By JOHN E. HOOVER Sports Columnist on Aug 31, 2013, at 6:23 PM Updated on 8/31 at 6:23 PM
GAME POINT
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Bill Blankenship’s demeanor on Friday was decidedly reserved.
Losing 34-7 in the season opener will do that to a man.
The University of Tulsa coach took a break from reviewing film with his coaching staff of Thursday night’s loss at Bowling Green to give almost 15 minutes to local media, and he sounded resolute that TU will bounce back.
His team’s performance, however, will likely stick as one of the most disappointing of his brief head coaching career so far.
“You know, this week, yes — and I’m not trying to be flip with that,” he said. “But you go back to, we were playing Houston with an opportunity at home and a full crowd in ’11 and that was about the first time that season that we didn’t show up and really play well. I felt like that was similar.”
That was Blankenship’s rookie season at the helm, when TU was kicked around by No. 1 Oklahoma (47-14), No. 7 Oklahoma State (59-33) and No. 4 Boise State (41-21) before winning seven games in a row. That set up a winner-take-all season-finale with No. 7-ranked Houston for the C-USA West crown, and the Golden Hurricane laid a 48-16 egg in front of a cranked up home crowd.
“That’s a similar feeling I have,” Blankenship said. “Obviously, Bowling Green, it’s there (in Ohio); it wasn’t a home game. But same type of deal. We really didn’t give our best at all.”
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