So how many players didn’t play any this season

With us ending the season at 3-5 and it not counting against eligibility, it would have been good to have given all of our players some in game experience this year. Did we see most of them get some game time (of course the obvious one right now that I didn’t see at all was Massoud). Maybe it made sense to hold out some freshmen OL that needed to bulk up a bit?

You’d have to go to stats and look at the participation chart. I think they held out the freshmen offensive linemen. I don’t recall freshman RB Stacy Sneed getting on the field unless possibly special teams. He was one of our higher rated recruits. I don’t remember any of the freshmen receivers—Robinson, Edmonds, or Wafer—playing.

We weren’t safely enough ahead to play everyone – especially on the OL.

We were ahead of USF by 42 points near the end of the third quarter. I just don’t think some of the freshmen were quite ready, which is fine. They wouldn’t have seen the field before the past few seasons anyway.

I was extremely disappointed so many of our players were missing for the bowl game against Hawaii, especially the ones that opted out! What the heck, they made a little bit of name for themselves and now they think they are too important to play for their school in a bowl game?

I heard the excuse that they need to prepare for the NFL draft. Shoot, the draft doesn’t take place until towards the end of April! That’s over four months away! How much time do they need to prepare for the draft? They can’t fit in another game in four months time? The Senior Bowl doesn’t take place until January 30! They can’t play three games in a span of over four months? How come the Hawaii players have no problem playing in the bowl game, but ours do?

Instead of seeing the bowl game as a liability they should have done what Calvin Turner did — see it as an opportunity to showcase their talent to NFL scouts! Unless they are insecure about their talent and ability I don’t know why they chose to run away from a bowl game!

Every bowl game is important no matter how insignificant the payout or reputation of the bowl game is. It’s the last game of the season so you want to end the year on a high note and make some good impressions for recruits who are thinking about joining your program.

Frankly, I see it as a loss of opportunity for the players that opted out (Stevenson, Stuard, and Turner) to showcase their talent to NFL scouts. If they played well it is another reason for an NFL team to invest in them, such as Calvin Turner had done. It also shows character since a player that chooses to rep his school in a bowl game would be looked at much more positively than a selfish player that chooses to quit on his team!

This bowl game was especially important for all three of these players since none of them are sure-fire first round draft picks, especially Stuard since many people don’t even think he is an NFL level player and he should jump at the opportunity to showcase his talent as much as possible!

We would have won this bowl game if we didn’t miss so many players, especially these three starters. Holgorsen needs to do a better job of convincing these guys to play their last college game! Tell them about the missed opportunity to showcase their talent to a national audience and NFL scouts. Frankly, I am just sick and tired of players acting like prima-donnas and quitting on their team on the most important game of the season and this has got to stop!

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No one can convince a player to play if they choose not too. How is this any coach’s responsibility? If the player gets hurt , especially something serious like an ACL…there goes their chances. All they are wanting is a chance at the next level. Do you think Saban, Sweeney and the like are begging players to not opt out? No. Of course, every coach wants a full roster, but most coaches know a player’s intentions.

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Prima donna players or entitled fans. I’ll side with the players over the fans that need these kids to waste their careers for a meaningless bowl game. Those three guys put in the effort for UH, and now have a chance at the next level. That is what he hope for all them but only a few will get that shot. And stop bagging on Grant his talent and heart is obvious.

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Some might call it selfishness…some might call it prudence…it can be a fine line sometimes, but I want to see as many coogs in the NFL as possible…and I want to see us win as many games as possible. Just don’t let me catch you wearing a game jacket if you ain’t playing, lol.

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Agree. It’s every college player’s goal/dream to get to the next level. If they are invited to the Senior Bowl, they are on the radar. I say go for it, I would love to see all 3 of them playing on Sunday.

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So much nope.

Most important game of the season? Are you serious? LOL.

Any coach worth their salt will support their kids doing what they need to do to get to the next level.

You obviously have no idea what it takes to prepare for the draft. There are hours and hours of workouts to make sure you are in the best shape to perform at the Sr Bowl and hopefully the combine. You don’t just show up. It’s hard work.

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So what kind of hard work did our 3 Opt Outs put in last week?

After all that was the only week that would have caused them to miss extra special NFL Draft workouts.

So what did they do?

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Derek had a HS teammate who played at TAMU. He told Derek what all went into preparing for the draft, it was off the charts. He wasn’t invited to the combine, so he had an even bigger uphill climb. He is now on the practice squad for the Seahawks, so it was all worth it.

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They could have met with trainers. They could have done workouts. The number 1 thing they did was eliminate the risk of a serious injury that could cost a lot of money.

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There is a gym in town called Plex. I think it was started by a former NFL player. It specializes in helping kids prepare for the combine and draft.

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Indeed. What they actually did was avoid chance of injury. Not a single one of them did anything last week to prepare for the draft. They merely went home for Christmas.

So now what is the norm?

Much higher chance of injury in 11 games vs 1. I say that all studs should turn Pro after their Jr. seasons. The Senior season is meaningless when one’s objective is The NFL. The WR from LSU just did that and what you wanna bet he goes in the Top Ten?

We now will see College Football devoid of Major Senior talent. All Seniors will not be considered NFL level talent. Only reason they are still playing.

Indeed, if you are Ed Oliver level talent you need only play 2 years, then fake your way thru season 3. Voila! NFL Draft.

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I counted about 40 ( including walk-in ons). That I don’t recall getting any playing time this year as far as scholarship players most of the true freshmen OL & WR didn’t play much.

Of course we lost Smoke , Paul and some others early on to injury .

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Where is your proof?

If it’s so meaningless then why so many of you cried so hard and called for Holgorsen’s head when we lost the game against Hawaii? There is no such thing as a meaningless bowl game! If it’s meaningless they wouldn’t set it up. And the Hawaii players wouldn’t be celebrating like they have won the lottery after kicking our asses! It’s a game that could set the tone for how your record is going to be for next year and it’s definitely a major impression to the players you hope to recruit!

No, Stuard’s talent and heart aren’t obvious! He got beat over and over again by receivers too many times to be considered an NFL level player and quitting on his team only proves his heart is obviously wasn’t there for his team!

Like you said, making it to the NFL is a very long shot. What makes you think Stuard is better than those other players from the Power 5 that played in a more challenging level and came into college as 4 and 5 stars and playing for better teams with better records to boot? Also, most of those guys are also playing in the playoffs or playing in more prestigious bowl games than ours as well. Stuard is an undersized player at linebacker and if he tries out for safety he would be too slow and lacking in coverage ability against NFL receivers.

To answer the other guy’s statement, driving a car is a chance for an accident. Does that mean you stop driving a car? Playing in the Senior Bowl is also a chance for him to suffer an injury does that mean he should forgo that opportunity? Shoot, playing in the NFL is even more likely that he would suffer an injury, does that mean he should simply give up football completely and maybe simply pursue a 9-5 job instead? There is risk with everything we do in life. By not playing in that bowl game he risked losing an opportunity to showcase his talent to NFL scouts in a nationally televised game!

He made it to the end of his senior year playing 4 years of football without suffering a career ending injury. What’s the chance of him doing that playing one more game? There were numerous players playing in that bowl game from both teams, but I didn’t see one player that suffered an injury that would keep them from playing for the next four months.

I believe if you considered yourself a dedicated player and a guy who would go to any battle for your teammates, coaches, and school you owe it to them to play that last game to help them win since it is that important to the team, fans, and your teammates. That’s why Hawaii kicked our asses — because they have a bunch of loyal, committed players while we have too many prima-donnas that keep on saying to themselves “Me, me, me!”

If you don’t think it is important for players to play their last game in a bowl game don’t be crying about how terrible the coaches are when they lose, especially losing badly! There’s only so much a coach can do when a good chunk of his top players choose to opt out of the game!

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And what better way to prepare for the draft then by preparing yourself for the bowl game? By focusing on the bowl game you keep yourself in shape instead of laying on the coach watching other people playing in their college football games! Right? In the past I’ve never seen any player opting out like this. Now just about every NFL hopeful is opting out and it has got to stop! It ruined the damn sport! The team that wins is not necessarily the better team, but simply boils down to the team that has less prima-donnas that choose to play for their teammates, coaches, and school rather than make it all about themselves!

If I’m an NFL scout or coach I would definitely take that into consideration since character matters! We all have seen how those “me, me, me” players turned out for NFL teams —i.e. what Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown did to the Steelers.

Now that these college players demand to be paid for their services, does that mean we should also demand they should hold their end of the bargain? Like playing every single damn game until the season is completely finished, if they’re not injured?

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