Side Show Joe

Looking at these revised predictions is very depressing. Many on this board appear to believe there is no hope of turning this season around. Hearing Mac stick to his guns and proclaim our issues are just a matter of us executing the offense, doesn't seem to pass the smell test around here.

I agree. I don't think Ferentz tries to run up the score. Iowa 52 North Texas 9

Anyone considering listening to the replay.... don't bother. Don't throw away an hour of your life that you can never have back. It's just not worth it. All you will hear are ramblings of coach speak and Mac's stories about his past. I heard no attempt to discuss the issues crippling our team, and no questions from the audience. When the leader of our program ignores the legitimate concerns of the fan base, is it really any wonder why people on this board are frustrated and angry?

No questions again.

It is painfully obvious that our program isn't reaching its potential, and that is why so many in our fan base are expressing their displeasure. I went back and looked up some numbers from a decade ago just to see how things compare.... 2006 2014 Stadium Fouts Apogee Conference Sun Belt C-USA Athletic Budget $14,127,731 $31,617,094 Televised Games 0? 12 Texas Conference-mates 0 3 Every honest North Texas fan has to admit RV has done an amazing job of improving things in these areas. With advantages like these you would expect other areas to have improved too... but that just isn't the case. In the two most important areas we have failed to show the same level of improvement. 2006 2014 Attendance 15,650 19,271 Record 3-9 4-8 Off the field, this program has made huge improvements. Other then our HOD season, we have been stuck in neutral for a decade. It is time for those responsible for our lack of success on the field to be held accountable. Thoughts?

Kendal Briles. Apparently, he is a great recruiter and runs a high powered offense. http://www.baylorbears.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/kendal_briles_339279.html

This loss wasn't all on McNulty, but he certainly didn't perform at the level a starting 5th year senor should. Having said that, we played bad in almost every area of the game, and there is plenty of blame to go around.

Today we got roughed up by a Rice team that will probably finish third in the western division. At this point we look like maybe a one win team, if we can beat a ranked FCS team at Apogee. This is all very sad, because we have good talent on this team. After suffering though a one win season, SMU got a better coach and tonight took #3TCU deep into the 4th quarter. Why are we expected to be content with where our program is?

It is hard to have faith in a head coach that at the end of the season, publicly states our team has issues with production at the QB position, and then doesn't adequately address the issue before the next season begins. Other programs can get Quarterbacks and have them ready to play. Why can't we? Why are we viewed as wrong for expecting this from our coach? I don't like to complain publicly about our problem with the athletic program, but something needs to change and fast. I'm tired of keeping my mouth shut. At my job, if I produced comparable performance for my work, I'd be fired.

I like and respect Vito, but I read no logical rational for predicting a North Texas win. I hope Brett knows something we don't. We really need a win. A loss would probably mean an 0-4 start after a tough 2 week road trip at Southern Miss and Iowa. No North Texas fan wants to see an 0-4 Mean Green team struggle with the #19 FCS program Portland State. Plus that Apogee advantage would look like a bad joke. This weekend Mac and the coaches need to prove to the fans that they have solved the issues on offense or in a few weeks, this season, and possibly some jobs could be in jeopardy.

Sadly, that's going to be me with my hot chocolate, if we perform the way I'm expecting. Rice 32 North Texas 6 ...and that's with our defense playing a good game.

I can understand that Mac and probably the other coaches feel that Smith isn't ready to start yet. Smith hasn't been on campus very long. But, Mac never should have let our program get in this position in the first place. He admitted at the end of last season that we didn't get enough production from our QB, but yet he allowed us to head into this season with the same problem. Tonight's radio show was terrible. Mac managed to blame RBs and WRs but said nothing about the turnovers by our QB. He really didn't address the offense at all. He found time to discuss Lance having a good game last night, and his days back in Iowa, but not our problems with the offense. I was like a filibuster. No questions from the audience. I lost some respect for Mac tonight.

Seems to me like when we did throw down field, too many time the result was an interception. Following the Spring Game, myself and others on this board pointed out that McNulty didn't have as good a game as the stats or the headlines indicated. Most of his big yardage numbers and multiple TDs were a result of busted coverages against a depleted group of backup DBs. But Mac and the athletic department painted the effort in the best possible light, even thought the Green team lost to the White team. My biggest fear heading into this season was that our play at the QB position would be similar to last years, and we would be a 4 win team. I think many believe we are now in a worse spot. I don't believe the offense I saw on Saturday can win even 4 games. I understand Mac's rule about only dwelling victories for 24 hours, but I'm not sure it should apply to losses. I don't think it's wise to just dismiss a loss. You need to address the problem. Mac seems to believe our fortunes will magically change against Rice. In my book, that isn't a plan of action. Has coach Mac lost all credibility when it comes to assessing our QB situation and/or offensive game plan?

I don't think I can go as far as to say Mac should be fired. I think he is a great defensive minded coach, and his staff also does a great job with special teams. In most respects Mac is a very good head coach, but I don;t think he should micromanage the offense. His problem is he is the exact opposite of Mike Leach. Leach was an offensive wizard, but was never able to field a respectable defense at Texas Tech. I wish RV or someone with the authority would step in and take the offensive responsibilities away from Mac and let Chico run it his way. Give Canales a game to run his offense. I remember some great shuttle passes and play action stuff in his 5 games at the helm. Let him name the offensive starters and run his playbook against Iowa. If we did that, then I'd call it an opportunity game. At this point what could it hurt.

Right or wrong... calling out the people that donate to the scholarships is never a good idea, especially when many are anger about the direction of the program. I doubt coach Mac,RV, or Smatresk will be happy about it. Carlos should let the staff and administration handle these issues. They get paid to paid to deal with the programs problems.

Agreed. During Chico's short run, he turned around a terrible Dodge group and won some games, including a great game with K State to close down Fouts. What we run under Mac isn't Canale's preferred offense.

It wasn't us, but we can't blame it all on the QB position. There were plenty of other factors that contributed to our weak offensive performance. Starting RB Jeffery Wilson was out with a broken finger, standout TE Marcus Smith was hurt, and backup RB Jimmerson and standout WR Carlos Harris were not available in the 1st quarter because of rule violations. Too many experienced skill position players were hurt or out during this game. Not a great formula for success. Some of those issues will improve over the next few weeks. Wilson should return after the Rice game. I believe Jimmerson and Harris will stay out of Mac's doghouse (though Harris might hear from Mac after going after fans that contribute to his scholarship). Hopefully Smith's leg will respond well to treatment and he will be back at 100% soon. I fully expect some areas of our offense to improve. Honest fans know some other areas likely won't improve very much. I will only add one suggestion... If we can't move the ball, we should slow down our fast paced offense, so the defense can get a little more rest. Having said that... I want to give our defense and special teams their due. They played exceptional for most of the night, and kept us in the game into the 4th quarter. Time and time again the D was put in difficult situations and made big stops. Special teams did a good job in the kicking game and on coverage. Cosh and his D deserves some credit for a strong first outing. They played well enough to win this game. Can Cosh coach offense too?

I think we will run a play action pass to Marcus Smith out of a pistol formation, but there is a better-then-average chance the pass gets batted down.

If we don't spy Davis I will be shocked... and probably mad.

I can't believe Portland State just beat Washington State. Our easy FCS win may have just got complicated.

Teams under new coaches tend to be all over the place early in the first season. I believe SMU will have a hard time matching the intensity and focus they showed for Baylor, and after last night, North Texas certainly understands they won't face the SMU team they whipped last season. That said, I do believe SMU has found a really good coach. Morris has certainly improved that team. It will be a close game next Saturday. I believe the team who's quarterback makes the fewest mistakes will win the game. I'm hoping it is us.

This isn't a few years ago, and we have to move beyond accepting scraps. As you have stated, we now have Texas programs in our conference. Playing another Texas program in OOC is nice, but not if we can't get a return home game. I believe some of our issues in regards to selling our program to recruits over the years stems from our willingness to bend over and take these money games every single year, and not receive return games. I can see how our current scheduling philosophy would diminish a recruit's opinion of where UNT stands in the pecking order of college football. Until we stand up and end our current policy and only sign home and home OOC series, we will continue to struggle with our image among recruits and in the media. I wish someone in the administration would step up and focus on improving our current scheduling practice.

You could be right. Those programs may have no interest in playing at Apogee. If that is the case, then we need to X them off our list and focus on P5 programs that will take the field at Apogee. Lets be honest. K State, Baylor, Oregon State, and Texas Tech... all played us at Fouts when it was already a dump. Since opening in 2011, North Texas has only hosted 1 P5 program (Indiana) at Apogee... and we won that game. Maybe I just see it differently, but to me, hosting P5 programs are better "opportunity games".

Maybe it's just me, but I don't view this as good news. I'm not opposed to playing A&M, I just want a return game from them. Last season, the week after getting embarrassed at Apogee, SMU hosted A&M for another butt whipping. Why is it that SMU can sign A&M and get a return game and we can't?. If we ever hope to be taken seriously by the college football community, we must move past these body bag/opportunity games, and become a program that can command return games. Can't we let the students vote on a $4 dollar athletic fee hike so we don't have to whore our program out anymore? MAC and RV have done a wonderful job of engaging students over the last few seasons. I think it is worth a shot.

An Idaho sports station is reporting that the Executive Director of the new Tuscon Bowl has secured a title sponsor for this season. The Tuscon Bowl will feature teams from C-USA and the MWC. The bowl is scheduled to be played on December 29th, but has yet to announce a network. With the addition of the Tuscon Bowl, C-USA now has 7 guaranteed bowl games this season. C-USA's website has named it the Arizona Bowl. https://twitter.com/JPktik