"We are a young football team"

[BuffsRising]

Hawk isn't losing his job the next three years, unless we go 3-29.

The schedule, other than Texas and OSU on the road, looks a little more doable next year. We can win 10 games. But only if the o-line is in one piece.

 

[Buffarino]

So, you would have fired Mac?

Hard to say. I was only 10 when he took over so I didn't follow this stuff nearly as closely back then.

But just because Mac turned things around like he did doesn't mean Hawk will, too. I would love to believe Hawk is the second coming of coach Mac, but I seriously doubt it will play out like that (although I certainly hope it will).

 

[SJBuff]

I'd be okay with even 6 wins in '09 provided the buffs show solid improvement in all facets of the game over the course of the season and it's very clear that our losses are due experience gaps and not talent gaps.

Next year is year 4 for Hawk and in my mind that means there should be no holes when it comes to talent. He's had enough time to get the guys he wants into the program so there should be no excuses about talent gaps or talent fits within the system. I am willing to accept that in year 4 not all the talent may have the experience they need to get 10 wins but by year 4 it should be obvious we got the right guys and we just need to coach them up and get them working together. (Solder at OT for example - the right guy, just needs some seasoning)

So, if next year Hansen's kicking ass running the ball and the running game as a whole is becoming formidable but he's still a little green and inconsistent in the passing game, I'm okay with that. Or, our young DT's show improvement with flashes of brilliance on occasion but get beat a few times a game that really cost us, I won't like it but I'll live with it.

On the other hand, a deal breaker for me is one game with the kind of stupid mental screw ups we saw on special teams this year. Those were a coaching problems and Hawk better have those closed by next year or he should be done.

 

[DBT]

...He's had enough time to get the guys he wants into the program so there should be no excuses about talent gaps or talent fits within the system....

I sort of disagree. His first year he had just a matter of weeks to pull a class together. Last year was his first full year of recruiting and he had an exceptional class. This year is, really, only his second class, IMO. So, basically, his recruits are only freshmen and a few sophomores.

 

[sackman]

I sort of disagree. His first year he had just a matter of weeks to pull a class together. Last year was his first full year of recruiting and he had an exceptional class. This year is, really, only his second class, IMO. So, basically, his recruits are only freshmen and a few sophomores.

No, this would be his third real class. Cody was the "star" of his first class, Miller the star of the second, and Scott the third.

 

[buffaholic]

No, this would be his third real class. Cody was the "star" of his first class, Miller the star of the second, and Scott the third.

Yup. And this year you'll pretty much see Hawk recruits at every position for the first time and it's unlikely you'll see too many true freshmen.

Hawk's first year almost everyone redshirted. I think only Brace, Sipili, and C. Brown played.

Hawk's 2nd year 5 True Frosh played: Smith, Celestine, Lockridge, Miller, Vaiomounga played. Celestine and Vaiomounga are now gone.

Hawk's 3rd year 8 true Frosh played: Hansen, Scott, Davis, Stewart, Deehan, MTM, Cunningham, and Mahnke all played. I think we would have seen either Major or Katoa if they were able to play.

These numbers had as much to do with readiness as it did with "needs".

Next year, I don't see much room for anyone to play other than a couple WR's and maybe a DL or two. Need driven of course.

 

[buffaholic]

Next year, I don't see much room for anyone to play....

"anyone" meaning "any 2009 recruits"

 

[SkiTownUSA]

"anyone" meaning "any 2009 recruits"

That would be a good thing. Hopefully that would mean our team is healthy and would allow the opportunity for our frosh to RS.

 

[Crash Davis]

These posts saying "next year there should be no excuses" make me :lol:

How do you know what's going to happen next year? We had a sh!t storm of injuries this year, and the odds of it happening again are probably small, but what's to say it couldn't happen again? What if we have more key academic/discipline casualties? How do you pass judgement on next year when next year hasn't even started?

 

[Darth Snow]

These posts saying "next year there should be no excuses" make me :lol:

How do you know what's going to happen next year? We had a sh!t storm of injuries this year, and the odds of it happening again are probably small, but what's to say it couldn't happen again? What if we have more key academic/discipline casualties? How do you pass judgement on next year when next year hasn't even started?

easy. we have absolutely nothing better to do

 

[Duff Man]

These posts saying "next year there should be no excuses" make me :lol:

How do you know what's going to happen next year? We had a sh!t storm of injuries this year, and the odds of it happening again are probably small, but what's to say it couldn't happen again? What if we have more key academic/discipline casualties? How do you pass judgement on next year when next year hasn't even started?

Injuries are a valid excuse.

But if we have more academic/discipline issues this offseason, it's time for the coaches to take some heat. I'm absolutely sick of hearing guys not getting it done in the classroom and getting in trouble off the field. If we're losing 4-5 potential impact players to these types of issues, I don't want to hear any excuses about it, the coaches need to get that **** figured out.

 

[calibuff81]

We do have a very young team, but Hawk is on year 4 now it's far enough into his tenure where he's already had enough time to implement his style of football where his players should be able to grasp on to. Our offense looked ok at times but these kids should be able to run his offense better next year. I'm sure we're all just asking and praying that one of the QB's will break out during the spring and take over this football team. Our D needs help from the offensive, they need to put some points on the board. We've got the talent, I wouldn't be surprise if it came down to us and NU battling it out for the North next year. If we can pull off 8 or 9 wins next year then we'll be headed into the right direction and we'll be a really tough team to deal with because of our young team.

 

[Darth Snow]

We do have a very young team, but Hawk is on year 4 now it's far enough into his tenure where he's already had enough time to implement his style of football where his players should be able to grasp on to. Our offense looked ok at times but these kids should be able to run his offense better next year. I'm sure we're all just asking and praying that one of the QB's will break out during the spring and take over this football team. Our D needs help from the offensive, they need to put some points on the board. We've got the talent, I wouldn't be surprise if it came down to us and NU battling it out for the North next year. If we can pull off 8 or 9 wins next year then we'll be headed into the right direction and we'll be a really tough team to deal with because of our young team.

we did have a QB break out in the spring. Cody looked absolutely great all through spring and fall. He looked great against CSU. He led us back against EWU (god I hate that he had to do that) despite the fact that he was on his ass most of the game...

He looked like a god in the first 6 minutes of the WVU game. After that, something happened...

 

[calibuff81]

we did have a QB break out in the spring. Cody looked absolutely great all through spring and fall. He looked great against CSU. He led us back against EWU (god I hate that he had to do that) despite the fact that he was on his ass most of the game...

He looked like a god in the first 6 minutes of the WVU game. After that, something happened...

He didn't really break out, just the other QB's weren't really doing anything. He looked like a god against CSU, but looked like a dud many other times. I just don't think he's the answer to our QB problem. I'm sure everyone's hoping for Hansen or Ballenger to step up.

With a healthy OL and a deep talented backfield next year we should be much better, anything less than 8 wins would be highly disappointed....

 

[Daaah]

He didn't really break out, just the other QB's weren't really doing anything. He looked like a god against CSU, but looked like a dud many other times. I just don't think he's the answer to our QB problem. I'm sure everyone's hoping for Hansen or Ballenger to step up.

With a healthy OL and a deep talented backfield next year we should be much better, anything less than 8 wins would be highly disappointed....

Personally, I'm hoping Hansen steps up. Bally looked kinda slow and lumbering, without a terrific arm to make up for it. Cody can be effective if he has an awesome line around him to give him time and confidence. But I just don't see that. Yeah, our line certainly has potential, but I just think that next year we are still pretty inexperienced and we need a quarterback that can get away from the rush when need be.

Hansen needs to learn to step up into the pocket and make a throw.

 

[Darth Snow]

Personally, I'm hoping Hansen steps up. Bally looked kinda slow and lumbering, without a terrific arm to make up for it. Cody can be effective if he has an awesome line around him to give him time and confidence. But I just don't see that. Yeah, our line certainly has potential, but I just think that next year we are still pretty inexperienced and we need a quarterback that can get away from the rush when need be.

Hansen needs to learn to step up into the pocket and make a throw.

as I said in the 10 win predictions thread, I think Hawk saying that means Hansen would need to improve immeasurably to win the starting job. This team can't win more than 8 games if it is gonna go through more growing pains at the QB position...

So get used to Cody, and get used to me trying to defend him .
Note: I would be ****ing stoked if Hansen looked amazing and won the job. :gobuffs:

 

[Daaah]

as I said in the 10 win predictions thread, I think Hawk saying that means Hansen would need to improve immeasurably to win the starting job. This team can't win more than 8 games if it is gonna go through more growing pains at the QB position...

So get used to Cody, and get used to me trying to defend him .
Note: I would be ****ing stoked if Hansen looked amazing and won the job. :gobuffs:

Eh... I dunno, Hansen looked pretty close to as effective as Cody last year to me.

 

[Darth Snow]

Eh... I dunno, Hansen looked pretty close to as effective as Cody last year to me.

uhhh what? ISU game? Talk about a difference.

 

[calibuff81]

Eh... I dunno, Hansen looked pretty close to as effective as Cody last year to me.

Hansen needs a good off season of lifting weights and learning the playbook. If he can get a little bit bigger and learn the playbook i'm sure he'll be a more efficient QB than cody will. It just seems like everytime we throw the ball with Cody a ball is either getting batted down or he's rolling out tossing it for 3 or 4 yards. We've got some huge OL playing next year, you can't get the ball to your receivers if you can't see over your OL.

 

[Daaah]

uhhh what? ISU game? Talk about a difference.

Yeah. That game was certainly an exception.

 

[Darth Snow]

Yeah. That game was certainly an exception.

only game where hansen looked like a solid passing QB was KSU, and even then I think he was lucky to get away with only one INT.

I would love you to point out one game where he looked like a better passing QB.

 

[sackman]

IMO, Hansen's got to be the guy. He will have all of Spring, all of fall camp, and the first three games of the year to figure stuff out before the first challenge of the year in Morgantown. His learning curve was very steep his freshman year, but it's about to get a lot flatter. By the end of fall camp, there shouldn't be any difference at all between him and Cody in terms of knowledge of the playbook.

 

[dio]

IMO, Hansen's got to be the guy. He will have all of Spring, all of fall camp, and the first three games of the year to figure stuff out before the first challenge of the year in Morgantown. His learning curve was very steep his freshman year, but it's about to get a lot flatter. By the end of fall camp, there shouldn't be any difference at all between him and Cody in terms of knowledge of the playbook.

:yeahthat:

He did well considering they burned his RS and he was true-freshman. Give him a year of coaching and learning, and he should be much more effective.

 

[Daaah]

only game where hansen looked like a solid passing QB was KSU, and even then I think he was lucky to get away with only one INT.

I would love you to point out one game where he looked like a better passing QB.

I don't think I said he was a better passing qb. I thought I said that they were nearly as effective throughout the whole season.

Hopefully, as Hansen gets some real full-time experience with the ones, a bit more confidence and experience with the college game, and learns not to make stupid throws (remember Cody's first half of the season 2 years ago) he will be able to emerge as the type of QB that can be a difference-maker.

 

[Darth Snow]

I don't think I said he was a better passing qb. I thought I said that they were nearly as effective throughout the whole season.

Hopefully, as Hansen gets some real full-time experience with the ones, a bit more confidence and experience with the college game, and learns not to make stupid throws (remember Cody's first half of the season 2 years ago) he will be able to emerge as the type of QB that can be a difference-maker.

I hope he does better than that. My argument is simply that he needs to do better than that. A 10 win team can't afford to lose games it has chances to win because of poor QB play. Sacky's counterargument that it also has to win games it shouldn't because of great QB play is definitely valid... But I think that only applies if Hansen comes on strong. I am pulling for him to do so(I don't care who plays QB if we win 10 games :lol

 

[BuffsRising]

If Hansen and Hawkins are roughly tied at the end of fall practices next year, you have to give the ball to Hansen. But neither one of them is going to be effective if our line plays like it did this year.

 

[calibuff81]

I hope he does better than that. My argument is simply that he needs to do better than that. A 10 win team can't afford to lose games it has chances to win because of poor QB play. Sacky's counterargument that it also has to win games it shouldn't because of great QB play is definitely valid... But I think that only applies if Hansen comes on strong. I am pulling for him to do so(I don't care who plays QB if we win 10 games :lol

True, our D has been rocky at times too but our Offensive still needs to step it up and put some points on the board.

I wonder if Dan Fouts still feels the same way about Ballanger?

It'll be tough to get 10 wins next year, 7 or 8 is very managable with a good shot at the big 12 north next year. We've got more all around talent then the other big 12 north schools but we're still very far away from playing with the big boys from the Big 12 South.

 

[Duff Man]

It'll be tough to get 10 wins next year, 7 or 8 is very managable with a good shot at the big 12 north next year. We've got more all around talent then the other big 12 north schools but we're still very far away from playing with the big boys from the Big 12 South.

We do?

 

[Junction]

(I don't care who plays QB if we win 10 games :lol

:yeahthat:

I guess my problem is that I don't see Hawk giving us the great play we need to win extra games, or Hansen avoiding the pitfalls that would lead to a couple extra losses - at least not next season. Which is one reason I'm not the one picking them to win 10 games... Let's hope Coach Hawk has something up his sleeve to justify that prediction... :gobuffs:

 

[calibuff81]

We do?

Kansas has a QB who can pull out some victories for them, Chase and Maclin will be gone that's if Maclin leaves for the draft. We can compete with NU know that already, ISU is ISU and Kstate is rebuilding once again.....