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Post by FUBeAR on Oct 14, 2019 13:15:06 GMT -5
Per Massey Ratings today, Mercer is projected to ‘lose out’ (losing 10 games in a row) & finish the 2019 season with a 2-10 / 1-7 record.
Date Opponent Result PF PA
Sat 08-31 at W Carolina 111 (1-5) W 49 27
Sat 09-07 at Presbyterian 126 (0-6) W 45 7
Sat 09-14 Austin Peay 51 (4-2) L 34 48
Sat 09-21 at Furman 15 (4-2) L 10 45
Sat 09-28 Campbell 85 (4-1) L 27 34
Sat 10-05 Chattanooga 59 (3-3) L 17 34
Sat 10-19 03:00.PM.ET VMI 68 (4-3) 44% 35 38
Sat 10-26 02:00.PM.ET at Citadel 63 (3-4) 29% 28 35
Sat 11-02 07:00.PM.ET Samford 62 (3-4) 31 % 35 42
Sat 11-09 03:00.PM.ET Wofford 47 (3-2) 21% 24 35
Sat 11-16 01:00.PM.ET at ETSU 78 (2-4) 34% 24 30
Sat 11-23 at North Carolina (3-3) 0% 7 48
These were the kinds of projections we saw for Mercer’s 1st Team in 2013.
That Team refused to buy into the negative hype & just went out & won games against opponents who were bigger, were far more experienced, and ranked well ahead of the (new) Bears in every poll / rating, finishing the season 10-2 / 6-2.
This 2019 Team is capable of doing the same & finishing 6-2 in the SoCon. Outside of, possibly, the UNC game, I just don’t see an ‘unwinnable’ game on the remaining schedule.
That said, to win ANY of the remaining games will require much better Blocking & Tackling, much better level of all-around execution, a much higher level of effort, and more creativity / risk-taking in all 3 phases of the game. There is not a Team on the remaining schedule that Mercer can simply ‘out-athlete.’ There were only 2 of those on this year’s schedule & those are Mercer’s 2 wins. But, also, other than, possibly, UNC, there’s not another Team remaining that can simply ‘out-athlete’ Mercer.
Winning any other game this season will require out-executing, out-efforting, and out-thinking/Coaching the other Team.
Love to see the Bear’s Players & Coaches decide to do those things & spoil these predictions.
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Post by BearDownMU on Oct 15, 2019 19:30:44 GMT -5
Agree on all counts.
I'm really hoping the bye week gave everyone, players and coaches alike, a chance to get their bodies right, and get their MINDS right. I believe the talent is there, but I think everyone has got to be prepared to play, and prepared to leave it all out there.
Not to mention, this ain't your mama's VMI coming into town this weekend. This team gets after and their RB1 is the real deal. QB is pretty good too. Not only are they capable of winning, but if we come out flat or interested, we could not only lose, but get rolled over.
I'm confident we will be ready.
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Spoilers?
Oct 17, 2019 16:51:38 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by MU96 on Oct 17, 2019 16:51:38 GMT -5
VMI beat The Citadel who beat Georgia Tech. Get ready for a bruising if not an an embarrassment. I've been criticized on here this season by calling for change, but the University should clean house. Alumni and friends have contributed way too much for the team to be irrelevant in FCS, not to mention the smaller field in the conference. In the off season, hire a big name coach (pay him!). Coach Lamb got us going, but he's basically by himself now, the original coaching staff is gone. 10-2 in year one was unexpected and amazing. The magic is now gone. Shake it up. Pres. Underwood and AD Cole need to get off their thumbs, or maybe they should go. Geez..
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Post by BearDownMU on Oct 17, 2019 19:42:54 GMT -5
VMI beat The Citadel who beat Georgia Tech. Get ready for a bruising if not an an embarrassment. I've been criticized on here this season by calling for change, but the University should clean house. Alumni and friends have contributed way too much for the team to be irrelevant in FCS, not to mention the smaller field in the conference. In the off season, hire a big name coach (pay him!). Coach Lamb got us going, but he's basically by himself now, the original coaching staff is gone. 10-2 in year one was unexpected and amazing. The magic is now gone. Shake it up. Pres. Underwood and AD Cole need to get off their thumbs, or maybe they should go. Geez.. So, you're going with the transitive theory as actually meaning something. Let me try. VMI lost to Robert Morris, and they only beat Western Carolina by 10 points and we beat them by 22, and Western didn't even play the SoCon preseason player of the year Tyrie Adams in the VMI game. Get ready for Mercer to win by 50! Lol. No one has criticized you for calling for a change. I'm OK with a change. I criticized you for trying to make the decision on who starts at QB about race, and for somehow thinking that the backup QB is better than the starter, with pretty much all the evidence being to the contrary. Also, since we are talking about coaching. I've done a little research myself about who some potential candidates might be. So, since we are having a discussion, tell me what you mean by "big name". Seriously, give me some suggestions. And, also, how, at the FCS level, you think how much we spend is somehow a direct corollary to how successful a coach is going to be, and, more importantly, how that person is a good fit for what the program needs. I'll wait on bated breath. |
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Post by FUBeAR on Oct 17, 2019 20:46:54 GMT -5
VMI beat The Citadel who beat Georgia Tech. Get ready for a bruising if not an an embarrassment. I've been criticized on here this season by calling for change, but the University should clean house. Alumni and friends have contributed way too much for the team to be irrelevant in FCS, not to mention the smaller field in the conference. In the off season, hire a big name coach (pay him!). Coach Lamb got us going, but he's basically by himself now, the original coaching staff is gone. 10-2 in year one was unexpected and amazing. The magic is now gone. Shake it up. Pres. Underwood and AD Cole need to get off their thumbs, or maybe they should go. Geez.. I'll wait on bated breath.  |
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Post by smokeybear on Oct 18, 2019 9:18:17 GMT -5
"Big Name" at this level means a retread failed coach. Hard pass.
If a change is made, George Quarles of Furman should be interviewed.
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Post by BearDownMU on Oct 18, 2019 13:50:06 GMT -5
"Big Name" at this level means a retread failed coach. Hard pass. If a change is made, George Quarles of Furman should be interviewed. Agreed. |
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Spoilers?
Oct 18, 2019 16:03:55 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by FUBeAR on Oct 18, 2019 16:03:55 GMT -5
Let me be clear about something before I weigh in on the topic this thread has turned to...I 100% expect Mercer to reel off 5 straight big SoCon wins & ‘hang around’ with UNC, as they did with Auburn in 2017, but perhaps with a positive result. And with those wins @ 7-5 (7-4 FCS) / 6-2 SoCon or 8-4 / 6-2 SoCon, I expect the Bears to get an at-large Playoff bid...rendering this entire conversation moot.
But, if something should go awfully awry...
Let’s talk about the ‘elephant in the room’ - current Samford Head Coach, Chris Hatcher.
While he is being roundly shelled in Birmingham for having one of the worst defenses in FCS, never having a running game of any merit, never winning a SoCon Championship, never winning an FCS Playoff game, all despite having an NFL Starting-quality QB & numerous Starting-NFL-quality DLmen & DB’s; he does have a cadre of vocal & loyal supporters in Macon.
I found a recent comment on his weekly ‘show’ exceedingly odd. He was asked what he sensed about Samford’s Football Team in practice this week after losing to perennial SoCon doormat, VMI, the week after being totally curb-stomped at home by Furman...
He began his response by indicating that this week he had spoken, in his hometown of Macon, to the Macon Touchdown Club, for the 19th year in a row.
Non sequitur much? Watch for yourself (2:10)
Is he really actively politicking for a Head Coaching job, that is not open, on media targeted toward fans of the Team he currently Coaches?
I don’t know.
So - intelligent posters...if the unexpected happens & Mercer makes a change at the end of this season, is Chris Hatcher someone that should be considered as a possible candidate for the job?
What say you?
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Post by smokeybear on Oct 19, 2019 21:09:37 GMT -5
No
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Spoilers?
Oct 20, 2019 5:31:14 GMT -5
via mobile
Post by MUfan on Oct 20, 2019 5:31:14 GMT -5
Hatcher ?
No thanks.
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Post by BearDownMU on Oct 20, 2019 10:03:19 GMT -5
Hard pass
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Post by FUBeAR on Oct 20, 2019 11:33:06 GMT -5
Yeah - Probably right.
He seems to be a great guy, so if you went to school with him in Macon, or know him from his 19 straight years of speaking to the Macon Touchdown Club, or are thinking about his results as a D2 Head Coach (only); I could see having an affinity for him and letting that affinity lead to the belief that he would be a good Head Coach candidate for Mercer Football...IF, as I stated earlier, this season finishes counter to my expectations AND a decision is made to make a change.
...BUT, the facts are that he just hasn’t produced positive results - if positive results are defined as winning games & Championships - in 13 seasons as the Head Coach of 3 different FCS / 1AA programs - Georgia Southern, Murray State, and Samford. His FCS career winning % currently stands @ .524 overall & .500 in-conference. He has never had a Team win an FCS Conference Championship as his Teams’ best Conference finishes have been tied for 2nd place once & 1 outright 2nd place finish, again...in 13 seasons as a Head Coach. At Samford, they HAVE received 2 Playoff at-large invitations, but lost, each time, in their 1st Playoff game.
Nothing about the results obtained in those 13 seasons suggests that Coach Hatcher could come to Mercer and exceed going 5-6, maybe 6-5, and finishing in the middle of the SoCon pack.
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Post by FUBeAR on Oct 20, 2019 22:04:13 GMT -5
VMI beat The Citadel who beat Georgia Tech. Get ready for a bruising if not an an embarrassment. Well - you were half right. Mercer certainly got ‘bruised’ with the injuries to Riddle, Coneway, et al...but I don’t think any Mercer Fans, Players, or Coaches were embarrassed Saturday night. Looks like Mercer Football is about, let’s see...13+3=16 points better than Georgia Tech Football. I was a little disappointed as I had projected a 45-35 Mercer win... Mercer, much healthier (but still without game-changer Durden), finds some of what they had on O to start the season & does enough on D to slow down the marsupial marauders. In fact, they pick QB “U” for the 1st time this season; heck, I think they even get 2 off of him. Bears win 45-35.
Just a few points off on the spread & I’ll give myself a weather-related handicap for being a little high in my scoring prediction. But also, I really didn’t expect Mercer’s D to keep VMI out of the end zone for the 1st 3 quarters - that’s impressive! They were averaging scoring 3 TD’s in the 1st 3 quarters in all of their prior SoCon games. I think the Bears might have caught the Keydets reveling in a bit of their own glory after their big win over Samford the prior week. The bellhops will spare no amount of reveling this week as they celebrate a rare victory over Furman last Saturday. Another great opportunity for the Bears to be “Spoilers of the SoCon.” |
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Post by bonafidebear on Oct 23, 2019 8:22:52 GMT -5
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Post by BearDownMU on Oct 23, 2019 9:02:07 GMT -5
I think he has the right resume and I'm sure he'll have a number of FCS head coaching opportunities. That being said, I'm not going to lie to you. I have zero... Actually scratch that... I have less than zero interest in seeing Mercer put in the Wing T and run 21 Dive forty times a game. Yuk. |
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