It was interesting listening to Stephanie talk on La Tech's radio recently about the Owls: http://blog.chron.com/sportsupdate/2015/...-football/

She mentioned a few times just how damn *nice* Bailiff is.. "you'd never know he was a football coach if someone didn't tell you!" (I may have the quote wrong, but that was the spirit of it). Not unrelated: Ibe commits a stupid penalty, costs us 7 points, DB chats to him a bit, he's in next series. This is a problem.

Pros

OL pass blocking
D played better sans Ibe mistakes
ST coverage looked better
No turnovers
DJ finally showing his legs. Looked like CC for a bit in the 3Q. Loved that.
Dillard is solid

Cons
Stupid penalties
Know it is off-limits to call out players but watching Ibe give a high 5 to Driskel against backdrop of a stupid penalty, burned on two routes, poor tackling, etc. really irritated me.
Beat again by deep balls again. Thurmond...hello? Run Cover zero in situation where you don't need it; burned by big play; recurring theme over-and-over
Davis and Parks not looking like they were at top of their game; Davis so much stronger runner last year, wonder if he is hurt. He just not running w/ same intensity.
WR play; either not getting open or when open not making plays/catches
TE position was invisible
Run zone read and other 'non-urgent' plays and then onside? Hate watching us down so much go to the zone read and meerkat w/ no sense of urgency. Avoiding making it worse vs. trying to make it better.
Good field position before 1H and then run to locker room?
Night game with invisible student section
More touches needed for Walters.
Likely lots of empty seats for last two home games as folks lose interest. Water pot for the Rice frog is getting warmer as apathy sets in

La Tech lost to a 0-5 K-State team in Big XII. They are not world beaters. They are a mediocre 50-75 team who just came into HRS for a 32 point win. Owls will beat UTSA and Charlotte to become bowl eligible, lose to So. Miss with UTEP in El Paso being a toss-up. Feeling generous to call it 7-5 with zero victories over top-100. Would be a 2-9 or 1-10 team in old SWC. Am hardcore Rice fan but now losing interest watching us get blown-out by teams like WKU and La Tech that were both recently blown-out by SEC team.

So bottom line question.....Q: What does that make us? A: Not very good. Somewhere between 85 at high-end and 105 at low-end out of 128 teams. Sigh.

(10-30-2015 10:44 PM)owl40 Wrote:  La Tech lost to a 0-5 K-State team in Big XII. They are not world beaters. They are a mediocre 50-75 team who just came into HRS for a 32 point win. Owls will beat UTSA and Charlotte to become bowl eligible, lose to So. Miss with UTEP in El Paso being a toss-up. Feeling generous to call it 7-5 with zero victories over top-100. Would be a 2-9 or 1-10 team in old SWC. Am hardcore Rice fan but now losing interest watching us get blown-out by teams like WKU and La Tech that were both recently blown-out by SEC team.

So bottom line question.....Q: What does that make us? A: Not very good. Somewhere between 85 at high-end and 105 at low-end out of 128 teams. Sigh.

Loved the recollection of one of the Fox TV announcers asking Bailiff "Why do you make your schedule so hard every year?" (The announced added that we'd played Baylor this year and Texas, saying that we should have beaten them, save the five turnovers.) Glad he didn't do more homework of the rest of our schedule! LOL!

(10-30-2015 10:44 PM)owl40 Wrote:  Pros

OL pass blocking
D played better sans Ibe mistakes
ST coverage looked better
No turnovers
DJ finally showing his legs. Looked like CC for a bit in the 3Q. Loved that.
Dillard is solid

Cons
Stupid penalties
Know it is off-limits to call out players but watching Ibe give a high 5 to Driskel against backdrop of a stupid penalty, burned on two routes, poor tackling, etc. really irritated me.
Beat again by deep balls again. Thurmond...hello? Run Cover zero in situation where you don't need it; burned by big play; recurring theme over-and-over
Davis and Parks not looking like they were at top of their game; Davis so much stronger runner last year, wonder if he is hurt. He just not running w/ same intensity.
WR play; either not getting open or when open not making plays/catches
TE position was invisible
Run zone read and other 'non-urgent' plays and then onside? Hate watching us down so much go to the zone read and meerkat w/ no sense of urgency. Avoiding making it worse vs. trying to make it better.
Good field position before 1H and then run to locker room?
Night game with invisible student section
More touches needed for Walters.
Likely lots of empty seats for last two home games as folks lose interest. Water pot for the Rice frog is getting warmer as apathy sets in

La Tech lost to a 0-5 K-State team in Big XII. They are not world beaters. They are a mediocre 50-75 team who just came into HRS for a 32 point win. Owls will beat UTSA and Charlotte to become bowl eligible, lose to So. Miss with UTEP in El Paso being a toss-up. Feeling generous to call it 7-5 with zero victories over top-100. Would be a 2-9 or 1-10 team in old SWC. Am hardcore Rice fan but now losing interest watching us get blown-out by teams like WKU and La Tech that were both recently blown-out by SEC team.

So bottom line question.....Q: What does that make us? A: Not very good. Somewhere between 85 at high-end and 105 at low-end out of 128 teams. Sigh.

You obviously didn't see both of those games. K-State refs cost Tech that game IN triple OT on two horrendous review calls giving K-state a touchdown.
Tech was up 14-0 over Mississippi State in the second quarter. Holtz started running the ball and subbing second stringers after State went up 14 after a blocked punt score and fumble score in the third. Those two games at home in Ruston would be a different story.

Tech vs Ms State stats
413 yds 440 yds
24 First Dwns 28
33:36 TOP 26:24

Tech vs K-State
451 yds 316 yds
23 First Dwns 17
28:36 TOP 31:34

I just don't see any direction from the top. You can blame players or coordinators or position coaches or whomever, but the bottom line is that we've been through multiple players and multiple coordinators and multiple position coaches and the same problems remain. Somebody described Ben Braun's approach as "recruit better and hope to God it works." That's all I see here. If you see more direction from the top than that, what is it?

I think we recruit better than we used to. I think the position coaches generally do a good job of developing individual techniques and skills. The number of guys we have playing on Sundays would attest to that. But we don't come together as a team. We're not going to put-recruit and out-athlete people on a consistent basis. Our academic requirements (with which I agree) preclude that. We've got to create a situation where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, and we simply don't do that.

As for Ibe's stunts, I'll defer to Bill Belichick, "You coach it or you tolerate it." On October 30, 2015, at least, we clearly tolerate it.

I wouldn't fire Bailiff. He's gotten us to three consecutive bowls, with an excellent chance at a fourth, and for that he deserves at least to see what he can do with the EZF. I don't expect it to make much difference. But I've underestimated Bailiff before, so he deserves the chance. But if somebody wanted to hire him away, I wouldn't bust my ass to talk him into staying.

That was awful, no way to sugar-coat it.

I feel bad for Jackson who did just about everything he could.

I'm not opposed to trash talk in principle, but you have to back it up, and our DBs this year haven't.

I won't be arguing with any of the pink-slip crowd this week.

Congrats to LaTech.

(10-30-2015 10:44 PM)owl40 Wrote:  Pros

OL pass blocking
D played better sans Ibe mistakes
ST coverage looked better
No turnovers
DJ finally showing his legs. Looked like CC for a bit in the 3Q. Loved that.
Dillard is solid

Cons
Stupid penalties
Know it is off-limits to call out players but watching Ibe give a high 5 to Driskel against backdrop of a stupid penalty, burned on two routes, poor tackling, etc. really irritated me.
Beat again by deep balls again. Thurmond...hello? Run Cover zero in situation where you don't need it; burned by big play; recurring theme over-and-over
Davis and Parks not looking like they were at top of their game; Davis so much stronger runner last year, wonder if he is hurt. He just not running w/ same intensity.
WR play; either not getting open or when open not making plays/catches
TE position was invisible
Run zone read and other 'non-urgent' plays and then onside? Hate watching us down so much go to the zone read and meerkat w/ no sense of urgency. Avoiding making it worse vs. trying to make it better.
Good field position before 1H and then run to locker room?
Night game with invisible student section
More touches needed for Walters.
Likely lots of empty seats for last two home games as folks lose interest. Water pot for the Rice frog is getting warmer as apathy sets in

La Tech lost to a 0-5 K-State team in Big XII. They are not world beaters. They are a mediocre 50-75 team who just came into HRS for a 32 point win. Owls will beat UTSA and Charlotte to become bowl eligible, lose to So. Miss with UTEP in El Paso being a toss-up. Feeling generous to call it 7-5 with zero victories over top-100. Would be a 2-9 or 1-10 team in old SWC. Am hardcore Rice fan but now losing interest watching us get blown-out by teams like WKU and La Tech that were both recently blown-out by SEC team.

So bottom line question.....Q: What does that make us? A: Not very good. Somewhere between 85 at high-end and 105 at low-end out of 128 teams. Sigh.

With 3 players in the Top 20 mock draft for G5 schools. No other G5 had more than 1 player in the top 20.

"Who went No. 1? And who knew Louisiana Tech was so loaded with talent?"

http://insider.espn.go.com/college-footb...he-power-5

(10-30-2015 11:33 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  I just don't see any direction from the top. You can blame players or coordinators or position coaches or whomever, but the bottom line is that we've been through multiple players and multiple coordinators and multiple position coaches and the same problems remain. Somebody described Ben Braun's approach as "recruit better and hope to God it works." That's all I see here. If you see more direction from the top than that, what is it?

I think we recruit better than we used to. I think the position coaches generally do a good job of developing individual techniques and skills. The number of guys we have playing on Sundays would attest to that. But we don't come together as a team. We're not going to put-recruit and out-athlete people on a consistent basis. Our academic requirements (with which I agree) preclude that. We've got to create a situation where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, and we simply don't do that.

As for Ibe's stunts, I'll defer to Bill Belichick, "You coach it or you tolerate it." On October 30, 2015, at least, we clearly tolerate it.

I wouldn't fire Bailiff. He's gotten us to three consecutive bowls, with an excellent chance at a fourth, and for that he deserves at least to see what he can do with the EZF. I don't expect it to make much difference. But I've underestimated Bailiff before, so he deserves the chance. But if somebody wanted to hire him away, I wouldn't bust my ass to talk him into staying.

that was me about Braun. And yes I have no idea what Bailiff is up to other than that.

I would fire him simply because there is no good example to show that a new stadium or good facilities has taken a previously shity coach to new levels. We have several examples to show the contrary including but not limited to Ben Braun

Congrats to La Tech. They took care of business.

We made key mistakes in the 2nd quarter and showed quit at the end of the half. As a result, we came back in the 3rd flat and gave up another TD.

I may be in the minority here but I'd like to see DJ use his arm more than his legs. I felt he stopped trusting his arm/receivers in the 3rd quarter after a couple of drops. I also disagree with saying that O-line play was a PRO. I felt we didn't keep a pocket all that well and had difficulty opening holes.

Coaching once again was subpar but I've come to expect it with this staff.

Dawg...

Congratulations to you and your team on a big and well deserved win. La tech is clearly far better than we are this year, but we're not here to blow smoke up your ass.

K-State is 0-4 in the big-12 and will soon be 0-5 with their only wins over UTSA, South Dakota and you. They aren't very good (for a p5 team) and you took 3OTs to win it. That's like our win over FAU.... just at a different level.

As for Miss State, being up 14-0 and losing 45-20 isn't a difference of 'home field advantage'. Even if it were, that's a bit like us saying that last years pasting that you put on us would be a different story in Houston... well it was, but you still beat us soundly.

It seems that you deserve your ranking... somewhere around 60.... and we seem to deserve ours... somewhere north of 90.

We like to comfort ourselves with TOP and 1st downs and 3rd down efficiency and other stats as well, but the only stat that matters is the score. If you were much better than 60 you would have been much closer to Miss Sta and wouldn't have taken 3 OT to beat K St even with the refs....

But hey... we'd sell our souls to have your ranking right now.

All I'm saying is, don't expect us to 'look on the bright side' of La Tech like you might. Our problems are far bigger (certainly to us)

(10-30-2015 11:17 PM)Dawgxas Wrote:  

(10-30-2015 10:44 PM)owl40 Wrote:  Pros

OL pass blocking
D played better sans Ibe mistakes
ST coverage looked better
No turnovers
DJ finally showing his legs. Looked like CC for a bit in the 3Q. Loved that.
Dillard is solid

Cons
Stupid penalties
Know it is off-limits to call out players but watching Ibe give a high 5 to Driskel against backdrop of a stupid penalty, burned on two routes, poor tackling, etc. really irritated me.
Beat again by deep balls again. Thurmond...hello? Run Cover zero in situation where you don't need it; burned by big play; recurring theme over-and-over
Davis and Parks not looking like they were at top of their game; Davis so much stronger runner last year, wonder if he is hurt. He just not running w/ same intensity.
WR play; either not getting open or when open not making plays/catches
TE position was invisible
Run zone read and other 'non-urgent' plays and then onside? Hate watching us down so much go to the zone read and meerkat w/ no sense of urgency. Avoiding making it worse vs. trying to make it better.
Good field position before 1H and then run to locker room?
Night game with invisible student section
More touches needed for Walters.
Likely lots of empty seats for last two home games as folks lose interest. Water pot for the Rice frog is getting warmer as apathy sets in

La Tech lost to a 0-5 K-State team in Big XII. They are not world beaters. They are a mediocre 50-75 team who just came into HRS for a 32 point win. Owls will beat UTSA and Charlotte to become bowl eligible, lose to So. Miss with UTEP in El Paso being a toss-up. Feeling generous to call it 7-5 with zero victories over top-100. Would be a 2-9 or 1-10 team in old SWC. Am hardcore Rice fan but now losing interest watching us get blown-out by teams like WKU and La Tech that were both recently blown-out by SEC team.

So bottom line question.....Q: What does that make us? A: Not very good. Somewhere between 85 at high-end and 105 at low-end out of 128 teams. Sigh.

You obviously didn't see both of those games. K-State refs cost Tech that game IN triple OT on two horrendous review calls giving K-state a touchdown.
Tech was up 14-0 over Mississippi State in the second quarter. Holtz started running the ball and subbing second stringers after State went up 14 after a blocked punt score and fumble score in the third. Those two games at home in Ruston would be a different story.

Tech vs Ms State stats
413 yds 440 yds
24 First Dwns 28
33:36 TOP 26:24

Tech vs K-State
451 yds 316 yds
23 First Dwns 17
28:36 TOP 31:34

Just watched the recording of that game. An awful thing to witness....can't imagine the horror of watching it live. So much bad.
1. Ibe should be drawn and quartered. We lost the game on his idiotic (second!) penalty.... Unforgivable. Yet he played again, are you kidding me??!!
2. Can't forgive the dropped TD pass by Parks. This changes the game even before Ibe decided to lose it for us. He's our best?? Sorry if you've been hurt and haven't practiced, this can't happen.
3. Our defense is terrible. Non existent, and terrible. It's a miracle we've beaten anyone.
4. How in the world are we not targeting Zach wright more? If it comes near him, he catches it. Yet we continue to throw to others who are just not nearly as consistent....very frustrating. Let's just admit this kid is our #1 receiver now and treat him as such.
5. Driphus wasn't terrible but the second quarter was abysmal. The question is, can this guy get points for us when it really matters?? He didn't have all day to throw, but MANY open receivers early, and he couldn't make it happen.
6. Defense. Not even this guy or that guy....complete team failure and inability to stop anyone. Awful.
This was a bad, bad game. I'm our biggest cheerleader but this game has me very down.

I think the only bright spot on defense was Derek Brown. He has a chance at the next level next year if he puts on more weight. Where were our linebackers? I thought they were our strength on defense this year.

(10-31-2015 02:28 AM)tramile12 Wrote:  Just watched the recording of that game. An awful thing to witness....can't imagine the horror of watching it live. So much bad.
1. Ibe should be drawn and quartered. We lost the game on his idiotic (second!) penalty.... Unforgivable. Yet he played again, are you kidding me??!!
2. Can't forgive the dropped TD pass by Parks. This changes the game even before Ibe decided to lose it for us. He's our best?? Sorry if you've been hurt and haven't practiced, this can't happen.
3. Our defense is terrible. Non existent, and terrible. It's a miracle we've beaten anyone.
4. How in the world are we not targeting Zach wright more? If it comes near him, he catches it. Yet we continue to throw to others who are just not nearly as consistent....very frustrating. Let's just admit this kid is our #1 receiver now and treat him as such.
5. Driphus wasn't terrible but the second quarter was abysmal. The question is, can this guy get points for us when it really matters?? He didn't have all day to throw, but MANY open receivers early, and he couldn't make it happen.
6. Defense. Not even this guy or that guy....complete team failure and inability to stop anyone. Awful.
This was a bad, bad game. I'm our biggest cheerleader but this game has me very down.

Good: no stupid timeouts
Bad: no smart timeouts

Good: we can realistically still go 8-4 or better (10-4 with help)
Bad: we can realistically go 4-8.

Good: we are going to still be top 100 in most rankings.
Bad: some will have us outside that

I agree that our bottom line problem is not coming together as a team. I don't see how the EZF is going to change that.




C

(10-30-2015 11:33 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  I just don't see any direction from the top. You can blame players or coordinators or position coaches or whomever, but the bottom line is that we've been through multiple players and multiple coordinators and multiple position coaches and the same problems remain. Somebody described Ben Braun's approach as "recruit better and hope to God it works." That's all I see here. If you see more direction from the top than that, what is it?

I think we recruit better than we used to. I think the position coaches generally do a good job of developing individual techniques and skills. The number of guys we have playing on Sundays would attest to that. But we don't come together as a team. We're not going to put-recruit and out-athlete people on a consistent basis. Our academic requirements (with which I agree) preclude that. We've got to create a situation where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, and we simply don't do that.

As for Ibe's stunts, I'll defer to Bill Belichick, "You coach it or you tolerate it." On October 30, 2015, at least, we clearly tolerate it.

I wouldn't fire Bailiff. He's gotten us to three consecutive bowls, with an excellent chance at a fourth, and for that he deserves at least to see what he can do with the EZF. I don't expect it to make much difference. But I've underestimated Bailiff before, so he deserves the chance. But if somebody wanted to hire him away, I wouldn't bust my ass to talk him into staying.

(10-30-2015 11:17 PM)Dawgxas Wrote:  

(10-30-2015 10:44 PM)owl40 Wrote:  Pros

OL pass blocking
D played better sans Ibe mistakes
ST coverage looked better
No turnovers
DJ finally showing his legs. Looked like CC for a bit in the 3Q. Loved that.
Dillard is solid

Cons
Stupid penalties
Know it is off-limits to call out players but watching Ibe give a high 5 to Driskel against backdrop of a stupid penalty, burned on two routes, poor tackling, etc. really irritated me.
Beat again by deep balls again. Thurmond...hello? Run Cover zero in situation where you don't need it; burned by big play; recurring theme over-and-over
Davis and Parks not looking like they were at top of their game; Davis so much stronger runner last year, wonder if he is hurt. He just not running w/ same intensity.
WR play; either not getting open or when open not making plays/catches
TE position was invisible
Run zone read and other 'non-urgent' plays and then onside? Hate watching us down so much go to the zone read and meerkat w/ no sense of urgency. Avoiding making it worse vs. trying to make it better.
Good field position before 1H and then run to locker room?
Night game with invisible student section
More touches needed for Walters.
Likely lots of empty seats for last two home games as folks lose interest. Water pot for the Rice frog is getting warmer as apathy sets in

La Tech lost to a 0-5 K-State team in Big XII. They are not world beaters. They are a mediocre 50-75 team who just came into HRS for a 32 point win. Owls will beat UTSA and Charlotte to become bowl eligible, lose to So. Miss with UTEP in El Paso being a toss-up. Feeling generous to call it 7-5 with zero victories over top-100. Would be a 2-9 or 1-10 team in old SWC. Am hardcore Rice fan but now losing interest watching us get blown-out by teams like WKU and La Tech that were both recently blown-out by SEC team.

So bottom line question.....Q: What does that make us? A: Not very good. Somewhere between 85 at high-end and 105 at low-end out of 128 teams. Sigh.

You obviously didn't see both of those games. K-State refs cost Tech that game IN triple OT on two horrendous review calls giving K-state a touchdown.
Tech was up 14-0 over Mississippi State in the second quarter. Holtz started running the ball and subbing second stringers after State went up 14 after a blocked punt score and fumble score in the third. Those two games at home in Ruston would be a different story.

Tech vs Ms State stats
413 yds 440 yds
24 First Dwns 28
33:36 TOP 26:24

Tech vs K-State
451 yds 316 yds
23 First Dwns 17
28:36 TOP 31:34

Dawgxas- My point is not to disrespect La Tech. They are/were better team.

I did see both games you referenced. My point is that K-State is not even in top 50. I was cheering for La Tech and they should have won but my point is that K-State is not good and La Tech is the class of C-USA so what does that make us?

On Miss St, Miss St. was the better team, no question about that. Props to La Tech for being competitive. That is what we want to see from Rice in those kind of games. That is not disrespect to La Tech. as Miss St is a top 20 team.

I'm making point on how far down the totem pole Rice is. We can't be competitive against teams not just in top 25 but not competitive against top 75. That is a problem.

We are supposedly rebuilding this year with so many Freshman but outside of Left Tackle, Kicker, and RB, I am not seeing alot of hope from the youngsters. Some of our older guys (Brown, DJ, Z. Wright, Lyons, Reue, etc.) are stepping up but have not seen many frosh make a 'wow can't wait til that guy gets some experience. They are going to be special.'

Usually you see youngsters make some plays and miss others but you see the raw talent. Not seeing that with this Rice team..especially on D. Historically, we saw that raw talent as frosh with Covington, DJ, Parks, Callahan, etc. when they played as youngsters. Not so much with these guys (sans the RB, K, and LT positions referenced above).

It's nice to wake up on a Saturday morning, open the paper, and see us on the front page of the sports section under a headline like 'Bulldogs roll as Owls shoot selves in foot'.

The Zombie Owl Band halftime show was a really nice effort by the MOB.

Well, we made the front page of the sports page anyway

We won the TOP battle again. It was hard fought and close but Rice had 50 more seconds in the end. Take that LaTech!

Dawgxas- My point is not to disrespect La Tech. They are/were better team.

I did see both games you referenced. My point is that K-State is not even in top 50. I was cheering for La Tech and they should have won but my point is that K-State is not good and La Tech is the class of C-USA so what does that make us?

On Miss St, Miss St. was the better team, no question about that. Props to La Tech for being competitive. That is what we want to see from Rice in those kind of games. That is not disrespect to La Tech. as Miss St is a top 20 team.

I'm making point on how far down the totem pole Rice is. We can't be competitive against teams not just in top 25 but not competitive against top 75. That is a problem.

We are supposedly rebuilding this year with so many Freshman but outside of Left Tackle, Kicker, and RB, I am not seeing alot of hope from the youngsters. Some of our older guys (Brown, DJ, Z. Wright, Lyons, Reue, etc.) are stepping up but have not seen many frosh make a 'wow can't wait til that guy gets some experience. They are going to be special.'

Usually you see youngsters make some plays and miss others but you see the raw talent. Not seeing that with this Rice team..especially on D. Historically, we saw that raw talent as frosh with Covington, DJ, Parks, Callahan, etc. when they played as youngsters. Not so much with these guys (sans the RB, K, and LT positions referenced above).
[/quote]

No disrespect taken and I understand the frustration as a Tech fan.

Tech was in the same position last year around this time and ended at 34 in the final Sagarin poll. I suspect the same this year with a good possibility of going 11-3. Its no consolation but the Tech team playing now will end up in the 20-40 range in the final polls.