BWK I knew today more people would be into the Saints failure in Cleveland than the Cajuns expected loss in Oxford. I did address the Cajuns early in the show.
Last week I wrote a pretty direct piece on the Cajuns failure at Louisiana Tech...and the loss did get discussed although it wasn't on Monday because of a breaking story.... a story that YOU took and ran with and set up the entire show.
My friend, I don't know crap about what you do. And, you know just as much about my job. But I still love ya.
The saints loss was disappointing and worthy of discussion as always but while the Cajuns were not necessarily expected to go in and win at Ole Miss, the nature of being "big time" is to not get destroyed like we did and that certainly deserves discussion as well. The fact that we haven't been competitive the last two games is what is weighing on people's minds, not the fact that we lost both games.
Under Hud, in OOC games, we are (take from it what you will):
0-7 - P5 - avg. loss 48-24
6-1 - G5 - avg. win 31-27
Here are the P5 games we have played under Hud - no wins to date:
2011
Ok State - 61-34 L
Arizona - 45-37 L
2012
OK State - 65-24 L
Florida - 27-20 L
2013
Arkansas 35-14 L
Kansas State 48-27 L
2014
Ole Miss 56-15 L
Here are the G5 OOC games we have played under Hud:
2011
Kent State 20-12 W
SDSU 32-30 W (N.O. Bowl)
2012
Tulane 41-13 W
E. Carolina 43-34 W (N.O. Bowl)
2013
Akron 35-30 W
Tulane 24-21 W (N.O. Bowl)
2014
LA Tech 48-20 L
Boise State - TBD
The goal is obviously to become big time, but I think people have a gross misunderstanding of how much time, money, momentum, and effort it takes to become big time. We've still got a ton of work to do before we start recruiting on the same level as other "big time" programs.
Who cares about those that have the "gross misunderstanding"? The people that I read and listen to are people that have extremely realistic expectations, and have enough non emotional cognitive function to analyze and discuss college football.
They (we) are talking about showing improvement in the battle for a "W" against teams that are talented and well coached. Is it really a "gross misunderstanding" to expect to play football well enough against those competitors, to at least be in the contest at some point... with a Hudspeth team in his 4th year at the helm... after three 9 win seasons?
And when did Tech become a "big time" opponent? We've got a ton of work to do in our coaching department that has absolutely nothing to do with recruiting/talent... in order to even be somewhat competitive against decent teams.
This nonsense that leaps the conversation from detailing some flaws that need to be addressed... to "big time" talk... is a torpedo move to just shut down all criticism... and it is BS.
This athletic program has never been able to "seize the moment." Money, bricks, extra seating, raising salaries, and capital campaigns only go so far. Until you knock off a major team every now and then, you will never get the respect you are thirsting for. I have followed UL athletics for a while, and every time one of the major sports has the opportunity to take the next step the ball is dropped. I'm not sure why this happens but it always does. We have been told that our recruiting is on another level, I have some reservations about that. So we can talk about improving facilities, X's and O's, and the name issue all we want. But until you knock off Florida like you had a chance to do two years ago, until we win a NCAA game in basketball, and until we win a Super-Regional like we could have it all doesn't matter.
Yes, I know this. But the fact is that we are little better off, than we were 4 years ago. We were not beaten by Latech, but were humiliated, and we were already out of the Miss. game before the first quarter was done. If I am paying extra, then I want extra. I see no progress and only back sliding with his recruits. But I will not blame this on those kids. This goes squarely on the shoulders of Hud and staff! We are being out coached. If McNeese can take Nebraska to the wire, then we should at least at this point be in the game. We are not!
You're reading me wrong here. I'm not saying you shouldn't criticize the coaching staff. You should. It's on them and them alone.
And no, I certainly don't consider Tech to be big time.
I'm talking about program building here. It's one thing to rise above Sun Belt, MAC, and C-USA schools. Its not that hard to do since these schools have about the same resources we do. It's a much different thing to start to compete with and beat SEC and Big XII schools. That's big time. They have big time stadiums, facilities, prestige, and money. We're not going to start out recruiting those schools any time soon. I think lots of people here had unrealistic expectations about us competing with these major conference schools. We're not there yet. I think we have a chance to get there, but that's a much, much bigger mountain to climb.
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