Been debating how to approach my thoughts - within this thread or as a standalone one - because only a few thoughts are related to 'Fire Geoff Collins'. I'll break this up into separate posts today because I prefer responses that are in line with each point.
First, we have a coaching problem. It has been clear since Season 1. I called out the time management, pre- and post-snap penalties against The Citadel as my first, in general, 'oh s***, we have a problem' takeaways from the game. Despite confirmation bias from others, we did not lose that game because of the offense we faced. El Cid would not have scored 1-2 of their drives if it weren't for non-play related issues i.e., pre and post snap penalties. We lost the game due to discipline and preparedness, plain and simple.
To that end, yesterday was not a Jimmies and Joes issue. We have far better talent than NIU. It was also not an X's and O's issue. We schemed guys running wide open. We had a receiver drop a catchable pass. We fumbled an unchallenged mesh. We had 2-3 defenders jogging off the field on defense with NIU snapping the ball to cause a substitution infraction. We called a timeout and 2nd and goal after gaining 3 yards and had NIU's defense on roller skates. We called another timeout on 4th down not because we saw a look, but because WE WERE NOT PREPARED.
Because of the sidewinding nature of the thread, I feel compelled to repeat the main point of this post. On the order of magnitude where we are talking about most concerning and most pressing issue, yesterday was neither a talent issue nor an X's and O's issue. Therefore I don't understand the leap from some to go as far as 'how can GT compete as a program going forward?' We have a PREPAREDNESS issue. This is unacceptable in year 1, let alone year 3.