The Fake Lonnie Finch

Derek does give us the best chance to win. 19 of 29 is 65.5 percent. It's excellent one way or the other. Had same numbers as more heralded Ohio QB Tettleton. And, yes...WRs need to make plays as well. That's been said many times here...by somebody... Liked the WR play overall, but...playmakers make plays. Keep hating, Thompson haters. Keep hating him all the way to our first bowl game since 2004...and, possibly a conference title match up with East Carolina. That's right, I said it! Where will you haters direct your hate when we've got the C-USun Belt West title in hand and have a bowl trip to prepare for?

I didn't think Whitfield was in a bad position on the first play. He was there, but mistimed his jump...then, got turned around looking to tackle the guy. I wouldn't be too hard on the kid. He was signed as a running back and switched over the corner because we needed bodies over there last year. He's a hell of an athlete and competitor. And, team player for making the switch. He was also giving up 5 inches to that receiver from Ohio. You can't coach height, unfortunately. Credit, again, Ohio's coaching staff for seeing that mismatch in game prep. I mean, that's what they're paid to do - look for potential weaknesses in the opponent. Ohio is well coached and solid with many years of winning. That we went up there and played them well...that's the thing that gives me hope. Only two things will make me lose hope this year: (1) If Ball State blows us out, that'll be bad. (2) If Tulane is within 14 points of us when that game ends, that'll be bad. The Green Wave suck. If a school who loses at home to South Alabama plays us close, everything will be touch and go for the rest of the season. Pepperjack Cheese!

Us: 25 (we miss three extra points) Them: 24

Shoulda gone with The Fake Darrell Dickey. That would have been a huge hit!

Man, I wouldn't pencil in Tulsa or Iowa for anything at this point. Tulsa is cooked and Iowa has a rocky road to five more wins. A loss to Iowa State this weekend would be the Hawkeyes' third in a row, dropping them to 1-2 on the season on the heels of a 4-8 2012...before they even get into Big Ten play.

What I think our 3-3-5 would look like, had it been employed this season NG/DT - Richard Abbe, 6-4/320 DE - Brandon McCoy, 6-2/263 DE - Alexander Lincoln, 6-2/267 OLB/DE - Chad Polk, 6-0/223 MLB - Zach Orr, 6-1/240 OLB - Will Wright, 6-0/221 CB - Zac Whitfield, 5-9/190 CB - Hilbert Jackson, 6-1/185 FS - Marcus Trice, 5-8/193 SS - Laramie Lee, 5-10/195 SS/Nickel - Zed Evans, 5-11/198 We actually have enough talent at LB and in the seconday where you could plug any number of guys in there. Putting Akunne in for Wright gives you 20 more pounds of muscle if you suspect more rushing in any given situation. We've flipped some DEs to DT by necessity. That could be remedied to a greater degree with a three man front. A lot of this is just me thinking out loud on paper. However, it does look to be an option more schools are using to counter size/talent differences. And, I suppose at Oklahoma, the inability to sign enough blue chip DTs to have an effective 4-3.

Over the summer, I posted clips of the BYU coach explaining their 3-3-5 and why they do it (don't have the athletes to run with "bigger" schools, etc.). Well, they just steam-rolled Texas. Texas' defense hasn't changed from last year. It still sucks against the run. OU's defense sucked against the run last year as well. But, this year, they have also gone to a 3-3-5/hybrid 50, and it seems to be working for them. I understand BYU waving the white flag on defense and going to strange formations to make up for it. But, OU? http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/eye-on-college-football/21624514 http://espn.go.com/blog/ncfnation/post/_/id/82124/sooners-hope-new-scheme-cures-all http://www.crimsonandcreammachine.com/2013/9/2/4685934/ou-oklahoma-sooners-football-2013-louisiana-monroe-ulm-trevor-knight (A little bit of new Texas DC Greg Robison's swim with the 3-3-5 at Michigan under Rich Rodriguez: http://www.burntorangenation.com/football/2013/9/8/4709116/greg-robinson-texas-longhorns-michigan-wolvers-failures) Looking back to last weekend, had we been able to be more effective at stopping the run, we'd have probably beaten Ohio. If a big dog like OU can finally say, "We're lost with this 4-3 bit, we're going to try the 3-3-5 bit" isn't it something we might look at? (...or, can we send all of our DLs on a two year mormon mission so that they'll all be 25-26 years old by the time they graduate? Sort of the older, wiser player approach?) 3-3-5 Articles: http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8015709/an-excerpt-essential-smart-football-birth-3-3-5-defense. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3%E2%80%933%E2%80%935_defense http://deepshadesofblue.com/byus-3-4-defense-a-model-for-success/ http://www.ksl.com/?nid=272&sid=12785897 http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/Dec/05/poinsettia-bowl-pits-byus-bronco-mendenhall-agains

Good point. He'll have to get it a bit higher, not just faster.

That's not good news on the kicking game. If Olen can't get the trajectory up for extra points, how is he going to do so for long kicks when trajectory should be lower and faster?

Check the date on that gif - it's from last year's Texas/OU game. Kind of the same result, though, against BYU.

I wouldn't worry about Tulsa. Not only is their defense screwed up, but they lost their best receiver for the year over the weekend with a broken leg. When it rains, it pours. We all know the feeling here. This year, Tulsa is getting a taste of bad luck: http://www.tulsaworld.com/article.aspx/TU_loses_WR_Garrett_for_season/20130908_94_0_Frteti941093 http://www.tulsaworld.com/article.aspx/Salazars_last_second_field_goal_lifts_Tulsa_past_Colorado/20130907_231_0_Tlafcs439074

The most realistic way to 7-5 is: Split Ball State/Georgia Split Tulane/MT Split La Tech/Southern Miss At that point, we're 4-4, with only Rice as a possible "sure" loss with 3 of the last four at home, and the huge break in time between Halloween and UTSA where we only play one game in 23 days. With UTEP, UTSA, and Tulsa's defense in shambles, six or seven wins doesn't look out of reach any longer. A win versus Ball State will be tough. It makes a pretty easy road even easier...if the players, you know, keep doing what they've shown they can do in the first two weeks.

My only worry about this season now, having seen two games, is the depth on the defensive line. We just don't have the numbers there, and many of the bodies are "small" for FBS football. I fear they'll get nicked up and worn down. But, we do have the two Byes and one stretch in November where we only play one game in three weeks, so maybe that will help. Before the season, I was worried about WR and DL. Very proud, though, of the way other receivers stepped up when Ohio took Chancellor out of the game. That was a very positive sign. I admit, though, that I am surprised by the demise of Zach Olen. This is a worry. You need to be able to get three in close games. We do not appear to have a reliable kicker two games in...and, that's worrisome.

Everyone other than the first down pass/run counters can see that the season looks to be shaping up better than expected. We have improved, and the C-USA looks as bad or worse than last season's Sun Belt. 9/14: BALL STATE, 2-0, wins versus FCS Illinois State and Army. 50-50 9/21 @ Georgia, 1-1, lost to Clemson, beat S. Carolina. Obviously, this would be a miracle win. 9/28: BYE 10/5: @ Tulane, 1-1, beat FCS Jackson State, lost to Sun Belt start-from-scratch South Alabama. This is highly winnable. 10/12: MIDDLE TENNESSEE, 1-1, beat FCS Western Carolina, lost to North Carolina. This, sadly, is our rival that followed us out of the Belt to prop up the sinking C-USA It's a 50-50. 10/19: @ Louisiana Tech, 1-1, lost to NC State, beat FCS Lamar...and struggled with them. Didn't put game out of reach until 1:51 left in the game. This against a SOUTHLAND start-from-scratch. This is a 50-50. 10/26: @ Southern Miss, 0-2, lost to FCS Texas State, crushed by Nebraska. This is highly winnable. 10/31: RICE, 0-1, lost to Texas A&M, but put up a fight. This is the C-USA West frontrunner by far. This one, even at home will be tough to win coming on a short week that follows back-to-back road games. It will be really impressive if we can get this one. 11/9: UTEP, 0-1, lost in overtime to an equally bad New Mexico squad. New coach, QB, and all. Extra rest days following the week day Halloween game. This is a winnable game. 11/16: BYE 11/23: UTSA, 1-1, beat New Mexico, thrashed by Oklahoma State. Love Larry Coker. He's got the best of the start-from-scratch programs. Still, we will have played only one game in 23 days when kicks off due to the week day Halloween game and the Bye following UTEP. We should be healed up and ready to go. Roadrunners will also be coming in from a BYE week. This is winnable. 11/30: @ Tulsa, 1-1, lost to Bowling Green, make a fourth quarter comeback win versus horrible Colorado State at home. TU is in shambles on defense. Hard to believe, but this is going to be a highly winnable game at the rate the Hurricane are going so far. The only two games remaining that you can look at and say, "Man, we don't have a good chance" are Georgia and Rice. Three of our fellow C-USAers have only beaten FCS schools, and another lost to and FCS. Tulsa is bleeding on their way out the door. Ranking the toughest games remaining: (1) Georgia (2) Rice (3) Ball State (4) Middle Tennessee (5) Louisiana Tech (6) UTSA (7) UTEP (8) Tulsa (9) Southern Miss (10) Tulane The X factor is going to be whether we can win on the road. After Ball State, four of the next five are on the road. The three versus C-USA schools Tulane, Louisiana Tech and Southern Miss are winnable games. If there is a time to take the bull by the horns, it will be during that stretch. I'm putting my opinion of the season on the Tulane game. If we can't beat Tulane, we're going to have problems beating anyone. They are terrible, and will be terrible until they hire a real head coach.

Someone tell the last seven national title winners from the SEC that it isn't the 1950s, then.

They beat Illinois State and Army. Trailed at halftime 21-16 to Illinois State. Army is still what it is - an option football team. So, nothing is ever learned by playing Army except whether your defense can stop the option. Army 5-19 in two previous seasons...so... ...not really afraid of Ball State. Although, Lembo has them at 17-10 since taking over two years ago. Coaching staff doing well. Although, they had winning season two of the four years prior to his hiring with Brady Hoke, now at Michigan, in charge. So...that's different that taking over what our prior coaching staff left behind, to be sure.

Because they don't understand football. And, when presented evidence that the team that beat had the same type of game plan still refuse to understand: Run, stop the run, effective, mistake-free special teams. Also, they hate Derek Thompson, and champion QBs who have never and will never live up to high school hype. These are fans who likely were excited when Todd Dodge was hired. Saturday, we didn't run well. Ohio did run well. Our special teams were not special in a good sense. Ohio wins by six on two fourth quarter field goals. On to the next game.

Yes. Solich is a good barometer. No, an excellent barometer, for a mid-major school. I'd love to have a coach leading us getting us to conference title games, beating Penn State, and regularly going to bowl games...even if his method is 3-to-1 running plays on first down. It's not his fault that he understands football. Success, thy name is establishing a run games, stopping the run, playing effective, mistake-free special teams. Hello, Frank Solich and Nick Saban.

Crazy, right?

Ohio, on first down last night: 25 rushes, 8 passes. Gee, a very similar game plan, by - surprise, surprise - a coach cut from the same midwestern, run-first mold as McCarney. Wow. So, what are you trying to say? Because, you are really saying what I've already told everyone: You must be able to run and stop the run. When Ohio needed to run the ball, they ran well. On the other side of the ball, they stopped our run game. Congrats to them. They do what the best football teams do. Now...let me guess. You'd be the type to criticize BYU for running too much on first down against Texas last night. I mean, it was predictable that they were going to keep running. How in the world did BYU win without "making UT's defense guess" about what it was going to do? BYU was very predictable. Uber-predictable. Football is this: Run, stop the run, have effective, mistake-free special teams. That's football. It's why guys like Frank Solich are still head coaches and guys like Hal Mumme are not.

Oh, and by the way, I think this game shows that Mac is doing a hell of a job. No one favored us to win. Ohio is tough and were at home. We were not blown out or embarrassed. As crappy as the C-USA looks, and considering the strong showing last night against a better team, I think we could realistically challenge for a spot in the C-USA title game. Before the season, I'd have never believed it. In short, Mac appears to have instilled some fight and pride in this team. We'll do better than the 4-5 wins I thought we'd have.

Ohio has been to four consecutive bowl games. In those seasons, they have won 8, 9, 10, and 9 games, respectively. To say that Frank Solich has that thing going in the right direction is a huge understatement. We've had eight consecutive losing seasons. Over the past four seasons, we've won 2, 3, 5, and 4 games, respectively under three head coaches. And, so we go up there and lose by 6...and people here as moaning and groaning...mainly, because they don't understand football: run, stop the run, play solid, mistake-free special teams. So, what do we bitch about? This: Tyler Tettleton: 19-30, 239 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs Derek Thompson: 19-29, 195, 2 TDs, 2 INTs Hmm. Rushing: Ryan Boykin: 19-93, 4.9 per carry Beau Blankenship: 14-83, 5.9 per carry 33 rushes out of their halfback duo for 176 yards, 5.3 yards per carry Antoinne Jimmerson: 12-35, 2.9 yards per carry Brandin Byrd: 10-27, 2.7 per carry Reggie Pegram: 9-23, 2.6 per carry 31 rushes out of our halfback trio for 85 yards, 2.7 per carry We were not running or stopping the run. We missed a field goal. They kick a field goal about half way through the fourth quarter to take a 24-21 lead. This is a school with a roster full of guys recruited to a team with four consecutive bowl games and 36 wins during the stretch scratching out a win over a school with a roster full of guys recruited to a team with eight consecutve losing seasons and 14 wins over the past four years... ...and, people here want to bitch because our QB played their much-heralded QB toe-to-toe, even while having his main weapon held in check (Chancellor, 1 catch/33 yards, 1 rush/2 yards). Do the right thing: (1) Tip your hat to the Ohio defense for doing what defenses are supposed to do - stop the run, eliminate the opponent's playmaker (I'd say playmakers, but we really only have one in Chancellor) (2) Be happy Derek Thompson played to the level of Tyler Tettleton and found guys despite Ohio effectively taking Chancellor out of the game. (3) Admit that our place kickers need to start showing up in games, not just in practice. Anything else you read into the game is pure fantasy. The biggest of all is that our football coaches with decades of experience hold certain players out of the game just so they can be loyal to others. Because the CIA has opened the Area 51 files, though, I guess there must be other manufactured, illogical conspiracies to cling to.

What's the problem with wearing them for every home game? Don't we have washers and dryers at UNT? Just wash 'em off and use 'em again. It ain't rocket science.

I been tellin' ya'll for months that Derek is The Man! But, did you believe me? No. You were all sold on the Transfer King who hasn't seen a live game snap since high school. Dajon Williams, a true freshman, now has more FBS game experience than Transfer King.

Best of the bunch. Will probably break many of Steve Ramsey and Derek Thompson's UNT records someday. Looking forward to it.