My Take

FirefightnRick · September 4, 2016

I said back in December or January this felt like Dodge 2.0, and when I saw us indirectly put an already tiring defense back on the field after attempting a 4th and a foot from the shot gun with a 20 yard fly route...I was thinking..."yup, D2.0". FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY.....please don't make me watch this the next four years.......again!!!

Gotta find a running game somewhere. Is it our young O line....or just this offense in general? SMU seemed to read our passing downs and pinned their ears back every time. And all we had to counter with were an occasional screen and counters. (I still do not like this offense but nobody is asking me so who cares).

Our receivers gotta go get the ball. Kelvin Smith, need to get this dude the ball more than twice. Loved watching him play.

Morris missed some throws but he has good zip on the ball and made completions past QB's would not have. And mostly, he responded well after getting hit. I hope he's tough and strong because it's gonna happen a lot this year.

This team didn't quit and I feel our young staff will be hungry to fix the things needing fixing.

Despite giving up a lot of yards on the ground we got lots of pressure on Matt Davis with blitz schemes, who was by far the fastest cat on the field. This is a good sign that Ekeler is doing what he can to overcome our deficiencies and low numbers of bodies.

Kicking games look good. This staff understands the importance of special teams.

After a Morris sack I saw Perry chewing the RB's ass all the way to the bench because he completely ignored the CB who delayed blitzed off the corner and hit Morris untouched.

Our RB's..I have no idea as I didn't get to see them enough to tell other than catching passes out of the backfield. Wilson and Wyche look pretty quick.

Hood looked good and in shape. When fresh he was drawing a double team and tying those guys up and getting a push. I can't help but think how much different this defense would be if we had English in there too?

LB's look good on blitzes but had a lot of missed tackle. This can be fixed after knocking the rust off.

I hinted earlier in the summer we might have 48 D1 caliber players on this team. Last night only 31 players got into the game and that includes our special teamers. So basically, we were fighting SMU with roughly 28 players all game long. TWENTY EIGHT!

It's gonna be a long season no matter how you slice it. I'm reserved to simply enjoy watching for improvement and individual player and coaching growth and hope it turns into success for the future.

Rick

Edited September 4, 2016 by FirefightnRick

UNT Mean Green · September 4, 2016

6 minutes ago, FirefightnRick said:

I said back in December or January this felt like Dodge 2.0, and when I saw us indirectly put an already tiring defense back on the field after attempting a 4th and a foot from the shot gun with a 20 yard fly route...I was thinking..."yup, D2.0". FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY.....please don't make me watch this the next four years.......again!!!

Gotta find a running game somewhere. Is it our young O line....or just this offense in general? SMU seemed to read our passing downs and pinned their ears back every time. And all we had to counter with were an occasional screen and counters. (I still do not like this offense but nobody is asking me so who cares).

Our receivers gotta go get the ball. Kelvin Smith, need to get this dude the ball more than twice. Loved watching him play.

Morris missed some throws but he has good zip on the ball and made completions past QB's would not have. And mostly, he responded well after getting hit. I hope he's tough and strong because it's gonna happen a lot this year.

This team didn't quit and I feel our young staff will be hungry to fix the things needing fixing.

Despite giving up a lot of yards on the ground we got lots of pressure on Matt Davis with blitz schemes, who was by far the fastest cat on the field. This is a good sign that Ekeler is doing what he can to overcome our deficiencies and low numbers of bodies.

Kicking games look good. This staff understands the importance of special teams.

After a Morris sack I saw Perry chewing the RB's ass all the way to the bench because he completely ignored the CB who delayed blitzed off the corner and hit Morris untouched.

Our RB's..I have no idea as I didn't get to see them enough to tell other than catching passes out of the backfield. Wilson and Wyche look pretty quick.

Hood looked good and in shape. When fresh he was drawing a double team and tying those guys up and getting a push. I can't help but think how much different this defense would be if we had English in there too?

LB's look good on blitzes but had a lot of missed tackle. This can be fixed after knocking the rust off.

I hinted earlier in the summer we might have 48 D1 caliber players on this team. Last night only 31 players got into the game and that includes our special teamers. So basically, we were fighting SMU with roughly 28 players all game long. TWENTY EIGHT!

It's gonna be a long season no matter how you slice it. I'm reserved to simply enjoy watching for improvement and individual player and coaching growth and hope it turns into success for the future.

Rick

Good perspective Rick. As I mentioned in another thread already, it was clearly obvious that Morris checked to the throw on 4th and 1. The call had come in as a run and he checked it due to what he saw up front.

greenminer · September 4, 2016

Thanks Rick. I noticed Ivery not getting any touches. Did he sit this out, or did he get some snaps?

Cerebus · September 4, 2016

18 minutes ago, FirefightnRick said:

I hinted earlier in the summer we might have 48 D1 caliber players on this team. Last night only 31 players got into the game and that includes our special teamers. So basically, we were fighting SMU with roughly 28 players all game long. TWENTY EIGHT!

Woah. Where did you get that info? If it's from the participation report then just remember it is usually very wrong. If one of the coaches told you that... ouch.

HoustonEagle · September 4, 2016

Good write up Rick.

I did not like the call on 4th down either but it's one of those high Beta plays that you either look like a genius or a goat.

The fact we can say anything good about Morris shows just how bad the QB play has been around here. He needs to make quicker decisions and quit guiding the ball. Still I think he has enough tools to get the job done for us. Maybe

I would have to go look at the stats but I feel like we ran the ball more than you think. We were also down from the start so I am sure Seth would have like to run the ball more.

The offense looked Dodge-esque for sure but then we knew that would be the case. Still if that was a Dodge coached team we would have given up 60 (it feels like we did) and had three kicks blocked.

I will say this for a positive. I flew down to Miami to watch Macs first game and we got beat like a red headed step child. It was the worst football I had ever seen. Yet the improvement over the next few games was an amazing thing to watch. Let's hope for the same with Seth.

oldguystudent · September 4, 2016

Defense -- if 2013 Defense was a 10, and Dodge defense was a negative 11, this defense was a 4. We gave up big plays (3rd and forty-f'ing-five. Dammit! I got some dirty looks for the words that came out of my mouth on that play). We don't seem to have a secondary, and the front line can't tackle. I think this part of the game is just lack of horses. I do think that unlike the Sultan of Southlake that Littrell does care about defense. We just don't have the manpower yet.

Offense -- There were several times throughout the game, particularly the first touchdown, where I found myself asking, "What the hell kind of route did that guy run to get THAT open?" Small passes turned into first downs. No running game, which I find weird because RB is one of the few spots we've got the players. I also have always hated that the spread effectively gives the defense a five-yard head start on running plays. Long passes, fuggedaboutit. Not gonna happen. Fine impressed me. 18-year-old kid out there wasn't scared of a damn thing.

Coaching -- Execution was poor, but outside that pass on 3rd and 1 or 4th and 1 whatever it was, I didn't feel like Littrell was pissing the game away, and I liked that he didn't give up in the fourth with the (again, poorly executed) onside kick. Litrrell isn't a high school coach. He's not in over his head. I'll give him a pass on this year and see how recruiting goes.

Attendance -- meangreensports says 24,718. Not bad, considering the thousands who've been driven away in past years. Can we maintain and build?

Overall environment -- I had a brief chat with Ernie yesterday. The things he had to say surprised me a great deal. Suffice it to say, voices have been heard and acknowledged. No more complacency and ineptitude as the gold standard of the department.

Beer -- Prices didn't go up. But I thought we were going to have a better variety this year. Still Metzler's, same offerings.

Club level -- Coffee! They put coffee in the club! Finally! Now maybe I won't die in November! Nice touch, club dudes! The usual first game giant leg o' beef and some unrecognizable chicken slop. They haven't sent out the season menu since 2014 to my knowledge, so who knows how that's gonna go.

Parking -- It's never taken me so long to get into the parking lot. Maybe that's a good thing. See attendance above.

Overall -- I hate losing, and that seems to be all I've ever known with UNT. I especially hate losing to SMU. But something just felt -- different. Better. I walked away last night feeling optimistic.

Cerebus · September 4, 2016

15 minutes ago, oldguystudent said:

Club level -- Coffee! They put coffee in the club! Finally! Now maybe I won't die in November! Nice touch, club dudes! The usual first game giant leg o' beef and some unrecognizable chicken slop. They haven't sent out the season menu since 2014 to my knowledge, so who knows how that's gonna go.

I did see that and liked it. However they only have one place to get soft drinks / tea and it always backs up. I have complained about that every single year. Just add one more station on the other side of the club level to get soft drinks.

Hunter Green · September 4, 2016

Not happy with the loss or the overall performance, but I'm looking forward to the next game. I'll be there wearing green!

GO MEAN GREEN!

oldguystudent · September 4, 2016

17 minutes ago, Cerebus said:

I did see that and liked it. However they only have one place to get soft drinks / tea and it always backs up. I have complained about that every single year. Just add one more station on the other side of the club level to get soft drinks.

Au contraire mon ami. There's a functioning soda machine on the patio behind club section 1.

GMoney · September 4, 2016

I'll add a few things I saw to what FFR said.

First, my expectations for this team's year is to simply compete and get better. I'm not expecting anything else. Remember we're going from a 90% run to a 90% passing attack in one year. There's a reason so many Juco's were brought in over the offseason.

Positives:

We did compete. Pass rush was decent. Our pass blocking was sufficient. Kicking game was solid.

Negatives:

We lined up and and didn't hide our coverages very well. We gave way too many pre snap reads to a decent QB. Can't do that.

In air ball skills by DBs.

Some poor passes via location and timing.

WRs didn't get much separation all night especially in man-to-man.

Running game was a no show.

Must tackle better and keep containment lanes.

Play-calling (biggest pet peeve - need 1 yd so snap it back 5 yds in shotgun to allow penetration ugh!)

This is the year we really needed to play BCU before SMU. This team needed some live game action before playing a D1 opponent. I'm still excited long-term, but make no mistake this is a long-term turnaround project.

oldguystudent · September 4, 2016

1 minute ago, GMoney said:

Play-calling (biggest pet peeve - need 1 yd so snap it back 5 yds in shotgun to allow penetration ugh!)

I was afraid of this after suffering through it countless times with Dodge. I don't understand the stalwart refusal to have a small set of short yardage plays that don't give the defense a five yard head start.

Ben Gooding · September 4, 2016

56 minutes ago, oldguystudent said:

Defense -- if 2013 Defense was a 10, and Dodge defense was a negative 11, this defense was a 4. We gave up big plays (3rd and forty-f'ing-five. Dammit! I got some dirty looks for the words that came out of my mouth on that play). We don't seem to have a secondary, and the front line can't tackle. I think this part of the game is just lack of horses. I do think that unlike the Sultan of Southlake that Littrell does care about defense. We just don't have the manpower yet.

Offense -- There were several times throughout the game, particularly the first touchdown, where I found myself asking, "What the hell kind of route did that guy run to get THAT open?" Small passes turned into first downs. No running game, which I find weird because RB is one of the few spots we've got the players. I also have always hated that the spread effectively gives the defense a five-yard head start on running plays. Long passes, fuggedaboutit. Not gonna happen. Fine impressed me. 18-year-old kid out there wasn't scared of a damn thing.

Coaching -- Execution was poor, but outside that pass on 3rd and 1 or 4th and 1 whatever it was, I didn't feel like Littrell was pissing the game away, and I liked that he didn't give up in the fourth with the (again, poorly executed) onside kick. Litrrell isn't a high school coach. He's not in over his head. I'll give him a pass on this year and see how recruiting goes.

Attendance -- meangreensports says 24,718. Not bad, considering the thousands who've been driven away in past years. Can we maintain and build?

Overall environment -- I had a brief chat with Ernie yesterday. The things he had to say surprised me a great deal. Suffice it to say, voices have been heard and acknowledged. No more complacency and ineptitude as the gold standard of the department.

Beer -- Prices didn't go up. But I thought we were going to have a better variety this year. Still Metzler's, same offerings.

Club level -- Coffee! They put coffee in the club! Finally! Now maybe I won't die in November! Nice touch, club dudes! The usual first game giant leg o' beef and some unrecognizable chicken slop. They haven't sent out the season menu since 2014 to my knowledge, so who knows how that's gonna go.

Parking -- It's never taken me so long to get into the parking lot. Maybe that's a good thing. See attendance above.

Overall -- I hate losing, and that seems to be all I've ever known with UNT. I especially hate losing to SMU. But something just felt -- different. Better. I walked away last night feeling optimistic.

When that 3rd and 45 heave of desperation actually worked just about every parent wielding a child wanted to kill me. I couldn't contain myself after watching that. Other than Morris' inaccuracies on the deep ball that play was the most frustrating thing I saw all night. ugh.

GMG24 · September 4, 2016

2 hours ago, oldguystudent said:

Defense -- if 2013 Defense was a 10, and Dodge defense was a negative 11, this defense was a 4. We gave up big plays (3rd and forty-f'ing-five. Dammit! I got some dirty looks for the words that came out of my mouth on that play). We don't seem to have a secondary, and the front line can't tackle. I think this part of the game is just lack of horses. I do think that unlike the Sultan of Southlake that Littrell does care about defense. We just don't have the manpower yet.

Offense -- There were several times throughout the game, particularly the first touchdown, where I found myself asking, "What the hell kind of route did that guy run to get THAT open?" Small passes turned into first downs. No running game, which I find weird because RB is one of the few spots we've got the players. I also have always hated that the spread effectively gives the defense a five-yard head start on running plays. Long passes, fuggedaboutit. Not gonna happen. Fine impressed me. 18-year-old kid out there wasn't scared of a damn thing.

Coaching -- Execution was poor, but outside that pass on 3rd and 1 or 4th and 1 whatever it was, I didn't feel like Littrell was pissing the game away, and I liked that he didn't give up in the fourth with the (again, poorly executed) onside kick. Litrrell isn't a high school coach. He's not in over his head. I'll give him a pass on this year and see how recruiting goes.

Attendance -- meangreensports says 24,718. Not bad, considering the thousands who've been driven away in past years. Can we maintain and build?

Overall environment -- I had a brief chat with Ernie yesterday. The things he had to say surprised me a great deal. Suffice it to say, voices have been heard and acknowledged. No more complacency and ineptitude as the gold standard of the department.

Beer -- Prices didn't go up. But I thought we were going to have a better variety this year. Still Metzler's, same offerings.

Club level -- Coffee! They put coffee in the club! Finally! Now maybe I won't die in November! Nice touch, club dudes! The usual first game giant leg o' beef and some unrecognizable chicken slop. They haven't sent out the season menu since 2014 to my knowledge, so who knows how that's gonna go.

Parking -- It's never taken me so long to get into the parking lot. Maybe that's a good thing. See attendance above.

Overall -- I hate losing, and that seems to be all I've ever known with UNT. I especially hate losing to SMU. But something just felt -- different. Better. I walked away last night feeling optimistic.

Fill out the survey and add that in the comments section of the concessions/food portion. Wren will get it fixed I have no doubt.

1 hour ago, Ben Gooding said:

When that 3rd and 45 heave of desperation actually worked just about every parent wielding a child wanted to kill me. I couldn't contain myself after watching that. Other than Morris' inaccuracies on the deep ball that play was the most frustrating thing I saw all night. ugh.

Johnny's and Joe's young Ben. Johnny's and Joe's

LongJim · September 4, 2016

Good take from FFR.

I will add that I thought Morris was hesitant at times, and missed a couple of seam routes that were wide open, but I think that the WRs had a lot of trouble getting separation.

Morris has some zip on the ball. Not seeing comparisons to AM as accurate.

You have to be able to run the football effectively when necessary. You have to stop the run effectively, and have to contain a mobile QB. Didn't happen last night. If those things are an issue, then Let It Fly is impossible. But I've beaten that horse for years, so I'll let it go. Just hope this isn't Dodgeball over again.

Kicking game looked good. Good return by Buyers last night.

Hope to see improvement from week 1 to 2, but will be hard to get a true read until week 3.

GoMeanGreen1999 · September 4, 2016

3 hours ago, oldguystudent said:

Defense -- if 2013 Defense was a 10, and Dodge defense was a negative 11, this defense was a 4.

Those were some bad Defenses.

2 hours ago, GMoney said:

Play-calling (biggest pet peeve - need 1 yd so snap it back 5 yds in shotgun to allow penetration ugh!)

Have NEVER understood this play call...Is there any team that runs a spread that has one or two plays from under center when you only need inches?

Ben Gooding · September 4, 2016

1 hour ago, GMG24 said:

Fill out the survey and add that in the comments section of the concessions/food portion. Wren will get it fixed I have no doubt.

Johnny's and Joe's young Ben. Johnny's and Joe's

I think we're close to the same age. Young Brandon, right?

And I don't care about Johnny or Joe, not on 3rd and mother freaking 45.

Edited September 4, 2016 by Ben Gooding

GMG24 · September 4, 2016

3 minutes ago, Ben Gooding said:

I think we're close to the same age. Young Brandon, right?

And I don't care about Johnny or Joe, not on 3rd and mother freaking 45.

Was a joke. Lighten up man, its sports not the end of the world. They threw the ball up for grabs and their 6'4 WR (who will play on Sundays) out jumped our 5'10 corner. It happens.

UNT 90 Grad · September 4, 2016

19 minutes ago, Ben Gooding said:

I think we're close to the same age. Young Brandon, right?

And I don't care about Johnny or Joe, not on 3rd and mother freaking 45.

I miss people referring to me as young...and this: http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/its_not_the_xs_and_os_its_the_jimmys_and_joes

We need another year or two of recruiting.

Edited September 4, 2016 by UNT 90 Grad

Ben Gooding · September 4, 2016

34 minutes ago, GMG24 said:

Was a joke. Lighten up man, its sports not the end of the world. They threw the ball up for grabs and their 6'4 WR (who will play on Sundays) out jumped our 5'10 corner. It happens.

I get it but 3rd and 45 is inexcusable.

Army of Dad · September 4, 2016

37 minutes ago, GMG24 said:

Was a joke. Lighten up man, its sports not the end of the world. They threw the ball up for grabs and their 6'4 WR (who will play on Sundays) out jumped our 5'10 corner. It happens.

I'm curious how that works for you on Thursday and Friday nights...

greenminer · September 4, 2016

9 minutes ago, Ben Gooding said:

I get it but 3rd and 45 is inexcusable.

It is inexcusable, and it still happens.

you coach the kids the best you can, then you don't demonize them for being human and making a mistake.

Wag Tag · September 4, 2016

5 hours ago, oldguystudent said:

Defense -- if 2013 Defense was a 10, and Dodge defense was a negative 11, this defense was a 4. We gave up big plays (3rd and forty-f'ing-five. Dammit! I got some dirty looks for the words that came out of my mouth on that play). We don't seem to have a secondary, and the front line can't tackle. I think this part of the game is just lack of horses. I do think that unlike the Sultan of Southlake that Littrell does care about defense. We just don't have the manpower yet.

Offense -- There were several times throughout the game, particularly the first touchdown, where I found myself asking, "What the hell kind of route did that guy run to get THAT open?" Small passes turned into first downs. No running game, which I find weird because RB is one of the few spots we've got the players. I also have always hated that the spread effectively gives the defense a five-yard head start on running plays. Long passes, fuggedaboutit. Not gonna happen. Fine impressed me. 18-year-old kid out there wasn't scared of a damn thing.

Coaching -- Execution was poor, but outside that pass on 3rd and 1 or 4th and 1 whatever it was, I didn't feel like Littrell was pissing the game away, and I liked that he didn't give up in the fourth with the (again, poorly executed) onside kick. Litrrell isn't a high school coach. He's not in over his head. I'll give him a pass on this year and see how recruiting goes.

Attendance -- meangreensports says 24,718. Not bad, considering the thousands who've been driven away in past years. Can we maintain and build?

Overall environment -- I had a brief chat with Ernie yesterday. The things he had to say surprised me a great deal. Suffice it to say, voices have been heard and acknowledged. No more complacency and ineptitude as the gold standard of the department.

Beer -- Prices didn't go up. But I thought we were going to have a better variety this year. Still Metzler's, same offerings.

Club level -- Coffee! They put coffee in the club! Finally! Now maybe I won't die in November! Nice touch, club dudes! The usual first game giant leg o' beef and some unrecognizable chicken slop. They haven't sent out the season menu since 2014 to my knowledge, so who knows how that's gonna go.

Parking -- It's never taken me so long to get into the parking lot. Maybe that's a good thing. See attendance above.

Overall -- I hate losing, and that seems to be all I've ever known with UNT. I especially hate losing to SMU. But something just felt -- different. Better. I walked away last night feeling optimistic.

Thanks... Contain Qb! Not done. Double up their stud wideout all game. That was their offense! I hope Eck improves quick!

GMG24 · September 4, 2016

1 hour ago, Army of Dad said:

I'm curious how that works for you on Thursday and Friday nights...

Same way it does on Saturday, get your butt chewed out show up the next day watch film, and do the best you can with the kids you got. Eventually if it isn't good enough you lose your job.

GreenN'walinsVet · September 4, 2016

The play was a Hail Mary. Just the same as if it were at the end of a half or a game. Do they sometimes work? YES How? It happens. Guys make plays and don't make plays. That said he just got beat on that play. it wasn't a blown coverage or mental mistake, just got physically outmatched. So yes i can forgive that because 98 times of 100 that play doesn't get made. Just so happened last night was one of those 2 that it was.

TIgreen01 · September 4, 2016

6 hours ago, FirefightnRick said:

I said back in December or January this felt like Dodge 2.0, and when I saw us indirectly put an already tiring defense back on the field after attempting a 4th and a foot from the shot gun with a 20 yard fly route...I was thinking..."yup, D2.0". FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY.....please don't make me watch this the next four years.......again!!!

Gotta find a running game somewhere. Is it our young O line....or just this offense in general? SMU seemed to read our passing downs and pinned their ears back every time. And all we had to counter with were an occasional screen and counters. (I still do not like this offense but nobody is asking me so who cares).

Our receivers gotta go get the ball. Kelvin Smith, need to get this dude the ball more than twice. Loved watching him play.

Morris missed some throws but he has good zip on the ball and made completions past QB's would not have. And mostly, he responded well after getting hit. I hope he's tough and strong because it's gonna happen a lot this year.

This team didn't quit and I feel our young staff will be hungry to fix the things needing fixing.

Despite giving up a lot of yards on the ground we got lots of pressure on Matt Davis with blitz schemes, who was by far the fastest cat on the field. This is a good sign that Ekeler is doing what he can to overcome our deficiencies and low numbers of bodies.

Kicking games look good. This staff understands the importance of special teams.

After a Morris sack I saw Perry chewing the RB's ass all the way to the bench because he completely ignored the CB who delayed blitzed off the corner and hit Morris untouched.

Our RB's..I have no idea as I didn't get to see them enough to tell other than catching passes out of the backfield. Wilson and Wyche look pretty quick.

Hood looked good and in shape. When fresh he was drawing a double team and tying those guys up and getting a push. I can't help but think how much different this defense would be if we had English in there too?

LB's look good on blitzes but had a lot of missed tackle. This can be fixed after knocking the rust off.

I hinted earlier in the summer we might have 48 D1 caliber players on this team. Last night only 31 players got into the game and that includes our special teamers. So basically, we were fighting SMU with roughly 28 players all game long. TWENTY EIGHT!

It's gonna be a long season no matter how you slice it. I'm reserved to simply enjoy watching for improvement and individual player and coaching growth and hope it turns into success for the future.

Rick

That participation number cannot be right. We rotated at least 6 on the dline all game. Then, at one point in the 3rd quarter we subbed out the entire defense except the corners. WRs rotated a lot, as well. Otherwise, spot on post.