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(11-21-2025 11:46 AM)CockyBronc3 Wrote:  

(11-20-2025 05:17 PM)ejd_5277 Wrote:  

(11-20-2025 03:29 PM)CockyBronc3 Wrote:  Haha, you are crazy if you think this style of winning is going to improve recruiting. It might attract lineman who like to run block and it will definitely attract running backs. But, there isn't a WR or TE who will want to stay here or come here. Why would they?

There is so much BS here that I don’t even know where to start. Let’s break it down.

For starters, Walt Bell in the past has run pass-heavy schemes everywhere he’s been prior to here. Why do you think that maybe he decided to change it up this year? Remember, we started the season in East Lansing with the “throwing quarterback” (Jones) under center. Our first offensive play of the season was a 35-yard dime to Talique. And you think Walt doesn’t want to throw the ball????

I’ve been as hard on Bell as anyone on this board, and it took him WAY too long to diagnose the issues, but to his and LT’s credit, when it became obvious that Brady Jones wasn’t a good decision-maker, they made the switch, and they changed up the scheme TO FIT BROC LOWRY’S SKILL SET. I’ll ask you one more time: what is hard to understand about this? Broc is fine in the short/intermediate game but he’s is simply NOT a downfield passer, and when you have a guy that can run through people like he does, why on earth would you not utilize that?????

Quote:And I am not pissing on Coach Taylor's success. If this is how he has figured out how to win, it’s working. It just isn't good for the next few years of the program.

Pissing on him is exactly what you’re doing, and you know it. As many others have pointed out to you, there is close to ZERO correlation between this year’s offense and future success. For as many receivers as may be “scared off,” (another thing you’re wrong about but that’s a different conversation) we might get that many more players who would be successful in this offense.

Quote:If we stay this one dimensional we will get slaughtered in a bowl game against a low level P4 school. But if our goal is to just get a bowl game, then I guess it is a victory.

Also false. As I pointed out above we tried to be a “passing offense” in our first 3 OOC games (including against 2 P4’s) and it got us literally nowhere. You’ll have to explain to us this correlation that you’ve invented in your head.

Quote:For those saying that we don't have the talent to do anything but what we have been doing... how would we know? What have we used? I would say we don't have enough talent at OC to be able to use what we have, but the talent is there at the skill positions. Lowry set a school record for passing yards in high school. Top rated QB cong out of high school. I am pretty sure he can pass if we actually let him. Tailique Williams, Baylin Brooks and Aveion Chenault are good WRs. They may not be heading to the NFL right now, but they are defnitely good enough to be getting balls thrown to them in the MAC. We have a pre-season 1st team all conference TE who could end the year with more punt receptions than actual receptions. Going into the season he was being talked about as a potential NFL guy.

No, we DO know. Did you not watch the Michigan State/UNT/Illinois games? Jones was close to an unmitigated disaster. We’ve used everything in our arsenal, and in the end we had to use what works if we wanted to win any football games. Guess what? This is working so we’re sticking with it. It doesn’t matter if opponents know exactly what’s coming and they still can’t stop it.

Quote:All I am saying is that we need to win the conference this year cause I don't see us having a chance for the next several years because this years style of football is going to set us back in all the skill positions. If we can win with the style we are playing, I have to imagine if we had an OC that could call a balanced game, we would be winning by higher margins, competing against better teams out of conference and actually drawing recruits here instead of scaring them away.

Hopefully we can get to Detroit and bring it home.

I categorically disagree with this for all the reasons i mentioned above.

I guess time will tell. It will be easy to tell who is correct. I will happily eat crow if this year starts some sort of dynasty of winning. I think the results would have been different in the MSU, UNT, Illinois games if we would have run a similar game plan with Lowry at QB, but I think running the game plan we are currently running would have been the same or worse. But, there's no way to know. We will find out soon enough though if what I am thinking winds up being true.

Well I only really see two ways that a “dynasty” is possible at this point. One, we find the unicorn coach that is willing to stick around for a long time. I doubt this is LT. Not saying I begrudge him for it or anything, but at his age and career path I’m sure he’s hoping to move up. Second, if we somehow accrue an NIL $ pool that outpaces the rest of the conference. There’s a lot of money around Kzoo so maybe that’s possible but I have no idea about the shadowy NIL world and where WMU stands. I keep hearing Toledo is at the top of the MAC for NIL money but idk.

I think the offense has been a little more creative then 'run it up the middle'.

It hasn't been a problem in the MAC, but I think it could be a problem in our Bowl Game. Some of our possible matchups would have much better run defenses.

I'd have liked to have seen a decent pass attempt or 2 vs NIU in the 2nd half. I don't think they'd have been ready for it. But why break what was working

Quote:Well I only really see two ways that a “dynasty” is possible at this point. One, we find the unicorn coach that is willing to stick around for a long time. I doubt this is LT. Not saying I begrudge him for it or anything, but at his age and career path I’m sure he’s hoping to move up. Second, if we somehow accrue an NIL $ pool that outpaces the rest of the conference. There’s a lot of money around Kzoo so maybe that’s possible but I have no idea about the shadowy NIL world and where WMU stands. I keep hearing Toledo is at the top of the MAC for NIL money but idk.

Dynasty? We are back on the coaching carousel again. If you want a "MAC dynasty" football head coach you need to step back and take a page from either Ohio U or Miami. Pick a winning head coach who wants to be here and stay the course. Take a look at Chuck Martin's record at Miami: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Mart..._football)

Tim Lester wanted to be here. He was a HC/OC wrapped into one. I think if Lester had found the right defensive coordinator we would be on top of the MAC year in and out. IMO, chasing after the next hot head coach is not the solution -- at least not in MAC.

(11-21-2025 08:38 PM)Bronco14 Wrote:  I think the offense has been a little more creative then 'run it up the middle'.

It hasn't been a problem in the MAC, but I think it could be a problem in our Bowl Game. Some of our possible matchups would have much better run defenses.

I'd have liked to have seen a decent pass attempt or 2 vs NIU in the 2nd half. I don't think they'd have been ready for it. But why break what was working

The object is to get the ball into the End Zone.

How you do it doesn't really matter all that much.

Except for the "fans" who want to be entertained, the ones who would rather see a long incompletion than a well-blocked and executed run that gains six yards.

We were never going to win with Tim in charge. The one-point loss to Akron and OT loss at Ball State early in his tenure should’ve been major red flags. They were concerning enough at the time, but that should’ve made it painfully obvious that we wouldn’t get over the hump with his obsession of sticking to his analytics book. Attempting fourth down conversions at the rate LT has (even this season alone) would be antithetical to his meek coaching demeanor. He got two to three seasons too many. Going 2-4 against Eastern is the **** clowns do.


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Well, let's not count chickens yet. Blowing the "clincher" against a big underdog Tuesday would be no better than those times Lester and Cubit did the same.

That said, no one except maybe bronco1988 would've thought we'd be sitting at 7-4 right now, with wins over Toledo and Ohio and road win at DeKalb. At least through this point, it's been a very good season which exceeded expectations.

(11-22-2025 09:59 AM)Motown Bronco Wrote:  Well, let's not count chickens yet. Blowing the "clincher" against a big underdog Tuesday would be no better than those times Lester and Cubit did the same.

That said, no one except maybe bronco1988 would've thought we'd be sitting at 7-4 right now, with wins over Toledo and Ohio and road win at DeKalb. At least through this point, it's been a very good season which exceeded expectations.

Yeah, this season is already good enough to continue the general upward trajectory the staff has had. Certainly don’t think Taylor will go into next year feeling any heat regardless of what happens. That said a loss at EMU (particularly if it knocks WMU out) is gonna leave the fanbase wondering if this staff is the same old story when November rolls around.

Side note, it’s kind of crazy that there are scenarios where WMU or others make the MACC and still finish .500. I don’t know if this is unrealistic but I hope the conference can find some OOC success in the near future.

(11-22-2025 07:34 AM)schwebbs84 Wrote:  We were never going to win with Tim in charge. The one-point loss to Akron and OT loss at Ball State early in his tenure should’ve been major red flags. They were concerning enough at the time, but that should’ve made it painfully obvious that we wouldn’t get over the hump with his obsession of sticking to his analytics book. Attempting fourth down conversions at the rate LT has (even this season alone) would be antithetical to his meek coaching demeanor. He got two to three seasons too many. Going 2-4 against Eastern is the **** clowns do.


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Lester would have at least one MACC game if it had not been for an absolute downpour in Dekalb back in 2019(?). Plus, EMU was never a guaranteed win under Creighton. He has taken EMU to bowl games 6 out of 11 years. Iowa is now 7-4 with losses in the single digits with Lester as OC.

+1
Iowa's football offense ranks near the bottom nationally in several key statistics, with particularly low rankings in total yards (119th), points per game (125th), and passing yards per game (130th). While the offense struggles, the team's defense is ranked much higher, often in the top 10 nationally.

Less with more is Lester's M.O.

(11-23-2025 08:11 AM)Rockbronco Wrote:  +1
Iowa's football offense ranks near the bottom nationally in several key statistics, with particularly low rankings in total yards (119th), points per game (125th), and passing yards per game (130th). While the offense struggles, the team's defense is ranked much higher, often in the top 10 nationally.

Lester had our "total offense" output at #12 in the nation at the end of the 2021 season. He'll need some time to get them there but I'd bet they'll improve drastically in the near future.