Time to talk about the game

[Pyle]

Well it's finally Tues, most of the ledge jumpers have either jumped or backed away and gone back to lurking. I purposely avoided this place all weekend, I knew it wouldn't be pretty. I guess turning 40 is mellowing me out some but I doubt it, the reality is as horrible as that game was...we still didn't lose. Oh I know we didn't win but we didn't lose either. My wrestling coach always used to say a tie is like kissing your sister, you still get a kiss...but it's your sister and there's a good chance you won't be smiling after. Well I def wasn't smiling on the ride home Friday or Sat morning but a funny thing happened later Saturday afternoon. As pissed off as I was at our horrible line play, play calling, kick return coverage, Hunt's ejection, etc.....I realized we are still 1-0 to start the season. That doesn't happen often. Here's some other actual positives from the game.

1. One game into the season our backup qb got 2 meaningful quarters of play. While it may have hampered the offense during the game, it gave the coaches a chance to really see what he's capable of, how to adjust things to suit his game better. How many would have been a wreck if Hunt went down with a minor injury during Pitt or BC games with a bowl on the line. Getting Wilson some meaningful reps can only help down the road.

2. Despite the issues, we should be headed for 2-0. Central Michigan is not a good football team. Yeah I said it about Villanova too and I was right and I'll defend that statement. We lost the starting QB, we gave up a TD on ST, we couldn't run the ball for spit, and yet we still didn't lose. Nova's kicking game is so bad...well it's just bad, really really bad. No way am I going to say oh yeah wow Nova was so much better than I gave them credit for, we flat out laid an egg and got away with it. In the process, everyone got a wake-up call and I think we will see much improvement for CMU.

3. Whether we win this game by a point or 30 points, the bottom line is the same...5 more to go to become bowl eligible. Oh sure it may be some completely bogus bowl like the Detroit Lions Dead City bowl but it comes with the extra practices. We all know we aren't ready for Clemson or FSU yet, so until then we have to keep putting the mortar and bricks in place, build a culture of expecting bowl games and give those young guys a head start before spring.

 

[DPCuse]

I'll add on to that. This game serves as quite a wakeup call to the team. Maybe it's just me, but I got the feeling from watching the videos from Fort Drum and the pregame introductions on the video board that this team was quite cocky. That could be good or bad. In this case, our wakeup call comes on the heels of a W and not an L which is great. Love the fact that Wilson got over 2 quarters of playing time. After watching the game again, I walked away saying the offense starting looking like it was getting it's crap together until Hunt got booted. It would have been interesting to see what the outcome would have been with him in there. My biggest concern is the O line but maybe with a full healthy line for CMU, our run game will return.

 

[Pat Kelly]

I'll add on to that. This game serves as quite a wakeup call to the team. Maybe it's just me, but I got the feeling from watching the videos from Fort Drum and the pregame introductions on the video board that this team was quite cocky. That could be good or bad. In this case, our wakeup call comes on the heels of a W and not an L which is great. Love the fact that Wilson got over 2 quarters of playing time. After watching the game again, I walked away saying the offense starting looking like it was getting it's crap together until Hunt got booted. It would have been interesting to see what the outcome would have been with him in there. My biggest concern is the O line but maybe with a full healthy line for CMU, our run game will return.

I'm loving the swagger. I think it's something we've needed for a really long time. The whole week of talking before Clemson I think was a bit of an act, but with the way we finished the season and with all the players we have returning (especially our QB, who all of his teammates seem to love, a great thing) I really think the team was feeling a ton of momentum coming into this season. Of course, we can't let that become cockiness, but as you said, it's great that we were able to have a wakeup call game to keep us in check, that also ended up being a win.

 

[NashvilleOrange]

Finally ready too...I missed the first 3 quarters of the game so what I watched live was quite miserable. I got a chance to watch the first half yesterday and I think we would have covered the spread had Hunt stayed in the game. Obviously a big wake up call but my main worry was the inability to punch it in from the 1 in the second overtime. As for our opponents: Wake and NC State should both be wins; Clemson looked worse than expected. I thought we'd have a shot against Louisville and Pitt but both looked like they would blow us out at this point.

 

[tipphill]

I'm loving the swagger. I think it's something we've needed for a really long time. The whole week of talking before Clemson I think was a bit of an act, but with the way we finished the season and with all the players we have returning (especially our QB, who all of his teammates seem to love, a great thing) I really think the team was feeling a ton of momentum coming into this season. Of course, we can't let that become cockiness, but as you said, it's great that we were able to have a wakeup call game to keep us in check, that also ended up being a win.

imho they have not earned the right to swagger, in fact they were cocky, arrogant and not involved at all. they expected nova to mail it in. i said in posts prior to the game, that nova is always competitive and plays hard. coaches did not have players prepared and neither were they. there was abolutly no cohesion even when hunt was in the game

 

[Pyle]

imho they have not earned the right to swagger, in fact they were cocky, arrogant and not involved at all. they expected nova to mail it in. i said in posts prior to the game, that nova is always competitive and plays hard. coaches did not have players prepared and neither were they. there was abolutly no cohesion even when hunt was in the game

Love swagger, as long as it's properly placed. It wasn't. As you said, Nova came to play some ball, we came to have a big Friday night blowout party. We weren't ready. CMU prep needs to be all business.

 

[Chip]

Love swagger, as long as it's properly placed. It wasn't. As you said, Nova came to play some ball, we came to have a big Friday night blowout party. We weren't ready. CMU prep needs to be all business.

Our swagger after Robertson would pick up 8 on first down was fun to watch. We were actually celebrating failure at times.

 

[anomander]

Love swagger, as long as it's properly placed. It wasn't. As you said, Nova came to play some ball, we came to have a big Friday night blowout party. We weren't ready. CMU prep needs to be all business.

Somebody needs to explain the ins and outs of when not to celebrate. Kirkland and Welsh have no understanding of this.

 

[CanadianSU]

Somebody needs to explain the ins and outs of when not to celebrate. Kirkland and Welsh have no understanding of this.

Lynch as well

 

[igor]

college football is a game dictated by the qb. even though villy had no chance, their qb was a terrific college qb. he dictated the tenor of the game with his legs. my only concern was that Shaffer didn't try containment rather than pressure. he was nifty and tireless

 

[Full_Rebar]

Clemson looked worse than expected.

Not sure I saw the same thing...Gurley will make a lot of teams look bad.

 

[NashvilleOrange]

Not sure I saw the same thing...Gurley will make a lot of teams look bad.

True. I guess I just wasn't impressed with Stoudt and feel they're more beatable after seeing the step back they've taken at the QB position.

 

[Full_Rebar]

I see your point about Stoudt, but still a lot of talent around him.

 

[tep624]

Not sure I saw the same thing...Gurley will make a lot of teams look bad.

I hate watching Georgia because I wish we had a Gurley and it's not fair! Kid is ridiculous.

 

[NashvilleOrange]

I see your point about Stoudt, but still a lot of talent around him.

Yeah, agreed on their talent. All things considered, I guess I would probably keep our odds of an upset around the same (very unlikely) and slide Louisville to the favorite column when we play in October.

 

[texascpa]

Not sure I saw the same thing...Gurley will make a lot of teams look bad.

Yes, but Clemson was supposed to have one of the best defenses in the country. Georgia ran through, over and around them.

 

[Full_Rebar]

Gurley might be one of the 10 best running backs on the planet, so I'm not going to be too hard on them

 

[OrangeDW]

Somebody needs to explain the ins and outs of when not to celebrate. Kirkland and Welsh have no understanding of this.

Agreed.

And though it was the winning TD, I was cringing when Moore started dancing after his TD catch(and someone else joined in). We just needed to run a fake FG from the 1 yard line in order to score against Villanova while in double OT. Dancing just didn't seem appropriate there.

I thought the ref was going to flag them.

 

[syr02esq]

I think we got the jitters out of us in this first game. I expect tremendous improvement in the second game. Watch for it.

 

[upperdeck]

I think Gurley is great. but he was getting clean shots in the 2nd level almost every run. Gulley got one and took it to the house too. the Kickoff was as easy as it gets

 

[OrangePA]

Our swagger after Robertson would pick up 8 on first down was fun to watch. We were actually celebrating failure at times.

It was embarrassing.

And it happened over and over again.

 

[Chip]

It was embarrassing.

And it happened over and over again.

Yeah, by the end of the 3rd quarter, it was just head shaking. I'm sure even Robertson was laughing (at least up until the very end of the game).