OFFICIAL SFA vs UNT In-Game DISCUSSION

GMG_Dallas · September 8

1 hour ago, TheColonyEagle said:

is it possible that they were looking ahead to TT? I wouldn’t think so. But I have to think that Morris has that game circled

Yes. I thought this yesterday during the game.

NT80 · September 8

5 hours ago, GMG_Dallas said:

Some perspective on the defense for those calling it bad... without the turnovers to put SFA in scoring position, our guys held them to 7 points, forced 5 turnovers on downs, and 5 drives went 3-and-out. I wish the tackling had been better at times but considering run defense was our weakness last year, I think I'll take holding them to 2.2 yards per rushing attempt.

Some more perspective... some FCS teams can be pretty good or at least play some good first halves. If you tuned in to #18 LSU vs Nicholls State in the 3rd quarter, you'd have seen a close 23-21 game. If you turned to #22 Arizona vs Northern Arizona at the start of the 4th, you'd have seen a 13-10 game. Last year's G5 darlings that are James Madison struggled to beat Gardner-Webb in a 13-6 game.

We got the win. It wasn't easy. We're also missing some pieces on the offensive line so that needs to be cleaned up. At the end of the day we're 2-0 which is rare around here. Let's enjoy it a bit.

The ESPN+ announcers mentioned that SFA, and many FCS schools now, are getting more FBS transfers. They just want playing time and it's making the quality of FCS teams better than ever. Several starters for SFA had FBS backgrounds.

KingDL1 · September 8

18 minutes ago, El Paso Eagle said:

Hopefully Chandler got the bad game out of his system and the old line can get healthy. Hoping the injuries to the running backs are not severe but we have to now go with the next man up mentality to keep turning out some yards. On the defensive side of the ball I guess we're going to have to assume the three that was suspended will not be back this year. The defensive front does seem to be playing much better this year but I still worry about our loose coverage in the secondary and the fact that we still struggle to contain the quarterback. I think overall the most concerned I have from last night was the penalties. We ended up with I believe 15 penalties for 122 yards and I also believe that SFA declined 2 to 3 more.

I think we were also down three starters on the O-line by the end of the 1st quarter or so. One or two of the delay-of-game penalties were on purpose in my opinion, but getting 77 new players to mesh with our system should get better each week. SFA looked big on TV, and they said most of their players were transfers from TCU, Texas, and Baylor, if I remember correctly. SFA could definitely beat several FBS teams. The score for those who did not watch could have easily been 42-20. We kneeled at the 3-yard line at the end of the game.

NT80 · September 8

10 hours ago, Pavlovs Eagle said:

A few thoughts after driving home...

Our OL folded like a cheap suit almost immediately against SFA. Chandler is forced to be fast because the pocket collapses if it is ever established, which I think is contributing to his picks. This feels very Mason Fine UNT Football. It will ultimately lead to the quarterback getting hurt.

This is exactly what is rushing Morris into making poor throws and interceptions. It's also what got Mason Fine rushed and banged up. If we lose Morris, since the freshman are getting no game reps, you can kiss the season goodbye.

3_n_out · September 8

Is Carthel a better recruiter than our slew of recruiters we’re paying for? Just to seeing how the SFA front seven played against our OL blew my mind. Were they not on our radar?

El Paso Eagle · September 8

2 minutes ago, 3_n_out said:

Is Carthel a better recruiter than our slew of recruiters we’re paying for? Just to seeing how the SFA front seven played against our OL blew my mind. Were they not on our radar?

Carthel has always seemed to get some good talent down in Nacogdoches his problem like many is he gets players transferring out and I believe a year or two ago he had about 70% of his coaching staff hired a way to FBS schools in one off season.

GMG_Dallas · September 8

17 minutes ago, NT80 said:

The ESPN+ announcers mentioned that SFA, and many FCS schools now, are getting more FBS transfers. They just want playing time and it's making the quality of FCS teams better than ever. Several starters for SFA had FBS backgrounds.

I skimmed through their roster and noticed the same. It seems as though the new transfer system hurts continuity within programs but it doesn't limit the talent you can find at the G5 and FCS levels. It's just up to our coaches to capitalize.

GMG_Dallas · September 8

23 minutes ago, KingDL1 said:

I think we were also down three starters on the O-line by the end of the 1st quarter or so. One or two of the delay-of-game penalties were on purpose in my opinion, but getting 77 new players to mesh with our system should get better each week. SFA looked big on TV, and they said most of their players were transfers from TCU, Texas, and Baylor, if I remember correctly. SFA could definitely beat several FBS teams. The score for those who did not watch could have easily been 42-20. We kneeled at the 3-yard line at the end of the game.

Strangely now that I look through the roster again, none of their transfers are from TCU or Texas and most of their P4 transfers are on the offensive side of the ball, specifically OL and WR. The defensive side P4 transfers are two outside linebackers, one from Colorado and the other from Baylor. Then there's a corner back from Houston. No P4 transfers on the defensive line unless the outside linebackers line up on the edge.

SilverEagle · September 8

3 hours ago, SUMG said:

Goes back further than that, buddy. Back when RV couldn't figure out who to hire (eventually settling on Dodge)....that's when some of us were pushing for Don Carthel.

The Amarillo paper agreed with all of us. Here is an article from 2010 about Carthel.

Carthel era at WT could be best (amarillo.com)

I read another article about Carthel not long after he was hired. One of the other pluses about him was that he was great at meeting & greeting the public. He went to every club and organization in the Canyon/Amarillo area to promote his program at WT A&M. And he was good at it too. How good was Todd Dodge at meeting and greeting the public? How about McCarney?

addendum: during Carthel's tenure (2005-2012) there were 16 players from WT A&M drafted by the NFL. How many were drafted during the Dodge/McCarney era?

Edited September 8 by SilverEagle

meaniegreenie · September 8

6 hours ago, 97and03 said:

That was one of the least confidence inspiring wins I have witnessed from this team. Sloppy as hell and pushed around by an FCS team. Lots of giveaways and penalties. Morris wasn’t sharp and almost got his WR killed on that screen (and can we just get rid of that play please?). Defensively, they got lucky. The opposing QB missed several opportunities.

I hope when they tear that page out of the playbook it has that corner end zone fade play on the other side of the page.

DentonLurker · September 8

1 hour ago, SilverEagle said:

16 players from WT A&M drafted by the NFL

I get the point you’re making, but I don’t think that’s right

Edited September 8 by DentonLurker

NT93 · September 8

The way the game played out was very frustrating, but I said before the game that we needed to score a minimum of 42 (which we essentially did) and give up 17 or less (which the defense did). Also, the offense gave SFA good field position twice at the 11 and 31, and SFA only got 10 points out of it which was encouraging.

I thought the offense was really bad, yet we scored 35. I feel like a game with 4 turnovers and 15 penalties is an anomaly. I can easily see us going the rest of the season without a 4 turnover or 15 penalty game, much less both in the same game.

Injuries are worrisome. I know people say “next man up” and I don’t disagree, but you can’t pretend that starting a 3rd stingers doesn’t make you a weaker team, especially if you are doing that at multiple positions.

Edited September 8 by NT93

Matt from A700 · September 8

The defense played good for who they are - not a great defense. You could argue they only gave up 7 points - every other SFA scoring drive started in plus territory and then of course the pick six.

I was really hoping to be more confident going into next week's game in Lubbock, but walked way with more question marks. SFA has had good teams but won only three games last year. They beat up a new football program that lost to Portland State 91-0 a couple of years ago. Even South Alabama lost to a MAC team yesterday. Has Major Applewhite's team taken that much of a step back?

Tech's blowout loss did make me feel a little better, and one thing's for sure: this conference is wide open after the results of yesterday.

NT80 · September 9

7 hours ago, Matt from A700 said:

The defense played good for who they are - not a great defense. You could argue they only gave up 7 points - every other SFA scoring drive started in plus territory and then of course the pick six.

I was really hoping to be more confident going into next week's game in Lubbock, but walked way with more question marks. SFA has had good teams but won only three games last year. They beat up a new football program that lost to Portland State 91-0 a couple of years ago. Even South Alabama lost to a MAC team yesterday. Has Major Applewhite's team taken that much of a step back?

Tech's blowout loss did make me feel a little better, and one thing's for sure: this conference is wide open after the results of yesterday.

Because of NIL and Portal, no college team can be compared to itself of last season. The preseason polls are just guesses. Florida State is a perfect example of overrated. #6 Notre Dame looked great on the road to the #20 Aggies, but then lose at home to an unranked MAC school? Who is underrated and who is overrated?

Matt from A700 · September 9

1 minute ago, NT80 said:

Because of NIL and Portal, no college team can be compared to itself of last season. The preseason polls are just guesses. Florida State is a perfect example of overrated. #6 Notre Dame looked great on the road to the #20 Aggies, but then lose at home to an unranked MAC school? Who is underrated and who is overrated?

That is true. There's good and bad to the portal/NIL. It has made it more difficult for smaller schools or programs with smaller fanbases to retain players. But I think with how much kids are practically groomed from a young age to become professional (or at least D-1) athletes, there is so much talent that it has to be spread around to us little guys. So much more parity and upsets, it seems. And perhaps just beating some FCS programs by two scores really isn't as bad as it was ten years ago.

southsideguy · September 9

On 9/8/2024 at 10:41 AM, NT80 said:

This is exactly what is rushing Morris into making poor throws and interceptions. It's also what got Mason Fine rushed and banged up. If we lose Morris, since the freshman are getting no game reps, you can kiss the season goodbye.

that and SFA was dropping their LB back in coverage to take away the slants