Texas Southern got humbled 69-7 by Rice on Saturday night in a game that wasn’t close from the outset.
While the outcome and margin weren’t usual in FBS-FCS matchups through the first two weeks of the regular season, Texas Southern head coach Cris Dishman suggested his team might have been distracted after its season-opening with over rival Prairie View in the Labor Day Classic.
When asked by a reporter what did the Tigers learn in defeat, Dishman had an interesting answer.
“We can’t allow the outside voices. I think our guys got pat on the back too many times. I guess he was doing too many interviews, going to this talk show, going to this podcast, telling them how great they are,” Dishman said after the game. “And it’s on me. It’s me as a coach. I got to learn to keep our guys focused and disciplined and not worry about interviews and everything like that. Right now, we got to shut everybody down, get back to the drawing board, and, grind.”
While it is unclear whether speaking to the media leading up to the game factored into the loss, coaches often will find ways to motivate their team or themselves. Dishman’s postgame comments might be that tactic or another failed excuse.
