gangrene

Hey EagleChick...I'm frusturated too!!! We're lightyears behind on the ATM/debit card front but you've got to admit the prices are great. Drinks at UT are $3-4, nachos $5-6 and hotdogs were at least $3. My wife and I spent $30 on concessions in Austin and had almost the same things for less than $10 at UNT. I agree we could use debit card purchases at Fouts, but what price would the consumer have to pay for this "luxury"?? The bathrooms were quite muggy but I think I lost about 5 pounds each time I had to go. And, if it ever gets cold, you'll appreciate the warmth the lack of proper ventilation provides.

Kenny Cattouse had 49 total rushing yards (in 4 games) prior to his 109 tonight against our stingy Mean Green defense. Anthony Jones had 51 total rushing yards (in 2 games) prior to rushing for 79 yards tonight. Sean Dawkins had 80 yards in his 4 previous games this season before his 62 tonight. His previous high game was 46 against South Carolina. Ok...I'll admit this last one is pressing the issue a little but...Carl Meadows, the QB, had "-" (as in negative/minus) 109 rushing yards prior to tonight. He managed a measley 2 rushing yards against UNT. This defense could make an instant Heisman, or at least a Doak Walker, candidate out of the right running back. When is the LSU game???

Makes sense...it was impossible for me to see all of that from the NE corner of the endzone (we got there pretty late due to work/traffic). Still, I don't understand why we're attempting timing patterns with an inexperienced QB for anything other than a fly, post or out route. Meager seems to have tunnel vision and doesn't see the field well. He has to recognize if his #1 receiver gets held up and check off to the 2nd or 3rd guy or simply throw it away, rather throw an interception.

In the words of Lee Corso..."Not so fast my friend!" I'm not overly optimistic about it but I certainly wasn't as impressed with Troy as I was with MUTS. I think MUTS beats Troy and Troy possibly loses one other SBC game. If we can get our sh*t together we've still got a good chance to win the conference. I can count about 8 different opportunities that would have given us a win tonight.

The thing that really got me was going to the exact same 3rd and long pass play exactly three plays later on...3rd and long. That play was so obvious and beautifully telegraphed by our QB that even a 5 year old flag football player could have seen that one coming. Troy's DB jumped the route and we were very lucky that that interception wasn't returned for a touchdown.

Well, this was my first chance to see Meager in person. While his pass to Brock Stickler was right on target (too bad he couldn't catch it), I certainly don't want to hear any more of this talk about how Meager is improving because he had a few passes dropped. For every dropped pass he threw 3-4 passes behind the receivers. It's no wonder they drop them...they're probably so surprised that they actually have a chance to catch a pass without having to reach backwards. And who in the hell was that last pick intended for?? I saw at least three white jerseys and zero green within 15 yards of that pass. Last week during the coach's show, DD said that he would continue to utilize Phillips...what happened to make him change his mind?? Meager looked good on the last drive, but that was too little, too late and his accuracy is simply atrocious...especially when he rolls out of the pocket. How many out routes did he bounce off the turf 5 yards in front of the receiver??

I think there's more to it than simply the O-line. Don't get me wrong, I think the O-line needs significant improvement, but I also think our RBs aren't getting enough carries to find their rhythm. Last year it was not at all uncommon for JT to have 12 carries for something like 40 yards before he would break one off for 70+. JT sort of feels out the opposing defenses for their weaknesses, particularly in the speed category, and then hits a hole and he's gone. PC is the same way, except he prefers to wear defenses down like a battering ram by pounding the ball down their throats until defenses get tired and start missing more tackles. I know no one will like what I'm suggesting, but our two back, change-of-pace backfield isn't working and I think we'd be better off picking one and letting them take 90-95% of the plays.

It's not hard to stop the run when you put 9 in the box and don't have to fear the passing game (see UNT's 2005 offensive production). Troy posed absolutely no passing threat...especially in the 3rd quarter (I don't recall Troy attempting a single pass), yet we still managed to give up 283 rushing yards. And that personal foul by TJ was clearly after the whistle. The ref could have kept the flag in his pocket but no one could (or did) argue the call. That penalty really hurt us at a crucial time in the game. Troy gave us many opportunities to keep our streak alive yet we squandered each and every one of them. But, because we are in the worst conference in D-1, it's not over yet. Troy was not impressive and they will lose one or two SBC games. If we can figure out how to play as a team and cut down on the penalties and turnovers we can still win the SBC. While I saw a lot of negatives I did see some positive things tonight.

DD's press conferences are hard to listen to...I think he blew my speakers out when he was clearing his throat!!

I remember a thread prior to this season discussing the lack of a radio presence in the Houston area. In order to benefit our recruiting and our Houston alumns, some gmg'ers talked about getting the funds together to purchase the air time on a Houston station. I'm just curious...is that what happened or did the MGRN do this on their own?? We need to get even more expansion of the MGRN throughout the state of Texas. Houston is a hot recruiting bed but so are East and West Texas. The advertising revenue alone should be enough to generate the necessary fees to secure additional radio station for Mean Green broadcasts.

Thanks!

Has the coach's show been uploaded yet?

I seriously doubt that you have to worry about that. I can just hear DD and RF discussing the game plan, "Well stebo over at gmg thinks we should throw the ball on 2nd and short and the majority think a reverse from our own goal line would pick up a minimum of 20 yards..." or "the gmg QB poll says we should start Jonathan Ieans, so let's give the kid a shot."

I wasn't aware that the show was broadcast on the radio. Is it on the MGRN? I went to the website to check but it didn't mention anything about the coach's show.

I haven't heard anything at all. It's great to know that at least some promotions are occurring but it's too bad we can't attempt to tap the DFW metroplex. What are these Denton businesses doing with the tickets??

By us "capitalizing on their weakness" you are implying that we may manage to maneuver our way into field goal range right? Surely you can't be suggesting that we have a chance in hell of competing with LSU? Yes, it was a GREAT game...likely an ESPN "instant classic".

An excerpt from a recent DRC article states "North Texas is to receive a $500,000 guarantee from LSU for playing the game. UNT's athletic budget for the fiscal year ending today is $12.2 million." http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/...ef.bb30223.html That $12.2 million is an increase from $7.4 million in 2000-01 according to another DRC article from 9/8/05. That particular article was recently posted by "MeanGreen 61" so I won't repost it. Now am I to believe that all $5 million went to the new athletics facility or has the cost of travel increased that much in 5 years? The coaches sure as hell aren't seeing any drastic pay increases. According to the Board of Regents Order from 2003, Whereas, it is the desire of the Board of Regents to use the Unspent and Unencumbered Proceeds for eligible costs, as permitted in the Fourth Supplement, toward the construction of the “Shell” phase of an Athletic Facility, and Whereas,, the total cost of the project is estimated to be $6,800,000, with the initial “Shell” phase of the project costing approximately $4,300,000 and the final “Finish-Out” phase of the project costing approximately $2,500,000

Can someone who is in the know (or at least thinks he/she is) explain just where the money goes?? Where has our NO Bowl payout ($750K) and "ass-whipping" money gone the last four years? The athletic department insisted on making up the LSU game because of the $500K payout or else concessions would have been necessary to recoup the funds. I don't doubt that statement but where exactly is it going?? How much money did we waste developing those new logos? How much of the money generated by football goes toward the other sports? What other ways can we generate income without asking the alumni to ante up $1,000-2,500 every year?

We've got more excuses than any program in the country. I've heard we're losing because of inexperience, lack of donations, poor coaching, poor facilities...the list goes on and on.

I say we let DD be the head coach for our SBC games but hire someone else to coach the OOC games and make them split the salary!!

Nope, I just wanted to beat them THIS time...when we were favored and played them at our stadium and were SUPPOSED to win. Hell, I wouldn't even be so upset if it would have been a close loss. But it wasn't!! We got our butts kicked at home by a team that (arguably) has less talent than us. We were outcoached and outplayed. It has nothing to do with money or alumni support. If you have better talent, better coaching and home-field advantage you're supposed to win the game.

I agree with most of what you posted, but I do believe that we could get another coach in here. Whether it be a former high profile coach trying to resurrect his career (Mike Price, Frank Solich Rick Neuheissel, etc) or a D-II coach or someone like Todd Dodge trying to take the next step. Whatever the situation may be, I don't believe that UNT is anyone's "dream job" and any coach that would replace DD would only be temporary until he could find a better gig. That's basically how Matt Simon used UNT. Even the great Hayden Fry fits the scenario outlined above. All those in favor of firing DD need to decide if the uncertainty and instability are worth the risk. With DD we know we're going to lose our OOC games, but win the SBC...would we have that same outlook every year with a different coach every couple of years? Maybe.

Are Tulsa and La Tech (and SMU next year) what you consider to be "body bag" games? If we're going to stick with that philosophy why don't we continue to schedule all OOC games on the road against Top 40 teams (for the large payout)? Then no one will expect us to win any of them. People generally don't pay for a shitty product, no matter what their affiliation may be.

I used to think that DD was great at utilizing the personnel he had. Now I realize that he's going to run the same offense no matter what the personnel may indicate. We probably have the most conservative offense in the NCAA and defenses are never going to respect a one-dimensional offense, especially when most are bigger and stronger than we are anyway.

Man, I am really getting tired of everyone saying that we shouldn't be alarmed because we get our ass throttled every week. That it's acceptable because we're young and inexperienced. K-State returned 5 starters on offense (only one on the O-line yet their RB is leading the nation in rushing yds per game) and 6 on defense. Is there really that much disparity between K-States players and ours?? FIU didn't get beat 54-0...they only lost to K-State 35-21. Marshall only returned TWO offensive starters (their LT and RT) and 3 on defense. Sure they just lost to UCF but they only lost to K-State by 2 points. And guess what?? That was their second game of the season. Tulsa returned 5 offensive and 5 defensive starters. They have a new QB as well. Let's not forget we were favored to beat Tulsa by 6, not lose to them by 52. TCU only returned 4 offensive starters (5 on defense) and beat OU in their first game. They lost to SMU the next week, but a back-up QB came in to lead them to a come-from-behind victory over BYU this week. Arkansas State only returned 4 offensive starters but manage to put up 66 points in their 4th game. Anyone here think we can manage that in our 4th game?? How about when we play the same team that ASU did it to...FIU?? The same FIU team that only lost by 14 to K-State. For whatever reason, our coaching staff never has our team prepared to play in OOC games. Take last year for example, we lost at home to Florida Atlantic. Will the same be true of our La Tech game this year and SMU next year. My magic 8 ball says "all indications are yes".