(08-28-2017 11:01 AM)Hambone10 Wrote:  

(08-24-2017 11:04 AM)mrbig Wrote:  

(08-24-2017 10:42 AM)McHargue Wrote:  2018 we play at Hawaii, at Wake Forest, at LSU and "home" (likely at NRG) against UH. I think whoever scheduled that should not be allowed to work in college athletics ever again.

08/25 - Prairie View A&M
09/01 - Houston
09/08 - at Hawaii
09/15 - at Wake Forest
11/17 - at LSU

Hypothetically, opening up with 2 home games is a nice start to the season (if the UH game is actually placed at HRS), and PV should be an easy win. Going from @Hawaii on 9/9 (assuming a sunday departure) to @Wake on 9/14 (arriving on friday before game day) with just a few full days in Houston sounds pretty hellish.

I agree with Big here.

You don't have the luxury of picking 'whatever' schedule you want.

Here we have the 1-AA at home to theoretically get confidence up at home....
then a local rival we beat with some regularity 2 miles from Campus
then an 'experience' trip to Hawaii where we have also had success
then a potentially winnable p5 game like Kansas or Purdue
We could be 4-0 going into LSU, and while LSU could be/often is outstanding, if we even remotely 'show up' we are now defined by whom we lost to, not whom we beat. What I mean by that is that if we lose by 21 to #15 LSU and then run the table in CUSA, who is to say we aren't worthy of the top 20 by seasons end?

You want to build a program, that's how you do it.... Of course I doubt that we expected to have +/- 12 wins in the 3 years after having 25 wins over 3 years, now twice it seems.

Agree with the points made in general, but take noted that the LSU match is in November, likely the penultimate game of the season. Should we start 4-0, that would be going into the C-USA season, not the LSU game. How that goes could greatly enhance or diminish the importance of the LSU game.

(08-28-2017 11:22 AM)That Guy 2012 Wrote:  Agree with the points made in general, but take noted that the LSU match is in November, likely the penultimate game of the season. Should we start 4-0, that would be going into the C-USA season, not the LSU game. How that goes could greatly enhance or diminish the importance of the LSU game.

Good catch, but I'd note that this now means that even if we're only a relatively decent team... say top 60 or so... we could be 11-0, on a long winning streak with lots of confidence having only really played UH and Wake Forest and battling #15 LSU. We didn't get 'beat up' going into conference. Put on a good show in that one game even if you lose solidly and you're arguing for top 25 and the access bowl. Beat them and you're arguing for top 10. Get beat badly and you're still CUSA champs and playing a team only marginally better than Wake Forest in a good bowl.

You're not talking good vs bad season, but good vs 'fortune changing' season.

You don't get to set 'the perfect season at the perfect time'.

If you can't win CUSA, you're probably losing to UH and/or Wake, getting stomped by LSU and then playing another g5 school in a bowl.

My point is we act like that's just a horrendously crazy schedule and of course, it isn't 'perfect'. Perfect would be @Hawaii but a week off.... and LSU at home after a week off... the week before or perhaps after they play Auburn... and UH at Rice...

but c'mon.

A long... but interesting series of interviews on what's led to Boise's continued success.

https://www.sbnation.com/a/cfb-preview-2017/boise-state

(08-28-2017 09:34 PM)NYNightOwl Wrote:  A long... but interesting series of interviews on what's led to Boise's continued success.
https://www.sbnation.com/a/cfb-preview-2017/boise-state

The Zabransky quote about being smarter than other teams and thus being able to have better and more sophisticated game plans is interesting. That seems to be one thing that we could apply at Rice.

(08-28-2017 09:47 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(08-28-2017 09:34 PM)NYNightOwl Wrote:  A long... but interesting series of interviews on what's led to Boise's continued success.
https://www.sbnation.com/a/cfb-preview-2017/boise-state

The Zabransky quote about being smarter than other teams and thus being able to have better and more sophisticated game plans is interesting. That seems to be one thing that we could apply at Rice.

It depends on the coaching staff.

(08-28-2017 11:07 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  

(08-28-2017 09:47 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(08-28-2017 09:34 PM)NYNightOwl Wrote:  A long... but interesting series of interviews on what's led to Boise's continued success.
https://www.sbnation.com/a/cfb-preview-2017/boise-state

The Zabransky quote about being smarter than other teams and thus being able to have better and more sophisticated game plans is interesting. That seems to be one thing that we could apply at Rice.

It depends on the coaching staff.

Sadly, with the right focus and deciding to make it happen as opposed to the same ole same ole, that could have been Rice......

(08-29-2017 10:41 AM)texowl2 Wrote:  

(08-28-2017 11:07 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  

(08-28-2017 09:47 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(08-28-2017 09:34 PM)NYNightOwl Wrote:  A long... but interesting series of interviews on what's led to Boise's continued success.
https://www.sbnation.com/a/cfb-preview-2017/boise-state

The Zabransky quote about being smarter than other teams and thus being able to have better and more sophisticated game plans is interesting. That seems to be one thing that we could apply at Rice.

It depends on the coaching staff.

Sadly, with the right focus and deciding to make it happen as opposed to the same ole same ole, that could have been Rice......

I just re-read the whole article. Everything in it could have been Rice. That is truly a blueprint of exactly what Rice could have done. And if Rice had become what Boise is, in the Houston market instead of Boise, Idaho, does anybody doubt that we could have gone to P5 by now? I'm guessing the SEC would have preferred us to Mizzou, and the XII would have preferred us to WV, among others.

(08-29-2017 07:38 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(08-29-2017 10:41 AM)texowl2 Wrote:  

(08-28-2017 11:07 PM)Tiki Owl Wrote:  

(08-28-2017 09:47 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(08-28-2017 09:34 PM)NYNightOwl Wrote:  A long... but interesting series of interviews on what's led to Boise's continued success.
https://www.sbnation.com/a/cfb-preview-2017/boise-state

The Zabransky quote about being smarter than other teams and thus being able to have better and more sophisticated game plans is interesting. That seems to be one thing that we could apply at Rice.

It depends on the coaching staff.

Sadly, with the right focus and deciding to make it happen as opposed to the same ole same ole, that could have been Rice......

I just re-read the whole article. Everything in it could have been Rice. That is truly a blueprint of exactly what Rice could have done. And if Rice had become what Boise is, in the Houston market instead of Boise, Idaho, does anybody doubt that we could have gone to P5 by now? I'm guessing the SEC would have preferred us to Mizzou, and the XII would have preferred us to WV, among others.

detailed, anal,...just like DB

(08-28-2017 09:47 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(08-28-2017 09:34 PM)NYNightOwl Wrote:  A long... but interesting series of interviews on what's led to Boise's continued success.
https://www.sbnation.com/a/cfb-preview-2017/boise-state

The Zabransky quote about being smarter than other teams and thus being able to have better and more sophisticated game plans is interesting. That seems to be one thing that we could apply at Rice.

While I get where you're coming from -- Rice == Smart, ergo Rice should be able to outsmart other teams -- the problem with that is that complex, "sophisticated" game plans rely on a lot of off-field study time poring over playbooks and game film instead of textbooks and class notes. Rice student-athletes almost certainly don't have that to the degree that Boise student-athletes do.

(08-30-2017 12:11 AM)T-Moar Wrote:  

(08-28-2017 09:47 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(08-28-2017 09:34 PM)NYNightOwl Wrote:  A long... but interesting series of interviews on what's led to Boise's continued success.
https://www.sbnation.com/a/cfb-preview-2017/boise-state

The Zabransky quote about being smarter than other teams and thus being able to have better and more sophisticated game plans is interesting. That seems to be one thing that we could apply at Rice.

While I get where you're coming from -- Rice == Smart, ergo Rice should be able to outsmart other teams -- the problem with that is that complex, "sophisticated" game plans rely on a lot of off-field study time poring over playbooks and game film instead of textbooks and class notes. Rice student-athletes almost certainly don't have that to the degree that Boise student-athletes do.

Also, off the field intelligence is not the same as football intelligence.

(08-30-2017 12:11 AM)T-Moar Wrote:  

(08-28-2017 09:47 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(08-28-2017 09:34 PM)NYNightOwl Wrote:  A long... but interesting series of interviews on what's led to Boise's continued success.
https://www.sbnation.com/a/cfb-preview-2017/boise-state

The Zabransky quote about being smarter than other teams and thus being able to have better and more sophisticated game plans is interesting. That seems to be one thing that we could apply at Rice.

While I get where you're coming from -- Rice == Smart, ergo Rice should be able to outsmart other teams -- the problem with that is that complex, "sophisticated" game plans rely on a lot of off-field study time poring over playbooks and game film instead of textbooks and class notes. Rice student-athletes almost certainly don't have that to the degree that Boise student-athletes do.

From multiple conversations with Major and Todd when they were here, they found that Rice smarts translated pretty well into football smarts, and they made effective use of it. I'm not sure that coaches before or after them have made such effective use. They both said that they found poring over textbooks and class notes to be good preparation for poring over playbook and game film, and that they were able to make adjustments to which opponents lacked the smarts to respond.

I think what you would find is that a lot of the players at some football factory programs are dumber than you may realize, and they don't spend much time poring over school books or playbooks. The mental discipline to prepare is a learned or developed skill, and a lot of guys who don't have that wash out at the next level, despite stellar collegiate numbers.

I remember a story that Fred told about coming to HRS when he was DC at Arkansas. There was a time out, and as the defense huddled around him, the Rice students started their, "No big words," chant. Fred said, "I looked around the huddle, and they were right."

Football has its own terminology, but much of that terminology translates to physics and geometry. The physics and geometry terms are more precise and often easier to teach to someone who understands the physics and geometry. True, some people just have an innate sense/knack... but we're talking about teams... not individuals... and of course you can recruit to those unique characteristics, since you're doing that (recruiting unique combinations of talents) anyway

Simple example... terms like 'inside leverage' or 'gap responsibility' or 'coverage lanes' are not terms that translate easily (because coverage lanes break down when you create gaps/angles by allowing some guys to go unimpeded and slow down others) but if you understand the geometry of a play... or the 'shape' of a defense, you can start to see where the vulnerabilities and strengths are...