You're being too nice.

It's been a while, so I forgive you for not remembering just how good Rourke is.

In non-P5 games this season + last:

Rourke (9): 39 PPG

CJ (5): 23 PPG

If you take away CJ's first game vs BG where he rushed for 3 TD - OU has averaged just 19 points a game. Nearly a THREE TD swing when Rourke is on the field.

It is pretty rare for one player to be worth a touchdown over his backup. When you have a potential NFL QB at a mid-major college then, yes, it is going to possibly be true. Last weeks output is a concern but the defenses CJ has faced are on average pretty good and most of us saw him as a capable backup until SDSU. I honestly think last week was just played conservatively. We were 12 of 15 passing for the whole game. Note that as the odds of Kurtis playing changes over the past three games, and also the Bowling Green game last year, the spread moves a point or two. If he were worth three touchdowns over Harris or Navarro any small tidbit on how he is doing would result it a dramatic move. I think going into Toledo last year it was seen as about a 6 or 7 point difference. We would not have been favored by much at all with Kurtis against Toledo. We would have been an underdog to them most of the year. How were we only a 3.5 point underdog with CJ if Rourke is seen as worth that much? I think after some not so great looking offensive outings this year by what SHOULD be one of the best G5 offenses that it is probably seen as 8 or 9 point difference. I totally standby what I said. It MIGHT be just a little more than that. Maybe. It isn't seen as 3 TDs by the oddsmakers and smart money. I can promise you that.

Even if Harris and Narraro were the worst backups in the MAC that still is almost certainly not 3 TDs difference. We are pretty lucky that they both stayed. I was a little surprised by that.

This up here all day. We settled for a field goal on the first drive but we were raring to go after that and would have won 28-10 or better.

But when you take away the rushing TD from one game... it *is*... LOL

Rourke = 39
CJ = 19

These are facts. Which part are you having trouble with?

I can't speak on hypotheticals and feelings, I can only present reality. When you return, let's discuss.

I'm not having trouble with that as a factual statement by itself. My statement is, and I am 100% certain that it is true even though I obviously can't prove it is that the Vegas line, which is what I have always been referring to, won't move by 20 points on a game if Kurtis goes down. It won't. It won't be anywhere close to that. Do you really think that we would have been a 17 point favorite against Toledo if Kurtis was 100%? Yes, I think do we would have been favored by a very small number with Kurtis at 100% as long as Finn was though of as less than 100% which he wasn't expected to be 100% going into that game. If both QBs were known to be 100% it would have been pretty even.

In the end what you have is a small data set. It is also done against different opponents and different gameplans on how long we try to possess the ball each drive. The oddmakers and smart money that drives a line isn't going to be persuaded on 3 TDs by an argument like you are making standing by itself. I don't know what else to say

Casey Thompson , the FAU QB, and our Kurtis Rourke may put on quite a show in Boca on Saturday evening. I think it comes down to our defense being able to keep us in this game.
At the minimum it presents an opportunity for our offense to get on the field and execute with all or most of our players.
I am going to personally take this one in down at Boca Saturday. Expecting a great effort and perhaps a great outcome.

My thoughts exactly . If we hold them under 38, I’ll donate $250 to the Bobcat Club.

He completed 8 passes in 10 attempts. I don’t think rust will be an issue.

Expect cramping issues tomorrow. High of 91 but still in the upper 80s with south FL humidity at game time. Stay hydrated, guys, and maybe get some salt pills from Michael Reghi. (A Reghi geezer moment from last week's game.) Little chance of rain but it is FL so there's always a chance of a pop-up that cause a lightning delay.

.@RussEisenstein's preview of our matchup against FAU tomorrow 😼#OUohyeah pic.twitter.com/9uashAMkeg

— Ohio Football (@OhioFootball) September 8, 2023

Salt pills are actually making a comeback in some athletic circles. Being a geezer myself, I can remember when the Peden locker rooms had salt pill dispensers. I ran track for AHS, and we used Peden for our practices.

Really looking forward to watching this one but I wonder if it will be delayed for a bit due to the weather? Maybe Russ will have an update in a little bit when the pregame starts? Looks like rain/possible thunderstorm right around game time.