Grade the Coaching/Performance

[ForneyGreen]

1 hour ago, Cerebus said:

Morris has to make better decisions, and he has to be more accurate.  In the second half he had back to back plays where he made terrible decisions, and then next series he had back to back plays where he missed two open receivers pretty badly.  

I don't know where he will be at by the end of season, he has a lot of rust to knock off.   However on Saturday night he wasn't a good CUSA QB, and that is what this team needs to compete this year.   

Agreed 110%  Morris didn't have a good night... not a MiniMac disaster of a night, but not good.  Too may overthrows, underthrows, and holding the ball too long.  He also had some good, crisp passes too, so there is hope.  Coach Harrell was absolutely livid at AM after one of the sacks he took.

From a coaching perspective, I didn't like the jump ball play on 4th and 1... that seemed like a new OC still feeling his way.

[EagleMBA]

2 hours ago, Rudy said:

Mac not only left the cupboard bare, he pulled the shelves down.

To cover the spot where he crapped in the corner!

[greenminer]

Losses are hard to stomach, no matter our circumstance. which I suppose means I still care.

[Army of Dad]

7 hours ago, Silent Eagle said:

Man, I can see your knee jerking from here. 

Maybe I didn't communicate that well, though I still expected to be more competitive against a bottom feeder AAC school.

Maybe SMU will turn out to be good this year, but I have doubts about that. It looks like my 4-8 guess was too optimistic. I had figured on a 2-0 start for that record...

Edited September 4, 2016 by Army of Dad

[97and03]

5 hours ago, ForneyGreen said:

Agreed 110%  Morris didn't have a good night... not a MiniMac disaster of a night, but not good.  Too may overthrows, underthrows, and holding the ball too long.  He also had some good, crisp passes too, so there is hope.  Coach Harrell was absolutely livid at AM after one of the sacks he took.

From a coaching perspective, I didn't like the jump ball play on 4th and 1... that seemed like a new OC still feeling his way.

The thing is, I don't think it was supposed to be a jump ball. It was just a shitty pass.

[jdennis82]

5 hours ago, ForneyGreen said:

...seemed like a new OC still feeling his way.

This was my thought on yesterday's offensive performance.  We can't forget that our OC is in his "freshman" season as a playcaller and is learning how his players respond in real game action.  I look forward to him better learning his players tendencies so he can develop a better feel for calling plays to settle things down or capitalize on their strengths.

On the defensive side, I think there was a lot to build on.  I trust the tackling will be worked on and improved.

The loss hurts but I saw many promising things last night.

[Wag Tag]

10 hours ago, El Paso Eagle said:

Offensive - C-

Too many interceptions and missed opportunities. Also considering the Defense we played against

Defense -  F

Poor play. Too many big plays given up.

Special Teams - C

Nothing special

 

Did not have the highest expectations but this was worse than I thought we would see. Lots of room for improvement.

# one goal... Contain the qb! Killed us 1st half with legs! I think we definatly saw some rookie coaches mistakes on both sides! GMG 

[UNT90]

12 hours ago, BigDanTeague said:

 

This team has fewer players on scholarship than last year, and last year's team would've gotten absolutely woodshedded after getting down 17-0.

The biggest weaknesses were O-line and linebackers. O-line could not protect Morris from SMU's pressure. The UNT D-line did a respectable job after the first quarter, and many times properly protected the backers, who just couldn't get to the ball-carriers.

People who are already mailing it in on this staff ... I don't know what to tell you.

Both of these teams were noticeably better than last year.

 

The d-line gave up over 250 on the ground. That isn't close to respectable. 

The defense as a whole was awful. The line was particularly so. 

Edited September 4, 2016 by UNT90

[untjim1995]

I truly feel bad for some of you on here, watching reality set in at how deep the hole is here. 

SMU is a 3-5 win team. They are a year ahead of us, with a better QB situation. It's the blueprint for us for next year.

When you saw that we were picked as one of the three worst teams in FBS this season, it hurt. But it's reality. The team, while under new leadership, is dealing with harsh realities. They have 68 scholarship players. They have a system that is built around players that were recruited here to play a 1950s type of offense. The schedule we have is way above where we are as a program right now, including the SMUs, Army's, and CUSA teams.

Ill say this again, but that Portland State loss will take years to rebuild up from...

[UNT Mean Green]

8 hours ago, ForneyGreen said:

Agreed 110%  Morris didn't have a good night... not a MiniMac disaster of a night, but not good.  Too may overthrows, underthrows, and holding the ball too long.  He also had some good, crisp passes too, so there is hope.  Coach Harrell was absolutely livid at AM after one of the sacks he took.

From a coaching perspective, I didn't like the jump ball play on 4th and 1... that seemed like a new OC still feeling his way.

That 4th and one play was changed by Morris at the LoS. You could see it clear as day. 

[meangreendork]

5 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

I truly feel bad for some of you on here, watching reality set in at how deep the hole is here. 

SMU is a 3-5 win team. They are a year ahead of us, with a better QB situation. It's the blueprint for us for next year.

When you saw that we were picked as one of the three worst teams in FBS this season, it hurt. But it's reality. The team, while under new leadership, is dealing with harsh realities. They have 68 scholarship players. They have a system that is built around players that were recruited here to play a 1950s type of offense. The schedule we have is way above where we are as a program right now, including the SMUs, Army's, and CUSA teams.

Ill say this again, but that Portland State loss will take years to rebuild up from...

More like, the sequence of events that led to Portland State will take years to rebuild from. Our new staff is trying to run a spread, mobile offense and a pressure defense with players picked for a power running game and a containment defense.

Even then, this is a better team than last year. Part of that is the early season morale, and I hope the coaches can maintain that as 2016 is probably going to be a rough season.

[cdizzle86]

Obviously not the outcome we hope for, but there were many bright spots. Most importantly, this team DIDN'T quit!

This was the first game with so many new faces and we were a couple of plays away from stealing this game. 

We have to put this game behind us and focus on getting better.

[untjim1995]

2 minutes ago, meangreendork said:

More like, the sequence of events that led to Portland State will take years to rebuild from. Our new staff is trying to run a spread, mobile offense and a pressure defense with players picked for a power running game and a containment defense.

Even then, this is a better team than last year. Part of that is the early season morale, and I hope the coaches can maintain that as 2016 is probably going to be a rough season.

Good point--and, yes, that's what I was trying to say. The events leading up to that and what happened after it are, hopefully, the nadir of the program...

[meangreendork]

7 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

Good point--and, yes, that's what I was trying to say. The events leading up to that and what happened after it are, hopefully, the nadir of the program...

We'll how long it takes to come out of that. Right now, I think Dickey's last season was our nadir...or maybe one of Dodge's seasons, I don't know.

Funny thoughts - Dodge could recruit but couldn't coach for the speed of college ball. McCarney could coach in his system (which wasn't a fit for Texas football anyway), but he couldn't recruit. I have a feeling Littrell and his staff will be able to draw in the right players through their coaching philosophies and their track records, and then coach them in systems that'll be very effective. I'm more optimistic about this staff now than I was about McCarney and Dodge combined.

[letsgiveacheer]

Unfortunately, it is going to be a rough season which will make it tougher to recruit for next season and the next season, etc.   Forty years of losing has gotten us in this hole that will be difficult, if not  impossible to recover from, no mater who we get as coach.  

[Side Show Joe]

Offense- F

24 points is terrible for a spread offense. Morris held the ball too long and often took a sack instead of throwing the ball away. His accuracy was poor too.  The WRs didn't do a good job of coming back to the ball. Wilson, Thompson, and Smith were good and had solid games.

Defense- D

The D gave up that terrible 3rd and 45 touchdown, and didn't contain Davis, but still managed to hold SMU to only 34 points. Not great but better then last years group, considering they are better this season..

Special Teams- D

This used to be a solid unit. Dropped punts and poor kick coverage are not acceptable.

Edited September 4, 2016 by Side Show Joe

[Hunter Green]

Gotta remember. This is a new coaching staff with new schemes on offense and defense, lots of new players, and a good QB with lots of rust to shake off from riding the pine for four years. They will get better as the season rolls on. The biggest in game performance is often seen between the first and second week of the season. I think everyone will learn from their mistakes and improve each week.  In the meantime, Keep Calm, keep showing up, wear your green, keep yelling encouragement, drink beer and we'll see improvement and a couple of wins along the way.

GO MEAN GREEN! 

[TreeFiddy]

I was worried about the first half coming into the game due to so many new parts to this thing.  That was one ugly 1st quarter.  Take away the inability to knock down the ball on 4th and forever and the dumb call/audible on 4th and 1 and this team was right in the game.

Davis is stupid fast.  Our LBs are not fast, but he will give plenty of teams fits.  Our DBs got their ass absolutely handed to them by Sutton.  He had the 88 yard catch and the catch on 4th and forever where he was standing there waiting on the ball to get to him.  It should have been batted down.  Our secondary looked like all freshmen on that play.

All in all, I am still encouraged.  The D created havoc at times.  They will get better as they get more comfortable in the system and with each other.  When you play aggressively, you sometimes get burned.

On offense, Morris was definitely mediocre and had the look of someone who has not seen live action in 4 years.  He was good at times and awful at times.  The coaches have essentially been telling us this for some time now.  I think the fact that Fine's redshirt was pulled in the very first game sends a clear signal that Morris better pick it up quickly if he wants to keep the starting job.  Morris had some bad throws where he missed some wide open guys.  He also threw some balls where he trusted his receiver to make a play that resulted in interceptions.  He will have to learn his receivers better or make better decisions.

The offense combined for nearly 400 yards.  Without the 3 interceptions, the total would have been higher and there would have been more points scored so that is at least a little encouraging.  Last night was just a reality check of how far we have to go to be a good team, but I am not ready to abandon ship after one game.  There will be some ups and there will be some downs.

[Aldo]

I felt ok after this game. 

Defense was hot and cold. They made some very good plays and they made some very bad plays. I felt like there was no middle ground. I think we will fare well against QBs that can't scramble like Davis. I mean, Davis ran VERY well and extended plays. If he wasn't so evasive we would have given up fewer big plays. Run D needs to improve, but it's the first game of the season. The second half of the game settled down a bit. 

Offense had a slow start. Receivers were bailing out Morris. His fade to Goree on 4th and 1 was a jump ball but should have been placed a little farther down the sideline. Wilson looked awesome. Over 130 yards from scrimmage or something? Receivers made some mistakes, wrong routes/decisions, dropped passes, but they did make plays. Kelvin Smith should've been tackled, but he exploded for a TD. Morris needs to improve his play. Began to overthink his throws after a few bad misses and lost confidence quickly. Absolutely cannot have that. I say give him a half next game give Fine another. Fine took command of the offense and it felt different. Passes were crisper.

We kept it at 13 points and didn't give up at the end. 

First game of the season and it wasn't awful. There's room for improvement and I think we can be competitive against lesser teams this season. 

We have hope for a fun 2016 season, but like I've said before, I'm looking forward to a 2017 season. We will give up big plays and we will make big plays. 

I'm not worried about BC next week. 

[GrandGreen]

SMU would have a winning season playing NT's schedule.   They have a handful of players better than anyone NT can put on the field.  Most of us were disappointed with the SMU game, however it was one game and not the end of the season.    

[UNT90]

12 hours ago, Ryan Munthe said:

Glad we're already begging for the backup

So, what exactly is the upside in continuing to play Morris? Do you honestly still believe this is a bowl team? 

[UNT90]

1 hour ago, meangreendork said:

More like, the sequence of events that led to Portland State will take years to rebuild from. Our new staff is trying to run a spread, mobile offense and a pressure defense with players picked for a power running game and a containment defense.

Even then, this is a better team than last year. Part of that is the early season morale, and I hope the coaches can maintain that as 2016 is probably going to be a rough season.

My concern is that this staff won't be able to recruit the players needed to make their systems (offensive and defensive) work. We will find out a lot more about that in February. 

[UNT Mean Green]

35 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

So, what exactly is the upside in continuing to play Morris? Do you honestly still believe this is a bowl team? 

It's time for Fine. After watching a few of the scrimmages and now this initial game, it's clearly evident that Fine is the best guy right now.

[UNT90]

Just now, UNT Mean Green said:

It's time for Fine. After watching a few of the scrimmages and now this initial game, it's clearly evident that Fine is the best guy right now.

If that is the case, I think we see a change this week. Littrell's post game comments were really telling. He seemed genuinely disappointed in the QB play vs SMU. 

And he again said what he said in the fan meeting: the best talent will play, regardless of classification. And he made that comment without being directly asked (it was a post game interview of the Mean Green radio network, so you know there were no hard hitting questions). 

[Hunter Green]

38 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

So, what exactly is the upside in continuing to play Morris? Do you honestly still believe this is a bowl team? 

It allows Fine to grow up a little bit and not have the weight of the world on his shoulders. Give him a little bit each week, and depending how the season unfolds, make him your starter toward the end of the season. Playing during mop up time does not give an accurate guage how he would do as a starter. College defenses are much more advanced than what he saw in high school.