Redux
Donor
So here is my take on our current situation. Read it or don't, just wanted to get my thoughts out there to vent a little.
When I read, on here, that Mike Riley was the new coach I was fairly disappointed. I didn't have to google him, I was familiar with his Beaver squad. I enjoyed several of his upsets over the years, especially the USC win on a Thursday night in 2008 I think, penny pitcher night in Milligan. But I also knew of the more recent squads and how his tenure had become stale.
Days later I let myself buy into the reasoning. He is experienced, he has had bug upsets, he is well respected, he can recruit, he wants to be here etc etc. By BYU I was convinced there would be no transition, we would contend for a division title. That was the standard after all, set in stone by ADSE. Then we lost on a fluke Hail Mary. That hurt. Almost 30 seasons of winning the opener gone. Not exactly his fault, but I didn't like how the end was handled as far as time goes.
Went to the USA game and had one of the best times I have ever had at a game. Felt good again. Then Miami. Call it a gutsy comeback all you want, and it was. But we got blown out in that game. Lets not pretend it was a back and forth war, we rolled over for 3 quarters. The reason we were still in it is because Al Golden, now fired, let us back in. Kudos to the team, but we earned that loss. A week later we almost returned the favor to a hapless Southern Miss team.
Enter conference play. Low scoring ugly lead late against Illinois. Interim HC Bill Cubit managed to find a way to beat us in the end. We entered league play 2-3 (0-1). I was highly concerned.
The Minnesota win felt really good, like we had turned a corner. Unfortunately they aren't as good as once advertised and coach Kill has resigned since then. We then control Wisconsin yet let them hang around and beat us at home. We then lett Northwestern control us at home and they eventually had us. 3-5 (1-3)
Then came the gimme game in West Laffayette. A team that hadn't won a home conference game in like 3 years. Worst rush defense in league. They came out and beat us up. The team looked defeated by half time, guys were giving up. The staff had no real answers. The gimme team hung 55 on us and won by 10. 3-6 (1-4)
No we host the #6 team in the country. We have almost no chance of winning, yet here I am thinking we could trap them and steal a win. Probably doesn't save the season or get us into bowl contention but it would be SOMETHING.
There is a guy here in my small town named Lawrence, older gentlement. For as long as I remember he has had a sign in his yard in fall. The sign has Nebraska and the opponents name on it followed by a score prediction. He always predicts us to win, and comes pretty close. I drove by last night. The sign is gone. That's where we are as a program right now.
I have been vocal about this staff not being a good fit, but still had hope for 2016. After Purdue, I don't see it. Riley looks defeated. Not just in a "hey we lost this sucks" sense. But in an overwhelmed by the position sense. We have seen it with our last 4 coaches. The job is demanding, wins don't happen automatically here and recruits are even harder to get here.
Is he in over his head? Maybe. But we all know he is getting another year to right this wrong. I still think he is a good damn coach. But his best years may be behind him and this culture may not be what he expected. That is a recipe for diasaster folks. I want him and his staff to make this program great again, what a story it would be. I just don't feel it. I feel like I did when he was first announced. Instead of the dark times ending, I feel like a whole new era of below average football is in store.
I hate it. I hate feeling this way. We as fans need something to be proud of again. I can't even tell KSU fans to shut up anymore. This is a plea Coach Riley, look at this program for what it is and understand what it takes to be successful here. This isn't the West Coast or the NFL. It's something more, something special. We don't WANT to turn on you, it's just the nature of the beast when we aren't properly taken care of.
When I read, on here, that Mike Riley was the new coach I was fairly disappointed. I didn't have to google him, I was familiar with his Beaver squad. I enjoyed several of his upsets over the years, especially the USC win on a Thursday night in 2008 I think, penny pitcher night in Milligan. But I also knew of the more recent squads and how his tenure had become stale.
Days later I let myself buy into the reasoning. He is experienced, he has had bug upsets, he is well respected, he can recruit, he wants to be here etc etc. By BYU I was convinced there would be no transition, we would contend for a division title. That was the standard after all, set in stone by ADSE. Then we lost on a fluke Hail Mary. That hurt. Almost 30 seasons of winning the opener gone. Not exactly his fault, but I didn't like how the end was handled as far as time goes.
Went to the USA game and had one of the best times I have ever had at a game. Felt good again. Then Miami. Call it a gutsy comeback all you want, and it was. But we got blown out in that game. Lets not pretend it was a back and forth war, we rolled over for 3 quarters. The reason we were still in it is because Al Golden, now fired, let us back in. Kudos to the team, but we earned that loss. A week later we almost returned the favor to a hapless Southern Miss team.
Enter conference play. Low scoring ugly lead late against Illinois. Interim HC Bill Cubit managed to find a way to beat us in the end. We entered league play 2-3 (0-1). I was highly concerned.
The Minnesota win felt really good, like we had turned a corner. Unfortunately they aren't as good as once advertised and coach Kill has resigned since then. We then control Wisconsin yet let them hang around and beat us at home. We then lett Northwestern control us at home and they eventually had us. 3-5 (1-3)
Then came the gimme game in West Laffayette. A team that hadn't won a home conference game in like 3 years. Worst rush defense in league. They came out and beat us up. The team looked defeated by half time, guys were giving up. The staff had no real answers. The gimme team hung 55 on us and won by 10. 3-6 (1-4)
No we host the #6 team in the country. We have almost no chance of winning, yet here I am thinking we could trap them and steal a win. Probably doesn't save the season or get us into bowl contention but it would be SOMETHING.
There is a guy here in my small town named Lawrence, older gentlement. For as long as I remember he has had a sign in his yard in fall. The sign has Nebraska and the opponents name on it followed by a score prediction. He always predicts us to win, and comes pretty close. I drove by last night. The sign is gone. That's where we are as a program right now.
I have been vocal about this staff not being a good fit, but still had hope for 2016. After Purdue, I don't see it. Riley looks defeated. Not just in a "hey we lost this sucks" sense. But in an overwhelmed by the position sense. We have seen it with our last 4 coaches. The job is demanding, wins don't happen automatically here and recruits are even harder to get here.
Is he in over his head? Maybe. But we all know he is getting another year to right this wrong. I still think he is a good damn coach. But his best years may be behind him and this culture may not be what he expected. That is a recipe for diasaster folks. I want him and his staff to make this program great again, what a story it would be. I just don't feel it. I feel like I did when he was first announced. Instead of the dark times ending, I feel like a whole new era of below average football is in store.
I hate it. I hate feeling this way. We as fans need something to be proud of again. I can't even tell KSU fans to shut up anymore. This is a plea Coach Riley, look at this program for what it is and understand what it takes to be successful here. This isn't the West Coast or the NFL. It's something more, something special. We don't WANT to turn on you, it's just the nature of the beast when we aren't properly taken care of.
