(12-27-2015 10:25 PM)NIUSox10 Wrote:  Good thing sports outside of football and basketball have no relevance in conference affiliation in 2015, otherwise you may have a point. Your statement is also probably right in the 80s and 90s, but now tv money for basketball and football dominate discussions when it involves conference membership. The past is no longer applicable because the collegiate athletic landscape has changed drastically.

While I believe it's unfortunate, NIUSox10, you are correct about the way the collegiate landscape has changed, perhaps to the point that even basketball has little relevance. Many of the latest conference changes were strictly football driven. The Big Ten may have been the only expansion where the idea of enlarging its viewing audience was the driving force knowing the impact would also be positive in basketball and some other sports for BTN. Football was obviously the wedge between the basketball schools in the Big East and those having football. Although I think leaving the MAC would have a negative impact on other Huskie sports, that could easily change if the football powers get to redefine the number of sports as many are pushing. Then the decision comes down to who would want to use us as opposed to our own ambitions. Then again, if requirements change for the number of sports, perhaps that could splinter the MAC and some other conferences.

(12-27-2015 10:13 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  The recent losses in bowl games are just so way beyond meaningless that it cannot be overstated just how meaningless. The fact NIU coaches and players gave up in a football game for this one game is more concerning to me. It does not matter if this week 1 or week 14, when a team gives up you have to look at what the cause is.

So what happens if we are lucky enough to be in a position to be in the discussions of an access bowl spot and the other team is Boise? You don't think this ass kicking will come up over and over again in conversation? It will, way more than in the same year we beat a "ranked" Toledo team.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

(12-28-2015 11:52 AM)Turner4Heisman Wrote:  

(12-27-2015 10:13 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  The recent losses in bowl games are just so way beyond meaningless that it cannot be overstated just how meaningless. The fact NIU coaches and players gave up in a football game for this one game is more concerning to me. It does not matter if this week 1 or week 14, when a team gives up you have to look at what the cause is.

So what happens if we are lucky enough to be in a position to be in the discussions of an access bowl spot and the other team is Boise? You don't think this ass kicking will come up over and over again in conversation? It will, way more than in the same year we beat a "ranked" Toledo team.

The credibility and brand of NIU football took a big hit from the debacle in San Diego. It will take a long time to recover from that loss.

(12-27-2015 10:25 PM)NIUSox10 Wrote:  

(12-27-2015 09:50 PM)uiniu57 Wrote:  

(12-26-2015 12:31 PM)NIUfilmmaker Wrote:  Ironic that an EMU fan starts the unnecessary thread on our non-existent dramatic downfall.

EMU has been an FCS team on the field and in the stands for years. Can't wait for the conference to wake up and hand them their walking papers...

If you are a filmmaker, I hope you focus with the eye using the lens unlike some of your posts. If you don't consider the trio of bowl game thumpings and the pair of three-game losing streaks during 2015 to be indicative of at least a temporary dip if not a down turn, you've got blinders on.

While you and some others insist on continuing to insult our conference brethren strictly because of football, if the MAC was to start handing out "walking papers" for a lack of being competitive, NIU would be in line before EMU when it comes to overall quality. Once again, realize you and some others don't care about the entire athletic program, but the standings for the Reese Cup and Jacob Trophy have shown for years that the Huskies are in the bottom half of the league. Have you ever wondered why for all the recent administration's chest-thumping about the graduation rates of our athletes that we've never won the MAC's academic program award?
You weren't around when we had an administration that presented a false rationale for leaving the MAC and how EMU was one of our allies in getting back. Not to mention one factor in re-admitting us was due to the quality of our Olympic sports at the time. We dominated the then MCC in several sports, annually hosted multiple conference tournaments and at least contended for the overall title as an athletic program. Yeah, I know, that's history and because it's in the past, you and some others don't care. Despite playing a schedule full of non-entities a lot of folks are convinced Huskie basketball is back. Did anyone suggest the MAC give us "walking papers" while our men's and women's hoops programs sometimes didn't even qualify for the league tournament? What goes around, comes around; be careful what you wish for.

Good thing sports outside of football and basketball have no relevance in conference affiliation in 2015, otherwise you may have a point. Your statement is also probably right in the 80s and 90s, but now tv money for basketball and football dominate discussions when it involves conference membership. The past is no longer applicable because the collegiate athletic landscape has changed drastically.

Very over simplified. Maryland football and Rutgers success at anything?

It's tv market for sure, but their are plenty of other variables. When Rutgers and Maryland's endowment are are about $2 billion combined, that shows they donors, support in addition to great markets to open for B10 network, or was in the case of Colorado and Utah, decent markets for P10 network. Some schools like Boise (90 million endowment, slightly more than 1/2 of NIU...compared to 1.7 billion forTCU) were thrown a bone and criteria was a little more forgiving seeing promise and success. Much greater than NIU. NIU has nothing a P5, wants. AAC, perhaps barely. And don't give me "Chicago market." If it were so valuable, their games would be bought and picket up locally for a price, like AAC schools. No one wants to do it.
But perhaps no tv was the masterplan to get people out to the games.

(12-28-2015 12:12 PM)huskiebob Wrote:  

(12-28-2015 11:52 AM)Turner4Heisman Wrote:  

(12-27-2015 10:13 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  The recent losses in bowl games are just so way beyond meaningless that it cannot be overstated just how meaningless. The fact NIU coaches and players gave up in a football game for this one game is more concerning to me. It does not matter if this week 1 or week 14, when a team gives up you have to look at what the cause is.

So what happens if we are lucky enough to be in a position to be in the discussions of an access bowl spot and the other team is Boise? You don't think this ass kicking will come up over and over again in conversation? It will, way more than in the same year we beat a "ranked" Toledo team.

The credibility and brand of NIU football took a big hit from the debacle in San Diego. It will take a long time to recover from that loss.

I really wish I could disagree with you and MD, but unfortunately I can’t.

Why the change of attitude from the Toledo game to now? Hare goes down during the Toledo game and our guys respond and play with heart and desire to pull the upset at the Glass Bowl! Then they play hard and get the W against a pretty good Buffalo team at their place! Then the WMU game; I thought then and still do that on paper and without Hare at QB WMU just had too much talent. Our guys played with heart and passion and pulled out the W! I thought the WMU game defined our team; I was sure wrong! Ohio; I still say it looked like Ohio was playing to clinch instead of NIU playing to clinch the MAC West! Then BG hands us our butts in the MACC (again)! I get it about the QB and the season ending injury to our D tackle, but I did not see the same heart and passion I saw against Toledo, Buffalo, and especially WMU in the MACC game! Then the train wreck against Boise State! Carey was right that we did not quit; you have to show up and start to quit! As many have pointed out this is not the first time that we have not showed up in post-season MACC and bowl games! But the Boise State game was a new low in not showing up and a complete lack of heart, passion and desire! So, the change of attitude from the Toledo game until now – Ohio – bad; BG – worse; Boise State – the worst or whatever negative superlative you want! What happened, why and how to fix it are issues and appropriate questions.

The rumor about Carey getting fired for some mocking of player’s mothers before the bowl game is unbelievable for many reasons pointed out in that thread. While I have big time issues with Cole and I have issues with Carey I simply cannot believe we have any coaches that would do anything even approaching the conduct in that rumor! If we have a head coach that would participate let alone permit something like that to occur we have much bigger issues than we imagined! I did not put this in that thread as I would like to see that thread die a quick death! I have no idea what the criteria is to delete a thread and leave it to others that know the rules to make that decision. How about let's just boycott the thread?

Back to what happened, why and how to fix it are issues and appropriate questions. Yes, appropriate issues and questions to Frazier, but what about to Carey? Carey needs to act like what he is - the HC of our football program at our university! It seems to me that Frazier should be asking Carey what happened, why and how are you going to fix it? Even before that, shouldn’t Carey be doing some soul-searching and asking himself these questions? If Carey is not doing this and coming up with answers and a plan, then IMO he is not a good coach and needs to go!

(12-28-2015 12:12 PM)huskiebob Wrote:  

(12-28-2015 11:52 AM)Turner4Heisman Wrote:  

(12-27-2015 10:13 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  The recent losses in bowl games are just so way beyond meaningless that it cannot be overstated just how meaningless. The fact NIU coaches and players gave up in a football game for this one game is more concerning to me. It does not matter if this week 1 or week 14, when a team gives up you have to look at what the cause is.

So what happens if we are lucky enough to be in a position to be in the discussions of an access bowl spot and the other team is Boise? You don't think this ass kicking will come up over and over again in conversation? It will, way more than in the same year we beat a "ranked" Toledo team.

The credibility and brand of NIU football took a big hit from the debacle in San Diego. It will take a long time to recover from that loss.

The only way to recover from that is to beat our opponents next year in OOC games. And to really recover we'd have to show up and win in the bowl game too.

Hare is back. ACRB, Galladay, Huff, Duece back. 3/5 of line back and more with game experience. TE we don't throw to so does not matter Thomas back on DLine. Reload at DE. Lose Boomer but have depth. Lose Logan bet return others. Need a punter, Hagen good. Barring major injuries (Hare), we should be back in MAC West contention next year. We will Reload.

(12-28-2015 03:53 PM)klake87 Wrote:  Hare is back. ACRB, Galladay, Huff, Duece back. 3/5 of line back and more with game experience. TE we don't throw to so does not matter Thomas back on DLine. Reload at DE. Lose Boomer but have depth. Lose Logan bet return others. Need a punter, Hagen good. Barring major injuries (Hare), we should be back in MAC West contention next year. We will Reload.

But....but....until we hear otherwise, Bob Cole is back also.

Also, I would llike to see a compplete revamp of the O-line because their play was not good this year.

(12-28-2015 04:01 PM)Dog Fan Wrote:  

(12-28-2015 03:53 PM)klake87 Wrote:  Hare is back. ACRB, Galladay, Huff, Duece back. 3/5 of line back and more with game experience. TE we don't throw to so does not matter Thomas back on DLine. Reload at DE. Lose Boomer but have depth. Lose Logan bet return others. Need a punter, Hagen good. Barring major injuries (Hare), we should be back in MAC West contention next year. We will Reload.

But....but....until we hear otherwise, Bob Cole is back also.

Also, I would llike to see a compplete revamp of the O-line because their play was not good this year.

Then you'd likely have a bunch of freshmen & sophomores who have never started games before.

Hopefully once people get these ridiculous rumors and calls for full overhauls out of their system (probably still 1-2 weeks away), we can get back to the very intriguing discussion of what happens next year. On paper, the 2016 should be very strong with the returning talent, it was always looking that way.

- Was it really just a case of losing your QB/leader and having some other key injuries (ex. Thomas) that had the team completely lose it's psyche?
- Coming into 2015, the big ? was if Hare could continue to grow into what we needed at QB. At times, the answer was yes, but then you look at what he did against BC and CMU...ugh, and now with so many months off. It seems like he's the staff's guy, but if he struggles, does it open up? Graham certainly didn't help build his case with the bowl performance. Who the heck will be or should be the QB?
- Can Huff get his head out of his *ss enough to make a more even split with ACRB (or even have Huff the primary)? If so, it could make for one of the best RB duo's we've seen at NIU.
- How good can Golladay be? Pretty amazing, but he was shut down against tougher competition. If he takes the next step, you're watching the next NIU NFL draft pick.
- What's the O-line look like? Not sure we've seen a more renowned unit struggle so much at times, from the early season penalties to just getting their butts beat later in the year. Who's ready to step up?

Just a few of the questions to come...lots of exciting things to think about.

(12-28-2015 05:35 PM)BarsemaBone2 Wrote:  

(12-28-2015 04:01 PM)Dog Fan Wrote:  a complete revamp of the O-line because their play was not good this year.

Then you'd likely have a bunch of freshmen & sophomores who have never started games before.

Yes and no. Perhaps it starts with someone better able to coach linemen. Maybe revamp means a current guard would be better at tackle, perhaps move someone from the left to right side, perhaps see if a back-up defensive lineman could make the position switch. Hopefully we are always recruiting quality linemen for the future and either a freshman who proves himself or a sophomore who worked his tail off in the weight room needs to be given more reps. It's great that we had two linemen set a record for starts, but keeping the QBs from getting crunched, opening holes for the backs, or consistently executing their assignment is more important. No doubt it's not an easy task, so perhaps consider better or more frequent substitutions to keep guys fresh. Those are discussions that need to be explored or debated because DogFan is right, O-line play was inconsistent at best, and not acceptable at worst.

Looking forward to 2016 on the offensive side:

QB: It seems clear that Hare is the guy at QB, as it should be. Of course, the issue is when is he able to return and if and when he will at 100% (or at least close) to coming back from the ruptured Achilles. It sounds like any drop off in Hare’s abilities would be running the ball as opposed to passing. What the depth chart looks like after Hare is really up in the air. Is Tommy Mister going to be tried out at QB? Would we want to go in the direction of a pretty run heavy offense? Although Mister did pass for almost 1500 yards in his senior year of high school, it was high school and he clearly looks more like a run first QB. Plus, he had that knee injury and it has been almost 2 years since he has seen the field in a game! If Mister is at QB I see him emerging as the # 2, and after that it would be Maddie, Graham and Santa, perhaps in that order depending on the spring and their progress, including Maddie and Santa coming back from their injuries/surgeries.

RB: JB looks like the solid #1 for his senior year. Huff needs to get his head out of his *ss; I see this off season and spring being make or break for Huff. If he does not get his act together I can see Huff dropping on the depth chart behind the 2 freshman and Mister if he is going to be at the RB position. If Mister is at RB, I would not be surprised to see him get more and more carries, unless he is another 3 star so-so or bust! I really took Mister being the scout team player of the year as a big positive!

If things went bad with Hare next year, Mister at QB and the real Huff at RB would be an explosive backfield!

Receivers: I think we are solid and I am looking forward to seeing what Tears can do!

O-Line: I go with lots of adjustments to get the best O-Line possible! With how they played this year I would think no one has any position locked-up! Come on Coach Carey this is your specialty – no need to take it over but get the O-Line going in the right direction and keep it on track!

That leaves the Cole issue! I sure hope he is gone soon! If not, I can see the same predictable play-calling and not getting the ball into the hands of our play-makers next year problems!

1. There is a chance Hare doesn't come back anywhere near what he was.
2. Golladay is going to be shut down until we can get a decent threat on the other side.
3. AT is someone I want to see get more reps in TLLs old spot