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One point I wanted to make about the defense.

Keep in mind that in years past, we have played more of a "bend-dont-break" type of defense. A patient approach, which is good against the option (don't overcommit, remember your responsibilities).

Bennett brings a totally different defensive attitude and scheme. It is much more aggressive. So, until the players get more familiar with the defense, the mistkes that are made are compounded by the fact that it is more aggressive.

Also, normally against a triple option, you install new defensive packages to deal with that offense. However, Bennett is trying to get the team ready for the rest of the season, and probably took a gamble that they could get away with playing their normal defensive scheme since they need the practice at it. It is hard enough picking up a totally new defense, but if you install an additional package just for the first game, you are going to hurt your team down the line. A coach with a larger view of the season is going to stick with his base defense in this circumstance in order to prep his team for the entire year.

Finally, as to why Bartel didn't play, it is the same philosophy. Tate needs as much experience as possible. He is the starter and needs some game experience and that is why Bertel didn't come in the game at all.

Excellent points. It was refreshing to see a coach who will stick with the game plan even when falling behind. That approach gives us the best chance to win. No goofy offensive calls (how long has it been since we could say that?!?), no revolving door at QB, etc.

Good call, JasonB. When we all saw that long pass to Roberts, and the two long runs by the QB, it was easy to assume the defense was awful. But if you look at the overall stats, they didn't out-gain us by much. And after halftime, when Coach Bennett had the chance to make some adjustments, we held them to 10 points and their yardage went way down.

There's no reason to jump ship on these guys. The defense will be fine.

BEAT TECH

Tell yall what. Unfortunately we saw the same team as last year. A very disappointing feeling was felt by all on Saturday. The defense other than the turnovers was the worst. What was up with all the arm tackling going on? They did'nt do enough hitting, it sounded like a pillow fight out there. I was very disappointed with Bennett's defense that he brought to the table. I am going to the game on Saturday because Tech is coming to town. Unfortunately, by getting beat by the worst team in NCAA football I believe that this week's game will definitely be over by half unless we have completely restructured our attitude. Pray for a miracle.

If every PonyFan had your "enthusiasm" nobody would show up.

Go Mustangs

Unfortunately, most people do. To me, that was the biggest disappointment... When I showed up on campus an hour and a half before game time, The Boulevard was packed and rockin’. I didn’t see an official attendance number, but suffice to say, that was probably the biggest crowd I’ve seen since Ford Stadium opened. If we’d have played well, I bet we would’ve pulled the same crowd or larger for Tech.

I hate to admit it, but from a marketing perspective, the program took a step backwards on Saturday.

Did anyone else notice that there was not a lot of substitutions? I know we have little depth, and the depth we have are mainly walkons, but DD Lee and RIco Harris, and Leroy Price, and a few others, did not really see the field. As well as Kris Briggs.

Rico played well when he was out there.

I was surprised we didn't see more of D.D. Lee. Is he hurt? Coach Bennett said in the spring that he loved D.D.'s potential.