Obligatory "How's your team gonna do" rank em' thread.

[Shanghai Mule]

I almost had her convinced, honestly.

If you had pulled it off, then I think you would have been obligated to name him Gus (mascot).

[GorillaTeacher]

It was not out of the question! Haha, opening night is going to be a good birthday present this year for him.

[Predatory Primates]

[QUOTE=Kiss My Ass;n687068][QUOTE=Predatory Primates;

My optimism says Pitt wil close the gap a little more this season and win 9 games, mainly on the backs of a good D and really good LBs.

I think the offense is still a year away, but the OL will make them decent on that side of the ball.




With the apparent scrapping of the four-punter offense, I guess QB is the big question this year for Pit? You mentioned in another thread that the G's have a sophomore that played about 6 quarters last year. A sophomore transfer from Central Arkansas who was at UCA for 3 years, but seldom played. And then there are a handful of freshmen quarterbacks. I assume the two sophomores will battle for the starting spot with both seeing playing time until everything shakes out. Any other thoughts on the G's offense?


[/QUOTE]

The OL grew onto a pretty good unit last year, and should continue to improve. RB showed flashes last year as a res fresh, but lost lots of experience there. WR should be a really solid spot. Wright also seems to be a TE hoarder because there are about 93 on the roster. One of them showed flashes last year.

[Donkeydamus]

A little over 2 weeks. Lettttttttts gooooooooo!

Thursday night home openers are always exciting. UCM goes all in with their Get the Red Out theme. You have all the normal excitement of the first home game whether it's week one or week two. With a Thursday night game, you have a captive student body to boost attendance including all those wide-eyed freshmen ready to experience college life. Oh, those were the days, am I right? UCM also puts on a real cool street fare for the students on opening night. Whitman Air Force Base does a fly over, usually with the B1 Stealth Bomber (bat plane). That's always an awesome experience for the players and fans. The tailgate party is always extra amped up for nigh games. I wish we had a couple of Saturday night home games during the season.

Yep, I'm ready for football. Let it fly momma

.

[GorillaTeacher]

All but one game in September is at 7 for us. Which is pretty usual.

[Thepeman]

2 weeks and a little less than 2 hours till kickoff!!!!!

[washeduptiger]

Havent seen many Hays posters and I havent been around in quite awhile. Figured I'd give a run at what I'm thinking.

Offensively
OLine looks it could be rather deep but unsure about overall prowess. Likely Teuhema RS Soph at C with 11 starts last year. Hessing returns with 11 starts in 2019 before missing last season due to injury could slot in G or T. Stroughter with 8 starts last year likely a G. Pat Kelly returns for what seems like his 12th season at T -- it would be nice if he had a return to form and could be a 1st or 2nd team MIAA performer but we'll see as hes been hampered by injuries 33 starts under his belt i believe. Then we have a 7 RS Freshman from that 2019 and 2020 classes that had a year or 2 to work in the weight room. We'll see if 1 or multiple make the step up to MIAA ball this year.

RB We have Soto returning as well as a few others that will contribute. Tough to ever complain about an MIAA first teamer. I'd love to see him actually break 1000yds rushing while maintaining his Receiving numbers. We're not really all that deep at this position which seems odd to prior years but looks like we have a few WR that could slot in there if needed.

TE we return an All-American that can be a game changer in the passing game. Id love to see him also be a game changer in the run game however hes not the stereotypical build for that. Wiltfong has the size an on the line tight end that could possibly slot into the mauling TE type. I have to wonder if well see some 2 tight end sets out of Hays more often this year.

WR Group headlined by the possession WR in Ramsey and Okechukwu who I'm praying can turn into our true deep threat WR that I feel really would help this offense flourish. We really need a deep play threat. We did have a couple of D1 guys transfer in that could be that but you just never know until the pads get put on.

QB Think this is where I'm probably going to be my harshest. Fuller I think is a great arm talent for this league however he took a Major step back in 2021. Doubled his interceptions. Completion percentage had a steep drop from 65->59%. touchdowns from 35->22. For a guy that I think overall there was a ton of excitement for after the 2019 season he really didnt progress. Think part of that was played into by injuries throughout the season as well as playing from behind early in some games but I also think his overall decisionmaking didnt mature as much as one would have hoped. I have hope he makes a big step forward this year but we'll see


Defensively

DL
Think this will be a group that struggles. Ike leaves in the off season to take a D1 coaching job so change in leadership at the position. Overall lot of bodies at ths position however you're 1st-4th and 6th sack producers from last year are gone 2 of whom graduate in sanders and swopes, Kuhn Seidl and Mallory are off the roster and I couldnt find any info on where they went. DL and QB play wins games in the MIAA. Think this will be an Achilles heel of this team

LB
Lot of starts returning. really might be a crowded room wtih Menges, Heimerman and Johnson. Don't think Harris would ever run a 4-3 full time but one has to wonder about the possibility to get as many of your playmakers on the field as possible. Think both Johnson and Menges have the range to run with some receivers. Heimerman more of a thumper and a team leader. Be interesting to see how it shakes out.

DB
Lot of Bodies on the roster. Jordan Starks and Jhimon Preston look like decided not to return for a senior run. Do have Ty cooper, Will white and Devin White that will be returning. Another group that I think we'll have to keep an eye on to see if they are up to snuff for his level of play.


With all of that being said I think a 6-5 to 7-4 season would be a good year for what it looks like unless the DL and DBs far out play my fears.


1. NWMS
2. Pitt
3. UNK
4. UCO
5. Wburn
6. Hays
7. ESU
8. MWSU
9. MOSO
10.UCM
11. NEST
12. Lincoln

[Shanghai Mule]

Central Missouri will depend heavily on under classmen this season, with 20 total Freshmen and 57 total Sophomores. Here's a breakdown of the active roster.

Freshmen - 14
R/S Fresh - 6
Sophomore - 40
R/S Soph - 17
Junior - 3
R/S Junior -15
Senior - 4
R/S Senior - 7

[Predatory Primates]

Central Missouri will depend heavily on under classmen this season, with 20 total Freshmen and 57 total Sophomores. Here's a breakdown of the active roster.

Freshmen - 14
R/S Fresh - 6
Sophomore - 40
R/S Soph - 17
Junior - 3
R/S Junior -15
Senior - 4
R/S Senior - 7

With the extra covid year, I don't know what any of those even mean anymore. A Sophomore can be a 4th year player.

There are grad students with 2 years of eligibility left.

[Shanghai Mule]

With the extra covid year, I don't know what any of those even mean anymore. A Sophomore can be a 4th year player.

There are grad students with 2 years of eligibility left.

You're right, it's crazy and it doesn't seem to make any consistent sense. Maybe I was subconsciously looking for an excuse in case the Mules stink. I'll keep looking, subconsciously of course.

[Kiss My Ass]

You're right, it's crazy and it doesn't seem to make any consistent sense. Maybe I was subconsciously looking for an excuse in case the Mules stink. I'll keep looking, subconsciously of course.
\

How about this one, the Mule's record will suck because they play the best teams (NW, Pitt, UNK, Hays) on the road. Combine the under classmen thing with the road schedule and I think we've got something here. Yep, we'll go with that for now.

[Kiss My Ass]

How about this one, the Mule's record will suck because they play the best teams (NW, Pitt, UNK, Hays) on the road. Combine the under classmen thing with the road schedule and I think we've got something here. Yep, we'll go with that for now.

Wait a minute, I forgot to include coach Lambo's previous head coaching record, 1-21...that's gold.

Under classmen + road schedule + questionable coach = free pass for Mule's posters.

[Predatory Primates]

Wait a minute, I forgot to include coach Lambo's previous head coaching record, 1-21...that's gold.

Under classmen + road schedule + questionable coach = free pass for Mule's posters.

The Lambo hire is baffling to me, but the search committee obviously saw something in him that made them hire him. Maybe you guys should be cautiously hopeful for good things to come a few years from now?

[Kiss My Ass]

[QUOTE=Kiss My Ass;n687577]
How about this one, the Mule's record will suck because they play the best teams (NW, Pitt, UNK, Hays) on the road. Combine the under classmen thing with the road schedule and I think we've got something here. Yep, we'll go with that for now.[/QUOTE

Opps, Emporia State should be in that group of best teams that we play on the road. I don't want to offend Reload or Relapse or whatever he goes by. Many posters seem to think that UCO is in that best group, but I'm not seeing it and neither did the coaches or media when polled.

[Kiss My Ass]

The Lambo hire is baffling to me, but the search committee obviously saw something in him that made them hire him. Maybe you guys should be cautiously hopeful for good things to come a few years from now?

I would be surprised if there was a search committee or even much of a search. In my opinion, (AD) Jerry Hughes has gotten lazy and he probably didn't even interview anyone else. At least I didn't read about anyone else being interviewed.

Yes, we'll keep the faith that Mule's football will be a top team again. Until then, we'll make the most of it and joke around a little bit. But always lurking is the reminder of Jerry's contribution to the coaching failure of Mule's basketball.