October 7th

Southeast Missouri (Away)
Central Arkansas (Home)
4:00 P.M. CT Conway, Ark.
TV: ESPN+

Southern Utah (Away)
Tarleton State (Home)
6:00 P.M. CT Stephenville, Texas (Conf.)
TV: ESPN+ Stats Video

Stephen F. Austin (Away)
Utah Tech (Home)
7:00 P.M. MT St. George, Utah (Conf.)
TV: ESPN+ Stats Radio: The Fan Sports Network Video

This week's talking points:

• Only two conference games - but good ones
• Tarleton...Contender or Pretender?
• UTech a MUST-WIN for SFA?
  

Soooo glad we have the bye this week. SEMO and UCA should be a really good game. SUU is playing really well, and I think Tarleton will have their hands full. SFA will take care of U-Tech.

This Week's FCS TOP 25:

• UCA moves up two spots to #23
• Tarleton, Austin Peay & EKU still getting votes!
  

https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/football/f...fcs-top-25

Others Receiving Votes (schools listed on two or more ballots): New Hampshire 143; Rhode Island 119; Albany117; Villanova 117; Eastern Illinois 79; Northern Iowa 64; Austin Peay 62; Tarleton State 46; Mercer 29; Samford 16; Southeast Missouri State 16; Youngstown State 11; Eastern Kentucky 10; Fordham 9

I think I might hop over to Stephenville tomorrow night, should be a fun game to watch.

How did that happen, the SUU boys beating the Texans? You could quit following the game at the half thinking Tarleton had put the game away, but they hadn't. What happened?

(10-08-2023 04:41 PM)RCI Wrote:  How did that happen, the SUU boys beating the Texans? You could quit following the game at the half thinking Tarleton had put the game away, but they hadn't. What happened?

1) Tale of two halves.
2) SUU definitely seems to be a 2nd half team.

I wish I could have seen what SUU actually did to turn it around so fast. I know that they finally got their passing game going, but how did they shut Tarleton down? I was really impressed with both Tarleton's run blocking and RBs in the 1st half.

(10-08-2023 04:54 PM)Outsider Wrote:  

(10-08-2023 04:41 PM)RCI Wrote:  How did that happen, the SUU boys beating the Texans? You could quit following the game at the half thinking Tarleton had put the game away, but they hadn't. What happened?

1) Tale of two halves.
2) SUU definitely seems to be a 2nd half team.

I wish I could have seen what SUU actually did to turn it around so fast. I know that they finally got their passing game going, but how did they shut Tarleton down? I was really impressed with both Tarleton's run blocking and RBs in the 1st half.

Tarleton QB was MIA in the second half. He seems to have lost all confidence. SUU QB played lights out and that was the difference. Of course fumbling with 2 minutes left for an easy TD also aided the Thunderbirds cause especially when you’re trying to run out the clock.

Team effort so I’m not laying all the blame on QB. Whiten needs to reassess the position. This is the third QB under his system that gets worse as the season rolls on. Makes me think it may be more on Coach than player.

I am guessing something is wrong, but you guys will get it figured out. I had you down as one of the better teams in the UAC and the team most likely to surprise everyone.

Offense was running like a sewing machine in the first half. Why? We came out in a true spread (Air Raid), using the pass to open up the run. It was working. In the 2nd half, for whatever reason, we decided to go back to force-feeding the run to try to open up the pass. So essentially, the decision was made at halftime to take our foot off the gas. And we all know who likes to take his foot off the gas. No BS - we could/SHOULD have been up 55 - 0 at the half! Our QB missed on throws to so many open guys that its just flat out ridiculous! A change MUST be made at that position. We had the right offensive scheme in the first half, but the continuous 3-and-outs in the 2nd half tired out our defense and we let it become a tight game. I'm already seeing Mason Miller's name coming up for potential HC jobs next season. That means other HC's and AD's around the FCS can see what's going on with our team. We show flashes of genius on offense, then it keeps getting bottled up and shut down for Whitten's more "conservative" approach, which continues to bite us in the rear, year after year. Makes me wanna puke.
Hats off to SUU, we gave them the opportunity to get back in it, and they took full advantage. They are a very well coached team, for sure.

SFA losing to UTech was a bit of a surprise, i must say. Further evidence this league is wide open and anything can happen!