The fault dear Brutus lies not in the stars but in ourselves

[huff60]

Of course coaching is critical , but at a certain level it comes down to the players. Are they good enough, determined enough? And let’s not talk about luck.
Bill Russell was asked about luck . His answer? “ Yeah, I believe it’s unlucky to lose.”

 

[stu4don]

Rollie Massimino once told us at basketball camp: "The harder you work, the luckier you get." Great coach.

 

[huff60]

Yes, I know that one too. Great quote. My point is this. Saturday night, no excuses.

 

[Toby Smart]

After getting creamed in the first half of my HS football game, Coach Martin walked into the locker room and wrote in nice big letters "No Guts", then he and all the coaches left the locker room for us players to ponder that which he left us. We promptly went out in the second half giving up 21 more points, never getting past midfield, on our way to a 49-0 spanking. This was 1970 and not sure that halftime "speech" would ever take place now. The parents would have a hissy fit.

 

[tbonesays]

When I clicked I thought Ohio State had suspended their mascot

 

[notredamerises23]

After getting creamed in the first half of my HS football game, Coach Martin walked into the locker room and wrote in nice big letters "No Guts", then he and all the coaches left the locker room for us players to ponder that which he left us. We promptly went out in the second half giving up 21 more points, never getting past midfield, on our way to a 49-0 spanking. This was 1970 and not sure that halftime "speech" would ever take place now. The parents would have a hissy fit.

I’ve been in games like that one on both sides. 99% of the time it doesn’t have much to do with “guts,” but rather some team is simply quite a bit better than he other team. When one team can’t get past midfield, it has no5ingntomdomwirh “guts.” Maybe it wasn’t the case in this game, but it usually is.

One time, we played a new school that didn’t have seniors (players transferred from another district school and they only had frosh and sophs the first year, and then juniors the second year when the school played varsity), and they couldn’t do anything. Conversely, we had another geme in which the other team had two future Div I Olinemen who were also Dlinemen. They completely dominated and try as we might, we had to double team both when they were on defense which made runnignnthe offense impossible. When they were on offense, those two were creating huge holes and we had to commit too much on defense leaving us ripe for the taking on playaction one-on-one routes.

 

[notredamerises23]

Of course coaching is critical , but at a certain level it comes down to the players. Are they good enough, determined enough? And let’s not talk about luck.
Bill Russell was asked about luck . His answer? “ Yeah, I believe it’s unlucky to lose.”

Only teams that are far and beyond superior aren’t that affected by luck and even they are. Other teams, most teams, mere mortals, are. We got extraordinarily unlucky lots of times and we got lucky lots of times. The football is a oddly shaped bell and there are series bounces, lucky fumbles, lucky breaks when people fall down, etc. Luck csn make the difference between 9-3 and 11-1,between 5-7 and 8-4. Happens every gsme and every season.

 

[tbonesays]

Only teams that are far and beyond superior aren’t that affected by luck and even they are. Other teams, most teams, mere mortals, are. We got extraordinarily unlucky lots of times and we got lucky lots of times. The football is a oddly shaped bell and there are series bounces, lucky fumbles, lucky breaks when people fall down, etc. Luck csn make the difference between 9-3 and 11-1,between 5-7 and 8-4. Happens every gsme and every season.

True but we have an unusually large sample size, in a world where sample sizes are very small in college football. Very few programs get a decade with one head coach to have the luck even out.

For example ND got mostly bad bounces in 2011 and good ones in 2012 pre-CG.