untjim1995

Benford showed up??

I think we will beat FIU at home, but I don't see us winning either of these two games on the road. UTEP is just a better team than we are right now and they are playing at home, which we have shown that we cannot even compete on the road for 4 quarters. UTSA and us are equal, but they will also be at home. PLus, you cannot forget the recruiting factor that both coachers at UTEP and UTSA want to take advantage of by getting wins over us, especially UTSA.

I think they have joined Baylor in offering benefit$ that aren't publi$hed... In Waco, its called a Bible full of cash...In College Station, its probably a Corps Boot full of cash.

Its hard for me to post that I am willing to give this thing a new shot, especially after the last two years. I think he has a schedule to make some hay at home in OOC, but I just don't see us beating anyone who has a chance at making the NCAA Tournament. As I posted the other day, I see us going 6-2 at home in OOC play, 0-4 on the road in OOC play. CUSA has some good teams at the top, but its still a one-bid league, probably La Tech's or UTEPs to earn. I see us winning 7 or 8 games in conference play (including the conference tourney). That gets you to a record of 14-17, which I think is about the best we can expect for. If we get to 16 wins this year, that means we are guarenteed .500 or better. With this schedule, that's possible. And with this AD wanting to show everyone that Benford wasn't a complete failure, I'd expect RV will be ready to extend Benford out another year or two, which would give him 3 or 4 more years to coach here. If Benford wins between 5 and 15 games, he'll be back with a make-it-or-break-it 4th year to coach, which would require a winning season to get him an extension. Under 5 wins would probably mean that Benford gets fired--I think...after watching Vic Trilli and Todd Dodge get 4th years after 3 awful seasons leading up to that 4th year are the examples of why I cannot say it would be a certainty.

This. When Johnny left to go back to LSU, we should've hired an experienced head coach, or at least hired a coach from Johnny's staff to take over and keep some continuity going for the players. What was a bad idea was to hire an assistant coach from outside the program that has never been a head coach. What was a worse idea was to hire one who was known to be a great recruiter, not an x's and o's coach, just like Trilli was when we hired him. What was the worst idea was to hire one who was an alum of a giant P5 school in the state, so if he was any good, he would've been Tech's head coach wihihn a year or two. And if he wasn't any good, we were stuck with him for 4 years. We went the worst route possible...

Or Nicholls State?

Great point and I think you are right about the defense figuring out the up-tempo offenses, too. Hell, Saban tried to get the rules committee to change some of the rules regarding the no-huddle offenses on the grounds of "safety", but that was easily seen as benefitting the defense, which was his main reason for doing it. But he (or someone like him) will figure it out, I'm sure. And it will be awesome to go back to real football instead of glorified tag football at the schoolyard.

At a school like ours, you're just going to have to develop these no stars, 1-stars, and 2 stars into 3 and 4 star type players, particularly in the front seven on defense and on the OLine. We always have a solid stable of running backs and we usually have a decent corps of WRs. But its the front seven that will determine if the secondary is great or putrid (there's generally no in between here) and its the OLine that will determine if your running game will give that defense the rest it needs. Last year, we had all of that, in Year 3 of Mac's tenure. Then we lost a ton of starters. Now, we are basically in Year 1 again, based on the results we have seen--the question is if it will take just a year to rebuild or if it will take 2 or more years. One thing is for certain, though. It won't be because of the QB. Since we moved back up to Division 1-A in 1995, we have had one QB who could've been a legitimate passer for an entire season, Giovanni Vizza. He had the size and the arm--he just got beaten up so bad during games in his freshman season and beaten down so much off the field because of the Dodge-coached program he got involved with here that he didn't have the heart to keep going, so he quit. Other than that, no other QB we have had since then was a QB that you could look at and say that he had the potential to lead a conference in passing or win a game with his arm. Its just how it has always been here--Simon, Dickey, Dodge, or McCarney--three of them couldn't or didn't recruit decent throwing QBs, while Dodge did, but he was incompetent at actually running a college program. That is why we know that the only path to success we have seen here has been thru the busdriver-offense route, which rode the coattails of a great defense and special teams, as well as a dominant running game to keep the clock rolling and keep the defense off the field.

I agree, but even Alabama has had trouble with that offense in past years, with losses against Texas A&M and Auburn. All that said, you're right in that those teams have the athletes to at least hold their own against it. I just think that the Texas HS offenses running this spread actually stunts some defensive development because of practices that aren't full tackle contact (see Todd Dodge here). Unless you have a coach who can teach defensive skills, like Patterson at TCU seems to do better than most, you have to take the good with the bad and try to develop them into decent players over time. At some places, Baylor or Tech or A&M, defense is just given a token amount of coaching and the focus is on offense. And even at places with coaches who are good at developing defensive teams, like TCU and even here with McCarney, you can still get caught up in track meets because of the rules and the immense amount of offensive talent that exists on rosters in the state of Texas. Schools like Texas and Oklahoma are finding out that their defenses are not equipped, for varying reasons, to stop the spread offenses. Whether they go full bore at being offensive-focused teams like Baylor and A&M right now or find a defensive scheme that can stop those offenses enough to beat them regularly is the biggest question they face. The problem, again, though, is that the majority of your recruits play this glorified flag football, so you've got to be able to teach how to hit and tackle very quickly, which is obviously easier said than done in today's college football world.

To me, the point isn't DT--its Coach Mac. This is his offensive gameplan. H eloves the Stanford model--beat you up with a strong running game a great defense, mixed with solid to spectacular special teams. The QB is a busdriver. This year's team has a porous defense against anyone with a pulse on offense, the special teams is decent, and the OLine hasn't played well for the most part, except against three bad to they-may-be the-worst-team-I've-seen-in-decades-bad programs. Next season, these two things determine our success--whether our defensive front seven improve strength wise so as to put more pressure on the QB, and if we can develop a new OLine since so many guys will be done. If so, then we are a bowl team next year. If not, we win 3 or 4 games at the most in 2015. McNulty's play (or Greer's) won't determine that anymore than it has this season. Who Dan McCarney needs to find and get here is a Scott Hall type QB--one who is gritty and just comes off as a leader, but can be a solid busdriver, too...

Count me in, as well, as someone who thinks the spread offense is glorified backyard football. I don't know how or when, but some defense is going to figure out how to punish that offense and it will end it for good. Just like the wishbone and option football got dealt a crushing blow when defenses figured out that you had to get quicker LBs at DLinemen to stop it, someone is gonna figure this out. I like the 20-13 game way more than the 82-27 game.

I like MAc a lot--and I don't fault him for following his gut with the offensive gameplan he believes in. But what else is he going to say when asked this question? Its not like he's gonna say, "Well, our old school offense really doesn't appeal at all to any decent passing QB in this state, which is too bad, since 95% of them play in a spread offense." I think we have 3+ season to show that QB bus drivers are the best this offense is ever going to attract, especially now that Dajon Williams has been removed from being the starter because he couldn't drive the bus well enough. Derke Thompson and Andrew McNulty are going to be the QBs that we will have here under Mac. He wants kids who buy into his entire philosophy and won't kill them with several stupid mistakes per game. He is fine with limited capability at that position if it means we don't turn the ball over a lot and have a power running game. It is a new Buick, driven by a more upbeat and PR-savvy head coach than the old model we traded in back in 2006. McNulty will start here next year, mark my words. He will be the next "Derek Thompson", a solid-SR QB that will show great character and leadership. What that really means is that if we have an OLine that can develop into something next year and the RBs are solid, we have the chance to have a 2013-like season again. If not, it will look a lot like 2014 again...

I'm gonna bet this helps Tech more than it hurts them when the real season begins. Tubby has their full attention now--and as much I cannot stand their stupid fanbase, Tubby knows that Lubbock becomes a much tougher place to play when conference season rolls around if they have any kind of decent team. He will get them ready. It wouldn't surprise one bit if Tubby didn't "throw" this one to get the players attention...

I guess that's why the MAC is just SEC-lite...who could possibly expect to beat those two juggernauts in back-to-back weekends?

Here's the thing about Lee Jackson. To alot of us on this board, he is an idiot, for several reasons. The athletics fee that we charge half of what powerhouses like UTSA, Texas State, and Lamar legally can and do charge just kills me and is right up there for a primary reason that I feel that Jackson is terrible. But here's the rub--to the vast majority of UNT's family circle (BOR, admisnistration, faculty, student body, alumni, and Denton citizenry) Jackson is a great chancellor. He is protecting their interests that have stood for decades (low costs, focus on education and arts/music, avoid athletic funding as much as possible). A lot of us can bitch about Lee Jackson, but just like RV, he is the poster boy of how the UNT BOR wants things run. If you don't believe this, ask yourself what other university system would keep a chancellor on board and EXTEND HIM after a multi-million dollar scandal occurs that will cause major budget shortfalls, of which dirty old athletics get the lion share of the cuts? We don't like athletics here--its not because we have an incompetent administration, its because we have always had an adminstration that competently protects the interests that the school has always put on a pedestal.

worst....thread....ever....

Best wins in my opinion: 1.) beating Cincinnati in the NO Bowl--winning a bowl game as a conference championi was nice, but Cincy choking away a game earlier in the season at home against Ohio State (who went on to win the national championship) made the win even more impressive. 2.) beating Tennessee in Knoxville--The Vols are always going to be NCAA royalty, even when they aren't great, just because of their history, stadium, and conference. 3.) beating UNLV in the HoD Bowl---winning a game at the historic Cotton Bowl, on New Years Day, in front of 40k Mean Green fans was a dream come true for those of us who grew up in the area and remember that stadium always hosting SWC champions. First time in my life that UNT Football actually got some strong media attention in DFW. 4.) beating Texas Tech in 1997--it was our third year back as a Division 1-a team and we beat a Big XII team that was a SWC legacy program at their place on a last minute TD, causing George Dunham to exclaim, "Do You Believe in the Mean Green!!!!" , which still gets played on The Ticket when Georgio talks about UNT. The next week we gave A&M a pretty strong game for about 3 qtrs at Texas Stadium and we all thought we were on our way to winning the Big West. Then, we couldn't get up for any of the Big West teams and got beat by Idaho, Boise State, and Nevada and beat NWSU and USU to end the season at 4-7, which was very disappointing. But that Tech win had people talking about us as a promising program. 5.) crushing Baylor in 2003 at Fouts--all of the other games listed happened somewhere other than Denton, but this one, against another Big XII team and SWC legacy program, saw Fouts hold its biggest crowd ever. We let out a generation of built-up resentment toward those SWC bastards who rarely (as in almost never) played us in Denton. We beat those AQ leeches 52-14 and it could've been worse if we had stopped trying in the 4th quarter and let them score a TD. My favorite football game ever in Denton. Some honorable mentions--Beating Tech in 1999, beating Tech in 1988, beating NMSU at Fouts to win the SBC in 2002, beating SDSU in Denton as our only win over a ranked team in our history, beating MUTS in 2001 to being a dominant stretch against the sbc for the next 4 years, beating Indiana in 2011 for our first win at Apogee and our first win against a Big Ten team, beating Rice in 2013 in a nationally televised game that featured The Stand, and, for pure fun, beating a ranked i-aa McNeese State in the rain at Fouts in front of 19k that basically put us in the drivers seat to win the SLC in our last year as a 1-aa team (punctuated with a fumble return for a TD that caused George Dunham to yell out "See 'Ya Later McNeese State!!" Feel free to add to this list--I'm sure I missed a few along the way.

Bailiff at Rice would be a real smart hire, for a lot of reasons--Texas HS ties, understanding coaching at a private school in a big city, and a salary that wouldn't be exorbitant (not that this matters for them). If I were at SMU right now, I wouldn't hire Mack Brown for $4 million dollars at a G5 program that is about to feel the full effects of being stuck in the new i-aa. I'd put all my money toward the hoops progra over there and just run the football program to appeal to the 10k in the DFW area that have any interest in SMU Football playing in a G5 league. Bailiff, Hudspeth at ULL, or Skip Holtz at La Tech would be my top three targets if I was there.

If the BOR doesn't care about winning, then it isn't an issue how RV runs the AD, just as long as he stays within the budget and doesn't embarrass them with his words or actions. He has it made here...if you want to believe differently, you aren't looking at what RV has done to get these extensions. I don't even blame RV--if someone gave me extensions and a huge salary to just stay within the bounds of a budget, I'd gladly take it and keep on taking it as long as they wanted to give it out.

Before we get into answering these questions, how do you feel about that fee being on your tuition bill? Is that something you support or do you feel like it is a waste of money to be used only on athletics here at UNT?

He's already been given a free pass from RV on Year 1, when he blamed that season on the players, not the coach. Now that those guys are gone, this is Benford's team of players, so he is 16-16 as far as RV is concerned. Hell, he got UTA off the schedule so that we could replace them with teams like Langston and Wayland Baptist at home in the last two seasons. If you cannot go .500 with this schedule, you should get fired once that is not possible. Not here, though. All that will mean is that he will be certain to coach here in Year 4 of his contract. But a .500 season means Benford is affordable to extend for a few years. If Benford goes 16-16 again, he get easily be extended for another two or three years at a friendly salary for the BOR, instead of potentially buying out a year of salary in 2016 and then paying for another contract. You all know how the BOR looks at this stuff here. This just seems crystal clear to me, based on how things have always functioned here regarding revenue sports. I hope I'm wrong compeltely, but there is nothing from the past that makes me feel that it won't happen. That OOC home schedule is just putrid--if you cannot go 6-2 versus that collection of teams at home, than you are probably right and we won't be having this argument. But I have a feeling that .500 is very possible again--and if so, then we are going to be sold that Benford is very deserving of receiving an extension after all that he has had to endure on the job. Remember this--the big money is behind Benford right now, as is the BOR and the AD. That is a huge advantage at a school like ours...

Take out the bottom 4 teams of the SEC, just so you can make it 10 versus 10 in the SEC versus the Big 12. Now think neutral field... Mississippi State (#1) versus TCU (#6)--I could see TCU winning here Auburn (#3) versus K-State (#9)--already saw Auburn beat K-State in Manhattan, doesn't matter how bad KSU played that night, they still lost... Alabama (#4) versus Baylor (#10)--Bama would beat this bunch up on both sides of the ball, plus Baylor would never stop Bama's running game Ole Miss (#10) versus Oklahoma (#16)--This is one I think Oklahoma would win, since Ole Miss just lost their best receiver LSU (#14) versus West Virginia (#24)--I think LSU's running game and defense would be too much on a neutral field Georgia (#17) versus Oklahoma State (no votes received)--Georgia in a nailbiter--OSU is just too young. If Gurley played for UGa, I'd like the Dawgs even more... Mizzou (Receiving Votes) versus Texas (no votes received)--wouldn't be close, Mizzou would hammer them--Texas has no offense and their special teams are only special for the other team, unless they are playing... Florida (Receiving 1 vote) versus Texas Tech (no votes received)--Texas Tech is the worst team not named Kansas in the league, probably one of the five worst P5 teams in the country. Texas pummelled them in Lubbock...Texas... Texas A&M (Receiving 1 vote) versus Iowa State (no votes received)--A&M would score a lot of points on ISU, but would give up a lot of points. It would probably look like the ISU game in Austin from a few weeks ago, a close loss in a shootout Kentucky (no votes received, but a 5-4 record) versus Kansas (no votes received)--this should be a basketball game instead... This is not counting South Carolina at 4-5, Tennessee at 4-5, Arkansas at 4-5 (crushed Tech in Lubbock, yet to win a game in the SEC), or Vanderbilt at 3-6. I'd take everyone of these teams against the last 4 teams of the Big XII in head-to-head on a neutral field.

RV isn't concerned about his job, pal... You watch--if he gets to .500 or better, he's gonna get a two year extension or more. We play Arkansas-Monticello, Nicholls State, Delaware State, Iona, Mississippi Valley State, Langston, Prairie View and Creighton at home--and that Creighton game is on 12/21 when there won't be any students around to come to the game. So, realistically, Creighton and Iona are the two most likely losses--the others are all probable wins. We won't win a road game at Arkansas, Okie State, SFA, or Texas Tech, so that gets us to 6-6 right there. If we go 9-9 in conference, then split a couple fo games in the CUSA Tournament, we go 16-16, which matches last year's record with what was the worst OOC I had ever seen scheduled here in a long time, like the pre-Trilli days. RV hates that Benford is looked at as a colossal failure. Another .500 season here is going to get rewarded. He will be promoted in the media by RV as showing that he is now understanding what it takes to be a head coach in basketball, now that he has three years under his belt. You'll see... It will take a win number under 15 to have Benford go into his 4th year (of 5) without a contract extension. And it'll take a win total under 5 to have even a remote chance at seeing him removed, although I doubt it...what in the world would make you believe otherwise? Frankly, I'm surprised you'd think an extension after this season in that hypothetical mentioned above wouldn't happen, knowing what you know about this place and RV's history here.

It really doesn't matter, in the big picture. Once the P5s fully pull away, any conference setup where the majority of your travel is beyond a 2 hour flight is going to be an ender. I will say this, again, one of the two biggest winners in the realignment game was TCU, along with Utah. TCU went out west, with Texas HS talent, and beat the hell out of the MWC teams often. They turned that league experience into two BCS bowl games, 1 Rose Bowl win, several ranked seasons, and the best prize of all, the spot in a P5 conference, which as of right now, is set to give them a spot in the upcoming playoff, according to cbssports.com. Even though TCU, Utah, and BYU are gone, they replaced them with Boise State, Fresno State, and Nevada, all of whom have solid programs and recent success of varied note. If things stayed remotely close to how they are now, the Texas schools that would've eventually been courted by the MWC would be setup to follow TCU's path, in my opinion. Plus, the basketball out there is just flat out awesome, between New Mexico, San Diego State, UNLV, and Utah State. CUSA is the best setup UNT has ever had in a conference in 40 years. I am eternally grateful to the Big East thinking that SMU would help their conference stay at a P5 level, opening up that spot for us. But I am not acting like CUSA is something spectacular for our fans, aside from having a few more recognizable schools to play against and travel to a lot easier. Going to Houston, San Antonio, El Paso, and Ruston are significant upgrades from traveling to Monroe, Jonesboro, Troy, and Mobile (really any SBC vista not in Lafayatte, LA). But the current environment in college football is changing so fast that the G5s are going to force to consolidate into conferences that are more regional, no matter how hard it is going to be for some to handle that (SMU to UNT, La Tech to ULM, UTEP to NMSU).

I'd be shocked if we stay within 4 points of them. Just don't see it happening with this team's defense and QB issues.