One thing that we couldn't do was let them establish a ground game, and they did that. Once they did that, they had a lot of things going for them.

That one was tough on us. Once that pitch gets executed, you hope to have the chance for a big play. But it didn't and it got us in a big hole.

It's important to communicate with the big, big donors, but also with the average fan who doesn't have the ability to donate heavily. They're going to be e-mailing that athletic director, too, and probably the head coach. There are a lot of expectations, but that's the name of the game.

It's tough to come out of non-conference play with any confidence. We need to be a little realistic about what we're attempting to accomplish in these games. You want to create exposure, but winning will also do that. It's tough to win when you're coming in as 20- or 30-point underdogs each week.

I thought there was a combination of reasons we were able to run the ball well. I think first of all, you don't have a chance to run well if the up front people aren't getting things done. I thought they had a good day as far as blocking. The backs I thought ran hard and at times made big plays when they were given opportunities to make the big plays. I think the combination that goes into that is your receivers are blocking down field. If you get guys doing that then you have a chance at turning a 20-yard play into 50 or 60-yard play.

It will be important for us to run the ball well. We need to make sure that what we're doing offensively matches who we are, and that means, to a degree, running the football.