Today on ESPNU he said, "Ball State has more talent than Iowa State......it's not Gene Chizik's fault.............the cupboard was bare."
Any thoughts?
Any thoughts?
Jim Donan
- Thread starter mharder
- Start date
My 1st thought: Are you F'n kidding me
2nd: I think he's right
3rd: Who the heck was in charge of recruiting?
4th: I feel sorry for Chizik
5th: I'll lower my expectations until '09
2nd: I think he's right
3rd: Who the heck was in charge of recruiting?
4th: I feel sorry for Chizik
5th: I'll lower my expectations until '09
Talent aside, I really don't think it's Chizik's fault. At season's end, however, if we haven't seen marked improvement, then he should shoulder the blame.
That being said, we've already shown signs of promise. Chizik is doing well in my book, thus far.
That being said, we've already shown signs of promise. Chizik is doing well in my book, thus far.
The cupboard was not bare. We have some talented players. What is hurting this year is the transition to a new coaching staff, a lack of depth, and lots of underclassmen needing development. I expect to see more improvement in these areas as the season progresses.
Bottom line is our O needs some explosive plays. We can dink and dunk down the field like we have been, but that doesn't score enough points to beat good teams. A turnover here and there would be nice as well. I don't think our guys go for the football enough when tackling. Nik Moser would do that all day everyday (see TCU game), and it helped our D out tremendously.
I'm not sure if the cupboard was bare talent-wise, but I do think that by the end Mac's regime had ruined the team psychologically. Makes sense, Mac was a high octane guy who pushed passion rather than fundamentals. That makes for fragile players who lose concentration when things go against them.
Moreover, we all pretty much agree that Mac played favorites. This can't help but tear a team apart.
This is the poisoned well that Chizik has to overcome. And maybe he's doing it. I used to think seniors like Blythe and Meyer were lost causes in this regard. But maybe they're not ...
Moreover, we all pretty much agree that Mac played favorites. This can't help but tear a team apart.
This is the poisoned well that Chizik has to overcome. And maybe he's doing it. I used to think seniors like Blythe and Meyer were lost causes in this regard. But maybe they're not ...
Nebraska's defense is worse than Iowa's defense. Nebraska did not take them seriously at all. Nebraska was still hung over from the loss to USC.
This is a very insightful post. Nick Saban calls what you describe above as the "Catastrophe Syndrome".
Bingo. You have a bunch of players who've "been there, done that" in terms of meltdowns. It's not an easy thing to shake that mindset.
Yeah no kidding, show me any reporter who knows anything about us let alone Ball State.
I don't buy that we don't have enough talent. That's not to say we couldn't use more, of course we definitely need more. As has been bought up many times, turnovers are causing us to lose games. Anyone who's played football knows turnovers are killer. They shift momentum and ruin drives where you're going in to score, or worse yet you snap it into the endzone and give the other team 6 just like that.
