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FOOTBALL Middle Tennessee(3-4, 0-3) @ UT-El Paso(4-4, 2-2), (ESPN+), 8PM, Saturday, October 29, 2022

For the sake of discussion, what would you all say if we win out and win our bowl game finishing 9-4? On the surface that is a successful season, but to me it is still just beating bad teams and losing to good teams with no conference championship. Just so happens we have more bad teams on our schedule this year. I don’t think we get 9 wins, but it is definitely not impossible. I have mixed feelings.
And then we are guaranteed no changes. It will be more of the same for yet another year. We will have the same staff, same approach and our recruiting will still just be us beating out UT Martin and Tennessee Tech. No progress and another year will slip by.
 
I had a business trip that took me to El Paso for the day this week. I could have stayed for the game but it’s stuck and suck football.
We were staying in the North Dallas ‘burbs this week and there was a really nice pickup truck with an MT plate on the front at our hotel. Curious if that was you?
 
For the sake of discussion, what would you all say if we win out and win our bowl game finishing 9-4? On the surface that is a successful season, but to me it is still just beating bad teams and losing to good teams with no conference championship. Just so happens we have more bad teams on our schedule this year. I don’t think we get 9 wins, but it is definitely not impossible. I have mixed feelings.
He ain’t winning 9. Somebody, La Tech, FIU, FAU and maybe even Charlotte with an interim HC will beat Stock then he may finish with 6 or 7 wins (if he draws a cadaver bowl opponent.) 😂
But it’s all good if the “Official Party” and our BOT get another free bowl trip to Hawaii or the Bahamas.
Meanwhile, Memphis has the two major publications’ columnists/beat writers in competing papers ganging up on a (4-4) 3rd year HC trying to stir the pot for more readers and push him out with a Dion Sanders agenda.

The DNJ and the Nashville media hardly waste ink or website space on the Blue Raiders which is apparently how they (the admins) like it.
 
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For the sake of discussion, what would you all say if we win out and win our bowl game finishing 9-4? On the surface that is a successful season, but to me it is still just beating bad teams and losing to good teams with no conference championship. Just so happens we have more bad teams on our schedule this year. I don’t think we get 9 wins, but it is definitely not impossible. I have mixed feelings.
If the Raiders finished 9-4, I'd be happy. It would indicate to me that the team is improving.
 
For the sake of discussion, what would you all say if we win out and win our bowl game finishing 9-4? On the surface that is a successful season, but to me it is still just beating bad teams and losing to good teams with no conference championship. Just so happens we have more bad teams on our schedule this year. I don’t think we get 9 wins, but it is definitely not impossible. I have mixed feelings.
It would be successful in my book. I've said before this season and Miami will only mean squat if we win a bowl game. We've never won two in a row. Regardless of Miami's final record and if they should've been at the time, they were ranked when we beat them.

It of course is a double edged sword as nothing will change if we do that. If we finish with a losing record at least maybe some staff changes will be made.

As FranklinRaider315 said, it is sad we are here and it is acceptable. Just like he is with Memphis, I am with WVU. Brown is 20-23 (12-19 B12), never been ranked, is only in year four and most likely won't be here next year due to fan revolt. They have fans that care and $ from those fans to fix it, and media that makes sure people know it. Yes P5 vs G5, state school vs regional, but still.

We have none of that and here we are and sadly, unless we have several losing seasons in a row, it won't change (and depending on higher ups in place it may not even then).
 
He ain’t winning 9. Somebody, La Tech, FIU, FAU and maybe even Charlotte with an interim HC will beat Stock then he may finish with 6 or 7 wins (if he draws a cadaver bowl opponent.) 😂
But it’s all good if the “Official Party” and our BOT get another free bowl trip to Hawaii or the Bahamas.
Meanwhile, Memphis has the two major publications’ columnists/beat writers in competing papers ganging up on a (4-4) 3rd year HC trying to stir the pot for more readers and push him out with a Dion Sanders agenda.

The DNJ and the Nashville media hardly waste ink or website space on the Blue Raiders which is apparently how they (the admins) like it.
To be fair, Memphis State is the only show in town in Memphis (until Grizzles basketball starts).

Nashville, however, is a different story. Ink must be spilled on Vanderbilt & their prestigious football program. And the Titans. Once the NHL starts, they have to find space for the Preds too.

Both Memphis & MT have to deal with living in the shadow of the SEC (TN, Ole Miss, Miss State, and Bama) all have strong fan bases in the Memphis or Nashville market, but I'm not sold it's an apples to apples comparison.

Is there a comparison to be made between Memphis & Nashville / Memphis State & MTSU? Yeah, probably. But I think it's probably a lot more nuanced than we'd all like to admit.
 
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For the sake of discussion, what would you all say if we win out and win our bowl game finishing 9-4? On the surface that is a successful season, but to me it is still just beating bad teams and losing to good teams with no conference championship. Just so happens we have more bad teams on our schedule this year. I don’t think we get 9 wins, but it is definitely not impossible. I have mixed feelings.
I'll bite :

MT will sell a 9-4 season with bowl win as a rebound after losing 3 straight mid-season. And I get why they would.

But a 9-4 season with a bowl win likely covers the real issues just enough that necessary changes aren't made. And I'm not talking about Stock. Stock is here to stay until he decides to hang up the whistle. But, Stock does have the ability to make changes on his staff for the good of the team, program, and players. And some of these changes needed to be made years ago.
 
If we win out, I count the season as a success and something to build off of. I think we trip up against FAU, but we SHOULD beat every remaining team handily.

We all knew the UTSA, UAB, WKU stretch would be rough, but honestly being 4-4 after the first half of the year isnt terrible.
 
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Show me 9-4, Blue Raiders in 2022! But until we actually do it, it’s just another participation bowl season (assuming we get the requisite 6-wins). Even at nine wins, MT still won’t have a conference championship or championship game appearance. Three losses in conference will always ruin any superlatives about a season.
 
We still got to get to 6 to even go to a bowl and it's getting harder to see. FIU, UNCC and FAU have improved. LaTech can score quickly. We can lose to all of them. It's about what the team wants. We could lose them all and Stock ain't going anywhere.

If we won out, you couldn't say it was a bad season. However, our O line and secondary would have to really improve for that to happen. Like I said, it's tough to see.
 
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A successful season to me would be a staff stepping down. Otherwise, same ole same ole.

We aren’t going to run through the rest of the schedule unscathed but we are likely to hit .500 once again. That record includes another FCS patsy so take that FWIW.

Also, none of the teams we have beaten have winning records this year so far. We are the catfish of CUSA.
 
I'll bite :

MT will sell a 9-4 season with bowl win as a rebound after losing 3 straight mid-season. And I get why they would.

But a 9-4 season with a bowl win likely covers the real issues just enough that necessary changes aren't made. And I'm not talking about Stock. Stock is here to stay until he decides to hang up the whistle. But, Stock does have the ability to make changes on his staff for the good of the team, program, and players. And some of these changes needed to be made years ago.
What I have a problem with if changes on the staff need to be made, Massaro can make them by not renewing their contracts and divorce changes if he had the balls. Not worried about stock, it's certain position and admin that need to be moved and the AD can do it.
 
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I'll bite :

MT will sell a 9-4 season with bowl win as a rebound after losing 3 straight mid-season. And I get why they would.

But a 9-4 season with a bowl win likely covers the real issues just enough that necessary changes aren't made. And I'm not talking about Stock. Stock is here to stay until he decides to hang up the whistle. But, Stock does have the ability to make changes on his staff for the good of the team, program, and players. And some of these changes needed to be made years ago.
In 16 previous seasons he’s won more than 8 games 1 time and four seasons with 8.

What’s different now????
 
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In 16 previous seasons he’s won more than 8 games 1 time and four seasons with 8.

What’s different now????
I am not saying I think we will win 9 games. I was just saying that on the surface it would look successful, but it would still be mostly beating bad teams and losing to the good teams with no conference championship. There are no games left I don’t think we could win, but I also think we could lose any of them. Winning out is improbable, but it isn’t impossible.
 
IF, and that's a big IF, we finish 9-4, we do it the CRS way by beating other bottom feeders. Just another same ole same ole season.
 
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And that's one of my biggest gripes re: Stock.

He doesn't seem to be willing to make the necessary staff changes to improve the staff.
Example: Offensive Line

Stock has had 3 rushers of 1k yds in 16yrs. And two were QBs
09 Dasher
16 Mathers
19 O'Hara

Sacks allowed
22 ranked 86 with 19
21 allowed 27
20 allowed 23
19 allowed 22 (1k yd rusher)
18 allowed 42
17 allowed 25
16 allowed 14 (1k yd rusher)
09 allowed (NCAA site doesn't go back)

I wish I could find stats for hurries etc as I'm sure those are high, especially for Brent. We all know he ran for his life constantly.
 
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Some of the replies got me thinking just how shitty this staff really is.

We've been around the block with Stock, but hey, maybe he just likes Murfreesboro, and he's clearly compensated well, and he's got one of only 131 jobs like it on the planet. Why leave? Whatever.

But the fact that so many of his staff has been here for so long is ridiculous. This is not a destination job, and it's certainly not a destination job for assistant coaches. They should be trying to climb the career ladder. Bigger/better programs should be poaching these guys yearly.

Tommy West - 8 years - DL
Brent Brock - 16 years - Director of Football Operations
Mike Polly - 9 years - OL
Rick Mallory - 9 years - TE's

It's no secret that the OL and DL have been mostly straight trash for most of Stock's tenure - I honestly can't recall an MT OL or DL draftee off the top. And hell if I know what the hell Mallory does as a TE coach considering we have 1 TE on the roster and I haven't seen an MT tight end catch a pass in a decade or more.

You'd think a coach that enjoys such job security as Stock would use that as a basis for being more demanding as a head coach. Instead, he lets these hacks literally fail to perform for almost a decade each.
 
Some of the replies got me thinking just how shitty this staff really is.

We've been around the block with Stock, but hey, maybe he just likes Murfreesboro, and he's clearly compensated well, and he's got one of only 131 jobs like it on the planet. Why leave? Whatever.

But the fact that so many of his staff has been here for so long is ridiculous. This is not a destination job, and it's certainly not a destination job for assistant coaches. They should be trying to climb the career ladder. Bigger/better programs should be poaching these guys yearly.

Tommy West - 8 years - DL
Brent Brock - 16 years - Director of Football Operations
Mike Polly - 9 years - OL
Rick Mallory - 9 years - TE's

It's no secret that the OL and DL have been mostly straight trash for most of Stock's tenure - I honestly can't recall an MT OL or DL draftee off the top. And hell if I know what the hell Mallory does as a TE coach considering we have 1 TE on the roster and I haven't seen an MT tight end catch a pass in a decade or more.

You'd think a coach that enjoys such job security as Stock would use that as a basis for being more demanding as a head coach. Instead, he lets these hacks literally fail to perform for almost a decade each.
Exactly. I mean some on staff make sense. Shafer is in his 6th season. I view him as having climbed the ladder, got a head job, got canned and decided it wasn't for him and is content being a coordinator. No problem there.

You would think the same with West, but....for the most part, Shafer has performed. And that to me is the difference. West has had a few flashes, but for the most part is obviously biding his time.

Polly and Mallory just 10000% need to go. Polly has been OL, ST, RB and "running game coordinator"....yeah. what run game. None have performed well. Same for Mallory.
 
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Example: Offensive Line

Stock has had 3 rushers of 1k yds in 16yrs. And two were QBs
09 Dasher
16 Mathers
19 O'Hara

Sacks allowed
22 ranked 86 with 19
21 allowed 27
20 allowed 23
19 allowed 22 (1k yd rusher)
18 allowed 42
17 allowed 25
16 allowed 14 (1k yd rusher)
09 allowed (NCAA site doesn't go back)

I wish I could find stats for hurries etc as I'm sure those are high, especially for Brent. We all know he ran for his life constantly.
And 2 of the 3 1000 yard rushers were with TF running the offense...

I love throwing the ball around the field, but you have to be able to run the ball consistently & effectively to be successful long-term. And MT can't run the ball consistently or effectively (nor is the OL especially good as pass blocking)

Even against UTEP, the OL looked pedestrian.
 
Even Memphis Basketball under Penny is taking an attendance hit with only 6,000-8,000 max. CBU and Lane College games last week were abysmal, even with Andre Turner as HC at Lane. Season tickets are way down. There are major concerns for Homecoming crowd this Saturday even hitting 25,000 with UTK and Georgia kicking off at the same time. 25,000 in the Liberty Bowl Stadium looks on TV like our 3,000 in Floyd.

Our MT staff is absolutely eaten up with good old boys and nepotism with extremely low turnover into career advancement by the assistants. I addressed this several days ago in another thread. That falls directly on the HC.
 
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And 2 of the 3 1000 yard rushers were with TF running the offense...

I love throwing the ball around the field, but you have to be able to run the ball consistently & effectively to be successful long-term. And MT can't run the ball consistently or effectively (nor is the OL especially good as pass blocking)

Even against UTEP, the OL looked pedestrian.
Who's the OL coach? Polly and Mallory. Until they are gone, we will never have a good line.
 
Who's the OL coach? Polly and Mallory. Until they are gone, we will never have a good line.
I've advocated for replacing Mallory for several years. OL hasn't been the same under his leadership.

I don't think Polly goes anywhere. He's too valuable on the recruiting trail. Move him back to TE coach and bring in a new OL coach
 
He ain’t winning 9. Somebody, La Tech, FIU, FAU and maybe even Charlotte with an interim HC will beat Stock then he may finish with 6 or 7 wins (if he draws a cadaver bowl opponent.) 😂
But it’s all good if the “Official Party” and our BOT get another free bowl trip to Hawaii or the Bahamas.
Meanwhile, Memphis has the two major publications’ columnists/beat writers in competing papers ganging up on a (4-4) 3rd year HC trying to stir the pot for more readers and push him out with a Dion Sanders agenda.

The DNJ and the Nashville media hardly waste ink or website space on the Blue Raiders which is apparently how they (the admins) like it.
No media attention means no scrutiny or accountability. Stay under the radar.
 
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