chrisc
2nd String
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I Root For: Rice
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ESPN CUSA West preview
https://www.espn.com/college-football/st...e-usa-west
They're predicting a decent improvement in record, to 5-7 with a 37% chance of getting 6+ wins. But it seems to be mostly an artifact of our schedule, as our SP+ performance rating only jumps from 121 to 115.
Quote:Rice
Head coach: Mike Bloomgren (5-20, third year)
2019 record: 3-9 (3-5), 121st in SP+
2020 projection: 5-7 (4-4), 115th in SP+
Top returning players: LB Blaze Alldredge, RG Shea Baker, LB Treshawn Chamberlain, CB Tyrae Thornton, WR Brad Rozner
Quote:The schedule features five home games against teams projected 100th or worse in SP+, which gives the Owls a 37% chance of reaching bowl eligibility. Bloomgren doesn't have all the pieces he needs, but he's building an identity, and last year's late run provided some proof of concept.
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03-23-2020 07:10 PM |
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temchugh
1st String
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RE: ESPN CUSA West preview
Our late run came after Bloomgren gave up on his approach for the offense (i.e., we moved from mostly running directed by Bloomgren to a more balanced offense directed by the offensive coordinator). So I'm not sure how he is building an identity or how we have provided a proof of concept.
I'm not anti-Bloom; just pointing out that the ESPN piece is sports cliche, not actual reporting.
(This post was last modified: 03-24-2020 08:20 AM by temchugh.)
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03-24-2020 08:09 AM |
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ExcitedOwl18
Heisman
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RE: ESPN CUSA West preview
One advantage that we *might* have is that I believe we got 9/15 spring practices in prior to Coronavirus.
Many teams didn’t get any.
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03-24-2020 08:17 AM |
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franklyconfused
Special Teams
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RE: ESPN CUSA West preview
(03-24-2020 08:09 AM)temchugh Wrote: I'm not anti-Bloom; just pointing out that the ESPN piece is sports cliche, not actual reporting.
Agreed. Bill Connelly says more about C-USA teams than most top prominence analysts, but he still doesn't watch every game for all 130 teams. Talk below about "identity" is just parroting Bloom's power run coachspeak since he was hired.
(03-24-2020 08:09 AM)temchugh Wrote: Our late run came after Bloomgren gave up on his approach for the offense (i.e., we moved from mostly running directed by Bloomgren to a more balanced offense directed by the offensive coordinator). So I'm not sure how he is building an identity or how we have provided a proof of concept.
If the balanced offense is the new normal (and I didn't see any spring practices, so I don't know if that's likely), then maybe it's a proof of concept. Then again, maybe it worked because our competition expected us to be entirely power run and didn't prepare as much for our pass schemes as they would have if this were our base. Reasonably informed speculation won't be possible until we play Army. They'll have seen our gameplan against UH, and we can match up with them athletically.
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03-24-2020 09:33 AM |
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