[Sly Fox]

Bring your discussion on the CCU loss here. I'll start it with the recap from the CCU official site:

Football Defeats Liberty 28-26

October 28, 2006

No. 22 Coastal Carolina Football Earns 28-26 Victory Over Liberty

CONWAY, S.C. – No. 22 Coastal Carolina put together another solid fourth quarter and got the 28-26 Big South Conference victory over visiting Liberty, Oct. 28. With their fifth consecutive win, Coastal moves to 6-2 and 2-0 in Big South play, while Liberty fell to 3-5 and 0-2 in conference action.

On the second play from scrimmage, fullback Mike Tolbert broke three tackles and out ran the Liberty defense for a 70-yard touchdown. Kicker Josh Hoke's point after attempt was good and the Chanticleers had a 7-0 lead 37 seconds into the contest.

The Flames came back on their first offense possession with a long drive, going all the way to Coastal's five-yard line. After 11 plays, quarterback Brock Smith tried to hit wide receiver Wynton Jackson in the back of the end zone, but safety Quinton Teal got his third interception of the season to end the threat and give CCU the ball back on its own 20.

Liberty got the back back on its own 35 yard line and again mounted a drive, this time with different results. After eight plays over 65 yards, running back Zach Terrell dashed in from 10 yards out and the extra point knotted the game at seven with 2:57 to go in the first quarter.

Both teams had chances later in the half, the best of which resulted in a missed field goal for Liberty, and the two teams went into the halftime locker room tied at seven.

Liberty took the lead on the first possession of the second half after getting the ball on its own 35 to start the drive. LU went 44 yards in 13 plays over 6:55. Zac Kolegue hit a season-long 37-yard field goal and the Flames had a 10-7 lead with 8:00 to play in the third quarter.

After an interception on Coastal's next drive gave the Flames the ball at the CCU 39, Liberty again put points on the board. This time, Kolegue hit from 28 yards out and the margin was extended to 13-7 with 2:42 to go in the third.

CCU again was looking for some spark to the offense and got it on the next drive. After a face mask penalty on a fumble kept the ball with Coastal, the Chanticleers moved the ball to their own 40. Quarterback Tyler Thigpen connected with a wide open Chris Noble for 33 yards and CCU was in business on the Liberty 23. Coastal then moved it on in to cap off the eight play, 78-yard drive, with Thigpen hitting wide receiver Santini Washington for a 3-yard strike. Hoke's PAT put the Chants up 14-13 with 13:21 to go in the contest.

Coastal pushed the lead out with a great individual effort on a play. On 1st-and-19 from the Coastal 34, Thigpen read the blitz and hit wide receiver Jerome Simpson on the hot route. Simpson then broke a pair of tackles for a 66-yard touchdown that gave CCU a 21-13 lead.

Liberty took the ensuing kickoff the distance, as Dominic Bolden returned it 93 yards for the score. Liberty went for two and was unsuccessful on the pass and CCU had a 21-19 lead with 8:59 to go.

The Chanticleers added to their lead with a solid drive on their next possession. Coastal chewed up 4:38 on the clock with an eight-play, 80-yard march down the field. Aundres Perkins capped it off with a 33-yard touchdown scramble and CCU led 28-19 with just under five minutes to go on the game.

Due to three LU unsportsmanlike penalties, CCU kicked off from the LU 20-yard line, but drew their own penalty on the kickoff, giving Liberty the ball on its own 35. Two other Coastal personal fouls pushed the ball down the field quickly and the Flames scored on Terrell's three-yard run just 50 seconds later and the margin was back to two points at 28-26 with 3:28 to play.

After a season-best 34-yard kickoff return by Whittmin Reese, Coastal had the ball on the Liberty 40. On a 4th-and-4 play at the LU 34, Thigpen connected with Simpson for 17 yards and a first down that allowed CCU to run out the remainder of the clock.

Coastal totaled 422 yards of total offense on the day, getting 257 through the air and 165 on the ground. Liberty had 308 yards of total offense, including 181 yards of rushing. Both teams had a pair of interceptions and combined for 190 yards of penalties.

Thigpen again led CCU offensively, going 16-for-28, in windy conditions, for 257 yards and a pair of scores, while running for 41 yards. Tolbert has 71 yards and one touchdown, while Perkins had 41 yards and a score as well. Simpson posted a game-high six catches for 145 yards and one touchdown.

For Liberty, Terrell had his second consecutive 100-yard rushing effort, getting 114 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries. Rashad Jennings had 14 carries for 60 yards, while Smith was 11-for-17 for 127 yards. Jackson was the leading receiver for LU with four receptions for 62 yards.

Both teams are in non-conference action next week, as Coastal remains home to host Savannah State next weekend, Nov. 4 at 12:30 p.m., while Liberty returns home to host Western Carolina at 1 p.m.

http://www.goccusports.com/?news=2410

[KaplanKrazies]

I feel your pain....the Tribe lost to Villa-Freaking-Nova today at home...

[krh44]

Was not able to listen to much of the game but would love t o hear some of the key plays that hurt us in this one. Another one that is hard to swallow.

[Sly Fox]

Here are the final stats from CCU's stat tracker:



There is a ton of postgame discussion in the game thread before I locked it and started this one. But suffice it to say we're becoming far too familiar with these 4th quarter close losses.

[SuperJon]

A few things:

The sack by Greiser that was a fumble and then not a fumble was weird. The refs did a horrible job explaining what was going on.

If they're going to penalize that dive into the end zone then Jerome Simpson should be penalized everytime he touches the ball. He's an amazing player and celebrates after his catches. I have no problem with him celebrating, I have no problem with the dive into the end zone. Reggie Bush dove into the end zone on a regular basis with absolutely no one on him and never got called for it. These refs were a joke.

Once again, I have no problem with Estes getting ejected from the game. I don't know what exactly happened, but the ejection was probably warrented. However, Simp ran 30 yards to get in Estes' face after the play and didn't get a penalty. An ejection for Simp wasn't warranted but some type of penalty was. It's one thing to get in a player's face after a play, it's another to run 30 years and do it.

The field goal didn't cost the game. The wind help that one up.

The LU crowd was good. I was extremely disappointed with the CCU crowd. It was the smallest game I've attended at Brooks. Most of the frats/sororities weren't there (one was having powder puff football practice during the game).

I like the fact that we attempted the halfback option pass. Zach did what he needed to and tucked it and ran because there were guys closing in on him.

We had the wind behind us after the last TD. Ben could've easily kicked it into their end zone for a touchback and they would've started from their 20.

Josh Hoke is nowhere near the kicker he was last year. I have no clue what's wrong but he was a lot better last year.

Like normal, the Coastal fans were polite after the game. I talked to one of the professors while walking across campus about the game.

Watching this UF/UGA game is making me sick thinking how close we were to getting Teabow.

[Sly Fox]

Thanks for the eyewitness accounts. We're never going to get calls on the road ... especally wearing Liberty on our jerseys.

[ATrain]

Wonder what you tell a team after 3 close losses of 1, 3, and 2 points?

[SuperJon]

By the way, I was talking to madmat after the game and believe me, the first three letters of his name describe what he was.

[thepostman]

this might be in the game thread, i have yet to make my ways through there...but what was up with the radio?? I was driving around the burg doing a few things and hoped to listen to the game while doing so but all I got was static...anybody else have this problem in town listening to WRVL??

Now to the game..this is getting old...I mean at least last year we sucked and it didn't hurt so much...this year we have improved, but not enough to get over the hump yet (I believe we will soon enough)...games like the ones the past 3 weeks are much tougher to take then any blowout...

coach just needs to continue to work on the things that need to be worked on...he knows what they are...there is really no reason to get into it more then that...frustrating is the word for this moment.....

I will be there next week cheering this team on...I hope that the student body hasn't given up on this team...they still are a heck of a lot more fun to watch then last year's disgrace......

[TIMSCAR20]

tough loss. This team plays hard. We are way better than last year. We will figure out how to win and this team got hosed on a few calls for sure but I wasn't there. I will say that a celebration rule (put in because of Reggie Bush) on a dive is a dumb rule. It also shouldn't be called if you are diving into the endzone to make defenders miss you! I am very upset about that. The Greiser play sounds suspicious to me too. Not accusing the officials of any wrong doing but it sounded like a crazy situation based on some of the first hand accounts. I think we should have kicked it deep on that last kick but I don't know the whole game setting as I was getting updates from various folks on the cell. I went to spend the day with Men's Hoops and caught some Volleyball live so I couldn't listen in. Also I heard you guys killing the announcers on the Coastal broadcast. I am surprised it sounded so bad because Matt Hogue seems pretty solid. He does TV for the Big South. I think Ray Jones and Tim Scarborough would be better but I may be a little biased.

[Purple Haize]

I said it before and I ll say it again, this team needs to learn how to win. Period. You can not expect this team to be in a close game and just win it. Learning to win starts in practice, starts in the little things. It overcomes what are percieved as bad calls or bounces. This team (even though we have 837 new players) hasn't won in years. There are things that you can do to teach winning. Not being in practice I can't say if they are doing that, BUT I would imagine they are. Even though our record against 1AA teams isn't great and we ahve had close games, you can not always judge a team on wins and losses. The adage "If you take care of the little things, the big things have a way of taking care of themselves". This team is/should be learning to take care of the little things.
As for the radio, I can't believe the signal was out. It was tortuous doing paper work listening to Handel on the Law and Mr Boo Yah. BUT gave me an excuse to see Invincible!!

[krh44]

Postman
You are right about a couple of things; WRVL was out and this is getting old. Hopefully we will have a good turnout next week but I would be surprised. I think the close games last year were frustrating but Towson, WM, GW and now Coastal, it is almost painful.

[Baldspot]

This old Hag is feeling pretty good about our future. Don't know why. Just a hunch. They needed to learn how to win and perhaps close losses is the pill they need for next year. Hopefully then we will be deeper, older, more comfortable with Rocco's system and have a take no prisoner's outlook.

(BTW, really glad we dropped Rutgers)

[flameshaw]

We are not doing as well as many of us would have hoped. I am disappointed and I am sure Coach Rocco is even more disappointed. However, how many recruiting classes has Rocco had? As was said earlier, these kids need to learn to win and I think one big win will do it for us. After all, they haven't been winning much at all in the last few years.

We will get better, it will take longer than we or the coaching staff or the players want, but we are doing better than in years past. I don't see where we have been outcoached, but we have been out-executed. Let's keep supporting the team and the coaching staff and let's get a good recruiting class under our belts.

Honeymoon is over next August though.

[Dale]

After a season as bad as last year, it takes time to turn things around. It is frustrating to see so many close losses but at least the team has been competititve in pretty much every game, except maybe WF which has a respectable DI team this year.

[Stevev]

As frustrating as these close losses have been we are not that far off from being 7-1. We just need to make some changes in key areas that have cost us some games and I believe everyone knows what areas they are. Depth is a problem but this years redshirts will play next year and that should fill some of the void. Vince Rede will help out on the D Line and if we could get this Vic Hall guy and another Offensive lineman transfere then we could be on our way. I just hope that we can salvage what is left of the season and I wouldn't be too surprised if we did to give us that winning record. W Carolina is not that good this year and Chuck South's only legitimate win was against Citadel so they in no way are as good as their record of 7-0. VMI is bad but improving as the season is progressing. Our schedule this year was designed for us to have a winning record so we need to finish this year strong and look to the future with this program.

[LU'sbestmanager]

well stated.. i agree all the way

[flafan]

After the game I saw Coach Williams and asked how he was doing, he wrapped it up for everyone when he said, "Man, I'm dying inside." After last weeks loss to GW and today, I'm sure everyone feels the same, but none more so than the coaches and players.

I haven't posted much on here. Mostly I just enjoy listening to you guys banter back at forth. You are all quite entertaining at times. But after today I'll just add my observations.

- First, great facilities, staff and fans at Coastal... everyone we saw was friendly and helpful, and this stadium is really nice.

- Also, kudo's to the Liberty fans for their great enthusiasm; and to the band. We were really impressed they made the trip They did a great job at half time. The Coastal fans really appreciated their show and even gave them a standing 'O'.

- We played a pretty good game today overall. Only a few bad mistakes.

- Brock played well despite the picks. The interception in the end zone on the first drive was a great athletic play by the DB. Brocks pass was not off. That guy had to have had 48" vertical to make that play. Our DB's didn't fair so well today. At times they really stepped up and played well, but then we can't even tackle a skinny wide receiver. That guy broke two tackles on his way to a 60+ yard TD. Poooooor execution on - tackling cost those two loooooong touchdowns.

- The missed field goal hurt, but no more than the defensive errors today. In my opinion the Defense was our biggest downfall of the day, but mainly on those few long plays. Take away the long TD's and the 'D' played well.

- The O Line played well. There were some great holes opening up today. Twice though we had busted plays when it appeared that either Brock or Zach turned the wrong way. I may be wrong but one of those was inside the five and may have been on that first drive when we didn't score.

- The pooch kick off in the 4th didn't make much sense to me. We had a good day covering returns so why give up the field position and why not try hold them deep. Yes they had moved the ball all day, but we had held them a number of times also.

- The officiating was questionable all day. The celebration call on the TD was ridiculous. Especially when they did the same thing with no call.

- Sorry but I have to disagree with some about this, but the ejection was inexcusable. These guys have to want to win more than they want to retaliate. Drawing those kind of penalties reflects poorly on the team but it also shows a selfishness on the part of that player. You can't retaliate like that when a game is on the line. I can't imagine anything today frustrated Rocco any more than that.

After all the close losses of this season, especially these last two, I'm sure all these guys are all 'dying inside'. But as some one already indicated, these losses probably do as much as anything else in helping this team learn how to win by teaching them the heartbreaking pain of losing.

Still, the season is not over and they have more opportunities to win, and win they should. They are remarkably better than last year and better than the 3-5 record indicates.

You guys on campus keep the spirit alive and keep pumping up the student body.

We traveled to LU last week and made todays game, but this is our last chance to attend this season. We always sit on the Baptist side, but my wife and I do our best to cheer. So some of you will have to cheer for us from here on.

[PeterParker]

The team is improved and they hung tough with a ranked Division 1CS team (CCU #22) and played alright against a ranked DIBS team (#24 WF) considering the early miscues. It is unfortunate from a morale standpoint that their record does not reflect the upgrade level of play in various areas on the field.

[Sly Fox]

Thanks for the eyewitness account, flafan. Its greatly appreciated.

Here are Chris' recaps and assorted items in the Sunday fishwrap:

Different foe, same storyline for LU

By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
October 28, 2006

CONWAY, S.C. - When Jerome Simpson caught his sixth pass Saturday at Brooks Stadium, a 17-yarder on fourth down that sealed Coastal Carolina's 28-26 victory, the sick feeling hit Liberty sophomore Zach Terrell once again.

The storyline has rarely wavered in Terrell's two seasons as a Flame. Liberty is always within sniffing distance of a landmark victory, but a big play here, a crippling penalty there always haunts LU. Liberty (3-5, 0-2 Big South) has lost its last six conference games by a combined 20 points because it is always on the wrong end of those game-turning plays.

"It hit really hard today, knowing how good we could be," Terrell said. "We can play with everybody. We have the potential to beat everybody. We don't have that killer instinct."

Saturday's examples were plentiful.

Simpson caught a short pass from Tyler Thigpen early in the fourth quarter and appeared to be down. But he somehow slipped from the grasp of Liberty defenders Stevie Ray Lloyd and Ryan Greiser and bolted 66 yards for a touchdown that put the No. 22 Chanticleers (6-2, 2-0) up 21-13 and left Liberty in scramble mode the rest of the game.

"As soon as (Simpson) spun, I hit Greiser in the back," Lloyd said. "Then he broke free."

Even when Liberty immediately countered, bad fortune struck. Dominic Bolden returned the kickoff after Simpson's score 93 yards for a touchdown, Liberty's first such return since Sam Gado returned one 97 yards here two years ago. When he reached the Coastal 2, Bolden dove into the end zone. Even though there was a Chanticleer defender within a couple of yards of Bolden, officials penalized him for unsportsmanlike conduct.

"At Wake Forest, coach got on me about the celebrating thing," Bolden said. "When I was running, I saw a guy coming over the top. I didn't know if he was behind me. I just couldn't take the risk of not getting the touchdown. That's why I dove."

Added Liberty coach Danny Rocco: "I have to watch the film. I really thought he was off balance and sprinting full speed. From my angle, I never would have thought they would have thrown a flag on that play right there."

Forced to attempt a two-point conversion from the Coastal 18, Liberty quarterback Brock Smith found no one open and threw incomplete. Coastal maintained its 21-19 lead.

Liberty led 13-7 and completely dominated the third quarter, running 22 plays to Coastal's four. Late in the third, Thigpen rolled left on a second-down play and was swarmed by Liberty defenders. He fumbled the ball, but that was partly due to a Liberty player grabbing Thigpen's facemask. Tyler Turner recovered the ball and returned it inside the Coastal 10, but the turnover was nullified because of a 15-yard penalty.

Coastal turned the second chance into a touchdown drive, capped by Thigpen's three-yard pass to Santini Washington that put CCU up 14-13.

"It was the right call," Coastal Carolina coach David Bennett said. "As he was getting ready to throw the ball, he got his facemask jerked. I'm glad they saw it."

Coastal scored its final touchdown on a wild play with 4:15 left. Aundres Perkins scored from 33 yards out on an option run, but away from the play, Liberty's E.L. Estes was flagged for a personal foul and ejected from the game.

Estes said officials told him he kicked a Coastal player while he was down. Estes claims the player was holding his leg and he was trying to kick his way out of his grip.

On the PAT, Liberty's Lloyd and Ian Childress were each penalized 15 yards for personal fouls, leading Coastal to kick off at the Liberty 20. Then the Chanticleers were flagged for a personal foul, jumpstarting a five-play drive that ended in Terrell's three-yard TD run, his second of the game, with 3:28 left.

That drew Liberty within 28-26, but the Flames never regained possession. Coastal returned a pooch kickoff to the Liberty 40, gained a first down on Thigpen's throw to Simpson, and ran out the clock.

"You're looking at a two-point defeat where I can pick out seven, eight, nine segments during the game that could have been the difference in winning or losing," Rocco said. "Someone's got to step up and make the plays."

http://newsadvance.com/servlet/Satellit ... th=!sports

LU working for winning season

Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
October 29, 2006

CONWAY, S.C. - In another all-too-familiar refrain, Liberty hopes to use its final three games as a springboard into next season.

In 2003 and 2004, Liberty's last two non-losing seasons, the Flames rallied to win their last four games, going from 2-6 to 6-6 in '03 and from 2-5 to 6-5 in '04 - Liberty's only winning season in the last nine years.

Realistically, a winning season is what Liberty has left to play for. Saturday's 28-26 loss to Coastal Carolina ended any real hopes of winning a conference title.

"I apologized to the seniors today," Liberty coach Danny Rocco said. "I told them I hoped for a better season for them. Our expectations were higher. But I also told the team I have very high expectations in our ability to finish the season strong. I'm very confident we'll find the ability to win a close ballgame here real soon."

One thing that will help ease this season's "play to jumpstart next year" mantra is the fact that the coaching staff is secure. As the losses mounted last season and former coach Ken Karcher's firing became increasingly imminent, the players didn't have a sense of what they were playing for.

The final three games - against Western Carolina, Charleston Southern and VMI - can be used to continue to learn Rocco's offensive and defensive schemes and build confidence heading into 2007.

"It makes it a lot easier to build," Liberty tailback Zach Terrell said. "(The coaching staff) believes in us and we're going to work our tails off the next three games to show that we're ready."

Windy Conway

Coastal Carolina quarterback Tyler Thigpen usually doesn't struggle with throwing the long ball. Saturday, though, every long pass he tried seemed to get caught up in a swirling, gusty wind at Brooks Stadium.

He only completed one long pass through the air, a 33-yard pass to Chris Noble late in the third quarter, and missed several long tries in the first half. Thigpen adjusted to the conditions later in the game, throwing shorter passes and letting his receivers do the work after the catch.

Thigpen wasn't the only one affected. Liberty kicker Zac Kolegue missed a 39-yard field goal that seemed to hang and twist in the wind. Coastal kicker Josh Hoke had two kickoffs go out of bounds, leading to procedural penalties that gave Liberty the ball at its own 35.

"The wind was playing with the ball," Coastal Carolina coach Dave Bennett said. "He was trying to go down the middle and let the wind take it. Then he had to go a little bit farther to the right. That wind was pretty strong."

Tailback tandem

Terrell was the Flames' leading rusher for the second straight game, earning 114 yards on 29 carries. But Rashad Jennings worked back into the mix Saturday, giving the Flames a one-two punch at tailback.

Jennings carried 14 times for 60 yards and regained some of the burst he'd lost due to a high right ankle sprain suffered two weeks ago against William & Mary.

Three times, Jennings pounded the ball for a first down in third-and-short situations. He also ran for five yards on a fourth-and-2 play.

"He had some nice runs, especially with him being a little sore still," Terrell said. "I think it helped us out working both of us."

Losing control?

Liberty's Stevie Ray Lloyd and Ian Childress each were flagged for 15-yard personal fouls on the extra point following Aundres Perkins' 33-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, leaving Lloyd a little embarrassed.

"They were talking a bunch of stuff," Lloyd said. "A guy pushed me after the play was over and I threw him on the ground. Another guy pushed me and Ian pushed him.

"I feel like I let my team down and my coaches. That's not my style of play at all. I'm a fair player and I like to play the game clean. I don't like to do dirty stuff."

Schedule coming together

Liberty athletics director Jeff Barber said the school has agreed to three contracts in principle for non-conference games next season, but he didn't want to specify which schools until the contracts are finalized. Liberty's 2007 schedule includes non-conference games at Elon and William & Mary and a home non-league game with Presbyterian. Once the three new contracts are finalized, LU will need to find one more game to round out the 11-game slate.

http://newsadvance.com/servlet/Satellit ... th=!sports

Liberty-Coastal Carolina player of the game and more

By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
October 29, 2006

Player of the game:

Jerome Simpson, Coastal Carolina WR

Simpson caught six passes for 145 yards, including a 66-yard touchdown grab that put the Chanticleers ahead 21-13 in the fourth quarter.

Play of the game:

Coastal 4th-and-4 at the Liberty 34 with 2:28 left in the fourth quarter

After Liberty uses its last timeout, the Chanticleers decide to go for it instead of punting. Coastal's Tyler Thigpen hits Jerome Simpson for a 17-yard gain and a first down that seals the victory.

Quotable:

'I told the team after the game that I'm not going to be the coach of an undisciplined football team. If they want to anger me or upset me, then be undisciplined. But I'm not going to tolerate this.'

LU coach Danny Rocco, of his team's seven penalties for 85 yards

Grading the three keys

Three keys for LU: Contain Tyler Thigpen. The Flames held the shifty Coastal QB in check for three quarters, but the senior shined in the fourth, leading the Chanticleers to three touchdowns. He finished with 257 yards passing, two touchdowns and 41 rushing yards. Grade: C

Mix up the looks. Liberty didn't double-team Coastal receiver Jerome Simpson, and the senior made the Flames pay, catching 6 passes for 145 yards and a touchdown. Liberty rarely varied from its base zone schemes. Grade: C

Don't fall behind. Coastal ripped off a 70-yard touchdown run on the game's second play, but Liberty settled down after that. The Flames controlled the clock and went to halftime tied at 7, and the game was a dogfight the rest of the way. Grade: B

http://newsadvance.com/servlet/Satellit ... th=!sports

[bigsmooth]

well a disappointing loss, but i have high hopes for the future. we are really close, and everyone needs to be out at williams next saturday...baptist and students to cheer on our guys. this team has not quit....rocco will not let them, and we can certainly beat western. We should have a good crowd, UVA and VT are on the road. let's hope for good weather and some good tailgating. now to the game....personal fouls and an ejection.......ridiculous. we need to have some composure, and play with class. it is clear to me our defense let us down. someone on that unit needs to step up and make plays. the missed FG did not cost us the game. it was multiple things. look we are a few points from being a very good team, and we have not learned to win yet. we can make zero excuses. we will be better next year, and the good thing is we can finish strong with three winnable games, and two are on our home turf. a new season starts next week!

[HarrisburgFlame]

smoothie:

very well stated. I couldn't agree more.

[Schfourteenteen]

Wonder what you tell a team after 3 close losses of 1, 3, and 2 points?

I-AA FIU (5 losses of a total of 14 points, and 18 ejections.... As long as we dont mess with the OB we shouldnt have that problem)

[SuperJon]

Walking past the lockerroom after the game yesterday I saw one coach just laying on the ground and another was staring off into nothing. I can't say I blame them.

[#10]

A few thoughts on the program.
I totally approve of and admire Rocco's coaching. That said, if Karcher was still coach I think our record would probably be the same. The scores wouldn't but the record would. We are definitely moving in a positive direction but the reality of it all is we had unrealistic expectations for this first year. The theme of learning to win is so true. The difference between us and 30 or 40 Sagrin points is a couple of plays. I think our players are finally understanding this. I was very pleased with the way they responded to the interception and came right back with a long drive and touchdown and played the whole game. Once again we lost any chance of a positive testimony with our on field behavior. When it sunk into Coastal they were getting beat they elevated their trash talking ways and goaded us out of the game. If we can't find 60 players with ability and integrity what's the point? We have a national recruiting program and have commited a ton of money and resourses. It is happening. We just have to stay the course. God will not bless those that don't honor him.