Checking in

UNT90 · October 12, 2014

I wonder if other program's alumni hate their players as much as some alumni supporting this program do?

Head shaking, isn't it?

Sad thing is it's as simple as someone popping off on a message board and then being too prideful to admit they are wrong when there is overwhelming evidence to prove said wrongness.

All the meanwhile disparaging a player that helped deliver one of 3 TOTAL bowl wins in school history, and earn the bowl MVP while doing so (and playing through a dislocated kneecap).

But, hey, at least they didn't admit they were wrong.

So suck it, brah!!!

Ben Gooding · October 13, 2014

90, just stop. We or most people appreciate what DT did his last year, but his best games were the equivalent of a good QB having a bad day. QB position is a struggle right now, but so are about 17 or 18 positions. I am not sure we aren't sitting in this same boat with DT on this years team. Actually, I am pretty sure we are. Give it a rest. Nothing you say or as much crap you try to smear in peoples faces DT's stats aren't changing, ever.

emmitt01 · October 13, 2014

So what current QB on this roster can do the things DT did last year?

Play lights out defense, run the football and flip the field with the best return specialist we've ever had? Nope, none of the current QB's could do that.

You must have a Trent Dilfer jersey somewhere in a closet.

DeepGreen · October 13, 2014

Why dog pile on Derek all the time? Our crap season has nothing to do with Derek Thompsom. This is a new team, and the fact that we have QB problems and Defense problems are the fault of the Head Coach and his staff. And the guy that approved hiring all the aforementioned.

With the current leadership, if all we can do is have a decent team every 7-10 years, we might as well give it up.

TheColonyEagle · October 13, 2014

This is a non-answer. Let me state the question again. Do you miss DT?

If you're asking if I miss him as in, do I think this team would be better with him….my answer is no.

Doesn't mean I didn't or don't like him. I was a big DT fan. But put DT on this team and I don't think the results are that different.

Put last year's D on this team….and even with turnovers putting us in bad position at times, Dajon all the sudden looks better. It's not like DT never made a bad decision….as a senior. Our D got his hyde out of trouble at times. I bet DT would be the first to tell you that.

Mean Green 93-98 · October 13, 2014

Of course DT would be giving us better QB play than we have received so far this season. He was a decent QB, and was at times better than decent. His performance in the HOD Bowl was nothing short of heroic. But he's not here anymore and has used up his eligibility, so I fail to see what the point is.

Nathan Tune, Giovanni Vizza, Daniel Meager, Scott Hall, Andrew Smith, Jason Mills, Mitch Maher, and many others would have given us better play than we have received so far this season, but I don't know why I would think of that as "missing" any of them, at least not individually. The issue is what is going on now, and that has to do with the players currently on the roster and the coaches coaching them.

Travis · October 13, 2014

No.

Christopher Walker · October 13, 2014

Naw.

UNT90 · October 13, 2014

If you're asking if I miss him as in, do I think this team would be better with him.my answer is no.

Doesn't mean I didn't or don't like him. I was a big DT fan. But put DT on this team and I don't think the results are that different.

Put last year's D on this team.and even with turnovers putting us in bad position at times, Dajon all the sudden looks better. It's not like DT never made a bad decision.as a senior. Our D got his hyde out of trouble at times. I bet DT would be the first to tell you that.

And DT was stuck handing off the ball on a vast majority of 1st downs and only being allowed to throw the ball downfield when nothing was working AND UNT was losing.

He did everything that was asked of him by the coaching staff. Can any QB on this roster say that?

Edited October 13, 2014 by UNT90

UNT90 · October 13, 2014

Of course DT would be giving us better QB play than we have received so far this season. He was a decent QB, and was at times better than decent. His performance in the HOD Bowl was nothing short of heroic. But he's not here anymore and has used up his eligibility, so I fail to see what the point is.
.

The point is a bunch of people said preseason we would be as good or better at the QB position without DT this year. The posts are there for anyone who wants to see. Several logical voices were shouted down when they pointed out that he absolutely would be missed. I was one of those voices and promised to check back in mid season to see if people felt the same way.

As you can see, as illogical as it may be, those folks aren't budging.

I guess they think DT would have had more INTs than competitions against UT. I guess they think DT would have had less than 100 yards passing against La. Tech. I guess they think DT would have given UAB 21 points. Obviously, completely illogical.

Edited October 13, 2014 by UNT90

MeanGreenTexan · October 13, 2014

lots of stiff upper lips here.

Of course anyone with a brain would take last year's iteration of Thompson over what we've seen from our QBs this season.

Unfortunately, DT is graduated, and we're left with what we have. And it's not good enough.

The game is completely different if DW doesn't turn the ball over directly for 21 points. Sadly, he's probably still the best option we have.

SilverEagle · October 13, 2014

Why dog pile on Derek all the time? Our crap season has nothing to do with Derek Thompsom. This is a new team, and the fact that we have QB problems and Defense problems are the fault of the Head Coach and his staff. And the guy that approved hiring all the aforementioned.
With the current leadership, if all we can do is have a decent team every 7-10 years, we might as well give it up.

Way to put it back into focus Phil.

TIgreen01 · October 13, 2014

This team would be better with DT at QB. Anyone who says otherwise is kidding themselves. The biggest thing DT did last year that would help this year's team was all pre-snap. He could read a damned defense and knew where to go with the ball BEFORE it was snapped. Everyone wants to use their eye ball tests that they conducted to tell themselves that he over/under threw receivers, couldn't really move all that well, threw off his back foot all the time, etc....and yes, he's not as talented as Dajon Williams, but he's a hell of a lot smarter (at least 5th year DT vs 2nd year DW).

To me, it appears that McNulty has a pretty good ability to read the field, as well (and maybe so does Greer)....but he panics when what he thought he saw turns out to be something different or gets a free rusher coming at him. DT could stand in there and take a hit without panicking. He made mistakes and was largely just an average overall QB (below average technique + better than average football smarts + average FBS athletic ability).

All that said, I'm not sure having DT on the team translates to more wins with the supporting cast we have assembled around him. Our oline is not as good with Lemon out on the edge as it is when he's the focal point of our run game inside. Our receivers drop too many passes when they do find themselves open, and we badly miss Byrd running between the tackles. We have NO player that appears to have breakaway ability on offense---ie: when was the last time we had a one or two play drive that resulted in a TD (not against Nichols)? We are having to string more plays together to drive the field to get scores this year when last year there was at least a threat that we might break one with Chancellor. That puts a lot more pressure on the QB to not make mistakes.

emmitt01 · October 13, 2014

All that said, I'm not sure having DT on the team translates to more wins with the supporting cast we have assembled around him.

Aaaand mic drop

gradumacated · October 13, 2014

DT was good. I remember the flicker of excitement I had when Dodge burned his redshirt in the last game of the 2009 season and led a decisive TD drive. Even when Riley was here he didn't have the poise DT demonstrated.

I knew that we would miss DT, his experience, and ability to keep UNT in more games than not. Hence why I thought we'd go 4-8.

The biggest issue on this team is defense. It's porous. QB play doesn't help, but it's also not the team that's completely misfiring right now.

Mean Green 93-98 · October 13, 2014

The point is a bunch of people said preseason we would be as good or better at the QB position without DT this year. The posts are there for anyone who wants to see. Several logical voices were shouted down when they pointed out that he absolutely would be missed. I was one of those voices and promised to check back in mid season to see if people felt the same way.

Obviously anyone who said we would be better at the QB position this year was wrong. I still don't think of it as "missing DT" as much as desiring anyone who could give us solid 1A QB play.

But I guess we're arguing semantics here.

TheColonyEagle · October 13, 2014

This team would be better with DT at QB. Anyone who says otherwise is kidding themselves. The biggest thing DT did last year that would help this year's team was all pre-snap. He could read a damned defense and knew where to go with the ball BEFORE it was snapped. Everyone wants to use their eye ball tests that they conducted to tell themselves that he over/under threw receivers, couldn't really move all that well, threw off his back foot all the time, etc....and yes, he's not as talented as Dajon Williams, but he's a hell of a lot smarter (at least 5th year DT vs 2nd year DW).

To me, it appears that McNulty has a pretty good ability to read the field, as well (and maybe so does Greer)....but he panics when what he thought he saw turns out to be something different or gets a free rusher coming at him. DT could stand in there and take a hit without panicking. He made mistakes and was largely just an average overall QB (below average technique + better than average football smarts + average FBS athletic ability).

All that said, I'm not sure having DT on the team translates to more wins with the supporting cast we have assembled around him. Our oline is not as good with Lemon out on the edge as it is when he's the focal point of our run game inside. Our receivers drop too many passes when they do find themselves open, and we badly miss Byrd running between the tackles. We have NO player that appears to have breakaway ability on offense---ie: when was the last time we had a one or two play drive that resulted in a TD (not against Nichols)? We are having to string more plays together to drive the field to get scores this year when last year there was at least a threat that we might break one with Chancellor. That puts a lot more pressure on the QB to not make mistakes.

"DT could stand in there and take a hit……"

My only point in saying DT wouldn't make much difference this year is that put him on this team without the surrounding cast he had last year….and he would be taking MANY more hits. Because our OLine isn't as good. We can't run the ball as well either. Which would mean DT would have to do more. Which to many points on here….he wasn't asked to do. He threw picks. But how many picks did he throw that just led to punts 3 plays later because our D stiffened…..punts that always had a threat to be returned for a TD or flip the field because Chancellor was back there and our special teams was better.

No, I don't believe DT would have had the horrendous QB numbers Greer, etc had vs UT. But it wouldn't have mattered because we couldn't run the ball. (edit: and in our "money" game last year vs Georgia…..we were much more competitive. How? a blocked punt for a TD and Chancellor housing a KR. But that does not take away from the beautiful TD pass DT threw to Smith……a pass Smith made a great catch on…..any WR on this roster his size with his ability?)

DT wouldn't have thrown that awful pick out of his own end zone vs UAB but it wouldn't have mattered because short field, long field….their QB shredded us. Again.

To say DT wouldn't help this team is not saying DT wasn't a good QB. It's saying there were plenty of other areas of this team that led to last year's success.

Edited October 13, 2014 by TheColonyEagle

gradumacated · October 13, 2014

Even if we accept that DT's numbers were mediocre, fact is he improved year-on-year. And that's a sign of a QB confident, learning, and developing. And that's more then can be said about this year's crop of QBs so far.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/stats/_/id/481027/derek-thompson

BillySee58 · October 13, 2014

Obviously anyone who said we would be better at the QB position this year was wrong. I still don't think of it as "missing DT" as much as desiring anyone who could give us solid 1A QB play.

But I guess we're arguing semantics here.

Yup. I don't miss him, but at the same time I agree he was better last year than what we have this year. That doesn't mean we miss him.

Last year we had probably the best defense and best special teams in the conference, and he couldn't get us a division title. We need a division title and, ultimately, a conference championship if anyone is to ever give a damn about us. Going 6-6 with a bus driver qb in CUSA doesn't do anything. We need to find a qb who is capable of leading us to a conference championship game, where we'd be on ESPN and be one of the only games that day. More exposure than being on TXA21 or FS1 will ever give us.

So I greatly appreciate DT, am glad he did help us get 9 wins and not spoil having a great defense and special teams. But if we are to take a step up as a program, we need an all-conference type qb, and a CUSA championship run. Do we have one on our roster? Maybe, maybe not, maybe hell no. But we need to find one.

GreenTexan13 · October 13, 2014

I told y'all before the season I'd check back and see whose feelings have changed about missing DT at mid-season.
Anyone ready to be honest?

Honestly, what is the point of having DT, when our defense can't stop anything, our kick return hasn't scored anything, and our receivers can't catch a ball if the opposing team let them have a free catch and head start. I miss Chancellor, the replay of him returning for a score during Georgia is replaying in my head over and over right now. I miss last years defense and the leadership they had. Derek Thompson had talent, but was he a RS freshman? He was a senior QB. I think DW could be much more then DT. But he needs to mature and practice in preventing the rookie mistakes. Please no Greer and Mini Mac this season! I beg coach Mac... please don't put them in!!!!!

The Fake Lonnie Finch · October 13, 2014

The point is a bunch of people said preseason we would be as good or better at the QB position without DT this year. The posts are there for anyone who wants to see. Several logical voices were shouted down when they pointed out that he absolutely would be missed. I was one of those voices and promised to check back in mid season to see if people felt the same way.
As you can see, as illogical as it may be, those folks aren't budging.
I guess they think DT would have had more INTs than competitions against UT. I guess they think DT would have had less than 100 yards passing against La. Tech. I guess they think DT would have given UAB 21 points. Obviously, completely illogical.

Exactly.

KingDL1 · October 13, 2014

This seems very pointless? Not like he can come back.

DT was not very good and it sad we have not out preformed him. I think we have the kids with more talent. You might worry more about the offensive coaches and the WR we lost. DT buried us plenty of times.

DT had heart and toughness for sure.