De. Smith and the Fall

[Wag Tag]

Would you of signed De Smith knowing he would not be here until the Fall?

[GOMG2013]

Yep. With this team's qb issues and lack of playmakers, you have to take that chance.

[Mean Green 93-98]

Yes. I would much rather he be here for the spring, but it's still a no-brainer.

[UNT90]

Depends on if there was another QB available that wanted to come to UNT and how that QB compared to Smith.

[Harry]

Yes I would have. He is basically an insurance policy. Mac lost some faith in Chico after last year and wants to make sure he has a plan "B" if the other guys don't work out.

[Withers940]

Does a bear $h!t in the woods?

[GrayEagle]

DaMarcus Smith has the potential to be as good (maybe better) than any quarterback in our history. Granted, we've never been known as 'Quarterback U' but if he can get mentally focused he should be something special.

I wish that he could be here this spring but if he works at it over the summer and with the extra week before the first game, he shouldn't be that far behind.

[Aldo]

I wish that he could be here this spring but if he works at it over the summer and with the extra week before the first game, he shouldn't be that far behind.

If the season starts out horribly, I think the earliest we see him is October.

I think we will be able to keep our heads above water, though. First five games I can see at best 3-2, at worst 2-3.

[GOMG2013]

If the season starts out horribly, I think the earliest we see him is October.

I think we will be able to keep our heads above water, though. First five games I can see at best 3-2, at worst 2-3.

I dont think SMU or Rice has the defense to make McNulty look bad. The game will be close enough to keep McNulty in there. Iowa may get bad enough for de Smith to get in. if he looks good enough in mop up duty at Iowa, maybe he starts against a winnable USM.

[UNT90]

I dont think SMU or Rice has the defense to make McNulty look bad.

I think the only way we win these games with McNulty at QB is to keep the opponent's score under 17 and to have at least one score from special teams or defense.

What did you see last season that makes you believe that McNulty will be successful against Rice or SMU?

[MeanGreenTexan]

I think the only way we win these games with McNulty at QB is to keep the opponent's score under 17 and to have at least one score from special teams or defense.

What did you see last season that makes you believe that McNulty will be successful against Rice or SMU?

He had a little success @ Rice... of course, he also threw a pick-6, so yeah.

We could trot Greer back out there VS SMU and still pound them. That's a terrible team who is just now starting a transition.

Hoping Cosh's Defense can keep up with, or exceed, Skladany's... but that's a question mark for sure.

[Aldo]

What did you see last season that makes you believe that McNulty will be successful against Rice or SMU?

Like you said, McNulty's success is predicated on our defense/ST. And I think we are better defensively. ST is consistent. And I think Goree and Thompson are really good at catching off-target throws.

[UNT90]

Like you said, McNulty's success is predicated on our defense/ST. And I think we are better defensively. ST is consistent. And I think Goree and Thompson are really good at catching off-target throws.

Crazy talk in your last sentence. If they don't have a QB who can get them the ball, they could be Dez Bryant and still not get 500 receiving yards on the year.

[Aldo]

Well it was meant more as a funny.

But with their size they are better suited at 50/50 throws and tossups to bail out an inconsistent McNulty than Harris (because of his size). Darius Terrell turned out to not be that guy.

For sure a more consistent qb at the helm would avoid depressing questions like "but can they catch dead ducks?" Based on his film, Smith is very accurate in the short and intermediate range, and puts his guys in a position to win in 50/50 plays. I was not terribly impressed (though not concerned either) by Greer film last offseason like I am by Smith, and Smith is on a different level than all the qbs currently on the roster. Talent's there, just depends on mentality.

[BillySee58]

Like you said, McNulty's success is predicated on our defense/ST. And I think we are better defensively. ST is consistent. And I think Goree and Thompson are really good at catching off-target throws.

One thing I think our fans may be be doing dangerously is expecting too much of these JUCOs in their first year here. Especially the defensive guys. We lost our two best defensive players (Akunne and Jones) and some solid players who were multi-year contributors. We had some good JUCO additions, but I think expecting that these guys will give us an improvement in their first year, with everyone learning a new system under Cosh, may be expecting too much.

I've brought up the stats, but we give up less than 14 points/game in our wins under Mccarney. He wants to win low-scoring, heavy running games where he keeps the clock ticking and keeps passing to a minimum. Can we do that this year? Can we do that with Mcnulty, or any other bus-driver type QB? Let's take a look at the defense.

In our two years of CUSA play we've had 5 defensive players earn First or Second Team All-CUSA honors. Aaron Bellazin, Zach Orr, Marcus Trice, Derek Akunne, and James Jones. All of those players fit 3 criteria entering the season:

1. Was highly recruited (at least a "B" recruit, usually better

2. Had D1 experience (starting and rotational experience)

3. Had panned out (proven they were good and not a bust).

If you look at our defense, we don't have anyone who fits all three of those criteria heading into this year. Those JUCO guys have no D1 experience, and while some are solid pickups, the chances of them being all-CUSA this year is not great. If our defense has 0 all-CUSA guys then that's not a defense we can lean on.

Hopefully some of these guys can buck the trend and prove that you don't need all three of those criteria to be all-CUSA. But if it proves true and we don't get have any all-CUSA players this year then we'll need to score more than we usually do to win. Bus drivers won't cut it in that case.

I guess a question would be, unbiased opinion, what makes us believe we may be improved on defense this year?

Edited February 17, 2015 by BillySee58

[GOMG2013]

I think the only way we win these games with McNulty at QB is to keep the opponent's score under 17 and to have at least one score from special teams or defense.

What did you see last season that makes you believe that McNulty will be successful against Rice or SMU?

Because SMU is horrible. We blew them out with last years team...I went to the Rice game and watched it several times. The score was 24-21 in the fourth quarter. Other teams were smashing us on the road. Im not impressed with Rice.

thier secondary was not good last year and McNulty had success against them. Once he got those ribs blown up, that is when he fell off. The announcer called it too. He said those ribs would be sore after half time and McNulty would struggle. Later that game Harris beat those dbs two more times, but McNulty couldnt get him the ball.

Rice will be bringing in 4 new dbs. McNulty should have a decent game. Especially at home.

[BillySee58]

Because SMU is horrible. We blew them out with last years team...I went to the Rice game and watched it several times. The score was 24-21 in the fourth quarter. Other teams were smashing us on the road. Im not impressed with Rice.

thier secondary was not good last year and McNulty had success against them. Once he got those ribs blown up, that is when he fell off. The announcer called it too. He said those ribs would be sore after half time and McNulty would struggle. Later that game Harris beat those dbs two more times, but McNulty couldnt get him the ball.

Rice will be bringing in 4 new dbs. McNulty should have a decent game. Especially at home.

Doesn't take much away from your point, but my high school (and junior high) teammate Ryan Pollard started for them last year and he's back this year. He's the one who had the pick six on Mcnulty.

[MeanGreenTexan]

...

I guess a question would be, unbiased opinion, what makes us believe we may be improved on defense this year?

Hope.

We have to hope SirCalvin, Orr, Tauaalo, can be block-eaters on the DL. Hope Sid Moore shines in the 3-tech.

We have to hope Combs comes in and makes an immediate impact, along with Johnson's improvement.

We have to hope Finney comes in and does not disappoint. Bean cannot disappoint either. I think, aside from DaMarcus Smith, Finney is the guy who needs to make the biggest impact in this JUCO class.

We have to hope the Jackson twins can help immediately to where we're not so reliant on the 10yd cushions to keep from getting beat on the deep ball.

We have to hope Cosh's schemes are not too much different than Skladany's to where the guys are learning an entirely different system.

That's alot of hope though...

[Aldo]

I guess a question would be, unbiased opinion, what makes us believe we may be improved on defense this year?

Call it "from the gut", or "just trying to convince myself", but on paper (through this last recruiting cycle) I see an improvement in depth and talent (tackling ability and speed).

I'm leaning on an overall improvement of talent within the LBs and DBs. Of course I speak with the assumption that the JUCOs win the starting jobs, leaving some of last year's starters as depth (I'm especially looking at the LBs here).

Most of the tackling was being done by the DBs (4 out of the top 5). Akunne accounted for a sizeable amount of production, while Scott and Marshall couldn't combine to equal his production. Aside from missing Orr this year, we dearly missed Will Wright. I think Cosh focused on finding starting talent here to fit in this zone d. Orr, Akunne, and Wright where tackling monsters. We didn't have that this year, and so I see that as the baseline (or as bad as it gets).

[BillySee58]

Hope.

We have to hope SirCalvin, Orr, Tauaalo, can be block-eaters on the DL. Hope Sid Moore shines in the 3-tech.

We have to hope Combs comes in and makes an immediate impact, along with Johnson's improvement.

We have to hope Finney comes in and does not disappoint. Bean cannot disappoint either. I think, aside from DaMarcus Smith, Finney is the guy who needs to make the biggest impact in this JUCO class.

We have to hope the Jackson twins can help immediately to where we're not so reliant on the 10yd cushions to keep from getting beat on the deep ball.

We have to hope Cosh's schemes are not too much different than Skladany's to where the guys are learning an entirely different system.

That's alot of hope though...

Right, but who do you think out of those guys has a legitimate shot at being all-CUSA this year? I like Finney too. But I'd like our defense a lot better if he could be our 3rd linebacker and play WILL with a guy like Orr and MIKE and Akunne at SAM. As it is, I think we may be asking a lot of Finney early on. Can he be the best linebacker of a top-half CUSA defense, this year? I too think he can be a CUSA-level starter. But is that enough for us? If not him, then who else can be an all-CUSA linebacker?

Even if these things we hope for happens, we need someone to step up and be more than just serviceable. We need all-CUSA guys to have a defense we can lean on to win enough games to get to a bowl.

[BillySee58]

Call it "from the gut", or "just trying to convince myself", but on paper (through this last recruiting cycle) I see an improvement in depth and talent (tackling ability and speed).

I'm leaning on an overall improvement of talent within the LBs and DBs. Of course I speak with the assumption that the JUCOs win the starting jobs, leaving some of last year's starters as depth (I'm especially looking at the LBs here).

Most of the tackling was being done by the DBs (4 out of the top 5). Akunne accounted for a sizeable amount of production, while Scott and Marshall couldn't combine to equal his production. Aside from missing Orr this year, we dearly missed Will Wright. I think Cosh focused on finding starting talent here to fit in this zone d. Orr, Akunne, and Wright where tackling monsters. We didn't have that this year, and so I see that as the baseline (or as bad as it gets).

I think the seniors we lost were our best players. So I can see the JUCO guys being improvements from the players we have back. I think McClain, who I'm very high on, will be a slight dropoff from Lairamie Lee (although I think McClain has more potential), whoever takes over for Akunne will be a dropoff, James Gray will be an improvement from Wade, whoever takes over for James Jones will be a dropoff, whoever takes over for Lincoln will probably be a dropoff, and I could see Combs being as productive as Mason was last year. These are just what I'm thinking, not for sure. Also if Finney wins the job he should be an improvement from A Wallace and Scott at MLB, but they're still on the team.

The one place I'm expecting better production of the guys we're replacing is James Gray at FS taking over for Wade. Other than that, I don't know how realistic it is to expect much better production than guys like Akunne, Jones, and Lee. At least this year. After guys like Combs, Finney, Gray, McClain, and Tillman Johnson have a year under their belts I could really see them forming a good defense in 2016. I'm just uncertain about next year.

Again, it goes back to who has all conference potential. These JUCO guys may be good pickups, but I don't think it's realistic to expect them to be all-CUSA in their first year as a D1 player. Who can be all-CUSA on this defense? If we don't have any all-CUSA players than I don't see how this can be a defense we can lean on. So who has a chance in 2015?

[Aldo]

I agree with most of what you said. Can't improve upon Akunne but it's not unrealistic to improve upon the LB group as a whole. Nor do I expect any all conference players at D. We are still reeling from some bad recruiting cycles, but I think a donut is an improvement upon a flat tire.

The LB unit should take pressure off the DBs having to come in and mop up missed assignments and tackles.

[GOMG2013]

I think the seniors we lost were our best players. So I can see the JUCO guys being improvements from the players we have back. I think McClain, who I'm very high on, will be a slight dropoff from Lairamie Lee (although I think McClain has more potential), whoever takes over for Akunne will be a dropoff, James Gray will be an improvement from Wade, whoever takes over for James Jones will be a dropoff, whoever takes over for Lincoln will probably be a dropoff, and I could see Combs being as productive as Mason was last year. These are just what I'm thinking, not for sure. Also if Finney wins the job he should be an improvement from A Wallace and Scott at MLB, but they're still on the team.

The one place I'm expecting better production of the guys we're replacing is James Gray at FS taking over for Wade. Other than that, I don't know how realistic it is to expect much better production than guys like Akunne, Jones, and Lee. At least this year. After guys like Combs, Finney, Gray, McClain, and Tillman Johnson have a year under their belts I could really see them forming a good defense in 2016. I'm just uncertain about next year.

Again, it goes back to who has all conference potential. These JUCO guys may be good pickups, but I don't think it's realistic to expect them to be all-CUSA in their first year as a D1 player. Who can be all-CUSA on this defense? If we don't have any all-CUSA players than I don't see how this can be a defense we can lean on. So who has a chance in 2015?

2014 L. Lee was not good. He was hurt all year, so whoever takes his place should be an improvement. If not, then it may be a revolving door at that spot. As far as coverage, I think we can match jjones production with the juco corner, davis, or a jackson twin. I haven't seen any evidence they can play the run like our corners have to though.

[BillySee58]

I agree with most of what you said. Can't improve upon Akunne but it's not unrealistic to improve upon the LB group as a whole. Nor do I expect any all conference players at D. We are still reeling from some bad recruiting cycles, but I think a donut is an improvement upon a flat tire.

The LB unit should take pressure off the DBs having to come in and mop up missed assignments and tackles.

We could have a group of solid players across the board. But I don't know that, with this schedule, a defense with no all-CUSA players can be good enough to win 7+ games with a conservative offense.

[BillySee58]

2014 L. Lee was not good. He was hurt all year, so whoever takes his place should be an improvement. If not, then it may be a revolving door at that spot. As far as coverage, I think we can match jjones production with the juco corner, davis, or a jackson twin. I haven't seen any evidence they can play the run like our corners have to though.

Lee's dropoff was also due to not having a 1st-team all CUSA free safety playing next to him, IMO. That's why I'm expecting just a slight dropoff with McClain, and only because it's going to be McClain's first year as a starter. I hinted at it in my last post, but I think McClain will surpass Lee eventually.

Same for Jones' replacement. He was just a good, well-rounded corner. I could see his replacement being decent, but I don't know about them being all-CUSA this year like he was. Maybe in 2016. All of his potential replacements were "A" or better recruits out of high school (Jackson twins, Grindle, and Chad Davis). The talent is there, but they don't have the experience yet.

I keep saying it, but I just don't see who is a likely candidate to be all conference this year. We can have solid players across the board, but without all CUSA players on defense I don't know if we'll be able to do what we did in 2013 where we just ran the ball and killed clock on offense and leaned on the defense and ST. In 2013 we did have those guys making big plays, with Bellazin being towards the top CUSA in sacks, Orr making a lot of TFLs and plays near the LOS, and Trice getting interceptions and tackles near the LOS.

I just think we're going to need Smith and the offense to win shootouts on occasion. Especially on the road, where our defense has been very bad in every year under Mccarney except 2013.