5: o/u Lamar wins this season?

[royallion05]

@JJ

 

I watched the game, we practically let them score twice at the end of that game. It was a whipping by my estimation.

 

You do realize we were on the verge of going up 31-13 on you guys in the third quarter ... we turned it over five times, including once inside the Lamar 10 on our first drive ... credit goes to Lamar for taking advantage of our mistakes, but we handed you two games in a row on a silver platter.

[JJWooten]

@JJ

 

I watched the game, we practically let them score twice at the end of that game. It was a whipping by my estimation.

 

I also watched the game because it was an SLCTV game. If you let them score (even at the end), it's not a whipping.

[austin badbyrd]

My pick: 7-5 sticking my neck out

 

Reason: Depth at RB, better defense schemes, improved line play, much more variety on offense.

 

W - Prairie View, Langston, McMurry, Nicholls, SE La., UCA (yeah, upset), and McNeese (just because)

 

L - UL (but could be a good starting if we play them close) Hawai'i, SFA (until they prove they can beat them) Sam Houston (same as SFA), Northwestern (but if we are on a roll this could be a W)

[nickels]

 

SHSU-L (But a very close game as they are going to take Lamar lightly after the last few years)

 

I have them going 7-5 so over. I think they could possibly win one of those games against UCA, SHSU, and SFA if the ball bounces their way.

lamar lost to sam 66-0 last year and sam could of put 80-100 on them. sam returns just about everyone while lamar doesnt return near as much and has question marks at key posistions. last year, lamar had problems beating nicholls, sela and incarnate word (who scored 35 on lamar!, incarnate word 35 points?); a new div 2 team and two of the worst in the fcs who can barely keep their athletic programs afloat. last year lamar lost to nw state, sam, uca, tx st, sfa and mcneese a combined 301-89. Did lamar get a new head coach and entirely new defense this off season? Even if lamar improved tremendously this summer and the transfers play 100% to their potential, lamar still has a long way to go to compete with top tier southland teams and just thinking lamar is going to make it close game with sam and sfa during a rebuilding year (though it was never actually built) while these programs are hitting their stride is past delusional (closer? maybe, close? hell no).

 

4 - 5 MAX, 6 is way pushing it...

 

Have you been following Lamar football at all?! Before you make an idiot of your self again you might want to go and see who Lamar has added, who they have lost, and all of the coaching changes that have been made. There ain't anyone hanging 66 on LU this year. And with the potential of this offense they are going to hang with the big boys this year. They are still a year away, no one is going to argue that, but I can just about promise you there arn't going to be any major blowouts to any teams.

 

The reason IMO that the SHSU game is going to be close is because of the scores the last few years. They will take Lamar lightly and Lamar is not a team that they should taken lightly this year. I never said they would beat them, I just said it is going to be a close game.

Because I give my own opinion in a discussion board I'm an idiot? Thats kinda snarky... Lamar has added some nice unproven transfers, but theres a reason they transferred they didnt live up to their expected potential. Some work out and are successful but most dont. FBS Transfers shouldnt be counted on their first year with the program but its a nice bonus when they contribute or take a starting spot. You have new coaches and a head coach that more half of this board wanted fired last season. Honestly, how many notable returning starters are there? a handful? You also have question marks on the OL (this board will confirm that). Who's going to be taking the snaps for the Cardinals this season?

 

Im not saying Lamar is destined for endless failure, im only saying there are more question marks than answers and to claim this team will be much better (which they would need to be to knock off/compete with the improved top tier teams of the Southland) is jumping the gun. You have to crawl before you can walk but alot of LU fans don't understand that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest bossman73]

we will win if O-LINE does it's job!!!!

 

[Guest LU 17]

Hey Nickels, Flanders, your FBS transfer was a pretty good contributor his freshman year. If you watched LU Football, even the games we won, you could see the attitude issues we had. I think we have taken care of most of those issues. We are also still putting this program together. I think we will be improved from last year in the coaching as well as Player talent. Nobody is saying we will go undefeated, but improvement is progress. I seriously doubt any team we played was 70 points better than we were. We played McNeese tough thru the the 3rd qtr, and then we started with pick 6's. The score looked like a blow out, but it really wasn't.

[Guest BigRed2010]

Because I give my own opinion in a discussion board I'm an idiot? Thats kinda snarky... Lamar has added some nice unproven transfers, but theres a reason they transferred they didnt live up to their expected potential. Some work out and are successful but most dont. FBS Transfers shouldnt be counted on their first year with the program but its a nice bonus when they contribute or take a starting spot. You have new coaches and a head coach that more half of this board wanted fired last season. Honestly, how many notable returning starters are there? a handful? You also have question marks on the OL (this board will confirm that). Who's going to be taking the snaps for the Cardinals this season?

 

Im not saying Lamar is destined for endless failure, im only saying there are more question marks than answers and to claim this team will be much better (which they would need to be to knock off/compete with the improved top tier teams of the Southland) is jumping the gun. You have to crawl before you can walk but alot of LU fans don't understand that.

The reason some players transfer from FBS are not because "they didn't live up to expected potential", some leave because they just want playing time. Yes, some get in some sort of trouble, but not all. Some just want to be closer to their hometown. Why did Flanders leave Kansas State? He's a very good player that wanted playing time. Some transfer for different reasons, not necessarily that they don't live up to expected potential.

I don't think more than half of this board wanted Ray Woodard fired, I sure didn't and don't want him to be fired. Lamar is re-starting a football program in the heart of football country. There are many college football programs within a few hours drive of Beaumont,Texas. This is not any easy undertaking by any stretch of the imagination. This is going to take some time and we are hardly going to be an endless failure.

You are right we have to crawl before we can walk. We are getting there. I think the first few games of this year might be kinda of ugly, again. I'm hoping towards the end of the year with our new coaching staff we start to look like a real FCS football team. A team that looks like it is well coached. I'm predicting probably a 5-7 year. Maybe, we can upset one of the following UCA, NWSt, or McNeese to go 6-6.

[kingkat99]

Id argue that if you lived up to your potential youd be getting more playing time and wouldnt need to transfer. Flanders was decent his first season, he stayed hurt a good chunk of the second half of that season mainly because they rode him too hard the first half. Tyrik Rollison transfer from Auburn was the number 1 dual threat QB in the nation and expected to do great things but he got hurt in fall camp and never saw the field and thats how Bell got the nod a couple years ago, Blake Joseph QB transfer from U of H ended up mediocore at best. The list is a lot longer but I wont bore you with SH history. My point is and I think Nickels point is we all get excited about transfers and potential but lots of things on and off the field. This is a good time of year for all football fans cause everyone is undefeated right now.

[Bearkat 41]

Hey Nickels, Flanders, your FBS transfer was a pretty good contributor his freshman year. If you watched LU Football, even the games we won, you could see the attitude issues we had. I think we have taken care of most of those issues. We are also still putting this program together. I think we will be improved from last year in the coaching as well as Player talent. Nobody is saying we will go undefeated, but improvement is progress. I seriously doubt any team we played was 70 points better than we were. We played McNeese tough thru the the 3rd qtr, and then we started with pick 6's. The score looked like a blow out, but it really wasn't.

 

I should sure as heck hope that no teams were 70 points better than you, or any other team for that matter. Yes a 66-0 or whatever scores SFA has put up on Lamar the last two years can look like a dumpster fire, but as many have pointed out, attitude can cause a lot of points to be put up on a board as well. I went to the Sam-LU game last year and there was an obvious difference in talent between the two teams, but an even greater difference in swagger. I remember one of the LU guys was chirping at the SHSU sideline before the Kats kicked off after going up 21-0 in the first quarter and several Sam players on the sideline literally laughed and looked around to see if anyone else saw this guy making an idiot of himself. By the end of the game there were a lot of Lamar players who flat out quit and weren't willing to put forth the effort to compete which probably a factor in the score ballooning to 66-0 and Sam's third string running back to run for 135 yards, although he is a pretty good back, just burried on the depth chart.

 

My guess wold be that we won't see any big blow outs this year for Lamar. Woodard in my opinion is a good coach and he is well aware that Rome was not built in a day. Steady improvement by the Cards will give reason to believe that they will be competing for a playoff spot in the future.

[coachacola]

I think the blowout losses were due to several factors. Woodards admitted that it was a mistake for him to run the defense last year, that's why he brought in Bill Bradley. Also, by the time Lamar was playing SHSU and SFA injuries on the defensive side were taking their toll. The depth of the team just wasn't there yet. I also think playing SHSU and SFA back-to-back sure doesn't help.

 

I count 3 starters gone from the defense who started at least 7 games (DB Hayter, DE Jackson and LB Hicks). Also gone are part time DB starters Allen and Clark, DT Foster, and LB Coleman. But several starters will be back from injuries (Sesay and Washington), plus add the new players combined with better coaching and that adds up to an improved defense.

[kingkat99]

Did you guys lose a lot offensively?

[Big T]

We lost our QB, which wasn't much of a loss, and all but one of our O-Linemen which happens to be our center, this also wasn't much of a loss. We also lost our two best WRs.

 

We have a transfer form Kentucky at QB named Ryan Mossakowski, We have supposedly have several very good JUCO and high school guys coming in to replace the o-line, and we picked up some very nice peices at the WR position including a transfer from OKST. So yes we lost a lot from last year, but at the same time we lost very little.

[Guest BigRed2010]

I think the blowout losses were due to several factors. Woodards admitted that it was a mistake for him to run the defense last year, that's why he brought in Bill Bradley. Also, by the time Lamar was playing SHSU and SFA injuries on the defensive side were taking their toll. The depth of the team just wasn't there yet. I also think playing SHSU and SFA back-to-back sure doesn't help.

 

I count 3 starters gone from the defense who started at least 7 games (DB Hayter, DE Jackson and LB Hicks). Also gone are part time DB starters Allen and Clark, DT Foster, and LB Coleman. But several starters will be back from injuries (Sesay and Washington), plus add the new players combined with better coaching and that adds up to an improved defense.

 

I think another thing that killed our defense was the play of our special teams. Time and again, our opponents would start their drives anywhere from the 35-50 yd line. Our kickoffs were terrible and our coverage was terrible. With the change in the new kickoff rule and this kid kicking off, our opponents should be starting more at the 25yd line. This should help our defense, IMO. Hopefully, what was a weakness for the Cardinals now becomes a strength.

 

http://www.chrissailerkicking.com/player-profiles/2012/3173/PlayerProfile.html

http://www.kansascity.com/2012/07/18/3712413/change-on-the-kickoff.html

[coachacola]

I think the blowout losses were due to several factors. Woodards admitted that it was a mistake for him to run the defense last year, that's why he brought in Bill Bradley. Also, by the time Lamar was playing SHSU and SFA injuries on the defensive side were taking their toll. The depth of the team just wasn't there yet. I also think playing SHSU and SFA back-to-back sure doesn't help.

 

I count 3 starters gone from the defense who started at least 7 games (DB Hayter, DE Jackson and LB Hicks). Also gone are part time DB starters Allen and Clark, DT Foster, and LB Coleman. But several starters will be back from injuries (Sesay and Washington), plus add the new players combined with better coaching and that adds up to an improved defense.

 

I think another thing that killed our defense was the play of our special teams. Time and again, our opponents would start their drives anywhere from the 35-50 yd line. Our kickoffs were terrible and our coverage was terrible. With the change in the new kickoff rule and this kid kicking off, our opponents should be starting more at the 25yd line. This should help our defense, IMO. Hopefully, what was a weakness for the Cardinals now becomes a strength.

 

http://www.chrissailerkicking.com/player-profiles/2012/3173/PlayerProfile.html

http://www.kansascity.com/2012/07/18/3712413/change-on-the-kickoff.html

 

You're right, I forget all about that. Lamar made it easy for the other team to score. Coach McKnight has a lot of experience teaching special teams so we should be a big improvement in that area too.

[Guest CardAmbassador]

Good point about the Kick offs I forgot all about Alex Ball. Anyone heard about how he is doing, I hope his leg holds up so that field position will be strength this year.

[DJLocal]

I think we can win closer to 8 this season. Also is not as much about wins and loses and more who we beat and lose to.

[nickels]

I think we can win closer to 8 this season. Also is not as much about wins and loses and more who we beat and lose to.

just curious, what 8 games do you think lamar will win?

[JJWooten]

I think we can win closer to 8 this season. Also is not as much about wins and loses and more who we beat and lose to.

 

8 games? Really? Please elaborate...

[Mike t]

Good point about the Kick offs I forgot all about Alex Ball. Anyone heard about how he is doing, I hope his leg holds up so that field position will be strength this year.

 

From what I have seen he is doing well. He seems to be running good. I haven't had the chance to see him kick though.

[DJLocal]

I think we can win closer to 8 this season. Also is not as much about wins and loses and more who we beat and lose to.

 

8 games? Really? Please elaborate...

 

Wins

Prairie View A&M

Langston

Southeastern

Northwestern

McMurry

CA

Nichols

McNeese

 

Loses

ULL

Hawaii

SFA

Sam

 

I have talked to some players and they feel this is where they should be at. Maybe move the O/U to 7

 

[nickels]

I think we can win closer to 8 this season. Also is not as much about wins and loses and more who we beat and lose to.

 

8 games? Really? Please elaborate...

 

Wins

Prairie View A&M

Langston

Southeastern

Northwestern

McMurry

CA

Nichols

McNeese

 

Loses

ULL

Hawaii

SFA

Sam

 

I have talked to some players and they feel this is where they should be at. Maybe move the O/U to 7

thanks for the laughs...

[JJWooten]

McNeese at the beginning of the season, maybe a win. McNeese at the end of the season (based on how previous teams have ended their season), not so much.

 

I think UCA/NWST is a toss-up. I, personally, think you'll lose both, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a surprise win of 1 of them, not both.

 

Nichols/SELA should both be wins, but I wouldn't be surprised to see 1 loss out of there on a last second drive or something.

 

Langston/McMurry shouldn't even be on the schedule. PVAMU is winnable, but better than most people think.

 

ULL/Hawaii are money games, 2 L's are to be expected

 

SFA/Sam are the teams to beat this year for the whole conference. It should be closer than last year, but not close enough to win

[AceHigh]

Over - I'll predict 6-6. Who knows what is gonna happen this season. There is obviously some serious talent at the offensive skill positions. If everyone can stay somewhat healthy, if the O-line gels, and Mossakowski plays to potential, it could be a really fun season. Alot of ifs, but we might have a kick butt offense. We will allow alot of points (hope I'm wrong), but maybe we can score enough to at least have a shot in the games everyone's picking us to lose.

[Guest CardAmbassador]

Over - I'll predict 6-6. Who knows what is gonna happen this season. There is obviously some serious talent at the offensive skill positions. If everyone can stay somewhat healthy, if the O-line gels, and Mossakowski plays to potential, it could be a really fun season. Alot of ifs, but we might have a kick butt offense. We will allow alot of points (hope I'm wrong), but maybe we can score enough to at least have a shot in the games everyone's picking us to lose.

 

Why do you think the Offense will be so much stronger than the defense. I see it almost the opposite way. Our Defense should be ALOT better but I'm really not sure about our offense yet. If you look at what we have returning and the type of skill and depth we have added on defense as well as the coaching change there and the formation change (3-4) I don't see how you can think the offense will be ahead of the defense.

[AceHigh]

I said we MAY have a kick butt offense. I think the potential is there. If the O-line doesn't come together, the offense is in trouble. Call me crazy, but I just don't feel that good about the defense right now. I mean, a 3-4 defense might make a difference, but, to me, it won't be the defensive formation that makes as much of a difference as the new D coach and what you stated about experience and new blood. We will have to be better on defense, but not "lock down" better. I just hope the lines on both sides of the ball come together quickly. I still say 6-6, same as you, just different ideas of how the Big Red is gonna get there I guess.