Early Prediction - Will we hold Navy to less than 500 yards offense?

[NorthTexasWeLove]

They very well could. 

The stack is notoriously not good vs the run. When you don't have the players to execute it, it can become historically bad. I tried to voice this back in the summer. I was told by several posters here that it would be fine. Well, I guess fine is a relative word...

[Side.Show.Joe]

1 minute ago, UNTcrazy727 said:

There is no magical change Morris can do that will make this defense solid. Firing Caponi isn’t going to help the defense start playing better. Morris brought Caponi here to run the 3-3-5. He’s not going to fire him until he has the personal to properly run the defense. They’re obviously trying different looks to switch things up. We’ve run way more 4 man fronts the last 2 games, but still getting gashed. We just don’t have enough FBS caliber players on defense. No defensive scheme is going to change that. 

Ranting that heads should already be rolling after a few games is just typical illogical fan behavior. 

Solid? We are a long way from solid. Middle of the pack is solid. We are the worst in the FBS. At this point we just want a defense that isn't a complete embarrassment.

We brought back a large portion of our production from last season's C-USA Championship Game team. The same team that came within 3 points of beating Boise State in the Fresco Bowl. There is no logical reason to make excuses for being the worst defense in all of the FBS. If we lack the talent to field a respectable defense, than that is on Morris and Caponi. They had the offseason and the portal to go out and get the players they needed. There are no magical excuses that change those facts. You can't have it both ways. You can't say he needs to have his personnel in place, and ignore the fact that he chose not to bring in the players when he could have got them. 

[UNTcrazy727]

7 minutes ago, Side.Show.Joe said:

Solid? We are a long way from solid. Middle of the pack is solid. We are the worst in the FBS. At this point we just want a defense that isn't a complete embarrassment.

We brought back a large portion of our production from last season's C-USA Championship Game team. The same team that came within 3 points of beating Boise State in the Fresco Bowl. There is no logical reason to make excuses for being the worst defense in all of the FBS. If we lack the talent to field a respectable defense, then that is on Morris and Caponi. They had the offseason and the portal to go out and get the players they needed. There are no magical excuses that change those facts. You can't have it both ways. You can't say he needs to have his personnel in place, and ignore the fact that he chose not to bring in the players when he could have got them. 

We lost 4 of our top 6 or 7 defenders from last year (KD, Nixon, Gaddie, Robertson) A defense that was also really bad. To suggest we didn’t lose much is misleading. 
I agree the coaches failed to hit the portal enough on defense. But at this point it is what it is. Morris and Caponi are trying different looks to find something that works, but that’s not going to happen after a few weeks. Especially, after working on installing the 3-3-5 since the Spring. 

[Side.Show.Joe]

18 minutes ago, UNTcrazy727 said:

We lost 4 of our top 6 or 7 defenders from last year (KD, Nixon, Gaddie, Robertson) A defense that was also really bad. To suggest we didn’t lose much is misleading. 
I agree the coaches failed to hit the portal enough on defense. But at this point it is what it is. Morris and Caponi are trying different looks to find something that works, but that’s not going to happen after a few weeks. Especially, after working on installing the 3-3-5 since the Spring. 

Every G5 programs loses their best players to the portal. That's not an excuse either. Last year's defense was bad, but it wasn't the worst in all of the FBS bad. 

I refuse to believe it's just too late and we have to accept that our defense is trash. The complaining will continue until substantive changes are made. Morris could reassign Caponi and bring in a different coach with a fresh take on how to improve with our current personnel. There is talent on the offensive side that isn't seeing the field. Athletes are athletes. Some of those bodies can be moved to the defensive side and maybe push for playing time. And, the 3-3-5 doesn't have to be our base scheme. 4-down linemen on defense is still more effective in most situation. 

Beyond the fact that they wasted too much valuable time, I don't care that they spent the spring installing the 3-3-5. It doesn't work with the players we have. The Bye week and the ACU game should have provided them enough time to reset and get something better in place. They chose not to. Now, we are probably about to give up historic rushing numbers to Navy. That will be on Morris too. 

Edited October 1, 2023 by Side.Show.Joe

[NorthTexasWeLove]

10 minutes ago, UNTcrazy727 said:

We lost 4 of our top 6 or 7 defenders from last year (KD, Nixon, Gaddie, Robertson) A defense that was also really bad. To suggest we didn’t lose much is misleading. 
I agree the coaches failed to hit the portal enough on defense. But at this point it is what it is. Morris and Caponi are trying different looks to find something that works, but that’s not going to happen after a few weeks. Especially, after working on installing the 3-3-5 since the Spring. 

This is the root of the debate. Some people are willing to look past the lack of shoring up the roster to setup a competitive team. It's a we'll get em next time approach or a 'is what it is'. Meanwhile, others view the disregard as negligence. 

I fall in the group of the latter. 

But people in the 1st group will point to time restraints as a big part of the inability to shore things up. To be frank, that's just BS. Eric Morris was hired on December 13th. The spring portal opened on the 15th of April, or more than 4 months after Morris taking the job. But, then we found out that Morris isn't a big believer in the portal and that's not how he wants to build his team all the while recognizing that his big hs gets, that they develop, will get plucked away (all basically his words). 

So, in short, Eric Morris is neglecting the roster by preference, understands that his better high school recruits will leave, all the while not instilling discipline and accountability. I'm not much of a betting man, but I'd bet 2 things on this unless some serious changes occur: 1) He will never see a 2nd contract 2) He won't make it to the end of his 1st contract. 

[Pavlovs Eagle]

12 minutes ago, NorthTexasWeLove said:

But, then we found out that Morris isn't a big believer in the portal and that's not how he wants to build his team

That mindset is working out very poorly for all the CFB coaches who choose to die on that hill.

[TreeFiddy]

I have zero confidence that Craponi is wiling to make the necessary adjustments to remain competitive and will continue to try and prove that he is smarter than everyone else. 

I am normally not a big gambler, but if Navy is somehow favored by less than 7 points, I will be tempted to make my largest ever bet.

[greenminer]

On 10/1/2023 at 12:03 PM, MeanGreenTexan said:

I definitely don’t think SL was “apathetic”.

I have definitely read contrary opinions on this.

Edited October 3, 2023 by greenminer

[KingDL1]

If my math is correct, we held Navy to 406 yards. I think our defense may be improving. 

I was betting way past 500. Nice to see. 

[UNTcrazy727]

1 hour ago, KingDL1 said:

If my math is correct, we held Navy to 406 yards. I think our defense may be improving. 

I was betting way past 500. Nice to see. 

They certainly did enough to win yesterday. Forced Navy to punt on 3 of their first 4 possessions but our offense only mustered 3 points on our first 4 drives. You could argue the game was lost right there. 

The Defense even had a massive stop to give our Offense a chance to win the game. And how did the Offense respond? By going 4 and out in probably their worst series of the year...SMH