akriesman

When it comes to UTSA news, there is really only 1 thing that interests me. That AWESOME cannon. I just can't get enough of this.

I am excited about all the QB's we have coming in. But, I am not willing to say any of them turns into Mason Fine + 5 inches. Mason is one of the most accurate QB's I have ever seen in CFB at any level. He is running for his life half the time and can still make the throws. The kid is just amazing. If you put 5 inches on Mason Fine, I would have no doubt he would be playing in the NFL at some level. He has everything except the height.

OMG. The drops just continue. Somebody has to help Mason. Imagine what this team would be like without him.

This is getting embarrassing. First UTEP and now Rice 😞

Damn. That Rice punter is a weapon. That is the biggest thing I saw in the first half. He is going to make us have to drive the entire field all game.

Sig381, I don't know if your trolling with this thread or not. But, I am going to go ahead and believe you are serious. Here is the megathread everyone has mentioned. Thankfully, it has been sleeping lately.

Perfect. Just perfect. LOL

Don't be so sure of that. There is a really good chance that we win out. You can't tell me that 10-2, plus a possible bowl victory is not going to raise eyebrows. Yes, it is disappointing that we have lost 2 big conference games in a tough way. But we are still on track for one of the best seasons in school history and things are tracking upward (i.e. recruiting). This coaching staff has turned things around and quickly. IMO, they deserve our support, even after tough losses like this. This team needs more talent and overall depth, especially at RB and OL. Right now Mason is having to carry the offense. Our running game scares nobody.

"According to media impressions gathered by the school, there was an "ad value equivalency" of $19.5 million. Almost 600 million people were exposed to the school through video, social media and print media. That means something whether you're marketing at Alabama or in a Group of Five school staff meeting just trying to get exposure." This says it all. Our coaching staff has already paid for their salaries for many years. I am only halfway serious. But, if any non-sports fan wants to argue the value of having a good football team, here is your rebuttal.

When his career is over here, we will be talking about Mason Fine here on the board for years to come. And, it's not just his terrific numbers, but what a great leader and fine young man he is.

Sorry Brett. I am not convinced about the running game. UTEP is ranked 111th against the run out of 129 teams. They give up an average of 5.3 ypc and 207 yards per game. Here is how the 2 featured backs did for us against another bad run defense. Yards per carry (last carry to first) Smith: 1, 4, 4, 3, 9, 3, 3, 4, 2, 20, 7, 1, 2, 5 Torry: 0, 2, 7, -1, 7, 3, 25, 0, 0, 1, 21, 4, 4, -2, -2, 0, 1, -1, 1, -2 Nick Smith 13 Carries, 64 yards 4.9 ypc avg 2 <= 1 yard 10 runs 2-9 yards 1 run 20 yards DeAndre Torrey 19 Carries, 70 yards, 3.7 ypc avg 12 runs <= 1 yard 5 runs 2-7 yards 2 runs over 20 yards I really like Deandre Torrey as a scat back. He is a big play guy as is Nick. But, as a featured back, he lacks the size and strength we need right now. You can''t have 12 runs that are <= 1 yard out of 19 carries. That puts the offense in a world of hurt. Nick was much better this week. But, overall, it was still not a great performance against a poor defense IMO. If you take away the three 20+ runs, the YPC for both backs would have been dreadful this past weekend. Here is how Smith/Torrey fared against the 5 other teams we have played. I left out Easly, who was 74-386 total with a nice 5.2 ypc average. SMU - 103 ranked defense against the run out of 129 Torrey 2-6, 3.0 ypc Smith 17-31, 1.8 ypc Just a terrible day against a poor run defense that appeared to be stacking the box. IW Torrey 16-44, 2.8 ypc Smith 6-18, 3.0 I would have expected far better against an FCS program. Arkansas 48 ranked defense against the run out of 129 Torrey 4-13, 3.3 ypc Smith N/A Easly had a nice average in this one. Liberty 126 ranked defense against the run out of 129 Torrey 8-51, 6.4 ypc Smith 1-66 Part time in support of Easly Louisiana Tech 82 ranked defense against the run out of 129 Torrey 1-14, 14.0 ypc Smith 3-31, 10.3 ypc Again, part time in support of Easly who softened up the defense with over 100 yards. So, out of 129 teams, the run defenses we have played are ranked 103, unranked (FCS), 48, 126, 82 and 111. So, it is not like we have played some tough run defenses. Anyway, I am not trying to bust on our players. But, we need much more production, especially in the short yardage situations, in order to take the pressure off Mason and the passing game IMO. Right now I would say that our running game still gets an incomplete at best.

Yep. That is where losing Easly really hurts. It may be a struggle the rest of the year.

Mason is running for his life. Come to OL

Spot on. There was something special going on with him. He is going to be missed.

This thread has classic potential written all over (TheColonyEagle GIF had me in stitches).

Awesome. After last weeks stinging loss, I don't want to see that NT retro look again any time soon. Did anyone notice that the retro cheerleader uniforms made them look like Jr High Cheerleaders ? My wife thought those were Jr High cheerleaders and the Dancers were the cheerleaders. I kept telling her it was the outfits. Even now I don't think she believes me.

As mentioned, UAB plays at La Tech this week. Big game. Before the season started, I thought this would be a toss up. But, UAB is just not playing that well right now.

Well, the pressure of going undefeated and living up to everyone's (unrealistic ?) high expectations is off. The team can turn that into a positive or negative. I trust our coaches. We just need to find a RB now that can replace what Easly was doing. He was clearly the most productive back we had. And, crossing my fingers that Hall is going to be OK.

Oh boy 😞 I don't think any of us are surprised after the way he left the field. Easly was the only guy that has been able to grind out a yard or two from nothing. Time to see what else we have on the roster. Wyche seemed to be a more balanced runner in the past. And, we have 3 backs 6' or over and over 200 lbs on the roster (Hopkins, Doggett, Adebayo). I am at least a little familiar with Hopkins. I don't know a thing about the other 2. Smith and Torrey need some space to let their talent show. I am not confident in either when a yard or two are needed on 3rd or 4th down. Good luck Mr Easly. Thanks for your contributions this year !

Just a followup..... I spoke with Kyle at the ticket office today regarding the current problems with parking and possible overflow solutions. They are well aware that there are issues and they are being addressed. He said one of the problems with the La Tech game was due to the fact that the red lot was closed because of mud. So, that might explain the problem with the orange lot filling up like it did. He also mentioned something about using the parking garages on the east side as overflow. But, I don't think that is set in stone right now. I have no doubt they will improve the situation in an expedited manner, given the track record of Wren and the entire (new) administration. I understand that game day traffic is going to be busy when everyone leaves a major event at the same time. My concern is with getting the information to the public about where they can park in an overflow situation and making sure they don't oversell prepaid lots. We don't want to drive away a lot of these new fans due to a bad parking experience (especially ticketing and/or towing). Those of us that have been around a long time know that this is new territory for the administration. New fans will only see the negative. Cheeers

If I was a betting man, that would be my take just based on how they looked after the injuries. Who am I kidding, I am a betting man.

I would be shocked if Easly returns any time soon. He couldn't put any weight on that leg at all 😞

SilverEagle, you nailed it. Losing Easly is going to really hurt.

On saturday it looked like a lot of things regarding crowd control were cleaned up inside the stadium, compared to the SMU game. The entire atmosphere at the game was just terrific (thanks Wren and others). However, if near-sellout crowds start becoming the norm, parking is definitely going to be an issue that needs to be addressed and some clarifications need to be made. I know that the blue lot sold out early in the morning. We arrived at the orange lot around 5:30pm (hour before kickoff) and the orange lot was sold out. To make matters worse, I saw them turning away people with pre-paid parking passes coming from the north down North Texas Blvd. As a result, tempers were flaring and the parking attendants were taking some abuse. The Orange, Red and Blue lots are technically the only sanctioned parking lots on gameday. And, these were all full. This caused a lot of confusion. Unless you are a current student, you have no idea where to park as nearly everything around campus is reserved. We ended up parking near the admin building in a reserved spot. I saw fans parking in dorm parking lots and just about anywhere they could park. My wife was worried about being towed. But, it would have been impossible to tow everyone that was parked in a reserved spot. I do believe that an overflow situation needs to be mentioned on the North Texas gameday parking website. I checked the site before the game just in case all the lots were full. Unfortunately, there was no mention of what to do if all the lots are full. I need to call the ticket office today, because they allowed me to purchase a prepaid parking pass on saturday morning, but never sent it to me. I don't care about getting the money back for the parking pass. But, they need to know that the system has a flaw and there was a lot of confusion overall. I know if you are a tailgater, then parking is not really an issue. But, so many people arrive in the last hour before the game and the parking problems could run some new fans off. BTW, how was the Blue lot parking handled this week ? Was there more than a single attendant ? It probably helped that they did not accept cash this time.

That was a great play by the WR and it completely energized their team and their fans. "A jump ball where only one player jumped..." Exactly !