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Yeah sure but I mentioned Rogers, Adeyi, Maclin as they were our 3K, 1K, 1K guys. Cleveland got hurt and Johnson got lost in the shuffle. I wouldn't have hated them coming back.

Interesting that Adeyi, Maclin, Rogers all had quiet days vs seemingly soft competition. Helps strengthen the idea that we aren’t missing them to hard. To be clear, I would still love having Maclin and Adeyi back. I think we upgraded at QB though.

No aldo on account of him using disposable income to take trips with his family. https://open.substack.com/pub/meangreennation/p/223-north-beats-south-52-38?r=du4qo&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true BUT I soldiered on, kind of like the o-line after losing jett duncan. gmg

I mean I think the defense was solid relative to expectations. 582 is a lot of yards and USA moved it easily in the first. But in the context of the game they got stops, and forced the punt that allowed the block/TD. I simply have accepted the reality that this isn’t going to be a shut-down kind of defense and we’ll need to score to win. The defense did their job in that context and I am satisfied. Of course I do want improvement etc, but that’s a long-term recruiting, scheme evolution thing.

It's not good to ignore the 582 yards allowed but a good chunk of that came late when the score / deficit didn't change. The 150 yards rushing allowed is the most important stat to me. They are a good rushing team, and regularly put up 200+ yard games. Last year's USA would have run for 400+ against NT. The squad was down a couple of big contributors, came out and got some huge stops in the second half that helped set up the punt block, and the NT scores. That's what we asked for. We don't expect top-10 defense. We just want mid-table American defense and I think this squad can compete for a league title. Quick Reaction on MGN: https://www.meangreennation.com/p/quick-reaction-north-texas-52-south

Podcast form of this https://open.substack.com/pub/meangreennation/p/222-south-alabama-preview?r=du4qo&utm_medium=ios

yeah I understood. I think we understand the idea behind it the scheme is more of a bend-but-don't-break thing with some calculated pressures. They just absolutely need to tackle better in those spots where they didn't last year, and make plays when they have them in the backfield (so many near misses from Mazin Richards, et al)

BIlly hit on the thing I've been thinking about re: the defense -- generating negative plays and getting turnovers. I will disagree a little in that this defensive scheme does have some plans for generating negative plays -- mostly with stunts and pressures. There was a lot of good defensively in every game. Even the Cal one. Lot of near-negative plays, but a QB/RB would slip a tackle, or a guy would be in slow to close a gap, or this or that. I hope -- and believe -- those will be fewer and more far between. I also liked the coverage. Logan Wilson, Phil Hill, were good. We got big stops when needed them vs Tulane, Memphis (before we didn't) and others. You have to squint and look beyond the glaring, blinding statistics. I think we die-hards are the only ones wiling to do that, though haha.

https://www.meangreennation.com/p/2024-football-at-south-alabama-preview The first game preview of the season. I won't spam the board with them throughout the season but the first one is here. gmg

I want it on the record that I had 8-4 also, and published it in the e-book first! haha

I found @Aldo walking in the pacific northwest and had him clean himself up and get ready to do the show. https://open.substack.com/pub/meangreennation/p/mgn-221-2024-season-preview?r=du4qo&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

And now more of the offense https://open.substack.com/pub/meangreennation/p/2024-season-preview-morris-air-raid?utm_source=app-post-stats-page&r=du4qo&utm_medium=ios

Follow up: a deeper dive into the defense - https://www.meangreennation.com/p/2024-season-preview-lets-talk-about $

thx I appreciate it. If you read the post you saw I wrote that I would be going a little deeper with more media (video, photos) on some things. I am putting it to the reader on what to go with first: https://open.substack.com/pub/meangreennation/p/previewing-2024-you-choose?r=du4qo&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true I have re-watched a lot of 2023 and am (currently) two margaritas deep. Yes on a Monday. My quick take is that the defense suffered from a lack of Jimmys and Joes and not so much the scheme, although I think there is a responsibility on the DC to choose a scheme that will make his players better. Heacock (the Iowa State DC) actually scrapped his 4-2-5 scheme midseason to go to the 3-3-3 (as it is known) to fix some problems. I have hot sports opinions on the offense, as well, but that is relatively solid.

I wonder what USA will look like. I think Kane Wommack probably moderated some of Major Applewhite's tendencies a bit. When Applewhite was at Houston he went tempo a lot. Wommack was a defensive head coach. I think he brought more balance. Still they were 7-6 or whatever last year. We will see a ton of QB runs and we'll need this new look defense to be great at tackling.

I think it was the raw athleticism that mainly was it. High motor, big upside.

Yeah I don't think we are disagreeing here. I was just saying that -- and I said this on the show too -- that he was good in a defined role and we expected/wanted that he would grow as he was asked to create with the ball. He didn't do well there, and we were all disappointed. I think he and the staff were as well. I hope he reaches some new level at his new program, etc.

Aaron was great when he was in a defined role: attack close-outs, catch-and-shoot, and backdoor cuts to go with his hustle points. When we asked him to go one-on-one and expand his game, he struggled. Scott was a winner though, and made some huge plays in huge moments (thinking about Vegas) and if Newell can live up to that, we can have that discussion. In the limited looks we have of Newell, we see he is a little more smooth with the ball. I imagine we will ask him to do the defined-role type stuff but if he looks like he can create his own looks then why not? All that will be evident in summer and fall though.

Wrote about it a little on the site -- I like his versatility. He can step out and shoot it, he can drive, etc. Reminds me of some of what A Scott did for NT in his 2022 season. GN is not a supreme athlete -- not going to sky over dudes -- but he can run the floor and finish at the rim. There's a ton to like.

"clickbait" was originally the name for the titles to get you to click -- the clicks were the main metric that drove ad rates. Now, views, and listens are the metric, so the clickbait moniker has evolved. But I can be convinced that the name is incorrect and that this is better described as a classic Talk Radio bit. It's also a classic summertime ESPN thing. When I was 17 or so I watched all of VH1s 100 Best ___ during the summer. It's the same stuff. I learned a little bit about some bands and people but also it was largely just a way to get ratings filler for the summertime. I think it is fine as a piece of entertainment but I lean generally toward the view that this kind of stuff is junk food and I need to stay away from it.

This is click bait. Congrats on it working. Got my TL talking for a bit. I am not unemployed or 22 years old anymore so I have had a hard time caring very hard.

I've seen a menu for services just like this before and I cannot remember where.

Regarding this: Loosen up media credential ability while we continue to get little coverage. Allow/encourage local Denton high school newspaper/videoproduction/photography organizations to be a part of North Texas game days. The AD / School do a great job supporting media. I covered all of CUSA for a bit and there are some programs that actively discourage anyone not named ESPN from covering things. NT is great at encouraging and supporting non-traditional media coverage (blogs, podcasts, small sites, etc) . No complaints.

Yep. Hey loser, it's season ticket time. Don't you want to watch the kid you chipped in $10 / month to fund? Time to put your deposit in! (also we need a new locker room so leave your checkbook out)

I think the defense was awful. Jeffries went coast to coast down the middle of the court. This is a no-middle defense folks. Couple of guys got caught ball-watching while MSST drove and dumped it off for dunks. Some of those dudes joined the squad to be scorers and aren't scoring too much.