LongJim

That's "Grandpa Urine" to you, pilgrim.

I can't speak to this, because many of you are much closer to the program, that's for sure. I certainly don't know why Fouts isn't packed every Saturday, particularly in a town like Denton, which let's face it, has limited entertainment opportunities in-town. I totally agree with this, and you're absolutely right. It was way past due. But WOULD it have happened without the recent success that UNT Football has enjoyed? Beats me. But I think it's fair to note though, that SMU and TCU have trouble draw-ring fans as well. SMU has been pathetic for a while, while TCU has had great seasons recently and still can get "only" 30-32K to show up at AC while going 10-1 and winning their conference. I don't think it's specific to UNT. All I can say to that is what John Madden frequently says: "Winning is a great deodorant." The MG failed in that regard this year--no question, but should UNT go this year's Texas Tech route and schedule 1AA teams to (hopefully) beat up on, or play an "anytime, anwhere" schedule that might draw more fans, but get our aces beat in the process? Would someone please quote more of these comments? The only one I can ever find is the "I work here EVERY day.." thing that's been beaten into the ground. If DD is alienating contributors or alumni, that's not a good thing, but this is beginning to smell like the Cardiff Giant. (Those of you with first-hand quotes, post them. I'm only saying this because I haven't heard this "negativity", but maybe I frequent the wrong haunts.) On the other hand, sometimes people like to whine about people not pumping enough sunshine. Again, I may be wrong, so correct me if so. Gently please. Is that known as fact? If so, what's the big surprise? You don't think that happens EVERY DAY in NCAA DI football? Bowdens? Shulas? Nepotism and favoritism is everywhere. This isn't the X-Files. Has all this just come out? Where was the outrage 4 years ago???? Ahh. UNT was winning. SHHH!! For the record: I don't disagree with your feelings, and I can understand them. I realize that you and others definitely have more "inside info" than a lot of us. I for one, am NOT content with the performance this year. UNT has definitely underachieved, however, IMO the OOC success will come as recruiting continues to improve. Now whether that will happen with "Devil Dickey" or not, who knows? I just know that it WON'T be overnight, and I'm not certain that firing DD isn't throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

damn with faint praise Compliment so feebly that it amounts to no compliment at all, or even implies condemnation. For example, The reviewer damned the singer with faint praise, admiring her dress but not mentioning her voice. This idea was already expressed in Roman times by Favorinus (c. a.d. 110) but the actual expression comes from Alexander Pope's Epistle to Doctor Arbuthnot (1733): “Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer, and, without sneering, teach the rest to sneer.”

We should have been more competitive w/Tulsa and La Tech., but they have better athletes at this point, and those were very losable games to THIS YEARS UNT team. To say that we're competitive with even a down-year KState right now is nuts. It seems to me that a lot of UNT fans still don't seem to grasp the fact that's been mentioned over and over and over--until we get more blue-chippers at MANY positions EVERY year for SEVERAL years--and keep getting them consistently--we will continue to struggle with big OOC games. If you want to blame DD for that, by all means go ahead. I'm not convinced that's true or fair. I personally believe that it is a slow, grueling, frustrating process that sometimes seems glacial. I will criticize DD and his staff for a few things: 1. His teams DO play very undisciplined football at times. 2. This team has been plagued by poor tackling this year. 3. I thought Meager was handcuffed and brought along too slowly--but that's a judgement thing. The bottom line is that UNT has to get bigger, stronger, and faster. I still subscribe to the belief that this team IS young, and will get better, but UNT is only just now beginning to semi-consistently recruit above the 1AA level. Sometimes this place reminds me of that scene in Frankenstein--I guess I just need to get my pitchfork and torch and join the march to "kill the monster".

I think it's hard to evaluate the leadership abilities of a redshirt freshman at this point, personally. But IMO there's no doubt that the offense needs to be built around the QB--whoever it is. I'm all for giving Meager every chance to succeed. 1 season as a freshman isn't sufficient.

QB.

One of the funniest posts I saw at another board was: Jim Tressell: "We're going to stack the line and make Young beat us with his arm." Vince Young: "Ok."

No.

Both brothers are cops. Sorry about the news.

Are you going to hold your breath until you turn blue?

This quote stood out to me: "To win in the <YOUR CONFERENCE HERE> Conference, we will need the right players with the right talents in the right positions like never before. It will take a better-than-ever recruiting effort to attract these players..."

And that's a great point and factor that many tend to overlook--a great defense makes up for a lot of offensive issues, and is probably the most important thing to build at UNT. Most football coaches rank the teams in order of importance as Defense/Kicking/Offense--in that order, BION. Nutshell. Question is: Along the way, do 'we' want a competitive team, but in a system designed to compete with 'lesser' talent? Or do 'we' want a more sound system and try to continue to upgrade the talent as we go along? (This isn't a leading question, I'm interested in what everyone thinks) Because face it: A slappy-happy pass-oriented offense--run with our current level of talent--will probably still get dismantled against BCS teams right now, IMO. Just wondering if 35-21 losses are preferable to 52-6? Absolutely agree. I'm curious about which direction people see as most sound long-term. Put me down as one who doesn't want to see UNT 'settle'--whichever direction that may be. PS: There was no "Slobber-knockin', snot-flyin' 7 yards and a cloud of dust" to pick.

That's very misleading. Charles is averaging 7.5 ypc. He's been injured for the past three games, and has about ~90 carries in 9 games. If he had carried the ball as many times as Missouri's Brad Smith, (or a typical Texas back) he'd probably be leading the nation in ypc. Texas is also running the ball by "committee", with 3-4 backs toting the rock, as they've been dinged up at RB. And that's where the athletic "freaks" like Smith, Young, McNeal are so dangerous. But the bottom line is that the offense *has* to be able to run the football--whether it's using the quarterback or not. Even Taurean Henderson has about 85 ypg! 1. Of course he would. 2. Please. Guess what? Conventional wisdom still applies. Ask Gene Chizik, Joe Paterno, or Pete Carroll. Or DD. No argument here, but my point is that the run is still formidable, and defenses have to be geared to stop it. And, for the good offensive teams, the run is still just as important as it was "yesterday"--no matter who's getting the yards. In Texas' case--malarkey. They're running by committee with several running backs and an alien QB. Young is B12 #3 in rushing ypg. TT's Henderson is #5. Charles is #6--again w/about 6 games of carries. Selvin Young, Henry Melton, Chris Ogbonnaya, Ramonce Taylor have all been getting carries for UT. Texas Tech is Texas Tech, but they're still ahead of *gasp* Nebraska in rushing offense. For the record: I'm not saying UNT should 'run at all costs'. I'd LOVE to see what DM can do when he gets not only his wheels under him, but a bit more development throwing the ball. I wouldn't be averse to seeing the MG run a spread option, but God save me from the run-and-shoot...

Ding-ding-ding...! We have a winner!

....

Props. Babb is a gutty player. Nice get-it-done drive late.

Heard Jub-Jub call Rick out on the radio out at Lake Tawakoni Sat. night as we listened to the game out there. Wondered what the hell was going on... OT, but there was a MG fan in downtown Wills Point, TX Saturday morning with a spiffy JC jersey coming out of Subway. Cool to see a MG fan out there!

Yeah, I already visited and replied to the "Hedgehog" post.

UNT owns ULaLa...

I do know that DCFM have had a ban at Ray Roberts for over a month. Heading out to Tawakoni tomorrow--burn ban out there too. Ah well. Kingsford's better than nothing, I guess.

Coffman has Ray-Pec at 7-0... 10-17-05: As for recruiting, he still is holding one offer from North Texas but is looking for more. "I think Kansas and Wisconsin will probably end up offering me before too long," Coffman said. "I went up to Wisconsin when they played Michigan at home. We gave them my tape and talked to the receivers coach. They're waiting on some bigger targets, so we'll see." With visits, Coffman plans on taking them to North Texas, Kansas, Wisconsin, Missouri, and possibly Purdue. "I'm thinking about recruiting a little bit, but I'm trying to talk to the schools that I kind of like," Coffman said. "I haven't narrowed it down or anything. I'm going to wait until after the season to get down to that." Coffman is rated as the No. 25 overall prospect in the state of Missouri.

Best. Party Band. Ever.

"Please O Lord: Let aTm keep Fran. Amen."

And you would be wrong. It all amounts to a hill of beans, because until the season is over, it's impossible to tell what's going to happen--which is why speculation like this is pointless until the games have been played.

I'll post this without comment-- As of 11/1: Record against top 10 opponents: 1. Texas 2-0 2. USC 1-0 2. UCLA 1-0 2. Alabama 1-0 5. Va Tech 0-0 Record against top 25 opponents: 1. Texas 3-0 1. USC 3-0 3. UCLA 2-0 3. Alabama 2-0 3. Va Tech 2-0 Record against opponents who are presently in the BCS top 25: 1. Texas 4-0 2. USC 2-0 3. UCLA 2-0 3. Va Tech 2-0 5. Alabama 1-0 Record against opponents who are presently in the BCS top 10: 1. Texas 1-0 2. USC 0-0 2. UCLA 0-0 2. Va Tech 0-0 2. Alabama 0-0 Aggregate record of opponents to date: 1. Texas (35-28) 2. Va Tech (33-29) 3. Alabama (27-31) 4. USC (27-35) 5. UCLA (26-37) Average margin of victory: 1. Texas 30.5 2. USC 29.3 3. Va Tech 27.6 4. Alabama 16.0 5. UCLA 14.4 Total offense (I-A ranking): 1. USC 6. Texas 26. UCLA 44. Va Tech 47. Alabama Scoring offense (I-A ranking): 1. USC 3. Texas 5. UCLA 12. Va Tech 70. Alabama Total defense (I-A ranking): 2. Va Tech 3. Alabama 7. Texas 35. USC 88. UCLA Total scoring defense (I-A ranking): 1. Va Tech 2. Alabama 12. Texas 33. USC 75. UCLA Aggregation of previous four I-A rankings: 28. Texas 59. Va Tech 70. USC 122. Alabama 194. UCLA