Greendylan

I have nothing against McNulty, but I just would really love to see what Berglund can do in an actual game. Similarly, I would love to see extended time with Rex Rollins on the field.

The play calling this game has been brilliant so far.

I believe BCS standings do play a part in determining CUSA tiebreakers (I could be wrong). Thus, I would think we would want our strength of schedule to be as stout as possible.

I picked 5-7 with wins over Idaho, Tulane, Southern Miss, UTEP, and UTSA. I was wrong about Tulane, but fortunately I was also wrong about Ball State, MTSU, and Louisiana Tech.

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. Prior to the start of this season, one of my biggest concerns was the lack of playmakers. The saving grace of the offense, I thought, would be the infusion of new talent via Pegram at RB and Terrell at WR. While I think both of them are studs, what has shocked me is the improvement of our returning WRs (as you mentioned above). Obviously, the return of Chancellor from injury helps--a lot--but I feel like we're seeing better hands and crisper routes from the others as well.

Exactly. I've said this before, and I'll say it again: Regardless of their athletic performance (which actually is sometimes very good), they will always be appealing for major conferences. If they REALLY wanted to coax an invite out of a major football conference, they would probably succeed. Most campus presidents would kill to align their school in any way possible with a university like Rice.

Sounds like he is only a soft verbal.

Amen!

Yeah, I think keeping them guessing is the key...whether run or pass on any particular down.

The offense looks revitalized so far this half.

This game is going exactly as Louisiana Tech had hoped.

It is just painful to watch this offense on the road...totally different team than at home.

It feels exactly like every other road game of the last few years.

So, maybe black is the new green . . . ?

Can we also agree that some of those other QBs had more talent surrounding them? Everyone points out DT's inopportune interceptions, but aren't turnovers likely when you tell a guy, "Hey, you have to go make a bunch of amazing plays because no one else is getting anything done"? Of course he (or almost anyone) would make some mistakes in a game like the one against Tulane. When the leading rusher (not counting Thompson, himself) has a grand total of 9 yards, then you are putting WAY too much pressure on the QB to make big plays.

My frustration comes from the fact that we held a team to 227 total yards and lost. Syracuse out gained Tulane 405-330 in the midst of a 52-17 blowout. We held an even bigger yardage disparity against Tulane (360-227) and lost. That tells me that we played well enough to win but found a way to lose to what was probably a less talented team. Mac is right that we do LOOK like a much better team than in past years, but that just makes it even more frustrating when we squander what should be a win and then have our backs against the wall when facing a much better team this Saturday. When you are a team fighting tooth and nail just to reach that magical 6 win threshold, you can't waste opportunities. If we end up the season with 4 or 5 wins, we may LOOK (both in-game and in the box score) like the best 4 or 5 win team in the country, but that doesn't really mean a damn thing unless you're in a rebuilding year . . . which we definitively are not. I do have to give credit to both the coaches and players for making us clearly play a lot better than we have in many years. At the same time, someone on the coaching staff has got to find a way to overcome the psychology or whatever it is that is dooming this team to losing road games and generally missing out on every single opportunity to take that next step. Based on how we LOOK and what the upcoming schedule has in store, we should be able to finish the season at about 7-5. If we aren't able to do that, then someone has to be responsible, right? Do we keep blaming Derek Thompson game after game as he continues to work his way up the all-time North Texas passing charts? Do we blame a coaching staff that has returned credibility to a program that was historically bad just a few years ago? Do we need to bring in a sports psychologist to figure out why we keep losing winnable road games and cannot win back to back? I honestly don't know any more.

Tulane may finish in the top half of the West, but I really don't see them winning the division. I penciled in Rice as the favorites to win the West, and I've seen nothing so far to change that opinion. I will give Tulane some credit and say that they seem to be steadily improving throughout this season. Still, I don't think Rice would have lost to South Alabama or been blown out by Syracuse.

This game frustrated the hell out of me because it was a realistic chance for the program to take a step forward, but for the millionth time, we found a way to blow it. Once again, here we are with yet another losing record. Can we overcome this and still get to a bowl game? Sure, that's absolutely possible. But now, we MUST beat MTSU, and I honestly don't know if we are capable of doing that. So, while losing to Tulane did not ruin the season, it did create a situation where losing the next game, against a tougher opponent, will almost assuredly ruin it. If we fall to 2-4, we won't reach 6 wins.

I don't mind seeing the coaching staff continue to try to establish the running game, but when it unmistakably isn't working, why not pass to open up the run? If you do that, you have a complex offense. If you wait until you're down in the second half, then you're one-dimensional, and that puts WAY too much pressure on both Thompson and the defense. And, when that happens, Thompson has to keep forcing throws against a defense that knows exactly what is coming, which will almost always lead to one or two interceptions (and a lot of fan criticism). Meanwhile, the defense has to be perfect because they're down a score or two and don't have the luxury of a prolific offense that can quickly close the gap. Thus, they also will eventually make key mistakes too as they, understandably, try to win the game for a stagnant offense.

Yes, your sarcasm was well understood!

I'm done with moral victories and improvement that isn't reflected in the win total. We are a team with a losing record, nothing more, nothing less.

Once again, 4 or 5 win season. Just like last year.

It's not Thompson's fault that special teams gave up a touchdown. It's also not his fault that the running game isn't working, which forces him to make plays he shouldn't have to make.

I hate to say it, but this feels like a 4 or 5 win bottom half of the division team. No significant improvement from last season.

And the game is now over.