This loss wasn't on McNulty

SilverEagle · September 20, 2015

Jeez Louise folks, 19/35 for 303 yards and 4.3 ypc when he scrambled, and some of you are picking at him about zip on the ball? How did you like the zip on the ball when he threw that 90+ yrd td pass and Harris didn't have to break stride catching it. So much for his weak arm. No amount of "zip" or whatever else you want to pick at is going to overcome three fumbles lost at critical times, plus very questionable play calling by the coaching staff at the beginning of the second half.

Do we have another QB on the team that has more raw ability than McNulty? Probably, but he didn't take care of classroom work and therefore put himself in the position of not being able to compete last spring. To me that makes him just as responsible for our loss today as the players that fumbled at critical times.

Put this on the coaches and turnovers, not McNulty.

eulessismore · September 20, 2015

Jeez Louise folks, 19/35 for 303 yards and 4.3 ypc when he scrambled, and some of you are picking at him about zip on the ball? How did you like the zip on the ball when he threw that 90+ yrd td pass and Harris didn't have to break stride catching it. So much for his weak arm. No amount of "zip" or whatever else you want to pick at is going to overcome three fumbles lost at critical times, plus very questionable play calling by the coaching staff at the beginning of the second half.
Do we have another QB on the team that has more raw ability than McNulty? Probably, but he didn't take care of classroom work and therefore put himself in the position of not being able to compete last spring. To me that makes him just as responsible for our loss today as the players that fumbled at critical times.
Put this on the coaches and turnovers, not McNulty.

Well, you are exactly right. However, in the situation where we now find ourselves, I don't think it would be hating on McNulty to want the coaches to send another quarterback in there once in a while with a designed play or series just to be trying...something...different. It looks like we may give up a lot of points on defense this year, so we need to figure out some way to score more.

Cr1028 · September 20, 2015

I was proud of the kid. He showed some guts he didn't show the week before. He showed me he could throw a deep ball and that he could tuck it and run for a first down. I cant be mad at him this week.

UNT90 · September 20, 2015

There was one play where McNulty had to move in the pocket. Once he moved, Harris was WIDE OPEN 25 yards downfield on a crossing route. So wide open he could have walked to the end zone.

McNulty panicked and tried to scramble without looking downfield, getting sacked and losing a couple of yards, and a TD.

He wasn't terrible, but he wasn't a difference maker, and yes, I understand that there may not be a difference maker at QB on this team.

Even on the deep TD pass to Harris in the first half, I found myself cheering for the ball (which looked like a wounded duck) to get there before the defender recovered and could make a play on the ball. It got there. Barely.

I'm glad we saw improvement, don't get me wrong, but don't expect anything but the same QB that has been here for the last 4 years.

Edited September 20, 2015 by UNT90

LongJim · September 20, 2015

Breland was WIDE OPEN 25 yards downfield...

i wish...

Edited September 20, 2015 by LongJim

greenit · September 20, 2015

Fans running on the field are normally wide open.

UNT90 · September 20, 2015

i wish...

fixed. Lol.

Obviously, Harris reminds me of Breland.

TIgreen01 · September 20, 2015

He wasn't terrible, but he wasn't a difference maker, and yes, I understand that there may not be a difference maker at QB on this team.

Outside of Harris and maybe Jimmy, do we have ANY game breakers? The problem I see is that we have very few who can bust a play and shorten a drive. We get very few easy TDs, which goes back to last year. So we have to be very efficient and string together a lot of good plays to score.

Ultimately, Rice had more talent on the field. We could not line up and stop their skill players. I thought losing Ced Fernandez was a turning point. We couldn't replace him in Cosh's preferred 4-2-5. Any updates on his condition?

Green P1 · September 20, 2015

That was the best he can play. With the team we've got around him, his best possible game still comes in a blowout loss to a conference foe. Playing garbage football with an inconsistent (at best) 5th year senior qb is a death sentence for the future of a program. Fan wise, player wise, recruit wise ... We've lost every single bit of momentum that bowl win with Dodge's roster gained us. I broke down and bought season tickets again right before the SMU game and I already regret it.

But at least McCarney's buddy will get to watch his son start a game in his precious home state of Iowa!

UNT90 · September 20, 2015

That was the best he can play. With the team we've got around him, his best possible game still comes in a blowout loss to a conference foe. Playing garbage football with an inconsistent (at best) 5th year senior qb is a death sentence for the future of a program. Fan wise, player wise, recruit wise ... We've lost every single bit of momentum that bowl win with Dodge's roster gained us. I broke down and bought season tickets again right before the SMU game and I already regret it.

But at least McCarney's buddy will get to watch his son start a game in his precious home state of Iowa!

Question.

If we do go 1-11 or 0-12 and the unthinkable happens and we actually act like an FBS program and fire the head coach, will the new head coach claim that he has inherited the slowest, smallest, most QBless team in America?

MeanGreenTexan · September 20, 2015

plus a muffed punt, fumble, a pass that Harris should have caught. All drive and momentum killers.
There aren't many QBs out there that can dig us out a 4 touchdown hole.
Turnovers, man.

Are you talking about the one that turned into an interception? If so, you're out of your mind. There's no way he should have been expected to make that grab. Harris was outstretched completely parallel to the ground trying to make that catch, and the ball only barely went off his hands.

Mean_Green09 · September 20, 2015

Question.
If we do go 1-11 or 0-12 and the unthinkable happens and we actually act like an FBS program and fire the head coach, will the new head coach claim that he has inherited the slowest, smallest, most QBless team in America?

No because he will inherit a team with bowl caliber talent.

Cerebus · September 20, 2015

No because he will inherit a team with bowl caliber talent.

Well apparently so did Mac, but he said what he said.

It's all just coach speak anyway.

UNTexas · September 20, 2015

McNulty definitely contributed to the loss but the straw that broke the camels back and destroyed any momentum we had came early when the punt returner made a completely asinine decision to attempt to field a ball that Deion Sanders couldn't return.

MeanGreenTexan · September 20, 2015

McNulty definitely contributed to the loss but the straw that broke the camels back and destroyed any momentum we had came early when the punt returner made a completely asinine decision to attempt to field a ball that Deion Sanders couldn't return.

I actually thought we recovered from that quite well. The Ivery fumble though... North Texas was going to be on the 10 yd line with a chance to take the lead and some momentum into halftime. Instead, Rice drives it all the way down the field and gets some wacky calls to kick a FG and get momentum back on their side.

UNTexas · September 20, 2015

I actually thought we recovered from that quite well. The Ivery fumble though... North Texas was going to be on the 10 yd line with a chance to take the lead and some momentum into halftime. Instead, Rice drives it all the way down the field and gets some wacky calls to kick a FG and get momentum back on their side.

I agree it wasn't a knock out blow but if we kept our D off the field and potentially scored the entire game dynamic would have shifted. Instead we played catch up.

One other thing I was irritated about was the officials. They tackled a receiver in the end zone and there was no flag. If we touched their guys there was a flag. No excuses but impartiality is all I ask for.

UNTFan23 · September 21, 2015

Just for grins and giggles:

Name / Game	Pass Yards	Touchdown Passes	Nbr Completions	Interceptions	Passing Attempts	QB Rating	Completion Percentage	Yards per Completion

Ander McNulty / Rice	303	2	19	1	35	130.8	54.3	15.9
Rice Starting QB	373	3	29	0	39	163.2	74.4	12.9

Andrew McNulty / Season

431

2

35

3

69

99.3

50.7

12.3

In case you were wondering ...

#5 Without 93 yd rec

210

1

18

1

34

108.7

52.9

11.7

McNulty did have a better game but what you don't see in these stats is time of possession, points off turnovers, and the difference in the number of plays run between the two teams. Our offense still has lots to improve upon.

Edited September 21, 2015 by UNTFan23

KingDL1 · September 21, 2015

After the touchdown pass I saw 4 incompletions in a row that were nowhere near catch-able for his receivers and two should have been picked. If the pass is more than 10 yards in the air I would like to see his completion rate and distance missed by, because watching some of those passes I wonder how he his accuracy can be that poor. To be fair I only saw the second half, we stopped at BJ's and they said they had the game but it turned out they did not have the right package at game time and 20 minutes of messing with it. I did not see the rest until I got home.

Edited September 21, 2015 by KingDL1

untjim1995 · September 21, 2015

No because he will inherit a team with bowl caliber talent.

I disagree. This team is made up of players that were from mostly recruiting classes from 2012-2014. We ranked 100th out of 126th in 2012, 118th out of 123 schools in 2013, and 123rd out of 123 in 2014.

Granted, recruiting rankings aren't perfect, but as a whole, it tells you a lot about the entirety of the program. Sure, we have some talented kids. But the whole is very poor, which is why the results speak for themselves.

The best you can hope for is that the class of 2015 that was ranked 90th out of 129, will have some more playmakers in it and we can see that experience pay off by 2017. That's all you can really see for any improved talent coming forward in the future, especially when you consider that the 2016 class will probably be just putrid now that the HoD Bowl season will be a distant memory.

MeanGreenTexan · September 21, 2015

I disagree. This team is made up of players that were from mostly recruiting classes from 2012-2014. We ranked 100th out of 126th in 2012, 118th out of 123 schools in 2013, and 123rd out of 123 in 2014.
Granted, recruiting rankings aren't perfect, but as a whole, it tells you a lot about the entirety of the program. Sure, we have some talented kids. But the whole is very poor, which is why the results speak for themselves.
The best you can hope for is that the class of 2015 that was ranked 90th out of 129, will have some more playmakers in it and we can see that experience pay off by 2017. That's all you can really see for any improved talent coming forward in the future, especially when you consider that the 2016 class will probably be just putrid now that the HoD Bowl season will be a distant memory.

Not gonna happen if the stud of the class is not even targeted for an entire game.