gangrene

Right...maybe we were too focused on this: North Texas (0-4) at UL-Lafayette (0-5)

Too bad you're not a coach for one of our opponents!!

I think I have to agree with much of that. I don't think we'll ever see what I'd consider a great defense on this team, with the type of offense we now have in place. I think eventually we'll be much like Texas Tech has been in that we'll play in a lot of high-scoring games and just hope that we have more points on the board than our opponents when the clock stops ticking. When we start winning games 42-35 and 52-45, I don't think we'll have as many people complaining about our defense (although it will be equally as bad, if not worse, in the statistical categories). That was really the main point I wanted to make by posting in this thread in the first place. I've seen SLC play many, many games in the same shoot-out fashion as Texas Tech (only SLC was much more successful at it) and I think that's what we'll eventually get here.

If it's so great, then why do you have add the caveat? I'd be extremely happy with that too...but that just ain't gonna happen. Taking those high school defensive scoring stats and comparing them to NCAA D-1A stats is like comparing Halle Berry to Roseanne Barr....I just meant for it to be a hypothetical. But, I guess it all really depends on how each of us define great. To me, a great defense would have to be in the top 25, if not the top 10. Sure, we've had some really good defenses in the past 10 years, but it's all relative...relative to the teams we were playing. While we consider holding OU to 37 points (in 2003) a good thing, most other schools would deem that a failure.

I just love how stats were a good were good indicator when they told the story you wanted them tell and helped you conclude that "for the most part, I think Mendoza's boys were getting the job done..." but when they tell a different story, you proclaim how they "don't capture the intangible "It" for winning." What the hell does that mean anyway?? And, then, when it really turns sour, you say: I'm not intentionally singling you out for your defense of Mendoza, but your defense is really weak. Our defense has some serious issues and history seems to indicate that SLC has been plagued with the same problems we're now experiencing throughout their 79-1 run. Aside from being "out-athleted" for Mendoza's chosen defensive schemes, I honestly don't know what the problem is. I thought maybe it was because Todge's offensive style puts us at a significant time of possession disadvantage our it was tiring out our defense more quickly...but I looked up TOP for this year and that's not really the case. We trailed only slightly to OU, SMU and Arkansas and actually lead against FAU. I heard one of the announcers in last night's South Carolina-Kentucky game say something about how tough it is to be Steve Spurrier's defensive coordinator. I assumed he meant because Spurrier's teams tend to play high scoring games too and that often puts the defense in a bad position. As many others have already stated, our defense wasn't even close to being this bad last year. And, returning 9 of 11 players from that team gave us hope that defense wouldn't be much of a problem this year. Were we ever wrong on that one!!

I'll give you that SLC's defense was much improved last year, but...let's dig a little deeper, shall we?? 2005 playoff scores: Southlake Carroll 48 Irving MacArthur 21 Southlake Carroll 45 Allen 15 Southlake Carroll 52 Abilene 0 Southlake Carroll 37 Plano 27 Southlake Carroll 46 Lufkin 28 Southlake Carroll 43 Katy 20 That's 18.5 points per game...take out that Abilene game and the defense was giving up 22.2 points per game. 2004 playoff scores: Southlake Carroll 48 Irving 13 Southlake Carroll 52 Allen 14 Southlake Carroll 35 Abilene 30 Southlake Carroll 28 Denton Ryan 7 Southlake Carroll 37 Lufkin 30 Southlake Carroll 27 Smithshon Valley 24 That's 19.6 points per game. 2003 playoff scores: Southlake Carroll 55 Irving MacArthur 14 Southlake Carroll 42 Arlington 7 Southlake Carroll 38 Lubbock Monterey 31 Southlake Carroll 29 Irving 16 Southlake Carroll 37 Allen 21 Katy 16 Southlake Carroll 15 That's 17.5 points per game. 2002 playoff scores: Southlake Carroll 35 Irving MacArthur 21 Southlake Carroll 19 Arlington Sam Houston 16 Southlake Carroll 41 Abilene Cooper 17 Southlake Carroll 52 Arlington 33 Southlake Carroll 33 Lufkin 30 Southlake Carroll 45 Smithson Valley 14 That's 22.3 points per game. Take the playoff scores for those four seasons (including the ONE shutout) and SLC's defense gave up an average of 19.5 points per game. In 13 of those 23 games they gave up 3 or more touchdowns. I think you will find several scores that back up my statement that "SL Carroll has typically given up a lot of points and just outscored their opponents." Ok, so maybe you're sitting there reading this and thinking...giving up 19.5 points per game doesn't sound so bad? (You're right too...I'd take that average over our 55 points per game this year every single time.) Well, just to put that in some perspective, giving up an average of 19.5 points per game in NCAA this year would rank us at #31, tied with Wyoming, in scoring defense. Now that's not bad...but it's far from great.

Why does this have to be a rebuilding year? Because we're North Texas. We have low expectations and should be damned for expecting to be better than 0-4 when we have an entirely new coaching staff and players that were not recruited for this system. As long as we're playing .500 ball by the 4th season under Todge, we shouldn't complain.

SL Carroll has typically given up a lot of points and just outscored their opponents.

Or DB...it's not like the ones we have are stopping anybody.

Right. Dr. Ridpath has done extensive research on the impact D-1 athletics have on academics, many of which have been published. At first, I thought the same thing...why would the author of the article cite a professor from Ohio University...then I remembered I had read one of his publications.

Mapologist???

So would us Meager bashers be known as Mashers??

Tommy Tuberville should be fired too. He starts a true freshman at kicker. The kid made not one, but two, game-winning 43-yard field goals to knock off the #4 Florida Gators in their house!

Yes, excellent point...so I guess we shouldn't panic if happen to find ourselves 1-5??

Those Vegas oddsmakers never cease to amaze me...the line on this game was Ark. State by...drum roll please..... 4 points That just serves as a personal reminder as to why I gave up gambling many years ago!

SMU 2007 marketing campaign + Arkansas' current disdain for their HC =

Perhaps you missed this two-page thread http://www.hogville.net/yabbse/index.php?topic=159621.0 in which many on that forum classify talk of hiring Dodge and several other "candidates" as having "LOW expectations and settling"??

Plumm, I think you totally missed my point. First of all, I was one of the first ones to call for Dickey's head...so I'm certainly not in this "handful that wanted DD ball another year or 2 or 3 years". In fact, I wasn't even aware such a group existed! I just think completely dismissing the next two or three years because we have a new coaching staff and non-athletic recruits (because that's basically what your saying about "DD's players") is selling these players short as well as the coaching staff. I think most on this board would agree that we could very easily be 2-1 right now instead of 0-3. Therefore, a logical conclusion would be that we have enough talented players to expect to win more than two games in Todge's first season. I know that Todge and staff don't expect to be 2-10 at the end of this season and I'm pretty sure they would take exception to being called "step-coaches" to the current players they didn't personally recruit. Oh, and one more thing...was it just a coincidence that Dickey started winning the same season we joined the SBC?? I think not. The league has obviously gotten much stronger in the last couple of years, but I still think App. State or several other top D-II programs could come in here and compete for the conference championship in their first season. Let's keep our eye on the Hilltoppers because they've looked pretty good so far this year. Let me ask you one last question...do you think OU, UT or any other top-tier football program would be willing to give a new coach a "free pass" for the first two or three seasons and not be upset if they went 2-10 in those first two years?? I know we're no where near the upper level of D-1 competition, but that doesn't mean that we shouldn't get upset and question decisions when we blow leads/lose games to teams like SMU and FAU. I would be very surprised if many would question Todge's hire even if we go 0-12 this season (Ron Mendoza maybe, but not Todge), but that doesn't mean we won't be disappointed with a winless record. I don't think one person expected to go undefeated this season but we do expect to win winnable games. To not expect such results and sit back and wait for that some day when "Todge's players" are in place is exactly the attitude that has left our program lagging at the rear of D-1A football.

FFR - Ok, I'll admit it - your "asinine" statement (as I put it) two days ago about Todge basically ordering DM to make the throw no matter what, turned out to be a pretty damn good assessment, based on the direct quotes from Todge in that article. I'm just a little shocked Todge would make that command in that situation and under those circumstances. There most definitely should have been a secondary option for DM to go to if the coverage was too tight...which it obviously was. So...I offer my apologies to you and to DM.

Thanks. I guess it's just the way that Graham handled the whole situation that left a bad taste in my mouth. He renegotiated his contract with Rice (who rewarded him for a successful first season by increasing his salary) and announced his dedication to Rice by stating that he was committed to the kids and the program. Then, the very next week, he took the Tulsa job...leaving Rice high and dry in January. And, several of his recruits followed him to Tulsa. I just thought it was a crappy way to handle the situation.

Plumm, I have a lot of respect for your undying loyalty to UNT and I can't help but admire your patience, but I sure as hell hope you're dead wrong about many of your timelines. "No real progress in Denton until Todd Dodge gets all his people in the fold?" Playing "step-coach"?? So, are you saying that we shouldn't expect to win more than two games a year until the 2010 season, when all of DD's recruits are finally gone? Or, does this Freshman class not count either because Todge and staff were forced to recruit within a greatly reduced timeframe? I'm tired of hearing about how these aren't Todge's players, therefore they shouldn't be expected to win. Sure, these players were recruited to run a different style of offense but they are, nonetheless, talented D-1A athletes. They may not be the caliber of athlete that we can expect to see in future classes, but the DD did have a mild reputation for recruiting athletes rather than positions. Our current players have talent and are more than capable of learning and executing new offensive/defensive schemes. Many may find these new schemes highlight their talents better than the run three yards into a pile of dust style better known as Dickeyball. To say that these players can’t perform in Todge’s system is, quite frankly, insulting to the players. Besides, it’s been proven a possibility in the very recent past when Todd Graham (that a-hole) took over a football program at Rice University that had a 14-game losing streak from 2004-05 and went 1-10 in 2005. Graham was hired in January 2006, and guided Rice to a 7-5 regular season record and took Rice to its first bowl game since 1961, before abandoning his team for Tulsa. And that was accomplished in his first season with players he did not recruit. Oh, and the best part is.....Rice was a running team prior to Graham’s arrival. I’d estimate Rice, under Ken Hatfield’s option offense, ran the ball about 90% of the time, while Graham incorporated a spread very similar to what we currently have. I’m sure Even Fentriss could better explain the similarities.

I love it...blunt and to the point. To answer your question, yes, I believe most of Meager's undesirable tendencies may have been more obvious had the defense simulated real game situations and played all out. But I doubt that would ever happen because we would all be very upset if our QB got hurt in practice. That would also have been obvious by viewing any game film of Meager from the last two years. It's very easy to let the defense get in your head once you've been hit really hard by a 6'4", 280 lbs DL or a charging LB...especially when you've already had a few concussions. Now, I'm not accusing DM of played scared. I'm just saying that I think he has a heightened awareness of being sacked. He's not able to focus on his receivers as much as he should because he's too concerned about the sack and throwing the INT.

Wow!! Really?? I never would have guessed that one either.

I'm having visions of our team wandering aimlessly up and down the field.

I think Quoner may have some competition in his excessive adoration of a Mean Green receiver.