re: until next year | 7-6

I know a lot of you are drinking the Kool aid, but I honestly don't know what to make of this team yet. The defensive line definitely looked better. But the offense still needs a real test. Miami has a new DC (Lance Guidry) that made Marshall's defense an elite unit in the Sun Belt. He held Notre Dame to three touchdowns last year (the OC for ND was Tommy Rees, who is now Nick Saban's OC). And the most points Marshall allowed all season long in regulation was 28 points.

Of course, this is year one for Guidry. He probably hasn't had enough time to properly install his scheme yet. But his defense did look impressive against the Miami Redhawks. I think we win, but it won't be as comfortable of a win as many of y'all predict. This may very well be a 28-21 or 24-17 type of victory.

Also important to note is that Miami's new OC is a Dana Holgerson disciple. Last year, he had a top 10 passing offense at Houston. Of course, pass defense was our strength last year (#1 in the country), so our secondary will probably be as big of a test to their OC as their DC will be for Petrino. What will probably put us over the top is the fact that DJ Durkin is the only coordinator in this game that has more than one year of experience with his unit.