61 replies to this topic

[Oriole85]

No change of opinion here at all. In fact, today only confirms to me how poorly prepared they were for the Wake and Syracuse games, and also illustrated that injuries cannot be cited as an excuse.

You've made this point throughout the day. Not sure what you want. If they had gotten demolished today, would you have said "I want to see effort" at the very least? Or would have been better since you could use the injury excuse more?

 

They are where they are now, you can't erase the poor games they played. I get your feelings how you wished they had played better earlier, it didn't happen.

[BSLMikeLowe]

You've made this point throughout the day. Not sure what you want. If they had gotten demolished today, would you have said "I want to see effort" at the very least? Or would have been better since you could use the injury excuse more?

 

They are where they are now, you can't erase the poor games they played. I get your feelings how you wished they had played better earlier, it didn't happen.

 

I evaluate each game on it's own merit. Edsall deserves a ton of credit for having them ready to play today, going into a tough environment against a heavily favored team. It also doesn't erase what we saw against Syracuse (I'll say Chris had a fair point about Wake, as many players had to leave during that game) and games like Syracuse just don't lead me to believe that Edsall will ever take the program to what I believe its ceiling is.

[Oriole85]

I evaluate each game on it's own merit. Edsall deserves a ton of credit for having them ready to play today, going into a tough environment against a heavily favored team. It also doesn't erase what we saw against Syracuse (I'll say Chris had a fair point about Wake, as many players had to leave during that game) and games like Syracuse just don't lead me to believe that Edsall will ever take the program to what I believe its ceiling is.

I agree with a lot of what you said here. I just don't see the need to harp on the past games and just enjoy this win for what it's worth. This game doesn't really change my feelings on Edsall either, but I think that's a discussion for another day, although I know you were responding to Weber's comment. I think for this to be as big of a win as some are making it out to be they'll need to finish the season strong. Nonetheless, even against downtrodden VT team, this is a good win.

[BSLMikeLowe]

I agree with a lot of what you said here. I just don't see the need to harp on the past games and just enjoy this win for what it's worth. This game doesn't really change my feelings on Edsall either, but I think that's a discussion for another day, although I know you were responding to Weber's comment. I think for this to be as big of a win as some are making it out to be they'll need to finish the season strong. Nonetheless, even against downtrodden VT team, this is a good win.

 

Fair enough, we can agree on that. And for the record, I'm still quite ecstatic over this game. Like you said, it was kind of a knee-jerk response on my part to what I knew would be the inevitable speculation by some that all of a sudden people would be doing a complete 180 on Edsall. But I will save that for another day and go grab another beer.

[BSLZackKiesel]

I was at a family gathering today, but was able to catch most of the game on the radio and/or TV. What a game. C.J. Brown showed he's finally healthy after being banged up ever since the WVU game. The Terps were able to run the ball on the #3 defense in the country. The receivers weren't spectacular, but made the plays when they needed to. The offensive line played well for having 3 guys play different positions. 

 

And the defense. Virginia Tech's offense is pretty bad, but they pretty much took away Logan Thomas' ability to run, and those sacks? Amazing. Health definitely mattered on defense, as the only guys missing were McDougle and Johnson. Will Likely played huge in this game, both defensively and of course on special teams. And to do this on the road was awesome.

 

The best part is that the season isn't over. This team still has a chance to win 7 or 8 games (which would be 3 or 4 in the ACC).

 

Something else to think about is that, even being the most injured team in CFB two years in a row, Randy Edsall is taking his team to a bowl game in Year 3, which is what you want from a coach at a program like Maryland. Say what you want about Randy, but this is impressive.

[mweb08]

I'm guessing the posts about Edsall will be drastically different this week than last.

 
No change of opinion here at all. In fact, today only confirms to me how poorly prepared they were for the Wake and Syracuse games, and also illustrated that injuries cannot be cited as an excuse.

A team can and will play above and below their talent level in given weeks. You aren't going to have total consistency.

And if the injuries can't be cited as an excuse than there are no excuses that can ever be cited because that's about as valid as an excuse as can be produced IMO.

[glenn__davis]

I've been a huge Edsall supporter, but there was no excuse for the Syracuse game.  Having said that, things happen in sports.  On the pro side, didn't the Rams wallop the Colts a few weeks back? 

 

The Wake game, meh.  Wake's a decent team at home, and I'm convinced CJB was still not right for that game.

 

I'd love to see the team finish strong and win at least 1 of the next 2.  I think squeaking into a bowl at 6-6 still doesn't exactly inspire a ton of confidence.  But if the team could get to 7 or 8 wins, with all of the injury issues, that's a pretty decent season, all things considered.

[bnickle]

Edsall is still a horrible coach. Moreso than that, he's definitely not the one that is or will move the needle for this program. There will be a ton of empty seats wherever MD goes for their bowl game. Even if it is in Annapolis. That'll tell you all you need to know.

 

 

 

All that said, I'm happy for the players that they guaranteed themselves a winning season and will be playing in a bowl game.They deserve that, especially the upperclassmen,who've had to deal with so much shit the last 3-4 years. Edsall was never in danger of being fired after this year. He was always going to coach through '14. That was never going to be a real discussion at the end of the year. What was left of this '13 season was all about the players healthy and still fighting for this program and university. Again, a big congrats to all of them.

[Oriole85]

I've been a huge Edsall supporter, but there was no excuse for the Syracuse game.  Having said that, things happen in sports.  On the pro side, didn't the Rams wallop the Colts a few weeks back? 

 

The Wake game, meh.  Wake's a decent team at home, and I'm convinced CJB was still not right for that game.

 

I'd love to see the team finish strong and win at least 1 of the next 2.  I think squeaking into a bowl at 6-6 still doesn't exactly inspire a ton of confidence.  But if the team could get to 7 or 8 wins, with all of the injury issues, that's a pretty decent season, all things considered.

I'd say in general pro teams are more generally evenly matched, and "Any given Sunday" is more likely than "Any given Saturday." No salary cap and draft after all; however, there is there's only so many scholarships a team can give as well as starting spots. But agree with your anything can happen in sports, isn't that why we love sports so much? It goes without saying this isn't the dominant VT team were are used to seeing. Still, everyone but Zack had this one down as a loss. 

 

The Wake loss was bad, but more understandable than the Syracuse one IMO. Agree with you that if they finish 6-6 before a bowl game, it won't be inspiring. Nonetheless, more than happy to have those extra practice days and everything else that comes with a bowl.

[Oriole85]

Edsall is still a horrible coach. Moreso than that, he's definitely not the one that is or will move the needle for this program. There will be a ton of empty seats wherever MD goes for their bowl game. Even if it is in Annapolis. That'll tell you all you need to know.

 

 

 

All that said, I'm happy for the players that they guaranteed themselves a winning season and will be playing in a bowl game.They deserve that, especially the upperclassmen,who've had to deal with so much shit the last 3-4 years.

We missed you today. Atleast you're consistent I'll give you that -- complain when they lose, complain when they win.

[BSLMikeLowe]

A team can and will play above and below their talent level in given weeks. You aren't going to have total consistency.

 

When the team plays above its talent level more frequently, the coach gets a big extension, more attractive job offers, and accolades like COY. When the team underachieves more often, he gets calls for his firing, and eventually that's what almost always happens. Today notwithstanding, Edsall still has a greater balance in the latter category, IMO.

[bnickle]

We missed you today. Atleast you're consistent I'll give you that -- complain when they lose, complain when they win.

Really, that post was me complaining??

 

 

STFU already. I've never ever put a message board poster on ignore but you're so close to having the honor.

[Oriole85]

Really, that post was me complaining??

 

 

STFU already. I've never ever put a message board poster on ignore but you're so close to having the honor.

Compared to some people, I'm pretty tolerant of you.

[mweb08]

A team can and will play above and below their talent level in given weeks. You aren't going to have total consistency.

 
When the team plays above its talent level more frequently, the coach gets a big extension, more attractive job offers, and accolades like COY. When the team underachieves more often, he gets calls for his firing, and eventually that's what almost always happens. Today notwithstanding, Edsall still has a greater balance in the latter category, IMO.

So 2 games where they've really underachieved and lost right?

[Oriole85]

When the team plays above its talent level more frequently, the coach gets a big extension, more attractive job offers, and accolades like COY. When the team underachieves more often, he gets calls for his firing, and eventually that's what almost always happens. Today notwithstanding, Edsall still has a greater balance in the latter category, IMO.

Absolutely, today might've been the first game that Maryland wasn't supposed to even be competitive in and Edsall won.

[BSLMikeLowe]

So 2 games where they've really underachieved and lost right?

 

That's just this season.

[mweb08]

So 2 games where they've really underachieved and lost right?

 
That's just this season.

Ok, well the balance seems pretty even this year. Last season was even more ridiculous in terms of injuries so I don't know how to measure if they underachieved or not late in the year.

[bnickle]

Compared to some people, I'm pretty tolerant of you.

Im begging you to ignore my posts.

[mweb08]

BTW, I don't really care that much about Edsall one way or another. I just know that I would consider the amount of injuries he's dealt with a valid excuse regardless of my feelings toward him. That doesn't excuse everything by any means, but it's unquestionably something to weigh when judging him IMO.

[Pedro Cerrano]

All I will say is, it's pretty entertaining watching the Edsall bashers after this game. Some pretty wild stuff in this thread.