The Season That Could Have Been

[SpiderRick]

Sometimes, they say it's a game of inches. Sometimes, a team just shoots itself in the foot. We experienced both this season. I'm going strictly on memory, but

Against Sam Houston State, a couple of bad long snaps from a guy who hadn't made a bad snap in three years changed the entire game and put us in a hole early that we could never overcome.

Against Elon, behind by 3 points in the waning moments, we choose to go for it on 4th and 1 instead of kicking the tying field goal. Palmer slips and falls down in the backfield.

Against Delaware, we squander away numerous opportunities and lose in double overtime.

Against Stony Brook, poor time management cost us an opportunity to win a game the we lose by 3 points.

Against JMU, one of the best receivers in the league drops a wide open on target pass in the end zone, and instead of kicking a tying field goal we blow a fake that should have been an easy first down.

And unless I missed something along the way (entirely possible), weren't we zero for the season on 4th down attempts?

 

[Spidermaniac]

Sometimes, they say it's a game of inches. Sometimes, a team just shoots itself in the foot. We experienced both this season. I'm going strictly on memory, but

Against Sam Houston State, a couple of bad long snaps from a guy who hadn't made a bad snap in three years changed the entire game and put us in a hole early that we could never overcome.

Against Elon, behind by 3 points in the waning moments, we choose to go for it on 4th and 1 instead of kicking the tying field goal. Palmer slips and falls down in the backfield.

Against Delaware, we squander away numerous opportunities and lose in double overtime.

Against Stony Brook, poor time management cost us an opportunity to win a game the we lose by 3 points.

Against JMU, one of the best receivers in the league drops a wide open on target pass in the end zone, and instead of kicking a tying field goal we blow a fake that should have been an easy first down.

And unless I missed something along the way (entirely possible), weren't we zero for the season on 4th down attempts?

Got two, one by the grace of a penalty and one by trickeration — Punter threw a fourth down pass.

 

[MolivaManiac]

Was talking to someone about this earlier. You could boil the season down to 4 plays...

Jay Palmer slips against Elon, like you say.

We can't get off the field on a 3rd and 8 in 2OT at UD.

Brisset drops the punt early in the Stony Brook game.

Simpson drops the pass in the end zone yesterday.

It truly is a game of inches.

 

[VT_Spider]

Overall the most disappointing thing to me is that yesterday showed what we could've been all season. Talent wise it's us and jmu at the top of the league and after that it isn't even close. We are the only team that has pushed jmu to the limit all season long which just shows that we are the two best teams in this league. Unfortunately the standings will not reflect that. We are FAR better than Elon, stony brook, And UD but all three of those teams will be in the playoffs. We will be st home on the couch. If we still have Rocco we are at worst a 9 and 2 team this year. Poor coaching has gotten us where we are right now. Not the right schemes especially on defense. Also Durden is an absolute idiot we showed we could run the ball at times this season but instead completely abandoned it. jmu fans are right, he is a HORRIBLE offensive coordinator and is one of many coaching changes we need to make this offseason. He and the DC need to go. Huesman himself is running out of time, I'd give him at least next year and maybe one more season. It's time we start looking at other options.

 

[KBBFL]

Overall the most disappointing thing to me is that yesterday showed what we could've been all season. Talent wise it's us and jmu at the top of the league and after that it isn't even close. We are the only team that has pushed jmu to the limit all season long which just shows that we are the two best teams in this league. Unfortunately the standings will not reflect that. We are FAR better than Elon, stony brook, And UD but all three of those teams will be in the playoffs. We will be st home on the couch. If we still have Rocco we are at worst a 9 and 2 team this year. Poor coaching has gotten us where we are right now. Not the right schemes especially on defense. Also Durden is an absolute idiot we showed we could run the ball at times this season but instead completely abandoned it. jmu fans are right, he is a HORRIBLE offensive coordinator and is one of many coaching changes we need to make this offseason. He and the DC need to go. Huesman himself is running out of time, I'd give him at least next year and maybe one more season. It's time we start looking at other options.

I don't know why I am responding to this other than I am tired of seeing your dumbass comments on the board.

You realize that this defense is the exact same defense that JMU runs. The exact same defense that took JMUs players until Nov 12 @ Villanova to start playing confidently in. The exact same defense that has been #1 in the country since that date. If you didn't think there would be growing pains than that shows your lack of football knowledge.

You are right. We have some of the best players in the country and are right with JMU in terms of talent. Chattanooga was a top ten defense in the county with worse players and the same DC that you want to fire.

I get that you're a troll, but all your comments do is drive people, players, and recruits that read this board (and they do) further away from this program. Yes the season could have and probably should have gone differently and that blame is on the players, the coaches, and everyone else who has a hand on shaping this group of men. That's why it called a team, because you own up and grow together when you struggle. The team that lost by a score in the Elon game is not they same team that lost to JMU yesterday and that makes me look forward to our programs future.

Rant over

 

[Stonewall D]

[QUOTE="KBBFL, post: 217359, member: 3230"
I get that you're a troll, but all your comments do is drive people further away from this program.[/QUOTE]
Not true. VT_SPIDER is a fan.

 

[CarolinaSpider]

I want to see the players that have been redshiting and the recruits coming in to
get a flavor for this staff. If Rocco knew what he had coming back, then he must
have really been unhappy with administration to leave such a strong team. But I
think he had some serious depth problems on both lines and knew it would be difficult
if any injuries occurred. So I don't buy the total Gill vs Rocco scenario.

Second, Durden and the DC have to have the right players to run their schemes. Our front 7
on defense are undersized but the last 3 games have grasped the new concept and have
played very, very well. Offensive line is good on pass protection but does not seem to be a good
rush line with little push. Evans and Vergos were missed this year. We need more beef and run
block toughness on the line next year to be effective.

 

[urfan1]

let's not attack other posters

 

[WolfSpider]

Huesman himself is running out of time, I'd give him at least next year and maybe one more season. It's time we start looking at other options.

I’m confused. Is Huesman running out of time? Are we giving him another year or two? Or are we starting to look at other options?

 

[urfan1]

Huesman is fine, some of our posters --- well

 

[VT_Spider]

I’m confused. Is Huesman running out of time? Are we giving him another year or two? Or are we starting to look at other options?

We should be doing all three. I say give him at least next year and the year after. It will allow us to see if the new guys he brings in for the scheme better. Offensively we could be better next year by being more balanced, an athletic QB like KJ will help out.

In the mean time yes, we should be looking at other options to replcace Huesman. Number 1 on our list should be the guy at Elon, younger guy that so far has done an amazing job with a far inferior team than we have. We could pull him away from Elon with a bigger contract. Number 2 on the list should be Fontel Mines. I love the the idea of having him as our head coach, awesome recruiter with ties to the area and UR, would also bring a lot of youthful energy to the program. Number 3 I think should be Will Healy. If he can turn around Austin Peay that fast then imagine what he could do for us! I would take any of these 3 over Huesman any day!

 

[SpiderRick]

In all seriousness, vt, does your former Spider footballer dad read your posts? If so, what does he say about them?

 

[WolfSpider]

You can’t simultaneously be 100% behind Huesman and looking for his replacement. That’s like being married yet still looking at what else is out there. Not smart or a good way to live your life.
Huesman is our guy, you either are with him or not. Programs that don’t allow the guys they hire to do their job with the proper support end up with a merry go round of coaches and a sting of terrible seasons. Look no further than Tennessee since they forced out Philip Fuller.
Get aboard the Russ bus or get run over.

 

[VT_Spider]

Sorry for all the outage I have caused. I'm sorry I care about the football program and want to see them do well. In my opinion I think we're headed in the wrong direction but good God do I hope I'm wrong. I would love to see Huesman have an awesome career here and stay for 10 to 15 years and win a bunch of games and hopefully a few national titles. Y'all are right either be on board or get off board as of now I'm getting off board the Russ bus. I might get back on next year if he proves me wrong. I'll still be behind the players 100% and will still support the program, just not the coaching staff until they give me a reason to. I'm not quite at the level of just not caring any more like I do about Spider basketball but a few more years like this and I will be. Let's turn this thing around next year! Only positive from me on here from now until next season.

 

[DTSpider]

Just my opinion, but I was never buying that we were a national title contender. Last year we had some truly outstanding players that made big plays. The previous coaching staff never developed depth on the lines - has been the same story for a long time. The previous staff didn’t redshirt players to build depth. Look at the seniors we lost last year and the sophomores on the team - the drop off is huge.

The current staff has developed a defense. They need more bodies but they are getting a lot out of the guys this year.

The offense needs to run the ball better. That is both on the line and the RBs (I think our backs have been very hesitant this year).

Overall - I think we’ve upgraded at HC and on defense, but downgrade at OC. Part of that is we have had some very strong OCs. Hard to keep those guys around at this level. Need to develop Corp as a coach and hope he can be the next great mind on the sideline to push the offense.

 

[DTSpider]

We all give VT a hard time, but I think we can all appreciate that we know now how little we knew at 18 compared to what we thought we knew. A rite of passage if you will. His heart is in the right place.

 

[ChoppinBroccoli]

If his former coach read his posts, he'd be embarrassed.

Should have been banned from the board after his Broadway rants. That guy is 10-0, by the way.