I just can't see the logic in why this was a MUST WIN game. Win or lose, the result of this game has no bearing on a MAC title.

If anything, this game exposed the weakness to giving up the big play so that the team can work to better address it.

I think it also helped the team understand the importance of playing all 60 minutes. This team could have easily laid down. It didn't. The team fought back against guys who have more athletic talent.

There's a lot of work to do, but you have to be encouraged by the fight in this team.

Learn from the UVa debacle!? How did they not learn from the Howard debacle!?

I don't have a lot of hope for this unit. The secondary has been an issue for years for this defense ... and this year is no different. Failure to tackle, turn their heads in coverage, ability to cover in general. These are all things we've seen for a while now.

I just can't see the logic in why this was a MUST WIN game. Win or lose, the result of this game has no bearing on a MAC title.

If anything, this game exposed the weakness to giving up the big play so that the team can work to better address it.

I think it also helped the team understand the importance of playing all 60 minutes. This team could have easily laid down. It didn't. The team fought back against guys who have more athletic talent.

There's a lot of work to do, but you have to be encouraged by the fight in this team.

I just can't see the logic in why this was a MUST WIN game. Win or lose, the result of this game has no bearing on a MAC title.

Pitchforks are out because we've looked incompetent at times during the first 2 games. Just as we looked incompetent against Louisville, in having three punts blocked against BG...and so many other times. This is year 14 of this program.

1. What evidence points you to facts that interest in the program waning?

A. Band Day attendance was at 18,000. That game usually sells out and the fact we couldn't fill the barn for a 9 win team is a serious problem, especially considering the bands fill X number of seats.
B. Season ticket sales are not where they're supposed to be. Heard from a source it's below 6K for the first time in 5 years. Sure you can attribute it to 3 weekend games, but it's not a good sign for athletic finances. Also on this note, less season ticket holders translate to odds of development revenue off of seats being down.
C. Judging by a look at the student section, safe to say that the attendance issues are a temporary thing is wrong.
D. Just wait until Parents Weekend and Homecoming. Revenue numbers are going to be off big time this year for those games, especially because prices dropped and less people are going to show up. Basic math: less people+lower ticket price=less $$$$=budget problems.
E. Losing Marshall as a home-and-home is foolish for financial purposes. Series should have never taken a break. Simply done to ensure we could get to 8 wins a year. Our scheduling formula has gone meh for 4 years with giving UMASS a pass for being a one-night stand in the MAC. And from my contacts at Cincy, they are trying to buy themselves out of coming to Athens so let me know how that goes over.
F. And also judging by BobcatAttack, I would say activity on this site is down over the last year.

2. Do you see a big difference in the performance of these programs over the last 10 years?

A. 9.1 wins per season, 2 losing seasons, 2 bowl wins, top AP rating: #16
B. 8.0 wins per season, 2 losing seasons, 3 bowl wins, top AP ranking: #19
C. 7.8 wins per season, 1 losing season, 3 bowl wins, top AP ranking: #23

Could careless for the blind resume test. Just cherry-picked stats to make OU look half decent. Bottomline is you care to put conference championships in there? OU has a goose egg there and that is all that matters along with NIU going to the Orange Bowl along with Western has been to the Cotton Bowl.

And yes, Toledo hasn't been there yet, but our facilities right now trail their facilities big time. Looking at our facilities against the MAC, I am confident in saying our facilities are in the bottom four in the league as a whole along with other sports. Sure we have history, but history is going to crumble in a real hurry if money is not being invested in our facilities. And yes, there is a war and peace thread out there somewhere I wrote once to how to solve this problem on BA somewhere.

I agree that conference championships are an area where OU is clearly deficient. If you want to compare programs solely on conference championships (cue the Monroe rants), then yes, OU does not measure up to other programs. I am also perplexed why OU hasn't won a conference championship under Solich.

But I tend to look at the bigger overall picture of program success. And whether you call them cherry-picked stats or not, average total wins, number of losing seasons, bowl wins and highest AP ranking over a 10-year period is a pretty solid way to gauge a program's success.

And there isn't much difference in the three programs listed. Win totals for NIU are higher, but you could attribute those to the extra conference championship game wins. And we already know that's OU's weak spot.

If you want to aspire to be either of those great programs, fine. But it doesn't look like a huge leap in overall success to me. And I wouldn't call OU's efforts over the last 10 years "half decent."

Lol please explain how you plan to “have Solich retire”.