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Lions played the Horned Frogs toe-to-toe for a little over a half, but turnovers and a couple of busts in the secondary cost us ... thought we competed hard, made them earn it, and more than held our own physically.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYLcsqd7YXY[/youtube]

I watched the first half before I left for Lake Charles to watch McNeese. Very impressive effort by the Lions.

Just one more indication that the Southland is the toughest it's been for a long time this year. No doubt Southeastern can beat anybody in the conference. So can Sam Houston State. So can Central Arkansas. So can McNeese. So far it could be "so can Northwestern State." AND after this weekend I'm not sure it's not "so can Nicholls State." And Lamar played very competitively with Louisiana Tech.

It's going to be a long, tough year in the Southland this year.

JohnStOnge wrote:I watched the first half before I left for Lake Charles to watch McNeese. Very impressive effort by the Lions.

Just one more indication that the Southland is the toughest it's been for a long time this year. No doubt Southeastern can beat anybody in the conference. So can Sam Houston State. So can Central Arkansas. So can McNeese. So far it could be "so can Northwestern State." AND after this weekend I'm not sure it's not "so can Nicholls State." And Lamar played very competitively with Louisiana Tech.

It's going to be a long, tough year in the Southland this year.

This is easily the best I've seen the Southland since we've been a football member. I think we'll get at least three teams, if not four, into the playoffs. Our collective schedules allow opportunities to make national noise and I expect we'll see some positive results over the next couple of weeks of non-conference play.

As for the TCU game, the encouraging thing to me is we matched their speed and physicality and forced them to play their starters almost the entire game. We made some mistakes that cost us in the third quarter, but we weren't overwhelmed athletically. In fact, we're better than them at several positions, most notably QB and LB and a couple of positions on the offensive line. And we're pretty close at CB.

We made some mistakes that cost us in the third quarter, but we weren't overwhelmed athletically.

I watched some of the second half on a replay when I got back and looking at that as well as the first half I agree completely with your statement. TCU never did "take over" physically during the portions I watched. It's just that Southeastern Louisiana made more mistakes. The big thing is that Southeastern Louisiana had three turnovers while TCU had none.

Big sequence was at the start of the second half. Southeastern made a questionable decision by going for it on fourth down in their own territory. They failed and TCU got a short field then scored. Next possession Southeastern throws an interception. Short field again and another score. Just like that the game was at 31-14.

For the life of me I don't know why Southeastern went for it on 4th down while in their own territory with plenty of time left, the score at 17-14, and them having played toe to toe at that point. Them doing that and getting stopped was huge in the ebb and flow of that game.

Looking forward to the game this weekend. Should be a fun one and sounds like a good crowd will be on hand at CAS. I'm looking forward to a close game.

Thumper 76 wrote:Looking forward to the game this weekend. Should be a fun one and sounds like a good crowd will be on hand at CAS. I'm looking forward to a close game.

Yes that will be what ZEM2 (a Texas high school coach) on the McNeese board calls an "oil check" game for Southeastern. I think they're a whole lot better than they were at the start of the season last year but the game at South Dakota State will lend insight into whether that perception is correct or not. It's an interesting intra-conference matchup.

JohnStOnge wrote:

Thumper 76 wrote:Looking forward to the game this weekend. Should be a fun one and sounds like a good crowd will be on hand at CAS. I'm looking forward to a close game.

I think they're a whole lot better than they were at the start of the season last year ...

That would be an understatement. For starters, we were returning four starting OL from 2011 and none were playing their regular positions the first three games of last season, including SDSU. We had our LT playing RG, our RT playing LT, our RG playing RT and our LG playing Center. Our best running back quit during the week, prior to the SDSU game and our other top back was already done with a career ending leg injury ... we still had a lot of kids struggling to buy in to the new staff and new system. The SDSU game was pretty much rock bottom ... after we purged a few malcontents and reshuffled our OL back to their regular positions, we started to show considerable improvement. Plus we took the redshirt off a couple of true freshmen RBs the last half of the season, and both played very well.

Coming into this year, we have most of our starters back, plus have added a number of JC and FBS transfers ... but the biggest addition may have been our strength coach whom we hired during the middle of the season last year ... we're bigger, stronger, faster across the board.

As for the SDSU game, I agree it's an "oil check" game. We have a great deal of respect for their program and how they play the game, and we'll have to be on our A game no doubt; not to mention we haven't won a game involving a plane flight since we brought football back.

slulionsfan wrote: not to mention we haven't won a game involving a plane flight since we brought football back.

Whoa that's nuts.

Thumper 76 wrote:

slulionsfan wrote: not to mention we haven't won a game involving a plane flight since we brought football back.

Whoa that's nuts.

All but three have been FBS games ... those three were at St. Mary's the first year be brought football back in 2003; Northern Colorado in 2005 after we beat them at home in '04; and South Dakota in '09 after beating them at home in '08. We're a lot better now than any those years, but when you've been on every one of those flights through the years, you tend to be a little cautious!