Morris - gut-check time

[El Paso Eagle]

OK, maybe I was a little to hyped up that AM would come in and shine. But I have not given up on him . Let's give the benefit of the doubt that he had a lot of rust that needed "real game" play to work through.

I can see this week as being his wake-up call that if he does not step it up that Fine is waiting for his era to start. Will Fine tear it up?? Only time will tell, but if Morris is not clearly ahead of him then I believe the changing of the guard will take place sooner than later.

[Ben Gooding]

Just now, El Paso Eagle said:

OK, maybe I was a little to hyped up that AM would come in and shine. But I have not given up on him . Let's give the benefit of the doubt that he had a lot of rust that needed "real game" play to work through.

I can see this week as being his wake-up call that if he does not step it up that Fine is waiting for his era to start. Will Fine tear it up?? Only time will tell, but if Morris is not clearly ahead of him then I believe the changing of the guard will take place sooner than later.

Agreed. They both need to play. Morris needs to play to take reps away from Fine to decrease the odds of an injury. Fine needs to be playing bc he no longer has a RS and he is currently our only option moving forward and needs the reps. 

[UNT90]

5 minutes ago, El Paso Eagle said:

OK, maybe I was a little to hyped up that AM would come in and shine. But I have not given up on him . Let's give the benefit of the doubt that he had a lot of rust that needed "real game" play to work through.

I can see this week as being his wake-up call that if he does not step it up that Fine is waiting for his era to start. Will Fine tear it up?? Only time will tell, but if Morris is not clearly ahead of him then I believe the changing of the guard will take place sooner than later.

It's not rust. It's simply what Morris is.

Play Fine. He will struggle. Anyone remember the suck that Nick Mullens threw out against UNT in the 2013 UNT blow out at USM?

Well, look at him now. 

Play for the future, because the future isn't this year. 

[UNT 90 Grad]

I think Morris is going to struggle some for many of the reasons @UNT90 said an AD from a top athletic university would struggle here.  They aren't used to having to work extra hard to make up for the challenges of a program in the state ours is in.   Morris came from Allen High School, a school with a lot of pedigree and top talent.   He went then to the same situation in Alabama.   Maybe (hopefully) I'm wrong, put part of me wonders if he didn't wander on to the field with an "I got this" feeling, whether he recognized it or not.   

[UNT90]

1 minute ago, UNT 90 Grad said:

I think Morris is going to struggle some for many of the reasons @UNT90 said an AD from a top athletic university would struggle here.  They aren't used to having to work extra hard to make up for the challenges of a program in the state ours is in.   Morris came from Allen High School, a school with a lot of pedigree and top talent.   He went then to the same situation in Alabama.   Maybe (hopefully) I'm wrong, put part of me wonders if he didn't wander on to the field with an "I got this" feeling, whether he recognized it or not.   

I think talent and decision making are the reasons for his struggles, not attitude. 

[UNT 90 Grad]

5 minutes ago, UNT90 said:

I think talent and decision making are the reasons for his struggles, not attitude. 

Decision making ties into the point I was trying to make.  If you're used to having NFL caliber receivers around you, changing the play on a 4th and 1 to a fade  and counting on winning the battle in the toss up may have been more feasible.  Instead he threw a pick. 

Attitude affects your decision making. 

Edited September 5, 2016 by UNT 90 Grad

[Wag Tag]

1 hour ago, El Paso Eagle said:

OK, maybe I was a little to hyped up that AM would come in and shine. But I have not given up on him . Let's give the benefit of the doubt that he had a lot of rust that needed "real game" play to work through.

I can see this week as being his wake-up call that if he does not step it up that Fine is waiting for his era to start. Will Fine tear it up?? Only time will tell, but if Morris is not clearly ahead of him then I believe the changing of the guard will take place sooner than later.

We saw Qb play Sat night that we have not seen in years! I think the 4th game is the key for Qb decisions and I think Alec will prove the naysers wrong. Just all stay healthy Florida is a big time worry with only 68  Scholly s . GMG

[EagleMBA]

I am debating with myself about whether Morris was indecisive, whether SMU's coverage was superior, or whether the receivers were not on the same wavelength.

I do agree with WagTag about the improved QB play overall. I do not see deep ball and Morris in the same sentence.

It would have been nice to be able to record the game in order to resolve some of these thoughts.

Edited September 5, 2016 by EagleMBA

[Hunter Green]

I predict Morris will have a much better game this week.

[MeanGreenZen]

I believe that Morris will stop throwing interceptions as soon as he tucks in his jersey.

[Ben Gooding]

43 minutes ago, MeanGreenZen said:

I believe that Morris will stop throwing interceptions as soon as he tucks in his jersey.

Geez have mercy this. Forgot to throw this in a post since the game. It's an actual competitive advantage to pin in your sleeves and tuck your shirt tail in. And it wasn't just Morris, it was a ton of players. The little things. 

[UNT 90 Grad]

44 minutes ago, MeanGreenZen said:

I believe that Morris will stop throwing interceptions as soon as he tucks in his jersey.

If he wore some cowboy boots with that, he'd fit right in on The Hill...sort of. 

[UNT90]

5 hours ago, UNT 90 Grad said:

Decision making ties into the point I was trying to make.  If you're used to having NFL caliber receivers around you, changing the play on a 4th and 1 to a fade  and counting on winning the battle in the toss up may have been more feasible.  Instead he threw a pick. 

Attitude affects your decision making. 

No receiver would have won that battle. The ball was WOEFULLY underthrown. The only person that  had a shot at it was the DB. 

4 hours ago, Hunter Green said:

I predict Morris will have a much better game this week.

He better. UNT is playing an FCS team (not that it necessarily matters). 

But I predict we see Fine before the 10 minute mark of the third. 

We shall see. 

[TreeFiddy]

Hmm... Wonder where he learned that. 

[MeanGreen01]

I appreciate the fact that Morris came to NT to help and most likely start, thank goodness he is here. However, the next 3-4 years are very important for many reasons. After this year Morris will graduate and we will all wish Fine got as much experience as possible. Coach L understand this as well. I would like to see Morris get the benefit of the doubt and give him the first half and give Fine the second. (Maybe even alternate). If Fine plays as good, or better, we go with Fine. Morris already has the experience and will be a great backup if called on later on down the road. IMHO Fine has a lot more upside and is indeed the future of our team. 

I'll be there next week and can't wait to see our team in week 2!! GMG

Edited September 6, 2016 by MeanGreen01

[Withers940]

8 hours ago, El Paso Eagle said:

OK, maybe I was a little to hyped up that AM would come in and shine. But I have not given up on him . Let's give the benefit of the doubt that he had a lot of rust that needed "real game" play to work through.

I can see this week as being his wake-up call that if he does not step it up that Fine is waiting for his era to start. Will Fine tear it up?? Only time will tell, but if Morris is not clearly ahead of him then I believe the changing of the guard will take place sooner than later.

Totally Agree but please stop Using the Initials AM. It brings up bad memories for me

Do like Almo or something

[UNT 90 Grad]

24 minutes ago, Withers940 said:

Totally Agree but please stop Using the Initials AM. It brings up bad memories for me

Do like Almo or something

Or just refer to him as #5.   Oh wait...

[KingDL1]

Morris  has the arm strength and he will be solid. There are lots of problems here, week one and some have it all figured out. Plus a QB controversy. Aikman would have never survived his first NFL season with you some of you. Christ if there was an instant fix anyone could do it. 

[mgfan]

25 minutes ago, KingDL1 said:

Morris  has the arm strength and he will be solid. There are lots of problems here, week one and some have it all figured out. Plus a QB controversy. Aikman would have never survived his first NFL season with you some of you. Christ if there was an instant fix anyone could do it. 

Thank you! 1 game in and many of you are done with the kid. Reading this board you would think we have a bunch of NFL HOF'ers posting  and walking on water is common place. 

Edited September 6, 2016 by mgfan

[UNTLifer]

My concern is that his criticism at Alabama was that he could not throw the deep ball.  This is exactly what I saw Saturday night.

[Ben Gooding]

19 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

My concern is that his criticism at Alabama was that he could not throw the deep ball.  This is exactly what I saw Saturday night.

This is what I saw as well. I saw it in the spring game too. He either weirdly short arms while trying to aim it or overthrows.

I also think he has a tidbit of an Alabama type attitude. No knock on him on a personal standpoint. I don't know him. But I noticed this attitude-ish tendencies in his play during the spring game as well. It seems he kind of came in and put a lot of stock in his bench riding pedigree at Bama. By that, I just mean he trusts his talent (which is great) a tad too much for the minimal reps he has had. I just feel he came in with the mindset that he's going into a scrubby conference with scrub DB's and he thought he was going to be a 2006 version of Peyton Manning. His first quarter int in the Spring game (2 total) kind of jumped out at me. And his 2 first quarter interceptions (3 total) the other night kind of solidified it. And I kind of went on a little tangent here. I'm not knocking the guy, it's just hard to describe what I'm trying to say. I wish him all the best this year. 

[Quoner]

3 minutes ago, Ben Gooding said:

This is what I saw as well. I saw it in the spring game too. He either weirdly short arms while trying to aim it or overthrows.

I also think he has a tidbit of an Alabama type attitude. No knock on him on a personal standpoint. I don't know him. But I noticed this attitude-ish tendencies in his play during the spring game as well. It seems he kind of came in and put a lot of stock in his bench riding pedigree at Bama. By that, I just mean he trusts his talent (which is great) a tad too much for the minimal reps he has had. I just feel he came in with the mindset that he's going into a scrubby conference with scrub DB's and he thought he was going to be a 2006 version of Peyton Manning. His first quarter int in the Spring game (2 total) kind of jumped out at me. And his 2 first quarter interceptions (3 total) the other night kind of solidified it. And I kind of went on a little tangent here. I'm not knocking the guy, it's just hard to describe what I'm trying to say. I wish him all the best this year. 

I'm not knocking him at all...just creating a narrative that paints him as entitled and lazy from my own conjecture. That's all I'm doing. Wish him the best!

[Ben Gooding]

Just now, Quoner said:

I'm not knocking him at all...just creating a narrative that paints him as entitled and lazy from my own conjecture. That's all I'm doing. Wish him the best!

No. I'm not painting him as anything. He's his own person. Lazy is not it at all. Entitled is a bit of a stretch as well. I think he thought it was going to be much easier here at UNT. When reality is he has no real basis of a starting point because of his minimal reps. A good indicator to what I'm trying to explain was that audible he did. He's been coached to do that at Bama where checking to a 1 on 1 situation with a 4 or 5 star skill guy in 0 coverage is ideal. Here, that's a luxury that doesn't exist. Nevertheless, the talent is there. It's visible. I think when he gets more of a grasp on what is and what isn't he'll start to make strides. Make no mistake, I'm rooting for him. 

[MeanGreenDan]

1 hour ago, KingDL1 said:

Morris  has the arm strength and he will be solid. There are lots of problems here, week one and some have it all figured out. Plus a QB controversy. Aikman would have never survived his first NFL season with you some of you. Christ if there was an instant fix anyone could do it. 

You keep saying he has the arm strength, but I've yet to see it, from the spring game to fall practice to Saturday.

I hope you're right, but have yet to see anything that indicates as much.

[UNT90]

16 hours ago, EagleMBA said:

I am debating with myself about whether Morris was indecisive, whether SMU's coverage was superior, or whether the receivers were not on the same wavelength.

I do agree with WagTag about the improved QB play overall. I do not see deep ball and Morris in the same sentence.

It would have been nice to be able to record the game in order to resolve some of these thoughts.

I have it recorded, as it was on direct TV. Dead on about the deep balls. In the 3 picks, two were woefully underthrown deep balls that were COMPLETELY on Morris. The third was another deep ball, but the left tackle for UNT got pushed back into Morris by a bull rush, causing the pass to go off target. 

There was no pressure on the two underthrown deep balls (4th and 1, the deep crossing route that Morris simply three behind a wide open receiver causing the receiver to have to stop his route). 

7 hours ago, MeanGreenDan said:

You keep saying he has the arm strength, but I've yet to see it, from the spring game to fall practice to Saturday.

I hope you're right, but have yet to see anything that indicates as much.

Saturday was the first time I've seen Morris play. Outside of 20 yards, the arm strength isn't there. Let's think about this for a minute.

Morris played 6A football in a power district in Texas football and set records throwing the football. He had prototypical NFL QB size. Yet he was rated only as a 3 star recruit. 

If it wasn't arm strength concerns, what caused him to be rated as just a 3 star recruit?