Hookset

He probably has some chronic soreness like all starters do after 3/4’s of a season. I think his drop off has more to do with a decimated running game (Porter is stepping up but would never play if the others were healthy), constant restructuring of the offensive line due to injuries, and some questionable play calling by the coach. I think he is pushing too much.

Didn’t he use his redshirt last year?

Defensive recruiting/coaches have taken a backseat to offensive recruiting/coaches. I truly hope Morris quickly figures out that defense is necessary for winning. We just can’t rely on out scoring teams. I also hope Morris starts protecting the defense with his offensive play calls. When the defense just got off the field after a long drive by the other team, don’t be so aggressive with long passes that have us turning the ball over in less than a minute. Try to burn some clock and sustain a drive allowing the defense to rest and get adjustments from coaches.

Well, just enough to keep me watching.

DATCU Stadium concessions should take note of how the Super Pit concessions work. One winding line that feeds multiple registers. This is the fastest way to serve large crowds.

Kinda funny. Go Mean Green!!!

Morris said we knew Tulane was going to run the ball. We didn’t do a good job stopping the run. That really bothers me. We prepared for that and still gave up 297 yards on the ground. Is it coaching, quality of players, all of the above?

I agree we have a young defense. Unfortunately young players do make mistakes. This shouldn’t always be blamed on the coach (but a good coach will take the blame to protect a young player). My concern is can we keep the good developing players from leaving for more NIL money elsewhere? If you want to run a complicated defensive scheme but you have a constantly overturning roster, should you run a simplified scheme that you can plug young players in and have more success early on?

After the very first game with Caponi as DC I thought he needed to be fired immediately. The thought from Morris was to give him a chance to recruit his players. That happened and there was very little improvement. He has changed the base defense to a 3-4 and that’s been a little better. I just wonder if we can give him so much time for such a slow learning curve. We also are NIL money poor compared to many other teams. I don’t think we can get “more” players in the next offseason.

Yes, he is.

He is the second leading tackler. Geez…

Actually the question is ‘Where are the students?’ Most fans sit on the west side. When I looked around it was 3/4 full and the lower section of the north end zone was 3/4 full. Student section was less than half full. There was also a large Tulsa following on the east side. DATCU is loud when the students show up. Hell, I come even when we’re bad. Don’t understand why the students don’t show up when we are playing well.

This!!! East side North! West side Texas! Then go!

Absolutely! That should also bring a better TV contract in the future. There will be more viewers of UNT vs Army/Navy/Air Force than UNT vs Rice/Temple/FAU. Same goes for every other conference school.

You have 3 monsters that play the D-line and 3 fast linebackers that hit like Mack trucks. Then at least 2 safeties that read the run and become a heat seeking missile. The power programs that run this defense have all this and are 3-4 deep at each position. Very little drop off when an injury occurs or just when a starter is out for a rest break. UNT just doesn’t have monsters on the D-line that require double teams and can pressure the QB or crush run lanes. Our linebackers often have to fight off an O-Lineman because our D-line is being single blocked. Our safeties are late and diving at ankles. Even when our linebackers and safeties make a tackle it’s 5-10 yards up the field (because of our under performing D-line). On passing plays we are ineffective with blitzes because our D-line doesn’t require doubling so the blitz gets picked up. Competent QB’s have all day and our corners and safeties can’t cover forever. I know Morris has said he chose a DC that runs the 3-3-5 because he struggled against teams that did it well. We just don’t have the monsters up front that make this defense work effectively. He needs to understand this fast and change the scheme with the DC or get a new DC that will stop the run first (4-2-5).