realistically the most optimistic people had us 4-1

[orangehomer]

we basically stole a game against wake forest, and got at least semi-lucky against toledo, i mean we could be sitting here at 1-4. so i guess losing a game we should have won yesterday is balanced by winning at least one game we probably should have lost. it doesn't wipe out the frustration of losing to a bad rutgers team, but i guess i am coming to grips with it big picture wise. we need to dominate tulane and win 2 big east games and get bowl eligible. from what i can tell we seem a little better than louisville and uconn, but we play them on the road. we look worse than usf, cinci, wvu, and pitt.

i guess from my end the frustrating part is that we are in year 3 of marrone and i can't tell if he is being limited as a coach by the personnel or if the personnel is decent and he just isn't improving as a coach. i realize the roster is still recovering from mass defections, but it just seems like in year 3 we shouldn't still be relying on so many true freshman. marrone needs to figure out how to recruit some impact offensive playmakers. it's a shame about gulley, because i think he might have had a big day yesterday, i just don't see bailey as an every down back. bailey is good, he just seems to be a half-step off from being really good, like every time you think you see a big play coming he trips or bobbles a pass, or gets drilled for no gain on a 3rd and 1. he just seems to be missing something i'm not sure what. we just don't seem to have an nfl quality skill player on offense, and that needs to change in a big way going forward.

 

[007]

Realistically, squeezing a Bowl bid out of this team, particularly given the key injuries that continue to mount, would be a "very successful" season, IMO. Apart from Nassib, there are no true play makers on either side of the ball. I had hoped that Chew and Bailey would be, but that's not the case. On D...P Thomas is perhaps the closest to being a play maker. S. Thomas could be, if he were healthy. I like what Dion is doing, just a little too undersized to be a big factor.

Given what we have talentwise, we are lucky to be 3-2. The fact that we could have been 4-1, 5-1 heading into WVU, says a lot about the coaching and the quality of effort and heart from the kids.

I'm just a dope who knows a little about football and coaching. It's very difficult to run a pro offense without some NFL quality talent at the skill positions and a good O line. Not blaming Hackett, he is running DM's system. But, can't help but wonder what the O would look like if we had someone like Mike Leach as coordinator. Not saying he would be interested. Just think that's is the way to help negate the lack of talent.