FOOTBALL Middle Tennessee vs FIU, 11AM, Saturday, October 17
- Thread starter SpaceRaider
- Start date
Whew! Got the win but it should not have been this close. FIU is a good team but seriously, we did just about all we could to hand them the game. The D finally stepped up on that last drive. Maybe we can build on this and get a miracle win next week.
Happy with the win. Hope they can keep the momentum going. Backups did great I thought. Just takes a spark.
1) I'm thoroughly impressed with FIU's stud cornerback
2) it's unreal how we just can plug in running backs and not miss a beat
3) Richie James is a stud
4) our defense was very physical today
Now to the negatives
5) Why the heck wasn't Cutrer in the game? It was an obvious drop off with Howard in
6) Buster needs to open up the passing game, a few screens a game is a cool but it is overkill how much he uses them
7) we have to clean up the penalties La Tech and Marshall will take advantage
8) I think stock made a comment about the crowd in the post game interview(I could be wrong) dude don't mention the crowd when you hover around .500 as a coach after 10 years
2) it's unreal how we just can plug in running backs and not miss a beat
3) Richie James is a stud
4) our defense was very physical today
Now to the negatives
5) Why the heck wasn't Cutrer in the game? It was an obvious drop off with Howard in
6) Buster needs to open up the passing game, a few screens a game is a cool but it is overkill how much he uses them
7) we have to clean up the penalties La Tech and Marshall will take advantage
8) I think stock made a comment about the crowd in the post game interview(I could be wrong) dude don't mention the crowd when you hover around .500 as a coach after 10 years
I couldn't tell in person. Hopefully they retire that look.
Stock need to be busy teaching his offense how to finish drives and protect the ball before he starts talking about us. Also, he might want to add class about not blowing big leads in a game when we should have won by 23.
Kamani and Des had good games but Kamani's fumble dang near cost us this game. I can't overstate how important that sack with the intentional grounding call was. It basically won us the game.
Kamani and Des had good games but Kamani's fumble dang near cost us this game. I can't overstate how important that sack with the intentional grounding call was. It basically won us the game.
Anybody associated with the athletic dept, football program, etc. who wants to complain about the attendance, needs to go look in the freaking mirror. You do not get embarrassed by fifty something first half points to your arch rival the week after folding like a cheap lawn chair in the fourth quarter to another local rival the week before, and expect more than friends and family and few dedicated morons (count me one of those) who have nothing to better to do with their time and money to show up the following week or the rest of the season.
There is no marketing that can fix it. I notice someone hashtagged a photo of Floyd with #wewantchange but quickly deleted it. Well yep. The only thing that fix this, without the staff changes that apparently are not going to happen, is wins. First win out, or after another conference road kill performance next week, win out. You might be able sell the folks that bought tickets this year that things are going to be better in 2016, but do not look for it to improve beyond what it was early in the season. Don't look for improvement in attendance until you have demonstrated we have a championship level squad.
I do not know if the plan was to confuse FIU with an 'aluminum out' and uniforms to match, but it all came together today.
There is no marketing that can fix it. I notice someone hashtagged a photo of Floyd with #wewantchange but quickly deleted it. Well yep. The only thing that fix this, without the staff changes that apparently are not going to happen, is wins. First win out, or after another conference road kill performance next week, win out. You might be able sell the folks that bought tickets this year that things are going to be better in 2016, but do not look for it to improve beyond what it was early in the season. Don't look for improvement in attendance until you have demonstrated we have a championship level squad.
I do not know if the plan was to confuse FIU with an 'aluminum out' and uniforms to match, but it all came together today.
In support of our Memphis brethren taking down the SEC today.
Congrats to my Blue Raiders as well. I was getting texts with updates from Murfreesboro from a buddy and customer of mine.
Rick Insell the only person in our athletic department who has earned the right to say anything about attendance his team's consistently win, compete for conference championships, goes to the post season and at least flirts with top 25 rankings. Anybody else mentioning attendance should be fired immediately.
I'm surprised the gray wasn't a hit here.
I thought they were awesome looking.
It did kind of blend in with the FIU whites on the TV though
I thought they were awesome looking.
It did kind of blend in with the FIU whites on the TV though
Saw the official box score listed 13,227. It looked well short of that--maybe 9,200 in person..at the most? Whatever. We do have a problem and its called winning games we are supposed to win. Blue Raiders have had way too many disappointments over the years to sustain high attendance. Conference championships would go a long way towards curing weak support. Another 7-5 or 6-6 (assuming we get there in 2015) is not going to help the attendance department.
There we no more than 5K butts in the seats. I was there, right in 2HH at the 45 yd line, my section was maybe 20% full.
We are under .500 since moving to 1A, FBS or whatever it's called. Our men's basketball team has been to 1 ncaa tournament in the last 20 or so years. Yes we "compete" but you can't possibly expect people to fill up the stands with those results.
I don't expect it out of our fans but there are plenty of other programs with much less success that out draw us by thousands. We can complain about mediocrity on the field but I would be ecstatic if our fan support could reach the level mediocre.
I understand what your saying but we just don't have enough fans, folks that give a damn. Really, we haven't done anything on the field to really grow the fan base. We need to win early in the season in games that matter, its that simple.
Regardless, my butt will be back for the last two home games no matter what.
Honestly, this is the first time in 13 years of being an MT fan that I'm having a hard time getting enthused.
I can't even put my finger on it. We're not bad. But this is the first time that I really don't feel like we have any hope of ever being more than "not bad".
I just can't shake the failure to even show up against WKU.
I can't even put my finger on it. We're not bad. But this is the first time that I really don't feel like we have any hope of ever being more than "not bad".
I just can't shake the failure to even show up against WKU.
Today, we were just good enough to win. Nothing more or less. "Not Bad" is probably the best description of the Blue Raiders year in and year out under our current coaching regime. There are hints of promise here and there, but it never seems to be sustainable enough to clearly say to Jack and Dianne fan that we are a championship caliber team or that we seriously make a run at a 9-3 or better season. We need a 9 or 10 win season desperately to energize the fan base and there needs to be one or two quality wins against nationally recognized competition in that mix. We seem to do pretty well against FBS newbies, or programs with less tenure than we (at 1-A or FBS, as we call it now). However, we have been playing football for over a century at MT, but our culture really doesn't project it...unless a fan happens to venture over to the Blue Raider HOF next door. At times, our marketing and promotion effort has been anemic. Since our centennial, we have done better at marketing and promotion, and I guess the media has as well since going to C-USA.
It's truly an enigma. It's even present to a lesser extent in men's basketball too.
Whether actual attendance was 5,000 or 9,200 or 13,227 is indicative of a systemic problem with community engagement with the support of Blue Raider athletics when the stadium seats 30,788. Fans are paying customers and they are apparently expect more than what is being delivered. Our facilities are OK. Our play is OK (that is on many Saturdays). Ticket prices are OK given its FBS football. But again, if we can't win the hearts of 37130 on a pretty Saturday Afternoon with no UT Football and Vanderbilt on the road, then where else can we win?
Other corollary questions are: "Are we improving enough?" "If not, how do we overcome our barriers over the next 2-5 years?" It will be interesting responses should we finish 6-6 or even worse.
It's truly an enigma. It's even present to a lesser extent in men's basketball too.
Whether actual attendance was 5,000 or 9,200 or 13,227 is indicative of a systemic problem with community engagement with the support of Blue Raider athletics when the stadium seats 30,788. Fans are paying customers and they are apparently expect more than what is being delivered. Our facilities are OK. Our play is OK (that is on many Saturdays). Ticket prices are OK given its FBS football. But again, if we can't win the hearts of 37130 on a pretty Saturday Afternoon with no UT Football and Vanderbilt on the road, then where else can we win?
Other corollary questions are: "Are we improving enough?" "If not, how do we overcome our barriers over the next 2-5 years?" It will be interesting responses should we finish 6-6 or even worse.
Are you the red headed guy with a metal singer voice? I'm not joking if that is you. You need to start a rock band.
I wish,
! No I am 51 year old bald guy with good friends...speaking of hair, did you see the FIU kickers hair when he took his helmet off?
What? Other than a few good wins, this program has done nothing but lay egg after egg at home in Floyd stadium since Stockstill arrived. We beat Maryland at home once (they were actually a really bad team, but whatever, I'll consider it a good win), a good Marshall team, a good WKU team, and a good ECU team. That's 4 good home wins in 10 seasons. Pathetic.
Would you like me to start listing all the missed opportunities and bad losses over that same period? (I didn't think so.....) One excruciating, crowd killing loss after another.....I could probably name close to 20.
On second thought, let's go back and look at all the eggs laid in Floyd that demoralized the fan base.....
2006 - Troy finale, managed to find a way to lose after leading all game, resulting in a "co-conference" championship instead of outright. Little does Stock know, he would never sniff another outright title after folding like a cheap tent in the 4th quarter.
2007 - Home opener against WKU, big fat loss and I'm not even sure they were fully 1-A yet. Two weeks later, we get beat by a piss poor Virginia team on a last second field goal. That same season, ULL comes into Floyd as a huge underdog and pounds the Raiders 34-24. 3 bad losses at home all in one season.....
2008 - Season opener against Troy in Floyd Stadium, pounded 31-17 and the game wasn't even that close.
2009 - Hosting Miss St. - While I wasn't expecting a win, we get our pants pulled down and paddled. A truly demoralizing 27-6 loss where we couldn't hit the ground with a rock. I still vividly remember leaving this game and I'm not sure I've ever left a game so angry. Piss poor showing by our program in front of a huge crowd yet again. A competitive performance here would have been acceptable, but someone forgot to tell our team that.
2010 - Hosting Minnesota, same story. Only lost 24-17 but the game wasn't anywhere near as close as the score indicates. We were dominated in every phase of the game by a terrible Minnesota team who finished the year with only 2 other wins. Few weeks later we were once again slaughtered at home by Troy 42-13. Talk about demoralizing. It was an absolutely dominating performance by the Trojans and once again MT not even being competitive at home in a big game. Large crowds at both of those games too. Fast forward a few weeks later, and North Texas rolled into Floyd and beat us as well.
2011 - Despite multiple demoralizing losses in front of huge crowds the previous season, we brought a record-setting number of folks to the season opener against Georgia Tech. Of course the game was a blood-letting and not competitive in any way. 49-21 was the final. Ga. Tech rolled us and they probably could have scored 100 if they wanted to. We literally had no chance against their huge tall receiver, Stephen Hill. It seriously didn't even look fair out there I remember our defender, about half his size, just straight tripping himself and hitting the ground without even laying a hand on Stephen Hill as he ran for a TD. They coulda hit that all day long.... Few weeks later we get beat in double OT by WKU in front of yet another big crowd......If that wasn't good enough, the Cajuns came in two weeks after that and steam rolled us 45-20, but I think we had killed off most of the crowd by that point. The season ended with two romps in Floyd at the hands of Arkansas State (45-19) and FIU (31-18). We won 1 game that year in Floyd stadium, against a hapless Memphis squad by a mere 7 points. (Memphis won 2 games that year)
2012 - Just when you think it can't get any worse than 2011, we open the 2012 season with a loss to an FCS school (LOL)...McNeese State baby! (But don't worry, they're a good FCS squad so you should feel good about the loss!)......Beaten by UL-Monroe 31-17 at home that year as well but they did have a good team that year.
2013 - This was a good year for games in Floyd but we still did lose to ECU 24-17, however; they had a strong team. Still, this was a game where the stands were packed and we didn't take advantage of a big opportunity (Do you see a reoccuring theme yet????)
2014 - Blue Raiders were hosting BYU in a contest that was expected to be tight. BYU was a slight favorite but playing with their 3rd string QB and the Blue Raiders entered the game with a 5-3 overall record and primed to take advantage of a big opportunity. Yeah? How about no. Absolutely dominated/crushed/destroyed/embarassed in every phase of the game. Final score: BYU 27 MTSU 7.....
2015 - Despite leading Vanderbilt for the whole game and holding them to 3 points through 3 and 1/2 quarters, the Blue Raiders caved in a fashion they only know how to and gave up 2 late TD's to an offensively challenged Vanderbilt squad allowing them to beat the Blue Raiders at home in front of yet another big crowd hoping to see an opportunity taken advantage of. To date, Vanderbilt's win over MT is their only FBS win this season and will likely remain so as they're destined to finish 2-10 with wins over Austin Peay and MTSU.
Anyone else see a reoccuring theme here? Look, I wasn't expecting us to win every game I mentioned here, but at least being competitive in front of a big crowd when playing a good team like BYU/Ga.Tech/Miss St. can energize the fan base.
Going back through each season like this really made me realize how many bad home performances we've laid. I mean holy shit, I'm surprised people even still come to the games.
2006 - Troy finale, managed to find a way to lose after leading all game, resulting in a "co-conference" championship instead of outright. Little does Stock know, he would never sniff another outright title after folding like a cheap tent in the 4th quarter.
2007 - Home opener against WKU, big fat loss and I'm not even sure they were fully 1-A yet. Two weeks later, we get beat by a piss poor Virginia team on a last second field goal. That same season, ULL comes into Floyd as a huge underdog and pounds the Raiders 34-24. 3 bad losses at home all in one season.....
2008 - Season opener against Troy in Floyd Stadium, pounded 31-17 and the game wasn't even that close.
2009 - Hosting Miss St. - While I wasn't expecting a win, we get our pants pulled down and paddled. A truly demoralizing 27-6 loss where we couldn't hit the ground with a rock. I still vividly remember leaving this game and I'm not sure I've ever left a game so angry. Piss poor showing by our program in front of a huge crowd yet again. A competitive performance here would have been acceptable, but someone forgot to tell our team that.
2010 - Hosting Minnesota, same story. Only lost 24-17 but the game wasn't anywhere near as close as the score indicates. We were dominated in every phase of the game by a terrible Minnesota team who finished the year with only 2 other wins. Few weeks later we were once again slaughtered at home by Troy 42-13. Talk about demoralizing. It was an absolutely dominating performance by the Trojans and once again MT not even being competitive at home in a big game. Large crowds at both of those games too. Fast forward a few weeks later, and North Texas rolled into Floyd and beat us as well.
2011 - Despite multiple demoralizing losses in front of huge crowds the previous season, we brought a record-setting number of folks to the season opener against Georgia Tech. Of course the game was a blood-letting and not competitive in any way. 49-21 was the final. Ga. Tech rolled us and they probably could have scored 100 if they wanted to. We literally had no chance against their huge tall receiver, Stephen Hill. It seriously didn't even look fair out there I remember our defender, about half his size, just straight tripping himself and hitting the ground without even laying a hand on Stephen Hill as he ran for a TD. They coulda hit that all day long.... Few weeks later we get beat in double OT by WKU in front of yet another big crowd......If that wasn't good enough, the Cajuns came in two weeks after that and steam rolled us 45-20, but I think we had killed off most of the crowd by that point. The season ended with two romps in Floyd at the hands of Arkansas State (45-19) and FIU (31-18). We won 1 game that year in Floyd stadium, against a hapless Memphis squad by a mere 7 points. (Memphis won 2 games that year)
2012 - Just when you think it can't get any worse than 2011, we open the 2012 season with a loss to an FCS school (LOL)...McNeese State baby! (But don't worry, they're a good FCS squad so you should feel good about the loss!)......Beaten by UL-Monroe 31-17 at home that year as well but they did have a good team that year.
2013 - This was a good year for games in Floyd but we still did lose to ECU 24-17, however; they had a strong team. Still, this was a game where the stands were packed and we didn't take advantage of a big opportunity (Do you see a reoccuring theme yet????)
2014 - Blue Raiders were hosting BYU in a contest that was expected to be tight. BYU was a slight favorite but playing with their 3rd string QB and the Blue Raiders entered the game with a 5-3 overall record and primed to take advantage of a big opportunity. Yeah? How about no. Absolutely dominated/crushed/destroyed/embarassed in every phase of the game. Final score: BYU 27 MTSU 7.....
2015 - Despite leading Vanderbilt for the whole game and holding them to 3 points through 3 and 1/2 quarters, the Blue Raiders caved in a fashion they only know how to and gave up 2 late TD's to an offensively challenged Vanderbilt squad allowing them to beat the Blue Raiders at home in front of yet another big crowd hoping to see an opportunity taken advantage of. To date, Vanderbilt's win over MT is their only FBS win this season and will likely remain so as they're destined to finish 2-10 with wins over Austin Peay and MTSU.
Anyone else see a reoccuring theme here? Look, I wasn't expecting us to win every game I mentioned here, but at least being competitive in front of a big crowd when playing a good team like BYU/Ga.Tech/Miss St. can energize the fan base.
Going back through each season like this really made me realize how many bad home performances we've laid. I mean holy shit, I'm surprised people even still come to the games.
We've had some bad losses at home, sure. You do realize we won yesterday, right? I know you wanted us to lose, but we didn't. We can't replay the games we lost. Everyone here knows about them. Why continue and continue and continue to keep saying the same crap, especially after a win? Save it for the next loss.
And we absolutely have the worst fans I've ever seen.
And we absolutely have the worst fans I've ever seen.
Fill? Maybe not. Half way decent crowd with perfect weather? Absolutely. Let me rephrase that. I don't expect it because I have been around long enough to have very low expectations of our fans but we absolutely should. Local high schools that win 2-3 games a year draw a much higher percentage of their alums and students. It's not like we have been habitual losers. Our last three years are 8-4, 8-4 and 6-6. That's not sub .500. Basketball is even better but attendance is even worse. Do I think we are gonna be the hottest ticket in town with those results? No. Do I think we should be next to last in CUSA in season ticket sales with those results? Hell no but we are. We have pathetic fans. That's my issue. There is no sugar coating it. No matter how you feel about our on the field/court results our results in the stands are worse.
I think part of the issue here is definitions. In all reality, MT has a very small fan base. This area however, has a lot of sports consumers. And MT often produces an inferior product when those consumers come to the games. Which leads to them not purchasing the product again.
If merely pointing out team/coach deficiencies, observing systemic symptoms, and expressing fan disappointment makes one a "pathetic fan", then so be it. It doesn't change the truth of what is happening am making no apologies for that. That said, we have to turn the page and salvage what we can out of 2015. However, the big picture is out of focus: are we content on being a middle-of-the-road team or do we want to win championships consistently? Do we want to be a program like Georgia State, La Monroe, or East Carolina? Someone needs to be taking steps on what needs to be done on a 2-5 year mission and vision. Think we lack vision and HC is content on maintaining status quo and getting 7-5, maybe an occasional 8-4 season. He's performing in a sweet spot that is relatively easy to maintain...as long as nothing too earth shattering happens with player behavior, academic eligibility, or a rash of injuries. Formula is to recruit a mix of two and three star HS players sprinkled with an occasional transfer. The problem is we have lost too many high profile and or games we have been favored with decent crowds only to leave disappointed. Remember fans are customers and their game day experience is important. A woodshed beating from your oldest rival (first met in 1914) leaves a bitter taste that will last a year. Casual fans will gravitate towards other activities and that's what we had yesterday. Culture is important to build legacies and rich histories. Ask Notre Dame and Southern California about their pagentry. Tennessee and Alabama. Michigan and Ohio State. Harvard and Yale. And for the older MIddle Tennessee fan, Tennessee Tech (TPI) and MT on Thanksgiving. WKU is the closest arch rival we have and we obviously did not place or show. Coupled with the 2-4 record, now 3-4, it's obvious that fans are displeased. Multiply over several, It's a cumulative effect of weariness.
Opinions and disapointment don't make our fans pathetic. The lack of support does. It's not a new problem. Last weeks game is just our latest excuse but the problem existed before. The problem existed after a 10 win season. It existed after back to back 8 and 4. It existed after back to back conference champs and post season bids in hoops. I don't care if we have another two win season and shut down the marketing department entirely selling fewer season tickets than F_U is pathetic, period.
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I wish,
No I am 51 year old bald guy with good friends...speaking of hair, did you see the FIU kickers hair when he took his helmet off?
Did not notice that one.
