Column By TU's Catbird

[Catbird]

I thought you might be interested in reading the column I wrote on the game Saturday. I write them weekly (or weakly, if you like) during the football season. Again ... thanks for the hospitality.

Been There, Done That

I can’t remember how many times we’ve been on the receiving end of something like Saturday’s football game in Denton, Texas. I can commiserate with the Mean Green fans from the University of North Texas, because it wasn’t that long ago that the Golden Hurricane was so thin we were not able to sustain an entire game.

This game started as a close, hard-fought contest, with both teams sparring and trading punts until late in the first quarter, when punter Chris Kindred thought fast and kicked an errant snap out of the end zone to avoid giving up a UNT touchdown.

That was the end of the game for the Mean Green.

The biggest difference in the teams Saturday was depth. While UNT has a first string that can hang pretty tough with Tulsa, once they spend just so long on the field against a constantly rotating group of fresh players … they simply can’t compete.

Consider, also, the number of players TU did without in this game: running back Uril Parrish, who was nursing a sore foot; safety Bobby Klinck, who was nursing a sore hand; spur Steve Craver, who is nursing a sore shoulder; and Ashlan Davis, who was nursing a sore ego. Add to them Kedrick Alexander, who failed to satisfy the NCAA requirements on progress toward his degree, and Jeff Thibodeaux, who lost his father a few days before the game.

Talk about needing the depth with which we started this season!

Tulsa used 49 players Saturday night, and nearly all got significant playing time. Yet, Tulsa appeared to get stronger as the game proceeded.

My, how time (and a great coaching staff) can heal the wounds of the past!

There were a number of obvious highlights in the game, such as Garrett Mills’ eight catches for 148 yards, including an acrobatic flip into the end zone, and Anthony Germany’s outstanding knockdown and recovery of a pitchout. Paul Smith’s management of the game, his crisp passing, his heads-up running and his quick kicks that flustered UNT, were classic.

Watching Brandon Diles power through tackles, as he did for 128 yards, is always a thrill. He is a threat any time he touches the ball, and a gutsy, powerful rusher. Cauvey Jackson and his unbelievably quick feet are a joy to behold in practice, as well as in games.

But, the game wasn’t the only highlight of the 18-hour “zip trip” to Denton.

When the UNT Mean Green fans tailgate … they really do it right. It was impossible to walk more than ten feet during the couple hours before the game without being offered a free beer, or a soda, or a water, or a bratwurst, or some of the 450 pounds of brisket the UNT message board posters cooked up for their tailgate. They were truly gracious, gregarious, classy hosts … and that almost made me feel bad about the ultimate outcome of the game.

Almost, but not quite.

Because, as I mentioned earlier … we’ve been there and done that. I may even have the t-shirt (unless I burned it awhile back). The memory still burns (no pun intended) deep within me.

Right now, the Golden Hurricane is still about one-and-a-half deep in quality players, which is down from the 1.75 with which we started the season. We’re 3-4 deep at running back … two deep at quarterback … at least two deep on the D-line and at linebacker … two deep at receiver … about 1.5 deep on the O-line … and about the same at defensive back, but getting a tad thinner right now.

Hopefully, we’ll get over some of the soreness that’s kept some of our great players on the bench and go forth to dominate our conference USA foes in much the same fashion as we did North Texas.

More likely, though, is that we’ll face teams with roughly the same depth that we have, and have to rely on our talent, skill, conditioning, commitment and coaching to achieve the results we need.

We have all that now … so bring on the Tigers and let’s kick off our membership in C-USA in style … Tulsa style!

See you at the tailgate …

Catbird

catbird@mail.com

[stebo]

When the UNT Mean Green fans tailgate … they really do it right. It was impossible to walk more than ten feet during the couple hours before the game without being offered a free beer, or a soda, or a water, or a bratwurst, or some of the 450 pounds of brisket the UNT message board posters cooked up for their tailgate. They were truly gracious, gregarious, classy hosts … and that almost made me feel bad about the ultimate outcome of the game.

Classy article Catbird. I appreciate the nice words. We have come a long way in the last 5 years... just have a little further to go. We took a step back this year; having lost a ton of seniors without preparing the newcomers for the future. This will probably be a long season for the Mean Green... but we are better off then we were 5 years ago, even with the loss. I hope that someday Tulsa and NT call the same conference "home" and we get to play some rematches on a regular basis. I will be in Tulsa next year for the rematch and hopefully we can put up a better fight by then.

[Guest JohnDenver]

Your summary isn't quite accurate though. Your team really is one incident away from being a bad team ... and that is the truth. You aren't as deep as you seem to think.

Let's look at what could happened here --and in my opinion is the reason we are in this boat.

2002: Junior QB solid leader, the team believes in him. Goes down with an injury. Backup QB (HS 4A state champ) comes in and we win the Belt and beat CUSA co-champ.

2003: Senior QB comes back from injury, go on to win the Belt and go to a bowl game.

*Still have the depth*

2004: Bowl champ QB dies in a car accident. Senior goes on to win the Belt. Third string QB is now backup.

*No depth anymore*

1) Hall -- graduates

2) Smith -- died

3) Bylerly -- failed

4) Meager -- injured

5) Phillips -- Walk-on true freshman

2005: Third string QB who is now our starter doesnt' get the grades. Meager gets hurt in spring ball and has shoulder surgery. Phillips doesn't start practicing with team until summer.

So there you have it. Could your program really 1 graduation, 1 death, 1 non-qualifier and 1 offseason shoulder surgery? I think very few could. Look at OU.

If we had a QB, teams like Tulsa wouldn't be able to blitz EVERY down and we would be able to exploit it if they did do that ...

We are in more dire of a situation than anyone wanted to admit coming into the season.

I don't care about how deep a team IS, if you can't get off a pass because of blitzes every down, you won't be able to do anything ... your D will get worn down and your team will lose. It will bring down your entire team. The 2-3 deep you have in RBs will ALL be hit two yards deep in the backfield and you can't move the ball.

Edited September 19, 2005 by JohnDenver

[UNT_playmaker]

You summary isn't quite accurate though. Your team really is one incident away from being a bad team ... and that is the truth. You aren't as deep as you seem to think.

Let's look at what could happened here --and in my opinion is the reason we are in this boat.

2002: Junior QB solid leader, the team believes in him. Goes down with an injury. Backup QB (HS 4A state champ) comes in and we win the Belt and beat CUSA co-champ.

2003: Senior QB comes back from injury, go on to win the Belt and go to a bowl game.

*Still have the depth*

2004: Bowl champ QB dies in a car accident. Senior goes on to win the Belt. Third string QB is now backup.

*No depth anymore*

1) Hall -- graduates

2) Smith -- died

3) Bylerly -- failed

4) Meager -- injured

5) Phillips -- Walk-on true freshman

2005: Third string QB who is now our starter doesnt' get the grades. Meager gets hurt in spring ball and has shoulder surgery. Phillips doesn't start practicing with team until summer.

So there you have it. Could your program really 1 graduation, 1 death, 1 non-qualifier and 1 offseason shoulder surgery? I think very few could. Look at OU.

If we had a QB, teams like Tulsa wouldn't be able to blitz EVERY down and we would be able to exploit it if they did do that ...

We are in more dire of a situation than anyone wanted to admit coming into the season.

I don't care about your depth, but if you can't get off a pass because of blitzes every down, you won't be able to do anything ... your D will get worn down and your team will lose.

←

well said

[Catbird]

Gee, maybe you're right! After all, last year's QB lasted until the last cut by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Too bad you didn't read the part about the front-line players who didn't play this week.

[ADLER]

We had dozens of Tulsa fans come to the Greenbackers Tailgate Party and every one of them were extremely friendly. Catbird and a couple of his buddies even came and thanked us personally for including the Canes fans in our tailgate.

In spite of Saturday's final score, I would love to see this game become an annual match-up.

[Guest JohnDenver]

I didn't say the fans weren't great. I enjoyed seeing so many Tulsa fans at the game ...

I offered food and banter to all the fans I saw.

I was just trying to add some reasoning being our "lack of depth" compared to the mighty Tulsa. It happens to all teams. It can spiral ... and the "been there done that" sentiment may be premature. I remember seeing the same articles from USF fans after we lost to them a couple of years ago. They are big bad CUSA team now ... and sorely lacking in the depth they thought they had gathered.

All schools (especially mid-majors like Tulsa and UNT) go through cycles. This happens to be a very young team/year.

Man, I hope UNT can pull out this situation and find some depth from our middle school team.

Edited September 19, 2005 by JohnDenver

[ADLER]

Your summary isn't quite accurate though. Your team really is one incident away from being a bad team ... and that is the truth. You aren't as deep as you seem to think.

Let's look at what could happened here --and in my opinion is the reason we are in this boat.

2002: Junior QB solid leader, the team believes in him. Goes down with an injury. Backup QB (HS 4A state champ) comes in and we win the Belt and beat CUSA co-champ.

2003: Senior QB comes back from injury, go on to win the Belt and go to a bowl game.

*Still have the depth*

2004: Bowl champ QB dies in a car accident. Senior goes on to win the Belt. Third string QB is now backup.

*No depth anymore*

1) Hall -- graduates

2) Smith -- died

3) Bylerly -- failed

4) Meager -- injured

5) Phillips -- Walk-on true freshman

2005: Third string QB who is now our starter doesnt' get the grades. Meager gets hurt in spring ball and has shoulder surgery. Phillips doesn't start practicing with team until summer.

So there you have it. Could your program really 1 graduation, 1 death, 1 non-qualifier and 1 offseason shoulder surgery? I think very few could. Look at OU.

If we had a QB, teams like Tulsa wouldn't be able to blitz EVERY down and we would be able to exploit it if they did do that ...

We are in more dire of a situation than anyone wanted to admit coming into the season.

I don't care about how deep a team IS, if you can't get off a pass because of blitzes every down, you won't be able to do anything ... your D will get worn down and your team will lose. It will bring down your entire team.  The 2-3 deep you have in RBs will ALL be hit two yards deep in the backfield and you can't move the ball.

←

To quote Corporal Hudson "I don't know if you're up on current events man.....but we just got our a$$es kicked!"

Tulsa was plenty deep enough to beat us by over 50 in our own house. I'm not prepared to say anything that isn't complimentary of their team and it's performance.

Our problems are our own fault. Our coaching staff knew last Fall that Byerly was a severe grade risk. Nothing was done in recruiting to address what would probably become an immediate need. We are now paying the price, and two freshmen quarterbacks are being tossed to the wolves.

[Guest JohnDenver]

To quote Corporal Hudson "I don't know if you're up on current events man.....but we just got our a$$es kicked!"

Tulsa was plenty deep enough to beat us by over 50 in our own house. I'm not prepared to say anything that isn't complimentary of their team and it's performance.

Our problems are our own fault. Our coaching staff knew last Fall that Byerly was a severe grade risk. Nothing was done in recruiting to address what would probably become an immediate need. We are now paying the price, and two freshmen quarterbacks are being tossed to the wolves.

←

Well, I was complimentary of them and still am. If you see immediately after the game I came home and made a post congratulating them. I am not holding them up as a model of a supreme team though. Maybe that is my cautious nature ... who knows.

You are right, the staff did know about this QB situation and probably thought the running game would be able to pull them through. It is a tough situation though ... where does it go from here? I would rather see a young QB with non-injured shoulder than one with a year more experience and can't throw 20 yards without having to think about whether he can do it..

[Stan R]

I would rather see a young QB with non-injured shoulder than one with a year more experience and can't throw 20 yards without having to think about whether he can do it..

←

Yep, agreed.

[ADLER]

I would rather see a young QB with non-injured shoulder than one with a year more experience and can't throw 20 yards without having to think about whether he can do it..

←

If we're willing to concede that we're not going to be passing except in rare spots, then I think we should give the freshman from Burleson a chance. He has somewhat of an arm, but he also has the speed to turn the corner on those option plays.

[EagleD]

1) Hall -- graduates

2) Smith -- died

3) Bylerly -- failed

4) Meager -- injured

5) Phillips -- Walk-on true freshman

Very good analysis. Now explain the young defense. I'm tryin' real hard not to bash DD. But that green Kool-Aid is upsetting my stomach.

GO MEAN GREEN!!!!!!!

[Guest JohnDenver]

Very good analysis.  Now explain the young defense.  I'm tryin' real hard not to bash DD.  But that green Kool-Aid is upsetting my stomach.

GO MEAN GREEN!!!!!!!

←

You have been here long enough to know that I am one of the people to bitch about DD at every oppurtunity. He might as well have the middle name Dubya.

I think our D, though YOUNG, has the talent to be up to the task at hand. Any defense, no matter how good (see Cowboys or Redskins) wear down and/or try to make too many big plays and end up giving up more touchdowns. I think that recruiting has been fine ... The DL is a problem, but I am not throwing up my arms on them *yet*. We haven't seen in Pistol and Ransom (sounds like a sitcom) are all they were advertised to be. TJ failing to qualify should be on the backs of the coaches though.. However, that only goes so far. You can drag a horse to water, but you can't make them drink. But then why not pull his ship and recruit someone else? Not sure.

The QB situation is the main problem in my opinion. We are good at WR, RB, LB and DB. The DL and OL have something to prove ... but the QB just looks dreadful and not salvagable.

I say put in Korey Washington and let him try to run. (half joking)

Definitely no kool-aid in my system.

Edited September 19, 2005 by JohnDenver

[Eagle-96]

But that green Kool-Aid is upsetting my stomach.

GO MEAN GREEN!!!!!!!

←

You're mixing too much cyanide in.

[SilverEagle]

You have been here long enough to know that I am one of the people to bitch about DD at every oppurtunity. He might as well have the middle name Dubya.

I think our D, though YOUNG, has the talent to be up to the task at hand. Any defense, no matter how good (see Cowboys or Redskins) wear down and/or try to make too many big plays and end up giving up more touchdowns. I think that recruiting has been fine ... The DL is a problem, but I am not throwing up my arms on them *yet*. We haven't seen in Pistol and Ransom (sounds like a sitcom) are all they were advertised to be. TJ failing to qualify should be on the backs of the coaches though.. However, that only goes so far. You can drag a horse to water, but you can't make them drink. But then why not pull his ship and recruit someone else? Not sure.

The QB situation is the main problem in my opinion. We are good at WR, RB, LB and DB. The DL and OL have something to prove ... but the QB just looks dreadful and not salvagable.

I say put in Korey Washington and let him try to run.   (half joking)

definitely no kool-aid in my system.

←

I agree with Adler. If we are going to try another QB with a strong arm, then I like Warren better. He had a good arm and he was much more mobile than Phillips. He was mobile enough that they have tried him at safety. If they are going to keep Meager in there, then they need to give him a LOT of three-step passes to throw. Meager can easily handle the 10 to 15 yrd range. He's just not healed up enough to go down field.

If they are going to try Phillips in there then they absolutely need to put the three-step passing attack in there. Meager can at least run for his life, but Phillips will take a huge pounding trying to set up for a pass in our current system.

BTW John. I really enjoyed my visit with your folks, especially your fiancee.

[yyz28]

If we had a QB, teams like Tulsa wouldn't be able to blitz EVERY down and we would be able to exploit it if they did do that ...

←

I don't care if we have a young Troy Aikman, Steve Young or Brett Farve in the backfield. Our offensive line SUCKS. We’re quick to blame the freshman QB situation, but I don’t think that’s the bulk of it. We shouldn’t be putting the game in his hands, and we are. We’ve got a line that can’t give him time, and a coach that puts him in the position of making it happen, despite his youth and inexperience.

BOTH running backs should be in the backfield EVERY FRICKIN’ PLAY! They won’t be able to blitz every play if they don’t know what side the ball is coming from, or which player will get it. With a weak line, we should be attempting to capitalize on the element of surprise. Dickey and the Coaching Staff being unwilling or unable to analyze their players and the talent they have and creating a system around that group is the biggest reason we are where we are right now.

I REALLY HOPE that they have this figured out, and are simply hiding it until ‘Belt play, but I don’t have much faith in that hope.