You guys do realize that Leach is getting worked up at Wash St right? He's not a magician, they have 1 more win than us.

There were a lot of 3 win predictions before the season started and what I think a lot of you are forgetting about your 3 win predictions is that you have to lose 9 times in that process, it sucks, but it's hardly a shocker.

We don't have a quarterback that can run this offense, Gilbert is playing better than last year but he's not the guy, so we have to make due.

TeamBeer's right, most of us picked us to go around 3-9 this year and even that may be tough to do.  This week could be our 2nd win for the season, but there are no sure things this year, thats for certain.  This season is a disaster, no doubt about that, but I will also hold judgement on the staff until I see what happens a year from now.  While Im not sure what we look like on the field, I can say that we will look empty in the stands unfortunately.  Thats the bad part of this whole thing, the little (but dedicated) fan base we were starting to grow is losing interest and I don't see any hope of turning that around till atleast next year, which means that the product we have fielded the last 3 yrs is going to end up costing us a fortune.

To get back on topic I think last year we were "The Walking Dead", this year, so far I think we're more like the 80's "night of the living dead", and what I want to see is a team full of players with the rage virus from "28 Days Later".

Local said

It would be foolish to think that our coaching staff is not out looking for a  high school QB of the future. Coach P keeps so much info to himself that it causes fans like us to speculate. By the way, most our speculation is probably incorrect. If there is a JUCO  out there that would come to FAU and make a difference, any coach would try to bring him in. No matter what position.

Correct, a current highschool senior QB normally wouldn't be ready to start for a DI team until his Junior season which means 3 or 4 years from now depending on if he redshirts or not…

Pelini doesn't have 4 years to wait for a QB to develop.  He has to get a JUCO QB that can play now or he wont be coaching here in 4 years.

walty12 said

Correct, a current highschool senior QB normally wouldn't be ready to start for a DI team until his Junior season which means 3 or 4 years from now depending on if he redshirts or not…

Sometimes if they're good (or if the situation is dire) they can start as RS freshmen… but yeah, for us, usually junior year.

Owl2Doc said

walty12 said

Correct, a current highschool senior QB normally wouldn't be ready to start for a DI team until his Junior season which means 3 or 4 years from now depending on if he redshirts or not…

Sometimes if they're good (or if the situation is dire) they can start as RS freshmen… but yeah, for us, usually junior year.

Well let's say Pelini had brought in a freshmen qb this past signing class, I think at this point in the season 75% of the fan base would be calling for that kid to start games. It wouldn't have hurt to have a freshmen qb recruit to develop in a wash of a season.

BeastOwl said

The coaches are playing with the cards they've been dealt…and the cards are pretty shi*ty right now.

+1

I am not going to fully  judge this coaching staff until the 2014 season. 

Im not saying that we wont be any better by 2014 but I dont buy this wait and see attitutde at all.

If Pelini and staff are good coaches and leaders we should see that in our team attitude and with team discipline.  We aren't seeing either.

Lets remember…WITH THE SAME EXACT PLAYERS, MICHIGANS DEFENSE WENT FROM 116TH IN THE COUNTRY TO 10TH JUST DUE TO A COACHING CHANGE FROM 2010 TO 2011.

If we dont see progression in this team with attitude (toughness, fight) and discipline by the end of season….Houston we have a problem.

Andrew said

Well let's say Pelini had brought in a freshmen qb this past signing class, I think at this point in the season 75% of the fan base would be calling for that kid to start games. It wouldn't have hurt to have a freshmen qb recruit to develop in a wash of a season.

True. We need a Rusty Smith/Kolton Browning. The question is whether we'll get one this recruiting class.

We also may need another power RB. I'm not so sure this "runningback by committee" thing is a good idea. Yes, it's nice to be able to rotate them out to plug and play but it stands to reason that the more runs you get, the better you are at reading the defense and finding the holes. I'm not really impressed with any of our guys right now… don't have the elusiveness for big gains and that's why we're making 5 yards here, 3 yards there. They run right into the D and stall.

walty12 said

Im not saying that we wont be any better by 2014 but I dont buy this wait and see attitutde at all.

If Pelini and staff are good coaches and leaders we should see that in our team attitude and with team discipline.  We aren't seeing either.

Lets remember…WITH THE SAME EXACT PLAYERS, MICHIGANS DEFENSE WENT FROM 116TH IN THE COUNTRY TO 10TH JUST DUE TO A COACHING CHANGE FROM 2010 TO 2011.

If we dont see progression in this team with attitude (toughness, fight) and discipline by the end of season….Houston we have a problem.

I mean you can make the argument that we are seeing more fight in this team than last year. Not the case this past week but I can almost promise you that if Schnelly was still in charge we wouldn't have been as close as we were against MTSU and N. Texas. With the exception of the "body bag" games and this past week's contest, we haven't been blown out this season.

Owl_Ranger said

walty12 said

Im not saying that we wont be any better by 2014 but I dont buy this wait and see attitutde at all.

If Pelini and staff are good coaches and leaders we should see that in our team attitude and with team discipline.  We aren't seeing either.

Lets remember…WITH THE SAME EXACT PLAYERS, MICHIGANS DEFENSE WENT FROM 116TH IN THE COUNTRY TO 10TH JUST DUE TO A COACHING CHANGE FROM 2010 TO 2011.

If we dont see progression in this team with attitude (toughness, fight) and discipline by the end of season….Houston we have a problem.

I mean you can make the argument that we are seeing more fight in this team than last year. Not the case this past week but I can almost promise you that if Schnelly was still in charge we wouldn't have been as close as we were against MTSU and N. Texas. With the exception of the "body bag" games and this past week's contest, we haven't been blown out this season.

We lost to two SunBelt teams by double digits, I consider conference losses by 14 points or more a blow out, and have a squeak vs Wagner and a competitive game vs UNT (who is 2-5…one win vs us and one vs a DIAA team).

This isn't acceptable.