UNT86

It looks like our strength will be in the number of guards/players that can handle the ball. Deck also looks like an awesome addition. Price is a freshman and looks like she can play at a high level immediately. Brannon and Tac did not play. With Duncan out for the season, that only left 10 players. Johnson got the fewest minutes. It will be interesting to see if she is last off the bench or Coach Burton already knows what she can do and wanted to see the newer players. Either way, she seems to come up biggest when we need her the most. We had lots of turnovers, but we did that early last year too. It mostly was just excitement and getting used to one another. Come see the women's team if you get a chance. They are good and deserving of support.

Sadly, they are the worst possible matchup for our defense. They are a physical running team. We have shown absolutely nothing to indicate that we will stop them. They will look at the Navy tape from last year and be prepared for us. I'm afraid they will score 50 and we will have to be perfect on offense to keep pace. We won't be perfect. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm probably not.

I don't blame them for finishing a last Covid year away, as long as they graduate from NT. He is family now and forever. Go Mean Green !

Nevermind. My fault for posting. I know better than to do that after a loss. Lost my mind for a moment.

Better than losses to crappy opponents. But yes, we will probably get smoked in a bowl against a good team.

We didn't have 3 safeties defending at any point. The announcers are idiots. We actually had 3 corners and 1 safety a lot of the time while playing man. Tulane schemed so that our corners had to play run support, and they got run over. We never made any adjustments and just took our butt whippin. We never move the nose off the center. We are very predictable about where we will line up. We line up EXACTLY where we did on the last film. Nothing to adjust. Just run the plays against us like you did in practice. But we never ran 3 safeties.

Just get Army over with and be healthy. The last 3 are all games we can win.

Not a cool as when we hosted the NCAA in the Super Pit..... but, okay. Whatever.

Fumbles are generated by being physical on defense. That we are not. We drag tackle and try to bump people down. At least we are gap sound for now and I'm happy about that. We can work on physical, but that is the primary reason we don't create turnovers.

We have a 4-18 record against them. We beat them in 1952, 1977, 1978, and 1980. We never beat them in the MVC days. In 1952, we were in the Gulf Coast Conference. In '77, '78, and '80, we were independent. We played them close the last two years, but found a way to lose. Two pick sixes and a last second touchdown have cost us two games. Close, but no win. They get to talk all the crap they want until we prove otherwise.

I noticed two of our suspended back on Saturday. X'Avion Brice #23 recovered the fumbled punt, so he is at least seeing action on special teams. Also noticed #30 B.J. Allen playing safety in the second half. He was very highly thought of coming out of high school. It would not surprise me to see him start taking reps away from our other two safeties. When we had a boundary safety, #21 Jaylen Hill was a good fit. He can actually tackle. When we could match him in man coverage vs a TE in the Tulsa and Wyoming games, he was okay. Florida Atlantic went after him in coverage often on Saturday and it showed. They were able to match him on slot receivers and he had trouble. From what I see, he is a little undisciplined in coverage at times. I think playing Allen more and #49 McFarland may have been part of our halftime adjustments. We played a lot of zone in the first half. In the second half it was a lot more man. I would bet Allen sees the field more these coming weeks. McFarland may have been in because #2 Evan Jackson seems to have a lingering injury. Just food for thought.

We have played almost exclusively man in our secondary the last two weeks. Rarely have we had an actual free safety and have not played two high at any point. Our coverage has been outstanding. And yes, we have started tackling and being physical. Out scheme is very simple, but that allows players to key fast. Sometimes we still don't fit correctly, but that will get better with film.

We had a 99 yard drive, then a 1 yard drive. I would be surprised if we've done that in the same game.

Everybody is run heavy against a 3-3. Too many gaps, not enough dudes to fill. It's a math problem. 3-3-5 was designed to fit those specific 11 players. We've been trying to fit our 11 into that specific scheme. Good coaches do what is best for their kids at that moment. Poor coaches try to fit square pegs into round holes.

We didn't run the 3-3-5 a single play tonight. We were primarily in a 3-4 front. Lots of man in the secondary. We did run some nickel, but it was 4-2-5 with the extra DB being an extra corner. And we finally stopped the run. Coincidence? I think not. Don't know who made the change, but it gives me hope.

Early in my coaching career, I went home upset because we won ugly in week 2. We lost the next 7 games. I learned then to appreciate any win, even the ugly ones. It is hard to win. Those kids on the other side are on scholarship too. Those coaches aren't stupid. Enjoy every win. Ugly wins are still wins.

$50 ? Yikes.

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, .....same thing.

I stand corrected. He missed that one too.

I hope he is happier where he is. I don't think he was anything special and we have 3 QB's as good as or better than him on the roster now.

"I'm just happy to be here and I hope I can help the ballclub" I think that is the only cliche he missed.

They are people who played in a conference championship game and a bowl game before they transferred out. Be nice when we do that again, but I'm not holding my breath for it this season. Might need a new DC first.

Yes. Much different.

That has not been my experience. Sometimes they don't know the answer to the question, but they put me on hold and find out. They're friendly and responsive when I call.

Maybe pick up the phone? They answer every time I call.