The Fake Lonnie Finch

Kenny Evans and the RiverHawks of Northeastern State are now 0-5. There's misery all around.

It is the height of absurdity to say imply that Darrell Dickey didn't try to win here. Just ridiculous. He did more here than any other coach who ever walked the sidelines of Fouts in the modren era. He brought multiple conference titles and a four year bowl run. How anyone can try in any fashion to say he didn't try to win is beyond the pale. The guy won more with less to work with off the field than any other coach in D-I college football in that same time period. Quit trying to make excuses for Dodge by bringing up Dickey. Dodge hasn't done jack here yet, and until he does, it's a hollow argument to stick him up against a guy who had us winning more than most of us had seen in our lifetime. Dodge needs to man up. And, everyone who blindly supports him needs to understand that he may be too arrogant to do so. And, if he is, it's a huge problem for our school's football program.

<sigh> Yes. I still just refuse to believe that no matter how bad we are, we can't possibly be worse than FIU. I know FIU beat us last year, but...dadgum! You look at their trainwreck on paper and it looks a whole lot worse than ours! Maybe that makes me snobby towards FIU, but goodness sakes, they're pitiful on offense! Surely, surely...we can win this one at home. If we can't, we're seriously staring down the barrel of an 0-12 season. And, that didn't even happen in the worst of years when I was on campus in the early 90s.

Dude, you have a new kid. Be a man and stay home with your family.

Ah, yes, the old "These Aren't My Players" b.s. Funny how other coaches seem to go to other programs and win with "other coaches' players." Lame excuse. Besides, all we hear about now from the Dodge-or-Death defenders is that we're playing 20+ redshirt freshmen, freshmen, and sophomore. So, they are his players. He need to get off his backside and coach them - or at least hire some assistants who can. If FIU beats us at home, the time for excuses will be over. That guy also doesn't have a full roster of "his players" and he just went out on the road and beat a MAC team that had come within two points of beating Fresno State the weekend before. Enough excuses, already. Get the team ready, week after week, and start winning some games.

Corby's dad played football at OU in the late 60s. So, it's not unusual that he'd be an OU fan.

TY Sports is the Raisin Bran of the internet: a tasty, healthy find among box after box of sugary, faux-breakfast crap.

There was no momentum, except in the minds of the true believers. The rest of us understood full well that we were getting a high school coach, along with most of his high school coaching staff. Those of us who doubted we pooh-poohed because "football is football." Well, football is certainly football. The only problem is that there are different levels of football. Dodge had no experience at the highest collegiate level, and almost none of his assistants did either. No big name recruit has considered us. I cannot think of one recruit so far that had me fired up when they committed. There never was any pipeline. The best recruits are still going elsewhere. And, many of the guys Dodge signed have either left or haven't panned out. Most importantly, the guy never knew that football was about what happens on the offensive and defensive lines. He wasted two years signing defensive backs and receivers, relatively few have shown any ability to be a game-changer. The best players on the team are still DD's holdovers. I've predicted that we'd win the next two games, but I'm probably still in the pipedream days where the Sun Belt wasn't competitive from top to bottom. Now that it is, Dodge is in deeper than he ever thought he'd be. I know that the next two are, in theory, "winnable." On paper, we should hold FIU in single digits. But, I doubt we will.

And, here is where the question of "Is he big enough to play QB this level" arises again. I originally thought he should take a redshirt and put on a few pounds and muscle. After the Tulsa game, I was bamboozled into thinking he'd be okay at wideout. Now...well. Let's just say he's learning that guys up here pack more of a wallop than Grapevine. Put me back into the "he should be redshirting" camp. Otherwise, he may be injured again.

Anyway... I predicted we'd be 0-4. As you can see, I also thought we'd be struggling a little on defense due to the sheer number of new players. However, what I got completely wrong is that I thought we'd be competitive in the games. That hasn't been the case. And, it's baffling - especially on the offensive end. For what it's worth, I also predicted we'd beat FIU and U-LaLa after the 0-4 start, and that we'd have a winning record in the Sun Belt once the dust cleared. Now, I'm not so sure. FIU won a road game against a MAC team and U-LaLa played K-State to within 8 in The Little Apple. Game 1 at Kansas State: KSU 45, UNT 21 It doesn't really matter that KSU has a bunch of JUCO guys coming in. On the offensive side of the ball, they have plenty coming back. Their veteran offensive line wears our fledgling defensive line down in the third quarter to break away. What happened: Kansas State 45, UNT 6: It didn't matter that K-State had JUCOs, as predicted. Surprisingly, our offense was a no-show against a Wildcat defense with a bunch of new guys Game 2 Tulsa: TU 41, UNT 34 This is a game of two spread offenses. Tulsa had a bad defense on the road last year, but still managed to outscore most opponent in the way to a CUSA Championship appearance and a 63-7 beating of Bowling Green in the GMAC Bowl. TU is still a few seasons ahead of us. Our new defensive backs get their first real look at a spread team. What happened: Tulsa 56, UNT 26: The Golden Hurricane post a 42-10 halftime lead, we tack on a couple fourth quarter scores against the TU scrubs to make the blowout look...respectable? Game 3 at LSU: LSU 45, UNT 19 It's LSU. They will be coming off a game with Troy and preparing for the game the next week at Auburn. They get up on us early, then pull the starters to rest for the early SEC showdown with Auburn the following week. What happened: LSU 41, UNT 3: Les Miles never has had a history of running up the score, so I didn't figure he would here either. LSU could have just on punt returns alone. For some reason, I honestly thought we'd hang about 20 on the Tigers on the road. One field goal. Game 4 at Rice: Rice 43, UNT 32 Like the Tulsa game, this is two offenses that wing it around. Rice will have been trashed by Texas the weekend before we get there and will be happy to see softer competition. What happened: Rice 77, UNT 20: Again, The defense was worse than I thought, and so was the offense. Special teams is getting to be unmentionable. The sight of Rice desperately trying not to move the ball in the fourth quarter will be indelibly marked in many of our minds. Yes, Rice trying not to run it up on us! THE Rice Owls! Never in my wildest and worst nightmares did I expect OU II at Rice. Through 4 games Predicition: 0-4 with 106 points for and 174 points against Reality: 0-4 with 55 points for and 219 points against...ouch! Game 5 Florida International: UNT 40, FIU 25 We inexplicably lost to the worst team in college football last year, FIU. It won't happen again. Revised Predicition: UNT 33, FIU 25: FIU winning on the road against a MAC team was impressive, but - against my better judgement - I still say we win this one. Just not by double digits. Even in the win at Toledo, FIU offense didn't set the world on fire. Surely, we can stop FIU's offense, as it often stops itself: 2008, so far for the Golden Pathers - 22% 3rd down conversion rate, 46% pass completion rate, 1 TD pass against 5 interceptions thrown, 11 sacks given up, 2.5 yards per carry average rushing, 28 penalties (7 per game, so far). Yes, if we can't beat this team, on our own field, we have major problems, Houston. Major problems. FIU is still awful. Game 6 Louisiana-Lafayette: UNT 36, ULL 31 Yes, ULL has some talented seniors on offense. However, most of it is run-based. By this point in the season, I expect out DL to be doing better against the run. We feed off the win the weekend before and steal one from hardluck Ricky Bustle's bunch for a second consecutive home win. Revised Prediction: UNT 35, Louisiana-Lafayette 33: I still think this one will be an exciting nail-biter, and I still think we can win it. I don't have any logical explanation as to why...I guess it's just hope.

Bernard Scott and ACU would run all over us. Book it.

True. Maybe he was finding a cleanest possible way to "re-direct" himself.

Talent level my rear-end! We had a defense full of upperclassmen last year - guys who were either redshirting or freshmen during our last Sun Belt title run, guys with experience. It's coaching. Worth repeating - Dodge is the one who said the talent and speed of opposing DBs surprised him in year one. Ridiculously arrogant. It just shows that the guy expected to walk into Denton and have the college football world fall at his feet. Now, he won't even make post-game comments. Anyone, with half a brain knows the game of football is won and lost on the lines. But, Dodge has spent two recruiting classes loading up at WR and DB. It's so stupid it's maddening to think about. There is no "pipeline to Dodge" of the top high school recruits. No one cared. Not one of them ever cared. Kids want to win. They want to go to bowl games. They want to play on TV. They could give a flying flip about what a coach did in high school. The best of Dodge's own high school players don't even choose to come play for him. As I said last season, it's a joke. A sham. A circus act with Rick Villareal in the middle wearing the tophat. We're the suckers in the crowd. Sucked in time and again by the smoke and mirrors that have produced nothing. It's a masterful performance by Villareal, too, you've got to admit. He's got many so mesmerized that they turned on the only coach in the history of the school to produce a bowl winning team, and the only one to produce multiple bowl participating teams. It's a ruse, you all. Nothing but a ruse. And, it will continue until we get a president and board who understand what type of leadership it takes to run a major college athletic program in the 21st Century. Popcorn, anyone?

Dodge should have apologized to him; and, after the game he should have apologized to the fans. Garbage.

Meager. He's no better or worse than anyone else on the roster.

It's funny how Dodge is now doing the same things Dickey did, and everybody jumped on - admitting they couldn't win games and, therefore, didn't try (KSU), openly complaining about the stadium situation, not doing interviews. Pathetic. Meanwhile, U-LaLa tried against K-State and came within 8. FIU went on the road and beat a MAC team. What are we doing? Getting obliterated by Rice. I have to keep saying that to myself...by Rice. OU scored 79 on us last year because Dodge wouldn't quit throwing the ball down 63-3 or whatever it was. OU's defense scored a TD and safety in the fourth quarter -yes, OU's third team defense. Last night, Rice was up 63-20 and Dodge was still calling for pass plays rather than just take his lumps and go home. Result? Two interception returns for TDs, another loss where the opponent scored in the 70s (third time now in Dodge's measly 16 game tenure), and Rice...yes, Rice...doing all they could to not run up the score in the 4th. The classless Dodge lets Daniel Meager stand on the sideline all game long, even during the blowout. I wish Meager had transferred to a I-AA where he could have maybe played some in his final year. The honeymoon should have been over for Dodge long ago. It should be painfully obvious by now, even to the most kool-aid-infested true believer, that the man has no idea what he is doing at this level of football. None whatsoever. In 16 games, he's got one whole win over a full I-A/FBS team, and another against a provisional, Western Kentucky - and that one was a nail-biter, one point win. In Year Two, the offense has actually regressed, the defense is just as bad, and the special team are atrocious. Make any excuse you want, but the bottom line is Todd Dodge had no idea about what it takes to coach at the major college football level. He's lost; and, as usual, we're screwed.

The environmentalists need to go live in the wilderness and leave us city folk alone. The sad thing is, you'd probably get maybe 5% of environmentalist who could even survive in the wilderness. Patsy-faced bed-wetters. Anyone with TV ties, suggest this to network execs as a "Reality TV" show: Environmentalist Forced To Live Without The Stuff They Say We Shouldn't Have. I'd watch it every week to see the skinny, soap-averse wimps cringing for shelter and heat...and since they won't kill animals, real food. Go ahead, envirodorks, show us the way. Lead. Get your boney little butts out of the city and live amongst your friends, the animals and trees.

It can also mean that the offensive line isn't giving the QB enough time to go through all his reads. I'm sure it's a combination of all of the above. The problem, though, is that we all thought the offense would be rolling along in Todd Dodge Year Two. It isn't, for some reason; for a variety of reasons.

Poor Kenny. The RiverHawks are off to an 0-3 start as well: http://www.muskogeephoenix.com/sports/loca..._258012141.html By the way, not to highjack the thread, but why do all football teams who were bullied into giving up their Indian-themed names default to something including Wolves, Hawks, and Storms. I mean, does the NCAA pull them aside and say, "Looky here, NSU, the term 'Redmen' won't do. Your punishment is to choose a name from among three things you may see while out hiking in the wild - the wolf, the hawk, and the rainstorm. Choose, racists!"

Yes. I adopted Jeremy Knott, and he's doing well in the FG department. Think of how many more points Utah State would have than us if Knott couldn't hit his field goals.

Sarah Palin as well as Weebl and Bob. I'm not sure they have UNT connections, but how can you go wrong those in any portrait?

Um...why is Vince Young dancing without his shirt on, with a bunch of other men with no shirts on, and drunk? Oh, yeah...It's Austin. Come on, Quoner...the guy's seen the Titans' team psychiatrist. I'm sure he's fine. Didn't T.O. once say he had 15 million reason to be happy. I'm sure VY has just as many reason to be happy. And, why do I have to put periods after "T" and "O" but "V" and "Y" go together without periods? Anyone?

I've been to Austin. I've been to Denton. Believe me, Riley is having more fun. Austin is nice to visit every now and again. But, Denton's nightlife is much more down to earth than the faux-hippies and crossdressers and other assorted miscreants that wander around Austin's crappy 6th Street. Austin, you have a problem. The soap aisle is to the left, brother.

That stuff is decided when the contracts are made. So, contact your school's athletic director to see if he insisted that SBC officials be mixed in or a third party conference group of officials was requested. This is one of the jobs of the athletic director.

SMU is way worse than us...I mean, how could they not be with a student body dressed like they stole the wardrobe of "Father Knows Best." BYE sucks, too, probably worse than us, SMU, Utah State, and Idaho combined. I think Ramone Flanagan coaches at BYE this year. I keep hearing how T.O. used to play for the Eagles and he didn't like Donovan McNabb - even though McNabb actually got Philly into a Super Bowl and Tony Romo can't even win one playoff game. Sarah Palin is a babe and worthy of my vote. I'm sexist the other way...work, woman, work...and keep yourself in shape and raise a family in the meantime as well (And, bomb Iran, too, if you all win, baby!). Who can deny a woman who can work, talk and play sports, hunt, fish, raise a family - and keep her body in shape? And, in shape after five kids, you all! I mean, really, look at Hillary - one kid and she can't keep the weight off. And, no real executive experience. She wasn't the mayor of any of the many tiny, little Arkansas towns, was never a governor. Pssht. What a fraud Hillary is. Palin is the All-American woman. I hope she wears a Wonder Woman outfit the night of the election...either that or a Catwoman suit.... Meow! JayDub, get well soon. The only reason Utah State has outscored us is that Dodge doesn't have his players running the offense yet. I mean, look at the QB Vizza, a Darrell Dickey guy. The runningbacks - all recruited by Darrell Dickey. Surprise find Alex Lott...a Dickey walk-on. I mean, Darrell Dickey didn't even know what to do with Casey Fitzgerald. Look at what Todd Dodge has done, though. He's ridden the former outcast, walk-on - practically the Diet Coke Boy II under Dickey - to a stellar 2-15 career mark. If Dodge isn't fired by noon tomorrow, no more money to the UNT cause! None! Not a red cent! It all goes to Texas Lutheran in honor of Vern Lundquist!