The Tipping Point

[AstroCajun]

I've been thinking about this past football season. What went well, what didn't. So permit me to give my thoughts as to why we are where we are.

And no offense to our Blue Raider friends, but I blame Middle Tennessee.

Think back to Homecoming. Remember how big the crowd was? How packed the Cajun Walk was? The anticipation was like none I’ve witnessed at Cajun Field. And the thought that was going through my mind was that finally we were “there.” Our program was “there.”

“There” was the tipping point. I told every person I ran into that the MT game would be the tipping point. Win, and we’d see a new level of support–probably like we’d never seen before. Lose, and, well, I didn’t want to think about losing.

I’ll never forget the fire and intensity that our guys had coming out of the tunnel. MT stole that from us.

Had we won that game, the support that would have followed would have been nothing short of amazing. I am convinced of that. Had we won, we’d have had that much more confidence going on the road to Troy. And a win at MT would have been there to take the sting out of a road loss to Troy.

Forget about the NT debacle, confidence from beating a good MT team would have never let that happen.

It would have been something to see what the Cajuns could do with a fully energized fan base.

Well, we all know we didn’t win. And we all know what the results are. A 6-6 finish which, despite the past decade of futility, feels like a failure. And you know it feels like a failure when a 4 win ULM is more optimistic right now about their outlook than we are.

It’s going to take us some time to get back to that “tipping point.” It may not even happen in 2007, but there really isn’t any reason why it can’t either. It’s going to take momentum, confidence, and no small amount of good luck. We are not going to make it there without any of them.

So I say we should look forward to the next “tipping point” whenever it comes. And when we do see it coming, we need to jump on it. Next time, maybe we can swing it our way.

Wouldn’t that be something?

[Just1More]

And no offense to our Blue Raider friends, but I blame Middle Tennessee.

I’ll never forget the fire and intensity that our guys had coming out of the tunnel. MT stole that from us.

That is an odd way of looking at it. MT did what they had to do, and we didn't. It is crying over spilled milk now, but we simply didn't have as complete of a package as we thought we did. My major hope now is that the new coaches, changes on both sides of the ball, and some hungry players, will take care of our business better. We cannot control how good or fired up the opponent is... we have to have excellent coaching and outstanding player execution. Then, tally up the results... wins --> higher attendance --> larger financial contributions --> wins... simple formula.

[AstroCajun]

That is an odd way of looking at it. MT did what they had to do, and we didn't. It is crying over spilled milk now, but we simply didn't have as complete of a package as we thought we did. My major hope now is that the new coaches, changes on both sides of the ball, and some hungry players, will take care of our business better. We cannot control how good or fired up the opponent is... we have to have excellent coaching and outstanding player execution. Then, tally up the results... wins --> higher attendance --> larger financial contributions --> wins... simple formula.

You miss my focus. I'm not REALLY blaming MT, nor am I taking anything away from them. That's the window dressing of my real point, which you do get in your calculation.

I'm just suggesting that the MT game was the tipping point. Had we gotten that win, you'd have seen this program on a different trajectory, and we wouldn't be having this discussion.

[Zeebart21]

You miss my focus. I'm not REALLY blaming MT, nor am I taking anything away from them. That's the window dressing of my real point, which you do get in your calculation.

I'm just suggesting that the MT game was the tipping point. Had we gotten that win, you'd have seen this program on a different trajectory, and we wouldn't be having this discussion.

A tragic day it was. If the game would have been half as good as the tailgaiting, we'd have won by 20.

Z.

[Just1More]

You miss my focus. I'm not REALLY blaming MT, nor am I taking anything away from them. That's the window dressing of my real point, which you do get in your calculation.

I'm just suggesting that the MT game was the tipping point. Had we gotten that win, you'd have seen this program on a different trajectory, and we wouldn't be having this discussion.

I didn't think you were silly enough to mean it literally, but it was an odd statement. I totally agree that it was a pivotal point, and we pivoted the wrong way. I actually think the slide occured prior to MT. I believe we got high on preseason projections, down on ourselves for LSU and aTm, then got too high after Houston, and thus the rollercoaster went.

As long as we are talking about it... I really hope that we get a defensive system that is absolutely geared for high energy, attack-the-ball playing style. Totally opposite from that, I would like to see a calm confidence instilled in our offense. Two absolutely opposite mentalities. I heard people complain that Bustle shows no emotion on the sideline, and doesn't jump on someone within eyesight of the fans. I disagree totally. I do not want to see any offensive coaches doing anything but re-enforcing flawless execution. On the contrary, I want reckless abandonment on defense. I cannot stand over-thinking defenses. Make them learn tackling technique, position requirements for specific offensive sets, then wide, full open aggression. I hate to bring LSU into the argument... but Saban and Muschamp had that defense absolutely stoked during gametime... all the way from start to finish. They didn't come out of the tunnel all fired up and jumping up and down... only to be standing motionless after 10 minutes into the game. That is a coaching staff's responsibility. Maintain proper levels of excitement and aggression. There was questionable play-calling this year, and some pretty useless technique and execution at times... but a focused, confident offense... and a massively aggressive start to finish defense is the biggest difference maker on gameday.

[RCAJUN90]

That is an odd way of looking at it. MT did what they had to do, and we didn't. It is crying over spilled milk now, but we simply didn't have as complete of a package as we thought we did. My major hope now is that the new coaches, changes on both sides of the ball, and some hungry players, will take care of our business better. We cannot control how good or fired up the opponent is... we have to have excellent coaching and outstanding player execution. Then, tally up the results... wins --> higher attendance --> larger financial contributions --> wins... simple formula.

I must agree. You take victory. We were more than capable of beating MT. It can be argued they had a better game plan or they wanted it more but they deserve it. I also agree that game was a season killer. The crowd walked away same old Cajuns.