My Trip To Monroe

[stebo]

So I packed up the car, grabbed a friend, and headed to Monroe this weekend for the game. I hadn't been able to see the team in person this year and this was the one weekend where I didn't have work to deal with. Let me just say that our traveling crew has sharply declined. I used to always count on seeing a few folks at the away games - even if it was just parents of players... Well, I think that a lot of people have given up hope and that is sad. One of the great aspects of being in the Sun Belt is the ability to travel to about half of our away games (Monroe is the shortest trip). Couple the Monroe game with a night in Shreve and you have a very nice 36 hour vacation.

EagleMBA and his Eaglette were there and we really enjoyed watching the game with them. I spoke with RV before the game and it still amazes me how much he will talk your ear off (that is a good thing)... I do not think there is another IA program in the nation with such a friendly, approachable AD. Driving down we saw RV and his wife in their car and slowed down to scream between car windows on the Interstate. I was trying to get inside information about the vote and he was waiting for the official word as well. We ran into him again at the game and again - just the nicest, most direct guy that you could want. I know that a lot of people like to rip on RV for stupid stuff; but the fact is - we should really never even know who the AD is. If we know who the AD is and know him well, things are probably not going that good. Hopefully we will someday move to the point where our AD doesn't have to be cheerleader, marketing coordinator, fund raiser, alumni relations coordinator, coach, media relations expert, and defender of his own family... hopefully, someday - our AD can just be the freaking AD. Only at NT does an AD have to wear so many damn hats. It is a good thing for RV, he has a lot of feathers in his cap - but I would guess that he would give half of those feathers back just to do a normal AD job. Ok, I will leave that alone now..

On to the game. What I saw this game was what I saw last year. A team that is always a few plays away from being competitive. In this case it was giving the big play away to Monroe. Special teams remain a mystery to me. Speed is either not there - or people are just not in the right place. You would have thought that we were playing LSU, not ULM, the way that they were literally running circles around us. I don't know if this is speed or coaching. I am going to say coaching but my opinion doesn't mean much. The defense is better than last year. I know that the numbers do not reflect that - but they are actually tackling this year (sometimes) and they will get better. We cannot handle any trickery.. I mean none. Our guys just cannot recover from being in the wrong place. Again, I cannot tell if it is speed or positioning. Take away the big plays and we win this game. I think that we statistically won this game (or it was really close).... lots of yardage but terrible in the red zone. This is a good ULM team and the fact that we crawled back into this one was admirable. I am not sure if Weatherbie had called the dogs off - but we got better as the game went on rather than worse.

All and all, this team is not bad. These players are not bad. We cannot throw or catch a long ball to save our lives though. I am not going to call out any players by name but the ball literally hit several of them in the hands several times and a simple dive for the ball would have gotten the job done. Sometimes the player just needs to be happy with the 40 yard pass and not worry about the TD that could happen if they get to catch it on two feet. Will we win a game this year? I really don't know. FAU doesn't seem to be that big of a threat and WKY is suspect. We always play ASU tough. Troy will beat us up pretty good but they will play a clean game. We just have to figure out a way to play more conservatively. The offense does work much like Dickey's offense but with small pass plays. It is a hell of a lot more exciting to watch than Dickey ball though. I don't understand why our coaches do not manage the clock - if we shorten the game than we might win. I am going to guess that the threat of the spread is the speed of the game - keeping the D constantly on guard, not knowing what is coming next - but that is when it is working effectively... I think that using the clock to our advantage would actually help... because we can move the ball, we can kick field goals - we just cannot stop the big play. The less time that the opponent has to do that, the better.

I look forward to the day that I can go to an easy away game like Monroe and see more familiar faces. Those were some great times during the Dickey years. I miss the travelling fan base - winning will get that back.

[Travis]

I will say it... i was hoping for big things from Roberson. That guy is really coming along slowly. I hope he snaps out of it... i know this can't be the case, but it comes off like he isn't going 100%. Is that just me?

[stebo]

I concur...

[UNTLifer]

I will say it... i was hoping for big things from Roberson. That guy is really coming along slowly. I hope he snaps out of it... i know this can't be the case, but it comes off like he isn't going 100%. Is that just me?

He's a redshirt freshman from a small high school. Give him time.

[UNT2012]

good post stebo.

The home following was horrible as I looked across the field. I sat with some fellas from ULM who gave us free brew, grub and tickets. It was interesting hearing the ULM perspective of their team vs. UNT. They are not happy either.

Your are correct about the Defense and the offense. The Deloach D is a complete mystery. Dodge looks at him on every long play for a touchdown and just is lost for words.

On offense, the deep balls were dropped or the WR gave a poor effort. We should have had a 60 yd. TD pass in the first quarter and a short TD pass in the 3rd Quarter that were flat out dropped. The offense should have had another 100 plus yards of total offense, easily. Gio is not getting a lot of help. He had some good protection but also had a lot of scrambles and was knocked off his feet at least 8 or 9 times as he threw the ball.

Special teams were improved so at least you didn't have to see any of that Stebo. Well, I take that back, we fumbled a kickoff out at the 9 yard line after mishandling it.

I am gonna leave a class early tomorrow to watch a little practice just to see how it goes. I have not made one in awhile.

[greenminer]

He's a redshirt freshman from a small high school. Give him time.

I hear he also has parents and some hair.

Let's be patient with the kid.

[foutsrouts]

good post stebo.

The home following was horrible as I looked across the field. I sat with some fellas from ULM who gave us free brew, grub and tickets. It was interesting hearing the ULM perspective of their team vs. UNT. They are not happy either.

Your are correct about the Defense and the offense. The Deloach D is a complete mystery. Dodge looks at him on every long play for a touchdown and just is lost for words.

On offense, the deep balls were dropped or the WR gave a poor effort. We should have had a 60 yd. TD pass in the first quarter and a short TD pass in the 3rd Quarter that were flat out dropped. The offense should have had another 100 plus yards of total offense, easily. Gio is not getting a lot of help. He had some good protection but also had a lot of scrambles and was knocked off his feet at least 8 or 9 times as he threw the ball.

Special teams were improved so at least you didn't have to see any of that Stebo. Well, I take that back, we fumbled a kickoff out at the 9 yard line after mishandling it.

I am gonna leave a class early tomorrow to watch a little practice just to see how it goes. I have not made one in awhile.

Our inability to score once we get in or near the redzone is ridiculous. Dodge needs to start studying D1 spread offenses (TT etc.), and maybe he can come up with some clue how to compete at this level. This ain't high school, and he just doesn't seem to be making the proper adjustments when we get ourselves in position to score. The fact that we move the ball fairly well but cannot score is a pretty telling stat. Glad to see that our special teams are showing some improvement, at least statistically. Our defense leaves me speechless. It's like we're outnumbered two to one out there.

[RETSO]

Our inability to score once we get in or near the redzone is ridiculous. Dodge needs to start studying D1 spread offenses (TT etc.), and maybe he can come up with some clue how to compete at this level. This ain't high school, and he just doesn't seem to be making the proper adjustments when we get ourselves in position to score. The fact that we move the ball fairly well but cannot score is a pretty telling stat. Glad to see that our special teams are showing some improvement, at least statistically. Our defense leaves me speechless. It's like we're outnumbered two to one out there.

maybe he can mix in a FB or TE in the red zone package.......

oh wait we dont have any...

oh wait, that would mean Dodge would have to admit his is wrong and I dont see that coming....

[greenminer]

maybe he can mix in a FB or TE in the red zone package.......

oh wait we dont have any...

oh wait, that would mean Dodge would have to admit his is wrong and I dont see that coming....

Gah! He doesn't even have to admit anything! Just learn from your freakin' mistakes, and evolve your package. Do something, damn it!

[stebo]

I will say that the bright spot is our O-Line. While Vizza was hurried all night long - they held their own. This is tough to do without a TE. Vizza is really, really good at protecting himself and the ball but I think that throwing on the run hurts his accuracy. Even still, there are plenty of passes that are catchable and if those passes hit the hands, they should be brought in. I think that this team is talented but I can't put my finger on what it missing. The system is working - we ARE getting the yards and moving the ball. We have the right QB and some great receivers... we just are missing a few pieces of the puzzle. The big play kills us, plain and simple. I can't tell if it is speed or bad positioning. The sad thing is that it looks like lazy playing... even when ULM burned us on two of the three big plays - there was nobody even attempting to run down the player that was scoring. I would rather have a guy 20 yards behind the dude with the ball (with no chance of catching up) than none at all. Sloppy and a little lazy to me, but what do I know. I just like to see a little Hustle (like the kind we get from Gio), even if there is no chance. I mean, a guy running down the field with the ball could always drop it... and if we are standing around just watching there is zero chance of recovering the fumble.

[kj86]

My trip to Monroe...

Went over there with my folks. Pre-game...there was a huge traffic jam, parking lots full, tailgaters everywhere / inside the stadium...10k. If we had that many cars parked for a game, we'd have 35K. I counted 45-50 greenies there.

WE HAVE NO SPEED. Since I finally got to see a game up-close...you know, instead of at Fouts, I could really see how our guys were plodding around and they were running circles around us. Gio's passing is off-target. Like stebo said, maybe it's because he's throwing on the run so much. Note to Dodge, you cannot catch up by kicking FGs when you're down by 4 TDs.

If you were the one that came up to me and told me that the fee passed, thanks.

[UNT2012]

Pretty bad game by our QB when he completes 60% of his passes has three big drops that were for over 100 yards of passing and two more TD passes but still finishes with 370 yards and two td's despite the drops and ULM playing nickel and dime packages most of the night. Yeah, I guess he had an off night and is not playing well.

If I could only be so bad, I could have gotten a full ride to play D-1 football and not had to pay my way and work part-time like I'm doing now.

[EagleMBA]

We WERE sparsely represented over there. It was good to see Stebo on the road again; just like old times. Eaglette was very ill but tried to tough out the game; we ended up listening to the end of the game on the car radio. RV came around and visited with all in attendance; always a class act. I told RV I had three goals: that the stadium vote pass; that we win a ballgame; and that I win back some money from the "house" in Shreveport. I settled for one out of three...but it was the most satisfying goal.

For future reference, the Monroe trip is very easy and their fans were not obnoxious. One gentleman in particular very politely came by before the game, thanked us for coming over to be with them, and wished us well. I highly recommend breaking up the trip by staying in Shreveport, partaking of games-of-chance, and eating a meal or two at The Blind Tiger. This also works well for a trip to Ruston if we ever schedule LaTech again.