So Wayne State...

[NewEraWarrior]

Warrior/Tartar fans - What are your candid thoughts on the first game of the season as well as the state of the program as a whole?

[WayneStatesman]

A couple of things stood out. First, Winters and his staff had 9 months to prepare for this game and yet the team was completely unprepared to compete against "The Rock". An embarrassing performance especially for a home game. Second, nothing much has changed from last season. No defense and an inaccurate starting QB who can't run and makes bad decisions. Yes, they moved the ball better in the second half and Kupp played pretty decently but by then Slippery Rock was using backup players and had eased up a bit due to their big lead.

Based on the first game it doesn't look like Wayne State has the talent, especially on defense to be able to beat the better teams in the GLIAC and they will struggle against everybody else. If they went 0-11 it wouldn't surprise me but I think they will eke out a couple of wins before the season is over. A sad state of affairs especially when you consider Winters is going into his 16th season as HC. I guess we'll have to cling to the memories of 2010 and 2011 for yet another year.

[TSU_Mike59]

Excited to see WSU come to Kirksville this weekend. Not sure how to take Truman after their opening week win against Drake. Absolutely no offense by the purple Bulldogs against the blue Bulldogs, but Truman's defense was pure nasty getting past a much larger Drake O-line and making the night a living hell for the DU QB.

[NewEraWarrior]

A couple of things stood out. First, Winters and his staff had 9 months to prepare for this game and yet the team was completely unprepared to compete against "The Rock". An embarrassing performance especially for a home game. Second, nothing much has changed from last season. No defense and an inaccurate starting QB who can't run and makes bad decisions. Yes, they moved the ball better in the second half and Kupp played pretty decently but by then Slippery Rock was using backup players and had eased up a bit due to their big lead.

Based on the first game it doesn't look like Wayne State has the talent, especially on defense to be able to beat the better teams in the GLIAC and they will struggle against everybody else. If they went 0-11 it wouldn't surprise me but I think they will eke out a couple of wins before the season is over. A sad state of affairs especially when you consider Winters is going into his 16th season as HC. I guess we'll have to cling to the memories of 2010 and 2011 for yet another year.

I frankly don't think I've ever heard of a college defense giving up a TD on EIGHT STRAIGHT POSSESSIONS....that baffles me. I agree, QB play has always been WSU's Achilles heel offensively and not sure how much of that is going to change. Maybe Kupp gives them a better chance though. I don't think 0-11 is happening but anything short of 5-6 and I think the inevitable will be expedited.

As for Truman State, trying to gauge how good their Drake win was. It is a FCS opponent but I know not all FCS are alike. Truman will need to put up more than 10 points to beat Wayne.

[bigsig50]

Truman State's defense is legit. If the offense is inept in any way, especially along the offensive line, it will be a tough day for them.

I haven't seen anything that tells me Truman's offense will be able to keep any type of touchdown streak going however. They've been far too one dimensional and easy to shut down.

[Irishlaker]

The only "eight straight possession" stuff I ever saw was the 2001, and to a lesser extent 2002 GV offenses. They would score at that rate (or something very close to it) regularly. If it's my D (as it is for Wayne in this case), it ain't good.

Having seen Truman in person a couple of times, their O-line play definitely had room for improvement. Doesn't mean they aren't better this year, but in my experience it has been a rough spot. D didn't impress me either, but again...been a couple of years and they may be better.

FWIW, Drake is FCS, yes. However, they are members of the Pioneer League which is "non-scholarship". Your guess is as good as mine as to what that translates into, exactly, but it is of note.

[mtsax305]

The team has looked completely inept in both of its games so far. At this point, Paul needs a promotion to Assistant AD and to get off the sideline. He now owns a losing record in his time here, has never won the GLIAC, and has fielded either woefully average or major choke-job teams since 2011. What's more concerning is that I'm not sure our AD is willing to make the tough decision to fire him. He's done well with most things (though I'm salty about our hockey teams), but ignoring this dumpster fire is going to tarnish his legacy too.

[WayneStatesman]

Right you are mtsax305! This is one of the worst Wayne teams I've seen since the 90's or early 2000's when the program was in disarray. I think you could put a cardboard cutout of Winters on the sidelines and the team wouldn't do any worse. Removing Winters from his head coaching duties and moving him to the "front office" is not a bad idea. He clearly has lost the ability to be an effective head coach. Give one of the assistant coaches a chance to take over for the rest of the season. I don't think it would hurt.

Like you, I also fear that Fournier's relationship with Winters is so close that he will be reluctant to make the appropriate move after what looks like another disastrous season.

[Gliac_fan10]

[NewEraWarrior]

I think sadly at this point WSU is trending towards TWO (2) total wins. If they lose this weekend at Quincy, I'd bring it down to (1) win. What is bizarre is if someone charted out Winter's tenure as HC of Wayne, it'd look similar to a bell curve chart. It is tough to see a program who at one point looked like it had turned the corner to being a constant top 3 GLIAC program regress completely to constant bottom 3. Coach Winters is a great person but the recruiting and the development of players over the last few years speaks for itself.

[WayneStatesman]

In my humble opinion, if Winters gets 5 wins he'll keep his job. 4 wins he has a 50/50 chance of being retained. If he gets 3 or fewer wins the AD would have a tough time justifying not firing him.

[WayneStatesman]

I think sadly at this point WSU is trending towards TWO (2) total wins. If they lose this weekend at Quincy, I'd bring it down to (1) win. What is bizarre is if someone charted out Winter's tenure as HC of Wayne, it'd look similar to a bell curve chart. It is tough to see a program who at one point looked like it had turned the corner to being a constant top 3 GLIAC program regress completely to constant bottom 3. Coach Winters is a great person but the recruiting and the development of players over the last few years speaks for itself.

The break point was Winters signing the "big" contract after 2011 to stay at Wayne State. It's been down hill since then with the drop-off accelerating in the last 3 years.

[mtsax305]

In my humble opinion, if Winters gets 5 wins he'll keep his job. 4 wins he has a 50/50 chance of being retained. If he gets 3 or fewer wins the AD would have a tough time justifying not firing him.

9 games left. I hate to say it, but given history and current play, GV, Ferris, and Ashland are looking like automatic losses. I think he stays if he gets a win out of this group, no matter the record, especially if we walk into Lubbers and take back the Wooden Shoes.
6 games, Quincy, SVSU, NMU, NU, DU, and MTU are all games I could at least see as winnable but I've seen nothing that would lead me to choose Wayne in a Pick 'Em right now except Northwood.

As it stands now, I don't see more than 3 wins.

[bigsig50]

Quincy has played pretty well to open the season. They bring a pretty potent offensive attack that's hard to prep for because of the tempo they run at. Their defense has also done a decent job as well.

Truman's defense is undoubtedly one of the better ones in the GLVC, but I'm not sold on their offense yet. Quincy's offense on the other hand is closer to the real deal.

I think WSU will have to hope for a shoot out to win this one. Quincy is probably better than the 6th best team in the GLVC.

[bigsig50]

Quincy has played pretty well to open the season. They bring a pretty potent offensive attack that's hard to prep for because of the tempo they run at. Their defense has also done a decent job as well.

Truman's defense is undoubtedly one of the better ones in the GLVC, but I'm not sold on their offense yet. Quincy's offense on the other hand is closer to the real deal.

I think WSU will have to hope for a shoot out to win this one. Quincy is probably better than the 6th best team in the GLVC.

Pretty dominant performance by Wayne state in first half.

I probably over valued the Quincy offense. They look inept against a defense that's not looked good in the first 2 weeks.

I wasn't all that impressed with the QU defense to begin with, but they're getting physically owned.