[SuperJon]

Neither am I, but the fact we lost means we have not made it to that next step as a program. We are heading in the right direction but not nearly as fast as I was hoping. Our running game or lack thereof and the lack of development at the QB position is a huge reason for that. Our defense also had one of their poorest performances of the season if not the poorest so that didn't help things either.

I think most realize there is more to this team than the QB position but being a 5th year senior starting QB brings along certain expectations. So far Josh is not meeting those expectations.

I think that we have now passed the point where we are singling out Josh from the other players too much. I'm not saying that there shouldn't be criticism of him, but there should be criticism/blame for other players as well.

There are a lot of upperclassmen on this team who aren't playing or leading like they should be.

I agree with this, but I also acknowledge the quarterback gets extra credit when we win and extra blame when we lose. It's the nature of the position.

[bluejacket]

I agree with this, but I also acknowledge the quarterback gets extra credit when we win and extra blame when we lose. It's the nature of the position.

Agreed.

[forbidden]

Neither am I, but the fact we lost means we have not made it to that next step as a program. We are heading in the right direction but not nearly as fast as I was hoping. Our running game or lack thereof and the lack of development at the QB position is a huge reason for that. Our defense also had one of their poorest performances of the season if not the poorest so that didn't help things either.

I think most realize there is more to this team than the QB position but being a 5th year senior starting QB brings along certain expectations. So far Josh is not meeting those expectations.

I think that we have now passed the point where we are singling out Josh from the other players too much. I'm not saying that there shouldn't be criticism of him, but there should be criticism/blame for other players as well.

There are a lot of upperclassmen on this team who aren't playing or leading like they should be.

well lets call a spade a spade shall we,

Josh = not getting it done
Lunsford = not getting it done
Rice = not getting it done (don't know why coaches felt he was better option than DJ, stunting growth of Macon, IMO)

Petey = Hurt can't be explosive if not effective best idea to have him sit last week
Chima = what more can he really do
DJ = was heart and soul of team and in less opportunities is doing more than the starter
Burgess = Was an iffy performance Saturday but all in all is part of a line giving QB time to throw, (no sacks vs WVU)

[bluejacket]

well lets call a spade a spade shall we,

Josh = not getting it done
Lunsford = not getting it done
Rice = not getting it done (don't know why coaches felt he was better option than DJ, stunting growth of Macon, IMO)

Petey = Hurt can't be explosive if not effective best idea to have him sit last week
Chima = what more can he really do
DJ = was heart and soul of team and in less opportunities is doing more than the starter
Burgess = Was an iffy performance Saturday but all in all is part of a line giving QB time to throw, (no sacks vs WVU)

If you want to name names, I've got no problem with it. I'm simply saying that this loss wasn't only on Woodrum, who was the only one getting singled out for his poor play.

This team started 6 seniors/juniors on offense and 8 seniors/juniors on defense on Saturday. And there were plenty of others who played significant game time. They need to start leading and playing better.

[jinxy]

Who has made the questionable public comments and has the most checkered play. That's why he's catching the most heat. Masha was in his first playing time last year. Let's compare woodrum's first game at Montana. Pretty bad as well. We will see if masha develops. Oldflame knocked it dead earlier. It all started with the BSc media day.

[olldflame]

While I absolutely believe the best chance of this team reaching their full potential is for Josh to get his act together and start playing like he is capable, I really don´t understand the negativity about Masha. If our defense doesn´t get absolutely steamrollered by Chuck South´s run game, he would be 2-0 as a starter and 1-0 against Coastal. What´s Woodrum´s W-L against the beach chickens?

[Purple Haize]

Do we still drug test on this board?

[ballcoach15]

I have confidence in Masha. As poster above said, he's 1-0 against CCU.

[jcmanson]

You guys are too funny. Just a couple weeks ago some of you said a true freshman will beat out Masha next year. Now, Masha should play ahead of Josh.

[thepostman]

I think most agree Masha is not the answer. I don't want my Josh frustration to get confused. I still believe he is our best option at quarterback. I just was hoping for a bit more from a 5th year senior this year.

[SuperJon]

Josh is and should be our quarterback. We just need him to be a playmaker like at App last year and not an above average QB like he's been this year.

[thepostman]

What is it about Josh that makes him untouchable to criticism from the flames nation crew? I don't get it.

[bluejacket]

Who has made the questionable public comments and has the most checkered play. That's why he's catching the most heat. Masha was in his first playing time last year. Let's compare woodrum's first game at Montana. Pretty bad as well. We will see if masha develops. Oldflame knocked it dead earlier. It all started with the BSc media day.

There are plenty of candidates for your first question. Again, it could be Woodrum, but don't put it all on him. Even when someone listed candidates, he only picked offensive players and the kicker. NO ONE from the defense that got torched all night.

Comparing Masha and Woodrum is irrelevant. But since you want to know:
Woodrum at Montana (9/15/12): 34-44; 322 yards; 2 TD; 1 INT; 5 sacks (-32 net rushing)
Masha vs. Charleston Southern (11/15/14): 21-32; 238 yards; 4 TD; 3 INT; 1 fumble; 10 rushes for 104 yards (net 99 yards)

[bluejacket]

Josh is and should be our quarterback. We just need him to be a playmaker like at App last year and not an above average QB like he's been this year.

Agreed.

[SuperJon]

What is it about Josh that makes him untouchable to criticism from the flames nation crew? I don't get it.

He talks to them and is open with them.

When I was in school and knew the players, I would defend them like crazy, especially the ones that treated me well. It's human nature. The more you know someone, the less likely you are to criticize them.

[jimflamesfan]

Sometimes I think Josh is put in some weird positions. We don't throw enough short routes. During the 2nd half of Montana it seemed like we decided like it was home run ball or nothing.

I liked the first quarter where we did some over the middle routes to Parker...I also liked the first quarter of Northern Illinois where we had Mash come in and throw a little swing pass when they expected a run.

When Woodrum makes a bad throw, what happens on the next play? We run the ball. Let him keep throwing and work out of the funk.

He hasn't been intercepted very many times this year...that seems to be an improvement over last year. But he is less mobile. He just needs to go all Big Ben and run over some people.

[flamesfan4life1]

well lets call a spade a spade shall we,

Josh = not getting it done
Lunsford = not getting it done
Rice = not getting it done (don't know why coaches felt he was better option than DJ, stunting growth of Macon, IMO)

Petey = Hurt can't be explosive if not effective best idea to have him sit last week
Chima = what more can he really do
DJ = was heart and soul of team and in less opportunities is doing more than the starter
Burgess = Was an iffy performance Saturday but all in all is part of a line giving QB time to throw, (no sacks vs WVU)[/quote

Although the running game is abysmal right now I believe it is hard to put it entirely on Rice. You can say DJ was the heart and sole last year and has done more with less opportunity this year but we can make plenty of comparisons to both of their seasons as the "starter." Rice was the heart and sole of the team in 2013 where he nearly had a thousand yards on a hundred less carries, and two less games than Abnar. He also had one more rushing touchdown in 2013. The coaching staff clearly believes him to be better and I personally believe in our coaches. As I watched the game the other day there was absolutely no running room for any of our backs. As for the lack of production from Rice I noticed that all of his runs were up the middle whereas they used Abnar for outside runs. I'm sure given the opportunity to have a run outside Rice would capitalize as well. Either way we had 2.2 ypc last Saturday and all three of our backs had a similar amount of carries. This should be an indicator that it's not the backs that we should be concerned about. The bottom line is we have three really good, backs its just not showing up right now because of our offensive line play. We have solid players at all of our skill positions (besides maybe TE), we just need the O-line to elevate there game to another level to allow us to run the ball and prevent costly turnovers. Also hope Lunsford can get his mind right and be the kicker we all know he can be. Not worried about the Defense, they will be fine.

[olldflame]

For the record, I did not suggest Masha should be our starting QB, and I don´t recall anyone else doing it either. I would like to see him get a chance to actually run the team for a series once or twice a game. It would give opponents a different look, and if he does well it may have the bonus effect of getting Woodrum´s attention.

The possibility of one of those Freshmen challenging Masha for the starting job next year is totally unrelated. Masha will be the only returning QB, so at least one true Freshman will not redshirt, and will likely be his backup. To win the starting job as a Freshman would require bringing a different level of talent and performance to the table than we have been seeing at the position. I don´t believe that is out of the question.

[thepostman]

What is it about Josh that makes him untouchable to criticism from the flames nation crew? I don't get it.

He talks to them and is open with them.

When I was in school and knew the players, I would defend them like crazy, especially the ones that treated me well. It's human nature. The more you know someone, the less likely you are to criticize them.

Did you just compare them to a 20 year old college student?

[jcmanson]

What is it about Josh that makes him untouchable to criticism from the flames nation crew? I don't get it.

He's not untouchable. He deserves to take some heat and more heat than anyone else from this last game. I do think he is getting too much heat the last couple of weeks on here, but everyone's entitled to their opinion.

It's a message board and I realize people ride the roller coaster to the extreme both ways. Some comments do make me chuckle though.

[thepostman]

Of course some people take it to the extreme but most of the people taking it to the extreme take everything to the extreme. Even talking about benching Josh in favor of anybody else on the roster is laughable that is for sure.

[ballcoach15]

I hate to see a bad pass followed up with a run also. Then if run gets stopped, then it's 3rd down or even worse, 4th down.

[R i]

Who said Masha should start ?

[olldflame]

Who said Masha should start ?

.

Nobody.

[flameshaw]

In my opinion, Josh has done fine up until the last game. Delaware St. was a game where we chose to play it close to the vest, didn't show much and it was hard to get up for as a player, I understand that.
We were so overmatched against WVU, I don't believe you can realistically take anything from that game. We were playing a very good FBS team.
Montana, he played a very good game. His long passes were on target for one of the few times in his career. He was under a lot of pressure most of the night. He took too long to get rid of the ball a few times and took some sacks that were ill-advised. But, we ended up winning the game, zero turnovers. I will take that 100% of the time.
So. Ill was probably his worst performance since he became a Flame, considering it is his 4th year as a starter. He stunk up the field, as most everyone else did. Our game plan did not work, we got behind early and things went downhill form there.
I do believe there is some merit to the fact that Josh might let some personal aspirations get in his way from time to time. That is inexcusable. Having a bad week of practice shows a lack of maturity for the whole team.
We are much better than we have been in the past. The overall trajectory for the team is very good. Someone said that it is harder to stay on the top than it is to get to the top. While we are not to the top yet, we have to find a way to quit laying eggs after a big win. Seems like we did that at the end of last year ie. beating CCU and JMU back to back with a good performance against Villanove. However, you have to stay focused to maintain that level of performance/intensity.