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Lost to mediocre SEC Arkansas
Beat FCS KSU
Beat MAC Miami
Beat lowly B10 IU
Beat lowly Tulsa by 10
Beat lowly USF by 4

Grade C+

Left @SMU, UCF, Temple
Left @ Nip Navy, ECU, Tulane

Current record of teams they've played = 14-21
Current record of teams yet to play = 18-14

It would be hard not to grade last season an "A" so I'll give this squad a "B+" at the end of the first half of the campaign. Arkansas was a tough place to start the season with so many new faces in key roles. And save a few miscues, it was close enough it could have been a win.

Had we walked out of Nippert yesterday with a 30 point win, it would have made no difference in the conference standings this morning. Win and move on to SMU.

(10-09-2022 10:00 AM)doss2 Wrote:  Lost to mediocre SEC Arkansas
Beat FCS KSU
Beat MAC Miami
Beat lowly B10 IU
Beat lowly Tulsa by 10
Beat lowly USF by 4

Grade C+

Left @SMU, UCF, Temple
Left @ Nip Navy, ECU, Tulane

Ranked #21 in both polls is a C+? Must be a big bell curve in that class.

(10-09-2022 11:24 AM)Cat-Man Wrote:  Current record of teams they've played = 14-21
Current record of teams yet to play = 18-14

5 of those 21 losses were to the #21 team in the country.

Solid B. Replacing 9 nfl draft picks including the best defensive rookie in the NFL and the best qb in modern uc history... they're 5-1 and have mostly been dominant even with some mistake filed stretches. The front 7 has mostly been exceptional on defense. The offense has been explosive. They need to clean some stuff up on both sides of the ball for consistency. Arkansas was a huge missed opportunity and they really struggled Saturday.... but hard to expect perfection. There's a ton to like.

I think we're good enough to beat all the chumps left on our schedule and get the NY6 game, so that's good.

However, I don't think it's beyond belief that we could also drop a game too.

We either need to get Bryant to be a threat to run or Prater to be a threat to pass. If that happens, we're tough to beat.

We should've beaten Arkansas. We've had some periods where our offense can't do a dang thing. Defense has pulled it's weight.

B-

B….
Haven’t played anyone good. Lost to a sub-mediocre Arkansas team. I imagine we lose at UCF and against Tulane. Anything less than making the AAC Championship game would be a failing grade.

(10-09-2022 08:56 PM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote:  B….
Haven’t played anyone good. Lost to a sub-mediocre Arkansas team. I imagine we lose at UCF and against Tulane. Anything less than making the AAC Championship game would be a failing grade.

This is kinda where i'm at. it's a pass-fail situation. We win the NY6 bowl game, Coach Fickell and Co. get a Passing grade. Anything short of that is a failure.

We are the class of the American this season. Conference championships are nice but the bar has been raised.

I said at the beginning of the year I was between 10-2 and 9-3, and it looks like that is still probably the case. @UCF is clearly going to be the toughest game left on the schedule IMO simply with the struggles we have with mobile QBs and being away from home.

Giving a grade overall, I'd say a solid 'B' or above average overall.

B+ grade. To be nearly undefeated after all the player losses from last year and Renfro out is a testament to our quality depth and to our staff. Say what you want about the weakness of the AAC...to still be in the hunt to capture a third consecutive conference chip and a third consecutive NY6 bowl is rareified air for anyone outside of Clemson, Bama, Ohio State and Georgia. Tell me another G5 program that has come anywhere close to us during this three year run. I would only give an A grade if we were undefeated. I also would remind you that we have a BIG target on our back this year for not only the reasons stated above but because this is our final tour in the American. Every team wants to take down the champs who are leaving for a power conference. Sometimes I think we get too caught up on wanting style points instead of appreciating a team/players/staff that finds ways to stack wins together despite our faults/limitations.

(10-09-2022 08:56 PM)Billy_Bearcat Wrote:  B….
Haven’t played anyone good. Lost to a sub-mediocre Arkansas team. I imagine we lose at UCF and against Tulane. Anything less than making the AAC Championship game would be a failing grade.

This team could lose to SMU or UCF this year, but no way do they allow a team to come to Nippert and win. Especially a game on Senior Day.

This is becoming a Virginia Slims ad from the 1970's...We've come a long way, Baby.

Fans are stating we are overrated.

#big time now

Our fans are delusional, and never content with being good. Once we lost the opener, what does it matter what happens in the polls. As long as we take care of business in conference, we should get the NY6 bowl.

I have a coworker that just got season tickets for football this season. When we win comfortably, he complains about the competition. If we win a close one, he complains that we're not good and we should have won by 30. In a way it's comical.

(10-09-2022 10:01 PM)UCGrad1992 Wrote:  B+ grade. To be nearly undefeated after all the player losses from last year and Renfro out is a testament to our quality depth and to our staff. Say what you want about the weakness of the AAC...to still be in the hunt to capture a third consecutive conference chip and a third consecutive NY6 bowl is rareified air for anyone outside of Clemson, Bama, Ohio State and Georgia. Tell me another G5 program that has come anywhere close to us during this three year run. I would only give an A grade if we were undefeated. I also would remind you that we have a BIG target on our back this year for not only the reasons stated above but because this is our final tour in the American. Every team wants to take down the champs who are leaving for a power conference. Sometimes I think we get too caught up on wanting style points instead of appreciating a team/players/staff that finds ways to stack wins together despite our faults/limitations.

Bolded, there is no denying this fact. Tulsa and USF certainly played as if both teams wanted to beat a "reigning CFP semi-finalist" and future B12 team in what may be the final matchups ever. We should expect that every week now; a 27+ point spread isn't helpful for preparation for any conference game and we'll see double digit spreads in several remaining games.

Giving this team a grade now is like giving a kid in school a grade for just showing up for class before taking any tests. The Arkansas game was like a placement test to see where they were at, so that one will be discounted. Let's revisit this thread after the next 2 games. Everyone probably agrees at that time we will have a better handle on how good this team really is.

But if you HAD to put a grade on it now, it can't be no lower than a B, because they are exactly where almost everyone thought they'd be at this point in the season. Beat everyone they were supposed to. They drop to a B because of how they've looked at times.

Solid B

My expectations are higher than earlier in Fickell's tenure due to the program he's built. Loss by 7 on the road to a solid SEC team keeps it from being A range but also from C range.

If this team can find any type of consistency both offensively (long drives/1st downs not just long scoring plays), defensively (it's been stout I know), and special teams (primarily FG kicking) they will be a darn tough team to beat moving forward. If they remain as inconsistent as they've been thus far I'd be surprised if they don't drop 1 or 2 more.

I always believe teams like Arkansas/Indiana are far tougher early in the season when they still have hopes of "this is our year". Imagine the difference of playing 3-0 indiana vs the broken down version they'll be in the back third of their schedule. I felt the same way last year, like we got their confident best shot.

(10-10-2022 09:35 AM)cincy7718 Wrote:  I always believe teams like Arkansas/Indiana are far tougher early in the season when they still have hopes of "this is our year". Imagine the difference of playing 3-0 indiana vs the broken down version they'll be in the back third of their schedule. I felt the same way last year, like we got their confident best shot.

That's a great observation. IU had suffered a tough loss at Iowa last season and returned home with lots of bluster, confident of beating what their fans regarded as a "decent, but G5 team" to set up a bowl eligible season. Hopes dashed. Ditto for IU this year after a 3-0 start that was more mirage than oasis.

I still see a 9-3 campaign for UC but I'm optimistic it could be better. This UC team is capable of losing @ SMU, but I doubt it happens from what I've seen of the Mustangs so far this year. Going into UCF off a win in Dallas would take some pressure off that game for UC making a two road game sweep possible.

(10-10-2022 09:13 AM)Cat-Man Wrote:  Giving this team a grade now is like giving a kid in school a grade for just showing up for class before taking any tests. The Arkansas game was like a placement test to see where they were at, so that one will be discounted. Let's revisit this thread after the next 2 games. Everyone probably agrees at that time we will have a better handle on how good this team really is.

But if you HAD to put a grade on it now, it can't be no lower than a B, because they are exactly where almost everyone thought they'd be at this point in the season. Beat everyone they were supposed to. They drop to a B because of how they've looked at times.

I agree, we've played one team with a real pulse and got beat. IU/Miami/Tulsa/USF not horrendous competition, but not good either. Back of schedule is loaded except Temple. Going to be interesting.