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I have not posted as much this season, mainly because I did not want to feel I was repeating the same thing every week. But, I’m going to come out and say it:

If you are connected with this program in any way and are not incredibly disappointed, maybe even a bit mad, then what did you expect?

This team was in the talks to make a run in the playoffs. And we should have been. We had incredible weapons on offense, an experienced line returning, etc.

Instead of gearing up to see if we are a national seed, or what see we should be, or even where we are playing next week, we are instead looking at only the third or forth losing season in the last 20 years.

From an armchair QB’s view, this is what I saw:

QB’s and Receivers:

This is the one unit that I felt improved as a whole over the last two seasons. And they should have. Breylin was sharper this year than last. Hudson put up ridiculous numbers. Winningham contributed. Other receivers got a chance to shine while defenses focused on #1 and #5. The only negative was quite a few dropped passes and still a few miscommunication on the routes to run.

But tonight’s game showed me that we should be very concerned for the future of our QB position. I told my wife that after what I saw tonight it would not surprise me to see Hudson enter the portal.

Offensive Line:

I saw improvement here, but not leaps and bounds. They did a much better job for the run game this season, but pass protection is still not good. I think the stat they gave tonight was 21 sacks this season leading into this game. Breylin dealt with this almost every game, every season. He injured ankles majorly twice because of it.

Running Backs:

Hale was a great add for the team. I was concerned looking Crossley and Blackman, but Hale proved more than effective as our lead RB. Our running production was much better this year than last.

Play calling:

I’ve been bearish on Cullum’s during his tenure here. I still question a lot of the play calling. But, this year was slightly better. Maybe he felt we had better weapons. Maybe he felt more comfortable throwing more on 3rd and long instead of praying we could run and make yardage. But at the end of the day, the play calling was not so much better than I think he needs to keep his job.

Overall grade: B

Defensive Line and LB’s:

Remember when we were one of the best in the nation at run defense? That kind of intensity and gut was missing this year. Too many long runs. Yes, we had moments of brilliance, but we let teams get too much on the ground.

DB’s:

To me, this was weakness #1 of our entire team. So many times I saw how little speed we had in that position. We never read the eyes of the receivers well enough to know when the ball was heading their way. We rarely turned to make plays. We got beat way, way too much.

DB’s: C-

Defense grade: C-

Special teams: Definitely some steps backwards. Ray missed a lot of FG’s. Kick offs were not as consistent.

Grade: C

So where do we go from here?

I think decisions are going to have to be made on our assistants. I think we need to evaluate our recruiting and player development. And I hope we get a QB to emerge for the 2022 season.

Coaching changes are needed. This entire season was a disaster.

Coaching changes are definitely in order, across the board.

A losing season cannot be followed by hoping things will get better.

Abilene Christian fired a coach that had multiple D-2 National Championships.

Hope our Admin has the stones to demand changes be made.

Honestly, not sure Nathan Brown has "the network" to improve the coaching staff. Will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Very strange year for the Bears. Hard to put a finger on it. My expectations for this season were through the roof. No dice.
The "fire" didn`t seem to be there quite as much this year and that includes the fans, tailgaters, etc. and not just the team.
We are highly disappointed.
Go Bears!

Expectations were through the ceiling.

It seemed to me the team did not play with alot of intensity.

Heard in the days following the end of the season that Teague was considering a change, but was reluctant to pull the trigger.

I am horrible with predictions, but I will say that Brown and his staff have another year and if the year ends with results like this past season there will be a change.

We shall see.

Certainly I was thinking maybe 8-3 this past season with a playoff slot....seems like we played very hard in ASU and MSU games then got snake bit with nagging injuries and taking too long to get defense to playing like normal....having no experience at QB in last game was a killer....plus with LW injured....ouch....

Has anyone seen a 2022 schedule? Do we still have the AQ7 arrangement? JSU is still in ASUN in 2022...is APU and Kennesaw and North Alabama coming in next season?

I saw a 2022 new story that our OOC games are home vs Mo State and Tarleton and road vs Ole Miss and Idaho State......

We might think 6-5 is really good....got to get QBs in order for sure.....not sure who redshirted that will play next season....

I was aware of Ole Miss and Missouri State on the schedule for next year, but not Tarelton and Idaho State. I saw that Idaho State just had one victory this past season. Located in Pocatello, Idaho, they play their games in an indoor facilty.

Another QB hit the portal...

This is bad

Is Breylin coming back?

Bowers gone.

Loyd gone.


That leaves Tyler Gee at QB with incoming freshman hard commit John Mateer.

Wow. UCA needs some QBs. I can't wait to see how Gee and Mateer do! Super excited for their talent!

Need to get Hatcher