Lose by 15 to Oklahoma

[ml wave]

does the staff know it's legal to cover the back out the backfield ?

hard agreement with this question

[PeteRasche]

I don't think ULL is as talented or as deep as OU.

You sure? People here seem to think it's close!

[GretnaGrn]

Obviously lots of disappointment, I think because we have the talent to compete and could be 3-0 without anything outlandishly different.

While I would like to see Thompson a bit more (and he did get in more against Oklahoma), I vehemently disagree that Mensah's starting job should be in jeopardy. He has to get game experience sometime (and, let's not forget, although Thompson is older a this stage he has *less* game experience than Mensah), and he's got the most talent. Mistakes are going to happen, especially with a young QB, but you have to let him grow sometime and his ceiling is clearly higher than either of the other two; an awful lot of people seem ready to overlook the 80% great things Mensah has done in favor of literally two good drives by Horton last year (mixed with a lot of mediocrity).

Because we no longer have a clear talent deficit, I think we all may have had unrealistic expectations this year. A lot is still on the table. Winning the conference is in our own control. The playoff would require getting help, but not to an impossible degree. The time to start is Saturday; we don't know who ULaLa really is, given their weak schedule, but who they need to be is the victim of our team's frustrations on Saturday.

[tjtlja]

It sickens me neither of the other QBs were given chance. The only logical explanation is we are playing for just the conference or for next year.

We never went 4 wide and always went 6-7 man protection which tells me they are trying to protect the QB.

To do so might have sapped Mensahs confidence. I understand your point about Kai. I do not understand your point about Thompson. Sure he is athletic. He has not seen any meaningful minutes and could not win this job in camp when he was the clear frontrunner and should have been athletically superior. Maybe the coaches are just dead wrong on him, but I think there's probably a reason he's been relegated to specific packages

The schedule was not built this year to start a RS/FR when you had other good options.

I think you have a point about the schedule but if we had other good options at QB then they should have won the job either in the spring or in fall camp. They had every opportunity.

So true. Mensah is going to be good, very good, and will likely be heavily tampered with in the coming months. Thompson and Horton had every chance to win the job and just couldn’t. If I were Sumrall, I would ask Thompson to take a roll like Taysom Hill. He has all the physical attributes. Use him at TE, RB, and QB. A ton of value in that at the next level if can pull it off.

[tjtlja]

Obviously lots of disappointment, I think because we have the talent to compete and could be 3-0 without anything outlandishly different.

While I would like to see Thompson a bit more (and he did get in more against Oklahoma), I vehemently disagree that Mensah's starting job should be in jeopardy. He has to get game experience sometime (and, let's not forget, although Thompson is older a this stage he has *less* game experience than Mensah), and he's got the most talent. Mistakes are going to happen, especially with a young QB, but you have to let him grow sometime and his ceiling is clearly higher than either of the other two; an awful lot of people seem ready to overlook the 80% great things Mensah has done in favor of literally two good drives by Horton last year (mixed with a lot of mediocrity).

Because we no longer have a clear talent deficit, I think we all may have had unrealistic expectations this year. A lot is still on the table. Winning the conference is in our own control. The playoff would require getting help, but not to an impossible degree. The time to start is Saturday; we don't know who ULaLa really is, given their weak schedule, but who they need to be is the victim of our team's frustrations on Saturday.

Send this to The Advocate and Crescent City Sports. Perfect summary.

[Baywave1]

Last season Hill averaged six snaps per game at QB. He obviously had lots of plays at other positions too. (Don’t know the median for his QB use.)

So at least bump up Thompson’s use more.

Pratt never won a game in 4th qtr until his third season of starting. Yes i wish we were 3-0 but that’s our historic benchmark to evaluate Menseh.

Time to a Sumrall special. The ten game win streak

[Baywave1]

Separate thanks to OU. I attended all three games there and hospitality was uniformly great.

If we go back, let’s pray for a night game! The sun and heat were brutal Saturday.

[Poseidon]

Obviously lots of disappointment, I think because we have the talent to compete and could be 3-0 without anything outlandishly different.

While I would like to see Thompson a bit more (and he did get in more against Oklahoma), I vehemently disagree that Mensah's starting job should be in jeopardy. He has to get game experience sometime (and, let's not forget, although Thompson is older a this stage he has *less* game experience than Mensah), and he's got the most talent. Mistakes are going to happen, especially with a young QB, but you have to let him grow sometime and his ceiling is clearly higher than either of the other two; an awful lot of people seem ready to overlook the 80% great things Mensah has done in favor of literally two good drives by Horton last year (mixed with a lot of mediocrity).

Because we no longer have a clear talent deficit, I think we all may have had unrealistic expectations this year. A lot is still on the table. Winning the conference is in our own control. The playoff would require getting help, but not to an impossible degree. The time to start is Saturday; we don't know who ULaLa really is, given their weak schedule, but who they need to be is the victim of our team's frustrations on Saturday.

Send this to The Advocate and Crescent City Sports. Perfect summary.

1."Mistakes are going to happen, especially with a young QB, but you have to let him grow sometime and his ceiling is clearly higher than either of the other two"- basically implies we are trading off something this season for something in the future Well Golly, Yay Tulane football 2026-27. Let's not pretend Mensah is our only hope for this year. We talked Horton into coming back and then went out and paid Thompson to come. This staff did that. They don't get a pass. Where is the accountability for not coaching them up?

2. "an awful lot of people seem ready to overlook the 80% great things Mensah has done in favor of literally two good drives by Horton last year (mixed with a lot of mediocrity)." - two good drives???? Which two? from USM, from Va tech, or from Ole Miss. He had at least two in each game.

3. Which leads me to the biggest hypocrisy on here...the universal agreement that Craddock is notably better than Nagle yet there the insistence that Horton would be mediocre or wait for it... not have a shot at notably better play with a notably better OC.

[GretnaGrn]

2. "an awful lot of people seem ready to overlook the 80% great things Mensah has done in favor of literally two good drives by Horton last year (mixed with a lot of mediocrity)." - two good drives???? Which two? from USM, from Va tech, or from Ole Miss. He had at least two in each game.

[/b]
[/quote]

USM, 21-3 win versus a team that went 3-9. 12/19 186 yards 2 TD
Virginia Tech, 41-20 loss, 13-20 119 yards 0 TD
Ole Miss, 37-20 loss, 15/37 231 yards 1 TD 1 Int

Not exactly savior numbers. But, like everyone, you're really talking about what he pulled off at Houston, which is definitely his highlight. None of those are enough to anoint him, or even close. IF Mensah weren't starting--and he clearly should be, this discussion is bluntly ridiculous--it would be Thompson, not Horton under center.

Meanwhile, this season for Mensah:

SLU 10/12 250 yards 2 TD
KSU 19/29 342 yards 2 TD 1 INT 1 FL, and had led the comeback but for an obvious bad call (one of many)
Oklahoma 14/32 166 yards 1 TD 1 INT

The most popular guy among fans when a team is losing is always the backup QB (although having the 3rd stringer be the object of such adoration is a bit different, I guess). Mensah has not at all been perfect, and saying he needs to take his lumps does NOT mean writing off the season--which is hardly done and, again, we had a shot to win each game. And there's been literally pages of complaints about the playcalling this year; Mensah's success can't be purely attributed to the new OC.

[tulaneoutlaw]

Thompson and Horton had every shot at winning the starting role and were unable to do so. In fact, you could argue that they had many advantages. Horton has way more starting experience than either Mensah or Thompson. Thompson has the blue chip branding, exposure at a major college power, and sheer athletic ability. That they were unable to win the starting job in resounding fashion speaks to a) their limitations or b) Mensah's potential to be great or c) some of both.

Now it does happen sometimes that coaches pick the wrong QB. It's a tough position to evaluate and mistakes are made. Charlie Brewer over Cam Rising at Utah is one. Keon Howard over Michael Pratt is one that lives in our back yard. So maybe if we put Horton or Thompson in against Oklahoma they blow us out of the water. Does that seem likely? Not to me, based on what we know, but I suppose it's possible. Regardless, Mensah hasn't shown me anything over his limited sample size to suggest he can't do the job and plenty to suggest he can.

[ml wave]

Obviously lots of disappointment, I think because we have the talent to compete and could be 3-0 without anything outlandishly different.

While I would like to see Thompson a bit more (and he did get in more against Oklahoma), I vehemently disagree that Mensah's starting job should be in jeopardy. He has to get game experience sometime (and, let's not forget, although Thompson is older a this stage he has *less* game experience than Mensah), and he's got the most talent. Mistakes are going to happen, especially with a young QB, but you have to let him grow sometime and his ceiling is clearly higher than either of the other two; an awful lot of people seem ready to overlook the 80% great things Mensah has done in favor of literally two good drives by Horton last year (mixed with a lot of mediocrity).

Because we no longer have a clear talent deficit, I think we all may have had unrealistic expectations this year. A lot is still on the table. Winning the conference is in our own control. The playoff would require getting help, but not to an impossible degree. The time to start is Saturday; we don't know who ULaLa really is, given their weak schedule, but who they need to be is the victim of our team's frustrations on Saturday.

Send this to The Advocate and Crescent City Sports. Perfect summary.

1."Mistakes are going to happen, especially with a young QB, but you have to let him grow sometime and his ceiling is clearly higher than either of the other two"- basically implies we are trading off something this season for something in the future Well Golly, Yay Tulane football 2026-27. Let's not pretend Mensah is our only hope for this year. We talked Horton into coming back and then went out and paid Thompson to come. This staff did that. They don't get a pass. Where is the accountability for not coaching them up?

2. "an awful lot of people seem ready to overlook the 80% great things Mensah has done in favor of literally two good drives by Horton last year (mixed with a lot of mediocrity)." - two good drives???? Which two? from USM, from Va tech, or from Ole Miss. He had at least two in each game.

3. Which leads me to the biggest hypocrisy on here...the universal agreement that Craddock is notably better than Nagle yet there the insistence that Horton would be mediocre or wait for it... not have a shot at notably better play with a notably better OC.

1. No, it could imply that we'll be better at the end of this season. Accountability for not coaching them up? Because they coached up someone else to be better? Make it make sense!

2. We scored 20, 21, and 20 points respectively in those 3 games (two of which we lost). I'd quibble with your "two good drives in each game" remark, but regardless, it takes more than two good drives to win a game.

3. You continue to overlook that Horton had his shot at the '22 offense not coordinated by Nagle and the results were basically the same (21 points in regulation, a lot of 3 and outs) as they were for him in '21 and '23.

I hate to keep bringing this up because I don't want to criticize Horton. He's a serviceable player and I don't really believe in criticizing college players anyway. But you keep on touting him and there's just no evidence he can make a difference at this level.

[Poseidon]

Obviously lots of disappointment, I think because we have the talent to compete and could be 3-0 without anything outlandishly different.

While I would like to see Thompson a bit more (and he did get in more against Oklahoma), I vehemently disagree that Mensah's starting job should be in jeopardy. He has to get game experience sometime (and, let's not forget, although Thompson is older a this stage he has *less* game experience than Mensah), and he's got the most talent. Mistakes are going to happen, especially with a young QB, but you have to let him grow sometime and his ceiling is clearly higher than either of the other two; an awful lot of people seem ready to overlook the 80% great things Mensah has done in favor of literally two good drives by Horton last year (mixed with a lot of mediocrity).

Because we no longer have a clear talent deficit, I think we all may have had unrealistic expectations this year. A lot is still on the table. Winning the conference is in our own control. The playoff would require getting help, but not to an impossible degree. The time to start is Saturday; we don't know who ULaLa really is, given their weak schedule, but who they need to be is the victim of our team's frustrations on Saturday.

Send this to The Advocate and Crescent City Sports. Perfect summary.

1."Mistakes are going to happen, especially with a young QB, but you have to let him grow sometime and his ceiling is clearly higher than either of the other two"- basically implies we are trading off something this season for something in the future Well Golly, Yay Tulane football 2026-27. Let's not pretend Mensah is our only hope for this year. We talked Horton into coming back and then went out and paid Thompson to come. This staff did that. They don't get a pass. Where is the accountability for not coaching them up?

2. "an awful lot of people seem ready to overlook the 80% great things Mensah has done in favor of literally two good drives by Horton last year (mixed with a lot of mediocrity)." - two good drives???? Which two? from USM, from Va tech, or from Ole Miss. He had at least two in each game.

3. Which leads me to the biggest hypocrisy on here...the universal agreement that Craddock is notably better than Nagle yet there the insistence that Horton would be mediocre or wait for it... not have a shot at notably better play with a notably better OC.

1. No, it could imply that we'll be better at the end of this season. Accountability for not coaching them up? Because they coached up someone else to be better? Make it make sense!

2. We scored 20, 21, and 20 points respectively in those 3 games (two of which we lost). I'd quibble with your "two good drives in each game" remark, but regardless, it takes more than two good drives to win a game.

3. You continue to overlook that Horton had his shot at the '22 offense not coordinated by Nagle and the results were basically the same (21 points in regulation, a lot of 3 and outs) as they were for him in '21 and '23.

I hate to keep bringing this up because I don't want to criticize Horton. He's a serviceable player and I don't really believe in criticizing college players anyway. But you keep on touting him and there's just no evidence he can make a difference at this level.

ML maybe you aren't criticizing Horton. It looked like you implied he was mediocre. There is a clear double standard here based Mensah being the new shiny player.

The fact is when thing are generally equal you start who has the most experience. We didn't we are 1-2 and could very well 2-1 if we played Horton. Sumrall and Craddock had to be the smarter than Willie Fritz, Nick Saban and every other great coach who would have obviously started the Vet at least to begin the season.

Sorry it's shattering some people's reality that they failed in their decision. We are 1-2. No excuses. No old Tulane BS "well he'll be good in the future BS."

BTW-Horton played one game in '22 were he was supposed to be the backup and didn't get first team reps still beat Houston in crunch time and you are criticizing his play that game...yet you "don't want to criticize Horton."

[CT Wave]

"I hate to keep bringing this up because I don't want to criticize Horton. He's a serviceable player and I don't really believe in criticizing college players anyway. But you keep on touting him and there's just no evidence he can make a difference at this level."

I agree with you, ML Wave, about hesitating to criticize college players. But to respond to those promoting Horton, think back to the Military Bowl when we were inside the 5 yard line. A running play up the middle was called the DL busted through. Horton instead of just taking the loss tried to shuffle the ball to our back. That was a play you might expect from a first time starter, not a play from a QB who had started multiple games. It seemed to me a case of panic rather than cool-headedness. Be smart enough to stay alive and run the next play. Don't panic and give up possession of the ball. That play sticks with me and says a lot about Horton IMHO.

[CT Wave]

double post.

[tulaneoutlaw]

Poseidon, you mean nick Saban who benched Jalen Milroe against usf last year to prove the point he had made the right decision? The backups were terrible and nearly cost them that game. But nobody questioned he made the right call st qb after that.

Why are you assuming Horton or Thompson have us at 2-1? We are one fluke fumble for a td from probably being there. That's not an excuse it's a fact. That same thing could've happened to them.

Finally, you are making a huuuge assumption that things were equal in camp and Sumrall is trying to show up some imaginary competition. If all else was equal, I think you're right and we would be starting Thompson or Horton. That's just it though, the coaches didn't see it as equal. As I made the case for above, Mensah almost certainly had to overcome the deck stacked against him to win the job. That tells me that things were definitely not equal by the end of camp.

I'm not hating on Thompson or Horton. I'm not saying Mensah will definitely be the next Pratt. I'm just saying we know what we know so far and planting your flag that the coaches have for sure made the wrong call with regard to experience at qb doesn't bear out with what know through 3 games.

[tul70]

Why does Tulane seemly run the ball on second down and long, usually off tackle? This typically results in third and long.

[visualmagic]

Obviously lots of disappointment, I think because we have the talent to compete and could be 3-0 without anything outlandishly different.

While I would like to see Thompson a bit more (and he did get in more against Oklahoma), I vehemently disagree that Mensah's starting job should be in jeopardy. He has to get game experience sometime (and, let's not forget, although Thompson is older a this stage he has *less* game experience than Mensah), and he's got the most talent. Mistakes are going to happen, especially with a young QB, but you have to let him grow sometime and his ceiling is clearly higher than either of the other two; an awful lot of people seem ready to overlook the 80% great things Mensah has done in favor of literally two good drives by Horton last year (mixed with a lot of mediocrity).

Because we no longer have a clear talent deficit, I think we all may have had unrealistic expectations this year. A lot is still on the table. Winning the conference is in our own control. The playoff would require getting help, but not to an impossible degree. The time to start is Saturday; we don't know who ULaLa really is, given their weak schedule, but who they need to be is the victim of our team's frustrations on Saturday.

Send this to The Advocate and Crescent City Sports. Perfect summary.

1."Mistakes are going to happen, especially with a young QB, but you have to let him grow sometime and his ceiling is clearly higher than either of the other two"- basically implies we are trading off something this season for something in the future Well Golly, Yay Tulane football 2026-27. Let's not pretend Mensah is our only hope for this year. We talked Horton into coming back and then went out and paid Thompson to come. This staff did that. They don't get a pass. Where is the accountability for not coaching them up?

2. "an awful lot of people seem ready to overlook the 80% great things Mensah has done in favor of literally two good drives by Horton last year (mixed with a lot of mediocrity)." - two good drives???? Which two? from USM, from Va tech, or from Ole Miss. He had at least two in each game.

3. Which leads me to the biggest hypocrisy on here...the universal agreement that Craddock is notably better than Nagle yet there the insistence that Horton would be mediocre or wait for it... not have a shot at notably better play with a notably better OC.

1. No, it could imply that we'll be better at the end of this season. Accountability for not coaching them up? Because they coached up someone else to be better? Make it make sense!

2. We scored 20, 21, and 20 points respectively in those 3 games (two of which we lost). I'd quibble with your "two good drives in each game" remark, but regardless, it takes more than two good drives to win a game.

3. You continue to overlook that Horton had his shot at the '22 offense not coordinated by Nagle and the results were basically the same (21 points in regulation, a lot of 3 and outs) as they were for him in '21 and '23.

I hate to keep bringing this up because I don't want to criticize Horton. He's a serviceable player and I don't really believe in criticizing college players anyway. But you keep on touting him and there's just no evidence he can make a difference at this level.

ML maybe you aren't criticizing Horton. It looked like you implied he was mediocre. There is a clear double standard here based Mensah being the new shiny player.

The fact is when thing are generally equal you start who has the most experience. We didn't we are 1-2 and could very well 2-1 if we played Horton. Sumrall and Craddock had to be the smarter than Willie Fritz, Nick Saban and every other great coach who would have obviously started the Vet at least to begin the season.

Sorry it's shattering some people's reality that they failed in their decision. We are 1-2. No excuses. No old Tulane BS "well he'll be good in the future BS."

BTW-Horton played one game in '22 were he was supposed to be the backup and didn't get first team reps still beat Houston in crunch time and you are criticizing his play that game...yet you "don't want to criticize Horton."

They didn’t fail in their decision
You just don’t know what you’re talking about.

[Poseidon]

Obviously lots of disappointment, I think because we have the talent to compete and could be 3-0 without anything outlandishly different.

While I would like to see Thompson a bit more (and he did get in more against Oklahoma), I vehemently disagree that Mensah's starting job should be in jeopardy. He has to get game experience sometime (and, let's not forget, although Thompson is older a this stage he has *less* game experience than Mensah), and he's got the most talent. Mistakes are going to happen, especially with a young QB, but you have to let him grow sometime and his ceiling is clearly higher than either of the other two; an awful lot of people seem ready to overlook the 80% great things Mensah has done in favor of literally two good drives by Horton last year (mixed with a lot of mediocrity).

Because we no longer have a clear talent deficit, I think we all may have had unrealistic expectations this year. A lot is still on the table. Winning the conference is in our own control. The playoff would require getting help, but not to an impossible degree. The time to start is Saturday; we don't know who ULaLa really is, given their weak schedule, but who they need to be is the victim of our team's frustrations on Saturday.

Send this to The Advocate and Crescent City Sports. Perfect summary.

1."Mistakes are going to happen, especially with a young QB, but you have to let him grow sometime and his ceiling is clearly higher than either of the other two"- basically implies we are trading off something this season for something in the future Well Golly, Yay Tulane football 2026-27. Let's not pretend Mensah is our only hope for this year. We talked Horton into coming back and then went out and paid Thompson to come. This staff did that. They don't get a pass. Where is the accountability for not coaching them up?

2. "an awful lot of people seem ready to overlook the 80% great things Mensah has done in favor of literally two good drives by Horton last year (mixed with a lot of mediocrity)." - two good drives???? Which two? from USM, from Va tech, or from Ole Miss. He had at least two in each game.

3. Which leads me to the biggest hypocrisy on here...the universal agreement that Craddock is notably better than Nagle yet there the insistence that Horton would be mediocre or wait for it... not have a shot at notably better play with a notably better OC.

1. No, it could imply that we'll be better at the end of this season. Accountability for not coaching them up? Because they coached up someone else to be better? Make it make sense!

2. We scored 20, 21, and 20 points respectively in those 3 games (two of which we lost). I'd quibble with your "two good drives in each game" remark, but regardless, it takes more than two good drives to win a game.

3. You continue to overlook that Horton had his shot at the '22 offense not coordinated by Nagle and the results were basically the same (21 points in regulation, a lot of 3 and outs) as they were for him in '21 and '23.

I hate to keep bringing this up because I don't want to criticize Horton. He's a serviceable player and I don't really believe in criticizing college players anyway. But you keep on touting him and there's just no evidence he can make a difference at this level.

ML maybe you aren't criticizing Horton. It looked like you implied he was mediocre. There is a clear double standard here based Mensah being the new shiny player.

The fact is when thing are generally equal you start who has the most experience. We didn't we are 1-2 and could very well 2-1 if we played Horton. Sumrall and Craddock had to be the smarter than Willie Fritz, Nick Saban and every other great coach who would have obviously started the Vet at least to begin the season.

Sorry it's shattering some people's reality that they failed in their decision. We are 1-2. No excuses. No old Tulane BS "well he'll be good in the future BS."

BTW-Horton played one game in '22 were he was supposed to be the backup and didn't get first team reps still beat Houston in crunch time and you are criticizing his play that game...yet you "don't want to criticize Horton."

They didn’t fail in their decision
You just don’t know what you’re talking about.

I stand corrected. You are right. We are actually 3-0 and ranked.

[tjtlja]

Why does Tulane seemly run the ball on second down and long, usually off tackle? This typically results in third and long.

Because we are overly conservative.

[tjtlja]

I don't think ULL is as talented or as deep as OU.

You sure? People here seem to think it's close! :mrgreen:

No one on the board has said Oklahoma and UL have similar talent. What people have said is that UL has talent that has to be respected. The line is 3 for a reason. If you are a betting man, then you should put up some serious money on the Wave. I would have to say you must have thought Tulane would have been a double digit favorite. I hope you win some serious money.

[waverider]

Why don’t the coaches just tell Mensah, “we know you are the most talented, but you are going to sit on the bench until you have enough game experience to play”?

[Sophandros]

It's silly and pointless to relitigate the preseason QB battle.

We were within one score of beating Oklahoma on the road and after looking at it again, our mistakes cost us the game. Yes, Mensah had some freshman mistakes, but we also had some read and coverage breakdowns on defense. We move on, and we will be favored the rest of the way.

The last two weeks have zero impact on our goal to win the conference. We need to take care of what we can control and see where we stand at the end of the season. I think we'll be hosting the conference championship game with a 10-2 record, but that starts with this week against ULL. Show them and the rest of the CFB landscape that we belong on the big stage.

[waverider]

On this week’s The Current, Sumrall made the Taysom Hill comparison, even calling him Tysom, and suggested that they have similar packages for him like the way Taysom is used.

I’m guessing a lot of those plays are being implemented into the offense and will be used more often in conference play.

[ml wave]

Obviously lots of disappointment, I think because we have the talent to compete and could be 3-0 without anything outlandishly different.

While I would like to see Thompson a bit more (and he did get in more against Oklahoma), I vehemently disagree that Mensah's starting job should be in jeopardy. He has to get game experience sometime (and, let's not forget, although Thompson is older a this stage he has *less* game experience than Mensah), and he's got the most talent. Mistakes are going to happen, especially with a young QB, but you have to let him grow sometime and his ceiling is clearly higher than either of the other two; an awful lot of people seem ready to overlook the 80% great things Mensah has done in favor of literally two good drives by Horton last year (mixed with a lot of mediocrity).

Because we no longer have a clear talent deficit, I think we all may have had unrealistic expectations this year. A lot is still on the table. Winning the conference is in our own control. The playoff would require getting help, but not to an impossible degree. The time to start is Saturday; we don't know who ULaLa really is, given their weak schedule, but who they need to be is the victim of our team's frustrations on Saturday.

Send this to The Advocate and Crescent City Sports. Perfect summary.

1."Mistakes are going to happen, especially with a young QB, but you have to let him grow sometime and his ceiling is clearly higher than either of the other two"- basically implies we are trading off something this season for something in the future Well Golly, Yay Tulane football 2026-27. Let's not pretend Mensah is our only hope for this year. We talked Horton into coming back and then went out and paid Thompson to come. This staff did that. They don't get a pass. Where is the accountability for not coaching them up?

2. "an awful lot of people seem ready to overlook the 80% great things Mensah has done in favor of literally two good drives by Horton last year (mixed with a lot of mediocrity)." - two good drives???? Which two? from USM, from Va tech, or from Ole Miss. He had at least two in each game.

3. Which leads me to the biggest hypocrisy on here...the universal agreement that Craddock is notably better than Nagle yet there the insistence that Horton would be mediocre or wait for it... not have a shot at notably better play with a notably better OC.

1. No, it could imply that we'll be better at the end of this season. Accountability for not coaching them up? Because they coached up someone else to be better? Make it make sense!

2. We scored 20, 21, and 20 points respectively in those 3 games (two of which we lost). I'd quibble with your "two good drives in each game" remark, but regardless, it takes more than two good drives to win a game.

3. You continue to overlook that Horton had his shot at the '22 offense not coordinated by Nagle and the results were basically the same (21 points in regulation, a lot of 3 and outs) as they were for him in '21 and '23.

I hate to keep bringing this up because I don't want to criticize Horton. He's a serviceable player and I don't really believe in criticizing college players anyway. But you keep on touting him and there's just no evidence he can make a difference at this level.

ML maybe you aren't criticizing Horton. It looked like you implied he was mediocre. There is a clear double standard here based Mensah being the new shiny player.

The fact is when thing are generally equal you start who has the most experience. We didn't we are 1-2 and could very well 2-1 if we played Horton. Sumrall and Craddock had to be the smarter than Willie Fritz, Nick Saban and every other great coach who would have obviously started the Vet at least to begin the season.

Sorry it's shattering some people's reality that they failed in their decision. We are 1-2. No excuses. No old Tulane BS "well he'll be good in the future BS."

BTW-Horton played one game in '22 were he was supposed to be the backup and didn't get first team reps still beat Houston in crunch time and you are criticizing his play that game...yet you "don't want to criticize Horton."

I didn't say he was mediocre, I've just been pointing out facts/stats. If you get mediocre from that, well, don't blame me. We could be 2-1 if we played Horton? Well, sure, anything's possible, but Kansas St scored 34 points--wait, let's be fair and take off the 7 they scored on the fumble, so 27--in 5 games, not once has Horton led us to more than 21 points. We moved the ball up and down the field on KSU all game...I'm sorry but the takeaway from that game cannot possibly be that we're starting the wrong QB. There is literally zero evidence that Horton could have won that game.

[nolasilver]

Remember every practice report had Ty and Kai throwing a pick every single practice. I think it’s fair to say we likely would have more turnovers with either at the helm. But as stated above, why bother relitigating this ? Do we think we know more than the coaches who see them play every day and make $2m+ and won two sunbelt championships back to back ?

I