We Lost It Starting in 1995

[javadoc]

I put together a chart of wins per game played covering all of Coach P's era, and while the data speaks for itself (IMO), the part that really astonishes me is how we got worse every year that McNabb was here. A slide had begun that was trending toward pure mediocrity, or worse. There was a lot of NFL talent back then - how can we as a program have allowed this to happen?

The reasons have been debated ad nauseum. It is a damn shame that all those who had a say did nothing to arrest it.

 

[Marsh01]

We had some head scratching losses with McNabb here for sure. Also had some heartbreaking losses (Tennessee). Probably should have had a 10-1 season in there some place for sure.

 

[OrangeXtreme]

What are you saying ... that Kevin Johnson should have been the starter all along?

 

[baggerbob]

1991, 1992, P was playing with mostly Coach Mac's recruits, so the downturn started earlier with the inability of the coaching staff to win.

 

[sufandu]

I would be interested to see how many eventually players with sustained NFL careers we recruited that graduated '99 or later. There were Bulluck and Freeney. My suspicion is that it was lower than the class of '98 and before, suggesting recruiting was a problem for almost the last 10 years of the P era.

 

[jgeorge322]

can we correlate this with SOS? we started w be football in early 90s correct? did that increase the difficulty of our schedule?

 

[NJCuse97]

can we correlate this with SOS? we started w be football in early 90s correct? did that increase the difficulty of our schedule?

I want to say the BE started in 1992 or 1993 and it was formed by a group of independents that already played each other, so I don't think there would have been an appreciable increase in SOS. I think some of it was that the other teams in the new league got better. VaTech was not a great team in the early 90's. They "got good" in the mid to late 90's. Miami probably represented the biggest increase in SOS.

 

[CusefanATL]

i just want to be good.

 

[sufandu]

I want to say the BE started in 1992 or 1993 and it was formed by a group of independents that already played each other, so I don't think there would have been an appreciable increase in SOS. I think some of it was that the other teams in the new league got better. VaTech was not a great team in the early 90's. They "got good" in the mid to late 90's. Miami probably represented the biggest increase in SOS.

Yeah, I believe the first official year for BE football was '92. We played Miami in '90 just prior to the formation of the football side but not in '91. Agree with your SOS comment. The main difference was VaTech getting good.

 

[kirbivore]

We had some head scratching losses with McNabb here for sure. Also had some heartbreaking losses (Tennessee). Probably should have had a 10-1 season in there some place for sure.

1997 was the year. Beat a very good Wisconsin team in the opener and followed it up with the worst coaching job of the Pasqualoni era in a home loss to a mediocre NC St. I don't feel the same about 1998. The OOC schedule was brutal plus the defense got was worse from the previous year.

 

[BomberOrange]

1997 was the year. Beat a very good Wisconsin team in the opener and followed it up with the worst coaching job of the Pasqualoni era in a home loss to a mediocre NC St. I don't feel the same about 1998. The OOC schedule was brutal plus the defense got was worse from the previous year.

The problem with '98 is that it started with sky high expectations and a last second loss to the eventual national champion Tennessee. Then the Michigan win made it look like we were going to roll the rest of the way. Enter NC State & Torry Holt. Completely outcoached and outplayed in that game. But one of the most frustrating things about that season is that we went on to rip off a bunch of wins and then lost to WVU prior to the Miami game. A game that we shoudve won. I can remember Coach P dismissing the loss saying that it didn't matter we could still win the Big East. That burned me and a lot of people at the time. Instead of a possible 10-1 season, two games where coaching could've mattered, we end up going 8-3, being ranked around 20, and getting crushed by UF in the Orange Bowl...of course I would kill for a year like that now, but that was when I wanted Coach P out. Too many What losses with really good talent.

 

[Scooch]

1997 was the year. Beat a very good Wisconsin team in the opener and followed it up with the worst coaching job of the Pasqualoni era in a home loss to a mediocre NC St. I don't feel the same about 1998. The OOC schedule was brutal plus the defense got was worse from the previous year.

Agreed about '97, I thought that was the year we could've made a serious run. We suffered a ton of injuries though, and it laid bare the problem this program always faces: depth.

Back in the 90s our stating 22 could play with anyone in the country. And we beat some prominent programs to prove that out.

But when injuries hit we never had the depth the big boys had to just plug in a replacement and carry on unaffected.