Bad way to end the season, but what a run it's been. 22-game winning streak and natty to boot. They just looked mentally and physically exhausted. I guess that will happen when you play 22 games in 12 months. On to the FBS and the C-USA....
I'm not upset. You can't win them all. Turnovers were killer, and gave them like 3 short fields. Their QB only completed 6 passes. It'll be interesting to see what happens in FBS, but I really would have wanted to go to a Natty on the way out.
Well, this should be an interesting year. Can't go to the FCS playoffs because we're moving to FBS and can't go to a bowl game because we're still in the FCS. Basically this entire year will be like an exhibition. First up.... Texas A&M. Yikes.... Wish this game was on the schedule 2 years ago when we might have had a chance to at least made it interesting. I'm still sticking to my prediction that the Power 5 will eventually form their own division in a few years and the other FBS schools will have their own division which would put us back in the hunt for a NC again. Power 5 division Non-Power 5 FBS division (ours) FCS (pretty much irrelevant)
Welp.....here we go. First season as an FBS team. I heard that since we're bowl ineligible this year, Keeler will be redshirting pretty much anyone that still has one left, so not expecting much. But it will be fun to actually seem them on TV every now and then. I still think this is the right move for the future even though the first few years are going to be pretty painful. Let's be real - no one outside of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota or Delaware gives a crap about the FCS. Certainly no one in Texas - including most of the students as Sam. I frankly don't even think it will be around 10 years from now.
Not a terrible showing, even if we did get shutout. The defense is really pretty damn good. The offense...needs some work. Only real chance to score was after a turnover that gave us the ball in the red zone. Then an end zone pick ended it. Defense will carry us to some wins. Not enough for a bowl game or anything...but a respectable first season in the division.
Seems like we'll be OK for conference USA play, at least competitive. I wouldn't expect much this year with the bowl eligibility situation, but wouldn't be surprised to get 4 or 5 wins.
Such a strange season. We've been in almost every game. Hopefully a good recruiting class and some good transfers next year and we can make some noise in C-USA. We're already close, despite our record.
I was wrong here, lol. But, Liberty ended up ranked and Air Force was ranked for a bit, so we just need some consistency. Hopefully another year at FBS and the ability to actually be bowl eligible will help.
The fact that a school from our conference (Liberty) is going to the Fiesta Bowl should be a slap in the face to the people who thought moving to the FBS was a bad idea. It shows what's possible in a few years if/when we get our act together. I mean, would you rather win the Fiesta Bowl on ABC prime time? Or win another FCS National Championship on ESPN 2? Which would be better for our national profile and thus recruiting?
The playing on Wednesday and Thursday was a weird twist for conference USA, but I think that increased our profile as well. They need to find a way to try to get people in the stands, but that comes with winning. Hopefully will be better next year, but who knows.
If you were to have asked me that question 5 years ago, I'd have said they should stay...that having a chance at actual playoffs and winning an actual National Championship was better than some fairytale of possibly maybe someday playing in a bowl game after Christmas. But the landscape has changed and FCS isn't going to last much longer. Plus, going to a 12 team playoff makes it more of a possibility that a team from our conference can get in. In all, it was a successful first year. We were considered one of the worst teams in the country and we somewhat exceeded those expectations.
