1. Overall-Let’s get to the elephant in the room. I agree with Clint Dolezel’s decision to go for the win. That shows a couple of good things. First, it shows He is in it to win it, and second like I have said for almost the duration of this site, “Fortune Favors the Bold.” It all came down to one play. Now, the play call? I would have put the ball in the hands of Reggie Branch or aim for Keith Miller. That said, this was one of the best defensive efforts and performances I have ever seen and our defense played so well, and they were the reason we were in this game and had a chance to defeat an FBS school. They earned the Blue Gang moniker and if THIS DEFENSE shows up the rest of the year, we could very well win more than just a few games. I hate losing and don’t believe in moral victories, but I will say this, I don’t feel quite as bad, in fact, not nearly as bad losing like we did in this game than I did in previous games because the truth is, I thought we were going to get blown off the field by a tropical storm and the team we were playing, and it turns out we were almost the only team left standing. Let’s just hope this is not the highlight of the season.
2. Offense-I will just say it. I believe Josh Magana should get the start next week against Stephen F. Austin. The offensive staff tossed him keys and said “go win this thing for us” and He almost did that. That last drive was the best drive of the entire season. Perfect clock management, great play calling, execution of routine plays, and getting the ball to your playmakers. Peter Parrish had his chances, and after 3 games and the benefit of the doubt, the offense is better when Mangana is under center. He does not have the physical skills Parrish does, but the offense is better when is running it. Reggie Branch…….all I can say is keep feeding that guy the ball. Rucker and Hargrove are good compliments to Branch, but Branch is the star of the backfield show. The passing game was better overall and much of that is to Parrish’s credit and also the offensive staff for dialing up good plays, but two things have become apparent, we are not going to be running up the middle for much and our perimeter game is what is going to move the chains. The offensive line still needs work, but they are getting better. Over the years, I have written a lot but my friend (and former Lion All-American) Jim White once told Me something about how the offensive linemen are hardly ever praised when the offense is humming but when the offense is sputtering, its on the O-Line. He is right and this unit will get better as they have all year, just need to cut down on the silly penalties like holding and false starts.
3. Defense-Where do you start? I think the first thing is Mark Rudin, Jim Curry, and Clint Dolezel……start talking to Kyle Williams about a contract extension because this guy earned it today and his unit was fantastic. They showed an effort and fortitude I have never seen before in my years of covering this program and if there is one guy who needs to be give a pat on the back it is Kendall Paul. If his hamstring muscle does not pull in coverage, no way ODU scores a touchdown. The fact is, ODU better thank whatever they may or may not pray to that is what happened because it literally took A PLAYER TO BE INJURED for them to get into the end zone. Knowing what I know about Paul, he might be hard on himself and think the loss is on him, my response is don’t and the loss is certainly not. He is an important part of this defense is a game changer. He hopefully plays next week and is injury free, but take it from someone who tore his hamstring, those things are not fun. Max Epps picked off two ODU passes and Jordan Polk had one himself, in addition to Cam Nellor recovering a fumble and the defensive line sacking ODU 6 times. I don’t have words for how good this unit was and how inspired they played. Like I said earlier, if this is what we can expect the rest of the season, we have things to look forward to.
4. Special Teams-Two guys really earned their stripes today. Mitchell McGarry had to punt into the remnants of a tropical storm, and still averaged 35 yards per punt with a long of 58. He was rushed multiple times and still got off quality kicks. Aiden Martin boomed his kickoffs in the back of the end zone, and Emmanuel Adagbon put us on the board early. The kicks he missed were not on him. Have you ever tried kicking 45 or 60 yards into a side wind of 17 miles per hour? Thought so. However, when he got to the left hash, it was all gravy from there. The Coverage units were spectacular as well.
5. Going forward-We have one more non-conference tilt before Southland play begins and that is Colby Carthel and The Stephen F. Austin State Lumberjacks. This game has Me believing we can head down to Nac and steal one from the Jacks. It won’t be easy, but if the defense and special teams play the way they did, and now that the offense is starting to find it’s identity, and maybe it’s Quarterback. What I saw today in all facets of the game gave me something I have not had in a long time with this team, and that is hope. Real hope that this move to DI was not a terrible mistake. Real hope that we can compete at this level, and real hope we have the personnel and the staff to make it happen. If you take away playing in the aftermath of a tropical storm and a pulled hamstring in coverage, we have a huge win. We know how good our defense is, we know how good our specialists are, and now we know who should be running the offense on the field and what plays work and who should be getting touches. It’s time to take the next step and compete with an old friend and make a run at the Southland conference title. I have hope.

Clint Dolezel Post Game Presser-