"We're not playing together"

I think it's been mentioned many times in the media and on this blog.  There isn't that VY or Michael Huff to lead vocally or by example.  Mack isn't a Stoops type of coach (hate to say it) who can be the sole leader himself.  He has to depend on players to do it.  It harkens back to the days of Chris Simms where the team was "cliquey" and Mack couldn't fix it.  Some of those teams were uber-talented.  Major Applewhite did his best to change it because he was the fiery leader who everyone looked to.  

Plus this team lacks confidence after how last year ended and this one has started. That kills a team without great leadership.  Everyone is looking to someone else for the solution.  Sometimes it doesn't ever click - I hope some players can step up and help flip that switch.  After all that has happened, it will take a strong team to fight through it and be successful.

I believe the missing (or the biggest) component is leadership. I really hope that now we have Pittman, Kindle, and Melton back that leadership role will become apparent. I think Colt, Pittman, Sweed, and Nate Jones will develop as leaders for the offense. And then I really like Kindle to turn up the intensity for the defense. We may not really know until the K-State game. (Rice probably won't tell us much.)

You can't teach camaraderie.

Oh, yes you can. That's the first thing they start teaching you in the Army. If your battle buddy is ate up, you're all ate up. And they punish the team for one persons mistake.

Eventually, everybody helps each other out because they realize if the unit doesn't succeed, neither does the individual. If JC is saying that they're just not "playing together", the problem (theoretically) is simple.

The players dont trust or care enough about the man to the left and the man to the right of them. That's why our military units are so successful. We care for the guys we go in to fight with, and we learn how to do things right so that, individually, we can be a strong link in the chain. We learn how to work together, and live by the motto "Leave No Man Behind".

I think it would be a good idea for Mack to take a practice off, and send the team to a team building course. One of the fastest ways to improve a team's chemistry is force them into a situation where the only way they can succeed is by working together.