LongJim

Those numbers don't tell the whole story, and neither do these below. I'm posting them to illustrate how #'s can show anything you want: Mack Brown's Big 12 Conf. Record Stats: 2001-2004 # Games: 32 Games decided by 4 points or less or LOSSES: 11 He should be fired immediately!!

That's usually my feeling.

LOL! Not the first game to watch, no. I'm sure the coaches watched some film and saw some matchups they wanted to try to exploit. Conversely, I think they also saw some matchups against people like Tulsa, and KState and saw some matchups they wanted to avoid. I have trouble believing that a lot of people (not saying you ) are not considering this. I agree that DM should probably turn it up and run more. Possibly work in a little option stuff. But this offense HAS to play to it's strength, which is running the football and keeping the defense honest with the pass. Again, this is my opinion, but for them to base their attack on a Freshman QB throwing to a receiver corps that is NOT the strong suit of the offense--in order to set up the run--is folly! I know you're not making it up. I realize what offense UNT has been running. They run it because it has been successful and works for their personnel. Teams stack the line because they WANT UNT to throw the ball! They WANT the ball in DM's hands, because they believe they can whip our line and stuff the run, don't believe our QB can beat them, and they WANT to be able to force him into mistakes. That's why the O-line has to get it together in order to open up the running game. Meager is NOT going to win games (at this point in his development) with his arm right now. Other teams realize that, and are trying to force him to throw, by stuffing the run. IMO, our receiving corps is not good enough (at this point) to be a viable primary offensive option. I get the feeling from your posts that you'd like something a little more wide-open, Rick. Hey, maybe it'll happen! But I would also love to see JMO and Cobb ram it right down the defense's throat, as well. I love football like that.

I totally understand where you're coming from. Everyone should have high expectations, but yeah, there's work to do, for sure.

I'm sure those arent' in-vogue statements to make, but I agree 100%. They've got to get their assignments down and cut down the mistakes, and that comes with practice and experience. No question. As much as I like to take in a game at Fouts, it's not DKR or The World's Largest Tacklebox". Testify. I agree. And it's going to happen. It's happening little by little every year.

Wow! Great gameday atmosphere last night! Wife and I really enjoyed the game, and the atmosphere, which is really getting better and better. Tailgating has really taken off! Wow! Whomever should get kudos for that--here's some love! Positives: I think Meager, although he's young and learning, and with the exception of the picks, played a pretty decent game overall. Looked about like what I expected for someone of his experience. Thought he outplayed Troy's QB. I think he has a lot of promise, and is going to be a pretty good QB. Nice to see him rolling out, and turning upfield with the ball a couple of times. I was hoping he would be able to do that. RB: Cobbs and Thomas are studs. That's all I'm going to say about them. OL: Inexperience. Troy DL got under them and filled gaps all night. That's inexperience and technique, and something they're going to have to work on and learn. Pass protection was...eh...ok, I guess. Making strides there. DL: Were owned most of the night, but still managed to keep the points off the board for the most part. Troy RB's were absolutely gashing them in the early 3rd quarter, so I don't buy the fatigue factor. LB's had some trouble scraping and filling because several times linemen were backed up into them. That was kind of surprising. Tacking: Wow, really need to work on that. Waaay too many arm tackles. A couple of good pops here and there, but just too many tackles by CB's and safeties for comfort. Kickoffs looked great. ST coverage was really good. I just didn't see the run run run punt thing that lots of people talk about. Probably just me, but for the most part, I didn't have a problem w/the play calling. OL, QB, and to a lesser degree, DL need the most work IMO. Troy had good outside speed, but pretty evenly matched with UNT, from what I saw. Had a great time last night. UNT will win some games this year. SBC isn't out of the question yet, everyone.

Yepper. Rick's links brought up some interesting figures. A couple of which were that the UT football program is now bringing in ~50 mil per year in and of itself, and that's out of around 67 million total budgeted for all sports except basketball. Around 20 million of that is from donations from the alumni! Again: the football program GENERATES ~50 million for the athletic budget. That is what I hope for UNT, and that's what I think UNT is shooting for. With all the new facilities and expansion, UNT can hopefully begin to generate a larger amount of cash to fund ALL their athletic programs at a higher level by putting more butts in seats, selling more UNT stuff, and hitting alumni pocketbooks. Which will (hopefully) influence recruits, generate consistent winning seasons, build ticket/donor base, and then the cycle continues... The "big $" schools have been doing this at this level for a long time. I hope that when UNT does it--and finally has consistent success at D1 football in all aspects--that people can enjoy it for what it is, and realize it was a long time coming. I have the feeling that you won't hear too many people pining for the days when the program "only" had $12 mil to work with. Then we'll hear: "We WORKED HARD to get to this level. Our REAL FANS deserve this success after supporting UNT through the lean years, so I don't care how big the athletic budget is!"

That is pretty awesome. Congrats!!

Yeah, but what does HE know?

Yeah. That's pretty much what I thought you'd say. Enjoy your sackcloth and ashes.

So was mine. In the 70's though. And sometimes we'd eat at the McDonald's across from "Gibson's", and near "Buddies". When it had the "flying worm" helmet light fixtures. I always wondered what it would be like to play football there. He won 3 NC's in an 8 year span. He introduced the Wishbone. He never had a losing season in 20 years. He was not a "pretty average" coach by anyone's standards--even Texas' I find that comment ridiculous, but to each his own. Again: If UNT and donors spend the money for upgraded facilities, coaches salaries, etc., and begin to win and be competitive at a BCS level--will you still support them, or will they no longer be competing for the "love of the game", in your opinion? All teams have their share of nutjobs, but go ahead and insult Texas again. Yes. I'm sure ALL UNT fans are REAL FANS. I grew up in Denton County, and spent most of my high school hangout days in Denton. And lived there. And was born at Flow back when it was a hospital. But I am an alum of Texas. Am I a REAL Texas fan? Can I be a UNT fan too? A REAL one?? Anyway, my apologies for taking this thread OT.

Keep an eye on this guy, too...(dated 7/05) ***************************************** Matt Stepp TexasPrepXtra.com Jerry Hughes the RB/DE from Austin High in Sugar Land is getting closer to making a decision on where he will land. "I attended the mini-camp at the University of North Texas this past weekend, and I was really impressed with the campus and the program. They are an up and coming program and their facilities impressed me," said Hughes. Could Coach Darrell Dickey's Mean Green be moving into the picture? On Sunday Hughes impressed scouts at the mini-camp at Texas A&M. The last week of June Jerry was also making waves at the mini-camp at Baylor University in Waco. The 6'2 215 pound senior to be says this weekend he plans on attending mini-camps at TCU, which still appears to be the favorite in the Hughes sweepstakes. "Besides TCU on Friday I will go up to Tulsa and attend their camp Saturday," says the Bulldogs star player. Missouri, Arkansas, Northwestern and Wisconsin and Texas Tech are also in the mix to land Hughes.

I guess you don't watch much D-1 football, then. Nothing wrong w/cheering for the underdog. I'm sure you're using UT as a representative of all big-school, big-donor, big-time athletics, right? Hopefully, when UNT gets to that level of success--and it will take big-donor, big-time support, with big money--you will still feel the same way.

Pyle Field? As in Gomer?

You could have said: "I'm not sure. I'll ask your mom tonight, though."

Sorry for the confusion: Rivals has him at 4.88 from the Manhattan KS combine 5/05. Down from 5.09 run at Iowa City 5/04. He's also bulked up from the 171 during his jr. year.

Another point of interest: the positions being recruited that have highest rated (by Rivals) athletes are QB and WR.

I think they probably start looking closely during the junior year. Rivals has 33 athletes on their board for UNT as of right now. Six have verbally committed to other schools. Some of the schools? Tulsa, Kansas St., TCU, NC, aTm, and Prairie View. 13 are considered 2-star recruits by Rivals. 2 are considered 3-star, one of whom has verbally committed to TCU. As an aside, one recruit is playing at Northwest, and another at St. Jo.

That last info was from May of this year. Below is an article from 9/15/05. The kid has added 10 lbs. of muscle, and shaved almost .2 off his 40 time. From his film, he appears to have nice touch on the long ball, and good arm strength. ***************************************************** More from www.rivals.com With his older brother, Chase, already making an impact for the Missouri Tigers, Peculiar (Mo.) Ray-Pec two-star quarterback Carson Coffman hopes to do the same thing when he makes it to the next level. So far the results of his senior season seem to indicate that he's a got a shot at that happening. "We're 2-0," Coffman, who is 6-foot-2 and 181 pounds, said. "We've beaten Kearney and Raytown. My first game I was 6 for 11 for 150 yards and two touchdowns. Then last week I was 8 for 8 with around 100 yards." It definitely seems like Coffman is much improved over his junior season. "I'm more confident and better at reading coverages," he said. "Last year it just all seemed a lot faster, but this year, I'm more settled and things come more naturally to me." Coffman still has a lone scholarship offer from North Texas. He said he is still being personally recruited by North Texas head coach Darrell Dickey. "I like them," he said. "They've been on me for quite some time and they say I'm important to them." Coffman said he also received a call from Utah State earlier this week. "I don't know much about them," he said. "But I'll have to see what they have to offer now that they're calling me."

Info from Brian Gates at www.rivals.com: Peculiar (Mo.) Raymore-Peculiar quarterback Carson Coffman picked up his first scholarship offer earlier this spring. Now, the son of former NFL tight end Paul Coffman is preparing for a series of summer camps. "I am getting regular letters from some of the Big 12 schools and Iowa and Colorado State," the 6-foot-2, 171-pound Coffman said. "I got my offer from North Texas when I was down there for the Elite 11 camp at TCU. "We stopped by the North Texas campus while we were there. We talked to Coach (Darrell) Dickey and watched my film with him. He was really impressed. He said I would probably get some offers from bigger schools but if I wanted to come there he had a spot for me and offered me when we were there." While several schools are talking to Coffman, nobody has emerged as the favorite at this point. "I'm just watching these schools," he said. "I'm trying to take in all of them and learn about them. I don't have a favorite at this point. I'm going to go to the several camps this summer. I'm planning on going to Missouri, K-State and Kansas one-day camps in Kansas City. Then I might go to the Kansas and Iowa camps at the schools." A workout program is keeping Coffman busy this spring. "I'm lifting after school. Then, my dad, brother and I with some friends do some speed training on Tuesday and Thursdays. All of that will help me."

Hammer. Nail. Etc.

Good point. Kind of easy to overlook amid the severed limbs and general bloodletting out there...

To me, it doesn't make sense to basically hand the game over to a Frosh QB with 3 games of experience against a pretty good Big 12 team and tell him to go wing it, either--particularly when your O-Line looks like a chicken-wire fence...

Boy, I don't disagree. It's frustrating. I'm just not sure if that kind of gametime adjustment would do anything but make it worse at this point.

"Your bread and butter" plays to your offensive strengths--which is the running game. You DO NOT ask your freshman quarterback to throw on every down, since your young, misfiring offensive line is a sieve in both run and pass blocking, and you run the very real risk of having passes picked and taken to the house, or getting your freshman quarterback killed, or his probably already fragile psyche demolished. Why would you do this against a BCS team without playing a game in your own conference--which you have a very real chance of winning? By "outgunned", you're really saying that your athletes are not quite the caliber of the "pretty good BCS team". Another reason that you do not ask your freshman QB to try to throw to "outgunned" wide receivers, or stand in the pocket behind outgunned linemen. Hypothetically they've done this by stacking the box and daring the quarterback to beat them with the pass, probably. What I would do is continue with the running game, while drilling my linemen during the week on their assignments, and possibly using more trap-type plays with my offense. I would also use play-action and rollout the QB more on passes, to help the offensive line, possibly even letting him keep on some occasions if he made that judgement. Hit the slant on a hot read. Might even try the middle or rolling screen pass a few times. Being outgunned means that the offense does not have the speed to run outside effectively--they will be caught and dropped for no gain out there. The lineman are not quite fast enough to pull and block effectively against a defense of this caliber, so they will have to rely more on leverage and technique rather than strength at the point of attack. This plays right into the defense's hands because these linemen have not played together much, and most are the equivalent of sophomores as far as playing time. At some point, though, the offensive and defensive lines will have to jell and show up--or neither the run OR pass is going to work. Currently, this hypothetical team doesn't have the personnel or experience to throw on every down.