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One positive...

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One positive...

Obviously nothing good happened on the field yesterday.  It was an all around miserable effort from just about everyone from  the coaching staff to the players on special teams.  But I was racking my brain to take something positive from this game and this is the best I could come up with…

This team needed a kick in the ass and they sure got it yesterday…and with conference play starting next week, maybe the timing was perfect.

There were no excuses this time.  The first week it was Texas and well, they are Texas and we are 8 year-old FAU, so the outcome wasn't all that shocking.  That was a game they could easily shake off.  Then the win over UAB.  The D struggled, but they got a win, and a win is a win.  They knew they needed to fix the D, but no real reason for the team to panic.  Then Michigan State and the rain.  The D improved a bit and the offense had a built in excuse.  Well, yesterday they ran out of excuses.  The conditions were perfect.  Minnesota is improved, but by no means a great team.  FAU went out and made just about every mistake imaginable.  Early in the game, the Gophers were giving the Owls every chance to get back in the game.  The committed drive-stopping penalties, turned the ball over in the endzone, left receivers WIDE open….and every time the Owls literally and figuratively dropped the ball.

Now we head into conference play and this team has no choice now but to get back to work and figure this out.  Good thing we have 2 extra days this week…we need them.  There is too much talent here for this team to be struggling so badly right now.  Hopefully yesterday was enough of a jolt to wake them up.
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Re: One positive...

i couldn't agree more,

while i didn't get to watch the game i was getting updates on my computer while sitting in the airport.  It seemed like we just hit the self-destruct button yesterday and forgot how to turn it off.

One good thing…..the belt has been getting just as beaten up as we have these past few games.  We are going into a game against a very dangerous MTSU team that is 0-2 in conference play and 1-3 overall.  They haven't looked great but they def. will be looking for their 1st conference win against us in their house, on national TV.  Then it doesn't get easier…..Troy

To be honest with everyone here…..im not jumping the bandwagon (never will), but i am realistic in my thoughts…..Conference play is starting to scare me.  WE CAN NOT FIELD THE SAME TEAM THAT SHOWED UP IN MINN AND MSU AND EXPECT TO BEAT EVERY TEAM IN THE BELT!!!!!

I mean FIU hung with USF last night in a close game….Troy only lost by 18 to OSU….And Ark St seems to be looking for that conference championship…..

Buckle up here comes the fun part! It could get nasty and quick!
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Re: One positive...

Nunzio42 said

I mean FIU hung with USF last night in a close game….Troy only lost by 18 to OSU….And Ark St seems to be looking for that conference championship…..

I hear you, but I think people put more emphasis on these OOC game then necessary.  I'm just thinking out loud here and I don't mean to offend any fans of other teams…but you hear every week "look at how good team X is…they lost but played close"

Does Troy "only losing by 18" to OSU mean anything?  Are they any less a threat in the conference if they lose by 28?  Does FIU "hanging" with USF mean anything?  Does anyone really believe that FIU is a good team this year because they were able to end up within 8 points in this game?  I hardly think USF is only 8 points better then FIU.  Look at MTSU…they beat Maryland at home and then went to Kentucky and almost pulled off an upset.  All the other Sun Belt boards were talking about how scary a team they are…then they get blown out yesterday at Arkansas State.  They are 0-2 in the Sun Belt now and have virtually no chance at winning the conference.

I'm not saying these OOC games are meaningless, but I think that the results of these games are kind of skewed.  I hate to say some of these BCS teams sometimes play down to their competition when playing these games, but I think that does happen…these are college kids.  USF comes to play FIU and they expect to win easily.  They have a conference game next week…how much time are they really spending focusing on or game planning for FIU?

I think the one thing these close(or closer) games prove is that the Sun Belt as conference is getting stronger.  We aren't going against these schools and being pushed around anymore and that is good step forward for everyone.  I just don't think the closeness of the scores are necessarily a good indicator of team performance in conference play.

And before anyone accuses me of saying this because of how FAU has looked in these games, I'm not.   I fully expect the Sun Belt to be just as competitve as it always has been, with 3 or 4 teams having a shot at the title by the end of the season.

Thoughts?
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Re: One positive...

FAU should definitely still be one of the favorites.  We return too much experience from the defending conference champion to not be considered a contender in this league.  I would understand if we were starting fresh starting many freshmen and sophomores but we are not.  I also expect the team to go into Mufreesboro next and come out with a win.  It may be a struggle but the experience of this team should pull it off.

As for the other conference title contenders you definitely have to consider Troy, Arkansas State, and possibly ULM among them.  Arkansas State is playing really well right now.  At the other end, UNT and FIU look awful again.  I do not see any improvement in either of those programs this year.

This being said, I think we vastly overrated the quality of the team based on a co-championship at one of the bottom rated leagues in the FBS division.  We also beat up on an overmatched opponent in the bowl game.  CUSA has no business sending that many teams to a bowl game IMO.  We have the type of team that would be a solid contender for the FCS championship right now, but not one that could compete consistently with the big guns of the FBS major conferences on the road.  We could pull off an upset here or there against one of their weaker teams if everything falls in place much like ASU did at TAMU but not compete consistently.  MT beating Maryland at home was not an upset or even that big a deal (Maryland barely beat Delaware at home the week before and is playing inconsistently).
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Re: One positive...

Cmon…

Here are some "positives":

1.  One sack - total.

2.  Polo got his first interception of the year and:

3.  ENDED THIER RED ZONE STREAK…and:

4.  Returned a punt for more than 1 yard! ;D

5.  No one got injured i don't think?

There, the sun will come up tommorow…….





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