Your team's positive year

[BEAR]

I've read topic after topic about conference weaknesses, team weaknesses, blah blah blah...xlolx

Let's look at our own team and see the positives from this season. Especially if your season is over. xlolx

UCA lost to:

#1 Sam Houston State ( 12-0 ) ( seeded playoff team and conference champion )
#3 Eastern Washington ( 11-1 ) ( seeded playoff team and conference champion )
#top 25 Samford ( 7-5 ) ( playoff team)

Our coaches third year at the helm and he went from
Year 1: 6-6
Year 2: 7-4
Year 3: 10-3

That's progress in my eyes.

Team stats: Many of you in the SLC know its a pass happy conference. Not this year for the Bears. Here's a surprising stat:
Rush attempts: 645- 2433 yards.
Pass attempts: 398- 3084 yards.

-- A total flip flop from years past when we were pass heavy. I wonder what would have happened if we allowed our QB to pass a little more. xeyebrowx

Our 3 losses come to the top 3 pass offense teams in the nation. Coincidence?
#1 pass offense: EWU- 551 attempts for 4932 yards.
#2 pass offense: SHSU- 494 attempts for 4630 yards.
#3 pass offense: Samford- 546 attempts for 4193 yards.

Other positives:

Last year we lost to Samford 16-45.
This year we lost to Samford 29-35.

Conference: Last year we were 7-2.
Conference: This year we went 8-1.

ALL SLC teams 2015: 8 Bears named.
ALL SLC teams 2016: 12 Bears named.

UCA went to the playoffs for the third time in only its 6th year of eligibility to do so.

Last year:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CV1Tz7zVEAA0UpI.jpg

This year:

http://www.anygivensaturday.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=24032&stc=1

Onto next year!

[UNIFanSince1983]

Honestly, it is hard to find any positives with a 5-6 year.

I mean I guess Schult being a Buck Buchanan Finalist is probably up there.

[McNeese72]

The only thing positive about this season for McNeese is that it is over!! ;)

Doc

[NY Crusader 2010]

Our senior preseason all-PL QB got hurt early enough in the season that he can redshirt and get a chance to finish his career off in proper fashion.

Other positives: beating Harvard for the first time since 2011, even if it was the worst Crimson team in 15 years. Leading playoff-bound UNH into the fourth quarter before falling 39-28. Obviously, our conference champ didn't play nearly as well against the Wildcats.

[ST_Lawson]

Going 3-0 out of conference, with a win over in-state FBS rival Northern Illinois.
Repeating at 6-5 after some people said that we'd be down after losing our coaching staff at the end of last season, and essentially being "in" every game except one (against SDSU).
Had the best receiver in Western history and probably the 3-4th best receiver in Western history both on the same team at the same time.
Beating a decent South Dakota team at their place in what was an emotional and personal game for many of our players.

Lots of talent coming back, including the #7 player on the Buchanan award list (he's #4 out of players that will be back next year, I believe). Not worried about the future, but it's disappointing that this year's seniors went out the way they did.

[Daytripper]

We're still standing....

[TheRevSFA]

We won the Chief. That's all

[Grizalltheway]

Honestly, it is hard to find any positives with a 5-6 year.

I mean I guess Schult being a Buck Buchanan Finalist is probably up there.

Conversely, the only positive I can come up with is beating a 5-6 team on the road. But hey, you were #3 at the time! xlolx

[Bucs2016]

Awesome thread and UCA has done a great job!!

My team....Charleston Southern:
Founded D3 football 1991.
Skipped D2 and went D1 in 1993. For no good reason.
Crappy facilities and stadium.
Pay our coaches nearly nothing and still dont.
Sucked bad til about 1998....then improved some
Finally "broke through" and beat some bigger programs in 2000 (25-0 over Liberty) finished around .500 a few years

And from that point on....

We have won 3 Big South championships in 11 years.
Multiple wins over bigger more established programs (App State, Citadel, Liberty, Coastal, etc)
Have put a couple guys into the NFL

WE have won something like 37 games in 4 years. Made playoffs twice. Won a playoff game.

For this little program founded 25 years ago as a D3 with almost no resources or stadium or fan support....I'M BEYOND HAPPY with our play.

All things considered....Charleston Southern might be the happiest fan base in America outside of Fargo and Tuscaloosa. Our team over achieves like no other. And my personal favorite is how we play defense. And we have ALWAYS played a fast aggressive style even in bad years. Got some good athletes on D over the years.

[bobcathpdevil56]

Beat the Griz!!!

[Serpentor]

Team stats: Many of you in the SLC know its a pass happy conference. Not this year for the Bears. Here's a surprising stat:
Rush attempts: 645- 2433 yards.
Pass attempts: 398- 3084 yards.

We seemed to swap offenses this year...

Seriously though, congrats on your run this year, UCA! Glad you guys made the playoffs, hope the Sam Houston/Central Arkansas game becomes the de facto conference championship for many years to come!

[clenz]

Honestly, it is hard to find any positives with a 5-6 year.

I mean I guess Schult being a Buck Buchanan Finalist is probably up there.
That's about it.

He's also a finalist for the William Campbell Award (Academic Heisman).


Other than that? Um...we saw the young guys could be good. By the end of the year we were starting 14 freshman/sophomores between offense and defense. Most of them looked pretty good.

Other than that this season was a completely cluster **** of failure.

[yorkcountyUNHfan]

Opened the new stadium
Kept the playoff streak alive
Beat Maine

Finally, barely and again

[kdinva]

1974 & 1981......

[woffordgrad94]

We have finally returned to the playoffs and are relevant in FCS again after several down years. And we have won a couple of playoff games and are still playing! It has been a hell of a year that has already exceeded my expectations.

[Milktruck74]

Played a week longer than Marshall......

[CockyGeek]

24 game conference winning streak!?

[REALBird]

Beat Northwestern
Made FCS Playoff at 6-5 for 3rd year in a row, 4th time in last 5 years.
Won't lost head coach to FCS school (for now)

[Silenoz]

Umm... keeping our streak against Idaho State alive?

[BisonTru]

https://cdn.meme.am/cache/instances/folder479/500x/73712479.jpg

[melloware13]

Attendance was better.
Increased passing game to 97 YPG and 6 TD.
Currently vacant head coaching position.

[bonarae]

Hardly any in a mostly negative season that expected us to win or share the title that doesn't really matter nationally. xsmhx

[Redbird007]

Beat Northwestern
Made FCS Playoff at 6-5 for 3rd year in a row, 4th time in last 5 years.
Won't lost head coach to FCS school (for now)

....and many pieces coming back that will make for a good team that will also be joined by ISU's best incoming recruiting class.

[DFW HOYA]

Georgetown? Well, they beat Columbia. After that, uhhh...

[NorthChuckSouth]

Awesome thread and UCA has done a great job!!

My team....Charleston Southern:
Founded D3 football 1991.
Skipped D2 and went D1 in 1993. For no good reason.
Crappy facilities and stadium.
Pay our coaches nearly nothing and still dont.
Sucked bad til about 1998....then improved some
Finally "broke through" and beat some bigger programs in 2000 (25-0 over Liberty) finished around .500 a few years

And from that point on....

We have won 3 Big South championships in 11 years.
Multiple wins over bigger more established programs (App State, Citadel, Liberty, Coastal, etc)
Have put a couple guys into the NFL

WE have won something like 37 games in 4 years. Made playoffs twice. Won a playoff game.

For this little program founded 25 years ago as a D3 with almost no resources or stadium or fan support....I'M BEYOND HAPPY with our play.

All things considered....Charleston Southern might be the happiest fan base in America outside of Fargo and Tuscaloosa. Our team over achieves like no other. And my personal favorite is how we play defense. And we have ALWAYS played a fast aggressive style even in bad years. Got some good athletes on D over the years.

This season was a disappointment for us. We went 7-4, shared the conference, and got beat in the first round by a team we should have beat. We were plagued with injuries and didn't live up to expectations, especially after the first game. We've been around for 25 years.. Kennesaw has been around for 2 and they were one game away from winning the conference.

It's time for us to stop with the history lessons and playing the victim of the little resources we have. We've shown we can win with it so what's the point of griping and complaining about it?

It's going to be an interesting offseason for the Bucs but that first Saturday in Starkville, MS will be here before you know it.

Good luck to everyone still in the playoffs

[UAalum72]

Awesome thread and UCA has done a great job!!

My team....Charleston Southern:
Founded D3 football 1991.
Skipped D2 and went D1 in 1993. For no good reason.

The reason, of course, was the implementation of the Dayton Rule. You had to.

For Albany, positives were going from three wins to seven. Play of the last of the NEC recruits should lead to increased talent as the CAA recruits play more next year.. Quarterbacks will be a year older next year, maybe one of them will grow into the role more. Elijah Ibitokun-Hanks emerges as a top running back. Most of the defense will return.

Cautions; Hank' torn ACL from the last game; have to replace virtually the entire offensive line; probably the same offensive coordinator.

[Catbooster]

A month ago I think we'd have had a tough time coming up with any positives - we hoped the new coaching staff was laying the foundation but there wasn't much evidence on the field. We were doing worse than most expected. Prior to the season, most generally thought we were in for a minor rebuild rather than a major overhaul.

Winning the last two games has the fan base more optimistic, especially since one was against the Griz. Neither of those wins was against real strong teams, but it's the first time in years that we finished stronger than the mid-season. We played this year with lots of young guys. We seem to have a good start on another strong recruiting season. The new coaching staff seems to be putting the pieces together.

So -

1. Stronger finish.
2. lots of young players got good experience.

[citdog]

10-2
Southern Conference Champions
Seed in Playoffs

I'll take it!

[F'N Hawks]

Attendance was much improved
Won more games than previous years
Made playoffs
Thanks to opposing wide receivers we saw plenty of big scoring plays

[eiu1999]

The only thing positive about this season for McNeese is that it is over!! ;)

Doc


Same for EIU

[walliver]

1) Our player who suffered a cardiac arrest on the sidelines was resuscitated and is doing well.
2) Our player who suffered a broken neck in the first Citadel game suffered no neurologic injury.
3) Our freshmen have stepped up when needed.

Everything else is lagniappe.

[BEAR]

1) Our player who suffered a cardiac arrest on the sidelines was resuscitated and is doing well.
2) Our player who suffered a broken neck in the first Citadel game suffered no neurologic injury.
3) Our freshmen have stepped up when needed.

Everything else is lagniappe.

Amen.

[BadlandsGrizFan]

We got new turf....
Broke ground on a state of the art Champions Center training facility...
Our Dip **** University President finally got ran off....
We get all of our scholarships back now....

Besides that it was a pretty horrible year for Montana football standards..lol

[SFA 93]

A positive is returning the bulk of our team next season

RB:#7 Loren Easly 5-11; 205 (Jr.)
G:20;ATT:213;YDS:1256;AVG:6.0;TD:11/REC:17;YDS:139;TD:0
RB:#25 Kijana Amous 5-11; 210 (Sr.) JUCO
G:9;ATT:60;YDS:228;AVG:4.0;TD:1/REC:7;YDS:92;TD:0

WR:#80 Tamrick Pace 6-3; 192 (So.) (All-SLC) HM
G:11;REC:52;YDS:836;TD:8
WR:#9 Trae Hart 5-11; 175 (Sr.) Purdue Transfer (All-SLC) 2nd Team
G:10;REC:42;YDS:511;TD:2/PRTD:1
WR:#89 Kiki Hill 6-2; 216 (So.) (All-SLC) HM
G:10;REC:19;YDS:172;TD:2

TE:#86 Will Taylor 6-3; 248 (Sr.)
G:32;REC:12;YDS:141;TD:1
TE:#87 Nick Jones 6-4; 248 (Sr.) JUCO
G:6;REC:5;YDS:73;TD:2
TE:#84 Lucas Askew 6-5; 220 (Jr.)
G:15;REC:5;YDS:50;TD:0

OL:#79 Josh Keith 6-7; 318 (Sr.) JUCO (All-SLC) 2nd Team
OL:#60 Shane Roberson 6-2; 304 (Sr.)
OL:#52 A.J. Brown 6-2; 305 (So.)
OL:#76 Cooper Williams 6-4; 300 (So.)
OL:#71 Devonte Jones 6-2; 305 (Jr.)
OL:#67 Jaxon Salinas 6-3; 308 (Sr.)
OL:#64 Travis Lock 6-3; 278 (So.)
OL:#65 Hayden Scott 6-3; 286 (Jr.)
OL:#63 Tim Meyers 6-0; 275 (So.)
OL:#56 Deion Bennett 6-2; 284 (R/Fr.)
OL:#74 Matthew Mora 6-7; 280 (R/Fr.)
OL:#66 Zach Mack 6-3; 285 (R/Fr.)
OL:#00 Sigi Mora-Garcia 6-5; 310 (R/Fr.)

K:#36 Storm Ruiz 5-10; 160 (So.) (ALL SLC) HM
FGA:17;FGM:13;LNG:44;APAT:42;MPAT:42

P:#45 Caleb Lewallen 5-10; 190 (Jr.)
P:82;YDS:3040;AVG:37.0;LNG:63;IN20:21;TB:6

DE:#13 John Franklin 6-4; 278 (Sr.) (All-SLC) 1st Team
G:30;TKL:75;TFL:24.0;SCK:14.0;FF:4;FR:2;PBU:0;INT: 0;QBH:9
DT:#73 Shaq Anderson 6-1; 305 (Jr.) JUCO
G:11;TKL:35;TFL:4.5;SCK:2.5;FF:0;FR:0;PBU:0;INT:0; QBH:3
DT:#93 Lamont Alexander 6-3; 300 (Jr.)
G:21;TKL:46;TFL:2.5;SCK:1.0;FF:0;FR:0;PBU:0;INT:0; QBH:0

S:#28 Marion Walls 5-10; 196 (Sr.)
G:35;TKL:90;TFL:3.5;SCK:0.0;FF:2;FR:1;PBU:3;PD:6;I NT:2;QBH:1
S:#33 Alize Ward 5-10; 203 (So.) (All-SLC) HM
G:11;TKL:58;TFL:1.5;SCK:0.0;FF:0;FR:0;PBU:2;PD:3;I NT:1;QBH:2
S:#12 Lawrence Ghansah 6-0; 195 (Jr.)
G:21;TKL:43;TFL:2.0;SCK:0.5;FF:0;FR:1;PBU:1;PD:1;I NT:0;QBH:0
S:#30 Trevon Smith 5-10; 184 (Jr.)
G:20;TKL:48;TFL:3.0;SCK:0.0;FF:0;FR:2;PBU:3;PD:6;I NT:2;QBH:0
S:#37 Ahmad Muhammad 6-0; 196 (Sr.)
G:31;TKL:78;TFL:2.0;SCK:0.0;FF:0;FR:1;PBU:0;PD:1;I NT:0;QBH:0

CB:#8 Trent Perriman 5-11; 184 (Sr.) JUCO
G:11;TKL:35;TFL:0.0;SCK:0.0;FF:0;FR:1;PBU:10;PD:12 ;INT:2;QBH:0
CB:#20 Tarrin Mitchell 5-10; 186 (Jr.)
G:21;TKL:51;TFL:0.0;SCK:0.0;FF:0;FR:2;PBU:2;PD:3;I NT:4;QBH:0
CB:#11 Aaron Foy 5-11; 184 (Sr.) JUCO
G:7;TKL:20;TFL:1.0;SCK:0.0;FF:0;FR:0;PBU:3;PD:3;IN T:0;QBH:0

[Daytripper]

A positive is returning the bulk of our team next season

RB:#7 Loren Easly 5-11; 205 (Jr.)
G:20;ATT:213;YDS:1256;AVG:6.0;TD:11/REC:17;YDS:139;TD:0
RB:#25 Kijana Amous 5-11; 210 (Sr.) JUCO
G:9;ATT:60;YDS:228;AVG:4.0;TD:1/REC:7;YDS:92;TD:0

WR:#80 Tamrick Pace 6-3; 192 (So.) (All-SLC) HM
G:11;REC:52;YDS:836;TD:8
WR:#9 Trae Hart 5-11; 175 (Sr.) Purdue Transfer (All-SLC) 2nd Team
G:10;REC:42;YDS:511;TD:2/PRTD:1
WR:#89 Kiki Hill 6-2; 216 (So.) (All-SLC) HM
G:10;REC:19;YDS:172;TD:2

TE:#86 Will Taylor 6-3; 248 (Sr.)
G:32;REC:12;YDS:141;TD:1
TE:#87 Nick Jones 6-4; 248 (Sr.) JUCO
G:6;REC:5;YDS:73;TD:2
TE:#84 Lucas Askew 6-5; 220 (Jr.)
G:15;REC:5;YDS:50;TD:0

OL:#79 Josh Keith 6-7; 318 (Sr.) JUCO (All-SLC) 2nd Team
OL:#60 Shane Roberson 6-2; 304 (Sr.)
OL:#52 A.J. Brown 6-2; 305 (So.)
OL:#76 Cooper Williams 6-4; 300 (So.)
OL:#71 Devonte Jones 6-2; 305 (Jr.)
OL:#67 Jaxon Salinas 6-3; 308 (Sr.)
OL:#64 Travis Lock 6-3; 278 (So.)
OL:#65 Hayden Scott 6-3; 286 (Jr.)
OL:#63 Tim Meyers 6-0; 275 (So.)
OL:#56 Deion Bennett 6-2; 284 (R/Fr.)
OL:#74 Matthew Mora 6-7; 280 (R/Fr.)
OL:#66 Zach Mack 6-3; 285 (R/Fr.)
OL:#00 Sigi Mora-Garcia 6-5; 310 (R/Fr.)

K:#36 Storm Ruiz 5-10; 160 (So.) (ALL SLC) HM
FGA:17;FGM:13;LNG:44;APAT:42;MPAT:42

P:#45 Caleb Lewallen 5-10; 190 (Jr.)
P:82;YDS:3040;AVG:37.0;LNG:63;IN20:21;TB:6

DE:#13 John Franklin 6-4; 278 (Sr.) (All-SLC) 1st Team
G:30;TKL:75;TFL:24.0;SCK:14.0;FF:4;FR:2;PBU:0;INT: 0;QBH:9
DT:#73 Shaq Anderson 6-1; 305 (Jr.) JUCO
G:11;TKL:35;TFL:4.5;SCK:2.5;FF:0;FR:0;PBU:0;INT:0; QBH:3
DT:#93 Lamont Alexander 6-3; 300 (Jr.)
G:21;TKL:46;TFL:2.5;SCK:1.0;FF:0;FR:0;PBU:0;INT:0; QBH:0

S:#28 Marion Walls 5-10; 196 (Sr.)
G:35;TKL:90;TFL:3.5;SCK:0.0;FF:2;FR:1;PBU:3;PD:6;I NT:2;QBH:1
S:#33 Alize Ward 5-10; 203 (So.) (All-SLC) HM
G:11;TKL:58;TFL:1.5;SCK:0.0;FF:0;FR:0;PBU:2;PD:3;I NT:1;QBH:2
S:#12 Lawrence Ghansah 6-0; 195 (Jr.)
G:21;TKL:43;TFL:2.0;SCK:0.5;FF:0;FR:1;PBU:1;PD:1;I NT:0;QBH:0
S:#30 Trevon Smith 5-10; 184 (Jr.)
G:20;TKL:48;TFL:3.0;SCK:0.0;FF:0;FR:2;PBU:3;PD:6;I NT:2;QBH:0
S:#37 Ahmad Muhammad 6-0; 196 (Sr.)
G:31;TKL:78;TFL:2.0;SCK:0.0;FF:0;FR:1;PBU:0;PD:1;I NT:0;QBH:0

CB:#8 Trent Perriman 5-11; 184 (Sr.) JUCO
G:11;TKL:35;TFL:0.0;SCK:0.0;FF:0;FR:1;PBU:10;PD:12 ;INT:2;QBH:0
CB:#20 Tarrin Mitchell 5-10; 186 (Jr.)
G:21;TKL:51;TFL:0.0;SCK:0.0;FF:0;FR:2;PBU:2;PD:3;I NT:4;QBH:0
CB:#11 Aaron Foy 5-11; 184 (Sr.) JUCO
G:7;TKL:20;TFL:1.0;SCK:0.0;FF:0;FR:0;PBU:3;PD:3;IN T:0;QBH:0

That's awesome. But you are also returning the biggest problem: Coach Conque

[BNATION]

Kats had a historic season. We went 11-0, reached the third round for the 5th year in a row, have the bulk of the team, and coach of the year coming back to make another run!