It's a Weird 4-1, But I'll Take It

[Son of Spiriki]

OUR MEAN GREEN ARE 4-1!!!!

OK, so maybe it doesn't feel like we're 4-1, but I'll take it, no matter how weird it feels.

If you'd told me halfway through the second quarter of tonight's game that we'd not just win by double digits, but in a blowout, I would have taken that bet and felt like I was laughing all the way to the bank. We went from a team that was executing poorly, that looked tentative, to a team that could do no wrong on the offensive side of the ball. It was an astonishing adjustment.

Three ongoing things I worry about with this team:

1. OL penalties. Good lord those guys get flagged a lot. It's not as noticeable when you're piling on points, but these kinds of consistent holding penalties will sink us in a competitive game.

2. Not stopping the run. Tulsa was running against us; thankfully, we ran up the score and forced them away from it until garbage time. In a competitive game, that will once more be a problem.

3. Bad QB inflation. Evan Svoboda and Kirk Francis are not good QBs. I'm sure they're good people* and their families love them, but being loved by your family doesn't make you a good QB. How much of what we've seen defensively these last two weeks is inflation due to facing back-to-back bad QBs? I'm sure there's some inflation in there, but I hope there was also some confidence building, too.

One ongoing thing I'm not worried about with this team:

1. The RB room. Season in, season out, across different coaching regimes, Patrick Cobbs' ability to coach up all the RBs on our roster is nothing short of astounding. In the first three weeks, we lose Ragsdale, Price, and Harris to injuries. Up step two freshmen in McGill and Sibley and K-State transfer Porter and the offense just keeps rolling. As much turnover as we have whenever a new head coach shows up, as much turnover as we have in offensive coordinators, what Patrick Cobbs has consistently done with our RBs is phenomenal. 

* Maybe not Francis. Did y'all see his laughable flopping tonight?! Even the Tulsa fans sitting next to me laughed at him. That would work great in England or Spain or Italy, but not here.

[Jonnyeagle]

10 hours ago, Son of Spiriki said:

OUR MEAN GREEN ARE 4-1!!!!

OK, so maybe it doesn't feel like we're 4-1, but I'll take it, no matter how weird it feels.

If you'd told me halfway through the second quarter of tonight's game that we'd not just win by double digits, but in a blowout, I would have taken that bet and felt like I was laughing all the way to the bank. We went from a team that was executing poorly, that looked tentative, to a team that could do no wrong on the offensive side of the ball. It was an astonishing adjustment.

Three ongoing things I worry about with this team:

1. OL penalties. Good lord those guys get flagged a lot. It's not as noticeable when you're piling on points, but these kinds of consistent holding penalties will sink us in a competitive game.

2. Not stopping the run. Tulsa was running against us; thankfully, we ran up the score and forced them away from it until garbage time. In a competitive game, that will once more be a problem.

3. Bad QB inflation. Evan Svoboda and Kirk Francis are not good QBs. I'm sure they're good people* and their families love them, but being loved by your family doesn't make you a good QB. How much of what we've seen defensively these last two weeks is inflation due to facing back-to-back bad QBs? I'm sure there's some inflation in there, but I hope there was also some confidence building, too.

One ongoing thing I'm not worried about with this team:

1. The RB room. Season in, season out, across different coaching regimes, Patrick Cobbs' ability to coach up all the RBs on our roster is nothing short of astounding. In the first three weeks, we lose Ragsdale, Price, and Harris to injuries. Up step two freshmen in McGill and Sibley and K-State transfer Porter and the offense just keeps rolling. As much turnover as we have whenever a new head coach shows up, as much turnover as we have in offensive coordinators, what Patrick Cobbs has consistently done with our RBs is phenomenal. 

* Maybe not Francis. Did y'all see his laughable flopping tonight?! Even the Tulsa fans sitting next to me laughed at him. That would work great in England or Spain or Italy, but not here.

Great post!  I agree with a lot of your thoughts.  I wish we hadn’t crapped the bed against Tech but it is what it is.

[SilverEagle]

11 hours ago, Son of Spiriki said:

 

1. The RB room. Season in, season out, across different coaching regimes, Patrick Cobbs' ability to coach up all the RBs on our roster is nothing short of astounding. In the first three weeks, we lose Ragsdale, Price, and Harris to injuries. Up step two freshmen in McGill and Sibley and K-State transfer Porter and the offense just keeps rolling. As much turnover as we have whenever a new head coach shows up, as much turnover as we have in offensive coordinators, what Patrick Cobbs has consistently done with our RBs is phenomenal. 

 

What's more impressive is that Porter transferred as a WR not a RB. So I'll give Cobbs credit for spotting his "potential" as a RB and developing him during the spring and fall. Speaking of potential. Porter played some QB in High School. Is there a halfback pass in the future?

Also, can you imagine how well Morris would be doing if he had spent the spring working with the team.....and the system?

Edited 2 hours ago by SilverEagle

[C Rod]

1 hour ago, Jonnyeagle said:

Great post!  I agree with a lot of your thoughts.  I wish we hadn’t crapped the bed against Tech but it is what it is.

The blowout loss at Tech was the final nail in the 3-3-5 coffin. It wasn’t pleasant but it needed to happen. 

[BigWillie]

8 minutes ago, C Rod said:

The blowout loss at Tech was the final nail in the 3-3-5 coffin. It wasn’t pleasant but it needed to happen. 

Yeah, Tech is a good team, but I would love a rematch with this defense.

[MeanGreen22]

1 hour ago, Jonnyeagle said:

Great post!  I agree with a lot of your thoughts.  I wish we hadn’t crapped the bed against Tech but it is what it is.

That loss weighs so much. The casual fan sees that and checks out. But the team is handling business and on pace to make Homecoming feel very important. Would love to be 6-1 heading into it but would take 5-2. 

[GBarksdale]

1 hour ago, C Rod said:

The blowout loss at Tech was the final nail in the 3-3-5 coffin. It wasn’t pleasant but it needed to happen. 

Thread winner.

[MeanGreenGlory]

Just win. Go Mean Green!

[emmitt01]

I’d hate to be a Mean Green player

They lose and it’s “Same ol’ North Texas, we’ll never turn the corner”

They win close games and it’s “We got so lucky that the other team didn’t execute…our defense dodged a bullet and they’re still bad”

They literally BLOW OUT two straight opponents AND hold them beneath their regular offensive output and it’s “Well, their QB sucked and most of their players are transfers from the local YMCA” 

 

Repeat after me Mean Green fans…

”It is ok to be happy about my team being 4-1”

[blg green eagle man]

We should be 5-1 when we play Memphis. I feel as if we do have that record the game will be a day game on normal t v such as ESPN 2 or CBS sports chanel.  with what I have seen of FAU we should beat them by 2 or 3 touchdowns to make us 5-1.

 

[BillySee58]

26 minutes ago, emmitt01 said:

I’d hate to be a Mean Green player

They lose and it’s “Same ol’ North Texas, we’ll never turn the corner”

They win close games and it’s “We got so lucky that the other team didn’t execute…our defense dodged a bullet and they’re still bad”

They literally BLOW OUT two straight opponents AND hold them beneath their regular offensive output and it’s “Well, their QB sucked and most of their players are transfers from the local YMCA” 

 

Repeat after me Mean Green fans…

”It is ok to be happy about my team being 4-1”

Well put. I think a lot of fans are waiting for the perfect Mean Green football team to get behind. This one isn’t perfect but they’re playing really well and have earned credit for their accomplishments and support.