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He probably needs to go 7-1 (8-4) to stay after yesterday's debacle. There just is little margin for error left with this season. A loss next week would be the final straw, though, and I'm a fan of Doug Martin. I really want him to succeed still.

7-5 might still be the magic record for a contract extension. Even if we lose next week, it would be mathematically possible.

The problem is if we play badly enough to lose to the 0-4 Zips ( God forbid) the kind of dramatic turnaround necessary to nearly run the table after that is emotionally and historically unlikely.

Shhhh. You hear that? That is Martin's bus leaving town. He is done. And quite frankly, the way he is playing, hopefully he will take Spencer Keith with him.

I think that we are getting too caught up in wins. I expressed my doubts about Martin 2-3 years ago. I have been quiet since because we had an AD who was not going to act. My dislike goes to the game. Martin coaches a high risk offense in which the short pass is the hand off for a glorified running play. The problem is, that with one running back, who is usually lacking muscle by D1 standards, there is no meaningful deception to the flow of the play. That system depends upon vastly superior athletes like the SEC or Michigan has, who can make it work on raw ability. It is not Spencer's fault that he is in the wrong system for what is available to him. The pressure is too great. The proof is indicated by being at the 10 yard line at the end of the game with first down and we have no strong short yardage back to take pressure off the QB. This system is turn over prone. Another thing, with this system, there is no ball possession. The opponents time of possession will almost always be more than ours. This system has to pick up yardage in chunks. This means that our defense is worn out in 4th quarters. Not their fault. I am guessing that the new AD will look much deeper than loses, and recognize that losing is revealed in the inner statistics that will indicate that the problem is, in fact, coaching.
I would not be surprised to see a change before the season ends.

I agree with looking deeper at the program than wins and losses, but I can't agree with the rest. This is not the 2005 offense of don't even try to run. There was a concerted effort made yesterday to run and some might argue, it never allowed Keith to get in a rhythm in the first half because the only passes they tried early were low-percentage deep balls after play action.

They did run on first and goal, and they had the time to even run on second down and being they had four downs to score might not have been a bad idea. But the play-calling was not the mistake. They had a slant and a flat route to the left and both were covered. Instead of throwing the ball away when it was not open, Keith tried to come back to the back side which is rarely a good idea.

Keith is supposed to be the fit for Martin's offense. Martin wants the big, strong QB like Miami has in Dysert. Keith much of last year looked like the guy who could stand tall in the pocket and wing throws in 15-20 yard range like they are nothing. Then the swing passes to the quick backs can be used when teams start to drop 7 deep. The problem is Keith has been woefully inaccurate on medium throws. I hoped that problem was only because BC and Penn State have good defenses. I wonder if the knee is an issue. He does not look comfortable.

Where are these big backs you speak of? Take Temple's Pierce out of the equation. He is not a typical MAC back. NIU hasn't had a big back since Turner. McRae from OU, Starks from UB, those guys were not big backs unless I am misremembering. The RBs are not the problem. With a serviceable passing game last year, Kent State had one of the best running games in the MAC last year without Jarvis and without a running option at QB. A 220-pound back that is available for a MAC school is too slow to play at the FBS level. That is fairly cut and dried.

Now if you want to question Martin's recruiting of receivers, I totally agree. He has not had one become a consistent threat. Bayes had the best run in 2007, but even he was very hot and cold.

(10-01-2010 07:10 PM)etc Wrote:  I'll just say this - if you're expecting the Miami team of the past couple seasons, you're in for a rude surprise.

Yea, maybe Miami will go 5-7 now instead of 3-9. :ncaabbs:

I love your quarterback and even stated so before the two teams played last year when even a lot of Miami fans did not know who he was, BUT...

If Kent State is a serious title and bowl threat, they needed to win this game. As I stated before, unless Miami is a LOT better, it was one of the easiest if not the easiest road games on the schedule.

Given how BG, Toledo and WMU flopped at home, maybe those games can all be wins. Both Ohio and BG looked cooked early in the season at times last year before making runs.

In most scenarios I would agree with firing Martin next Monday IF we lose to Akron. However, and not that I'm supporting Martin's cause, what would that get us? Other than taking out all of our frustration, that leave us where? Who is there to coach the next 7 games? Will firing him after a possible loss to our rivals get us to 7 wins?

I don't even want to think about a loss to Akron. I know they were bad last year, but they might be worse this year. They had a 36-point home conference loss Saturday.

(10-04-2010 03:03 PM)AlphaFlash Wrote:  In most scenarios I would agree with firing Martin next Monday IF we lose to Akron. However, and not that I'm supporting Martin's cause, what would that get us? Other than taking out all of our frustration, that leave us where? Who is there to coach the next 7 games? Will firing him after a possible loss to our rivals get us to 7 wins?

Sometimes it does though many times it ends up killing that teams year. I do agree that I have no idea who would replace Doug and that, in all likelihood, the team would probably do n better after a firing. That said I have not been pleased watching the team since he came (not that I was pleased before either) as they always have trouble with stupid penalties and the offense has been chronically anemic.