DRC: Fall position battles series No. 1 -- Austin Aune vs. Grant Gunnell at quarterback

Brett Vito · July 11, 2022

southsideguy · July 12, 2022

I hope there is no battle I hope Grant is so good there is no battle.

Cr1028 · July 12, 2022

28 minutes ago, southsideguy said:

I hope there is no battle I hope Grant is so good there is no battle.

I hope Aune surprises all of us. I wonder about Gunnel’s resolve after some of the rumors of his dad making him do things.

El Paso Eagle · July 12, 2022

43 minutes ago, Cr1028 said:

I hope Aune surprises all of us. I wonder about Gunnel’s resolve after some of the rumors of his dad making him do things.

At this point it seems hard to believe AA is anything other than what we have seen. If Gunnel cannot beat him out then go with one of the young transfers.

emmitt01 · July 12, 2022

13 hours ago, Cr1028 said:

I hope Aune surprises all of us. I wonder about Gunnel’s resolve after some of the rumors of his dad making him do things.

Ever seen one of those videos where they give a kid a gift wrapped box and when the kid opens it, it’s just another box…and inside that box, just another box, and so on??

That kid is likely hoping for a surprise too

Edited July 12, 2022 by emmitt01

Cr1028 · July 12, 2022

39 minutes ago, El Paso Eagle said:

At this point it seems hard to believe AA is anything other than what we have seen. If Gunnel cannot beat him out then go with one of the young transfers.

18 minutes ago, emmitt01 said:

Ever seen one of those videos where they give a kid a gift wrapped box and when the kid opens it, it’s just another box…and inside that box, just another box, and so on??

That kid is likely hoping for a surprise too

QUARTERBACK

First-Team: Austin Aune, North Texas

A good chunk of Aune’s dropbacks last season came via play-action concepts, and most of those ended in shots downfield. In fact, he recorded the third-highest play-action pass rate in the FBS at 58.8%, and his average depth of target on those was 16.0 yards downfield. He executed the offense at a high level, finishing sixth in the FBS in passing grade (92.2) and second in big-time throw rate (14.9%) on play-action passes. That’s precisely North Texas’ path to success in 2021.
https://www.pff.com/news/college-football-all-conference-usa-team-qb-austin-aune-and-rb-frank-gore-jr-star-on-offense

Amazing the difference losing your top 3 receivers and starting running back can make.

Mike Jackson · July 12, 2022

17 minutes ago, Cr1028 said:

QUARTERBACK

First-Team: Austin Aune, North Texas

A good chunk of Aune’s dropbacks last season came via play-action concepts, and most of those ended in shots downfield. In fact, he recorded the third-highest play-action pass rate in the FBS at 58.8%, and his average depth of target on those was 16.0 yards downfield. He executed the offense at a high level, finishing sixth in the FBS in passing grade (92.2) and second in big-time throw rate (14.9%) on play-action passes. That’s precisely North Texas’ path to success in 2021.
https://www.pff.com/news/college-football-all-conference-usa-team-qb-austin-aune-and-rb-frank-gore-jr-star-on-offense

Amazing the difference losing your top 3 receivers and starting running back can make.

1 season is not a career. He hasn’t completed more than 55% of his passes in either season. He is pushing 30 and no one is questioning his work ethic. So even going into 2021 he should have played better. I think his football talent just eroded while he was away from the game. QB’s playing behind horrendous OL have valid excuses. Virtually impossible for a QB to have success consistently getting hit, pressured and sacked. I think our OL was mediocre but as I watched a lot of errant passes I wasn’t like “man if only Aune had time”

Love him for all his hard work here. Him working his way back to be a serviceable FBS starter is awesome. He might a great coach if he grasps the game mentally at level exponentially better than he plays. A Serviceable at QB at age 29 in FBS should be coming off the bench.

UNTcrazy727 · July 12, 2022

36 minutes ago, Mike Jackson said:

1 season is not a career. He hasn’t completed more than 55% of his passes in either season. He is pushing 30 and no one is questioning his work ethic. So even going into 2021 he should have played better. I think his football talent just eroded while he was away from the game. QB’s playing behind horrendous OL have valid excuses. Virtually impossible for a QB to have success consistently getting hit, pressured and sacked. I think our OL was mediocre but as I watched a lot of errant passes I wasn’t like “man if only Aune had time”

Love him for all his hard work here. Him working his way back to be a serviceable FBS starter is awesome. He might a great coach if he grasps the game mentally at level exponentially better than he plays. A Serviceable at QB at age 29 in FBS should be coming off the bench.

Let's not forget, Derek Thompson was a total spare his first 2 seasons as a starter, but was able to put together a solid senior year. Not all hope is lost for Aune.

That said...I'm not holding my breath.

NT93 · July 12, 2022

I feel like at times Aune looks pretty good and then on, let’s say, 3rd and 7 he throws the ball either 1) at the feet of 2) well behind or 3) over the head of an open receiver when even a decent pass would have given us a first down. That may not be reality, but it’s certainly my perception.

I completely agree with a couple of sentiments in this thread. First, the injuries to our WR corps had to have had a negative impact on his numbers. Second, I appreciate the hard work he has put in for our university and his commitment to the team.

Cr1028 · July 12, 2022

9 hours ago, Mike Jackson said:

1 season is not a career. He hasn’t completed more than 55% of his passes in either season. He is pushing 30 and no one is questioning his work ethic. So even going into 2021 he should have played better. I think his football talent just eroded while he was away from the game. QB’s playing behind horrendous OL have valid excuses. Virtually impossible for a QB to have success consistently getting hit, pressured and sacked. I think our OL was mediocre but as I watched a lot of errant passes I wasn’t like “man if only Aune had time”

Love him for all his hard work here. Him working his way back to be a serviceable FBS starter is awesome. He might a great coach if he grasps the game mentally at level exponentially better than he plays. A Serviceable at QB at age 29 in FBS should be coming off the bench.

You forget he wasn’t the day 1 starter in either 2020 or 2021. He had to develop timing and chemistry with his receivers several games into the year. He hasn’t had an offseason yet where he got the fall camp reps as “the guy”.

UNT Texas Hooligan · July 12, 2022

We're in big trouble if Aune is starting next season

SilverEagle · July 12, 2022

10 hours ago, NT93 said:

I feel like at times Aune looks pretty good and then on, let’s say, 3rd and 7 he throws the ball either 1) at the feet of 2) well behind or 3) over the head of an open receiver when even a decent pass would have given us a first down. That may not be reality, but it’s certainly my perception.

I completely agree with a couple of sentiments in this thread. First, the injuries to our WR corps had to have had a negative impact on his numbers. Second, I appreciate the hard work he has put in for our university and his commitment to the team.

...OR #4, he hits them in their hands and they drop it. THAT happened a lot.

emmitt01 · July 12, 2022

1 hour ago, Cr1028 said:

You forget he wasn’t the day 1 starter in either 2020 or 2021. He had to develop timing and chemistry with his receivers several games into the year. He hasn’t had an offseason yet where he got the fall camp reps as “the guy”.

Ever stopped to think “WHY wasn’t he the day 1 starter?”, especially when this fan base says the people who did start the season were garbage

UNT Texas Hooligan · July 12, 2022

1 hour ago, Cr1028 said:

You forget he wasn’t the day 1 starter in either 2020 or 2021. He had to develop timing and chemistry with his receivers several games into the year. He hasn’t had an offseason yet where he got the fall camp reps as “the guy”.

There's a reason he wasn't a Day 1 starter. He's a very limited QB. He can only get your team so far but can't push them past that point. I don't think he has much higher of a ceiling than what we've seen. I think he's only been starting to this point because of his maturity, leadership, and we didn't have a better QB on the roster (which is more of an indictment on the coaches than the players).

Edited July 12, 2022 by UNT Texas Hooligan

Cr1028 · July 12, 2022

55 minutes ago, emmitt01 said:

Ever stopped to think “WHY wasn’t he the day 1 starter?”, especially when this fan base says the people who did start the season were garbage

I have.
In 2020 I believe it was because @TruthWins lost his job and Littrell wanted to use Bean’s athleticism rather than Aune’s arm. Wallis wanted Aune and was pretty clear about that here.

In 2021, I fully believe that they made promises to Ruder that he would be the day 1 starter to get him here from UNC.

Edited July 12, 2022 by Cr1028

Mike Jackson · July 13, 2022

11 hours ago, Cr1028 said:

You forget he wasn’t the day 1 starter in either 2020 or 2021. He had to develop timing and chemistry with his receivers several games into the year. He hasn’t had an offseason yet where he got the fall camp reps as “the guy”.

Why wasn’t he “the guy”? Not being the guy is an indication of how the coaches evaluated you. And he has shown nothing that their evaluation of him as just serviceable with relatively low ceiling but higher floor than young guys on the roster.

greenminer · July 13, 2022

If I had time, I'd go back 20 years on all my favorite teams, and see if the QB situation was settled in the spring or fall. I have this hunch that, on the majority of those successful teams, the starter was already known (internally and publicly) coming out of Spring.

Maybe there is an extra amount of confidence, subtle and subconscious?, that these guys take into the summer workouts when they are working on timing with the WRs that just carries into WK1. A level of confidence/execution that you don't see when the position is unknown over the summer.

Edited July 13, 2022 by greenminer

Cr1028 · July 13, 2022

28 minutes ago, Mike Jackson said:

Why wasn’t he “the guy”? Not being the guy is an indication of how the coaches evaluated you. And he has shown nothing that their evaluation of him as just serviceable with relatively low ceiling but higher floor than young guys on the roster.

My belief of why he wasn’t the guy is below.

9 hours ago, Cr1028 said:

I have.
In 2020 I believe it was because @TruthWins lost his job and Littrell wanted to use Bean’s athleticism rather than Aune’s arm. Wallis wanted Aune and was pretty clear about that here.

In 2021, I fully believe that they made promises to Ruder that he would be the day 1 starter to get him here from UNC.

southsideguy · July 13, 2022

Is Bean still at KU?

untphd · July 13, 2022

They have him listed as a Red Shirt Senior.

keith · July 13, 2022

12 hours ago, greenminer said:

If I had time, I'd go back 20 years on all my favorite teams, and see if the QB situation was settled in the spring or fall. I have this hunch that, on the majority of those successful teams, the starter was already known (internally and publicly) coming out of Spring.

Maybe there is an extra amount of confidence, subtle and subconscious?, that these guys take into the summer workouts when they are working on timing with the WRs that just carries into WK1. A level of confidence/execution that you don't see when the position is unknown over the summer.

I think free agency in the college game, I mean the transfer portal, has changed everything we used to know about college football from the past.

UNT18Grad · July 14, 2022

11 hours ago, southsideguy said:

Is Bean still at KU?

Yes, lost his job to a player they were planning to redshirt (while injured to be fair) and will likely be the back up and a situational player next year.

Edited July 14, 2022 by UNT18Grad

El Paso Eagle · July 14, 2022

47 minutes ago, UNT18Grad said:

Yes, lost his job to a player they were planning to redshirt (while injured to be fair) and will likely be the back up and a situational player next year.

Would be interesting to see him line up as a receiver