CaribbeanGreen

yeah, there was so much talk about him being one of the jewels of this class... really, really surprising so far. I wonder if he's just not what Dodge thought he was or if he's dinged up or what....

and who huffed that I pulled a quote "out of my arse to prove a point" regarding the OU players talking about what they expected from our defense before the game. Two posts later, someone ELSE posted the quote (that had been on the board about 10 times at that point).... not surprisingly, we never heard from ol' GB on that thread anymore. I suppose Daniel Meager may have tied him up and taken over his computer, though.

I agree on that last 4th down.. I was just about even with it, and I was shocked they'd gotten ANYTHING on that play. It DID feel like a backbreaker.

Let me start by saying it's great to be back in Texas, and I was as giddy as an intern at Vivid Video being able to park over across campus and stroll through the entire gameday scene back "home" to Fouts... I was getting sick of that two or three games a year crap. Video and radio are great, but gee whiz. Anyway, on to my good news and bad news, bad news first (as always): -- It felt like the momentum just sucked out of a big green balloon by the end of that game. A lot of frustrated, dejected people. I really hope we don't lose a lot of the "new" Dodge fans, but I fear we will until we turn things around. -- I know Meager is going to be the story, and he probably should be. The way I saw it, yeah, the interceptions were bad. They were momentum killers, they wiped out two scoring chances and were pretty awful. I can forgive a 3 INT game from a guy trying to make plays, but this has become a trend that this team isn't good enough to overcome yet. -- Meager holds the ball WAAAAY too long. Everyone in my section was going nuts by the 4th quarter -- there were several "THROW THE BALL!" screams. Never thought I'd hear THAT again.... even times when he made a throw, or scrambled for a short gain, it usually followed a LONG time back in the pocket. I don't think the OL was that bad tonight. The quarterback has to help them out. -- This offense seems essentially predicated on the quick five yard throw out to the WR. It almost looks like a WR screen on every play until you realize it's not. The problem is, by halftime FAU picked up on this, and started lighting up our WRs as soon as they touched the ball. I don't think it's so much we didn't adjust, but we couldn't throw the ball even moderately downfield for the most part. Jamario looked as good as he has in two years tonight, and Mosely showed a little, but we didn't use them very much. -- Building on that, I think I saw what GMG1999 and some others have said in the past about Meager's "empty numbers" tonight. I can't think of one time tonight when I said "wow, what a throw!" or really saw us get a play out of the QB position, short of some nice scrambles early. It really seemed like a ho hum plug-n-play system QB can put up good numbers in this system. Meager got a ton of stats from short, quick, 5 yard zips down the line of scrimmage to WRs who would then get some nice YAC and move the chains. When we tried to go downfield, our success rate was horrible. We didn't stretch the field at all, and by the 2nd half it was open season on our WRs on those short routes, and FAU was lighting us up. Basically, I'm not saying Meager's horrible, Vizza forever, etc., but I really think the positive numbers we're getting statistically are more the offense than the trigger man. -- Also, and I know this is dumb fan board stuff, it would be nice just once to see Meager show some fire, show ANYTHING. I know he's an even keel kind of guy, but do any of you feel like he's gonna lead us back to victory late? Like he's the kind of guy who refuses to let us lose? After things would go wrong, he'd just come sit down calmly and not talk to anyone until the next possession. To get me even more uneasy, at one point in the early 4th, I saw a player in the offense's faces, yelling and trying to get them fired up and back out there... it was Vizza, who wasn't even playing. -- Two blocked punts. Unacceptable at any level. -- Keystone Kops officiating at the end. -- Evyn Roman is going to get us killed on punt returns at some point. Too much diving on muffed balls, fielding on the bounce, etc. -- After a quick start, once FAU settled in and adjusted to us, they effectively beat us 30-3. So, while it feels like we were this close, I have this bad 30-3 feeling based on the last 2 1/2 quarters I saw. The good: -- Great scene out there tonight! The pre-game festivities looked great, atmosphere was good. -- Home unis look good. -- Student section was as full and INTO the game as I've seen in a while. Not a lot of folks left early either. -- Green Brigade sounded and looked great. Really, I was impressed by the whole game presentation. -- As I said earlier, J-Mo looked better than he has in a long time. Good to see a little running game... -- I know we gave up 30, but it's as good as the defense has played this season. They were much better, save the one long pass play at a horrible time. FAU has lit up everyone they've played this year except Okie State. The offense didn't do them any favors - neither did two punt blocks. We are pretty solid against the run. Had a great time. Tough loss. Don't really know where we are right now, but I guess that's why it's a work in progress.

Just might... I know I have some friends tailgating, so odds are that happens. But if not, and to let some folks I have meeting me know, is there a particular ticket booth for walkups?

Wish I could!!! Working late into the night tonight, but I'll be there as early as I can tomorrow... where's the best place to get a ticket on game day? Stadium box office on the alumni side? Ticket office?

Nationally showcased game. Out of conference opponent. Non-competitive is what the Aggies DO in this situation, we know that!!

Hey, I'll take Tech's record in a heartbeat... if that's where the Dan-Wagon gets us, I'll buy the conductor a beer....

Having just moved back to Texas, this is going to be the first NT game I've attended without having the ticket issue tied up WAY in advance... what would the best bet be at this point? Just getting there game day and going to the ticket booth on the alumni side? Lord knows I don't care where I sit, just that I'm in there. Just found out last minute I'd be able to go, and I'm looking forward to it....

I agree with you for the most part, but..... did you just go to the Seneca Wallace well?? That has to be a first around here, right?? Well played, my friend. Well played.

I haven't heard a lot of people claim SLC has superior talent to everyone else... did I miss that somewhere?? Most of the claims and opinions I've come across are more along the lines of being such an affluent community with a tradition of success and substantial interest in their football, SLC enjoys other advantages -- like a one high school system, where kids grow up playing in the same system learning the playbook from early junior high on. Where kids have better equipment, facilities, coaching, camps, clinics, support, tradition, financial backing, etc. than almost everyone they play at every level. They're a little machine. I've seen them physically outmanned a few times over the years, back to the 3A days in a hell of a game against Vernon. They've almost always won, with little exception... and yes, it's a lot easier to win at SLC than almost any other school in Texas... and yes, they have advantages over almost every other school in Texas. And no, that doesn't take away ONE BIT from anything TD or anyone else has accomplished there. It's nothing to be ashamed of or make excuses for. They've made it that way by being so damn good and caring so damn much for a long, long time.

Decent analysis. Hope the result is wrong, but I can't argue with it.

for the record, SouthernMustang, I think Mike Shula would be a coup for SMU if they could land him. Strong choice, that one.

are there any tickets avail that aren't GA on the student side?

what has??? not our offense, that's for sure... we had a lot of close losses (including Troy) over the last couple of years... defense (and a great punter) is about ALL we had....

wait... they have 300 yards passing in the first half... ... oh, sweet christ. The Big 10, btw, is freaking DISMAL.

South Florida IS BCS. Hawai'i. Go 'Bows. Colt Brennan's hair can win 3 games by itself.

This SMU offense did not score a TD against Texas Tech's suspect defense. Tonight, Tech gave up 31 to UTEP. My only concern with this crazy offense is this -- yes, it's exciting, but are we going to be Texas Tech/Hawaii/Wherever Hal Mumme is where the defense is forced onto the field forever, every game is a track meet, etc? This defense was supposed to be the CLEAR strength of the team. SMU has comparable talent to NT and an offense that scored SIX on us last year and didn't get in the end zone once against TTU. Tonight, talent wasn't the difference. We beat these guys 24-6 last year. We'll be seduced by the sexy numbers, but this hurts.

COACHING can really help in solving things at the half... four or five pre-snap penalties, sloppy tackling -- that's coaching there. This is a game we should be leading. We've had some drops, a fumble, some slightly errant passes (though Meager's been good overall), but the terrible discipline penalties and poor technique needs to get fixed. Second half should be a big improvement.

it was Lake Highlands.

worse still - A State should have won WITHOUT this call. They had the ball FOUR times inside the Texas 20 and didn't get a single point. The chances were there long before the onside kick. Doubt ASU is blaming the refs on this one... angry they didn't get one more chance, sure...

I distinctly remember them getting burned on the "all out" thing a second time, I believe on a short TD pass in the second quarter or something.... that's still one of the dumbest things I've ever seen in a football game. Next thing you know, SMU will snap the ball out of the back of the end zone with no punter on the field!! I mean, ha.. er... well... yeah.

I'd agree with most of what's been said here, on both sides. I don't think supporting a coaching staff and being positive about the future is mutually exclusive from criticizing play and asking questions. Frankly, with literally one famously outrageous, lovable exception, I didn't see ANYONE call for any heads or go off the deep end predicting a winless season or calling the TD experiment a failure. It's okay to hypothesize, it's okay to Monday morning quarterback, it's okay to ask questions. What else is the point of this board? We all want the best for this program, and by and large I think we're excited about the future. The problem comes when, as MGE said, some people consider the new regime beyond reproach and make irrational, immature attacks and arguments towards anyone who dares state a contrary view. I experienced this myself when referring to a quote from the week prior to last week's game when an OU player described exactly what Mendoza's defense was at SLC and how we did nothing but exactly what he said. It was quickly announced I pulled that quote out of my a** and essentially that it didn't exist. This, despite the fact that it was all over this board in days prior and not a few posts later in the same thread was reproduced again, making a particular poster look awfully foolish (he never returned to acknowledge his error). This is the kind of silliness that is as counterproductive as those jumping off the building after week one. Basically, this week is a huge game as far as this season goes. I stand by my opinion as far as week one goes -- either Quoner is right, and this was treated as a glorified practice, getting guys game experience, with winning being far from the main objective, OR, we gave up 350 passing yards and half a hundred points by halftime, all the while not adjusting one single thing on defense, which is just the way Mendoza's defense is and what we should expect vs. FAU as much as OU. Believing the latter represents a huge mountain to climb (barring an epic infusion of raw talent, and even then to an extent), so I choose to believe the former. Bottom line is, we'll all know a lot more after this week. We'll know even more after FAU. This week, we see Dodge coach against a winnable opponent, an opponent these same players beat by 18 last season, and an opponent who will be up for us big time. They know the importance of this game - on both sides. Bennett is effectively coaching for his job this week. Fair or not, Dodge is coaching to set the tone for the beginning of his tenure and I feel that, again, fair or not, the result of this game will point the "general" fan base strongly in one direction or another. I know a lot of folks on this board hate to hear it, but given the situation, the opponent, the timing, etc., it really wasn't the least bit important to try and win last week in the grand scheme of things. This week, it is. I believe we'll see that, and we'll see both teams fight like hell.

old habits die hard...

Bingo. This is why I love you and TTG. Couldn't have said it better... because if what you said WASN'T the case, we're all screwed.