The difference in it is there are no open weeks. After the first game on a Thursday, we play on nine straight Saturdays.

He's fast, but he's quicker than he is fast. He makes cuts that most people don't make. But at the same time a tough, durable kid for his size. He hits the holes, and we joke sometimes he doesn't break as many tackles as you would like. At the same time he's a threat to go all the way on every touch.

In a big game like that, you have to make big plays when you have your chances.

If Jared gets healthy, I would feel comfortable with any of them out there.

I knew it was going to be on national TV, so the buildup was pretty good. Obviously, I was pretty excited about how the players reacted to it. It was a moment you'll never forget.

It's the first time on national TV (ESPN2), and with them moving up to the Big East, they're trying to elevate their program to where we've been the past few years. It's one of those games nobody else in our league has.

I told my players in the locker room, though, that whatever happened today was not going to affect our goal this season, which to win the MAC championship. That goal is still in place. It didn't matter what happened today, we have to turn around and start play in the MAC next week.

They are similar to us in that they lost an early season game they thought they'd win. It's the same type of game for both of us. If you lose another game, you could be out of it.

This game had a lot of momentum changes. We had chances to grasp control early, but we let them hang in there, and they made some plays. We shot ourselves in the foot in the second half.

Even though I was here (as an assistant), any time there is a coaching change, sometimes it takes a little longer than you would like to.