A lot of you were already asking the question as to why you didn’t see me at the game or also why I wasn’t providing updates and scores……well there are reasons for that. As most of you know, this was a wet weekend in DFW and also the temperature dropped quite a bit in a short amount of time. This was great for most of us, but as someone who has seasonal allergies and snorts more steroid spray than Tony Montana snorted coke in the 1980’s, it makes your body feel pretty lousy, like you have a cold. You technically aren’t sick, but you might as well be. I rested all day Saturday and when I tried to watch the game on the ACC Network, I found out my cable package didn’t carry it so I had to spend the first half trying to find a way to watch the game. I finally found YoutubeTV and paid 82 dollars to watch it. I watched the second half live and then went back and rewatched the first half and here are my thoughts.

1. Our offense moved the ball very well between the 20’s but loved giving the ball away when they inside SMU’s 20. There is a play that we have been running for over 3 years now and it just doesn’t work, I believe it is the read option play. Ron Peace, who I thought was going to start at QB, is hurt for now due to a foot problem but will be back for Grambling, which means Eric Rodriguez and Will Madonna will get the reps. We have to stay healthy at Quarterback or this will be another mediocre offensive season, but I was really impressed with how well we moved the ball writ large and very disgusted at how we would spit away points and SMU would turn them into point for them. SMU’s most effective unit was OUR offense. They really didn’t do anything to stop us all night as far as moving the ball, and the turnovers were the result of our own mistakes. That has to stop. If SMU was just that good of a team and we didn’t play well, I can understand that, but once again our offense just kept shooting ourselves in the foot, and all that moving the ball well but not cashing in on the scores is pointless. That is on the players. Dolezel can dial up all the great plays he wants and the offense can rack up 351 yards, (and did call a lot of good plays) but if the players don’t cross the goal line it is all for naught.
2. Defense-You might take a look and think the defense allowed 42 points. That didn’t happen. What happened was our offense turned the ball over at the worst times and gave the Ponies short fields to work with and since SMU isn’t exactly what I would call chopped liver, they took advantage of that and wore out our defense. You can’t start your offensive drives at your own 15 and then let the other team start their offensive drives at YOUR OWN 35 and expect good things, but full credit to DC Jack Tyler, who despite all that had a great scheme going and if all 3 sides of the ball start going, this could end up being a lot better of a season than any of us thought. Defense did what they were supposed to and all they could.
3. It was really nice to be able to have a kicker to count on. Ozlo Rigby looks like a guy who could end up being a real asset to the kicking game. The first field goal had me thinking “here we go again” but both of the field goals he tried after were golden and the lone extra point was no doubt from the second his toe touched it. Ben Mahen punted pretty well for his ET debut, averaging 42 yards per punt, not all were perfect, but a solid job overall. And the kick coverage was so much better writ large. All parts of the special teams have shown massive improvment. Now yes, we ran our field goal unit out at the last second on our final drive to get some final points on the board, and I feel it was the best thing to do especially after starting a good drive. Ill have more on this later.
4. Lion nation showed up and showed out. Our band was outstanding and 1/3 of the stadium were Lion fans. This whole move back to ET has done wonders for our school and I thank the Men and Women who stood up for it and it was great to see pictures on social media of greek chapters, both active and non active, reconnect along with former players and be a noticeable presence of ET alums, students, and fans on The Hilltop and play in a nationally televised game against a Power 5 school with a lot of tradition that is back on the rise. It was great to hear John Williams “Imperial Death March” played on TV and knowing it is your school that made that sound and shook a 32,000 person stadium makes it that much sweeter. I will always have reservations about how we have gone about moving from DII to DI but it is obvious it was the right way to go, we just could have done it better.
5. Lions will face a Florida State team that I wish would not have beaten Alabama, because now I realize how much better FSU is and how much harder this upcoming game will be. It will also give our backup quarterbacks a chance to show their guts and give a our defense another major test. Either way, the program that used to play in a one sided stadium is about to take themselves to Doak Campbell Stadium and play one of the great college football programs in history. That is what any player should live for.