The Fake Lonnie Finch

Another interesting comparison: After 6 games in 2003, the NT defense had given up 153 points After 6 games in 2010, the NT defense has given up 160 points Many look at the 2002 and 2003 defenses as the pinnacle of NT defenses all-time. And, after six games, this defense in 2010 is only giving up 1 point per game more than the 2003 crew had at the same point in the schedule. None of this does us any good without the offense producing more. But, I think you can easily see what could have been had we not had so many injuries on the offensive side of the ball. And, consider this: supposedly, Steven Ford is a better corner than D'Leon McCord. As well as McCord has done, how much better would the defense be with a healthy Ford? FIU has played some BCS-level teams tough, but they struggled with WKU. Don't go to sleep on UNT just yet, fellow Mean Green. This defense is doing all it can to keep us in games. FIU has a young offensive line. Only Brad Serini started every game last year. One other guy started six. Another started four. The rest, three and zero. They've got a new quarterback his year who has thrown more interceptions (6), than touchdowns (4). T.Y. Hilton is obviously FIU's main threat. But, this new QB has not been able to get him the ball the way Paul McCall did last year. If we shut down the run, I like our chances with making FIU beat us through the air. We've got a shot at this thing. The defense gives us hope.

Like hell it is. Todd Dodge told us he had a "football" plan. Bah! We're talking about the Old School Brother and his Rangers in the ALCS for the first time EVAR!

The 2010 North Texas defense has done something no other Mean Green defense has done since 2003 - it has held four consecutive opponents to less than 30 points. In 2003, no regular season opponent scored more than 37 against North Texas. Not even #1 Oklahoma in Norman, who played for the national title after that season could put 40 on that defense. Sat, Aug 30 at (1) Oklahoma L 3-37 Sat, Sep 6 Baylor W 52-14 Sat, Sep 13 at Air Force L 21-34 Sat, Sep 20 at (14) Arkansas L 7-31 Sat, Sep 27 Louisiana-Lafayette W 44-23 Sat, Oct 11 at Idaho W 24-14 Sat, Oct 18 Utah State W 37-27 Sat, Oct 25 at Middle Tennessee W 33-28 Thu, Oct 30 Troy W 21-0 Sat, Nov 8 at Louisiana-Monroe W 28-26 Sat, Nov 15 Arkansas State W 58-14 Tue, Nov 25 at New Mexico State W 13-10 This 2010 season is shaping up to be a similar season for the defense: Sat, Sep 4 at Clemson L 10-35 Sat, Sep 11 Rice L 31-32 Sat, Sep 18 at Army L 0-24 Sat, Sep 25 at Florida Atlantic W 21-17 Sat, Oct 2 Louisiana-Lafayette L 27-28 Sat, Oct 9 Arkansas State L 19-24 For what it's worth, both the 2004 and 2006 defenses had two three game streak apiece where opposing defenses were held to fewer than 30 points. The 2005 defense held four teams to under 30. The sad thing about 2007 will always be that nine starters were returning from what was, really, a good defense in 2006. In 2007, the Mean Green defense only held two teams under 30 points, and they won both games - ULM and WKU. In 2008, the Mean Green defense held no teams below 30 points. Those juniors and senior from 2006 and 2007 were gone. In 2009, the Mean Green defense only held two teams under 30 points, one win against Ball State, and the loss to Army. We are doing great things on defense again. Our special teams is coming around. The injuries on offense are hard to overcome. But, our defense is keeping us competitive.

If we win two or three more, and Dodge is fired, I don't see how RV can't consider Canales. I mean, at that point, we will have been more competitive in the Belt in one season with Canales calling the shots than in the three years combined with Dodge and Ford calling the shots. But, if we can't get past WKU and ULM...we will need the house cleaned. I love Mike Canales. But, WKU and ULM are horrible. FAU and Arkansas State are horrible, too. We beat FAU with our third QB, and were an opening series fumble away from taking down ASU with the fourth stringer. Those were bad teams. The 2010 season was always going to be a rebuilding year for the majority of Belt teams. The opportunity for us was so ripe. It still is. Here's the sad reality of the Belt in 2010 - if we beat FIU on Saturday, we're right back in the race for the title! And, folks, it's not like FIU ran WKU out of their stadium last weekend. FIU has a new QB amd many new starters as well. At home, they only beat WKU by 7.

Never has so much been accomplished from a guy with so little in his tank than Mack Brown. He's the Barry Switzer of the 21st century - only, with about a dozen less titles than Barry. The Auburn defensive coordinators saved Mack Brown's hide beginning in 2005. He and Greg Davis were already well known underachievers before Chizik and Muschamp arrived and began shutting down OU for them. Before those two guys, Brown/Davis didn't have a title to their name even during their ACC years at UNC. Hiring the right assistants helps immensely...especially if you don't know what the f*ck you are doing and have gotten by on personality for years. Had Brown stayed with Akina in 2005 and lost a sixth in a row to OU, he'd have been shown the door. Similarly, Canales had a chance to save Dodge's lost backside this season as well before injuries left him with a third team center snapping to a fourth string walkon. But, even so...Canales has the third and fourth stringer running a much more competitive game plan that we ever saw with Dodge/Ford with their first stringers. I hope we can find a way to win this weekend. I really do. That FIU ended their long losing streak against us in 2007, then blew us out in 2008 here to set the tone for an awful year, has been something that has stuck in my craw for some time. I'd like to see us poke them in the eye somehow. A turnover free game - with our fourth string quarterback - would have been enough to beat ASU last week. If we can play turnover free ball Saturday, I believe Canales can deliver the game plan. Yes, I'm still stupid enough to believe that good coaching can trump even the worst of injury situations. But...I'll freely admit, this is probably Custer's Last Stand football-wise for Dodge.

There is no dilemma - go watch the Rangers destroy the Yankees. I'm trolling ebay for tickets now so I can take my son. Texas in the ALCS is history. FIU rolling over us (if Dodge doesn't have a chain saw motivation) is a given.

It's amazing how stupid people can be. Kevin Sherrington. Mack Brown. These guys didn't know there is a difference between high school football and college football? Those of us who never believed we raked over the coals for our non-belief. My brief flight of fancy with belief came only after RV made Dodge jettison the last remnants of his high school coaching staff and put control of the coaching and game planning into Mike Canales' hands. It's not so shocking that a mere journalist like Kevin Sherrington could have the wool pulled over his eyes. Too many people in journalism, especially sports journalism, suck up too much to their subject (refreshingly, to me anyway, is Brett Vito because he reports what happens instead of just fawning over the subject.). But, guys and girls...we all know there's no way Mack Brown could have believed a word he said. And, if so...well...you can chalk up anything he's achieved to one season of Vince Young and a couple of Colt McCoy.

6? Come on, man. I threw in a gimme line about shrieking lemurs!

SMU will poop on itself again after Georgia or Colorado or Arizona State or UCLA or Minnesota or Mississippi or Texas A&M or Washington State or Miami or North Carolina or Michigan or Tennessee or USC hires June Jones away.

We know the cost on parts of it - the carrying kids until 26, the no cancellation/denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions. The rates have already gone up for those companies whose employee benefits we write. That's just the tip of the iceberg; the administrative agencies haven't fleshed out the rest of it yet. The penalty for not carrying/offering coverage is already known. So, we've decided, to hell with it. We're not keeping up with this stuff. We've got too much other stuff to keep up with as it is. We're all capable of working harder, and so we will. It's not worth it. Everybody can sack up and buy their own coverage like big boys and girls. We already do.

But, I'm not going to activate it until after the WKU game - if we lose that game. If we win or play FIU close, then beat WKU, I'm going to hold out hope. If we get beat by WKU, that'll be the end. They are really bad. At that point, even beating an equally bad ULM wouldn't make a difference. I know this team can do it. They just need someone from shop class to make a giant wooden schedule showing the results of the first six and listing the remaining six games. Then, Todd Dodge, needs to bring a chain saw to the locker room Saturday and saw the giant wooden schedule in half between the Arkansas State game and the FIU game. Then, he needs to turn off the chain saw and say something stirring and patriotic to his team like, "Alright, the first half of the season in gone. F'get aboud it! What counts is these next six here where there aren't any final scores yet. So, now, which ones of you will take off your skirts and put on your big boy fighting pants and go out there a start delivering victories faster than Cynthia Izaguirre can erroreously deliver news!" Then, after the team is all stirred up like a nest of lawn mower-buzzed yellow jackets or other ground-dwelling vespidae, he needs to fire up the chain saw again, cut off the FIU part of the sign, and wave it wildly over his head while shrieking like a lemur before throwing it to one of the captains...after he turns off the chain saw again, though. Then, the team needs to take the sawed off FIU portion of the sign to the sideline with them and look at it before they take the field. Each player, before they take the field. The offense before it runs onto the field. The defense before it runs onto the field. The special teams before they run onto the field. The trainers and medical staff before they run onto the field. Each and every player and staff member is accountable to the wood. Then, after FIU is vanquished, the wooden board bearing it's name is to be brought back to the locker room and burned with the lighter of whichever player smokes something. And, when the board is burned, the ashes are to be stomped upon and trod underfoot at the heel of the victors. Thus saith the Lord. Then, the next week, the same thing is to be done, except at WKU instead of Fouts Field because it's a road game. Each week, one piece of the schedule sawed off by Dodge, carried to and from the sidelines, then destroyed as the team fights it's way to a 6-5 record with only the Kansas State Wildcats/Aggies standing in the way of a final victorious farewell to the stadium and a possible bowl birth. It could happen.

It'll get better on the football front, freak. Plus, it's good to know that UNT will be a viable athletic option for my little daughter someday. Nothing wrong with Mean Green girls.

One of our account execs is retiring. We did the math on the what our cost would be to hire a new employee given the new health care law. And, the conclusion is, it's just going to be more cost effective for everyone else to pitch in and cover than to hire a new employee. I think things will change once a new Congress or the Supreme Court overturns the law. But, until then, we have decided to do no more hiring until that whole thing is hammered out and all costs are known. As it is, the government craps on you whether you offer health insurance or not. If the law is not overturned, we'll be fine in trimming this operation down to family only. We just streamline the process and get highly disciplined about following it for every customer and lead. Risk Management 101: One way to control a risk is to avoid it altogether.

I don't think so, Tim. They only rattled off 21 points against a Tulsa defense which was ranked #118 going into the game. Our defense - even with injuries - is better than what Tulsa is throwing out on the field in 2010. Let's not get overexcited about SMU. They're not exactly blowing out anyone. Jones will win enough to earn a ticket off the Hilltop, but these guys are hardly world beaters yet.

Exactly. Teegarden and Dodson...they'll redshirt in any other given year they chose to stay for the simple reason that neither will ever sniff the field once another coach takes over and signs some legitimate quarterbacks.

He'll be gone from The Hillside soon enough. Then, we'll see if their donors "pony up" twice for another coach of Jones' caliber. Many high profile jobs will likely come open after the season - Georgia, Arizona State, UCLA, Minnesota, Miami, Colorado, Mississippi, etc. Jones' phone will be ringing off the hook by mid-November. Having played and coached for the Atlanta Falcons, you gotta like Georgia's shot to get him. He'd fit in anywhere out west where's he's from as well. Similarly, Mike Leach's quirky personality would be a good sell at Arizona State, Miami, and Colorado. As well as he did with Texas Tech out in the middle of nowhere, he'll be really dangerous recruiting to places that actually have interesting surroundings. The Pirate bit would go over well in Miami especially.

LongJim, come on, man. You're a fellow poster of reason. We've rapped in PMs. You know you can't compare this year's defense and special teams to the first three years. We're all frustrated that we're not winning, but we are decimated with injuries. The lack of quality depth I completely blame on Dodge. But, other than that, give Gandy his due for bringing the special teams around; and, give Deloach & Co. their due for not getting blown out in any game. This had been a tough season and the coaching staff is doing one hell of a job. Coach Canales is putting together game plans that #3 and #4 quarterbacks can execute enough for us to win (at FAU) and come damn close (last weekend). It's amazing! In 2008, we were getting blown out in and out of conference with a second year starter under Dodge/Ford, and Deloach depserately trying to find some defensive players after nine graduated from the 2007 squad. This is a better team. It's not going to show up in the record. But, as bad as the Sun Belt is, we could still pull off a couple of wins (believe me, ULM and WKU are horrible, as bad as ASU and FAU). Again, I expect nothing against Troy and MTSU. FIU...based on the way they've played the big boys, every break - and I mean every break has to go our way for their to be a chance. But, you see how having a field goal kicker can keep you in games, at minimum. We can still scratch and claw our way to four wins. Is 4-8 acceptable? No. Not in the overall scheme of things. But, keep in mind going 3-5 or 4-4 in the Belt - despite all of the injuries - would still be an improvement over Years 1-3 of Dodge. At that point, how could you not give this coaching staff credit for keeping the thing together? Also, even though it will be unpopular here, I said before the season, I'd accept a fifth year of Dodge if we broke even in the Belt. Even if it meant we were 4-8 or 5-7 overall. If we are 4-8 at the end of the season, after all of the injuries, I don't see how you say this 2010 coaching staff was a failure. They're playing long odds right now and doing as well as they can. If we go 4-8, I'd love to see Dodge stay and see how this group of assistants recruits. I'd also love to see another season under Charr in the weight room. Am I crazy? Maybe. I opposed the Dodge hiring from the start. There's no secret to that. But...I'm willing to give him another shot if we're 4-4 in the Belt with this mess. I criticize when criticism is necessary. But, I'm a man and can also give credit where credit is due.

Well...you guys who praise Dodge for being more of a discipinarian than Dickey shouldn't complain about McCoy not playing then. Also, let's be realistic about the quarterback position in the future - Teegarden was working at WR, same as Baine when Baine arrived. Dotson didn't have prayer of seeing playing time. The new coach will use Thompson and bring in two or more legitimate quarterbacks for the future.

Whether he's looking or not, there will be enough jobs higher up the ladder at BCS AQs open up. And, he will get some interviews. If he takes the Ponies to another bowl game this season, he'll be gone. That's not to say anything about his character. It's the nature of the business. It would have been the same for Dodge if he'd turned this ship around and put us in multiple bowls. A school like Kansas surely would have put in a call to Dodge had we been bowling in 2008 and 2009.

ULL and ASU struggled against us despite that fact that we are down a dozen starters form both sides of the ball. Give us back even hlf a dozen and we'd have easily beaten those two. They are not good this year. The point, to me, remains...the injuries have made pre-season gimmies dogfights. And, that says less about our competition than it does about us. Our defense is better. Our special teams are better. We're down to a third team center snapping to a fourth team QB...and are still in games against our Belt foes. I don't think it's a huge leap of logic to say that the team that about played Clemson to a draw on the road and took Rice to wire would be steamrolling the likes of ASU and ULL this season. Due to injury, it's not to be. With the games remaining, even with all of our injuries, we can still beat WKU and ULM. Everyone else has more in the tank than we do. But, at the beginning of the season, they had no more than we did. Again (and again and again), the climb out of the Belt cellar isn't high. We had the coaching staff to do it this season. Fate is what it is. Our front line players were very competitive. We are eaten alive with poor depth. That goes to the man at the top. Gotta be real.

Rust was a good defensive coordinator in the NFL. Helped take the New England Patriots to their first Super Bowl back in the mid-80s.

Dodge isn't going back to high school. He'll have no problem getting a job as an assistant somewhere in FBS, if he wants. Despite his poor showing as a head coach, others in the professional still think well enough of him. He's got something; he just vastly misjudged the differences in the way you run a high school team and a college team. He'd be fine coaching a smaller group of players at this level.

Scott Davis must have bestowed some old Berkner Magic on him before the game.

Look, let's be real honest up front here - Arkansas State is awful. Like I said before the season, 2010 was a year when many of our conference foes were going to be rebuilding. The Redwolves or Red Wolves or Red Whatever were no different. A 100% healthy 2010 Mean Green would have beaten this sorry Arkansas State offering into a fine, powdery, dust-like substance. As it was, scraping by with a walk-on fourth string quarterback who hadn't so much as held for an extra point, and dragging a true freshman off the bench for his first collegiate game as a kicker was almost good enough. That's how truly crappy Arkansas State is in 2010. Deep down you want to feel sorry for Todd Dodge. But, then, you snap out of it and realize there are a plethora of problems of his own making. Especially with the depth. Just look at the defensive line. It's like a fence held together with bailing wire. You got an undersized linebacker moved to DE, a journey man walk-on, a military walk-on, some JUCOs, some tight ends and offensive linemen have been flipped back and forth there over Dodge's tenure. Frankly, it's a recipe for nothing but week after week of colossal cluster f*ck. But, somehow, as thin a rotation as it is, they keep us in ballgames this year. It is the way it is because of Todd Dodge. He just didn't give us jack in the way of defensive recruits, really, until his third and fourth classes. And, yet, the defensive coaches are coaching their asses off out there. I've got no complaints with the defensive side of the ball. The are night and day different than the 2007 and 2008 offerings (I'd have liked to seen the coaching staff with the nine returning starters on defense in 2007). Earlier in the month I said that all these injuries have done is brought us back down the level of our competition, so the games will be closer. Without injuries, we'd be on collision course with Troy for a Sun Belt title face off in a few weeks. Fate is what it is. It wasn't meant to be for Todd Dodge. Some of it was bad luck. But, coaches like Jimmy Johnson would say preparation trumps reliance on any kind of luck. In the college game, preparation begins off the field in the living rooms of recruits. Dodge badly underestimated this and, I guess, thought it was just a matter or "restoring" discipline. He was wrong. You seriously need studs on your defensive line to compete at this level - preferable six to eight for a consistent, run-throttling, dare-to-beat-us-through-the-air rotation. I figure we've got a shot at two more wins - ULM and WKU. Both are terrible - equally as horrid as FAU and A-State. As I stated earlier in the year, FAU is terrible and was destined to be in 2010. ULM sqeaked past them. But, they both still suck. We'd kick the dog flea out of them at 100%. As injured as we are, and with our new kicker as a weapon, both of those games are still very winnable. I think Troy, MTSU, and FIU run roughshod over us. In 2011, we'll be thin due to graduations, same as most of our Belt foes are this year. At least with our rebuilding year the car will already be up on the jacks. It is imperative that Rick Villareal not daydream again through this hiring process. He's got to nail this one. Blimey, there's a croc!

Did RV stare anyone down this time?