I hate to be like this but where are all the

[calvin]

I hate holding a grudge but a lot on this board ticked me off earlier in the year, with the Fire Dickey posts. It is funny that no one is saying that now. I dont think there is anyone that could have done a better job then Dickey has done this year. Lets look at the uphill battle this team has had to face this year:

First they lost 7 players and practically 4 starters, everyone forgets that Cordale Baldwin started at first last year and he may have been the starter this year as well. Then the tradegy. They started the season with a humilating loss to Texas. Then their best player is lost not to mention the other injuries. After an 0-4 start, we start conference by spotting MTSU a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. But somehow Dickey and his staff have kept this team together and we are going to win conference again.

I just want him to have some credit, b/c he takes all the heat when things are going wrong. I know Dickey ball drives us crazy sometime but just think without Dickey ball we wouldnt have the nation's leading rusher 2 straight years and we wouldnt have a record setting Freshman either. So those of you who were Dickey bashers at least give credit where credit is due.

[MeanGreen61]

LET THIS SUBJECT BE DROPPED...........PLEASE. Why try to make a point and open up a negative debate again.

[calvin]

Nobody wanted to drop it when we were 0-4. I just want the same people that wanted him gone to give him credit. Everyone is always quick to criticize but they arent the same to praise.

[Guest JohnDenver]

I will say it. If we lose one of these last two games, I will be just as pissed as I was earlier. There is no reason to lose against Idaho or ASU.

What now? How does that help the situation? Just wanted to fan the flames?

If we don't get to the New Orleans bowl, it will be directly related to how we played out of conference this year. There is a chance that we could win the SBC title, but not be bowl eligible. That would be terribly embarrassing.

Of course winning 5 in a row helps the anger, but it doesn't erase the 0-4 start.

[shaft]

The "ex" Dickey hater post should go something like this.

Uh, I have this friend who went to Texas. And he, uh, made fun of me. And then I was all mad and stuff cause we lost to FAU. And uh, I wanted to win every game. And I know y'all kept posting how some really bad stuff happened in the off season. But I wanted to win like every game. Oh wait I already said that. Uh, Uh. Well I still don't like loosing OOC games.

[untbowler]

The Anti-DD are around for the same reason b/c it is like a bad case of Groundhog Day in that we start every year 0-4 or 1-3 then dominate the Sun Belt. It is just questions as to why we can not win OOC games, whether it is FAU, Colorado, Texas, Piss Ant U.

[pollock]

I will say it. If we lose one of these last two games, I will be just as pissed as I was earlier. There is no reason to lose against Idaho or ASU.

You couldn't have said it better. In hindsight, I agree that there were a lot of events that the green-tinted "9-2 season" glasses were filtering out.

Dickey deserves all the credit for keeping the team together. I think most teams would have totally melted down after the start we had this year. But I still give coaching (not JUST Dickey) most of the credit for the Baylor and FAU losses. I still get sick thinking about Baylor.

At this point, anything worse than a 7-4 finish to the regular season is BAD, although I think it would take some extreme circumstances to warrant trading in the Buick.

To me, a victory in the bowl game would go a long way toward healing those 0-4 OOC wounds.

[shaft]

The Anti-DD are around for the same reason b/c it is like a bad case of Groundhog Day in that we start every year 0-4 or 1-3 then dominate the Sun Belt. It is just questions as to why we can not win OOC games, whether it is FAU, Colorado, Texas, Piss Ant U.

Because our frigging QB died and everyone was bummed out for a while!

How hard is it to get that threw your head. Do you know anyone on team? Have you asked them, what they thought was up?

Lets not forget we lost our starting RB and it took Thomas a few extra weeks to fit in to D1.

Had bad things not happen in the off season, things would have been different.

Dickey has done a great job of getting the team focused and winning again.

[EagleD]

I'll step up.

I criticised DD 4 years ago. ('00) I called for his job, loudly!

3 years ago ('01) I quieted down some, but remained vocal about playcalling.

2 years ago ('02) Not a peep from me. He had a great defense (Oh, DeLoach how you are missed) to bail him out of his run first, run second, draw play third (wait that's a run too), offense. Plus he got screwed from a few officials (Arizona), had his qb go down, and still managed to win a bowl game. I was very proud of him and the team that year.

Last year, ('03) the critisism he got for alternating his qb's was deserved. But at least his teams came to play every game. And he still had a dominating defense. The team was not focussed for the bowl game however.

Now this year ('04). Injuries, off field issues, and Drew. The Texas game was a travisty and every bit of griping was deserved! There was poor play calling in the FAU and Baylor games, and Colorado killed us even though we got to see the emergence of JMo.

Has he done a good job since then? Yes. I give him big props for recruiting and using JMo. I also give him big props for not giving up after starting 0-4, but did he deserve the bashing early on? You bet your sweet ___! Does Mack Brown deserve the bashing for losing to OU 5 straight years? Yes. Does he deserve credit for Saturday's come from behind throttling of OSU? Yes. It's a 2 way street. I haven't been critical of DD latley b/c we've been winning, but this team was NOT prepared early in the season. And that is his responsibility! I'm a fan. I'm supposed to be criticize when it's warranted. I also applaud (loudly) when coaching is done right.

Would you like to know what I'm looking at next? Have we been developing a replacement for Hall next year?

GO MEAN GREEN !!!!!!

[Gakusei]

You hate to be like this? You post the same topic every week.

[SilverEagle]

As long as Dickey is satisfied with only winning the conference every year, our "Buick" will be stuck in "neutral".

Meanwhile, teams like FAU and FIU will pass us by. Just like Marshall, UAB, Troy, Central Florida, and South Florida have done.

Lots of things happened to contribute to the team being "distracted", but it's no excuse for getting hammered 65-0.

But the loss to FAU was the most frustrating to me. We clearly got out coached in that game. And (once again) we got a black eye from the casual fan's point of view.

[Cerebus]

Marshall is in another league, they have been successful since we where 1aa.

South Florida is in Florida a state that has way too few 1a programs for its size, and that is barely being fixed, I also forsee a down turn for USF, just like:

UCF, which is has two less wins than SMU... 0-9

UAB is on shaky, shaky ground, they are bleeding money, and they Bama wants them dead.

Troy is in our leage, and hasnt beat us, and is going to be staying home this bowl year, I cant say they have passed us yet.

[calvin]

good points Cerebus, i dont see how 4 teams that havent went to a bowl have passed us by and especially since one of them is 0-9.

Edited November 8, 2004 by calvin

[greenjeans83]

And I'm tired of hearing about this Deloach dude. I think the current def. coor. has done a great job with the def unit this year after losing the linebackers and booger from last year. Get over Deloach and learn to appreciate what you have now!

[eagle60]

And GJ83, are happy with a 4-4 record? Including losses to FAU and Baylor? DD does a fine job of recruiting, but the gametime management seems to have some weaknesses.

We aren't able to run off and leave an opponent so that we will get some experience for the 2nd and 3rd units. Next year we better hope we sign an experienced JC QB and we get some "killer" DL recruits!

The margin for success and failure grows smaller. It's time for DD to stop blaming everyone in sight (fans, weather, crowds, etc.)

[SilverEagle]

Marshall is in another league, they have been successful since we where 1aa.

South Florida is in Florida a state that has way too few 1a programs for its size, and that is barely being fixed, I also forsee a down turn for USF, just like:

UCF, which is has two less wins than SMU... 0-9

UAB is on shaky, shaky ground, they are bleeding money, and they Bama wants them dead.

Troy is in our leage, and hasnt beat us, and is going to be staying home this bowl year, I cant say they have passed us yet.

Let's see, what conference are all of those "down turn" programs in?

Troy is in our league, and they have beaten us (remember 01?). They are moving forward with facilities and by beating Missouri at home (which was ranked at that time) they are giving their doners encouragement that they will continue to "move up".

How much encouragement has Dickey given any potential doners, that their investment will pay off in a "prime time" win like Troy?

Getting out-coached and out-played at home by a provisional D-1 Florida team that had spent as much time traveling the week before as they had practicing, is not the way to do it.

[Cerebus]

How much encouragement has Dickey given any potential doners, that their investment will pay off in a "prime time" win like Troy?

In the time Dickey has been coach, North Texas has two wins agaisnt BCS teams, Troy has two.

North Texas has been to 3 bowl games, Troy zero.

North Texas has three wins on National TV, Troy has one, albeit against missouri.

Troy has a nice new stadium remodel, North Texas has news in the future.

I just dont see Trioy being better than us as a program, and as far as conferences go, SMU is in a "better" conference, want to trade programs with them? I know they would.

[calvin]

I think you guage a season on how it progresses, we started out slow but we have gotten better. Look at FAU they lost to ULM at home. I dont think there is any question who would win if we played again.

[MeanGreenBuzz]

I have only said a few words on this subject and will still only say a few. Dickey is a good coach with great recruiting skills. The reason he is only a good coach is 1) he plays scared against the big boys and 2) he cannot prep freshmen to start like the great coaches can (Jamario didn't need much help and Coobs had alot to do with his getting ready I would look more at defensive replacements). He is good for now but I can't see him taking us to the top. We should only have 1 loss next year (LSU) and any more should not be tolerated. NT should not be content to be the big fish in a little pond and as long as Dickey is here that is all we will be.

[SilverEagle]

I dont think there is any question who would win if we played again.

Probably, but don't be too sure about that.

Our season always gets better when start playing SB teams.

I stick by my earlier comment. As long as we have the same seasons (no or few OCC wins and only SB wins) we are stuck in "neutral".

[GreenN'walinsVet]

We should only have 1 loss next year (LSU) and any more should not be tolerated. NT should not be content to be the big fish in a little pond and as long as Dickey is here that is all we will be.

Do we know what our entire OOC schedule looks like next year???

[SilverEagle]

We should only have 1 loss next year (LSU) and any more should not be tolerated. NT should not be content to be the big fish in a little pond and as long as Dickey is here that is all we will be.

Do we know what our entire OOC schedule looks like next year???

In light of our OCC record the last three years. Does it really matter?

[Cerebus]

We should only have 1 loss next year (LSU) and any more should not be tolerated.

You know, sooner or later, we have to lose a conference game...

23 straight wins is insane...

[SilverEagle]

You know, sooner or later, we have to lose a conference game...

23 straight wins is insane...

As a North Texas graduate, I've long ago embraced "insane"

However, since your are probably correct about that, it makes the OCC wins issue even more imperative.

[GreenBat]

We should only have 1 loss next year (LSU) and any more should not be tolerated.

ARE YOU ON CRACK?

We are losing our quarterback, two offensive lineman, tight end, wide receiver (5). The entire starting front 4 and three of the four defensive backs (7). We are also losing our punter and deep snapper (2). That is 14 players out of 25 starters. These players have been crucial in the success of this program and will be missed.

I would like to go 9-2 or 10-1 every year, but with the losses we are going to suffer, it is ridiculous to think that is possible.

If we can go undefeated in the SunBelt next year, I would think it was Dickey's best coaching job.