a team is struggling for a long period of time, they need to "learn to win". That is what Coach Fuente was talking about in the press conference last night.

Good teams, winning teams expect to win every time they walk on a field, no matter who the opponent is. They are not "surprised or shocked" when they near the end of the game and find they have a chance to win or put a team away.

Last year, off the top of my head, we lost to UCF, MTSU, and possibly Louisville because we had not learned how to win. We have to get past the point of thinking what could go wrong instead of what could go right in the late stages of a game.

Based on the way we turned it in at the end of last season, I thought we would win only about 5 games this year, prior to the start of the season. If this team embraces the thought process of, "we are supposed to win this game", then we have the team to win 8 games this season.

If we win 8, I would favor us for the conference title next year. We have the athletes. I haven't seen this much speed on a Tigers team in a long time. We looked just as quick as UCLA last night, which was the biggest and most pleasant surprise.

There were a lot of athletes flying around last night and hitting people. We took care of the ball and caught passes. Our QB is a future star.

Good post.

I was at the game and the Tigers resiliency and repeated ability to come back stunned the UCLA fans. Quite a few 3rd down conversions to extend drives, some hard running, and physical play inside got their attention. Several Bruin fans were complimentary of Memphis post game in tailgating/parking area.

Respect is always EARNED and despite the loss, the Tiger football program earned some yesterday.

Fuente is fantastic. Love his mental toughness and the message he sends to his guys.

(09-07-2014 01:28 PM)msu65 Wrote:  When I played with the Tigers in the late 70s I saw this first hand. When a team is struggling for a long period of time, they need to "learn to win". That is what Coach Fuente was talking about in the press conference last night.

Good teams, winning teams expect to win every time they walk on a field, no matter who the opponent is. They are not "surprised or shocked" when they near the end of the game and find they have a chance to win or put a team away.

Last year, off the top of my head, we lost to UCF, MTSU, and possibly Louisville because we had not learned how to win. We have to get past the point of thinking what could go wrong instead of what could go right in the late stages of a game.

Based on the way we turned it in at the end of last season, I thought we would win only about 5 games this year, prior to the start of the season. If this team embraces the thought process of, "we are supposed to win this game", then we have the team to win 8 games this season.

If we win 8, I would favor us for the conference title next year. We have the athletes. I haven't seen this much speed on a Tigers team in a long time. We looked just as quick as UCLA last night, which was the biggest and most pleasant surprise.

There were a lot of athletes flying around last night and hitting people. We took care of the ball and caught passes. Our QB is a future star.

We also looked just as big and physical. I loved the way Fuente was getting our athletes the ball in space for them to work. The announcers commented on several occasions during the game about the "athletes" Memphis had on the field. They were both shocked and complimentary of the team.

(09-07-2014 01:35 PM)boss man Wrote:  Good post.

I was at the game and the Tigers resiliency and repeated ability to come back stunned the UCLA fans. Quite a few 3rd down conversions to extend drives, some hard running, and physical play inside got their attention. Several Bruin fans were complimentary of Memphis post game in tailgating/parking area.

Respect is always EARNED and despite the loss, the Tiger football program earned some yesterday.

And I bet it was very loud there, too. I am extremely pleased that the atmosphere did not seem to rattle our guys. THAT is a big step in the right direction.
Could you hear our Tiger crowd there at all? Would you say there were really 2000 Tiger fans there?

(09-07-2014 01:35 PM)boss man Wrote:  Good post.

I was at the game and the Tigers resiliency and repeated ability to come back stunned the UCLA fans. Quite a few 3rd down conversions to extend drives, some hard running, and physical play inside got their attention. Several Bruin fans were complimentary of Memphis post game in tailgating/parking area.

Respect is always EARNED and despite the loss, the Tiger football program earned some yesterday.

UCLA radio broadcasters were the same way. Shocked at first, then very impressed late in the game.

(09-07-2014 03:03 PM)tigerlands Wrote:  

(09-07-2014 01:35 PM)boss man Wrote:  Good post.

I was at the game and the Tigers resiliency and repeated ability to come back stunned the UCLA fans. Quite a few 3rd down conversions to extend drives, some hard running, and physical play inside got their attention. Several Bruin fans were complimentary of Memphis post game in tailgating/parking area.

Respect is always EARNED and despite the loss, the Tiger football program earned some yesterday.

UCLA radio broadcasters were the same way. Shocked at first, then very impressed late in the game.

I think it is going to be that way for a lot of people this year. I have not seen a young QB go into an awe inducing atmosphere, stand there and deliver pass after pass on target, and run an offense like Lynch did. We also have guys that can catch the ball. If we had Lynch at this stage last year, and receivers catching the ball like this, I believe we would have easily won another 3 to 4 games last year. Very encouraging.

Running Backs looked strong as well, and the defense will be strong with Ifedi back. Let's hope that is soon.

I loved how they looked out there, I wish we hadn't tried to get cute with the trick plays near the end. We've come a long way in a few years and it's starting to show.

(09-08-2014 09:17 AM)NJ1 Wrote:  But our offense kept them off balance. UCLA's coach said so. I had no problem with the play calling, though I do wish we'd have found a way to go for broke on the last series.

After watching the game a couple of times yesterday after recording it, I sensed that we are still uncomfortable being in that spot but learning better how to handle close games. There were things we could have done to get a few more plays at the end but it is a learning process and we are not quite there yet. Penalties were hurtful and the secondary was weak at times but we have come a long way from being very bad to a team capable of winning road games against ranked opponents. It is impressive to say the least.

They cannot let down. We have seen it too many times. We can't play to the level of our competition. I am cautiously optimistic. I expected us to get destroyed

Posted from my mobile device using the CSNbbs App

(09-07-2014 01:28 PM)msu65 Wrote:  When I played with the Tigers in the late 70s I saw this first hand. When a team is struggling for a long period of time, they need to "learn to win". That is what Coach Fuente was talking about in the press conference last night.

Good teams, winning teams expect to win every time they walk on a field, no matter who the opponent is. They are not "surprised or shocked" when they near the end of the game and find they have a chance to win or put a team away.

Last year, off the top of my head, we lost to UCF, MTSU, and possibly Louisville because we had not learned how to win. We have to get past the point of thinking what could go wrong instead of what could go right in the late stages of a game.

Based on the way we turned it in at the end of last season, I thought we would win only about 5 games this year, prior to the start of the season. If this team embraces the thought process of, "we are supposed to win this game", then we have the team to win 8 games this season.

If we win 8, I would favor us for the conference title next year. We have the athletes. I haven't seen this much speed on a Tigers team in a long time. We looked just as quick as UCLA last night, which was the biggest and most pleasant surprise.

There were a lot of athletes flying around last night and hitting people. We took care of the ball and caught passes. Our QB is a future star.

Spot on.

(09-08-2014 10:38 AM)Mick Light Wrote:  

(09-07-2014 01:28 PM)msu65 Wrote:  When I played with the Tigers in the late 70s I saw this first hand. When a team is struggling for a long period of time, they need to "learn to win". That is what Coach Fuente was talking about in the press conference last night.

Good teams, winning teams expect to win every time they walk on a field, no matter who the opponent is. They are not "surprised or shocked" when they near the end of the game and find they have a chance to win or put a team away.

Last year, off the top of my head, we lost to UCF, MTSU, and possibly Louisville because we had not learned how to win. We have to get past the point of thinking what could go wrong instead of what could go right in the late stages of a game.

Based on the way we turned it in at the end of last season, I thought we would win only about 5 games this year, prior to the start of the season. If this team embraces the thought process of, "we are supposed to win this game", then we have the team to win 8 games this season.

If we win 8, I would favor us for the conference title next year. We have the athletes. I haven't seen this much speed on a Tigers team in a long time. We looked just as quick as UCLA last night, which was the biggest and most pleasant surprise.

There were a lot of athletes flying around last night and hitting people. We took care of the ball and caught passes. Our QB is a future star.

Spot on.

Culture change

(09-08-2014 10:40 AM)Brother Bluto Wrote:  

(09-08-2014 10:38 AM)Mick Light Wrote:  

(09-07-2014 01:28 PM)msu65 Wrote:  When I played with the Tigers in the late 70s I saw this first hand. When a team is struggling for a long period of time, they need to "learn to win". That is what Coach Fuente was talking about in the press conference last night.

Good teams, winning teams expect to win every time they walk on a field, no matter who the opponent is. They are not "surprised or shocked" when they near the end of the game and find they have a chance to win or put a team away.

Last year, off the top of my head, we lost to UCF, MTSU, and possibly Louisville because we had not learned how to win. We have to get past the point of thinking what could go wrong instead of what could go right in the late stages of a game.

Based on the way we turned it in at the end of last season, I thought we would win only about 5 games this year, prior to the start of the season. If this team embraces the thought process of, "we are supposed to win this game", then we have the team to win 8 games this season.

If we win 8, I would favor us for the conference title next year. We have the athletes. I haven't seen this much speed on a Tigers team in a long time. We looked just as quick as UCLA last night, which was the biggest and most pleasant surprise.

There were a lot of athletes flying around last night and hitting people. We took care of the ball and caught passes. Our QB is a future star.

Spot on.

Culture change

And a very good job of doing so.

(09-07-2014 02:59 PM)21-17 Best Time I Ever Ha Wrote:  

(09-07-2014 01:35 PM)boss man Wrote:  Good post.

I was at the game and the Tigers resiliency and repeated ability to come back stunned the UCLA fans. Quite a few 3rd down conversions to extend drives, some hard running, and physical play inside got their attention. Several Bruin fans were complimentary of Memphis post game in tailgating/parking area.

Respect is always EARNED and despite the loss, the Tiger football program earned some yesterday.

And I bet it was very loud there, too. I am extremely pleased that the atmosphere did not seem to rattle our guys. THAT is a big step in the right direction.
Could you hear our Tiger crowd there at all? Would you say there were really 2000 Tiger fans there?

It was loud indeed. When the Bruins defense has the opponent in 3rd down, the PA plays a clanging bell that reminds me of a Rudy's Farm commercial. Those 70,000 fans really ratchet up the noise. But Lynch truly kept his poise, stepping near his o-line to shout out play calls, while keeping an awareness of the play clock. I only recall one timeout taken by Memphis due to the clock almost expiring.

Memphis sold 2000 tickets and I'll say most were in section 14. I know pockets of Tiger fans were scattered elsewhere. One couple came over near my group because they wanted to sit with the majority, LOL.

I can assure everyone that when Memphis took the lead 14-13 and later tied it at 35 on the pick six, the UCLA fans were stunned silent and our TIGERS spell out was plainly heard.

If you think we're good this year wait until next year, and the year after that, and the year after that, and so on....