C Rod

We all know teams need bye weeks to rest players and, in our case, implement some much-needed changes on defense. As a fan, I'm not too fond of Saturdays without Mean Green football, but I tolerate them and cope by rewatching the previous game to see anything I missed or what we can build upon. Saturday's replay session made one thing very clear. Chandler Rogers has the elusive clutch gene and ice water in his veins. In the two drives that changed the game, Chandler Rogers put the team on his back and made the right plays when they counted the most. As you'll see below, he appeared calm, cool, and collected in the game's critical moments. Fast forward - 1:56 left in the 1st half. LaTech just gashed our defense with a 56-yard run to start off a two-play, 0:20-second scoring drive capped off with a 19-yard TD pass to Smoke Harris. 16-14 good guys, but we've lost the momentum, and we're starting the drive from our 11-yard line. 1st & 2nd downs are both two-yard gains by Adeyi. Now 3rd & 6 with 1:06 left before halftime, Rogers stands tall in the pocket and throws an absolute strike to Damon Ward for 32 yards to the UNT 47. The delivery is spot-on, placed just over the cornerback's head and right in front of the safety crashing down on the play. Without this dime throw, we end up punting from our 15-yard line and hoping and praying our defense doesn't allow another quick scoring drive in the last minute. We have a fresh set of downs, we're in the hurry-up, and the momentum is turning. The pass on 1st down is batted down at the line. On 2nd down, LaTech dials up a linebacker blitz. The extra man is picked up to perfection as Rogers reads his progressions and sees Roderic Burns gearing down his route in the soft spot of the zone. Rogers pulls the trigger for a 22-yard gain down the right-hash to the LaTech 31. The clock is moving, Rogers hurries everyone up to the line and takes a quick deep shot down the left sideline to Maclin. The ball is slightly overthrown and out of bounds near the goal line, but no harm, no foul. 0:27 left in the half… 2nd down. Chandler "Hit-Stick" Rogers delivers the block heard around the world. You know what block I'm talking about. The all-over-social-media-de-cleater sealed the backside and sprung Adeyi for 25 yards to the LaTech 6-yard line. 0:18 seconds left, North Texas timeout. LaTech is on their heels. Out of the timeout, Rogers hits a leaping Damon Ward between three defenders for the touchdown. LaTech's defense is dejected, their fans are quiet, and all you can hear in-stadium is the UNT band fired up. Eight plays, 89 yards, 1:16 time of possession, executed to perfection. UNT 23 - LaTech 14 headed into halftime. Fast forward again - UNT's defense is reeling (again). LaTech converts an onside kick and then quickly scores on a 3-play, 53-yard TD drive to cap off 17 straight points to tie the game. UNT's three-score lead has evaporated in under 7 minutes, the message board is a hot-mess, and the last time Rogers possessed the ball, he had a 10-point lead. The game appears to be headed for OT with the momentum and crowd firmly in LaTech's corner. But to borrow a legendary line from Mr. Lee Corso, Not so fast, my friend! There's still 1:04 left before OT. We later learn Coach Morris told Rogers before the final drive, "They left us too much time." First down is a one-yard pickup from Adeyi. The clock's ticking... Out of the no-huddle on 2nd down, Rogers and Burns hookup for 23 yards to the UNT 49. The throw is almost a carbon copy of the pass before the half: a beautiful zone read, with a perfect strike to Burns. Move the chains. 0:47 left in the game. Clutch. First down is a quick-hit six-yard out-route to Jordan Smart to the LaTech 45. The clock is stopped, and Rogers looks in full command of the offense. Second down is a pass batted down at the line of scrimmage. The pressure builds on a pivotal 3rd & 4 with 0:34 seconds on the clock. Our wide receivers line up trips-right, UNT calls a designed play that rolls Chandler to his right to throw on the run. The result is a well executed seven-yard pass to Burns on an out route to the sidelines at LaTech's 38-yard line — another big first down to keep the drive alive and stop the clock. With 0:25 left in the game, Chandler drops back but finds his receivers covered. The pocket quickly collapses, and Chandler scampers to the right sideline for 3 yards to again stop the clock. His awareness and athleticism under pressure avoid what would have been a disastrous sack just outside of field goal range. Now 2nd & 7, at the 35-yard line, Chandler tries for another downfield bomb, this time intended for Jordan Smart down the left sideline. The pass is right on the money; however, credit to LaTech, their defensive back does a great job breaking up the pass. On 3rd & 7, with thirteen ticks left on the clock, UNT runs a beautifully timed draw play into a blitzing defense expecting a pass. Adeyi bolts for 21 yards out of bounds at the LaTech 14 with 0:07 left on the clock, putting us well within field goal range for the win. You all know what happened next. Noah Rauschenberg split the uprights, Eric Morris notched his first UNT victory with a Stone Cold celebration to boot, and Chandler Rogers showed Mean Green Nation that he's a dawg with a clutch gene.

Yep Cody Spencer played ILB at Grapevine High School. I went to school with him and the guy was an absolute unit. Us freshman hauled ass away from him on “Bow Down To Senior Day”. I distinctly remember one guy hiding in the bathroom until after the bell rang. Rumor had it he shat himself. 😂

This news is telling. AAC TV money is already being spent. I would not be surprised to hear an official announcement by the end of this week.

Cool story bro. You wanting to be included in this conversation speaks volumes about the fragility of your ego. You’re literally trying to flex on a UNT message board. You should share this with your friends and family so they can see how cool you are and shower you with the attention you crave. Go back and read carefully, you’ll see I’m talking about the remaining members of the AAC.

That’s my quarterback!

Exactly. I agree. I have to also give Coach Morris props on the 3rd & 7 halfback draw from Tech’s 35 yard line. Defense was expecting pass and Adeyi breaks off a 21 yard run to put us well within FG range. Game. Set. Match.

Well said. We’ll learn from this. That FG drive at the end was clutch. 9 plays, 61 yards in 1:01. It feels good to get the win.

Please don’t jinx us.

And that is how you blow a 17 point lead with just under 7 minutes to play in the 4th.

Our defense is so trash. Throw it away.

What a scoring drive. 14 plays, 70 yards, over 8 minutes off the clock. Only snapping the ball within 5 seconds left on the play clock. Pure domination. THIS is what we need to be doing to limit our defense’s time on the field.

Just turned this into a 🔥 wallpaper for my iPhone.

I wouldn’t say I’m in a panic mode… just more like this part of the movie.

This PAC 12 situation has more drama than Keeping Up with the Kardashians: Departing Schools: "We would like to call a very important board meeting to discuss very important issues." Oregon St & WSU: "Uhhh... You guys just want to call a board meeting so you can gang up on us and vote to dissolve the conference. The future of the Pac-12 should be decided by those who stay, not by those who go. Besides, this is the precedent set by USC & UCLA leaving. Why should this time be any different?" DS: "Nooooo! We just want to hold a super-necessary board meeting to ensure our beloved Pac-12 employees are properly retained and paid. The conference needs these people to keep the league running and honor our TV commitments." OS & WSU: "Bullshit. Our presidents can unanimously agree to this and it will be done. So...we're suing to stop the Board meeting." DS: "Ugh! How could you do this to the Pac-12 employees?! Think about them and their families! Think of the students! You're being so selfish." OS & WSU: "Well well well, look who won a temporary restraining order blocking your little board meeting!" DS: (Crickets chirping...) TODAY'S NEWS OF THE DAY: OS & WSU: "Guess that super-important board meeting wasn't as necessary as you made it out to be!"

This is why I'm all for Army and Air Force joining the American. Big brand names, big rivalries, and their fans show up for games.

This also caught my attention. Did anyone pay attention to his body language? He begins the press conference with his chest out and both hands behind his back. This is known as an open position with the front of the body exposed. It communicates confidence, authority, leadership, and security in one's environment. At the 5:00 minute mark, coach shifts his body posture to right hand on the podium signaling control of the situation however his left hand now in a fist, placed firmly at his waist. He's now taking up space to appear larger and demonstrate he's still in charge; much like a parent does to a child. Coach remains in this posture for most of rest of the presser. Brett asks the tough question about last year's running backs not producing at the 5:45 min mark and you can see Coach Morris bristle at the question and shoot it down with "Were not talking about last year around here anymore." His tone changes and it's evident this question strikes a nerve. He does well to maintain his composure but the tell is there. At the 10:55 mark, Coach Morris rhetorically asks a question aloud to tee up a point he wants to get across. "Have we recruited for this scheme the past 3 to 4 years? I would say not." Brett, seeing the opening to bring up last year again ask a follow up about Mazin Richards and his lack of production this year vs last year. Coach Morris almost instantly crosses his arms across his chest, now standing in a closed position. This stance communicates defensiveness, anger, anxiety, and tension. It's used to "block out" unwanted communication. If you look closely, his blink-rate also speeds up further signaling he is uncomfortable with this line of questioning. He doesn't relax and resume the hand on the podium posture until the next questions is asked about Chandler Rogers; a topic he's much more comfortable talking about.

Bro I’d love to invest but all my money is currently tied up in Blockbuster, MySpace, and NFTs.

I’m seeing the board has very strong feelings about this. 😂 UAB hired Trent Dilfer this past offseason with only high school head coaching experience and the guy is 1-1 so far. Will be interesting to see how his tenure plays out compared to our beloved Eric Morris.

And Deion was the OC at Trinity Christian School before jumping to HC at Jackson State. That move worked out just fine for Jackson State.

In light of the impact Deion Sanders has made at both Colorado and Jackson State. It has me thinking about other opportunities to bring in a big name coach on their way up. Here’s one name I’m keeping a close eye on and he’s currently coaching in our own backyard… Jason Witten. Jason Witten just entered his 3rd year as the head coach at Argyle Liberty Christian. His first season at the helm resulted in a 2-8 record. Last season… 10-2. And this season they’ve started 2-0 with scores of 48-19 & 31-0. Coach Witten is on record saying that he enjoys the relationships built with young athletes… and I quote: "I'm reminded why I fell in love with this game." The future NFL Hall-of-Famer studied the game under Bill Parcels, Wade Phillips, and Jason Garrett so he knows a thing or two about being a head coach. Not too shabby if you ask me. Jason’s son, CJ Witten, is currently a junior and Captain on the team. Unlike his father, he chose defense and is a stud at linebacker. Last season as a sophomore CJ had 75 tackles and after two games this season, he has 15 total tackles (9 of them solo) with 1 sack. Hmm… I wonder where CJ plans to attend college two years from now? I’m sure Jason wants to coach CJ through his senior year but then what? Will he be ready to move onto the next level after four years of being the head coach in Argyle? Perhaps here at UNT, Coach Witten and CJ would be more akin to Deion and Sheduer Sanders and less like Todd & Riley Dodge. You have to admit it would make great headlines and would draw much-needed positive attention to UNT in the DFW Metroplex. Mean Green Nation, barring a miraculous turnaround with Coach Morris, what do y’all think about Jason Witten becoming our next head coach in two years?

Exactly. Our defense is dead last in FBS and help isn’t coming this season. If we want any chance of winning, we need to consciously limit the time our defense spends on the field. Ball control and keeping the clock running is paramount. Turn the play calling over to Coach Cobbs, run the football with our stable of backs, and don’t snap it until 2 seconds are left on the play clock.

This defense is a dumpster fire. Maybe the 335 defense stands for the amount of yards given up per half? 🤷🏻‍♂️