Not playing to win, but to just hold onto the lead was the real culprit in this loss.

Ray Ray and T.J. have done some good things, and the O-line has upped its’ game, as well as Williams continuing the process working toward the leader he needs to be. The offense must continue to improve on consistency throughout each of the four quarters. The Pirates won’t be successful if the offense is sputtering for half of each game. The improvement in overall team performance is tangible, and hopefully, continues this Thursday and beyond. If it does, Pirate Nation will be celebrating.

The offense still makes to many mistakes but with the receiver and running back units getting healthier we have a lot of weapons and should get solid production the rest of the way. The defense with the addition of the 5th year veterans is a solid unit by AAC standards. I think 8 wins and a decent bowl is a realistic possibility for this team if we continue to improve, and since we don't play Navy, Tulane or UTSA.

Congratulations to the Pirates for a good win. The extra time allowed because of the bye week was put to good use, as the defense gave a solid effort against the Owls. Williams looks to be getting more comfortable running the offense with each game. The Pirates showed much better discipline than at any time this year. Overall, the Pirates still have room to grow, and following this game, that’s not being negative. The Pirates are healthier than at any time this season. Valuable additions in Lampley and Dankah are getting meaningful reps on defense, which can only make a solid unit even better. If the O-line keeps improving, the Pirate offense should be able to put together four quarters together, sooner rather than later. What began as a collection of roster changes is gradually molding itself into a solid team. Well done, Pirates!

Frankly, this game scares me. Some of the things the Pirates haven’t been good at on both sides of the ball play right into a team built around rushing the football. Rice will try to slow down the flow of the game which is intended to limit ECU offensive possessions. Coupled with the Pirate offense’s inability to execute time-consuming drives over and over means the Pirate “D” could find itself on the field for a long time. It will be imperative for the Pirates to not only hold on to the ball, but get some points on the scoreboard. Playing disciplined defense against an experienced option offense must be the rule. The Pirates are good at flying around to the football, but must be willing to “stay home” and take care of each specific assignment - no abandoning receivers to run free on the back end.

Rice football has been around for a long time; I remember when they were a member of the old, storied Southwest Conference. ...but I frankly don't ever recall Rice being very good.

I miss seeing Spalding between the lines; he was a big part of the Pirates' success last year. Here's hoping to his return shortly. ...hoping for Gray's return, too; when healthy, the RBs room competes for being the brightest spot on this edition of the Pirates.

I really like your write-ups

Agreed, and contributing to your "lock" evaluation, a few of the supposed weaker teams in conference are developing to be tougher competition than predicted in preseason.

I’ll be, “the glass is half full”, on yesterday’s game. As a whole, the Pirates did what they were supposed to do, easily handle a team overmatched - like the Tide did to ECU. The change at QB1 proved successful, as EW pushed the passing game up the field. This also made the running game better by moving defenders out of the box. The defense played a solid game except on the first Eagles drive, and then during garbage time when several substitutes seemed lost. Tackling is still an issue. Now to what seems to be a big problem - discipline. In conduct more than performance, the Pirates where embarrassing. This cannot continue. The Pirates simply aren’t good enough to spot teams 50 - 75 yards in penalties. I am disappointed Coach Harrell didn’t address the poor conduct more directly postgame, but he clearly expressed his disgust during the game. Going forward, the jury is still out on the 2026 Pirates. It doesn’t appear, based on total performance, there will be any games where the Pirates will be a “lock”. Some good things happened yesterday, but the consistency required for a full 60 minutes is still missing. The next 13 days will be more important to the season than Saturday’s overpowering second quarter.

I hate to say it, but I've always considered games vs. all but very top echelon FCS teams (e.g., JMU in the couple of years before they jumpred to the FBS) to be the equivalent of a scrimmage game, in which the best upside is only neutral; you can only end up with either that or a bad result.

I’m not sure what we will learn against N. C. Central. Common sense says a moderately talented FBS team should be able to control a moderately talented FCS team. I would consider no penalties by the offense to be a huge improvement, and believe it would lead to more points scored. Additionally, burning more clock can only help the defense, which has its own problems to solve. I know they’re always working on tackling, and hopefully that will continue. You have to give a nod to the “D”, keeping ODU out of the end zone for the second half.

Last Sat. vs. ODU reminded me of the prior Sat. game vs. Ap plagued by 21 penalties (both teams in total) and other miscues, both games determined by who screwed up the least.

There were times yesterday when it looked like both teams had money on the other, but after all's said and done, yes, a dub is a dub, especially with ECU being away and a slight dog, and to a team that won 10 games last year (while that admittedly means less today than it used to, in this unhinged portal era in which we find ourselves.) Hats off to the Pirates defense, though in some ways, it felt like the ODU offense yesterday played the generous role that the ECU offense played last week for Ap. Question marks remain for the ECU offense, thought the running backs room continues to show promise, with Engleman being the man yesterday; hopefully Gray's non-contact injury doesn't become a theme. Next up is an FCS game, something I've always felt can yield only a neutral or bad result, but hopefully improvement will occur between now and the first conference game.

For the Pirates, a much-needed win. Pulling off the comeback while still having trouble sustaining drives is hard to do. Thankfully, the defense provided a score, and kept ODU out of the end zone during the second half. This addition of the Pirates can be hard to watch. At times, they can’t get out of their own way. I’m not sure enough can be fixed for the Pirates to have a winning season. The Monarchs aren’t as good as App State, and App State isn’t that good - at least at this point in the season. The Pirates should begin conference play at 2-2 in a couple of weeks. All three phases need improvement, and I don’t believe N.C. Central will provide the benchmark required. Hopefully, enough of the players who are still trying to figure the game out can achieve a level of consistency that will allow the Pirates to compete in the American.