MGB video: Morris talks about landing at UNT

NTAlum09 · February 11, 2016

2 minutes ago, Aldo said:

It's the last time we won anything.

It's our last point of reference.

What else do we have? The Dickey run? There are kids getting a driving permit that were born when that run started.

It's a reminder that things need to change.

Well I'm not the type who likes to eat a bologna sandwich everyday because I don't like to change. Either Vito doesn't get paid a whole lot of money to do his job or he needs raise badly. It's really easy to copy and paste the same point of reference after every article about a UNT quarterback.

Aldo · February 11, 2016

Just now, NTAlum09 said:

It's really easy to copy and paste the same point of reference after every article about a UNT quarterback.

I mean it's a kick to the giblets to read about it so much, but it is the only point of reference we have.

We have sucked.

For a while.

And getting in a CUSA-level QB here should be #1 on everyone's list, otherwise we can just shut this down for another year.

It was the story this offseason bc we need one, and it was the story last offseason and it wasn't properly addressed (with a HS quarterback). And it was an issue before that because we had unknowns. And it was an issue before that because a senior was getting beat out by a freshman.

etc etc

BillySee58 · February 11, 2016

1 hour ago, Aldo said:

There are kids getting a driving permit that were born when that run started.

New Orleans Bowl babies?

VideoEagle · February 11, 2016

3 hours ago, NTAlum09 said:

Vito if you are reading this, please stop referencing the 2013 Heart of Dallas Bowl. Yes it was a great day and I was there when we won. But in reality it was rated dead last in the bowl game rankings from ESPN. Probably got a lower rating with having UNLV as our opponent.

Actually, ESPN was quite pleased with the audience. They helped arrange UNLV instead of a Big 10 team and knew the rantings would be somewhat lower but after the broadcast it did better than they thought and feared before hand.

NTAlum09 · February 11, 2016

Just now, VideoEagle said:

Actually, ESPN was quite pleased with the audience. They helped arrange UNLV instead of a Big 10 team and knew the rantings would be somewhat lower but after the broadcast it did better than they thought and feared before hand.

Did you see the bowl game selection show? They skipped over us and didn't talk about HOD bowl. We deserved a better opponent for that bowl game and everyone knows it.

UNLV was a joke

VideoEagle · February 11, 2016

Just now, NTAlum09 said:

Did you see the bowl game selection show? They skipped over us and didn't talk about HOD bowl. We deserved a better opponent for that bowl game and everyone knows it.

UNLV was a joke

ESPN OWNS the Heart of Dallas Bowl. There wasn't enough Big 10 teams available that year and ESPN arranged the swap around with the Mountain West for a fill in team.

The bowl selection show comments are made by the commentators. The commentators bosses bosses boss at ESPN programming are the one's who decide what goes on and what doesn't. ESPN Events and ESPN Programming were surprised by the ratings in 2014 as they thought they'd be worse and ended up quite happy. The announcers on the bowl selection shows have no input into what shows go on - they are just the reporters/talent. The people who make the decisions - including hiring and firing those reporters/talent - were quite happy with the results of the game.

And the bowl selection show happens BEFORE the games are played so they can't have any idea what the ratings will be!

NTAlum09 · February 11, 2016

2 minutes ago, VideoEagle said:

ESPN OWNS the Heart of Dallas Bowl. There wasn't enough Big 10 teams available that year and ESPN arranged the swap around with the Mountain West for a fill in team.

The bowl selection show comments are made by the commentators. The commentators bosses bosses boss at ESPN programming are the one's who decide what goes on and what doesn't. ESPN Events and ESPN Programming were surprised by the ratings in 2014 as they thought they'd be worse and ended up quite happy. The announcers on the bowl selection shows have no input into what shows go on - they are just the reporters/talent. The people who make the decisions - including hiring and firing those reporters/talent - were quite happy with the results of the game.

And the bowl selection show happens BEFORE the games are played so they can't have any idea what the ratings will be!

Ya they really scrambled around all right to find a weak ass opponent who brought 300 loud screaming UNLV fans to the game.

untjim1995 · February 11, 2016

2 hours ago, Aldo said:

I mean it's a kick to the giblets to read about it so much, but it is the only point of reference we have.

We have sucked.

For a while.

And getting in a CUSA-level QB here should be #1 on everyone's list, otherwise we can just shut this down for another year.

It was the story this offseason bc we need one, and it was the story last offseason and it wasn't properly addressed (with a HS quarterback). And it was an issue before that because we had unknowns. And it was an issue before that because a senior was getting beat out by a freshman.

etc etc

Morris could very well be the best QB we have had here since we moved up to FBS. Vizza, from a pure talent standpoint was the best we have had, with Scott Hall's grit making him number two on that list. Vizza just got the $hit beat out of him too much on the hard Fouts turf and decided that this place wasn't for him. With a real college coach and line, he could have been really, really good here, at least on par with everything Derek Thompson did. I figure Morris' pedigree of being an Allen HS QB and earning a scholarship to Bama has to give him some respect from the UNT fans. It would be damn near impossible to be worse than what we have seen the last two years with 4 FCS or lower QBs.

Mean Green 93-98 · February 11, 2016

55 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

. . . with 4 FCS or lower QBs.

But with most of those QBs, we were left scratching our heads as to why they performed at an "FCS or lower" level. Honestly, walk-on Nathan Tune looked far better than any QB since him, other than perhaps DT. On paper, Greer and Smith were certainly FBS-level QBs. Williams flashed some ability. How much of their "FCS or lower" level performance is attributable to their development, offensive system, talent with which they were surrounded, and in-game coaching? If this coaching staff will provide a significant upgrade in at least 2 of those 4 areas (please, oh please be a significant upgrade), maybe we could actually see FBS-level performances out of those QBs.

HarringtonFishSmeller · February 11, 2016

1 hour ago, untjim1995 said:

Morris could very well be the best QB we have had here since we moved up to FBS. Vizza, from a pure talent standpoint was the best we have had, with Scott Hall's grit making him number two on that list. Vizza just got the $hit beat out of him too much on the hard Fouts turf and decided that this place wasn't for him. With a real college coach and line, he could have been really, really good here, at least on par with everything Derek Thompson did. I figure Morris' pedigree of being an Allen HS QB and earning a scholarship to Bama has to give him some respect from the UNT fans. It would be damn near impossible to be worse than what we have seen the last two years with 4 FCS or lower QBs.

The coach who gave Colin Kaepernick a scholarship also offered Vizza a scholarship. So, I agree with you. Problem, though...I doubt Vizza would have beaten out Kaepernik had he accepted the offer from Nevada. Maybe he'd have been happy to bide his time.

I agree that I'd like to have seen Vizza with a more experienced coaching staff, and a scheme that offered more than five linemen blocking.

UNT90 · February 11, 2016

9 minutes ago, HarringtonFishSmeller said:

and a scheme that offered more than five linemen blocking.

You do realize the scheme next year will have 5 linemen blocking, correct?

HarringtonFishSmeller · February 12, 2016

16 hours ago, UNT90 said:

You do realize the scheme next year will have 5 linemen blocking, correct?

Yes. Although, my assumption is that the execution will be better, given that we haven't hired a high school coach who then turned around and hired a staff of high school coaches.

Also, Littrell opens against SMU, not Oklahoma. We already know SMU sucks. So, his introduction to the head coaching world will be far less vicious than Dodge's was.

Aldo · February 12, 2016

16 hours ago, UNT90 said:

You do realize the scheme next year will have 5 linemen blocking, correct?

It's not like Littrell never calls plays without an inline TE or two, or an hback or a blocking rb, etc. He'll call a jumbo package or single wing at the goal line, or an inline tight end that releases.

I mean Harrell, will, of course.

It's all situational, which is what we failed at the past several seasons: Dialing up the appropriate plays in the right situation. Eg, a screen pass with one or two blockers for Jimmy on 3rd and 12 vs SMU.

pastorgrant · February 12, 2016

Vizza was awesome. I wish we had a better team around him.

Mean Green 93-98 · February 13, 2016

11 hours ago, pastorgrant said:

Vizza was awesome. I wish we had a better coaching staff around him.

FIFY

SouthBendGreen · February 14, 2016

Reading this topic sent chills down my back as I relived this board when Scott Hall was here. I was very critical of him at the time and got railroaded by so many regulars including a personal email exchange with his dad. Nothing personal against the guy, but he was NOT that good. He managed the game and did it well enough, but by no stretch was he a great QB. He wasn't even in the same ballpark as Mitch Maher and Andrew Smith (God rest his soul) had more talent in his hand than Hall had in has body.

But he had a top 25 defense and an amazing stable of RB's. Saying Scott Hall was a major player in the success of those teams is like saying Trent Dilfer is the reason the Ravens won the SB. Sorry folks it isn't the truth. He was a great leader, teammate and person, but that doesn't make him a great QB. I was also relatively critical of DT who threw off his back foot about 80% of the time, but he was definitely better than SH.

But both were average QB's that managed the game well and rode the coattails of great RB's and defenses that were among the best in the country. It doesn't take anything away from their team success or them as people.

Let the negative hits begin in 3, 2, 1...

FirefightnRick · February 14, 2016

17 minutes ago, SouthBendGreen said:

Reading this topic sent chills down my back as I relived this board when Scott Hall was here. I was very critical of him at the time and got railroaded by so many regulars including a personal email exchange with his dad. Nothing personal against the guy, but he was NOT that good. He managed the game and did it well enough, but by no stretch was he a great QB. He wasn't even in the same ballpark as Mitch Maher and Andrew Smith (God rest his soul) had more talent in his hand than Hall had in has body.

But he had a top 25 defense and an amazing stable of RB's. Saying Scott Hall was a major player in the success of those teams is like saying Trent Dilfer is the reason the Ravens won the SB. Sorry folks it isn't the truth. He was a great leader, teammate and person, but that doesn't make him a great QB. I was also relatively critical of DT who threw off his back foot about 80% of the time, but he was definitely better than SH.

But both were average QB's that managed the game well and rode the coattails of great RB's and defenses that were among the best in the country. It doesn't take anything away from their team success or them as people.

Let the negative hits begin in 3, 2, 1...

Trashing our greatest athletes who are in the HOF. Another reason why other fan bases must laugh at us because our own alumns are so college athletic ignorant.

Rick

Dr. Seuss · February 14, 2016

On 2/11/2016 at 3:13 PM, NTAlum09 said:

Did you see the bowl game selection show? They skipped over us and didn't talk about HOD bowl. We deserved a better opponent for that bowl game and everyone knows it.

UNLV was a joke

UNT was just as much as a joke as UNLV

53 minutes ago, FirefightnRick said:

Trashing our greatest athletes who are in the HOF. Another reason why other fan bases must laugh at us because our own alumns are so college athletic ignorant.

Rick

We dont have enough good players for a HOF

FirefightnRick · February 14, 2016

4 hours ago, Dr. Seuss said:

UNT was just as much as a joke as UNLV

We dont have enough good players for a HOF

Sure we do just as every program does. But when you start allowing people to buy their way into it then it starts to have less meaning, that's all.

Rick

HoustonEagle · February 14, 2016

7 hours ago, SouthBendGreen said:

Reading this topic sent chills down my back as I relived this board when Scott Hall was here. I was very critical of him at the time and got railroaded by so many regulars including a personal email exchange with his dad. Nothing personal against the guy, but he was NOT that good. He managed the game and did it well enough, but by no stretch was he a great QB. He wasn't even in the same ballpark as Mitch Maher and Andrew Smith (God rest his soul) had more talent in his hand than Hall had in has body.

But he had a top 25 defense and an amazing stable of RB's. Saying Scott Hall was a major player in the success of those teams is like saying Trent Dilfer is the reason the Ravens won the SB. Sorry folks it isn't the truth. He was a great leader, teammate and person, but that doesn't make him a great QB. I was also relatively critical of DT who threw off his back foot about 80% of the time, but he was definitely better than SH.

But both were average QB's that managed the game well and rode the coattails of great RB's and defenses that were among the best in the country. It doesn't take anything away from their team success or them as people.

Let the negative hits begin in 3, 2, 1...

Throwing the football well was not prerequisite for being a good quarterback in Dickey's offense. Scott Hall managed the game well. Was a threat to take off but did not run a ton. He avoided mistakes and when we occasionally passed the ball he hit the receivers. Granted they were often were wide open.

Dickey ran basically 1950's style football. When it worked it was great because no matter what system you put out there, winning is more fun than losing.

Edited February 14, 2016 by HoustonEagle

UNT90 · February 14, 2016

On February 11, 2016 at 3:09 PM, VideoEagle said:

Actually, ESPN was quite pleased with the audience. They helped arrange UNLV instead of a Big 10 team and knew the rantings would be somewhat lower but after the broadcast it did better than they thought and feared before hand.

Isn't it great that ESPN was happy?

SouthBendGreen · February 14, 2016

7 hours ago, HoustonEagle said:

Throwing the football well was not prerequisite for being a good quarterback in Dickey's offense. Scott Hall managed the game well. Was a threat to take off but did not run a ton. He avoided mistakes and when we occasionally passed the ball he hit the receivers. Granted they were often were wide open.

Dickey ran basically 1950's style football. When it worked it was great because no matter what system you put out there, winning is more fun than losing.

Precisely my point. He avoided mistakes and managed the game well which is all that was required of him. He didn't have to go win games. Again - that does NOT take away from his leadership or character or anything else, but it is the reality.

You know I debated even posting to this topic because I knew specifically it would draw the ire of Rick with whom I had many of these debates. For some reason Scott Hall is force fielded to many on this board (not just Rick) and if the slightest bit of negativity is even remotely hinted then you are marked as not a good alum or stupid or that you don't know what you are talking about. I fail to see how you can characterize what I wrote as "trashing". It was the reality of Scott Hall as a player. I am grateful for what he contributed to our school however let's be honest about it.

Finally - I will say this, because I have this inability to let things go (ask my wife), other fan bases aren't laughing because I am "college athletic ignorant", but that the performance of Scott Hall is deemed HOF worthy. Jake Coker was great for Alabama this year but their is ZERO chance he makes their HOF. It is all relative.

FirefightnRick · February 14, 2016

3 hours ago, SouthBendGreen said:

Precisely my point. He avoided mistakes and managed the game well which is all that was required of him. He didn't have to go win games. Again - that does NOT take away from his leadership or character or anything else, but it is the reality.

You know I debated even posting to this topic because I knew specifically it would draw the ire of Rick with whom I had many of these debates. For some reason Scott Hall is force fielded to many on this board (not just Rick) and if the slightest bit of negativity is even remotely hinted then you are marked as not a good alum or stupid or that you don't know what you are talking about. I fail to see how you can characterize what I wrote as "trashing". It was the reality of Scott Hall as a player. I am grateful for what he contributed to our school however let's be honest about it.

Finally - I will say this, because I have this inability to let things go (ask my wife), other fan bases aren't laughing because I am "college athletic ignorant", but that the performance of Scott Hall is deemed HOF worthy. Jake Coker was great for Alabama this year but their is ZERO chance he makes their HOF. It is all relative.

Other fans could care less what Scott Hall's individual performance stats were. They laugh at our own closet wanna be Sooners, Longhorns and Tide T shirt alumni who trash our own best players.

Scott Hall won us games. If you were in Las Cruces to witness the Miracle in the Desert game you would know that. Scott was a badly needed leader at a time we hadn't seen at his position since Maher. He demanded everyone around him to perform and he led by example, even playing a season with half a meniscus on one knee. Though he has good QB stats he's in the HOF for his overall accomplishments........at North Texas, not at Alabama or Notre Dame. It's ignorant to compare him with anyone else at other schools HOF's.

Rick

Edited February 14, 2016 by FirefightnRick

flyonthewall · February 14, 2016

14 hours ago, FirefightnRick said:

Sure we do just as every program does. But when you start allowing people to buy their way into it then it starts to have less meaning, that's all.

Rick

Care to name who bought their way in?