Preemptive Strike Post of the Week

[ThadFilms]

Revisionist History

I have been trying to contain my posts to the weekly College Football Diary segments. However the amount of negativity on the board has sufficiently raised my ire.

Many are saying that we are going backwards, and in one way that might be true, but in every other way it simply is not the case…

Let’s take a trip down Revisionist History lane-

It cannot be overlooked how huge the Mustang losses were prior to last season. Let’s just imagine that Page never left for grad school, ShanD never suffered a career ending injury, and the Comet’s foot never got mangled…

We beat Navy easily. That game did not get out of hand until after the D had worn down. And the D would not have worn down, if we could have had a balanced offensive attack (if you recall, Tate rarely threw the ball that game).

We follow that game up with a win over Tech. It was a three-point game with seven minutes remaining. Any kind of aerial assault for the Mustangs or game-breaking runs by ShanD would have put us over the top.

I’m not saying we would have gone undefeated last season, but I’m certain that team would have a shot at the WAC championship. Starting 2-0 vs. 0-2 is a huge shift in confidence.

How does that change where we are today? I don’t know. But we certainly would have more faith in the pass, even with a new signal caller this year. And maybe that would have meant a W vs. Baylor.

Regardless- the bottom line is this and only this- a college head coach can only be judged after five years. I believe we have the right man for the job (for whatever that counts). The media (both local and national) believe we have the right man for the job. And several big time coaches believe Bennett’s the one. Let’s give him some time.

Everybody is gloom and doom now that we’ve been getting spanked this year. We lost our first seven games last season and still landed the best post DP recruiting class. I have absolutely no doubt, that regardless of how this season plays out; we will have another stellar class this year. The point is these kids believe in Bennett, they believe in the future of the program, and Bennett believes in these kids. Why shouldn’t we believe in all three? I know as Pony fans we feel eternally wronged- and I’ve said it myself, I want to win now- but for once the future is actually bright. Let’s just take our licks like men, and believe in the program. I do.

If, after 2005 and 2006 seasons, we are still a perennial ESPN.com bottom 10- then I’ll jump off the bridge with you. It’s over, and I’m out.

[woodsnwater]

Recruiting rankings mean nothing. It is all based on potential. Look where all of those recruiting national championships have gotten Mack Brown.

"Don't tell me how rocky the sea is, just bring in the damn ship"- Lou Holz

Bennet has only been here for 1 1/2 years. Give him time and the ship will come in.

[Stallion]

I'll tell you where those recruiting rankings got UT-ranked perrennially as one of the Top Program in the Nation and the highest ranked program in Texas - the base of its recruiting territory. Where did SMU's recruiting classes ranked 95+ get SMU?

[Mike Damone]

Where have they gotten Mack Brown?

They win 10+ games every year, and get to at least dream about national championships. Its so funny that everyone rips on what he has done there. What I wouldn't give to have the chance to [deleted] about losing only two games in the Big XII.

Their third string would start for us.

[woodsnwater]

All I am saying is don't worry about recruiting rankings, only wins. We will never have nationally ranked recruit years so why worry about it. I wonder how many nationally ranked recruiting years Northern Illinois has had, and look at their success this year.

The kids that end up on those lists are on there because they are being recruited by the big schools, thats how they make those lists, it is a self-fulfilling process.

SMU will have to find the diamonds in the rough and look to the great athletes at some of the smaller high schools in Texas. SMU is currently doing this and will be successful, look at the success TCU has had in recruiting the smaller schools and not so high profile names in East Texas. Heck they have a top 20 program. Mack Brown can keep his high-profile underacheiving athletes. Keylon's twice the running back that Benson is.

[McAndless]

"The point is these kids believe in Bennett, they believe in the future of the program, and Bennett believes in these kids. Why shouldn’t we believe in all three?"

I've read the website for a few years, and after constantly reading the misinformed, misled, and naive posts for so long, I decided it was time to give this site a chance and begin posting only when the necessary truths need to be made. Well, now is the time to correct you PonyExpress. When players are told his way is so proven and it gets you beat 12 out of 15 times, and the empty promises are more and more evident, the players do not believe in him. You can only hear the post-game speech 12 times in 2 years to realize it's the same one and no changes, except for yanking a quarterback, are made. He is going to have to make some drastic changes as a coach, not recruiter, before this program gets a real chance.

I'm not asking 12-0, but I'm sure as hell not thinking Saturday's performance, or any of the season for that matter, are signs of improvement and signs that this ship is headed in the right direction.

[ThadFilms]

All I am trying to say is this- let's allow Bennett and his staff to level the athletic playing field. Once we have true 1A athletes at every position on the two deep roster, then let's make arguments about his gameday coaching ability. Until that day, it's a moot point. Yes, I want to win now- and I actually do believe that Bennett is coaching well on gameday. We picked our poison on defense and stuck with it. Though I would have like to have seen double or triple coverage on Woods in the third quarter... I was, however, glad to see that they never had any running game to speak of.

In Cavan's tenure we had some good teams, especially in his first year. But they always had the melt down capacity- and the teams would often quit. I saw no quit in this team on Saturday.