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and managed a win. I'll take it, but we will lose if we play like that again.

sfa game?

our D was pretty underwhelming today. and still managed to pull off a W

They didn't seem 'up' for it this time...happens when you play a 0-8 team I guess....another learning experience...

SMU2007 wrote:sfa game?

We played better in that game.

CalallenStang wrote:

SMU2007 wrote:sfa game?

We played better in that game.

didn't get to see that game but i'll take your word for it. hopefully we can return to "tulsa shape" for utep

I did see an honest holding penalty in the binoculars I use during games, but these refs especially
seemed to pick on us during the game. Navy game with the OBVIOUS way uncatchable
over the head interference penalty.

Played with the BIG HEAD easy week, but thanks to a few players, we beat the refs, and
Rice

Gonna have to see the glass as half full here, because we won. Statistically, on offense, were OK, but should have been able to show more vs. the worst defense in the country. It was about as balanced as we have been.

The defensive effort was nowhere near what we saw last week. Good thing we have a couple of guys who can block kicks. That is one element we have going for us.

Overall, though, the discipline of this team is worrisome. Normally, teams that commit 12-13-14 penalties per game get beat -- unless they have Miami talent. The pre-snap penalties today were brutal. But, hey, this is a team that is still learning how to win, a team that could be 1-7, not 5-4. A win is a win is a win. When people look at the standings, they see SMU in first place, above .500 overall and one game from bowl-eligibility in the first week of November.

And, the bottom line is, the record is all that matters. I think everyone would agree that we have yet to see this offense really, really click. In our wins, other than Tulsa, we have done just enough to get the win. So, that's actually good news. Next week, with another struggling defense coming to town, we could finally see JJ's offense.

Today was a little bit of a trap in that Padron had only played parts of two games, Rice had an extra week to prepare and they had some players coming back from injury. Despite being 0-8 and really struggling, they've had our number. Today wasn't pretty, but it was a win. We'll take it.

Just need to keep these guys grounded and all about the next opponent: UTEP. It's just getting fun. Let's hope it gets prettier, too!

Sat under the shade tree and listened to their fat little girlfriend.

We had several starters out on offensive line which made a difference too. Hopeful that they'll be back for UTEP. Bottom line though. . .we beat RICE.

At the moment Tulsa is beating Houston!!! Hope they pull it off.

Let's not forget that Rice was backed in a corner. They had to be looking at this game and the Tulane game as their only shots at avoiding an O'fer season.

What is it about Rice that they can just throw the ball up into the end zone against us and catch it?

I think this game could be a very big positive...the team has outperformed expectations this year and the media, etc is starting to pick up on it. They may very well have come out thinking that Rice wouldn't put up much of a fight.

I don't know if we win next week (or the two after), but I'm glad they learned this against Rice instead of against the other 3 teams, all of which are much better overall (other than maybe Tulane). I'm sure JJ and the coaches will have quite a bit to say about the film on this one and will wear them out on Monday.

Time to regroup and concentrate on taking down UTEP. We can do it - I didn't think we'd win another game after SFA and we came out strong against UAB....we need to show that kind of resiliency again.

I think every penalty called against was deserved except for the PI on us on Rice's final touchdown drive. The pass down the far sideline where their WR came over the top of our DB and they called us for that. I didn't agree with that.

The flags kill drives especially in the second quarter when it looked like we were going to score and a McNeal 8-yard run is called back because of a 5-yarder and then later a hold and then we have to punt from their 40.

Then there's McNeal's long run at the end of the third quarter that is wiped out because of the offsetting flags.

But I've maintained all season especially since watching the East Carolina game. The pre-snap penalties and the PFs are a discipline thing. I don't want to hear about youth. Play aggressive. But don't play stupid. We haven't mastered that.

And that could bite us in the butt in one of these last three games.