The massive importance of making a bowl this year

[KaiserUEO]

Kaiser, if I listed all the teams from last year that went either 5-7 or 6-6, would you be able to tell me (without cheating) which ones made a bowl and which ones didn't?

i would probably be pretty damn close.

and i would have NO CLUE who played a SEC or other P5 team in sept tough, but lost.

for those things dont mean jack shlit.

id have a shot of knowing if 1 of them beat a top 10 team, but then i would see that they didnt make a bowl and go...fluke, they must be a crappy team.

 

[Rocco]

I think your expectations for this team are lower than they should be. I will be disappointed in a big way if this team isn't at least 8-4. This is a very well coached team that is good in so three phases. I expect big things from this team.

If they go 5-3 or 6-2 in the ACC, that is a very good year for such a young team. If they can beat USF this weekend as well, we're looking at 8-9 wins.

I have a lot of biased hope, but it's hard to expect anything from this group.

If the staff can get extra practices with this team at year end, that is a HUGE plus for next year's team. I think making a bowl game this year is a nice goal.

But first, USF needs to get run over...

 

[TheCusian]

Truth is somewhere in the middle.

You do gain a certain amount of lasting value from playing great "name" teams tight, especially if they are ranked. Addazzio and Shafer have the same amount of wins vs FSU: 0. But if you follow an ACC team or the conference over the past 3 years - you'd probably have heard and/or read about BC moving in the right direction and those games vs FSU are always mentioned.

The value in playing in a bowl at 6-6 is pretty high. The extra practices are great and the $ is good for the school and it's fun for the fans/players. But the icing on the cake is how you are talked about in the media and in recruits living rooms. It's probably oversized value for what it is (i.e. You can beat URI or LSU and it counts the same: 1 game on your way to 6)... But it's pretty sweet perception wise.

 

[Rocco]

it goes without saying that making a bowl is important for player development. it is not, however, as big of a deal as you make it sound in terms of national perception. if we go 5-7, with a win over Clemson and a close loss to LSU... that will get us a much better perception than if we went 6-6 and had beaten some scrub team in our 4th game and played in a dud bowl with a 70% empty stadium.

i know people are firmly on one side or the other here, and that is what debates are all about.

i also feel that losing to LSU close gave our kids a ton more confidence to win the games down the road that will get us to 6 anyways. Barring injury, this team is not winning less than that. no chance.

If we go 5-7 and 1-1 against Clem/FSU, then that means we go 1-5 against USF, Pitt, BC, NC St, UVA and LVille.

People would then say that Clem/FSU really aren't that good or it was a fluke win by us.

6-6 is substantially better than 5-7, regardless of the wins IMO.

 

[baggerbob]

Lets just be like Scott, Tim, the staff, and the Team, get the win against USF, then worry about Virginia, and repeat the cycle, one win at a time.

 

[Rocco]

Lets just be like Scott, Tim, the staff, and the Team, get the win against USF, then worry about Virginia, and repeat the cycle, one win at a time.

Amen. Our staff has the team focused on USF and USF only.

 

[SoBristol]

Getting extra practices is big.
Winning rivalry games against Pitt & BC -- even bigger?
Finishing strong in November -- also big.
A bowl game in a warm venue -- big.

And just win tomorrow, stay healthy.

 

[Chip]

Lets just be like Scott, Tim, the staff, and the Team, get the win against USF, then worry about Virginia, and repeat the cycle, one win at a time.

As long as that's all their worrying about, then no harm in us looking at the rest. We'll be playing the teams at some point, it's not like a playoff where if we lose to USF then we'll never play Virginia.

I don't know where we'll land, but I just hope we're more competitive than how we ended last year. No reason at all Pitt and BC should beat us like that. I wouldn't expect a similar type of game this year. At all. I'd like to think we can at least hang around with FSU and Clemson (and Louisville who's a step down from them).

On the other hand, I do expect Dungey to have some real struggles at some point. Conference play gets harder, teams get smarter with the more film on you they get. And he's just a true freshman. Anything we get from him this year is gravy, then enjoy the ride of having him experienced and starting 3 more years. Haven't had something like that to look this forward to since, oh, 1995? It appears he has an OC and QB coach who will get him where he needs to be.

 

[Rocco]

As long as that's all their worrying about, then no harm in us looking at the rest. We'll be playing the teams at some point, it's not like a playoff where if we lose to USF then we'll never play Virginia.

I don't know where we'll land, but I just hope we're more competitive than how we ended last year. No reason at all Pitt and BC should beat us like that. I wouldn't expect a similar type of game this year. At all. I'd like to think we can at least hang around with FSU and Clemson (and Louisville who's a step down from them).

On the other hand, I do expect Dungey to have some real struggles at some point. Conference play gets harder, teams get smarter with the more film on you they get. And he's just a true freshman. Anything we get from him this year is gravy, then enjoy the ride of having him experienced and starting 3 more years. Haven't had something like that to look this forward to since, oh, 1995? It appears he has an OC and QB coach who will get him where he needs to be.

Well said, especially on the Dungey part. He has shown what he is capable of doing, but there is no question he will struggle at times. I just want the kid to stay healthy.

With that being said, I hope we don't see any of the struggles today.

 

[ImperialOrange]

I'm looking forward to a bowl game as well. More specifically I'm looking forward to a rematch with lsu in a bowl game this year after winning out.

 

[wfschrec]

We have two more on the schedule.

I'll give you Watson (who won't win the Heisman) ... but when he tweets about SU's RB history and gives us a ton of great pub you let me know. Again he isn't half the draw Fournette is.

 

[retro44]

Not to mention the game had the highest rating on cable that weekend. Imagine if we'd won?

Did it really have the highest rating? Wow that is great!

 

[omniorange]

Did it really have the highest rating? Wow that is great!

Yes, and that game was up against Michigan vs BYU on ABC. Only the 3:30 games Tenn/Fla on CBS and the split game Ohio State/Western Michigan and VT/ECU on ABC beat it. Second highest rated cable game was the 7:15 game on ESPN between A&M and Arkansas.

Now obviously LSU and Fournette were the main attraction of our game, but still considering where this program has been, it goes to show that if we are indeed on our way back, TV will have to take notice.

LGO!!!

Cheers,
Neil

 

[Oakland]

Do any of the 34 persons who 'liked' this thread, agree it was a good idea to schedule LSU?

Been thinking about this for awhile and I know it is common sense, but just wanted to discuss. We have to make a bowl this year. With so many freshmen and sophomores playing such a huge role on this team, every single practice this staff can get with these young kids is absolutely enormous towards building the future. We have seen what they're capable of thus far and I have this feeling that we are just getting started. The 15 extra practices granted for bowl games are truly invaluable and would really give us a running head start into the 2016 season.

Further, we've really gained traction with recruiting in 2017 and 2018, not to mention with the current 2016 class. It's hard to tell how much of an impact it would have on a recruit if we make a bowl as a 6-6 team, but no matter what, it can't hurt. It shows we're moving in the right direction and gives these kids another chance to see our product on the field on national TV. I get the feeling there are quite a few big-name kids in the "wait and see" mode. They're paying closer attention based on what we've done in the first 4 games, but now they want to see if we can maintain our momentum. Making a bowl goes a long way here IMO.

Also, it will help our perception with the local fan base. Probably won't have a huge impact initially, but it will show that we are no longer holding down the fort at the bottom of the ACC. Going 6-2 or 5-3 in ACC play this year would really be an awesome turnaround. AD Coyle is going to be putting together a fan advisory committee to help improve the gameday experience, but winning cures most of the problems.

Lastly, hopefully Shafer will have shown enough to Coyle to receive an extension. I really think he is the guy for the future of this program. I believe is on a contract through 2016, maybe 2017, but if he can keep winning this year, maybe he gets a 2 year extension. This will show stability within the program to recruits, players and fans.

Keep winning --> keep getting bigger crowds in the Dome --> impress the visiting recruits more --> commits

In the meantime, however, nothing is more important than the next opponent. Let's take care of business in Tampa and put the boots to USF in front of our many recruits/fans in that area. Keep this train running.

LGO.

 

[orange79]

Do any of the 34 persons who 'liked' this thread, agree it was a good idea to schedule LSU?

Yes

 

[wfschrec]

Do any of the 34 persons who 'liked' this thread, agree it was a good idea to schedule LSU?

Yes it was a good idea ...

 

[TheCusian]

Do any of the 34 persons who 'liked' this thread, agree it was a good idea to schedule LSU?

Yes.

 

[Rocco]

Do any of the 34 persons who 'liked' this thread, agree it was a good idea to schedule LSU?

Yes, just because they lost to LSU and USF doesn't mean they shouldn't have scheduled LSU. Going the NCST route with their horrific OOC schedule is not the right way to do it.

There are 7 games left, we need to go 3-4. That is feasible.