2018

[Clickclack]

Welp? 

 

What do we play for now? It's painfully obvious and I don't think an over-reaction to say that this season is done. One week into caa play and it's clear this team has quit, they have almost no talent on defense and get torched by everyone they go up against. 

Offense has some talent but not enough to outscore the opposition when there is almost no chance at getting stops consistently. 

Also painful obvious that Benson has doomed this program to a minimum of another 5 or 6 years of mediocrity or worse as there is zero chance they can buy Gattuso out. 

The president of the university needs to step in and start with the firing of Benson. This is a man who's athletic department has title IX issues, lawsuit, various missteps with policy and communications mixups hurting the fans etc. This extension give is just another in a long line of very poor choices. 

 

What now... This is the absolute low point in all my years of following UA football. We are told all summer this is the most talent we ever had, we are bigger, stronger... The results are the complete opposite... This team looks aweful, slow, can't tackle... This is a complete disgrace for which there is no one to answer for. 

[Clickclack]

One thing I forgot to mention... Greg Gattuso is litterally our patsos, a complete failure of a coach that they will probably need to go to extraordinary length to get rid off. 

[Eli]

Benson has done some good as far as raising funds for the program but...does that outweigh the numerous missteps? Extending Gattuso when he did nothing to earn an extension was a massive blunder. I too feel it will haunt us for the next half decade. 

At minimum, Benson should step in and force Gattuso to fire absolutely useless Bernard. The guy only has a job because Gattuso and are childhood BFFs. 

[Clickclack]

 

[Clickclack]

Wrap your head around the fact that it's year 5 and by his own words there is no natural center on the roster.. Not one. In year 5.

Edited September 11, 2018 by Clickclack

[AlbanyFan2018]

5 minutes ago, Clickclack said:

Wrap your head around the fact that it's year 5 and by his own words there is no natural center on the roster.. Not one. In year 5.

Does Scott Marr know anything about football :-)

[reeder]

Don’t know the context of the quote about not having a center but that’s the scout team offense against the first defense.  Maybe he meant he didn’t have any natural scout team centers?  

[Clickclack]

51 minutes ago, reeder said:

Don’t know the context of the quote about not having a center but that’s the scout team offense against the first defense.  Maybe he meant he didn’t have any natural scout team centers?  

With any luck that's what he's talking about.. Otherwise wow 

[jimbo]

I have to admit that I do not get this at all. Wouldn’t using a real ball be a way of developing center skills in practice? Isn’t the anticipation of a snap and the act of catching the snap and moving the ball in your hands and preparing for a pass, pitch out, handoff, etc developing QB skills?  The only thing I can think of is that they are working on something specific that has nothing to do with snap/catch and everything to do with reaction after the snap. But what do I know? Singleais sort of left the question hanging. 

[MRuler 79]

 As many on BPF know I am a former player (100 years ago...I know no one cares), a long time $$$upporter and a true fan of UA football. I am not a guru or "know it all" when it comes to football, although I am helping coach my son's youth team on Long Island and we are  kicking butt. With that said, there are several areas that I feel need to be addressed. Click, I love the passion, but sometimes like coach Ford would say "the glass may be half full." Or its possible it may be half empty lets see how the next two weeks pan out. Try and stay optimistic buddy...the sky is not falling and if GG and Benson are canned there will many, many candidates to fill these spots ASAP!!! It will not set the program back 5 years, in fact the foundation of scholarship players are in place.  It might take 1 year, but odds are a new regime would hit the ground running with many transfers etc. If a new coach were to come in he would probably keep the OC and system in IMHO and start over with the rest of the staff.  This job is a very sought after coaching post for this level. Where it concerns GG or Benson I do not have enough information to join your camp but remember, I would bet there is some kind of buyout clause in this extension ( I would guarantee it) . This is not Benson's first go around as an AD. A first year law student would insist on a buyout. 

Someone posted what is left to play for? Well for one, a free education. 63 scholarship kids would play for a degree. Second, how about a little something called PRIDE. One of the four cornerstone of our program that Coach Ford instilled is PRIDE! And finally, this team has been HUMILIATED. That's a kick in the stones when you play better against Pitt then a middle of the road Rhody squad.

Now, to the performance, absolutely awful against a decent Rhode Island team. Maybe Rhody is better than we think but time will tell. We win the next two games going away and move to 2-2. Anything short of solid wins then its time to hit the panic button. This loss reminds me of the Holy Cross game from a couple of years ago. It was ugly. These next two wins  will not solve anything when it comes to the CAA. There is two weeks to fix the D. If they struggle the next two weeks then I agree with Click that this team has quit and changes may be needed. The team does have talent, no question, it just needs to be executed against top tier competition. The good news is if we can turn the D around we have a favorable schedule this year. Wm & Mary, Towson, Stony Brook and UNH are not that good. Delaware will be tough. a 7 win season is not out of the question if the D can get it together. If not, then maybe changes are needed.

Edited September 12, 2018 by MRuler 79

[Clickclack]

1 hour ago, MRuler 79 said:

 As many on BPF know I am a former player (100 years ago...I know no one cares), a long time $$$upporter and a true fan of UA football. I am not a guru or "know it all" when it comes to football, although I am helping coach my son's youth team on Long Island and we are  kicking butt. With that said, there are several areas that I feel need to be addressed. Click, I love the passion, but sometimes like coach Ford would say "the glass may be half full." Or its possible it may be half empty lets see how the next two weeks pan out. Try and stay optimistic buddy...the sky is not falling and if GG and Benson are canned there will many, many candidates to fill these spots ASAP!!! It will not set the program back 5 years, in fact the foundation of scholarship players are in place.  It might take 1 year, but odds are a new regime would hit the ground running with many transfers etc. If a new coach were to come in he would probably keep the OC and system in IMHO and start over with the rest of the staff.  This job is a very sought after coaching post for this level. Where it concerns GG or Benson I do not have enough information to join your camp but remember, I would bet there is some kind of buyout clause in this extension ( I would guarantee it) . This is not Benson's first go around as an AD. A first year law student would insist on a buyout. 

Someone posted what is left to play for? Well for one, a free education. 63 scholarship kids would play for a degree. Second, how about a little something called PRIDE. One of the four cornerstone of our program that Coach Ford instilled is PRIDE! And finally, this team has been HUMILIATED. That's a kick in the stones when you play better against Pitt then a middle of the road Rhody squad.

Now, to the performance, absolutely awful against a decent Rhode Island team. Maybe Rhody is better than we think but time will tell. We win the next two games going away and move to 2-2. Anything short of solid wins then its time to hit the panic button. This loss reminds me of the Holy Cross game from a couple of years ago. It was ugly. These next two wins  will not solve anything when it comes to the CAA. There is two weeks to fix the D. If they struggle the next two weeks then I agree with Click that this team has quit and changes may be needed. The team does have talent, no question, it just needs to be executed against top tier competition. The good news is if we can turn the D around we have a favorable schedule this year. Wm & Mary, Towson, Stony Brook and UNH are not that good. Delaware will be tough. a 7 win season is not out of the question if the D can get it together. If not, then maybe changes are needed.

Good post...I know my passion bucket overflows a lot. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm all out of faith, like zero faith in GG. He's done nothing to earn even a hint of faith as he continues to lose. 

My concern is, the next two games are against BEYOND weak competition, these are both very poor opponents and short of winning huge and dominating every facet of the game, I don't believe it will tell us until we get back into CAA play if anything has changed. It should allow the kids to regain some confidence...if they don't come out firing on all cylinders on Saturday after being humiliated and struggle, I think you can put a fork in the season. It's now or never to take a stand against a weak opponent. 

[Eli]

2 hours ago, Clickclack said:

Good post...I know my passion bucket overflows a lot. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I'm all out of faith, like zero faith in GG. He's done nothing to earn even a hint of faith as he continues to lose. 

My concern is, the next two games are against BEYOND weak competition, these are both very poor opponents and short of winning huge and dominating every facet of the game, I don't believe it will tell us until we get back into CAA play if anything has changed. It should allow the kids to regain some confidence...if they don't come out firing on all cylinders on Saturday after being humiliated and struggle, I think you can put a fork in the season. It's now or never to take a stand against a weak opponent. 

"I'm all out of faith
This is how I feel, I'm cold and I am shamed
Lying naked on the floor
Illusion never changed
Into something real
Wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn
You're a little late
I'm already torn"
 

 

[UA_MA_2000]

On 9/12/2018 at 2:07 PM, Eli said:

"I'm all out of faith
This is how I feel, I'm cold and I am shamed
Lying naked on the floor
Illusion never changed
Into something real
Wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn
You're a little late
I'm already torn"
 

 

Lol, our new fight song? ?

[AlbanyFan2018]

Great post.

What concerned me the most with the Morgan State game was the incessant deep throws. Whether any of our QB's throw it in the air for a 60 yd TD or one of our playmakers, which we have a few of, takes a 6 yard slant to the house it still counts as six points.

We have playmakers and the aim ought to be to find higher percentage ways to get the ball into their hands, especially when plan A is a total disaster.

I am not as familiar as some with the makeup of our roster, but there are definitely some very good players on it so the recruiting definitely hasn't been a disaster.

[Eli]

Just an FYI for all:

UAlbany wins the BCS National Title in 2032 beating ODU 50-17 after going a perfect 14-0 on the year in OOC and the ACC.

No need to panic...Gattuso has 14 years more years.

(jk: this is from my dynasty in NCAA Football 14 on the XBox 360 lol)

Edited October 1, 2018 by Eli