catdaddyp

Thought this one might be coming. Good luck to him.

Sounds like it’s just a way to make sure rivalries stay intact and each team plays each other at least once in 3 years time. Supposedly: Buffalo, Akron, Kent State Ohio, Miami, Ball State Toledo, Bowling Green, NIU EMU, CMU, WMU

First offer I’ve seen. WMU CB grad transfer with 2 years of eligibility remaining. Played in 11 games in 2023 with 8 total tackles, 4 pass breakups, and an interception.

Kent has caught up with us in portal entries with 8. I’m guessing Kent and NIU will have the highest in the MAC this year. NIU has a high number of HS commitments, which makes me think their staff is expecting a number of departures.

Good point about Terray Jones. Just looking at the 3rd team, Jones was just as good, if not better than Darius Alexander. I’d argue Fish was better than Kyle Moretti. Might have been one of those situations where the team record played a part? Hard to justify 7 players from a 2 win team making all conference.

KJ Jefferson will likely be headed to South Carolina to replace Spencer Rattler and reconnect with Dowell Loggains.

ALL-MAC TEAMS CJ Nunnally = 1st Team Daniel George = 2nd Team Jasaiah Gathings = 2nd Team Bryan McCoy = 3rd Team KJ Martin = 3rd Team I figured Gathings had a shot, although I didn’t think it would be 2nd team. George is a surprise. I thought he had a good year, but would be left off as he didn’t have the stats to back it up. Same with KJ Martin. Also surprised Fish was left off.

Last episode of the season. Much of what’s discussed this board has talked about at length, but worth a listen as Joe Dunn always does a great job. There is some recruiting talk near the end, though individual recruits cannot be mentioned by name until they’ve signed.

Most impactful MAC players to hit the portal so far: WR - Trayvon Rudolph (NIU) LB - Shaun Dolac (Buffalo) QB - Cole Snyder (Buffalo)

Bump for updates.

Definitely had some talent, but couldn’t quite breakthrough. I recall him making two difficult catches in one of the games this year and a number of errant throws that he had no chance on during other parts of the season. Don’t blame him for looking elsewhere as the WR room is loaded with potential. Now need a QB who can consistently get them the ball.

Bump. 2 HS LBs are currently committed.

I’ve got the whole MAC covered in the 2024 MAC Recruiting thread.

Bump for update. 1 HS DE and 2 HS DTs are currently committed.

Played less than 20 snaps this year. The majority of them coming on senior day.

I would argue Moorhead may have taken over a roster in worse shape than Arth and I can only imagine how bad Arth’s final recruiting class would have finished had there not been a change. I don’t believe there would have been any progress had Arth been retained. There are a number of reasons we’ve covered that made the 2023 season a disappointment. My point was this program is actually competitive as opposed to the previous staff’s teams. Let’s not forget the many blowouts under Arth. We can look at a number of games this season where one less dumb penalty, or one less poor decision at QB, or one more made FG could have changed the outcome of the season. The same can’t be said during Arth’s years. All that being said, the only thing that matters is wins and enough of those have not happened. Moorhead isn’t wrong. He could be getting paid a lot more somewhere else as an OC. He doesn’t need to keep saying it though.

I don’t know if it helps that much on the front end. Maybe it’s something that can be used as a tipping point in trying to sway someone that was already considering us?

I can see both sides of this. From a business front, this is a smart move and will bring the program much needed revenue. I assume the numbers are accurate from this site. It shows the athletic department is slightly in the black. Home game ticket sales account for only 2% of the revenue. And if I recall correctly, the football team didn’t even come close to their asking amount on the Day of Giving Campaign. When that’s the case, other moves must be made to fill the gaps. Yes, we will probably be manhandled. Although, if the team can hang for even a half, that can be spun positively in recruiting. I’m sure there are a number of players on the team that will be looking forward to playing on the big stage. Most (if not all) of our recruits were over looked by OSU and this will be their chance to show they belong. It’s not all negative and could be a net positive as long as this type of scheduling does not become a yearly event.

Bump for update. 2 HS interior OL are committed and 1 transfer OL is already on campus.

No, he’ll be a redshirt freshman.

Terry Bowden about to be let go at ULM.

I haven’t spoken to him or seen an offer yet, but Maddox is a kid we had on campus and were in on before the P5 offers came in.

I didn’t see the documentary (I stay away from all football documentaries and football tv shows/movies) and I get the point being made, but Joe Moorhead did not step into a situation anywhere close to what Urban Meyer inherited at Florida. Meyer also had Chris Leak at QB before the version of Tim Tebow that everyone now knows stepped into the limelight. I think the staff got just about everything they could out of the team in year 1 (or what JoeMo is now referring to as year 0) and did an excellent job defensively in year 2. Outside of the NIU game, I thought the team left it all on the field in just about every contest this season. I’m not sure what the NCAA record is, but 3 OT losses in a season must be somewhere near the top. Like I mentioned earlier, the only games I felt we were outmatched talent wise was against Kentucky, Miami, and Ohio. If recruiting continues at the current rate, I don’t see that being the case next year. Better talent, especially at QB, can cover up a lot of mistakes. I hope we see a high level of effort, reduced dumb penalties, and better coaching to complement next year’s talent.

I don’t subscribe to the Beacon. Did the article have anything beyond what was said at the press conference? I went back and compared records under the previous staff: 2019-2021: 30 games played 3 games decided by 1 score or less 3 wins Compared to: 2022-2023: 24 games played 13 games decided by 1 score or less 4 wins Being competitive is no longer an issue, but the wins need to come in 2024. Otherwise the support question may have some legs by the end of next season.

The OL and DL are almost always the biggest issues in turnaround situations. We were fortunate to land some solid DL that could contribute immediately in the last two cycles. OL is harder to come by. We hit a home run in the portal with Whigan, but were unable to replace his production after he ran out of eligibility. Landers was also a home run as a freshman before we lost him for whatever issues (grades?) and didn’t really have an adequate replacement. Blanchard seemed to be coming on before his injury. T. Williams, K. Davis, James, Morris, and Mann are all athletic and have plenty of upside. Unfortunately, T. Williams was the only one of the young bunch to fully contribute this year. I think Blanchard and Kindred will turn out to be portal successes, but injuries hampered them this season. For the most part, outside of Frank and T. Williams, we were still heavily reliant on the previous staff’s OL recruits in 2023. I know it’s an old mantra, but that’s basically where we’re at unless we somehow land a few plug and plays out the portal. Agree the discipline isn’t always where it needs to be. So many dumb penalties this year. It has to be cleaned up.