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Question entering the season: Who will replace Lance Dunbar's production? As of Saturday, it's been replaced. Lance Dunbar, 2011: 269 rushes - 1,115 yard - 4.1 avg - 10 TD / 29 receptions - 350 yards - 12.1 avg - 2 TDs 298 total touches - 1,465 yards - 4.9 avg - 12 TDs The Hounds of Hell, 2012: Antoine Jimmerson: 92 rushes - 487 yards - 5.3 avg - 5 TDs / 8 receptions - 181 yards - 22.6 avg - 2 TDs 100 total touches - 668 yards - 6.6 avg - 7 TDs Brandin Byrd: 141 rushes - 555 yards - 3.9 avg - 2TDs / 9 receptions - 48 yards - 5.3 avg - 0 TDs 150 total touches - 603 yards - 4.0 avg - 2 TDs Jeremy Brown: 52 rushes - 285 yards - 5.5 avg - 2 TDs / 5 receptions - 62 yards - 7.8 avg - 0 TDs 57 total touches - 347 yards - 6.1 avg - 2 TDs Total: 285 rushes - 1,327 yards - 4.6 avg - 9 TDs / 22 receptions - 291 yards - 13.2 avg - 2 TDs 307 total touches - 1,618 yards - 5.3 avg - 11 TDs Whatever else is happening, the offensive line is doing its job, the runners are doing their job...and, they are doing it better statistically that Lance did it last year. They are on pace to rush for almost 2,000 yards (1,990) and about a little over 400 receiving (436), and contribute 16 or 17 TDs. Are we happy with this? I'm happy with it. Give the offensive line coach and running backs coach extensions and raises. Also, barring injury, criminal activity, or academic problems, Antoine Jimmerson could threaten Lance's rushing record. You figure he splits time with Byrd again next year, then is the main man in 2014 and 2015. After two seasons, Dunbar had 1,556 yards rushing. If Jimmerson stays on his current pace, he'll get about 730 yards this year. So, he'll need 820 or next year splitting time with Byrd to be where Dunbar was after two seasons. In 2014, when Jimmerson is the main man, Y'Barbo, Johnson, and Lemon will be seniors. Given the ability of this offensive line coach to get young players to do the job even as freshman, you figure whomever the other two starters are will be getting the job done. So, 2014 for Jimmerson junior season could be his best just like Lance's was with 1,553 rushing yards. Whatever happens, it should be exciting to watch Jimmerson and the offensive line that blocks for him over the next three seasons. Kudos all around to this group - players and coaches - leading the run game.

Thompson never looked Quinn or Fitzgerald's way either. They played one play less than Chancellor, but DT STILL refused to look their way!!!1!! BENCH HIM!! NO EXCUSES!!!!! GEORGE MARSHALL WAS OPEN!!!!! ... and who doesn't let Broderick McGrew return kicks in such a big game?!?!? EXCUSES!

WHEN WILL THIS TEAM FIND ITS WADE PHILLIPS? WHEN WILL RV THE OWNER FIRE RV THE COACH? CAN DAN TRADE FOR PITCHIN'? WILL SNAPE EVER FIND REDEMPTION FOR HIS HORRIBLE BETRAYAL OF DUMBLEDORE?

I guess meangreener and others will call this an excuse thread, but breaking down the current roster really shows how young we are at this time. DB: 18 on the roster: One Senior (Maduka) that rarely plays, Three Juniors (Trice, Jackson and Igboeli), Three Sophmores (Lee, Marshall and Warner) and 11 Freshmen with 1, Whitfield, a redshirt. DE: 9 on the roster. One Senior in K.C. Obi, Two Juniors in McCoy and Bellazin, Two Sophmores in Mason and Lincoln (been playing DT), and 4 Freshmen with 1, Orr, a redshirt. DT: 7 on the roster. One Senior in Cantly, Two Juniors in Boutwell and Abbe, One Sophmore in walk-on Astorga and 3 Freshmen. LB: 13 on the roster. One Senior in Phillips, Three Juniors including Orr and Wright, Three Sophmores in Akunne, Stojkovic, and Dunham (DS), and 6 Freshmen with 2 redshirts in Polk and Washington. OL: 16 on the roster. Three Seniors in Fortenberry, Feeley and Summerfield, One Junior in Anyiam, Five Sophmores in Y'Barbo, Johnson, Lemon, Thompson and C. Feldt, and 7 Freshmen with Ellard and Shaw as RFr. ST: Atterberry a Senior and Olen a Junior. Both have Freshmen backups. QB: 5 on the roster. One Senior in Dodson, One RJr. in Thompson, one Junior in Osborn, one Sophmore in McNulty and one Freshman in Gill RB: 9 on the roster. One Senior in Brown, Four Juniors in Byrd, Monroe, Pegram (current rs/transfer) and Wilhite, One Soph. in Sashington and 3 Freshmen in Jarvis and Lewis with Jimmerson as a redshirt. TE: 9 on the roster. Four Seniors in Prior (RS and will return), Power, Brown and Burks, One Junior in Miller, One Sophmore in Smith and 3 Freshmen in Lynn, Smith and Jones who is a redshirt. WR: 15 on the roster. Two Seniors in Bynes (RS) and Delgado, Five Juniors in Chancellor, Caldwell, Pleasant, Smith and Terrell (current RS/transfer), Three Sophmores in Teagarden, Chelf (current RS/transfer) and Hubbard and 5 Freshmen in Harris, Lancaster (rs), Rivera, Schrapps (rs) and a RFr. in Sampson. We are extremely young with the meat of the team returning. The biggest pieces to replace are Atterbury, Phillips and Power (blocking), but this really points out how young this team is, and that the future is bright. I know loses like the one to MTSU is tough, but there is alot to be excited about. Patience is a virtue.

Yeah, we can't make a quick turnaround like ULM, WKU, Kent State, ULL, Arkansas State, Ohio...the list goes on and on...

I don't think this is rocket science. We are exposed to teams that can pass the ball because we have a young secondary and no pass rush. We are fairy well coached and when we face 1 dimensional teams, we can do OK (K State, LSU, ULL). When we face teams that are effective passing teams (Houston, MTSU, etc), we will struggle defensively. Alot also hinges on us being able to effectively run the ball and control the game. If we can't run and move the ball, we risk further exposing our defense. I usually laugh out loud when I see those on hear telling everyone that they don't except losing and they demand winning --- and they helpfully point out to us that if we actually understand why we struggle and at least look for some of the positives signs, that we are accepting losing and we are part of the problem. News flash, just because you demand winning doesn't suddenly turn this team into a more talented athletic team than they actually are. I am very confident and encouraged with what McCarney has done and more importantly how he has done it. No matter what happens in the next 2-3 years, the program will be in a much better place than when Dan arrived and on an upward trend. I would rather build a solid base like he is doing than be a flash in the pan - someone list out for me the teams that went from 2-10 to a winning record in two years and kept on winning for THE NEXT 6 YEARS.

I'll be making the trip down from Arkansas this weekend and was hoping to get some advice from y'all regarding best bars, etc to pregame before kickoff on Saturday. Also, where do you suggest parking for the game? I look forward to seeing a game in your impressive new stadium. Thanks again!

We are a middle of the pack Sunbelt team at best. We are a little above FAU,FIU,and USA,and on par with ULL and Troy. We certainly are not as good as MTSU,W.K.,La.Monroe, and probably A.State. It would appear we will be 3&5 in conference,which would put us where we were picked preseason,7th.W.K. and La. Monroe did not build their programs over night, and neither will we.The new coach at A-State inherited a good team from Freeze, who went on to Old Miss. Compare that to what Dodge left Mac. Our new stadium did not give us a recruiting advantage, but did level the playing field. We need to look past our last 2 years in the Belt,and first 2 years in CUSA,which probably won't be much better. This is a 5 year project. While we might not like it, we need to accept it,support the program, and if success comes sooner so much the better.Just an old man's opinion, class of 66'.

I can't buy the young excuse On this game MTSU had 7 starters who were freshman or sophomores , as did we. Both teams started 15 junior or senior players * * this isn't counting PK/P I get what you are saying about playing on the road and having to learn how to win important games for young teams I didn't expect to beat MTSU , but also didn't expect us to look like a Todd Dodge team out there. I think that's what is most frustrating. We got blown out by a middle of the pack Sunbelt team who was without 2 of their star players

Faithless sinners!

I'm not sure of the point of this post... What do we gain from this?

I'm so sick and tired of the DT apologists. DT has a mediocre arm, no accuracy (that launch-in-the-Wing-Zone TD throw he made was possibly the worst play I've seen a D1 QB make ever) and couldn't even stack up against Texas FREAKING Southern. It's not that we don't have "playmakers". It's that Thompson can't get the ball to our "playmakers". Brelan Chancellor needs 8 catches a game. He usually ended up with 3 to 4. Thompson just ignored him and if he did target him it was always 5 feet over his head. INEXCUSABLE. Players like Chancellor will fight for the ball. But you have to freaking give them more than a snowball's chance in hell.

Next week Arky state comes to town. We play pretty well at home at Apogee. 4-2 last season and 2-1 so far this year. We have a chance to win. Obviously we have to play better than today but it's possible. Plus, we get to tailgate again. We could actually win back to back in the next 2 weeks with both of them being home games. Tonight's game really hurt all of us as fans, but not compared to how the team feels. I believe they will bounce back and play solid at home next Saturday. Hope to see you there ready to do our part to help get another win at Apogee.

Apparently the hundred students that showed up for last year's game didn't think it was very important either. After all they would have only witnessed what has been done five other times in NCAA history (Dunbar's records)

I'm confused too; I haven't studied NCAA regulations like some of you have. Does this mean that we are currently playing with about 3/4 of a potentially full roster (67 vs. 85)? Also on the academic issue...I admit I am glad for our level of strictness on issues relating to academics, drugs, etc. Though I would love to see a record like some of the big boys (Ohio State, USC, etc) usually have, I would absolutely not be okay with us playing fast and loose with the rules or turning a blind eye to violations, sacrificing our reputation in order to get more wins. One of the things I appreciate most about our athletic program is that we focus on citizenship and academics, rather than try to find loopholes. If the world were to judge us based on our number of wins, that's their choice, but I appreciate that, win or lose, we abide by honorable standards. I would rather play by the rules and lose than cheat and win (though winning fairly is a better proposition all around). I know this is only mildly relevant to filling our scholarships, but it certainly is a part of the issue.

@aztecskin I agree he doesn't go through progressions. I've seen him on numerous occasions stare the receiver down coming out the huddle. As I said earlier he would make better plays if short quick passes and letting the RB or WR make the yards after the catch. When you have a QB that's limited in his accuracy you need to get the ball out his hand quicker and into the hands of the skilled position players. If you think about it if we are not running the ball DT success have been dump passes and yards after the catch has padded both the QB and skilled position stats.

New thought: how freakin' awesome would it be to see some bars on Bonnie Brae?

UNT90, You want me to say that life beings at conception, or birth, or at age-18 yrs. None of that is sensical. Each is preceded by a living form of human. The egg cell prior to fertilization was living and human just as much as it was following ferlization. A more rational question, I thnk, is when does the living cell or cells become sacred. Meaning, when does it matter to your religion. Your answer to that question will be one I won't be able to argue with.

If he's throwing to a spot where no one is there, that's generally a receiver not running the right route. The QBs know where the WRs are supposed to be with any given play called. The other half, again, is the receiver getting there. Passing games are based on timing. I think Thompson has done a pretty good job of not turning the ball over more often, given that he really doesn't have a group of good receivers. Other than Chancellor, what are these guys? If they don't step up in the last four games, many will leave here just as guys who filled a jersey for a little bit of time. On the pro level, think of what Troy Aikman had to work with versus what Tony Romo has to work with. I mean, the QBs know they'll take more blame - and glory - than they're really due most of the time. With Thompson, once you drill down and look at what we have here and what theyre doing, he doesn't have, nor has he had, a bunch of go-to guys among the receivers.

It's hard for WR to make plays when the balls are not thrown in the vicinity to make catches. Balls are thrown late, thrown into double coverage when other WR are in single coverage and open. He accuracy, vision, and decisions is not good. To be honest I don't know what the other QB are like but we need to stop throwing downfield so much and go to a quick screen, slant, and bubble passes that is where he and the WR can be successful and that's what's worked. This takes a lot of bad decision making out of his hands and gives the opportunity to the WR or RB to get the yards after the catch.

awesome!! thanks

Drop-down menu (at the top of your screen next to your username) > Manage Ignore Pref > Type in the name of user you want to block

Those 68 teams are better than most Beat them and you can boast. Mean Green, We have all paid our dues I said Mean Green, no more need for the blues I said, Mean Green, make those tournament dreams. But you got to know this one thing. No team does it all by their self. I said, Mean Green, take your pride off the shelf, And just go there, Pack the Pit on game days. Even you can help in these ways. It’s fun to play in the N-C-A-A It’s fun to play in the N-C-A-A They’ll have 68 teams beginning the test Win out and you’re the best. It’s fun to play in the N-C-A-A It’s fun to play in the N-C-A-A Those 68 teams are better than most Beat them and you can boast Mean Green, where are you going to be I said, Mean Green there’s a game you should see At the Super Pit, it’s the place to be seen With so many other Mean Green Mean Green, come on out for the show I said, Mean Green, see how far we can go. I said Mean Green, We have reason to cheer And the reason will become clear It’s fun to play in the N-C-A-A It’s fun to play in the N-C-A-A They’ll have 68 teams beginning the test Win out and you’re the best. N-C-A-A…It’s fun to play in the N-C-A-A Mean Green, Mean Green, where are you going to be. Mean Green, Mean Green, there’s a game you should see. N-C-A-A…we want to play in the N-C-A-A Mean Green, Mean Green, come on out for the show. Mean Green, Mean Green, see how far we can go. Click here to view the article

You should create a youtube video of yourself signing this song while dressed-up like an eagle or something.

Brooks ?

According to Vito he had a Louisiana Tech offer as well that is not listed on rivals, ESPN, or 247 apparently. I would expect a few more offers for him before signing day. His good senior season aside I don't think he is ready to come in and take the reigns as a true freshman, especially with Berglund licking his chops at the opportunity to beat out an un-improving Derek Thompson. There are very few quarterbacks in the country that are capable of starting as a true freshman and they usually spend the summer before their senior year competing in the elite 11 and committing to a BCS contending school. Coach Mac, along with myself, believes in heavily utilizing redshirts and quarterback is one of the positions in most need of a redshirt their first year on campus. He is looking like a great pickup with a lot of potential but he will be best served redshirting next year.

OR we are just a young team. Young teams are VERY inconsistent, especially on the road. Take away the top 2 receivers, and what happened at MTSU really isn't that surprising. People get emotional after losses, especially when we have been losing for sO long. Understandable. But this team is about where we all thought it would be at the beginning of the season, when we were unemotional with our predictions.

Every fan for any other team in every other conference looks at a Sun Belt school as a win on their schedule. Sometimes that doesn't work out so well for them, but the menatlity is there. I have to say my brain's in the same place. Any time we lose a Sun Belt game it's incredibly disappointing. We should beat them all. Every time. Are we going to be a big time program some day, or not?

Jeff Bridges could wear a UNT shirt in Austin and thus be denied his rug.

Tony Mitchel will be good matchup. Would love to see him go 1 on 1 with Doug. Creighton has a lot of different ways to score, so to win you would just have to guard the inside and hope no threes go in. bluejayunderground.com is the best website to go to.

I like where this can go.

Oh I know! Those lefties are always calling people names, conservatives or people that make money off calling themselves would never do that... Godless: The Church of Liberalism by Ann Coulter (Ann Coulter calling liberals godless, cute) Michael Moore Is a Big Fat Stupid White Man by David T. Hardy (pretty self explanatory, kind of agree with it, but still name calling) Demonic: How the Liberal Mob Is Endangering America by Ann Coulter (yup liberals are demonic, are you effing kidding me?!) Then there's this, "I highly approve of Romney's decision to be kind and gentle to the retard," Coulter calling the President a "retard" “Socks is the White House cat. But did you know there is also a White House dog?” ~Rush Limbaugh, while holding up a photograph of 13-year-old Chelsea Clinton on his 1993 television show (That's right, he was picking on a 13 year old.) “What does it say about the college co-ed Susan Fluke [sic] who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex — what does that make her? It makes her a slut, right? It makes her a prostitute. She wants to be paid to have sex. She’s having so much sex she can’t afford the contraception. She wants you and me and the taxpayers to pay her to have sex.” ~Rush Limbaugh, referring to Sandra Fluke And that's just scratching the surface. So please quit with the, name calling is a liberal lefty thing, it's ridiculous, it's both sides. I'm not saying this is right for either side to do, I wish we could elevate the conversation and not take it to the lowest common denominator, but it's certainly not a one sided thing.

Not sure if this was worthy of its own thread.... but I'm sick of this. He just can't throw the damn ball with any consistent D1 level accuracy. It's killing us.

Best complaint thread ever?

See SEC Recently read a post that said we couldn't win w/ a run-first offense...BS They referenced Boise of course, b/c that's who we have to replicate b/c we are a mid-major...REALLY tired of this This offense...when the QB isn't killing us...is pretty balanced...see our wins I would argue that he teams that are really good are not your spread teams...they are your teams that pay defense and can run the ball See SEC Give Mac some freaking time...not 10 years, but more than a season and a half

I know our football team doesn't share you attitude, thank goodness. Sorry you will miss Homecoming.

With all the redshirt kids coming in next season.... WE'LL STILL BE ABLE TO BLAME CRAPPY LOSSES ON BEING YOUNG AND INEXPERIENCED!!!

Basketball starts?

Wow, we sure jump ship quickly. I wished turning a program around was quick, but many times it is painful. Lets look at the progress. We couldnt sniff 5 wins under Dodge. We won 5 last year. This year we are headed in the direction this year as well. Next year I believe you will see more tangible results. Hold on folks and remember the victories. They may be small victories along the way. The needle is pointed upward. GMG

I would be perfectectly ok if we made Mac the inspirational leader, student motivator, or whatever and let Chico run this team

If this is true then we are going to waste a lot of time and effort for nothing. No one that is a non auto-BCS program will ever have a chance to advance by playing smash mouth football. You never see Boise do it, or saw TCU do it. Ohio isn't doing it, neither is WKY or ULM. And I'm sick of the "With what he had to work with" excuse. We got our heads handed to us today by poor coaching, plain and simple. Middle got beat by McNeese at the start of the year. And went into this game without one of their stars. But instead of worrying about what they didnt have they put a game plan together that was better than ours, motivated their team better than ours and kicked the shit out of us. Rick

Too far.

Chico didn't seem clueless when he took over for Dodge with a whole team of his players.

You do realize this is Mac's offensive gameplan? Chico has never run an offense like this in his entire career

No Chancellor, no Delgado, poor tackling, Miller running a 4 yard pattern when we need 5, and a piss poor effort by our defense. Thompson isn't sharp, but there are many more issues than just him.

Perhaps the play calling is dull because they don't trust Thompson to throw the ball? We have no deep threat whatsoever and he can't seem to lob the ball consistently even to a receive who is 8 yards away. Have you considered this? The calls are created for the strengths and limitation of the QB.

I completely agree with your completely disagree. Trice is one our stars.

Completely disagree. Besides that one play, Trice is the only player showing life out there. You never know what you're gonna get with DT...

Middle Tennessee, coming in second and claiming championships since 2001.

I don't think the coaching staff has an idea of WHAT their QB situation is right now. Mac likes a running QB. Thompson and Osborn are not his ideal QB. I would bet Mac is tempted to give the job to McNulty.