What happened to LRBEARS this Year?

[Bearhof]

[BearFan1]

LR won on Saturday. Thank goodness. I was there as I have been to every game this year. The answer, as I said several times in earlier post, is COACHING. Horrible. I said earlier in another post that the frustration was present in victory or defeat, the not so slow destruction of a previous great program is in process. The administration used to search firm to help them in getting the best available staff to keep LR going on the Cronin/Houston/Goldsmith path. WE GOT SCREWED. It is as clear as the nose on our faces.
Understand, I do not have a son, grandson, neighbor, or any other type relationship on that team. No sour grapes here. But sitting in the stands talking with parents of current players, I hear a lot. None of it is good. What I hear is that none of the players are having fun; none have the relationship with these coaches that they had with Cronin; the coaches do not know their names or even care to know their names; what they do in class or in life.
Cronin met with the Bears Club before each game to give a talk, LOL well that does not happen any more and the message is pretty clear to the supporters and should be clear to the administration.
Sometimes very good players will win games, but bad game plans, bad coaching, driving off players that were part of a winning program is not the path to a top notch program.
Saturdays game with Tusculum (sp) should not have been close. But it was. Give the players credit. MY GOODNESS THEY DESERVE IT. But the coaches really need a come to Jesus meeting.
And LR needs a refund from the Search Firm that suckered the school.

[Eagle74]

The greatest part of being a 3-2 Bear's fan right now, is that you're not a 0-5 CN Eagles fan. CN will more than likely be serving up lots of chicken for home field cooking this coming Saturday. I'm thinking, Bears by around 30.

Be prepared for potential new inspirational pregame warm up music this Saturday with songs such as, 'Do You Really Want To Hurt Me' by Culture Club, and 'Take It Easy' by the Eagles.

[BEARS]

I have a few big issues that I want to bring up about the team's performance, but before I do so let's understand that it is still only 5 games in with a team that is VERY young and, unlike many of the opposition this year, has few transfers. The biggest sticking point for Jacobs is his recruitment, which has been very impressive. That we have been able to recruit guys like JR May, Percy King, Dwayne McGee, and some of those defensive lineman to come in and be studs already is incredible. So we will need to see how they develop and grow alongside one another. We should be preaching patience, although I'll be the first to admit, I was not saying very positive things to the coaching staff from the stands this past week.

With that being said.

1. The running game is great and I'm fine with being a run heavy team, but we HAVE to scheme the passing game better. We don't throw the ball to the tight ends and when we use the wide receivers there is no complexity to the routes. Every pass is a quick crossing route for 3 yards, that's so easy to defend considering there is so little motion pre-snap. Something has to change here.
2. I love what the quarterback has done over his career, but it's painfully obvious that he has no mobility. Hopefully Gunnar or whoever next year's quarterback is has some running ability so we can add RPOs or the read option to the game next year. Grayson is a play action passer, but has been exposed when looking beyond his first read and when in a straight drawback situation.
3. The secondary is horrendous. The coaching staff is trying to play ultra contain defense on every play which basically leaves free 10 yard outs open on every play. Our only saving grace in stopping the pass is that the pass rush has been able to get home quite a bit this year. If we had only an average pass rush, we'd be having 400 yards passing dropped on us every game. Play tight and let our stud safety (Jackson #11) cover those deep balls.
4. Discipline. Far too many dumb flags for offsides, late hits out of bounds, roughing the passer etc have basically been the straw that's broken the camel's back in the Wise and Newberry games. I think we squeak those two out if we can have a few less stupid flags.

This is a very, VERY talented squad that is young and has a coaching staff that is coaching scared. Show some complexity in the scheme, instill discipline and above all else TRUST YOUR PLAYERS. McGee could very well be a Harlem Hill caliber player down the road, Maye could be an All-American. These are D1 quality football players, stop with the conservative play calling and get the crowd back on your side.

[BearFan1]

Bears makes good points. And while I agree that McGee is a very good runner, my opinion is that he is a great skat back, not a power runner. No doubt he can break long runs, but only when his line opens a Mack Truck size hole. Not his fault but the fault of the coaches that he has not got a compliment to pound the run also.
There are runners with McGee's speed and twice his strength that wanted to come to LR and did not. I know this as a FACT. And the fact is one that I know of was never made to feel wanted, so he went else where on a full ride. (Not SAC but CIAA).
I do not know the story of how Maye came to LR but that guy is a true stud! OMG!
And BEARS is absolutely correct on the discipline part. There is no reason to keep on giving every opponent 2 to 3 15 yard gifts at crucial times.
Perhaps what Coach Jacobs needs is a mentor who will tell him the hard facts because it is obvious he is either not seeing the error of his ways or he is not seeing.

[BEARS]

[Bearhof]

[RedFromMI]

Conference policy as I understand it is to issue the "loss" at the end of the season to determine the rankings - but it is not issued at this time due to the possibility that the game gets made up, even though that is highly unlikely. That will also give wins to Catawba's two cancelled opponents at that time (conference only). As far as the NCAA is concerned, it is just a cancelled game.

[canadarican]

I think it would be extremely difficult for the Bears to make it in if they win out, but not impossible.

Unless something terrible happens, you figure Bowie runs the gauntlet and goes unbeaten in the CIAA. Albany State looks like the clear cut best team in the SIAC, with their only loss coming to Valdosta. Savannah State isn't too shabby either. I think one of those two gets in with just 1 loss. That leaves 5 spots.

Even if they were to slip up and lose to someone, a 1 loss Wingate team probably gets in. I think if Newberry finishes with 2 losses like the Bears, Newberry gets the edge.

I think the best case scenario for the Bears is one of the four big boys in the GSC to suffer. Because even if UWG was 8-3, I think their SOS would get them in. The GSC very well may get 4 teams in this year. UWA, UWF and VSU all look outstanding.

[canadarican]

Another team to watch as well is Chowan. They have 1 loss and it's to Bowie. If they win out and finish 9-1/10-1, they'd be tough to leave out despite probably a horrid SOS.

[RedFromMI]

Taking a look at the Massey Ratings this week for SR2, Wingate is the highest SAC school at #28 nationally and 7th in the region (behind #1 Valdosta
State, #2 West Florida, #5 West Alabama, #8 West Georgia, #16 Delta State, #21 Albany). Newberry is at #39, and LR is at #45. Bowie State is at #58, and Chowan at #60.

Those rankings are essentially power rankings, with the idea to get who is actually the best team. Playoff access is more based on who earns a position. Delta State is 2-4 but has played some of the top region teams close enough to be where it is in a power ranking. It basically has no chance of getting into the playoff, however...

[BEARS]

I think it would be extremely difficult for the Bears to make it in if they win out, but not impossible.

Unless something terrible happens, you figure Bowie runs the gauntlet and goes unbeaten in the CIAA. Albany State looks like the clear cut best team in the SIAC, with their only loss coming to Valdosta. Savannah State isn't too shabby either. I think one of those two gets in with just 1 loss. That leaves 5 spots.

Even if they were to slip up and lose to someone, a 1 loss Wingate team probably gets in. I think if Newberry finishes with 2 losses like the Bears, Newberry gets the edge.

I think the best case scenario for the Bears is one of the four big boys in the GSC to suffer. Because even if UWG was 8-3, I think their SOS would get them in. The GSC very well may get 4 teams in this year. UWA, UWF and VSU all look outstanding.

Newberry already has two losses and has yet to play Wingate. If they lose to Wingate and LR runs the table then we get in over Newberry.

[canadarican]

Newberry already has two losses and has yet to play Wingate. If they lose to Wingate and LR runs the table then we get in over Newberry.

That's why I said IF Newberry finishes with two losses.

[canadarican]

Taking a look at the Massey Ratings this week for SR2, Wingate is the highest SAC school at #28 nationally and 7th in the region (behind #1 Valdosta
State, #2 West Florida, #5 West Alabama, #8 West Georgia, #16 Delta State, #21 Albany). Newberry is at #39, and LR is at #45. Bowie State is at #58, and Chowan at #60.

Those rankings are essentially power rankings, with the idea to get who is actually the best team. Playoff access is more based on who earns a position. Delta State is 2-4 but has played some of the top region teams close enough to be where it is in a power ranking. It basically has no chance of getting into the playoff, however...

What hurts Bowie and Chowan is the rest of the CIAA being absolute, and I mean ABSOLUTE, dog crap.

[LegalRam]

What hurts Bowie and Chowan is the rest of the CIAA being absolute, and I mean ABSOLUTE, dog crap.

Fayetteville State is 4-1 and will likely win their next 4 games. That will give Bowie a very nice SOS bump when they meet in the CIAA championship game.

Chowan is stuck when it comes to SOS. They need to be Mars Hill's biggest cheerleader.