4 and 3 with a bye week and 5 more games

[Scooch]

In 2012 we went 8-5 and beat one ranked team. And people here talk about that season in reverent tones.

 

[JustPherU]

In 2012 we went 8-5 and beat one ranked team. And people here talk about that season in reverent tones.

Difference is we were competitive in every game even against the 2nd ranked Trojans we had a shot going into the 4th quarter.

 

[Domedog84]

Everything I'm saying is based on it being Dino's 8th year. If this was his first year and he won 8 or 9 games, I'd be estatic. I'd assume it'd take time until we could compete with the big dogs (less than 8 years).

If he reels off 9 wins this year and that gets you excited about the future, thats great and I wish I felt the same. I just feel it'd be a very soft 8-9 wins and would set us up for failure when the schedule eventually flips and becomes tougher down the road.

I get the 8 year thing and I am not a huge Dino guy at this point in his tenure, for me it is about the program in general and perception by the recruits, media and fans. Teams that make bowl games every year (SOS not factored in at all) get better recruits and more favorable media coverage and hopefully some breaks from the refs. I just don't think our program can discount or down play winning seasons that result in a bowl game. It seems we want to compete for conference championships and beat the best teams, without first just beating the teams we need to to secure a winning record. We have had so few winning seasons in the last 20 years.

I think we all look up at programs like NC State, Pitt, Wake, UNC and even BC before they canned the Dazzler because they string together winning seasons and bowl appearances. Besides some flukes, and the coastal being way easier when it existed, those teams don't really compete for conference championships, they post winning records and make bowls every year. That is an exciting possibility for a program like us to aspire to, before we worry about more.

But Dino may not be the guy to get us there.

 

[Scooch]

Difference is we were competitive in every game even against the 2nd ranked Trojans we had a shot going into the 4th quarter.

Oh come on. THAT's the difference?

We're talking about 2 games here. We were plenty competitive with Clemson, we just shot ourselves in the foot over and over. We got blown out by two top 10 teams. It sucks, no one likes it, but it happens.

So we finish 9-3 and this season sucked because we got beat badly by two top 10 teams? That's just silly. Completely silly.

And this is coming from someone who thinks that Dino is a lousy head coach. I'm not stanning for the guy.

 

[CNYGuy]

I don't really understand why it has to be 'this is the best we'll get.'

We can still win 9 games on paper in a season where we lost our best offensive player and three of our projected starting lineman from August have started a combined 2 games. 8 wins or more increases our win total for the third year in a row. Our RB, line (all but Bleich), all our contributing receivers (maybe even the All-American we lost week 2), and everyone on defense except Johnson and Okechukwu can all come back.

Sure, there's things you HAVE to address (quarterback being the big one, plus maybe a transfer or two you don't expect to leave do), but back-to-back bowls plus returning most of your contributors can be seen as progress.

 

[Crump]

If I was Wildhack I would extend Dino now before some school with a better pedigree and deeper pockets poaches him. He’s done an amazing job here considering what he’s working with. It’s all relative.

 

[Reyes39]

I don't really understand why it has to be 'this is the best we'll get.'

We can still win 9 games on paper in a season where we lost our best offensive player and three of our projected starting lineman from August have started a combined 2 games. 8 wins or more increases our win total for the third year in a row. Our RB, line (all but Bleich), all our contributing receivers (maybe even the All-American we lost week 2), and everyone on defense except Johnson and Okechukwu can all come back.

Sure, there's things you HAVE to address (quarterback being the big one, plus maybe a transfer or two you don't expect to leave do), but back-to-back bowls plus returning most of your contributors can be seen as progress.

If 9-3 happens, what are the expectations for the 1-2 years to follow?

In general that is...obviously we dont know any of the answers as it relates to the roster.

 

[bigmike]

If I was Wildhack I would extend Dino now before some school with a better pedigree and deeper pockets poaches him. He’s done an amazing job here considering what he’s working with. It’s all relative.

Dabo, is that you?

 

[CousCuse]

If 9-3 happens, what are the expectations for the 1-2 years to follow?

In general that is...obviously we dont know any of the answers as it relates to the roster.

The over and under for the last 5 is 2.5. Win all 5, this is peak crazy. I don't even think people who post things here watch any other college football.

 

[JustPherU]

Oh come on. THAT's the difference?

We're talking about 2 games here. We were plenty competitive with Clemson, we just shot ourselves in the foot over and over. We got blown out by two top 10 teams. It sucks, no one likes it, but it happens.

So we finish 9-3 and this season sucked because we got beat badly by two top 10 teams? That's just silly. Completely silly.

And this is coming from someone who thinks that Dino is a lousy head coach. I'm not stanning for the guy.

If you go back and look at 2012 team and compare to what we are witnessing now then I don’t know what to tell ya.Hanging with this years Clemson team ain’t nothing to write home about.

 

[RF2044]

If you go back and look at 2012 team and compare to what we are witnessing now then I don’t know what to tell ya.Hanging with this years Clemson team ain’t nothing to write home about.

The funny thing about that 2012 team is that some people seem to have forgotten how it unfolded.

We lost our first two games of the season, starting out 0-2 and losing the opener against Northwestern in soul-crushing fashion. Then we beat a non-P5 before getting whipped on the road @ Minnesota [don't let the close score fool you; we got held without a TD until the final minute, making the score seem a lot closer than how lopsided the game actually was].

1-3 start, and the board was tearing itself apart. DESPITE the team putting up solid offensive numbers, they weren't translating into wins.

We then beat Pitt by a point, 14-13 ["it's not that we win, it's HOW WE PLAY"], before losing to Rutgers to bring our record to 2-4.

We got our record to 5-5, but faced disaster on the road at Missouri in a game that turned the tide of the season. After being down big early to a middling Missouri squad, Alec Lemon suddenly became unguardable, and we ended up winning an exciting squeaker late. Lose that game, and who knows how the trajectory of the season plays out. But we found a way to win, and that propelled the team down the stretch -- and we ended the season on a 4 game winning streak [including the bowl].

There's still a lot of football left to be played in 2023. And how we play will determine how most people view this season through the lens of hindsight. But a lot of the complaints in this thread being expressed now...

• Who have we beaten?
• It's HOW we're losing...
• We're not winning "pretty" enough...
• I'm ready to move on from the coach

...are very similar to the things that many posters were proclaiming in 2012, at various points throughout the season.

There was a poster -- who I won't name -- who was all over Marrone needing to be fired, because he'd lost something like 6 or 7 games in a row, dating back to the previous season, when we got off to the 0-2 start. The same Doug Marrone who used that season to springboard into an NFL head coaching position. So...

Just win, baby. And if we don't, then Dino needs to go. And if we do, then he deserves the opportunity to build upon two consecutive bowls, and an improved record three years in a row.

And if we close the season winning 8, 9, or somehow more games [factoring in a bowl] -- then the accolades and positive sentiment will be deserved, because the team / coaching staff will have earned it.

 

[elimunelson]

In 2012 we went 8-5 and beat one ranked team. And people here talk about that season in reverent tones.

In defense of '12 vs say 93 and 94 was how that season finished and the fallout after. We were on a heater at the end of that year and it felt like Marrone was just starting to cook finally.

93 finished like the sound of a fart slowly winding down and 94 we just ran out of gas offensively (yet 93 and 94 we had better winning %).

I do think we collectively have PTWD (post traumatic winning disorder). Dino has been a sturdy presence around the program and has been really clever in not allowing himself to be taken down by the mediocrity. He just sails above it because the program is never in the cross hair of bad publicity, bad actors, etc.

I think the way college football is going, i'm with scooch on the idea that it doesn't matter really morality wise if we are altar boys or cowboys. It's a winning trumps everything model now. And winning can mean constant churn.

 

[CousCuse]

In defense of '12 vs say 93 and 94 was how that season finished and the fallout after. We were on a heater at the end of that year and it felt like Marrone was just starting to cook finally.

93 finished like the sound of a fart slowly winding down and 94 we just ran out of gas offensively (yet 93 and 94 we had better winning %).

I do think we collectively have PTWD (post traumatic winning disorder). Dino has been a sturdy presence around the program and has been really clever in not allowing himself to be taken down by the mediocrity. He just sails above it because the program is never in the cross hair of bad publicity, bad actors, etc.

I think the way college football is going, i'm with scooch on the idea that it doesn't matter really morality wise if we are altar boys or cowboys. It's a winning trumps everything model now. And winning can mean constant churn.

2012 was the year Louisville came in undefeated and highly ranked (#5?) with Teddy Bridgewater as a Heisman hopeful and the Orange DESTROYED them. That team was better than any team in Babers era.

 

[orangecuse]

The funny thing about that 2012 team is that some people seem to have forgotten how it unfolded.

We lost our first two games of the season, starting out 0-2 and losing the opener against Northwestern in soul-crushing fashion. Then we beat a non-P5 before getting whipped on the road @ Minnesota.

1-3 start.

We then beat Pitt by a point, 14-13 ["it's not that we win, it's HOW WE PLAY"], before losing to Rutgers to bring our record to 2-4.

We got our record to 5-5, but faced disaster on the road at Missouri in a game that turned the tide of the season. After being down big early to a middling Missouri squad, Alec Lemon suddenly became unguardable, and we ended up winning an exciting squeaker late. Lose that game, and who knows how the trajectory of the season plays out. But we found a way to win, and that propelled the team down the stretch -- and we ended the season on a 4 game winning streak [including the bowl].

There's still a lot of football left to be played in 2023. And how we play will determine how most people view this season through the lens of hindsight. But a lot of the complaints in this thread being expressed now...

• Who have we beaten?
• It's HOW we're losing...
• We're not winning "pretty" enough...
• I'm ready to move on from the coach

...are very similar to the things that many posters were proclaiming in 2012, at various points throughout the season.

There was a poster -- who I won't name -- who was all over Marrone needing to be fired, because he'd lost something like 6 or 7 games in a row, dating back to the previous season, when we got off to the 0-2 start. The same Doug Marrone who used that season to springboard into an NFL head coaching position. So...

Just win, baby. And if we don't, then Dino needs to go. And if we do, then he deserves the opportunity to build upon two consecutive bowls, and an improved record three years in a row.

And if we close the season winning 8, 9, or somehow more games [factoring in a bowl] -- then the accolades and positive sentiment will be deserved, because the team / coaching staff will have earned it.

Yes, how nice it would be to actually see team improvement as the season went on. That's something that I don't believe can be truthfully stated about Dino's teams to date other than, arguably, perhaps Dungey's final year. We'll see how the season plays out as you allude to, however, I'm certainly not holding my breath on that as I have very little "faith" in Dino Babers nowadays.

I was a huge fan of Marrone, and would take him back in a heartbeat. Some here who aren't big fans of his like to point out Marrone's near .500 record and that his results weren't that impressive. However, those folks conveniently and totally disregard the abyss that GRob had taken the program to. Let alone, at the time, an administration that told Marrone "someday" in regards to having an IPF, etc. when "someday" was already a day late and a dollar short.

IMO, if Marrone had half of what Dino has graciously been afforded to him since he's been here, I believe he'd have far more conference wins as Babers' putrid and flat out embarrasing 19 total.

 

[IthacaBarrel]

2012 was the year Louisville came in undefeated and highly ranked (#5?) with Teddy Bridgewater as a Heisman hopeful and the Orange DESTROYED them. That team was better than any team in Babers era.

I mean you can debate the 2018 season. But not interested

 

[MSOrange]

If I was Wildhack I would extend Dino now before some school with a better pedigree and deeper pockets poaches him. He’s done an amazing job here considering what he’s working with. It’s all relative.

Ok Coach Babers, I know it's a bye week, but don't you have anything better to do than read the board?

 

[RF2044]

Yes, how nice it would be to actually see team improvement as the season went on. That's something that I don't believe can be truthfully stated about Dino's teams to date other than, arguably, perhaps Dungey's final year. We'll see how the season plays out as you allude to, however, I'm certainly not holding my breath on that as I have very little "faith" in Dino Babers nowadays.

I was a huge fan of Marrone, and would take him back in a heartbeat. Some here who aren't big fans of his like to point out Marrone's near .500 record and that his results weren't that impressive. However, those folks conveniently and totally disregard the abyss that GRob had taken the program to. Let alone, at the time, an administration that told Marrone "someday" in regards to having an IPF, etc. when "someday" was already a day late and a dollar short.

IMO, if Marrone had half of what Dino has graciously been afforded to him since he's been here, I believe he'd have far more conference wins as Babers' putrid and flat out embarrasing 19 total.

Sure, your point is fair -- that 2012 team showed improvement by winning a bunch of games at the end of the season, after what was by all accounts an incredibly poor 2-4 start.

This team could accomplish that same achievement, if they close strong over these last 5 games.

Not saying that we're going to go 5-0, time will tell [and for the record, I have zero problem "owning" my prediction is we'll go 4-1]. But the season's story is still being written. And as Anomander has pointed out repeatedly, the final five games set up favorably. So let's not write the team off before they even play the games. Or complain in advance of the games that the competition isn't strong, so if they DO close strong it is irrelevant.

Win 7 or fewer, and I promise that I'll be right there with you about the coach needing to go.

 

[Reyes39]

The over and under for the last 5 is 2.5. Win all 5, this is peak crazy. I don't even think people who post things here watch any other college football.

I think people who don't toss around hypothetical situations have ever posted on team message boards.

 

[Crump]

Ok Coach Babers, I know it's a bye week, but don't you have anything better to do than read the board?

All I’m saying is given the inherent limitations that this program has (geographically, infrastructure, perception, etc) we’d be hard pressed to do any better than Babers, who has us on track for a winning season.

 

[CNYGuy]

2012 was the year Louisville came in undefeated and highly ranked (#5?) with Teddy Bridgewater as a Heisman hopeful and the Orange DESTROYED them. That team was better than any team in Babers era.

It’s tough to debate the pre-ACC teams to this years team (I know we all do this).

The bottom of the ACC poses more challenges than the bottom teams of the Big East did. A road game at VT or GT is tougher than UConn and Temple.

 

[CousCuse]

It’s tough to debate the pre-ACC teams to this years team (I know we all do this).

The bottom of the ACC poses more challenges than the bottom teams of the Big East did. A road game at VT or GT is tougher than UConn and Temple.

UCONN was a strong team at that point. I think Temple was out of the league then too. Lots of players from the later OBE went to the NFL.

 

[CNYGuy]

UCONN was a strong team at that point. I think Temple was out of the league then too. Lots of players from the later OBE went to the NFL.

I think their good run was earlier. 2012 was their second-straight 5-7 finish as part of more than a decade without a winning season.

Temple and USF were also bad at that time and were the two bottom teams in the league that year.

 

[CousCuse]

I think their good run was earlier. 2012 was their second-straight 5-7 finish as part of more than a decade without a winning season.

Temple and USF were also bad at that time and were the two bottom teams in the league that year.

Yea sure.

 

[tbonezone]

"well it still gets us back and forth to work sometimes..."

WAIT. isn't it more fun to root for a program that can compete with anybody ? dino don't do that.

 

[Crump]

It’s tough to debate the pre-ACC teams to this years team (I know we all do this).

The bottom of the ACC poses more challenges than the bottom teams of the Big East did. A road game at VT or GT is tougher than UConn and Temple.

This is exactly why I think we should extend Dino. We're in the ACC with teams that, in all honesty, we can't compete with from a resources, facilities, and location standpoint. This isn't the old Big East. How are we supposed to keep pace with the Wake Forest's, Georgia Tech's, Uva's, and BC's of the world if we don't have coaching stability? Plus, he's got us on a solid path to 6-6 so the results are there.