I'm not panicking for a few reasons...

[johnnylightnin]

Well, that was a rough one to watch...particularly after I had convinced myself that we could win. I know we only lost by 14, but that's with a garbage time TD. They essentially doubled the spread on us. That's not good. Here's why I'm not panicked:

1. Texas Tech is averaging 61 points/game this year. EVERYBODY wants to fire their DC after they play Texas Tech. Offense is sort of their thing. When we couldn't score early and then we had repeated 3 and outs, we were toast. Does that mean that our D plan wasn't faulty? No, but it does mean that Texas Tech multiplies faults in other teams and they certainly did that with our defense last night. Their QB had one of the best nights I've witnessed...and I watch a lot of football. He was accurate and he had an incredibly strong arm. Our defense would've needed to play perfect to slow him down and we were far from perfect.
2. Higgins is improved from 2013. Is he good enough to justify keeping Smith on the bench? Not nearly, but Holtz, for whatever reason, refuses to give Smith a real opportunity to win the job. What that means is that we'll only have game management (at best) from our QB. Craft found his feet last night and Henderson and Taylor can make plays. Granted, Texas Tech's defense is atrocious. They're worse that ours. Had Texas Tech stopped themselves as much as we stopped ourselves, the score might've come down in our favor. We've had worse QBs than Higgins. I'd call him serviceable if he can keep his streak (of 1) of no turnovers intact for a while. ***FRINGE ELEMENT DISCLAIMER: Smith should be our starter***
3. CUSA is incredibly weak. Even with our poor performance last night, I fully expect us to be playing USM for the West's spot in the CUSA championship in late November.

We'll be alright...because we play in a weak conference.

[Dogsince65]

Horrible defensive game last nite-- hard to believe we " only " lost by 14.
Their QB was one of best I have ever seen--- incredible talent.

We are in trouble against 3 CUSA teams that have solid qbs and figure we will see a lot of passing from everyone

Game turned out like original line (13) almost

[bleudog]

Massey's take on the rest of the season:

http://www.masseyratings.com/team.php?t=4218&s=286577

[boxerdog]

I'm far from panicking in terms of what this team can do in the conference race. It's just that the Arkansas game gave me an inkling of hope that we might be emerging.

[DJDAWG]

Horrible defensive game last nite-- hard to believe we " only " lost by 14.
Their QB was one of best I have ever seen--- incredible talent.

We are in trouble against 3 CUSA teams that have solid qbs and figure we will see a lot of passing from everyone

Game turned out like original line (13) almost

Yep, all true. The problem is that those three CUSA QB's and OC's now have a blueprint on how to torch our D.

[DJDAWG]

Massey's take on the rest of the season:

http://www.masseyratings.com/team.php?t=4218&s=286577

Wow. Those numbers look alot better. Hope they're right.

[DJDAWG]

Here's why I'm not panicked...because we play in a weak conference.

And, USM lost to a Belt team and WKU and the MUTS struggled with MAC teams.

[PawDawg]

And, USM lost to a Belt team and WKU and the MUTS struggled with MAC teams.

Great points.

Now will the HCSH who coached us to beat downs over good teams in 2014 show up or the one who coached us to losses in the jaws of victory over ODU and Marshall?

[johnnylightnin]

It's just that the Arkansas game gave me an inkling of hope that we might be emerging.

That's where I am too. What we saw at Arkansas was a young guy with poise in the most hostile environment we'll play in all year. I was hoping that was a sign of a great year to come. That's not likely to be this year. I still think we can win 8 or 9, but this isn't a year where we'll see top 25 votes.

For a second against Arkansas it felt like we might be a dangerous team for the P5 to schedule. That's why yesterday's egg and our contentment to manage the offense and try to make a run in conference is a little frustrating.

[DJDAWG]

Great points.

Now will the HCSH who coached us to beat downs over good teams in 2014 show up or the one who coached us to losses in the jaws of victory over ODU and Marshall?

Yea, well, there is that

[70TECHGRAD]

Yep, all true. The problem is that those three CUSA QB's and OC's now have a blueprint on how to torch our D.

Yep...pass over the middle and sideline pass to player out of the backfield!

[OLDBLUE]

Yep...pass over the middle and sideline pass to player out of the backfield!

Hope so. I'm sure by Friday of this week, the film room will have converted our defense into believers.

[T1]

We are a little better than I thought we would be at this point. This was a bit of a rebuilding year, yet we have been able to smash-mouth with an SEC team and shoot out with a B12 team and make both games competitive. The cool thing is it's a pretty young team and there are a lot of future stars making plays out there. There have been some disappointments, but compare this to 2013 in your mind and you'll realize how silly panicking would be. I'm thinking we have a pretty good shot to win 10 games this year. That probably won't happen, but it realistically could.

[dawg80]

Nothing has changed....for me. I still see 8 or 9 wins and a bowl trip.

[ETxBullDawg]

We are a little better than I thought we would be at this point. This was a bit of a rebuilding year, yet we have been able to smash-mouth with an SEC team and shoot out with a B12 team and make both games competitive. The cool thing is it's a pretty young team and there are a lot of future stars making plays out there. There have been some disappointments, but compare this to 2013 in your mind and you'll realize how silly panicking would be. I'm thinking we have a pretty good shot to win 10 games this year. That probably won't happen, but it realistically could.

Sometimes a good ole ass whoopin is just what a team needs for a reality check and our defense sure got that Saturday.... After the Arkansas game, I think our defense was "reading their press clippings" and underestimated what a circus offense Tx Tech runs and how fast their athletes are. Hopefully, we can get back to work and correct our mistakes and have an outstanding conference record complete with solid bowl invite. Fresh season starts now at 0-0 record. Go Dogs!