D. Smith

Aldo · October 16, 2015

This offense is a lot more exciting.

During the long TD pass to Kidsy I think I read the entirety of The Odyssey and ran to the bathroom while the ball was in the air.

The o-line needs to give him more time.

Ben Gooding · October 16, 2015

I'll that I'm more mad at Mac now than I was even after Portland State. It would've been one thing if Smith were a bust. But he's not. He made first-timer mistakes, but those were mistakes that would've been coached out if he got first team reps and more time at starter. If he started after SMU, this might be a 3-3 team, maybe even a 4-2 team.

Just...yeah, after seeing his numbers tonight, I'm more angry at a UNT coach than I've ever been. I feel like Williams could've been special. Smith more than likely IS.

And that is why I was so adamant about him starting the entire offseason. His HS stats were great, but he came from a very competitive JUCO league and had stats reflective of what Zach Mettenberger had of who attended the same JUCO as Smith. His tape showed a QB with above average scrambling ability, rocket arm and the ability to throw on the run/extend plays. It was literally, to me, a no brainer as to who our starter in Dallas was going to be....

....Then...That idiot Dan Mccarney happened.

Hunter Green · October 16, 2015

Just makes me sick that Coach Mac would be that stubborn to start his friend's son over putting Smith at QB and winning! I think Canales wanted to start Smith but Coach Mac wouldn't allow it.

And it cost him his job.

Ben Gooding · October 16, 2015

Just makes me sick that Coach Mac would be that stubborn to start his friend's son over putting Smith at QB and winning! I think Canales wanted to start Smith but Coach Mac wouldn't allow it.

And it cost him his job.

It cost UNT far more in many ways.

Aldo · October 16, 2015

Oh and 4 passing TDs. Over 300 yards of offense. Any INTs?

TIgreen01 · October 16, 2015

I liked what I saw from the players around Smith when he was on the field. Energy level actually seemed to pick up after the first couple of series. More guys working to get open because he is improvising and may still find them. He actually looked off safeties a couple of times. Clearly wasn't consistent enough, but he at least gave us a reason to stay in our seats even when the game was out of reach just because I wanted to see what he'd do next.

Ben Gooding · October 16, 2015

Oh and 4 passing TDs. Over 300 yards of offense. Any INTs?

Yes, 1. Ball went through wr hands, hit his helmet and bounced into the air.

Smith went 17/35, but there were AT LEAST 5 drops.

Mean Green 93-98 · October 16, 2015

Oh and 4 passing TDs. Over 300 yards of offense. Any INTs?

1 INT. And 1 fumble, with a couple more close calls. Overall, I was very impressed. And he actually made our offense extremely fun to watch.

Matt from A700 · October 16, 2015

I believe we can win out at home at least behind Smith, assuming he learns to settle down. However, the defense is god-awful. Cosh needs to go.

BillySee58 · October 16, 2015

Outside of that sick Hail Mary throw he really struggled against the first team defense. He was something like 7-21 late in the third when WKU pulled Doughty. He's obviously far and away our best guy, and he looked very good at the end (albeit against backups). Still, he needs to work on completing passes in tight windows. The passes he was hitting at the end we're not really throws where there was a small margin for error.

If he keeps coming along and taking care of things off the field the new head coach could have something to work with. And while we're righting Mccarney's wrong QB decisions, can we move Dillman to QB and let him get reps there? I don't want to roll with Greer and Means as our backups next year.

ADLER · October 16, 2015

It was nice to see a quarterback try to make something happen when pressured instead of just throwing the ball away. (Or the taking a knee guy)

Thank goodness the folly is over.

foutsrouts · October 16, 2015

Outside of that sick Hail Mary throw he really struggled against the first team defense. He was something like 7-21 late in the third when WKU pulled Doughty. He's obviously far and away our best guy, and he looked very good at the end (albeit against backups). Still, he needs to work on completing passes in tight windows. The passes he was hitting at the end we're not really throws where there was a small margin for error.
If he keeps coming along and taking care of things off the field the new head coach could have something to work with. And while we're righting Mccarney's wrong QB decisions, can we move Dillman to QB and let him get reps there? I don't want to roll with Greer and Means as our backups next year.

Yes, unless Chumley somehow shows that QB is definitely where he belongs next spring, while Dillman looks monstrously good at TE.

All About UNT · October 16, 2015

Smith must have had one hell of a week at practice to get the start.... oh wait.... regime change

Aldo · October 16, 2015

Ah I forgot about that INT. That was a throw he shouldn't have made. iirc it was short and the receiver was well covered.

He is going to make a lot of mistakes, but this was his first FBS experience and he needs to get in a groove. He looked like he had the jitters during much of the first half. hopefully he can use this game going forward to settle down.

Harry · October 16, 2015

We have a long way to go but at least it was fun at times tonight. It makes me very mad that DMac hasn't been given all the snaps up to this point as he clearly is the most talented QB on this roster. I also like that he gets other WRs involved in the game. Seemed like mini always wanted only to throw to Carlos.

Our defensive philosophy has to change and in the post game again not one thing was mentioned about how to improve the d or what went wrong. I know we are desperately trying to accentuate the positives now but every broadcast does not have to be radio Stalin. I really wanted to hear Chico's thoughts on the defense and what he planned to do to improve in that area.

Edited October 16, 2015 by Harry

Aldo · October 16, 2015

Harry brings up a good point about Smith's ball dispersal.

I think part of it was how the game flowed. The work that DSmith and Wilson were doing in the run game began to open up Goree and Kidsy downfield. DSmith may have a reticence to throw to the middle of the field.

Mean_Green09 · October 16, 2015

We have a long way to go but at least it was fun at times tonight. It makes me very mad that DMac hasn't been given all the snaps up to this point as he clearly is the most talented QB on this roster. I also like that he gets other WRs involved in the game. Seemed like mini always wanted only to throw to Carlos.
Our defensive philosophy has to change and in the post game again not one thing was mentioned about how to improve the d or what went wrong. I know we are desperately trying to accentuate the positives now but every broadcast does not have to be radio Stalin. I really wanted to hear Chico's thoughts on the defense and what he planned to do to improve in that area.

Chicos thoughts are:

Score more points bc we ain't fixing that D.

In all honesty I believe he is letting each coach do whatever they need to do to get this team better. I don't think he micromanaging like Mac. It's on every coach to coach his ass off for his next job. So Chico isn't going to try to fix the D. He is going to get Smith and the offense better so we can out score folks.

Christopher Walker · October 16, 2015

We have a long way to go but at least it was fun at times tonight. It makes me very mad that DMac hasn't been given all the snaps up to this point as he clearly is the most talented QB on this roster. I also like that he gets other WRs involved in the game. Seemed like mini always wanted only to throw to Carlos.
Our defensive philosophy has to change and in the post game again not one thing was mentioned about how to improve the d or what went wrong. I know we are desperately trying to accentuate the positives now but every broadcast does not have to be radio Stalin. I really wanted to hear Chico's thoughts on the defense and what he planned to do to improve in that area.

Chicos thoughts are:
Score more points bc we ain't fixing that D.

In all honesty I believe he is letting each coach do whatever they need to do to get this team better. I don't think he micromanaging like Mac. It's on every coach to coach his ass off for his next job. So Chico isn't going to try to fix the D. He is going to get Smith and the offense better so we can out score folks.

I dunno, I think Chico's being a little more hands-on with the defense than we may know.

I saw him not on the sidelines, but a yard or two onto the field yelling things out to our defense. It might have initially just seemed like words of encouragement or "coaching", but he was pointing and gesticulating like he was really trying to get a point across... with Cosh eight yards to his right on the sidelines staring at his board... "coaching".

BigDanTeague · October 16, 2015

Yes, 1. Ball went through wr hands, hit his helmet and bounced into the air.
Smith went 17/35, but there were AT LEAST 5 drops.

That ball went off Ivery after a defender had already tipped it.

adman · October 16, 2015

Outside of that sick Hail Mary throw he really struggled against the first team defense. He was something like 7-21 late in the third when WKU pulled Doughty. He's obviously far and away our best guy, and he looked very good at the end (albeit against backups). Still, he needs to work on completing passes in tight windows. The passes he was hitting at the end we're not really throws where there was a small margin for error.
If he keeps coming along and taking care of things off the field the new head coach could have something to work with. And while we're righting Mccarney's wrong QB decisions, can we move Dillman to QB and let him get reps there? I don't want to roll with Greer and Means as our backups next year.

He was 9 of 26 and 2 TDs when they finally pulled first team. That's a 34% completion rate against first team D. I think that, above all conspiracy theories, explains why he never started for Mac.

He does have a cannon of an arm but his accuracy is terrible. Especially when on the move. Don't really understand why they kept rolling him out considering how much worse his accuracy got as he moved. But he does have a cannon. So there's something to work with but 34% completion needs to step up in a big way if we ever hope to be competitive. And the O-line needs to learn how to run block.

Tee Goree showed up tonight and made a BIG BOY play for his first TD

I dunno, I think Chico's being a little more hands-on with the defense than we may know.
I saw him not on the sidelines, but a yard or two onto the field yelling things out to our defense. It might have initially just seemed like words of encouragement or "coaching", but he was pointing and gesticulating like he was really trying to get a point across... with Cosh eight yards to his right on the sidelines staring at his board... "coaching".

Cosh was in the booth tonight. KP was the guy in green on the sidelines sending in the plays from upstairs.

SilverEagle · October 16, 2015

In addition to all of the already mentioned qualities of Smith (strong arm, escapability etc) I was most impressed with his toughness. He plays like a fast linebacker with a great arm. There was absolutely no hesitancy on his part to run and take a hit. And he kept coming back. I haven't seen anything like that since Scott Hall.

Ben Gooding · October 16, 2015

He was 9 of 26 and 2 TDs when they finally pulled first team. That's a 34% completion rate against first team D. I think that, above all conspiracy theories, explains why he never started for Mac.
He does have a cannon of an arm but his accuracy is terrible. Especially when on the move. Don't really understand why they kept rolling him out considering how much worse his accuracy got as he moved. But he does have a cannon. So there's something to work with but 34% completion needs to step up in a big way if we ever hope to be competitive. And the O-line needs to learn how to run block.
Tee Goree showed up tonight and made a BIG BOY play for his first TD

Cosh was in the booth tonight. KP was the guy in green on the sidelines sending in the plays from upstairs.

Some of his throws are sporadic, sure. He gets overly excited and tries to throw ropes every throw. The WR/TE did have at least 5 drops last night though, at least. I counted 3 really, really bad throws that short hoped his intended target. He had 2-3 high balls that were due to a few things...not setting his feet, excitement and release point. That will be corrected quickly. His upside is monumentally higher than any QB on this roster and for that alone he should have been QB1 day 1 of fall camp.

Mean_Green09 · October 16, 2015

He was 9 of 26 and 2 TDs when they finally pulled first team. That's a 34% completion rate against first team D. I think that, above all conspiracy theories, explains why he never started for Mac.
He does have a cannon of an arm but his accuracy is terrible. Especially when on the move. Don't really understand why they kept rolling him out considering how much worse his accuracy got as he moved. But he does have a cannon. So there's something to work with but 34% completion needs to step up in a big way if we ever hope to be competitive. And the O-line needs to learn how to run block.
Tee Goree showed up tonight and made a BIG BOY play for his first TD

The keep rolling him out because he makes his plays from outside the pocket, gives him the run pass option, less to look at meaning he only has to read 1/3 of the field.

He has thrown about 100 less passes then McNulty and has thrown more TDs

IslandEagle · October 16, 2015

The keep rolling him out because he makes his plays from outside the pocket, gives him the run pass option, less to look at meaning he only has to read 1/3 of the field.
He has thrown about 100 less passes then McNulty and has thrown more TDs

He definitely gives us more of a home run threat. Hopefully they will be working on the passing accuracy and coordination with the receivers.

BillySee58 · October 16, 2015

Yes, unless Chumley somehow shows that QB is definitely where he belongs next spring, while Dillman looks monstrously good at TE.

I don't see it happening with Chumley. He was in the stands last night. But even before that, he just isn't a D1 QB. Great ability and potential. A move to tight end would really be in his best interest. Dillman may be a good tight end, but we need him at QB. With no QB commit this class, most good QBs already being committed somewhere, and only Chumley and Means as current underclassmen QBs it would make sense to move him since the next coach may do it for those reasons.