Our schedule is still not 100% set in stone but it looks like we'll have 4 OOC games this year (not including Florida Atlantic at home). This also means we are going to have to designate one of them as a conference game. Here we go:

@ Marshall: We beat them last year in Troy. Good news is it's the first game of the year so we have all Spring and Summer to prepare and should be injury free. Bad news is so do they and they'll be mad. Still, it's winnable but playing up there is going to be tough. They brought down MAC officials to our place last year and they were as biased as any we've ever played against (except Big 12 officials).

Mizzou in Troy: I was at our Marshall game last year. I saw first hand what a packed stadium full of crazy Trojan fans can do. If we can re-create that atmosphere and contain Brad Smith, then we have a chance.

@South Carolina: They should be better than they were last year, but a lot of Trojan fans think this might be the one we "steal".

@LSU: The tigers won't be the team that won the national championship, but they will still be good. Plus, playing at night in Baton Rouge is tough on any team. Even I will admit that a win for us here would be a miracle.

I've seen our team in these "body bag" games. It seems that we play really hard and tough and maybe even get an early lead (we lead K-State last year for a little bit). But then, something goes wrong. A turnover, a bad call by the officials, special teams failure (blocked @#$#@ punt!) and then the big boys follow it up with a big play. You can literally see our guys shoulders slump and the "here we go again, just another paycheck" mentallity creeps in. Against Nebraska, we were only down 10-0 in midway in the 3rd quarter. We scored, but the TD was called back on offensive pass interference. A busted play and two more penalties later, we have to punt and then they throw a 70 yard bomb and break the game open. Even the Nebraska announcers said it looked like our guys were hanging thier heads after the TD was called back. Don't get me wrong, they still play hard. Virginia was ahead of us 24-0 after the first half, but we never let them close to the end zone in the second half. That's my biggest beef with all the body bag games, the guys DO start to believe they aren't supposed to win. I bet A LOT of ya'll have similar feelings and similar stories when playing the big teams.

So, back to the original thought... how many will we win? We will get one, for sure. Whether it's Marshall again, Mizzou, or South Carolina. We need to get more consistant QB play and establish some sort of passing game. Also, NO SPECIAL TEAMS FAILURES. If we can do that, then I think we could get two. 2-2 would be very respectful. If the Mizzou game is close going into the 4th quarter, then we will take it. So, the realistic part of me says 1-3. The optimistic part says 2-2. The fan part of me says 3-1. The dreamer says 4-0!

So I'll say 2-2 with a slight lean towards 3-1. (cross fingers)