If you want anyone to show up, gotta make the change

[OrangeCrush22]

Anyone who is proposing keeping Rickie in is accepting that this is a 4 win season and I’d rather they just say that and get it over with.

I’ve learned my lesson from the Shafer/Dino years.

I just don’t see any wins with Rickie at QB. We can’t score

 

[tptcuse]

I just don’t see any wins with Rickie at QB. We can’t score

Concise and accurate.

 

[JeffCuse]

No.

If Carney was better why would he be 3rd string?

Sure Collins made some mistakes. but the running game is the issue not Collins

You do realize a functional passing game opens up the run game right?

 

[JeffCuse]

Put the kid in. If we lose at least we are taking steps for 2026. Collins is awful.

 

[upperdeck]

You do realize a functional passing game opens up the run game right?

you do know teams are not even playing the run most of the time and stuffing us. And when they do play the run we can barely do anything.


we play a pass offense to keep it light in the box dont we?

 

[OttosShoes]

Eh, if you're a big NIL donor I think seeing the guy you backed play well is secondary to wanting to see the program win.

I wouldn't assume those motivations are different. Spending money on stuff influences how you feel about it. That's why some people go nuts over Ford vs. Chevy or whatever.

True NIL is also motivated by starpower. Rickie's NIL value is worthless right now--you can't run a Collins ad for your car dealership or whatever. If he gets demoted it will stay that way. But if he stays in, there's a small chance things improve.

 

[djorange1989]

Put the kid in. If we lose at least we are taking steps for 2026. Collins is awful.

Yep biggest risk is he plays well and gets poached by another school, I will take that over a Collins death march.

 

[Millhouse]

that used to be the case - but have you seen the dome attendance lately for red?

Landmark theater and turning stone must be giddy.

I haven't ironically because I'm not going to any basketball games until it stops sucking

 

[baggerbob]

You do know we play unc and bc right?

Even those aren't a guarantee, unless Rickie gets a lot better.

 

[007]

You do realize a functional passing game opens up the run game right?

Generally true, but not a given. Last season for example, one of the top rated passing offense in FBS and bottom 10 in rushing even with a player like LQA. Some might say we didn't need to rush b/c of McCord. And yet there were 402 rushing attempts and an abysmal 3.2 yards per attempt. That's an OL issue.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

Generally true, but not a given. Last season for example, one of the top rated passing offense in FBS and bottom 10 in rushing even with a player like LQA. Some might say we didn't need to rush b/c of McCord. And yet there were 402 rushing attempts and an abysmal 3.2 yards per attempt. That's an OL issue.

I think it is a play design and/or system issue. We saw the same thing with Dino's O. Lots of simple runs up the middle. I think the idea with running the ball is to occasionally bust a long run. It isn't to be consistently getting 6 yard runs.

 

[JeffCuse]

I think it is a play design and/or system issue. We saw the same thing with Dino's O. Lots of simple runs up the middle. I think the idea with running the ball is to occasionally bust a long run. It isn't to be consistently getting 6 yard runs.

Id argue we run at incredibly predictable times.

Example, I would bet i could count on two hands the number of times in the past 18 games the offense didn't run on 2nd after an incomplete pass on first

 

[007]

I think it is a play design and/or system issue. We saw the same thing with Dino's O. Lots of simple runs up the middle. I think the idea with running the ball is to occasionally bust a long run. It isn't to be consistently getting 6 yard runs.

I don't think there is a coach in the country that would agree with your take.

 

[orange44]

Haven't had time to read everything, but I'm guessing it's been pointed out more than a few times that Pitt started a 3 star true freshman yesterday who otherwise only had offers from MAC schools. His only experience had been about 8 snaps in a CMU blowout.

He was 30/41 for 323 yards, 4 TDs and 0 INTs against BC.

Maybe someone can make Fran aware of this.

 

[HRE Otto IV]

I don't think there is a coach in the country that would agree with your take.

About what?

No team can run inside zone over and over again and have success. Outside of short yardage do we run anything but zone blocking? Do we ever run zone reads? Do we ever run outside zones? No one can have success that way. So what is the purpose of our running game?

 

[SuFTW]

This might be a bad analogy, but when it comes to money and these NIL deals, I liken it to a pro team that makes a big free agent signing. If the player ends up having a terrible season it takes a while before he sees the bench.

The Pro player is proven to some degree though. Rickie is not a proven commodity.

 

[Tony DeFranco]

This might be a bad analogy, but when it comes to money and these NIL deals, I liken it to a pro team that makes a big free agent signing. If the player ends up having a terrible season it takes a while before he sees the bench.

I have no problem signing Collins - if u see him live he looks like stud with all the tools - until the ball gets snapped and the game goes live - things don’t always work out - we got the worst of breaks with Angeli who looked every bit as good as McCord - but Collins cannot be put in the field ever again - it’s Carney unless he gets hurt

 

[Cuse12]

This is exactly where I am right now.

We are not in a position to white knuckle our ways to wins based on strong defense / specials. It’s just not there. We can’t afford to have an offense that wakes up in the 4th quarter after the opposing defense has relaxed. And that’s exactly what happened yesterday. Anyone who is proposing keeping Rickie in is accepting that this is a 4 win season and I’d rather they just say that and get it over with.

I’ve learned my lesson from the Shafer/Dino years.

I can’t like the last sentence enough. I used to see it through fan bias and I don’t anymore.

You either have IT or you DONT. 99% of the time in college sports that’s the case. What does that mean? That may mean you aren’t there yet, but you have some gumption and are going in the right direction. There’s nothing there with Rickie. There’s mistakes that anyone should be okay with when playing a newer QB. But, I mean missing wide open receivers, throwing into triple coverage constantly, no read progressions. We have seen enough of a sample size.

Dungey didn’t win a lot initially but it was so obvious he was giving his guys a chance, he was making plays immediately, he was leading. There just was obviously light at the end of the tunnel immediately. This is the best case study for us fans as it was recent and with cuse.

I’m seeing Pitt throw a frosh in an play well, I see Texas tech lean on a frosh to win a game last weekend, I see SMU frosh qb come in and make a play that looks like he has it immediately. So we see other teams play their freshman and they’re competent, so why not try ours? We literally have NOTHING to lose anymore because we are not trending towards another win this season. So what’s the worst case scenario?

 

[FrancoPizza]

I can’t like the last sentence enough. I used to see it through fan bias and I don’t anymore.

You either have IT or you DONT. 99% of the time in college sports that’s the case. What does that mean? That may mean you aren’t there yet, but you have some gumption and are going in the right direction. There’s nothing there with Rickie. There’s mistakes that anyone should be okay with when playing a newer QB. But, I mean missing wide open receivers, throwing into triple coverage constantly, no read progressions. We have seen enough of a sample size.

Dungey didn’t win a lot initially but it was so obvious he was giving his guys a chance, he was making plays immediately, he was leading. There just was obviously light at the end of the tunnel immediately. This is the best case study for us fans as it was recent and with cuse.

I’m seeing Pitt throw a frosh in an play well, I see Texas tech lean on a frosh to win a game last weekend, I see SMU frosh qb come in and make a play that looks like he has it immediately. So we see other teams play their freshman and they’re competent, so why not try ours? We literally have NOTHING to lose anymore because we are not trending towards another win this season. So what’s the worst case scenario?

Maybe Fran is more worried about losing loyalty points than saving his job.

 

[Cuse12]

Maybe Fran is more worried about losing loyalty points than saving his job.

I do believe FB is a man of his word, and this absolutely is something he is wrestling with hardcore. Saving his job can’t even be a thought when he won 10 games last year, so I don’t think that’s even on his mind tbh. I think it comes down to him growing as a coach, realizing his words mean a lot when the media and fans latch on to every one of them. So he has to be extremely thoughtful on if and when and how he moves on from Rickie if he thinks he needs to. I don’t envy being in his position with the circumstances at play right now.

 

[DuxburyO]

Yep biggest risk is he plays well and gets poached by another school, I will take that over a Collins death march.

If he’s not ready it could be a Tom Savage take 2. I still trust Fran but no one wants a death march.

We can’t worry of poaching so I don’t think that’s part of this decision

 

[FrancoPizza]

He doesn’t have to move on from Ricky in one fell swoop. There is clearly a path to getting Luke on the field for a few series to see if it takes some pressure off. And then just see how things unfold.

 

[orangecuse]

I haven't ironically because I'm not going to any basketball games until it stops sucking

It wasn't too long ago here that posts such as these would get the predictable 'usual suspects' to throw a bunch of shade on not being a true fan, or being a bad fan, etc. However, with the changed landscape, NIL, the coin being dispersed to many (whether productive/deserving or not) one truly can't blame folks for no longer showing up.

The 'ol "support the kids" etc. mentality is long in the rear view, since these young adults nowadays are paid professionals/no longer amateurs.

 

[DoctahLexus]

It wasn't too long ago here that posts such as these would get the predictable 'usual suspects' to throw a bunch of shade on not being a true fan, or being a bad fan, etc. However, with the changed landscape, NIL, the coin being dispersed to many (whether productive/deserving or not) one truly can't blame folks for no longer showing up.

The 'ol "support the kids" etc. mentality is long in the rear view, since these young adults nowadays are paid professionals/no longer amateurs.

This is still a lame way of looking at things. Why does the kids being paid change anything? Being a fan should not have any less expectations because the players are getting paid. They should have been getting paid a long time ago anyways. Him not going to bball games because we have been historically bad is totally fine IMO, but not more acceptable because guys are getting paid.

And not you saying this, but anyone who takes the view that trashing players is now more acceptable because they are getting paid is lame as hell. That is just guys looking for an excuse to trash some 20 year olds. Collins or whoever else is underperforming do not deserve insults of any kind unless we have credible reasons to believe they are not giving 100% effort. They still deserve respect if they are giving this team their full effort.