UNT 2015 Spring game in review

UNTcrazy727 · April 19, 2015

DW looked like the same player as last year. Getting sacked way too much and his wheels on the verge of coming off at any moment. He might have the most talent, but I don't trust him at all. It's sad to say, but at the moment McNulty is our best hope.

97and03 · April 19, 2015

I prefer 3-9 with DW over 3-9 with mini. Just like many of us knew we were headed to somewhere between that and 5-7 last year with DW or Mini. Would rather had Williams gain more experience than watch mini to get the same result.

Ben Gooding · April 19, 2015

If DSmith has any smidgen of talent we have to roll this guy out there. Going off his JUCO film he can easily make all the necessary throws to be successful in this offense. He is also accurate and has a pretty strong arm.

As far as I'm concerned he just has to show up and he'll have a decent shot at unseating McNulty. But then again AM is Macs guy and that scares me.

GMG24 · April 19, 2015

DW looked like the same player as last year. Getting sacked way too much and his wheels on the verge of coming off at any moment. He might have the most talent, but I don't trust him at all. It's sad to say, but at the moment McNulty is our best hope.

Really?? He had the second OL (pretty terrible LT) blocking the first team defense I thought he looked very good, two sacks were BS he was fixing to scramble at got tagged and ref blew whistle

Ben Gooding · April 19, 2015

DW flashed d1 talent as he always does. He hangs on to the ball no more than AM does and DW was playing vs 1's. I haven't seen DW's numbers from yesterday (large part due to the athletic department probably hoarding them) but he probably played a more efficient game than AM did vs better competition and less playmakers.

Danish43 · April 19, 2015

Surely he's not implying that NT has depth at RB......

He forgot to mention A.J. Ezzard who had almost as good a day as Ivery. That gives us Wilson, Jimmerson, Ivery, Ezzard. We also saw Rex Rollins flashing his very fast wheels out there early in the scrimmage. Throw in a healthy Evans and I repeat what I've said before. We have the deepest RB situation that NT has ever had. And while Porter (#34) didn't tear it up out there in his limited appearances, he had an overall good spring. I hope he's invited to come back in the fall.

Is there somebody by the name of Garza that is a RB. 5'6" is also a walk-on?

UNT 90 Grad · April 19, 2015

This post has been promoted to an article

foutsrouts · April 20, 2015

I prefer 3-9 with DW over 3-9 with mini. Just like many of us knew we were headed to somewhere between that and 5-7 last year with DW or Mini. Would rather had Williams gain more experience than watch mini to get the same result.

Those were pretty much my thoughts last year. Let DW play through his issues. Of course hindsight is always crystal.

GreenTexan13 · April 20, 2015

I prefer 3-9 with DW over 3-9 with mini. Just like many of us knew we were headed to somewhere between that and 5-7 last year with DW or Mini. Would rather had Williams gain more experience than watch mini to get the same result.

I couldn't agree more with this statement. DW needs to be out there, and we need to mold him into our starting 1st string QB for the remainder of his career here. If we lose with DW, I know that he will take his mistakes as a harsh learning tool. McNulty is at the highest peak of talent he can provide (which clearly isn't good enough). Mac needs to use McNulty as a guy who coaches DW from the sidelines and is that Senior that puts the guy in line. As far as my opinion goes, I'm all UNT90 opinionated on this season going 3-9. Hopefully our QB situation gets figured out and we get DW or Smith out there leading the team in the fall...

UNT86 · April 20, 2015

Just watched the highlights.

Saw our WR corps make more plays in 8 minutes than I did all last year.

I think that by itself will make our QB play better.

I know our QB's didn't play anything close to the level we hoped for last year, but our WRs were just as terrible.

Looking forward to seeing more from them like the Spring Game showed.

GMG24 · April 20, 2015

Yeah, I think by game 2 you're starting receivers will be Harris, smiley, and Goree boy oh boy Tee is going to be a BEAST along with Rutherford, who I think is 1 year away from being an animal, he needs to get his routes more crisp, and work on getting in and out of his break to really separate. His goal line fade will be nice to watch for 4 years.

Chumley needs to move to TE by the 3rd game to work and get used to it so when we lose smith, and loving, he'll be ready to produce.

Edited April 20, 2015 by GMG24

eulessismore · April 20, 2015

I went for the second half of the game and loved some of what I saw, especially Dajon, Tee Goree, and Willy Ivery. Agree with the vastly upgraded receiver corps. I If Dajon isn't #1, I sure don't understand why he isn't #2.

GMG24 · April 20, 2015

He wasn't 2 bc he had 2 terrible turnovers in the scrimmage last week and green didn't. But I don't think that was deserving of him being bumped down to 4.. I know why he was bc they didn't want him running with the 1st team 0 and shredding the 2nd team defense, bc he sure had no problem vs the 1st team D. He held the ball a tad to long bc he had 2 freshman receivers who are adjusting to d1 speed, a decent TE, and a 3rd receiver Daniel khan good but not elite. That coupled with the atrocious LT play on pass blocking I though he did more than carry himself and his team. He threw strikes and made correct reads on the ZR

greenit · April 20, 2015

I counted 3 passes from McNulty that were 35yds+ in the air, plus another that looked to be 25+. Basically 1/3 of his completions were downfield. I would not have expected him to have that many, but I would have expected him to have a lot more completions overall.

GMG24 · April 20, 2015

Umm 2 or 3 of the deep balls required adjustment or were under thrown, I agree though, I didn't think they'd stretch the field vertically as much.

One thing that makes me nervous was our run defense on the edge, seemed like stretch weak killed us all day on all teams

eulessismore · April 20, 2015

One thing I would like to see would be a comparison of the ypc for running backs when the different qb's were in there. DW just seems to be more deceptive with the fake handoff than the others, and that seems to loosen up the defense a little.

MeanGreen13 · April 20, 2015

I know this makes me sound like a hater, but regardless of how good D. Smith is, half the battle is about confidence and our coaches seem to be really good at taking confidence away from players. I'll almost take Mini Mac as long as they are firm behind him. at least that way he can get a little comfortable and play with some swag. I thought that our QBs all looked so tentative for most of the game. that worries me more than talent level honestly because the most talented guys play terribly when they are playing scared.

UNT90 · April 20, 2015

I know this makes me sound like a hater, but regardless of how good D. Smith is, half the battle is about confidence and our coaches seem to be really good at taking confidence away from players. I'll almost take Mini Mac as long as they are firm behind him. at least that way he can get a little comfortable and play with some swag. I thought that our QBs all looked so tentative for most of the game. that worries me more than talent level honestly because the most talented guys play terribly when they are playing scared.

Scared to death to turn the ball over lest be demoted.

It's a fine line coaches have to walk, although I don't think you get to be a FBS athlete with a crisis of confidence.

eulessismore · April 20, 2015

I know this makes me sound like a hater, but regardless of how good D. Smith is, half the battle is about confidence and our coaches seem to be really good at taking confidence away from players. I'll almost take Mini Mac as long as they are firm behind him. at least that way he can get a little comfortable and play with some swag. I thought that our QBs all looked so tentative for most of the game. that worries me more than talent level honestly because the most talented guys play terribly when they are playing scared.

One of the favorite quotes I've heard attributed to Darrell Royal is "A confused team can't play aggressively".

Dr. Seuss · April 20, 2015

We play in the FBS not the FCS. Why are we still wondering if players have FBS talent? Mac has been here for 5 years and if he still isn't able to recruit, he should be out of a job.

GMG24 · April 20, 2015

Who is wondering about fbs talent?

Harry · April 20, 2015

Here are my thoughts from the game:

Ben Gooding · April 20, 2015

Here are my thoughts from the game:

Good write up and I agree with about everything. We'll know if D. Smith is eligible or not in like 3.5-4 months. Makes me feel better to shorten that 5 months you speak of.

I am wondering about what fall arrivals they think will contribute right away or "add to depth." I'm slightly worried about the secondary. Our "back ups" were having quite a bit of success on Saturday (19-32 223 yds 3td(?) and 1 pick). Not to mention our 2's (depth) gave up 346 yards and 3td. So I am just wondering what their expectation levels are of someone like Ashton Preston or maybe another secondary fall arrival.

Harry · April 20, 2015

Good write up and I agree with about everything. We'll know if D. Smith is eligible or not in like 3.5-4 months. Makes me feel better to shorten that 5 months you speak of.
I am wondering about what fall arrivals they think will contribute right away or "add to depth." I'm slightly worried about the secondary. Our "back ups" were having quite a bit of success on Saturday (19-32 223 yds 3td(?) and 1 pick). Not to mention our 2's (depth) gave up 346 yards and 3td. So I am just wondering what their expectation levels are of someone like Ashton Preston or maybe another secondary fall arrival.

I think we have half of the battle won having Kenny Buyers and Kishawn McLain back. Those are two good C-USA players at each position.

The key will be the others and especially how well the jucos pan out. I think Preston will be good but would hope we could redshirt him.

UTSA Fan · April 20, 2015

The fact that your #1 QB, facing a vanilla #2 defense, completed less than 50% of his passes against said #2 vanilla defense is concerning, no matter how vanilla the offense.
I wonder how other CUSA #1 QBs faired in their respective Spring games...