The Fake Lonnie Finch

It's already been proven that our pass game isn't a problem. The run game, thusfar, is. People continue to bitch about Thompson's mobility. So, how about this as a compromise: In 2011, just past midway through the season, with its own run game bogging down due to injuries, Oklahoma took one of it's back up QBs and started mimicking a play that they had seen on film of then-Kansas State starting QB Collin Klein. At 6-6, 250+, OU had a Collin Klein-like (6-5, 230ish) guy who was big and could run in Blake Bell. They unleashed the Belldozer, coincidentally enough, against Kansas State in 2011...the eighth game of the season! We are told Brock Berglund is a better runner than Thompson. OU used a walk-on fullback, Aaron Ripkowski (6-1, 250ish) paired with their stellar fullback Trey Millard (6-2, 250ish) as blockers for Bell, and it worked. We have some guys sitting on the bench right now who are as big or bigger than Bell's lead blockers were. Although Berglund isn't as bigger a either K-State's Klein (in the 225-235 range) and OU's Bell (250s), he is said to be fleet of foot. If Berglund can (doesn't mind) pounding, would you all be opposed to a Bergdozer? Bell, as big as he is, ripped off a 55-yard touchdown against Baylor last year out of that Belldozer package. Surely, Berglund - lighter of foot in the 215-220 range - could have the same impacting big plays that Bell gave Oklahoma in 2011 and 2012. Hey, it's a copycat profession, coaching. OU took the idea from K-State. What would it hurt for us to try it out, getting Berglund and his athleticism that so many of you have touted into the picture? It would sure be a change of pace. I'd be all for it. Stick that 6-4, 275 kid Wylie Reinhardt back there to block. His bio says he not only played tight end in high school, but also was a second-team all-district tackle as a junior. And, he played on the defensive line as a sophomore. Sounds like a kid who is accustomed to dishing it out...and, who will be a "team first" guy and play wherever the coaches need him.

Through five games, we are tied for ninth out 14 C-USA team is rushes per game with 34.6. We throw the ball 38.6 times per game, good for fifth best in the league. We throw for 287.4 per game, third best in the conference, behind only East Carolina and Marshall. Our 112.6 yards rushing is tied for 11th in the league. Look, those of you who bitch about the playcalling, saying it isn't balanced...how much more balanced can you get than 34.6 rushes and 38.6 passes per game? It's almost perfectly balanced so far! The problem is the results. We are getting results through the air, not the ground...and, this is something no one expected before the season began. Further... Among C-USA starting QBs, only four have more touchdown passes than Derek Thompson. Marshall's acclaimed QB Rakeem Cato has thrown four interceptions in 180 attempts; Derek has thrown five in 181. Neither Tulsa nor Rice's starters have thrown for more touchdowns than interceptions...and, these are considered pass-oriented teams. Among the C-USA starting QBs, Thompson is third in QB Efficiency (139.5) behind only ECU's Shane Carden (148.5) and Marshall's Cato (139.6). He and Cato are neck and neck in efficiency. Cato was written about as a dark horse Heisman candidate before the season. Among C-USA starting QBs, Thompson is second in completion percentage (68.0%), behind only ECU's Carden (73.4%). Thompson and Carden are the only two starting QBs in the C-USA who are completing more than 63.0% of their passes. Folks, our problem is not Derek Thompson. Not in the least. In fact, let's be real. Many of you pooh-poohed him severely before the season, and he is performing at the highest level in this new conference. I think we need to give credit where creidt is due, so far. Derek Thompson has played above and beyond what many of you expected. I'm been 137% on the DT bandwagon since the spring, and he's doing better than even I thought he would. Offensively, there also needs to be a ton of credit given to receiver coach Mike Grant. This is a guy who spent nine years with McCarney at Iowa State. He is the epitome of the type of assistant we needed on staff badly after the Dodge years. Grant was a hell of a player at Nebraska, and he's obviously a hell of a coach. Whatever we are paying him, it isn't enough. In addition to Grant, his group of players. I bitched and complained about the lack of playmakers in 2012, especially after Chancellor was gone. The team needed guys to step up this year, and they have. Darnell Smith is fifth in the C-USA in receiving yards per game at 80.2; Chancellor is seventh at 74.2. Only two C-USA receiver who have caught at least 20 passes this season also have hauled them in for 15.0 per catch or better. Brelan Chancellor is getting us 15.5 per catch. Only UAB's Jamarcus Nelson is better at 17.6 per catch. Three UNT receivers are in the C-USA among the top 11 in receptions thusfar: Smith is fourth in the league with 36, Chancellor is 10th with 24 and Carlos Harris is 11th with 23. No other school even has two other receivers in the top 11! That means guys are getting open and making plays when the ball is distributed to them. We have much to be happy about in the pass game, folks. The run game, not so much. If the run game can get on track, we DO have the backs to inflict pain and suffering on defenses. We have a trio who are more than capable. If it begins to click the way the passing game already is, then...BANG...no one will come close to us in the C-USA West for the rest of the season. As always, hear me now, believe me later.

Um...you guys... Rex Rollins would do no better than Byrd, Pegram, or Jimmerson given the way the OL is blocking. My point was to show how ridiculous it is to be bitching about Derek Thompson. Byrd, Pegram, and Jimmerson...and Thompson...are fine. The big picture is, it would be really swell if the run game were going as well as the pass game is. If we ever get to that point, we will be difficult to stop.

I'm hoping that the offensive line and running backs get pissed off about everyone pointed out their early season failures enough themselves to do something about, and get this thing kicked into high gear in games 6 through 12.

Very sad, indeed. This group of seniors - the ones who stayed - will have been among the most productive in the school's I-A/FBS history. I think Andre Ware summed it up well during the Georgia broadcast, the seniors on defense were for the first time playing for the same defensive coordinator in consecutive seasons. That says something. McCarney is building this thing pretty well. The coaching carousel, though, does tend to hurt the effectiveness of team overall. Won't it be weird that the worst coach we've ever had percentage wise will have been the one who recruited the top passer, rusher, all-purpose yards leaders and leading tackler in school history? Crazy. Only at UNT.

To equal the crazy anti-Derek talk, here's some anti-RB trio talk: So far this season, the trio of running backs has produced: Brandin Byrd 52 rushes - 186 yards - 3.6 per carry - 2 TDs Reggie Pegram 41 rushes - 140 yards - 3.4 per carry - 2 TDs Antoinne Jimmerson 31 rushes - 71 yards - 2.3 per carry - 1 TD But, Rex Rollins is the better runner and give us the best chance to win with his: 5 rushes - 26 yards - 5.2 per carry - 0 TD Why can't Mac and Canales see that the rush game is the running backs' fault, not the offensive line? Byrd, Pegram, and Jimmerson obviously do not know how to run as well as Rollins. Why are they keeping him on the bench? If Rollins were getting Byrd, Pegram, and Jimmerson's carries, he'd already have over 600 yards rushing! Gah!

NT's All-Time I-A/FBS Leaders in Tackles: 1. Craig Robertson: 381 2. Brad Kassel: 365 3. Burks Washington: 351 With 50 tackles on the season so far, Orr sits at 294 tackles for his career; six away from the 300 tackle mark! He'll surely get there this weekend. He need about 12.5 per game to catch Robertson in the regular season; 10.9 with regular season + bowl game; 9.7 regular season + C-USA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME + bowl game.

Brelan Chancellor is already the NT career leader in: Kickoff Returns: 113 (and counting) Kickoff Return Yards: 2,747 (and counting) Kickoffs Returned For TD: 3 (...and counting!) In All-Purpose Yards at NT, he now trails only: 1. Lance Dunbar: 5,375 2. Patrick Cobbs: 5,222 3. Brelan Chancellor: 4,488 He needs 104.9 per game to get past Cobbs; an 126.8 to get past Dunbar.

Among NT QBs at the Division I-A/FBS level, Thompson is now: Passing Attempts 1. Steve Ramsey: 1,015 2. Giovanni Vizza: 876 3. Derek Thompson: 843 (needs 24.6 attempts per game to pass Ramsey) Passes Completed 1. Giovanni Vizza: 532 2. Derek Thompson: 507 Passing Efficiency 1. Scott Hall: 132.26 2. Riley Dodge: 125.71 3. Derek Thompson: 125.5 Touchdown Passes 1. Steve Ramsey: 69 2. Scott Hall: 50 3. Derek Thompson: 34 (needs 5+ per game to surpass Ramsey; 2.3 to supplant Hall at #2) Passing Yards 1. Steve Ramsey: 7,076 2. Scott Hall: 5.975 3. Derek Thompson: 5,897 (needs 168.5 per game to pass Ramsey) Completion Percentage 1. Riley Dodge: 64.7% 2. Jordan Case: 61.6% 3. Giovanni Vizza: 60.7% 4. Derek Thompson: 60.1% (can probably catch Case and Vizza) Career 200 Yard Passing Games 1. Steve Ramsey: 20 2. Derek Thompson: 16 (has a outside shot at getting past Ramsey) Career 300 Yard Passing Games 1. (T) Steve Ramsey: 6 1. (T) Derek Thompson: 6 (one more game) Career Total Offense (Passing + Rushing) 1. Steve Ramsey: 6,568 2. Scott Hall: 6,440 3. Derek Thompson: 6,142 (needs 60.9 per game to pass Ramsey)

2010: 207 attempts, 856 yards, 4.1 per carry, 4 touchdowns, 1-4 record (Lance Dunbar, junior) 2011: 208 attempts, 639 yards, 3.1 per carry, 3 touchdowns, 1-4 record (Lance Dunbar, senior) 2012: 205 attempts, 840 yards, 4.1 per carry, 6 touchdowns, 2-3 record (Lance Dubar, gone to the NFL) 2013: 173 attempts, 563 yards, 3.3 per carry, 8 touchdowns, 2-3 record (Lance Dunbar, two years removed) Now, some here say we are not regonizing that the run game isn't working. It looks like to me, we have recognized it isn't working and have run less than in prior years. The summary of the season, thusfar, is this: -The pass game is better -The defense is better -The run game is worse -The special teams are worse Before the season: -We worried about the pass game -We worried about the defense -We assumed the run game would be fine -We had no idea what to expect of the special teams It comes down to this: Middle Tennessee is our Waterloo. They are a tough team who knows us well. We know them well. As poor as the run game has been, it's actually been more productive that the first five games of Lance Dunbar's senior season. Still, neither 2011 nor this season shows a stellar run game through the first five games. So, what of Saturday's game? Does the offensive line turn the corner and play to the level everyone expected before the season began? Some here write, "Well, they are fine in the passing game, so...?" Yes, well, so why can't we ever have a line that is equally good at pass blocking and run blocking? Maybe the offensive line believed their own pre-season hype. If so, they should have recieved a wake up call by now. They will either have to be more physical and as effective in the run game as they are in the pass game, or this will devolve into another losing season. Help us O-line Kenobi...you're our only hope!

Makes sense. The offensive line that can't open holes for running backs will mysteriously open them for a different quarterback.

Run blocking is more physical...and, that is probably what is driving McCarney crazy. As tough as the Little-Engines-That-Could are turning out to be on the defensive line, his much heralded offensive line can't open up holes for the run game. Crazy.

Well...20 rushes, 42 passes. I think we did stop trying. How many rushes in the second half? Two or three? It doesn't matter. If you can't run, the opponent doesn't have to commit a safety to stop it. I don't understand it. The offense line was supposed to be the strength; the defensive line, the weakness. If I hadn't been following UNT for so long, I wouldn't believe. But, there ya have it.

I know this, McCarney better wake 'em up because MTSU ain't bad...again. Played ECU really tough.

(1) Run the ball: amazingly, with a veteran offensive line, we cannot do. Amazing. (2) Stop the run: check, but Tulane is a terrible team, so shutting them down isn't earth-shattering news. (3) Play effective and mistake-free special teams: Still screwing up placekicks. Awful. I think Middle Tennessee stomps us if we continue to be unable to run the ball. Way too many penalties as well. How does McCarney get through to this team. It seems to be the most talented group we've had in some time. Yet, this loss is awful. We absolutely gave it away.

That's awesome, Rick! Wish I'd thought to do that!

Property insurance is not a gamble. If you don't want to pay for homeowners insurance, don't buy a house using someone else's money. Banks and mortgage lenders know you don't have the money to repair the asset if it is damaged, so you are required to carry insurance as a result. That's not a gamble - that's a lender protecting the asset that it co-owns with someone who doesn't have the financial punch to buy it outright. As far as auto insurance goes, if you don't want to pay high rates, then don't buy comprehensive, collision, and uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage. Repairs for even a fender bender these days will exceed what an insurer charges in annual premium in the vast majority of cases. If you think it's a "gamble," then drop those three coverage and man up and pay for your own losses. The insurance company takes on much more risk in the contract than the policyholder does. In your lifetime, you will never pay insurance companies for the total value of your home, possessions, other structures, additional living expense, or liability contained even in a single year's policy. People who complain about homeowers and auto insurance are like the knuckleheads who complain about oil companies, yet continue to use petroleum-based products in their daily lives. You don't have to participate in it; you choose to live a lifestyle where you are required - for good reason - to purchase it. Property insurance isn't a government program where the companies can just print up more money or "raise the debt ceiling" if they can't meet their financial obligations. Whether people ever admit it or not, you will not fnd a better deal than you have on property and auto insurance.

Just look at Chuck Amato, and try to do that: raise your eyebrows up while simulaneously furrowing your forehead down. It's physically impossible for everyone except Chuck Amato. I don't understand why North Carolina State would part ways with such a man. He can probably bench press more than you as well, from the looks of things:

Yes. But, there are a slew of fired/former head coaches that fit that bill. I'd take Mack, Cristobal, or Kiffin. But, I'd also take Gene Chizik. I'd take Mike Stoops. I'd take Dirk Koetter. I'd take Houston Nutt. I'd take Jeff Jagodzinski. I'd take Gregg Brandon. I'd take Gary Crowton. I'd take Jeff Tedford. I'd take Rick Minter. I'd take Tommy Bowden. I'd take Gary Barnett. I'd take Steve Logan. I'd take Ron Zook. I'd take Mark Mangino. I'd take Glen Mason. I'd take Ralph Friedgen. I'd take Tommy West. I'd take Randy Shannon. I'd take Bill Callahan. I'd take Butch Davis. I'd take Everett Withers. I'd take Mike O'Cain. I'd take Tyrone Willingham. I'd take Jim Tressel. I'd take Luke Fickell. I'd take Gary Gibbs. I'd take Dave Wannstedt. I'd take Danny Hope. I'd take Jim Leavitt. I'd take Jeff Bower. I'd take Tom Amstutz. I'd take Karl Dorrell. And, i'd take Chuck Amato, for this reason alone: That is a complete list of the former college head coaches I would hire...if, my only choice were to hire a former college head football coach.

Thanks. Very few people pull their heads out of the sand long enough to realize the lasting damage that has been done in this country over the past three decades (1989 - present). The final straw tilting America down the path of Mexico was the national leaders of the Democratic Party finally beginning to do business with "Big Business." Bush II continued it and we had the collapses in real estate and banking in 2008. Right now, what happens on Wall Street is as disconnected to the everyday lives of the middle class as ever. That is, Wall Street doing well does not mean America is doing well; it means America's rich are doing well. Many, many people in the middle class are duped into watching Wall Street. All of those companies righted their ships after 2008 by cutting payroll. These jobs "created" by Obama are a joke. Very few are full time or high paid. This health care bill is going to be another way for big businesses to unload on the working class. How people could not see this coming is unreal. Democrats especially. But, when you live in a purely, theoretical academic world, you make stupid policy choices for the people you say you are trying to help. You look at the anemic labor movement in this country...all the result of Democrats constantly passing laws to hamstring businesses. They hang themselves at every turn in their attempts to "help" the working class. it's truly stunning. It's becoming like Mexico...the poorer the people get, the closer they are to turning it over to outright communists. People don't realize how close Mexico is to electing a Hugo Chavez-type leader. America will become that way as the number of poor continues to increase. Politicians have become so focused on righting the "haves versus the have nots" that they forget that people who produce it in the first place. The class that suffers the most with punish-the-rich/even-it-up legislation is the middle class. Pathetic.

UNT 30, Tulane 27

Because of his age, fair or not, I think this is McCarney's last port of call as a head coach. Schools tend to seek younger blood... ...unless you are talking about FIU's AD and his mindnumbing decision to dump Mario Cristobal for Ron Turner.

Kiffin, whom I do not like, is not wholly to blame. The guy was 28-15 taking over from the mess Pete Carroll/Mike Garrett left behind. His personality doesn't help him, though. Scholarship losses do take root, eventually. It took Oklahoma over a decade to return to national prominence after they were busted and had scholarships taken away in 1989-91 (?). Pasqualoni did great things at Syracuse. Surprised he didn't do better at U Conn. As far as Mack Brown, in a scenario where Texas loses at Iowa State this weekend, then gets blown out, losing their fourth in a row to Oklahoma on October 12th, does Texas uses the bye week for the October 19th weekend to fire him? Sadly, the Iowa State game could be a 50/50 proposition for them. The Cyclones have many weaknesses. If Texas goes up there and loses, then gets hammered by Oklahoma, I can't imagine Texas Money allows him to finish out the season. At that point, Texas will be too far down the road to a losing season with games against TCU (good defense) and West Virginia (50/50 game at this point for both, though Mountaineers did off Okie-State), who will not lay down for them. And, closing with three in a row against schools that are currently ranked in the Top 25: Oklahoma State (21), Texas Tech (20), and Baylor (17). Having grown up in Texas and watched all of their stellar signing classes over the past 15 years, it seems surreal to even be discussing Mack Brown being fired mid-season. But, when you've got high expectations on you, you kind of have to deliver...after three consecutive seasons of not exactly delivering very well.

Yes, FIU and Georgia State are easily the worst.

Which is why I've preached before and I'll preach again, America will someday be like Mexico: (1) A small, politically connected wealthy class (2) A small, constantly struggling middle class (3) The vast majority poor. In voting, there are three main parties that split the vote in Mexico. One leans to what Mexico considers "conservative" (PAN), another is a reformed version of what we would consider a Democrat Party (PRI), and one which is basically communist (PRD). America's three party split will be different. You will have the leftist brand staying with the Democrats. Moderates will be the Republican Party. And, there will be whatever becomes of the Tea Party. There will never be another Republican president. The demography has shifted permanently in favor of the irresponsible in Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Colorado's major cities to the degree that these states are now as unwinnable in the electoral college for the GOP as California and Massachusetts. Republicans don't like to hear this, but it's the truth. Texas will be a blue state by 2030, and probably 2024. The last bastion of Red States will be outposts like Alabama, Oklahoma, and Wyoming. The effect on the economy will be to turn it into a mass of inefficiency rivaled only by underachieving countries rich in natural resources like Mexico. Although inflation is said to be low, it is disguised because the way inflation was measured was changed in the 1990s. It doesn't matter, though, how it is hidden. The old "invisible hand" in economics is still working the way it always will. The result will be a the junking of the currency, again similar to what has happened in Mexico...and several other Central and South American countries. The fed will print money like hotcakes as Democrat-controlled Congress after Congress continues to pile on debt in attempt to appease the vast and growing numbers of poor. Our children will eventually see expropriation of land, private property, and industries similar to that which occurred in Mexico during the presidencies of Echevarria and Portillo from 1970 to 1982. The poor will fare no better then than they do now in Mexico and other Central and South American countries similarly situated. It's just that there will be more of them...and, as always, with their hands out...and, led by the politicians who keep their boot heels on their necks, always blaming someone else for their poverty. It will be an excellent time to be dead and gone. Our children are already fluent in English and Spanish. The oldest boy is in his third year of Chinese. Our daughter, 5, began Chinese last month. We'll prepare ours to be able to leave the country and compete economically and intellectually at some other port of call around the globe. Our parents saw America at its zenith; our kids will see it trampled under foot by its own.