The bright side

[jimwwms]

Well here we go........... I was a flamer for suggesting that it is the lack of fan support, marketing, and general "small time thinking" last night... now, NO BOWL and you guys want to blame JBIII (again!) JBIII did a very good job this year to get us to 7-4 with the amazing win at Fresno.

Regarding the Boise game, he was coaching the heck out of the team on that day. I don't know where you were if you think he wasn't doing the job that day but I was at the JOE and was proud of our team and JBIII. You can lay that loss on Conroy Hines for a lousy offensive game plan if you must blame someone. The game plan Conroy came up with was completely out of our team character. He abandoned the run, run, run approach and went to a pass first approach. That approach would have been nice a couple of years ago but it is out of character now. If you want to blame the coaching, blame Conroy.

So, for all you JBIII detractors: last year you said we needed to WIN to get butts in the seats...... we won 7 games this year including 4 at home and a road win over a top 25 team. Do you think we can get more than 16K and change in the seats next year???? I want to see some MARKETING!!! We have the best product that no one knows about.

For our team.... you played like a BIG TIME team this year. Thanks for the job well done.

[Rooster]

it is amazing some of you people want to blame everything on jack bicknell...this is not his fault. it may be to a degree oakes and reneau's fault but it is 99% KARL BENSON'S FAULT. this is the guy to blame.

I don't care who beat, we are not going to a bowl this year AGAIN, he is the head coach right? If the head coach would take care of business and win games, we wouldn't even be discussing this right now. Bicknell is the head coach, we aren't going to a bowl game, it is his fault. If Oakes keeps him ANOTHER freakin year, I will hound his sorry a$$ too. Make people accountable for their jobs.

[george]

You are wrong. Jack bicknell not Karl benson, is the guy that coached like shit against Boise State 2 weeks ago. I don't want to hear Bicknell getting off the hook here.

You sound like the losing salesman who didn't sale anything until the sales contest was long over. We can't change the rules for you afterwards. Bicknell should have won against Boise (or Nevada) earlier in the season, and all of this would have been moot.

HD

no you are wrong...100% unquestionably wrong. relative to teams that got in bowls with 6-5 records playing competition no better than we play, (memphis, houston, and especially southern miss) we performed much better than they did on the field at the end of the year...we went 5-1 over the last six games with the only loss to boise state and a dominating win over fresno. that is not poor coaching or playing or anything relative to louisiana tech. what percentage of the 117 D-1 teams went 6-0 over their last six games? is that what it takes to get in a bowl as a member of the wac (if you are east of the rockies)? you're going to blame that on a coach? this is ALL on karl benson...if you can't see that, then we just have to agree to disagree because you will NEVER convince me that this is the fault of anyone else but the wac as a league. you should be angry about this like we all are...just be angry at the right people.
HD, i know from previous posts that you hate jbIII and that is fine - lots on this board feel that way - but to blame him for things that aren't his fault just does not make sense.

[Rooster]

no you are wrong...100% unquestionably wrong. relative to teams that got in bowls with 6-5 records playing competition no better than we play, (memphis, houston, and especially southern miss) we performed much better than they did on the field at the end of the year...we went 5-1 over the last six games with the only loss to boise state and a dominating win over fresno. that is not poor coaching or playing or anything relative to louisiana tech. what percentage of the 117 D-1 teams went 6-0 over their last six games? is that what it takes to get in a bowl as a member of the wac (if you are east of the rockies)? you're going to blame that on a coach? this is ALL on karl benson...if you can't see that, then we just have to agree to disagree because you will NEVER convince me that this is the fault of anyone else but the wac as a league. you should be angry about this like we all are...just be angry at the right people.
HD, i know from previous posts that you hate jbIII and that is fine - lots on this board feel that way - but to blame him for things that aren't his fault just does not make sense.

George - I totally and fully disagree w/ you. Jack Bicknell is the head coach. If we win, he gets all the glory, when we lose, he gets the blame. Like it or not, that is the way that it is. Bicknell is 100% responsible for our team.

[george]

George - I totally and fully disagree w/ you. Jack Bicknell is the head coach. If we win, he gets all the glory, when we lose, he gets the blame. Like it or not, that is the way that it is. Bicknell is 100% responsible for our team.

do you think jbIII turned down a bowl offer or something? do me a favor please...go look a the records of houston, memphis and southern miss, who they beat, and how they finished the year.
we are more deserving of a bowl then those teams BY FAR...sense we did not get a bowl then we are playing on an uneven playing field. we have to do more than others to get a bowl bid apparently.
so when we win, the coach gets the glory...isn't that what you just said? well he did just win - the seventh game of the season on national tv against mighty fresno state in DOMINATING FASHION! and you're not giving him any glory now...just grief. how good a record did we need to get in a bowl? seven wins should have been enough...players, coaches, all involved with the program did enough to get in.
this is the fault of the wac commisioner PERIOD.

[jimwwms]

I hate to say this but I almost agree with George... it definitely is not JBIII's fault. I might have been on his case in the past but I think he is maturing as a coach and is getting better. Heck, he won 7 games with one being a win over a top 25 school.

I still say that it is the admin's fault for failing to market a BIG TIME product outside the city limits of Ruston. Last year those who wanted JBIII's job said that all we had to do was win to get butts in the seats. Well, we won 4 of 5 home games and pretty consistently got 16K and change which is no better than the 2004. So, laugh at me and call me a flamer when I say it is marketing... you cannot find any Tech gear in El Dorado which is approximately 50 miles away. (and dont come back with that Team shop and bookstore crap ... if you cannot get people to the games, you cannot sell them that stuff) I say market out product which is BIG TIME FOOTBALL and you will get butts in the seats.

Butts in the seats is what shut us out of the bowls. Memphis averages about 30K and USM about 25K. Houston's attendance is about like ours (or slightly less) but the game they were invited to is in Ft Worth and the committee obviously thinks that they will get more fan support from Houston. We have a superior product than any of those 3 schools, but at large bowl invitations are not won on the field but in the stands.

[HogDawg]

do you think jbIII turned down a bowl offer or something? do me a favor please...go look a the records of houston, memphis and southern miss, who they beat, and how they finished the year.
we are more deserving of a bowl then those teams BY FAR...sense we did not get a bowl then we are playing on an uneven playing field. we have to do more than others to get a bowl bid apparently.
so when we win, the coach gets the glory...isn't that what you just said? well he did just win - the seventh game of the season on national tv against mighty fresno state in DOMINATING FASHION! and you're not giving him any glory now...just grief. how good a record did we need to get in a bowl? seven wins should have been enough...players, coaches, all involved with the program did enough to get in.
this is the fault of the wac commisioner PERIOD.

George, you're too caught up in ONE (1) game. Unfortunately, the handwriting was already on the wall by the time Tech beat Fresno.

George, do you realize that if Louisiana Tech had beaten Kansas, then Tech finishes 8-3 and Kansas doesn't even qualify for a bowl at all finishing 5-6? Furthermore, the Big 12 suddenly can't meet it's quota of bowl slots and the Indy Bowl likely becomes a viable option for Tech.

HELLO INDEPENDENCE BOWL for Louisiana Tech!

Likewise, if Louisiana Tech beats Nevada or Boise, we're co-champs of the WAC and we're certainly bowl bound.

George, who should get the blame for these 3 losses? If not Bicknell, who? If any ONE (1) of these games had tipped to Tech's favor, we're in like Flint.

But, as usual, Jack Bicknell figured out a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory this year. And unfortunately, it's becoming an annual occurance. Last year Bicknell did the same thing and we had to watch Troy State and Northern Illinois take our bowl slots while Tech waddled along with a 6-6 finish, just out of bowl eligibility.

Any way you slice it, Bicknell is just not cutting it.

HD

[HogDawg]

I hate to say this but I almost agree with George... it definitely is not JBIII's fault. I might have been on his case in the past but I think he is maturing as a coach and is getting better. Heck, he won 7 games with one being a win over a top 25 school.

I still say that it is the admin's fault for failing to market a BIG TIME product outside the city limits of Ruston. Last year those who wanted JBIII's job said that all we had to do was win to get butts in the seats. Well, we won 4 of 5 home games and pretty consistently got 16K and change which is no better than the 2004. So, laugh at me and call me a flamer when I say it is marketing... you cannot find any Tech gear in El Dorado which is approximately 50 miles away. (and dont come back with that Team shop and bookstore crap ... if you cannot get people to the games, you cannot sell them that stuff) I say market out product which is BIG TIME FOOTBALL and you will get butts in the seats.

Butts in the seats is what shut us out of the bowls. Memphis averages about 30K and USM about 25K. Houston's attendance is about like ours (or slightly less) but the game they were invited to is in Ft Worth and the committee obviously thinks that they will get more fan support from Houston. We have a superior product than any of those 3 schools, but at large bowl invitations are not won on the field but in the stands.

I can't believe my eyes anymore. Suddenly everybody on this board seems happy settling for medicority in football just because we beat Fresno Friday night. One frickin football game.

I can't relate to that. You guys are getting what you deserve. See ya!

HD

[DogsWin]

Actually Kansas was to go to the Fort Worth Bowl. In the event that the B12 couldn't fulfill it's bowl obligations New Mexico (6-5) was granted a provisional bid to the FW Bowl. Kansas qualified and NM is sitting at home.

[playdablues]

Well here we go........... I was a flamer for suggesting that it is the lack of fan support, marketing, and general "small time thinking" last night... now, NO BOWL and you guys want to blame JBIII (again!) JBIII did a very good job this year to get us to 7-4 with the amazing win at Fresno.

Regarding the Boise game, he was coaching the heck out of the team on that day. I don't know where you were if you think he wasn't doing the job that day but I was at the JOE and was proud of our team and JBIII. You can lay that loss on Conroy Hines for a lousy offensive game plan if you must blame someone. The game plan Conroy came up with was completely out of our team character. He abandoned the run, run, run approach and went to a pass first approach. That approach would have been nice a couple of years ago but it is out of character now. If you want to blame the coaching, blame Conroy.

We lost the Boise game because of our inability to stop the run in the second half, period.

Why is the offense Conroy's fault in the Boise game, but you give JB3 the pat on the back for the "amazing win at Fresno?" And for the record, we ran the ball 25 of the 57 offensive plays vs. Boise. That's hardly abandoning the run.

[aubunique]

George, those bowl choices were made before Friday night. They were waiting for BCS choices before making them final. We had to have another win or two earlier to be at the top of anyone's list.
The argument over who to blame is patently ridiculous. JBiii basically admitted after the game that he wanted to play conservatively in the second half but Conroy "wouldn't let him." Any improvement in Bicknell's coaching is in one important area. He has begun to listen to other people who know more than he does.

"Everyone knows something you don't" Understanding and utilizing this piece of understanding of life is the key to success. People who hire only people less able than they are have heart attacks in frustration. Never hire anyone you wouldn't want to be your boss!

Dan Reneau is a bright guy but he doesn't realize he needs an athletic director and coach in every sport who know what they are doing. He can't set the parameters of their activities and can't judge them.
He needs to hire people that he is in awe of, not people he can dominate! I doubt he would make a guy head of an academic department who was no better in his discipline than Dan is!

And he apparently has hired the best in some academic fields. He just needs to understand that doing the same in athletics is important to the overall success and perception of the university.

["T"]

do you think jbIII turned down a bowl offer or something? do me a favor please...go look a the records of houston, memphis and southern miss, who they beat, and how they finished the year.
we are more deserving of a bowl then those teams BY FAR...sense we did not get a bowl then we are playing on an uneven playing field. we have to do more than others to get a bowl bid apparently.
so when we win, the coach gets the glory...isn't that what you just said? well he did just win - the seventh game of the season on national tv against mighty fresno state in DOMINATING FASHION! and you're not giving him any glory now...just grief. how good a record did we need to get in a bowl? seven wins should have been enough...players, coaches, all involved with the program did enough to get in.
this is the fault of the wac commisioner PERIOD.

JBIII is just to conservative when it comes down to putting opponents away. In his post game inteview after the Fresno game, he said he had to walk away when Conroy was calling some of those plays in the second half.. i.e. long passes. "I wanted to get conservative, but Conroy wouldn't do it.":bigcry: That kind of coaching loses games like Boise. Poor dicipline looses games like Nevada and Kansas. Losing games like that = no bowl for Tech. Sad but true, Jack is the problem. Outstanding individual, pathetic head football coach.

T

[george]

JBIII is just to conservative when it comes down to putting opponents away. In his post game inteview after the Fresno game, he said he had to walk away when Conroy was calling some of those plays in the second half.. i.e. long passes. "I wanted to get conservative, but Conroy wouldn't do it.":bigcry: That kind of coaching loses games like Boise. Poor dicipline looses games like Nevada and Kansas. Losing games like that = no bowl for Tech. Sad but true, Jack is the problem. Outstanding individual, pathetic head football coach.

T

i truly understand that jbIII is a flawed coach in a lot of areas. that is not my point. the point i am making is that other coaches achieved less on the field this year (non BCS schools with 6-5 records and no wins over a team nearly as good as fresno state) and they are still going bowling. they're coaches "did enough" to get there teams into bowls only because their conference took better care of them then our conference did - not because of something that happened on the field. i know attendance problems are there but what was houston's attendance this year? how about southern miss in lafayette? they won't draw as many fans as we would have there. yes i know that is a cusa slot, but deals get made all the time to move teams...could have sent them to mobile instead - i'm sure there fans would have preferred mobile to lafayette anyway and we could have had lafayette.
you guys can blame a lot on our head coach and staff. but 7-4 (with all fur losses coming to bowl teams), winning five of your last six, and beating a top 25 team on the road in the last game of the year in DOMINATING FASHION should always = bowl. our administration may be to blame to some degree, but this is MOSTLY KARL BENSON. you'll never convince me otherwise.

[Designated Hitter]

Actually, I think everyone shares in responsibility from Tech Alumni support ($ and attendance), Dr. Reneau, Oakes, Head Coach, players, coaches, etc., both in good times and bad.

[CajunBird]

Actually Kansas was to go to the Fort Worth Bowl. In the event that the B12 couldn't fulfill it's bowl obligations New Mexico (6-5) was granted a provisional bid to the FW Bowl. Kansas qualified and NM is sitting at home.

This is correct.

The only way that Tech would have gotten into a bowl was for them to get one of the guaranteed WAC slots.

Once you start depending on bowls that didn't get their conference tie-in team, then it all boils down to "how many tickets will you sell."

I'm sure that Commissioner Benson, like Commissioner Waters, tried to convince the Motor City Bowl (which, as it turns out, is the bowl we're talking about here) that Tech or UL was deserving.

But Memphis has people who will travel to Detroit. Tech and UL didn't have enough.

I feel for you guys. I think you proved Friday night that you deserved to be in a bowl game.

But butts in the seats, not your coach, not your commissioner, is the reason you didn't get in.