Mavchamp

THIS. This is all that we need to know to sum up what kind of "FOOTBALL fan" you are. You are a fan that rides the coat-tails of winning teams. You are a bandwagon fan. You jump on the newest, shiniest, glitziest thing to come down the river. Until they aren't fun anymore. I suppose there was a time when you were a fan of Permian, Plano, Midland Lee, and Converse Judson too. That's your right. But why trash those that stick with ONE team. THEIR team???? IMHO.......REAL fans stick with THEIR ONE TEAM.....win or lose. Thick or thin. Of course I hate to see Marshall struggle. But why trash us for supporting them. The last 30 years of Maverick football have been pretty incredible. Hard to complain really. We appear to be having a tough season this year. It happens. It's bound to happen now and then. But what makes it awesome is knowing THIS is the exception for us. Not the rule. So go cheer for your Travis' and Allens' and such...... We will see you back on the bandwagon sometime in the future. That is all.....

If you want to base your decision for Louisvlle being added to the Big 12 solely on geography, then the SEC's choice to accept A&M makes little since either. IF Louisville was added to the Big 12, it would be in the Northern Conference. Each game would be 400-600 miles one way. That's from Ames, Manhattan, Columbia, and Lawrence to Louisville: Columbia, MO to Louisville- 384 miles Lawrence, KS to Louisville- 546 miles Ames, Iowa to Louisville - 611 Manhattan, KS to Louisville- 627 miles Average distance: 542 Compared to: College Station to Baton Rouge- 396 miles College Station to Auburn- 472 miles College Station to Starkville- 605 miles College Station to Oxford- 649 miles College Station to Tuscaloosa- 662 miles College Station to Fayetville- 518 miles Average distance: 550. So.....with divisions, A&M will travel an average of 550 miles for conference divisional games. The Big 12 North would average 542 for conference divisional games. The only question would be who would be added to the big 12 North with Louisville? The average could go up or down. The Big 12 South teams would only go to Louisville on rotation.....not annually. So....Austin to Louisville being 1,000 miles is no big deal. Why make a big deal about it being 1,000 miles to Louisville when: College Station to Columbia, SC- 1,096 miles College Station to Lexington, KY 992 miles College Station to Koxville, TN 972 miles College Station to Gainesville, Fl- 955 miles College Station to Athens, Ga 929 miles All of a sudden..... the 1,000 miles from Austin to Louisville isn't so far. All of A&M's trips to the SEC East will be right at 1,000 miles. Again.....from a geographical standpoint, the Big 12 accepting Louisville is on par with the SEC accepting A&M. The distances are uncanny in their similarities. Another point...... Louisville's metro market will bring in 1.3 million people to the big 12's footprint. That's HUGE!!! Second only to Austin metro's 2.9 million. Now the Big 12 footprint includes major markets like St. Louis, Dallas, Oklahoma City, Kansas City, Austin, San Antonio, and Louisville.... that's 7 markets over 1,000,000. And you could probably toss in Houston (5 million) too with all the Big 12 alumni in the Houston area. I don't know the numbers....but with markets like that.....I'd think the Big 12's market numbers would be comparable to the SEC and the PAC-12 in the way of eyeballs on the TV. And what's with making some making fun of the city of Louisville? Have you been to Lexington, Starkville, Athens....or Columbia? Louisville is better than any of those IMHO. Now.....how good of a football program they is another matter. They are obviously known as a basketball powerhouse. But wouldn't recruiting get better moving to the Big 12? One would think so. Side note...... UL beat Ole Miss of the SEC in a a bowl game last year. So they may not be as weak as some of you think. I'm a fan of both the SEC and the Big 12. I'm indifferent to UL, but if it keeps the Big 12 intact, then I think it's a good move.

You would think with such an uncanny ability to evaluate talent he would have a job in running a football team.

Everyone has been complaining about the Maverick offense most of the season. And I've been one to complain about some of the play calling too. But...... the numbers don't lie. Offense is not Marshall's problem. Not when you pile up almost 550 yards and score 38 points like we did against Jacksonville. Offense isn't your problem when you have almost 500 yards against Kilgore and score 41. What's the problem? Giving up 50 (Jax), 47 (Kilgore), and 48 (Byrd). Everyone has been ragging on the offense, but it looks like the ship is sinking with a defense that can't hold. But that's deceiving. The defense has been put in a hole all season thanks to special teams. They are killing us. Completely KILLING us the last two (all season) games. Our kickoff and punt coverage is non-existent. Kilgore started THREE drives INSIDE the Marshall 20 last week due to poor punt/kickoff coverage. Sorry....but when you only need 20-30 yards to hit paydirt, that's not a tough task for an offense. But it's all but impossible for a defense. It happened again last night with Jacksonville. The Indians had at least two great returns inside the Marshall 30. May have been more. Inability to kick PAT's. It has been an issue all season. We have missed a PAT in every game this season but Longview. Bad snaps, wide, or blocked completely. In all honestly..... those missed PAT's played a big part in Kilgore's AND Jacksonville's comebacks. Field goal kicking doesn't exist. I think Marshall was inside the Jacksonville 30 three times with no points. But kicking a FG isn't an option. So we are forced to go for it on 4th down. When it's not converted a nice long drive end in zero points. I think we did it a couple of times against Kilgore. Our answer for not being able to cover kickoffs was to use the pooch kick. If I recall correctly, Jacksonville started SIX drives on their OWN 45 or better. ?????. How in the world can you shorten the field that much on EVERY possession???? Jacksonville must have felt they were playing 6-man football with such a short field all night. I think three of those six STARTED in Maverick territory. We didn't even attempt to kick it deep. Not once. While Jacksonville started at midfield all night.... Marshall was pinned deep a majority of the night thanks to good kicks by the Indians. No PAT's. No punt/kickoff coverage. No field goals IMHO..... special teams are the single biggest reason Marshall is sitting at (1-3). Don't get me wrong..... the offense and defense have their issues too. We've given up a pick 6 in the last two games. Can't do that in close games. Driving the ball and not scoring inside the 20 has happened more times than I can count. The defense has been shredded in the last 3 games. And I'm not talking about when they have been pinned with short field to defend. They could not stop the non-featured backs of Kilgore or Jacksonville. Their top guys aren't the ones burning us. It's their other guys. Looks like the Mavs are working on just their fourth losing season in 25 years. It's painful to watch when you're not use to it.

He's just another blow hard that thinks he knows something because his cousin's mother's uncle said something about someone's mama he don't like. How's that for credentials?

Keys to a Marshall victory: 1. Offense needs to dominate time of possession WITH scores at the end of drives. 2. Defense has to make tackles.....not arm tackle. 3. Punt return defense has got to improve. Kilgore started inside the Mav 20 THREE times due to long punt returns. That must stop. If it doesn't, then the result could be the same.

How about Jacksonville Vs. Marshall??

Still trying to figure out how we lost Friday night. Eerily reminded me of the Jacksonville game last season. Hopefully we will shrug it off and go on a nice long winning streak like we did last year. If not.....we might be in trouble. Jacksonville has been a thorn in our side since this series started.....so we better bring our A-game.

Some more info about the game on my page: http://www.etsupersite.com/

JACKSONVILLE INDIANS (0-4) Vs. MARSHALL MAVERICKS (1-3) This is for all practical purposes a must-win game for both teams. Starting (0-2) in the district could make for a long road to get back into the race. Both teams are coming off of heartbreaking losses. Jacksovnille to Whitehouse, 22-21. While Marshall fell to Kilgore 47-41 in double overtime. Jacksonville won this game last season at the Tomato Bowl 30-27 on a field goal with 0:00 left on the clock. The game will be at Maverick Stadium this year. Thoughts? Predictions?

Congrats to Kilgore.......that was a seriously hard-hitting game on both sides of the ball. As a Marshall fan....I can't pin point what exactly was the fatal flaw that cost us the game. We were a mess on several fronts. The Mav O-line has struggled all season. No end in sight for that to get corrected. We simply had no holes to run through. Credit the Kilgore defense. Sounds like a broken record......but the lack of offensive creativity is mind boggling with all the playmakers we have. Yet we force 1 or 2 to carry the whole load. That's frustrating. Missing the two PAT's were HUGE. Small things can kill you. Kilgore started inside the Marshall 20 yardline THREE times due to an inability to stop punt and kickoff returns. Killer. Defense gave up a LOT of yards. Very disappointing loss. Plenty of mistakes by all to pin-point one thing that cost us. Again....congrats to Kilgore. On to Jacksonville next week.....this could be do or die for Marshall for the next three weeks.

Yep. Longview (3-1) and Byrd is (3-0). Both state ranked. I hope those losses toughened us up into contenders in the district.

Here are a couple of articles about the game from the Marshall News Messenger: History of the Series- http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/sports/kilgore-tries-to-even-slate-with-mavs/article_7448f71b-b886-5438-8788-94b558532b0b.html ------- Bulldogs Like to Run the Ball- http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/sports/bulldogs-like-to-run-the-ball/article_030abd65-95ed-5f72-bc84-b16ec5d617c6.html -------- Mavs ready for quest towards District Title- http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/sports/boys-ready-for-quest-toward-district-championship/article_44bcd1b3-92af-512f-b7f1-9300d3dcffa2.html -------- Focus on Marshall Wide Receivers- http://www.marshallnewsmessenger.com/sports/marshall-mavericks-in-the-spotlight-wide-receivers/article_7417b87c-422b-5a5a-8c1d-c2f3712d89ed.html

This has been a fierce rivalry since 2002...... our best rival since joining 4A back in 2002. I understand Marshall has been on top of the series for the last few years, but most of the games have been VERY CLOSE. Where are all the Kilgore supporters? Marshall? Guess I was expecting more talk with a big district opener. Maybe everyone is tentative because of all the uncertainty throughout 14-4A.

Both have played strong teams and lost big. Both have played weaker teams and won. Each has had some defensive issues of giving up a lot of points. Personally.....I think this game will come down to whose defense play better. It's a homer pick, but I'm going with the Mavs in a close one.

MARSHALL MAVERICKS Vs. KILGORE BULLDOGS Marshall Win over Shreveport Huntington (49-8) Losses to #8 Longview (30-0) and #5 Shreveport Byrd (48-23) Kilgore Win over Mount Pleasant (31-21) Losses to Corsicana (38-13) and Henderson (35-7) Series record since both were in 4A (2002): Marshall leads 6-5. Marshall has won 4 of the last 5. Overall Series: Marshall leads 29-14-1 since 1937 Last game: Marshall won 24-14.

Evangel JV 12 Marshall JV 30 I THINK the Mav JV is 2-1 on the season.

It is a two year deal as long as alignment doesn't change things for us. But I don't know if they will mix up the matchups or not.

Carthage isn't. Not since they lost to Lindale. I didn't see Lindale listed in the DMN either.

To me losing to a top team is one thing. I think what's bothersome for so many is how many points everyone is giving up. Its insane. WH 70 Nac 69 Mavs 48 Jax 44 JT 39 Kil 35 And this isn't the only week it's happended for any of us. It seems to be a trend.

I only listed the ranked teams. But yeah. Even the unranked include Carthage, Lindale, Sulphur Springs, Corsicana..... No slouches. What none of us know is this: is everyone as weak as we appear or have we just been knocking heads with some great teams?? But either way..... 2-18 is pitiful considering who those two wins came against.

Wow is right. We had some first quarter turnovers but only one cost us points. We were simply outmanned. Marshall cannot block a big defensive line. Longview ate us up. Byrd was bigger than Longview and our offensive line had absolutely no answer. Byrd ran the veer offense and our defense never figured it out. We never looked like we knew where the ball was or who had it. Anyone that thinks Byrd is just another Louisiana team is clueless. They beat the defending state champs last week. And they pounded us up and down the field. 14-4A appears wide open. No one has a lick of defense so far. Next week off....... Open distict at Kilgore in two weeks.

Teams 14-4a have lost to: Longview- twice Lufkin- twice Henderson- twice Gilmer Chapel Hill- twice Byrd Everyone of these teams are state ranked. There is no reason for anyone to be panicking. So no one in 14-4a has a defense. So be it. Let the fun begin.

That one statement sums up all anyone needs to know concerning any post by you: you have no idea what you are talking about.

Game 1 was amazing!!! Evangel lead 28-14 at the half. Lafayette scored 21 unanswered to take a 35-28 lead. Evangel scored with 20 seconds in the game but missed the PAT. Oxford Lafayette mississippi 35 Evangel 34 Mavs vs Byrd in a little over an hour!