Successful Season?

[SWeberCat02]

What would you consider a successful season in 2015? After winning two games in Jay Hill's first season as HC, only three wins would be an improvement record wise. But, would you consider three wins a successful season? If not, how many wins will it take for you consider this a successful season?

2015 Schedule
@ Oregon St
@ North Dakota St
Sacramento St
*@ Northern Colorado
*Southern Utah
*@ Montana
*North Dakota
*@ Northern Arizona
*@ Eastern Washington
*UC Davis
*Idaho St

 

[SWWeatherCat]

I might be a little greedy and unrealistic, but with how many games Weber was in last season and thinking they are deeper and better this year, I'm going to be disappointed if they don't get 5 wins. I hope they compete as well as they did last year in every game and hope they can get the following dubs:
vs Sac
@ NoCo
vs SoUT
vs UND
vs UC Davis

I also hope they are in a position to steal one from:
@NAU
vs ISU

Swinging for the fence! 7 wins would be off the chart!

 

[AlumniWSU]

A successful season for this fan would be 4 wins, double the wins for each of the last two seasons. But in predicting (guessing, which I'm admittedly not good at) I have 6 wins !! That would be awesome, swinging for deep left field!
Like SWWeatherCat's...differ only in picking a win over Bengals at home, but a loss @ Lumberjacks. :thumb:

 

[talhadfoursteals]

Yes, I was the one who said 3 wins. Let's face it, winning more than 2 would be a success after the past three seasons. However, I do feel that this team is better than a 3 win team. I feel that the Cats, with the talent, and how much better they are playing could be a 5 or even 6 win team. Hell, if the ball bounces right, they could even end up being a 7 win team. Yet, all I really care about, is that the team does better than the season before. As long as Hill is getting the best effort from his kids, they are competitive, and they are progressing, I feel the Cats are solidifying the foundation upon which they can build a program that is successful for the long-term. Beating ISU in November, outside the dome, is a possibility. Let's hope for a monsoon or blizzard.

I just cringe whenever I think about where this program could have been if the right coach would have been hired upon the retirement of Coach Mac. Our program was healthy and on the edge of really becoming something special. Lucifer Smith was definitely the wrong choice, but it is easy to say that now. Great being a Monday Morning QB.

 

[oldrunner]

I know that it is a stretch, knowing where our program has been, but a winning year is a minimum for a season to be a success. I can accept improvement without a winning season but I don't call it success.

 

[MrLevski]

5 wins would be a huge improvement -- esp if 3 or 4 of them came at home. Fans NEED to see some wins at home. It gets depressing when you go to the game just hoping they'll be competitive.

 

[mac]

I would say 4, but 5 would feel a lot better.

 

[talhadfoursteals]

http://www.standard.net/Sports/2015/08/25/How-good-is-Weber-State-football.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Pretty decent column on where the Cats are so far.

 

[SWWeatherCat]

Six games in and Weber is .500. Interestingly, Weber has as good as or a better standing than 3 of the 5 remaining teams on their schedule, which excludes UND. Looking back at the end of the season, this game (vs UND) might prove to be the key between a nice improvement and a very successful season, in terms of wins/losses. Weber crapped an egg vs SUU but got a gift in a huge @UM win-- a push there. Although the match-up doesn't seem terribly favorable for Weber on paper, a win vs UND combined with 2-3 more wins against the remaining 3 below them in the standings would be something else.

I'm still quite concerned about a shaky, one-dimensional offense and that certainly plays into what I consider a successful season, but these players and this program very much need to experience wins if nothing else for the confidence that they can win. So far, so good (an ugly good). Here's to hoping for 3, even 4 more wins. Weber would be huge overachievers with a 6-7 win "successful" season.

 

[baller]

Weber has 5 games left in the season. They stack up like this.
Eastern Washington - leads the conference and should be a loss
North Dakota - is in 3rd place in conf standings and this game this week will be pivotal as to whether Weber
has a winning season or not.
3 other games - Northern Arizona - should be a win. They are tied for 8th in conf right now.
UC Davis - tied for 8th and should be a Weber win.
Idaho State - also tied for 8th in conf now and this game should be a win also.

Weber has had the luck of the draw in who they play for the remaining games. No other team plays so many bad teams the rest of the way. If Weber steps up to the plate they could win 7 games this season, because 4 of the five remaining are "winnable" games. I predict that they will end up the season with either a 5-6 record or a 6-5 record. The pivotal game is North Dakota. If they win that game this weekend it could help them to get to a 7 win season. Who cares if most of their victories are against bad teams. Its a start and what Weber needs to launch the program to a higher level. Lets pray that the football gods shine brightly on Weber State. It has been far too long since their was a winning season here. It would be a great stepping stone for the program if they could win 6 or 7. Something that could be built on and lead to even better things next year.

As I said in a previous post, marketing will take care of itself if the team becomes a persistent winner. If Weber could get to where 9 or 10 wins in a season were the worst they did the fans would come. Winning is the greatest marketing tool ever in sports. Maybe the Athletic Department has built their strategy around "winning" instead of around promotions. If so, lets hope that winning comes and all else will take care of itself.

 

[talhadfoursteals]

The conference has been very Jekyll and Hyde like this season. Anyone can beat anyone else on any given Saturday. Last week Idaho State beat a good North Dakota squad, after losing -badly- 4 straight, in Grand Forks. Yet, two weeks ago, that same North Dakota team went to Portland and beat a PSU team that has won two FBS games and utterly destroyed C-USA North Texas. UC-Davis beat up an NAU team that the week before handled Montana State pretty well. SUU looks terrible against SDSU and then comes into Ogden and thumps us, and then we go to Missoula and win for the first time in 28 years, a team that beat NDSU earlier in the season in Missoula. The same NDSU that beat us 41-14. To make things even more confusing, Sacramento State out gains a bad NCU team by close to 300 yards, and still loses. WACKY BIG SKY!!

What I'm getting after is that Weber can win games they shouldn't and lose to teams that are worse than them. The Cats have to bring it every single week. What is nice is that this situation favors teams that tend to be consistent on defense. One thing we all know is that Weber will be tough on the defensive side of the ball. As for offense, well hell, we don't know what to expect. :roll: Can't win if you can't score!

 

[AlumniWSU]

Emotions play a part, if but small...I think with the SUU drubbing & Montana win (barely), the mindset of getting "hyped up" for a game enters in, all things considered. Skills rule, preparation is primary, but the "mood" of the players as the game goes along will effect it, for good or bad. Stats & comparisons aside, momentum rules sometimes. :twocents:

 

[SWWeatherCat]

marketing will take care of itself if the team becomes a persistent winner. If Weber could get to where 9 or 10 wins in a season were the worst they did the fans would come. Winning is the greatest marketing tool ever in sports. Maybe the Athletic Department has built their strategy around "winning" instead of around promotions.

I get the point but disagree with the statement. Fans/attendance or not not, I see strong and competent marketing as an important piece of not only the athletic department but the school as a whole. In good times and especially in bad times you want solid marketing and promotions to strengthen the brand and ties to the fans, community, and cooperate partners. I think Weber's marketing has been sub-par for a long time and could be the difference for why I don't have season tix for the first time in over 20 years; it very well could be the difference why I'll be staying home tomorrow instead of watching in person what I believe could be a pivotal game this season. Still hoping for Hill and co. to get the win and continue inching towards a successful season.

 

[SWWeatherCat]

The conference has been very Jekyll and Hyde like this season. Anyone can beat anyone else on any given Saturday. Last week Idaho State beat a good North Dakota squad, after losing -badly- 4 straight, in Grand Forks. Yet, two weeks ago, that same North Dakota team went to Portland and beat a PSU team that has won two FBS games and utterly destroyed C-USA North Texas. UC-Davis beat up an NAU team that the week before handled Montana State pretty well. SUU looks terrible against SDSU and then comes into Ogden and thumps us, and then we go to Missoula and win for the first time in 28 years, a team that beat NDSU earlier in the season in Missoula. The same NDSU that beat us 41-14. To make things even more confusing, Sacramento State out gains a bad NCU team by close to 300 yards, and still loses. WACKY BIG SKY!!

What I'm getting after is that Weber can win games they shouldn't and lose to teams that are worse than them. The Cats have to bring it every single week. What is nice is that this situation favors teams that tend to be consistent on defense. One thing we all know is that Weber will be tough on the defensive side of the ball. As for offense, well hell, we don't know what to expect. :roll: Can't win if you can't score!

Sounds like it could be more about match-ups this season than anything else. It would be interesting to see an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of those teams in those match-ups, but using statistical numbers defined by all the games to date. I wonder if it would paint a match-up picture?

 

[baller]

SWWeberCat... I doubt that you would be staying home tomorrow if the 'cats were 6-0. Win and they will come and there ain't no better marketing scheme than than!

 

[SWWeatherCat]

baller, no doubt a 6-0 team would fill the stadium but that hardly says anything about the marketing department or strength of the football product. Being 6-0 wouldn't help with the fact they lost a long-time season tix holder, this year anyway. I'm not sure how likely it is for Weber to become a perennial winner but I see more benefit in marketing your product the best you can and maintaining strong relationships with your customers and the community than hoping for a winning season (which I do year-after-year).

To address your comment, I'll be staying home today because it is going to take some time to get over the SUU game. I don't ever remember seeing a WSU offense that horrendous. So, chances are a 6-0 team would not have put on that display and given that, I'd most likely be there tonight.

 

[the dan]

I'm finally starting to believe a winning season is actually possible.