RE: Game 4 - Elon
I am concerned that we have really slipped since the 2009 season, granted that was best team I recall, though the team we had when Mike Cook got his knee rolled at VMI was a solid team too, as was the 2004 team. 2010 we were way overrated, witness the debacle at JMU and then the way GSU ran all over us. Since then we have not had solid QB play, and since the 2013 departure of Boone the defense has slipped. The losses have been horrible, and too often on TV. See Delaware last year and the game that unfolded on TV when folks were to see our stadium upgrade. I do not blame the players, they work hard, and have the demands of both football and schoolwork. We have had plenty of talent too, if we had QB's that could throw, imagine how McBride's career would have ended. Even after the dream defense of 2009, look at the junior and senior seasons for Claytor, Rhodes and H-Carson. The NEC champ (I think on TV too) made us look bad, and then UR killed us (on TV). We have lost to UR I think now 5 or 6 times straight. While I was happy we made the playoffs last year, had we faced either Lee or Robertson they would have had their way with the defense, and we would have been sitting out the post season. UR's new coach has not lost to us since taking over at UR.
I know many will not like this outline, but to me it bears reflection. I still buy season tickets, come to all home games, and some away games as well, but have not come away from a game as down as I did last week. It was to be our moment, showing off the stadium, under the lights on TV. Guys, we played Elon, who lost to G-Webb, and barely beat a DII school. We did not lose on a fluke play, if not for Dedmon, we would have scored a FG the entire game. Again, this was Elon, not Stony Brook, or Delaware, or JMU.
The coaches did not have the team ready to play. With this game now over, let's see if the coaches can patch and meld a new version of the 2016 team. On the positive, I like the way the younger guys have been playing on defense, guys like Parker, Murray, Jones, Laster et al.....have looked solid, and I look forward to more good things from those guys.
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