liveanddiedeac
Well-known member
- Joined
- May 24, 2011
- Messages
- 21,494
- Reaction score
- 3,022
On the one hand, I'm extremely proud of how our football team has bounced back this year after last season. If we win Saturday, we'll be 5-3 in the ACC, after 1-7 last year. The last 2 weeks we've played two really good football teams and could've, maybe even should've won both games. If you look at how many times we weren't even competitive last year, the turnaround we've had this year is pretty remarkable. However, it's extremely disappointing that we've missed the opportunities we've had to really make this an outstanding year. If we hadn't collapsed against Syracuse, we'd have been bowl bound for a month now. Then, just think of the press we'd be getting had we beaten Notre Dame and Clemson back to back, not to mention we'd be playing for the Atlantic Division title this weekend. I've seen people say that it's great we've been so close this year and that next year will be our year as far as winning the division and stuff, but winning the division won't be any easier next season. I think FSU and Clemson will be better next year too. You see the same things happen week after week, we get a lead and let it slip late. We have a key 3rd down and we run it and don't get it. Then you throw in a reliable kicker missing kicks and a couple of screw jobs by the refs and it just gets really disheartening. We've got a good football team, that I do not doubt, but we've got to get over this mess that keeps us from winning games like the last 2 weeks. If it's depth issues, we've got to coach up more guys and play more guys. We've got depth on the OL and we've got guys on the DL like Souza and Booi that aren't seeing the field. If it's issues with "letting up" then Grobe need to go out of character and coach with fire and brimstone. If it's playcalling issues we've got to stop the numbers and percentages crap and start calling plays instinctively. I think on the key 3rd down we didn't pickup Saturday they said the play was determined by how many defenders Clemson had in the box, that's fine except how many times to do we get stopped on those type plays?? I guess in short I think it's time for a culture change around here. Jim Grobe came here 11 years ago and changed the culture from Wake Forest being a sure win for most teams to Wake Forest being a team that can compete with about anybody (except for the oddball year like last year). Well, I think we've proved time and again we can compete, but I think it's time to establish a culture of expecting to win against most teams we play and winning games in a fashion that doesn't leave you on the edge of your seat every week. We're always going to have plenty of tight games, but I think it's gotten to the point everybody expects it, whether we're up by 1 point or 14 points. I'm very proud of our football team this year, but I'm also very frustrated we're going into the last 2 games of the season needing a win to be bowl eligible and 2 wins for winning season, because I think this team has been better than that.