Pueblo loss: Reality Check

[Miguel]

In my previous post, I told you all this humiliation would happen. As I also fortold, you treated my prediction with distain and pretended like UNC actually could beat a disciplined and well coached team like Pueblo. The fact is that this football team will continue to barely beat NAIA teams and lose to DII schools as long as UNC stays at DI. We cannot compete at FCS and are doing a serious disservice to our athletes by pretending we can. The athletic department is funded like a DII team, we have a university president who has no idea what she is doing, and worse of all, none of this is going to change, no matter who is the head coach. We need to face the grim reality that DII is the level at which UNC should be competing. Yes, volleyball is good but that is about it. And except for one season of glorious basketball, the move to DI has been a disaster. At DII, UNC was a powerhouse, a team respected across the nation. Now we are a punch line... I guess we should be glad we eked out a win to Langston... At least we know the Bears will not go winless this year.

 

[Beardown]

In my previous post, I told you all this humiliation would happen. As I also fortold, you treated my prediction with distain and pretended like UNC actually could beat a disciplined and well coached team like Pueblo. The fact is that this football team will continue to barely beat NAIA teams and lose to DII schools as long as UNC stays at DI. We cannot compete at FCS and are doing a serious disservice to our athletes by pretending we can. The athletic department is funded like a DII team, we have a university president who has no idea what she is doing, and worse of all, none of this is going to change, no matter who is the head coach. We need to face the grim reality that DII is the level at which UNC should be competing. Yes, volleyball is good but that is about it. And except for one season of glorious basketball, the move to DI has been a disaster. At DII, UNC was a powerhouse, a team respected across the nation. Now we are a punch line... I guess we should be glad we eked out a win to Langston... At least we know the Bears will not go winless this year.

I'm beginning to agree with Miguel. UNC is operating as a D2 program. If that's the case, we need to move back down, some how.

 

[KlondikeBear]

I will disagree with you respectfully sir. CSU-P was outmanned and out gunned, we were just out coached and out classed. The level of unmatched skill was clearly apparent as it seemed as though the Bears would take control with ease at one point during the first half. #5 didn't play and #56 was barely a factor for the Bears Defense. The offense seemed more interested in subbing their playmakers out of the game than they did in using them. What's the deal with lining up tight ends and moving them across the formation? Why is that a big deal? Throw Davis the ball and win the game. Fairly simple when playing a team like CSU-P one might think. Anyway, should be an interesting season. Thanks for the drinks qb club.

 

[Bearsfan24]

Unfortunately I'll have to agree with klondikebear on this one. UNC had better talent, but like the Lindenwood game they were out coached and out played, pretty much out everything. They were primed to run away with it, at 16-0, but that's when the mistakes started to happen. This team has bigger issues. QB gives up TWO pick 6s, secondary getting burned and shredded, and giving up the TD right before half was sickening. I just don't understand how you let a team come in, and which their program was brought back just a few ago, and beat you. Honestly don't give a shit how good they are. I don't think I'll be attending anymore UNC home games, until I SEE some significant improvement, not just talk.

 

[Karhu]

I understand the frustration of the UNC faithful, I am one myself, but moving to Div. II should not be an option. Everyone wants to point to the funding issues, but the numbers just don't support that position. Yes Montana has a budget nearly double that of UNC, but Eastern Washington has a budget similar to UNC. Here is the link for those who are interested:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ... /finances/

If other schools with similar budgets can compete, then so can the Bears. Yes we are going to lose coaches to bigger and better things when their success warrants those moves. That in itself will attract better talent when the time for hiring arises, Creating and nurturing a culture for success in the athletic programs starts at the top of the athletic department if not the University and so on down the line to the head coaches that run those programs. Give the coaches a chance to prove they belong, but adhere to the spirit of the culture that is being created when hiring. If they don't belong and don't show progress make a change. Time and consistency will solve the woes of those struggling programs.

Unfortunatley, the time for the football program is now.

 

[303Bear]

Unfortunately I'll have to agree with klondikebear on this one. UNC had better talent, but like the Lindenwood game they were out coached and out played, pretty much out everything. They were primed to run away with it, at 16-0, but that's when the mistakes started to happen. This team has bigger issues. QB gives up TWO pick 6s, secondary getting burned and shredded, and giving up the TD right before half was sickening. I just don't understand how you let a team come in, and which their program was brought back just a few ago, and beat you. Honestly don't give a shit how good they are. I don't think I'll be attending anymore UNC home games, until I SEE some significant improvement, not just talk.

I completely agree that they were out coached. I will marginally disagree with the statement that they were out played. The stats alone do not support that assumption. UNC had nearly 500 yards of Total Offense and dominated the Time of Possession. However, they definitely weren't prepared for CSU-P to come out with a hurry up, no huddle, 4 wide spread offense and the secondary has been a complete joke so far this season. I thought that was supposed to be a position of strength this year. Additionally, when they got up 16-0 it looked to me like they thought they could just sit back and coast through the rest of the game instead of putting the hammer down. That's a symptom of a team that has not truly learned how to win or completely changed their culture yet. You add that to Lobato's ridiculously poor throws on the two pick 6's and you will lose almost every time.

Honestly, the purpose of attending games, college and high school games, is to support the kids. They are trying their hardest and unfortunately they will fall short at times. In my opinion, there are better and more constructive ways to show your displeasure with the direction of the team than not attending the games. But by all means, if you really want the team to fall into complete disgrace and start the rebuilding process from an even deeper hole, go with that statement and stop going to games and stop supporting the kids. Show them how much you care about the success of the program by not going to the games. Let them know that quitting is the way to go. Makes complete sense to me.

As for the previous statement regarding the shifting TE's, there are a number of reasons for doing that and two of the primary reasons are that it is supposed to help expose what the defense is going to do and it is also theoretically sets up opportunities for mismatches by getting the defense to move out of position.

Finally, the statement that UNC should drop down to D2 is an absolute joke. The budget may not be as big as some of the power schools in FCS but that does not mean they cannot compete. It takes time to change the culture and time to recruit higher quality players. Maybe there is a coach or an AD out there that can do a better job, but Collins is making a lot more progress than his predecessor.