...Fuente's decision last year to start and stick with Paxton. It showed leadership, forward thinking and the ability to know and identify personnel. This is the first year of a 3 year benefit of that decision.
Makes the fan base at ease with him at the helm as well. We are lucky to have this guy as our coach, no doubt.

Yep - offense will probably have to come out of the gates next season while the defense catches up.

I understand that.
The issue I have with it is that LAST YEAR'S SENIORS wanted a chance to go to a bowl game too.
This hope died with that decision. It was all about this year and going forward.
It was a tough decision, yet I also understand the hurt and disappointment felt by last year's kids.

(12-23-2014 12:47 PM)Pastnerized Wrote:  I understand that.
The issue I have with it is that LAST YEAR'S SENIORS wanted a chance to go to a bowl game too.
This hope died with that decision. It was all about this year and going forward.
It was a tough decision, yet I also understand the hurt and disappointment felt by last year's kids.

I speculate it was a reason for the lopsided defeats toward the end of last season. Fuente sacrificed last year for better success this year. I am pleased it worked out for fans and returning players, but last year's Seniors were part of the turnaround and received little accolades or reward.

(12-23-2014 12:47 PM)Pastnerized Wrote:  I understand that.
The issue I have with it is that LAST YEAR'S SENIORS wanted a chance to go to a bowl game too.
This hope died with that decision. It was all about this year and going forward.
It was a tough decision, yet I also understand the hurt and disappointment felt by last year's kids.

Not sure the difference between Karam and Lynch last season meant 3 more wins, but I understand your point. I'm sure the seniors from last year's squad had fun watching their teammates win 10 games this season.

(12-23-2014 12:47 PM)Pastnerized Wrote:  I understand that.
The issue I have with it is that LAST YEAR'S SENIORS wanted a chance to go to a bowl game too.
This hope died with that decision. It was all about this year and going forward.
It was a tough decision, yet I also understand the hurt and disappointment felt by last year's kids.

I understand, but if the coach is yanking a kid it can be a detriment to confidence building.

Plus, when would Karam have come in?

Game 1 vs, Duke: Probably not, that would have been a huge confidence killer to get the quick hook.

Game 2 vs MTSU: Nah. Lynch was ok that game and did a decent job at the end (iirc) of bringing the team back.

Game 3: Win vs. ASU. Nope. Unless you bring Karam in at mop-up time.

Game 4 vs UCF: Nope. They were winning the game until the debacle, plus Lynch did a good job on the last minute drive.

Game 5 vs. Houston: Receivers dropped SO many balls that game. Can't find the need to pull him then.

Game 6 vs. SMU: Tigers played like ish in the 1st half--well on the way to 1-5 for the season. Likely the best time to ever put Karam in (to start the 2nd). Problem is--what happens if Karam had a great 2nd half and moved the ball (just like Lynch happened to do in that same game)? People would then have wanted a change, but why would you make a change to a senior QB (at the expense of a frosh needing seasoning) when the season was essentially over (again, they would have been 1-5 after the SMU game).

While I understand the idea that Karam deserved some pt, logistically it wasn't good by the time it would have been ok to do it.

I loved Jacob. He was/is one of the finest young men you could ever hope would represent your team/university. Bottom line, Paxton was a better QB. Period. End of story. Fuente said so yesterday when asked about that situation. He said it was not even close. Said he loved and appreciated Jacob, but Paxton was simply better.

(12-23-2014 01:10 PM)danny1 Wrote:  I loved Jacob. He was/is one of the finest young men you could ever hope would represent your team/university. Bottom line, Paxton was a better QB. Period. End of story. Fuente said so yesterday when asked about that situation. He said it was not even close. Said he loved and appreciated Jacob, but Paxton was simply better.

That is what I have always thought...I don't think it was any planning for the future...He just played the QB he thought was better. And if the new QB comes in and outperforms Lynch, Lynch will ride the pine.

(12-23-2014 12:43 PM)450bench Wrote:  ...Fuente's decision last year to start and stick with Paxton. It showed leadership, forward thinking and the ability to know and identify personnel. This is the first year of a 3 year benefit of that decision.
Makes the fan base at ease with him at the helm as well. We are lucky to have this guy as our coach, no doubt.

Totally agree.

Paxton was better for last year's chances, and obviously a great asset this year. Karam was a great "game manager" but the flashes Paxton showed early on made it hard to sit him for someone with such a relatively low ceiling.

I loved Karam and his contributions on and off the field, and I wish he'd had a chance at a bowl too, but the team around him wasn't there yet.

(12-23-2014 12:47 PM)Pastnerized Wrote:  I understand that.
The issue I have with it is that LAST YEAR'S SENIORS wanted a chance to go to a bowl game too.
This hope died with that decision. It was all about this year and going forward.
It was a tough decision, yet I also understand the hurt and disappointment felt by last year's kids.

I disagree.

It was not rocket science to play Lynch last year. If we sacrificed any by not playing Karam it was tiny...and we may have been better with Lynch last year than with Karam. A benefit of that was he was more seasoned but he was probably better even last year. Until the team tanked in the last few weeks..not good...they were fairly competitive.

Not sure I agree with the idea that this was otherwise a bowl team last year. And disagree that playing Lynch was a genius move. Simply an obvious coaching decision.

Our value here is that the coach got the team to buy in. They did and in light of the losing, even the hideous losing at the end of last season when the team quit...that was a tremendous laudable accomplishment, and the results were a great season.

(12-23-2014 12:43 PM)450bench Wrote:  ...Fuente's decision last year to start and stick with Paxton. It showed leadership, forward thinking and the ability to know and identify personnel. This is the first year of a 3 year benefit of that decision.
Makes the fan base at ease with him at the helm as well. We are lucky to have this guy as our coach, no doubt.

I agree. Also we were able to flip the scores on some opponents who drilled us last year. UConn and SMU come to mind.

Some of the seniors on last year's team checked out. Just quit.
You need your seniors to provide leadership to the rest of the team...juniors, sophs, and freshmen.
Would we have won more games with Karam last year? I don't think so...and hell...if not for some truly horrendous calls (like against UCF and Louisville...we could have been looking at 2 more wins with Lynch last season)

So they drill the team this year (don't quit don't quit don't quit) and you know what? These players never did. We were in all of our games this year...and we might have lost due to some errors that we had made....but we never quit.

Next year will be a something of a rebuilding year...as we will have a bunch of new faces on defense. The offense will have to step up and play lights out until the defense an catch up as someone suggested earlier.

(12-23-2014 12:43 PM)450bench Wrote:  ...Fuente's decision last year to start and stick with Paxton. It showed leadership, forward thinking and the ability to know and identify personnel. This is the first year of a 3 year benefit of that decision.
Makes the fan base at ease with him at the helm as well. We are lucky to have this guy as our coach, no doubt.

I agreed with Fuente's decision to ride Lynch. I disagreed with his refusal to let Karam have any meaningful snaps. I think the same thing this year. IF Lynch would have been injured; we would have been screwed. Lynch runs so much, it's a miracle he wasn't.

Some of last year's decisions by Fuente seemed mysterious and still do, especially with regards to that Karam situation.

When I look at how Fuente makes game decisions,and how most of them fit into the need of the moment plus an overall strategy, it's almost like a ruse gets laid in the first half.

I don't know the FB terminology to explain it, but I've been on enough game threads, listening to people yell about the play calling to know that some fans don't see the strategy hatching in Fuente's mind. He's a guy that sees the whole picture as well as how each of his decisions fit into it. Kind of remarkable person, actually. Many folks ain't got that gift.

So I gotta think Fuente's playing Lynch instead of Karam, even when the fans behind him were yelling for Karam, was made because of some things Fuente saw in the whole picture that supported his decision. It did, after all, imbue Lynch with a lot of confidence, but was it at the cost of splitting the team and fans? O well.

As far as not taking Lynch out in a game when we are eons ahead...I can't find any reason to support that decision...but I'm still looking. lol.

(12-27-2014 12:47 PM)snowtiger Wrote:  Some of last year's decisions by Fuente seemed mysterious and still do, especially with regards to that Karam situation.

When I look at how Fuente makes game decisions,and how most of them fit into the need of the moment plus an overall strategy, it's almost like a ruse gets laid in the first half.

I don't know the FB terminology to explain it, but I've been on enough game threads, listening to people yell about the play calling to know that some fans don't see the strategy hatching in Fuente's mind. He's a guy that sees the whole picture as well as how each of his decisions fit into it. Kind of remarkable person, actually. Many folks ain't got that gift.

So I gotta think Fuente's playing Lynch instead of Karam, even when the fans behind him were yelling for Karam, was made because of some things Fuente saw in the whole picture that supported his decision. It did, after all, imbue Lynch with a lot of confidence, but was it at the cost of splitting the team and fans? O well.

As far as not taking Lynch out in a game when we are eons ahead...I can't find any reason to support that decision...but I'm still looking. lol.

He played lynch last year because lynch was the better QB and that he and all of his assistants agreed on that point - he says as much in the Q&A in the CA sports section a couple of weeks back. He went on to say they Karam was an upstanding young man and that he knew he'd do well in life.

I don't know if you guys are looking for a conspiracy or what - fuente shoots straight and isn't much on the coach speak. He's a coaches coach and we are damn lucky to have him.

(12-27-2014 01:09 PM)tiger2000 Wrote:  

(12-27-2014 12:47 PM)snowtiger Wrote:  Some of last year's decisions by Fuente seemed mysterious and still do, especially with regards to that Karam situation.

When I look at how Fuente makes game decisions,and how most of them fit into the need of the moment plus an overall strategy, it's almost like a ruse gets laid in the first half.

I don't know the FB terminology to explain it, but I've been on enough game threads, listening to people yell about the play calling to know that some fans don't see the strategy hatching in Fuente's mind. He's a guy that sees the whole picture as well as how each of his decisions fit into it. Kind of remarkable person, actually. Many folks ain't got that gift.

So I gotta think Fuente's playing Lynch instead of Karam, even when the fans behind him were yelling for Karam, was made because of some things Fuente saw in the whole picture that supported his decision. It did, after all, imbue Lynch with a lot of confidence, but was it at the cost of splitting the team and fans? O well.

As far as not taking Lynch out in a game when we are eons ahead...I can't find any reason to support that decision...but I'm still looking. lol.

He played lynch last year because lynch was the better QB and that he and all of his assistants agreed on that point - he says as much in the Q&A in the CA sports section a couple of weeks back. He went on to say they Karam was an upstanding young man and that he knew he'd do well in life.

I don't know if you guys are looking for a conspiracy or what - fuente shoots straight and isn't much on the coach speak. He's a coaches coach and we are damn lucky to have him.

I'm not sure why you are looking for people who don't think he is. Maybe I just wasn't clear in my long meandering diatribe....
I.
Love.
Fuente.

and that long diatribe was just to answer those who second guess him.

I.
think.
Fuente.
is.
brilliant.

(12-27-2014 01:09 PM)tiger2000 Wrote:  

(12-27-2014 12:47 PM)snowtiger Wrote:  Some of last year's decisions by Fuente seemed mysterious and still do, especially with regards to that Karam situation.

When I look at how Fuente makes game decisions,and how most of them fit into the need of the moment plus an overall strategy, it's almost like a ruse gets laid in the first half.

I don't know the FB terminology to explain it, but I've been on enough game threads, listening to people yell about the play calling to know that some fans don't see the strategy hatching in Fuente's mind. He's a guy that sees the whole picture as well as how each of his decisions fit into it. Kind of remarkable person, actually. Many folks ain't got that gift.

So I gotta think Fuente's playing Lynch instead of Karam, even when the fans behind him were yelling for Karam, was made because of some things Fuente saw in the whole picture that supported his decision. It did, after all, imbue Lynch with a lot of confidence, but was it at the cost of splitting the team and fans? O well.

As far as not taking Lynch out in a game when we are eons ahead...I can't find any reason to support that decision...but I'm still looking. lol.

He played lynch last year because lynch was the better QB and that he and all of his assistants agreed on that point - he says as much in the Q&A in the CA sports section a couple of weeks back. He went on to say they Karam was an upstanding young man and that he knew he'd do well in life.

I don't know if you guys are looking for a conspiracy or what - fuente shoots straight and isn't much on the coach speak. He's a coaches coach and we are damn lucky to have him.

Conspiracy? Wth are you talking about? Our backups almost never get meaningful snaps. If Lynch gets injured it's a problem.

While we're at it; why did Fuente burn Robert Davis' freshman season for 10 measly carriers; in 3 games that we won by a combined 100 points? Does that question make sense to you, or does it sound conspiracy motivated?

(12-27-2014 03:40 PM)Stammers Wrote:  

(12-27-2014 01:09 PM)tiger2000 Wrote:  

(12-27-2014 12:47 PM)snowtiger Wrote:  Some of last year's decisions by Fuente seemed mysterious and still do, especially with regards to that Karam situation.

When I look at how Fuente makes game decisions,and how most of them fit into the need of the moment plus an overall strategy, it's almost like a ruse gets laid in the first half.

I don't know the FB terminology to explain it, but I've been on enough game threads, listening to people yell about the play calling to know that some fans don't see the strategy hatching in Fuente's mind. He's a guy that sees the whole picture as well as how each of his decisions fit into it. Kind of remarkable person, actually. Many folks ain't got that gift.

So I gotta think Fuente's playing Lynch instead of Karam, even when the fans behind him were yelling for Karam, was made because of some things Fuente saw in the whole picture that supported his decision. It did, after all, imbue Lynch with a lot of confidence, but was it at the cost of splitting the team and fans? O well.

As far as not taking Lynch out in a game when we are eons ahead...I can't find any reason to support that decision...but I'm still looking. lol.

He played lynch last year because lynch was the better QB and that he and all of his assistants agreed on that point - he says as much in the Q&A in the CA sports section a couple of weeks back. He went on to say they Karam was an upstanding young man and that he knew he'd do well in life.

I don't know if you guys are looking for a conspiracy or what - fuente shoots straight and isn't much on the coach speak. He's a coaches coach and we are damn lucky to have him.

Conspiracy? Wth are you talking about? Our backups almost never get meaningful snaps. If Lynch gets injured it's a problem.

While we're at it; why did Fuente burn Robert Davis' freshman season for 10 measly carriers; in 3 games that we won by a combined 100 points? Does that question make sense to you, or does it sound conspiracy motivated?

I'm not getting mired down with Captain Argument today. Send fuente an email, maybe he'll respond.

Make sure to note that you don't have season tickets in either sport, have no ties to the university of Memphis, and have never been to a football game in person.

(12-27-2014 04:01 PM)tiger2000 Wrote:  

(12-27-2014 03:40 PM)Stammers Wrote:  

(12-27-2014 01:09 PM)tiger2000 Wrote:  

(12-27-2014 12:47 PM)snowtiger Wrote:  Some of last year's decisions by Fuente seemed mysterious and still do, especially with regards to that Karam situation.

When I look at how Fuente makes game decisions,and how most of them fit into the need of the moment plus an overall strategy, it's almost like a ruse gets laid in the first half.

I don't know the FB terminology to explain it, but I've been on enough game threads, listening to people yell about the play calling to know that some fans don't see the strategy hatching in Fuente's mind. He's a guy that sees the whole picture as well as how each of his decisions fit into it. Kind of remarkable person, actually. Many folks ain't got that gift.

So I gotta think Fuente's playing Lynch instead of Karam, even when the fans behind him were yelling for Karam, was made because of some things Fuente saw in the whole picture that supported his decision. It did, after all, imbue Lynch with a lot of confidence, but was it at the cost of splitting the team and fans? O well.

As far as not taking Lynch out in a game when we are eons ahead...I can't find any reason to support that decision...but I'm still looking. lol.

He played lynch last year because lynch was the better QB and that he and all of his assistants agreed on that point - he says as much in the Q&A in the CA sports section a couple of weeks back. He went on to say they Karam was an upstanding young man and that he knew he'd do well in life.

I don't know if you guys are looking for a conspiracy or what - fuente shoots straight and isn't much on the coach speak. He's a coaches coach and we are damn lucky to have him.

Conspiracy? Wth are you talking about? Our backups almost never get meaningful snaps. If Lynch gets injured it's a problem.

While we're at it; why did Fuente burn Robert Davis' freshman season for 10 measly carriers; in 3 games that we won by a combined 100 points? Does that question make sense to you, or does it sound conspiracy motivated?

I'm not getting mired down with Captain Argument today. Send fuente an email, maybe he'll respond.

Make sure to note that you don't have season tickets in either sport, have no ties to the university of Memphis, and have never been to a football game in person.

Quote:I'm not getting mired down with common sense today. Send fuente an email, maybe he'll respond.

FIFY.

Funny posts. Respond to a simple point in an argumentative manner...and then say you're not going to argue.