TheTastyGreek

And if there's two, it's DeLoach and Leftwich.

From where I was sitting, Dodge called off the dogs before halftime. So at least we won the "let's quit trying to coach" race! MORAL VICTORY!!

Here's a fun stat for everyone... I don't think it's unfair to say that the pride of the Sun Belt when it comes to OOC games is Troy. "Why can't we win 'em like Troy does?" How many times did we hear that question during Dickey's last two years? Against BCS opponents, Dickey finished his tenure with a record of 2-23. One win at home (I believe it was the only BCS team to play us at Fouts in his entire tenure), one win on the road against Tech. Five of those BCS losses came before Dickey had the chance to bring a single recruit of his own to campus. That's not very good. I only wish he could have been more like BCS slayer Larry Blakeney at Troy. Since Troy went to D-1A in 2001 (years after Blakeney arrived, meaning that he had his own players, his own system and coaches in place, etc. when this tally starts), Troy has a total record vs. BCS opponents of... 3-24. Two of those wins came at home, only one (against Mississippi State) came on the road. When it comes to taking on the BCS big boys, our coach was one home game behind the man everyone perceives as the greatest giant killer in the Sun Belt. Fun times.

At this point in his tenure, the much maligned Darrell Dickey had 4 wins, including a road victory over Texas Tech. Dickey would also pick up his 5th win in the next game, so Dodge has to beat FIU just to keep pace. None of those Dickey wins came over provisional D-1AA teams, either. He also had only one recruiting class under his belt, thanks to his date-of-hire and the manner in which Simon was let go. I didn't intend to bring this up today, but since it's Dickey-kicking time, I'd like to put the facts on the table.

I did both. So did Adler and Emmitt, and I'm not sure who else. I don't say that with pride, just stating the facts.

You know what's even sweeter than suffering and then winning later? Just winning. Now. You know what sucks way, way worse than suffering and winning later? Suffering now and continuing to suck into the future. Just saying.

Something for Flyer or anyone else who is on campus to watchdog this process to remember: According to the rate card I received from them earlier this year, the Daily charges students, non-profits, and campus organizations $5 per column inch to advertise. For inserts (loose pages bundled inside the paper), the minimum cost is $600 for 10,000. A full page ad in the Daily running for one day is $630 (126 column inches at $5 per column inch). A half page ad is $315 for one day. If a full page ad runs for more than a day, that's more than the permissible $1000 limit.

Don't forget about our very own gruu.

Can I be obsessed with winning Time of Possession instead?

Against #18 Oregon, Utah State scored 24 points. This happened the same day we scored 26 points against an unranked Tulsa team. They scored more points against #22 Utah than we did against an unranked K-State team that just lost this weekend to Louisville. They put up 580 yards of offense against Idaho. That's almost 250 more yards than Todd Dodge managed to post against an even more woeful Florida International team (EDIT: Forgot to identify that this was last year's FIU game). Will Utah State manage to score more than 3 points against BYU? Will they crack that elusive 200 yards of total offense barrier? Because we didn't manage to do it against LSU. BYU is a top 10 team, too... And I'll bet that USU manages a better showing against their top 10 opponent than we did. And as much as people might want to slag on Utah State for ONLY beating Idaho (by 4 scores)... Who the hell have we beaten again?

I am very, very interested to see how we do against Florida International. I'm very glad they're our first conference game, not that I think they're a guaranteed win (at least, not until Dodge beats them for the first time), but because they are trying to climb up from the same spot in the rankings that we are. If I knew how to start a poll, I'd ask this question: How many people think we'll put up 580 yards or more of total offense against FIU? It'll be a good meterstick for where our team and our offense is.

Is this on TV somewhere and I'm missing it?

DeLoach and Leftwich pretty much get a complete pass from me. Welcome to the board, man.

The general consensus is that people would love to have a team. BUT, two big drawbacks are the Title IX scholarship matching that would be necessary to stay in compliance with the NCAA. Also, Baseball is not a revenue sport, even at some traditional winning programs. Locally, it is pretty much a guaranteed money loser. We just can't afford to add another deficit operating team to the books (two when you even things out with a Women's team of some sort) given the current financial situation.

Here's a fun hypothetical question for you... If we're using 19 generators per game to power our stadium... And it's a serious expense that's hurting our budget... Why do we schedule our home games for 6 p.m.? Wouldn't scheduling for 1 or 2 p.m., thus ensuring that games end while the sun is still up, dramatically reduce our power needs?

Agreed. That's just sauerkraut, knackwurst, and robust red cabbage at work. They make a boy grow up strong and tall.

We would totally OWN the Pioneer League.

Still though... If you ignore all the coverage of UNT that was in the Dallas Morning News... THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO COVERAGE OF UNT IN THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS!! This is totally outrageous. Also, if you throw away the front section of the newspaper, they didn't cover this hurricane story at all, either! What sort of operation are they running?!?!

DeLoach spent one year working Special Teams at UCLA, his last season there before coming home.

It was a 43 yarder, actually. And it was raining and sloppy. So much so that when they tried a much shorter field goal later, the snap was bobbled. And that aborted field goal was set up by a fumbled shotgun snap mishandled by the Michigan State QB. You are 100% right that FAU is there playing to win. Even though their first three series haven't been that productive in terms of points, I expect they'll still keep trying to win.

Looking forward to Basketball season? When is the "Fire Johnny Jones" campaign going to start this year?

I'm not expecting them to be a walk... But we should beat UTA at home. We should have done it 2 years ago, but let's not get into that embarrassment again. NMSU and SH State won't be walkovers or anything, but I honestly do expect this team to be capable of winning those games. I don't think they're in the bag, but my personal expectation is a win against both.

This is the critical distinction. There were a few moments early where I thought that a play here or there would have allowed us to potentially KEEP PACE with Tulsa... But looking back with the knowledge of how thoroughly they dominated us on both sides of the ball from start to finish, there is no point at which I feel that a play here or there would have affected the ultimate outcome. The fumbled kick, the Charlie Brown forced fumble that wasn't... Those sorts of plays might have kept things closer longer, but I don't think they would have changed the outcome.

Every single home OOC game should be an expected win. Not sure what the road slate is like outside of Oklahoma State, but if we can get into conference again with just 2 or 3 losses... It could give our new frontcourt and Ben Bell-less backcourt a chance to gel and get some good confidence. I wish there were a few more inspiring games on that schedule, but considering the early season transition, I'll settle for what will hopefully be easy wins.

One last thing: Dodge says he started coasting after OUR third possession. Take a look at the drive summary: NT 1: 3 plays, 8 yards, Punt. Score: 0-0 KS 1: 1 play, 4 yards, Touchdown. Score: 7-0 NT 2: 3 plays, 9 yards, Punt. Score: 7-0 KS 2: 1 play, 16 yards, Fumble (recovered by NT) Score: 7-0 NT 3: 3 plays, 2 yards, Punt. Score: 7-0 This is the point where Dodge was worried about the game getting "crazy out of hand". At 8:18 left in the first quarter, down by 7 points. If you include K-State's next drive, the score is 14-0 with 2:11 left in the first quarter when North Texas starts the 4th offensive drive of the game. This is the latest possible point from which Todd Dodge's quote can apply to being terrified of the game getting "crazy out of hand" after 3 possessions. -------------- Since Quoner already brought it up... Let's compare to Texas A&M vs. Arkansas State and the drive summary from that game. After both teams had completed 3 drives, the score was... 14 to 3 in favor of Texas A&M. And the only reason ASU wasn't down by 14 is because Texas A&M missed a 32 yard field goal. So basically... If Steve Roberts played Dodgeball and went conservative after going down by 2 TDs on the road against a Big 12 team, Texas A&M is 1-0 under Mike Sherman. Discuss...