It definitely hit where it hurts. Big time. But, we have won two games this year we were supposed to and one we weren't supposed to. Last night we lost one we should have won but weren't supposed to. It's blatantly obvious we are a good football team we just had three ridiculously big mistakes. I like our chances to move on the rest of the year and not have that happen again. We are a good team and will win eight or nine games.
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This is what kills me. We will likely be 5-1 starting the season. That would put us at, what, 12-5 the last 17 games? Top 30 recruiting classes? A sold out stadium? Five star kids actually being interested? A four year turn around from two wins to eight or nine and in the top quarter of the SEC? Sure he makes mistakes. Every coach does. We need to pay him so he sticks around because he will give us more than we expect out of a football program.Comment
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The one where they put it where his hand was, and not the damned ball, comes to mind as the most blatant. When I look at the replay on the tv I'll find a bunch, for you, teamchemistry15 .Comment
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How? I ask as literally and free of cynicism as possible. Who are we going to beat to get to eight or nine wins?
I suspect UT is on your win list. Why, though, would anyone pick us over UT? As with Florida, we lose to UT every season.
After Mizzou, I think it's quite possible that our last win comes against Ole Miss.Last edited by George; 09-24-2017, 11:25 AM.Comment
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Last night was unacceptable. It was intolerable. And, we were all made to look like fools for investing our time (some of us with precious little of it left), our passion, and our support, to end up with that outcome.
Not to lose, though that was the final indignity, but to have this staff appear as junior varsity, unprepared, and flat out scared of that stage as it did.
The players make their mistakes, but they gave some great effort. Bent themselves to the task in every way. I admire their talent, and desire.
BUT, it was clear during the game. Eddie Gran(dma) got scared when he saw he had the better team, and lead the team down a conservative road that lead to defeat. When it mattered most, he decided to limit his team's potential, and played directly to the level that let the other team back in the game. He went away from spreading the ball around. He can't seem to understand that he has one of the, if not the, best tight end in the SEC. A guy who should be used more like Jason Witten is used like a 2nd string blocking back.
I said it during the game, I'll say it again, ALWAYS play to win the game. Not like you're trying to not lose it. Trust me, McElwain did the coaching to lose the game. Going for it on 4th down at this fifty told you he was desperate. But you, the offensive savant, the guru, couldn't see what was right in front of you. You couldn't see that you're team had MORE WEAPONS, had more balance, and had more potential than his.
==You dialed it back, clearly fearing a turnover, more than you desired a touchdown. And you shouldn't be paid for that game. You embarrassed yourself, and you failed to lead when the team needed it. You appeared like a fighter who saw his opponent stunned, and failed to attack and finish when you had the advantage. YOU allowed the opponent to recover, to breathe, and ultimately, when the ball was in HIS hands, when HE had the opportunity, and the only option, to commit to the winning blow, to allow him to set the tone of the close of the contest like Rocky Balboa.
Mark Stoops, If you quit tomorrow, at least the fan base would be relieved of seeing you twisting multiple directions on the sidelines trying to ask everyone but the one guy who should know, "what the hell happened?" And the guy who should know?... Um. That's you. At least you've owned it, so there is that.
Matt House, you had a solid game, shutting Florida out on third down the way you did was impressive. But, here's my two opinions. You gotta get guys to tackle. Can't not make some of the tackles we didn't make. Can't have guys getting four yards after contact. Lastly, too many times in the game, it was clear that your front four wasn't getting off blocks and was creating no pressure at all, and not making plays in the backfield. You should have blitzed a bit more. Again, things worked out. But, to be honest, a good deal of that had more to do with Florida's lack of talent and questionable coaching.
To close.
No more chrome helmets. No more gimmicks. I don't think I have to tell you, but I'll keep it clear, you might as well forget about seeing a sellout at anytime in the near future. You can't not deliver in the biggest game, when you have the best team, in front of sold out crowd. You can't fail like that. People aren't going all in for Krogering with those kinds of letdowns.
As for me, I'll be around a lot less on the boards and in front of the screen. Some will like that, I'm sure. But, I'll make you a deal, coach. You get to 6-1, and I'll resume some interest. In my opinion, that's fair.
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Florida has a good team and their offense took a step up in game 3 just as ours did. We were the better team and, as the announcer commented, Florida stole another one. Mistakes, errors are made when you stretch yourself. I'm going to give some credit to the ability of their running back on the two missed tackles. Speed and athleticism in space. He stopped on a dime, changed directions, and then quickly accelerated. Disappointed? Terribly. This has to be one of the of not the most athletic and fast teams we will face. Now we'll see how resilient the guys are. I hope they are more resilient that some of the fanbase. Steven Johnson has developed tremendously as a QB. He made some great throws and our receivers made contested catches. This season is far from over and we have some difficult games headed our way that we can win. I haven't had a chance to check the Vanderbilt injury report. Now that was really embarrassing. Miss State's bubble got burst. I know we have some key players dinged up. I think we missed the speed and quickness to the ball that Jordon Jones brings. I am going go continue my interest. The players did not embarrass me. They never quit. They didn't stop competing. I want to see that kid Bowden develop as well as Ali and Epps hit their stride.Comment
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I have to agree Matt. My biggest concern THIS MORNING is Mark Stoops is not a rookie head coach. Some of the errors this staff made were rookie mistakes.
I laid a ton and a half of grief on coach Elliot the last two years. From all I read coach Stoops is the man heavily involved with the secondary. The guys that were not only inexplicably missing twice in this game but also didn't cover arguably the best receiver in the conference last week in the first series of the game.
I really do like these coaches, but now my confidence is getting shaken.Comment
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I have seen a lot of commentary in this thread about coaching blunders that blew a game we had no business losing. I cannot find any posts calling for firing the staff and starting over.
Personally I'm more comfortable complaining about mistakes by the well compensated grown men calling the plays than dogging the young men who played their hearts out. In this case I don't blame the officials either.
Mike Gundy once famously suggested we question the coaches rather than throwing kids under the bus.
A message board is a place where we celebrate together and air our grievances together and I think that has been done pretty respectfully here. We should have won. The coaches were more to blame than the players in my opinion. Hopefully the staff will learn from it. However the worst 2 plays of the game were eerily similar to Vandy having a completely uncovered wide-out 2 years ago giving a free TD.
Here's to better luck next time.
Last edited by Catsrock; 09-24-2017, 03:02 PM.Comment
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Goodness gracious. We had two monumental mistakes and a hold that cost us the game. We were clearly the better team. We should beat EMU and Mizzou which gives us five. We have a better chance of beating Ole Miss and Vandy than we did Florida. Tennessee isn't great. Louisville, like last year, is very questionable and fall apart when a team gets pressure. No doubt we lose to Georgia and little chance for a win against Miss St. We have a good defense, especially when healthy. We actually have quality depth. We have a heck of a QB. When we start seeing those dumb mistakes happen in multiple games it's time to worry. We haven't had stuff like that happen before last night. Give the staff a chance to fix it before you give up on the season. We had a top 25 team beat last night and some craziness happened that gave it away. It isn't like we got beat by 30.Comment
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