2004: 0-11 O’Leary’s first year. He can’t even win a single game. Not even in the MAC.
2005: A pretty good year. We start off 0-2 including getting spanked by USF which runs our losing skid to 17 straight, but then turn it around in time to win the East division in our first season in Conference USA. We finish the regular season 8-3 but we lose in the Championship game at home to Tulsa. Then we go to our first bowl game and lose to Nevada when we miss an extra point in OT. Final record- 8 wins five losses. Not too bad.
2006: A train wreck of a season. Because we were the feel good story of college football the year before, ESPN puts us on TV several times including a home loss to Southern Miss and an absloute butt whipping to Pittsburgh. Final record 4-8.
2007: A dream season. Kevin Smith sets the world on fire. We break in a brand new on-campus stadium by nearly shocking Texas. We win Conference USA by getting revenge on Tulsa on ESPN. It was a day I’ll never forget. Of course there were some downers too. Getting humiliated by USF on ESPN was one. Losing the Liberty Bowl to Miss St was another. But all in all a great year.
2008: Another 2006 style train wreck. We look awful on offense. We can’t decide on a first string QB. We have no running game. We have no passing game. We’re 2-6 and out of contention for the East and probably out of bowl contention. We have the same record we had in ’06 at this time. See a pattern?
When do we say enough is enough and get off this roller coaster? We’ve been asked to invest. We’ve been told to be a serious player in the college football world we needed to build new on-campus facilities. We were told we needed to buy season tickets and to donate money. We did that. I know I personally paid for lower bowl season tickets that were probably around $35 a piece. At the ECU game i could have bought a pair of tickets for $10. I buy season tickets because the program needs the money and not some guy on the street. But is this what I pay for? So we can be good one year and terrible the next? How can we be the 6th largest school in the nation and yet we can’t even stay on top in Conference USA? We’ve got the best available high school talent in the conference. We’ve got the best facilities in the conference. We’ve got probably the best home field advantage in the conference. We should be running the show here. How is it Tulsa, with it’s 5000 student enrollment can field a competitive team year in and year out but we cannot?
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