A Bit More Calm, Reflective

The Fake Lonnie Finch · October 27, 2009

I went back and looked at my UNT prediction for this season. After seven games, I predicted we'd be 1-6. And, here we are at 1-6.

I predicted a 3-9 season with wins over FAU, WKU, and Army. I think we can still get to 3-9.

If we can't get to 3-9, there are problems. Actually, there are problems anyway, but you get the drift. I wasn't high on this thing to begin with. And, my low expectations are being fulfilled.

If we can't beat WKU and Army, there needs to be a coaching change. WKU is terrible. And, while Army has a decent defense, we really should be able to hold their newly-installed offense down. If not...again, it's hard to fathom a scenario where we don't beat WKU and Army.

I'd say, withhold coaching change threads until after WKU. If we lose to WKU, surely Rick Villareal and the administration would be able to see that, after three years, this thing can't even get off the ground against schools on training wheels. And, hopefully, at that point they would get the wheels in motion to find a replacement.

To me, this WKU game should be like Custer's Last Stand - Dodge's career here either survives it or it doesn't. We'll see Saturday whether Dodge can inject any urgency at all into his team against the worst school in FBS, the Hilltoppers. If he can't, it's time for him to go.

Long ago, in July, I predicted a 37-22 UNT win over WKU. Yes, a 15 point win. There's no reason this squad shouldn't be able to get it done, no matter who the quarterback is, and with or without Nwigwe. The Hilltoppers are just awful.

greenminer · October 27, 2009

I might spend some time looking at the size of the remaining OLs we will face this year and compare that to how we've done against similar teams already.

Edited October 27, 2009 by greenminer

untjim1995 · October 27, 2009

The Fake Lonnie Finch said:
I went back and looked at my UNT prediction for this season. After seven games, I predicted we'd be 1-6. And, here we are at 1-6.
I predicted a 3-9 season with wins over FAU, WKU, and Army. I think we can still get to 3-9.
If we can't get to 3-9, there are problems. Actually, there are problems anyway, but you get the drift. I wasn't high on this thing to begin with. And, my low expectations are being fulfilled.
If we can't beat WKU and Army, there needs to be a coaching change. WKU is terrible. And, while Army has a decent defense, we really should be able to hold their newly-installed offense down. If not...again, it's hard to fathom a scenario where we don't beat WKU and Army.
I'd say, withhold coaching change threads until after WKU. If we lose to WKU, surely Rick Villareal and the administration would be able to see that, after three years, this thing can't even get off the ground against schools on training wheels. And, hopefully, at that point they would get the wheels in motion to find a replacement.
To me, this WKU game should be like Custer's Last Stand - Dodge's career here either survives it or it doesn't. We'll see Saturday whether Dodge can inject any urgency at all into his team against the worst school in FBS, the Hilltoppers. If he can't, it's time for him to go.
Long ago, in July, I predicted a 37-22 UNT win over WKU. Yes, a 15 point win. There's no reason this squad shouldn't be able to get it done, no matter who the quarterback is, and with or without Nwigwe. The Hilltoppers are just awful.

I, too, had 3-9, but I had us at 0-7 right now. I thought we would beat WKU and Army, and then beat either ULM or FIU. I still think that makes sense. If we finish 4-8, that would make some folks feel a bit better about 2010. I think Dodge will only get fired if he doesn't win another game this year. But, so far, sadly, we are where I thought we would be for 2009. That was just how bad we were in 2008.

FirefightnRick · October 27, 2009

There's no reason we can't go 5-0 the rest of the year.

Rick

GoMeanGreen1999 · October 27, 2009

The Fake Lonnie Finch said:
I went back and looked at my UNT prediction for this season. After seven games, I predicted we'd be 1-6. And, here we are at 1-6.
I predicted a 3-9 season with wins over FAU, WKU, and Army. I think we can still get to 3-9.
If we can't get to 3-9, there are problems. Actually, there are problems anyway, but you get the drift. I wasn't high on this thing to begin with. And, my low expectations are being fulfilled.
If we can't beat WKU and Army, there needs to be a coaching change. WKU is terrible. And, while Army has a decent defense, we really should be able to hold their newly-installed offense down. If not...again, it's hard to fathom a scenario where we don't beat WKU and Army.
I'd say, withhold coaching change threads until after WKU. If we lose to WKU, surely Rick Villareal and the administration would be able to see that, after three years, this thing can't even get off the ground against schools on training wheels. And, hopefully, at that point they would get the wheels in motion to find a replacement.
To me, this WKU game should be like Custer's Last Stand - Dodge's career here either survives it or it doesn't. We'll see Saturday whether Dodge can inject any urgency at all into his team against the worst school in FBS, the Hilltoppers. If he can't, it's time for him to go.
Long ago, in July, I predicted a 37-22 UNT win over WKU. Yes, a 15 point win. There's no reason this squad shouldn't be able to get it done, no matter who the quarterback is, and with or without Nwigwe. The Hilltoppers are just awful.

I know absolutely nothing in regards to how stable Dodge is, but it really is sad that after 2 1/2 seasons his coaching career here basically has come down to whether or not he can beat an 0-7 team at home.

SilverEagle · October 27, 2009

GoMeanGreen1999 said:
I know absolutely nothing in regards to how stable Dodge is, but it really is sad that after 2 1/2 seasons his coaching career here basically has come down to whether or not he can beat an 0-7 team at home.

Only his credibility as a D-1 coach is in danger. And only with a certain group of fans.

I seriously doubt that RV would take any sort of action (assuming that he was inclined to do so) right after the WKU game. Even if it ended up like the Troy game.

emmitt01 · October 27, 2009

FirefightnRick said:
There's no reason we can't go 5-0 the rest of the year.
Rick

I can think of one whose initials are T.D. and I don't mean Terrell Davis.

GoMeanGreen1999 · October 27, 2009

SilverEagle said:
Only his credibility as a D-1 coach is in danger. And only with a certain group of fans.
I seriously doubt that RV would take any sort of action (assuming that he was inclined to do so) right after the WKU game. Even if it ended up like the Troy game.

That is why I put "here" in there. He can go back to high school without any problems. Someone might even give him a position coaching job on the college level. Mack Brown has always said he loves to hire guys who have been head coaches at D1 schools regardless of what their records were.

Eagle1855 · October 27, 2009

emmitt01 said:
I can think of one whose initials are T.D. and I don't mean Terrell Davis.

Taye Diggs?

Stan R · October 27, 2009

Ted Danson?

adman · October 27, 2009

Tyler Durden?

UNT90 · October 27, 2009

"We can't beat anybody"

"We will win our next five games"

"We stink"

"We got talent"

The emotional rollercoaster continues. I said 2-10 at the start of the season. But, things change. We beat Ball St., and should have beat Ohio (absent coaching errors). This changed things in my eyes.

Alabama = expected.

Then came MTSU and I saw the defense give up 30 points in the 1st half to an offense that had a QB who couldn't hit an open receiver more than 10 yards down field.

I stayed optimistic and avoided watching the ULL game, where the defense gave up 14 unanswered 4th quarter points to lose the game.

I then attended FAU, where I watched another conference opponent's 0-4 offense post 30 points in the second quarter. Watching that, it became obvious to me that the defense was not Sunbelt D1 quality. I made several posts warning of a Troy romp (toot, toot), even predicting that they would score over 50 (Didn't figure they would just lay down on offense in the 4th qtr).

Predictions change as the season progresses. There was great progress made in the first 2 games of the season. All of the sudden, we are able to cover kickoffs, kick extra points, punt the football downfield with little pressure on the kicker, make defensive stops, fly to the ball on defense, and play with confidence.

Then, for some reason, everything changed. Suddenly, we are getting extra points blocked, our punter is under constant pressure, causing him to look quite ordinary, we can't stop poor offenses, and we are back to getting our doors blown off by the conference measuring stick.

Why? Why do we appear to be regressing? THIS is the most concerning thing about this season. They are young and should be getting better with experience, but this doesn't appear to be the case, especially on defense and special teams.

Considering all this evidence, I firmly believe WKU is our last chance at a victory this year.

As always, I hope I'm wrong.

Charlie NT 73 · October 27, 2009

Started off great, a win on the road at Ball State.

The team is just a few plays away from wins over Ohio, ULL, and FAU. The defense gave up the winning scores

in the last minutes of each game. For that matter, the defense has not stopped anyone all season.

Complain to Gary DeLoach first about losing. This team would be at 4-3 right now, if the defense did a half assed

job of stopping anyone. Levi Brown, Rusty Smith, Dwight Dasher, made the secondary look like swiss cheese.

Full of holes- way too easy. Troy, FAU, and the muts, moved the ball at will.

I agree with FFR, that NT can win the next 5 games-- only if the defense can do their job!

untjim1995 · October 27, 2009

FirefightnRick said:
There's no reason we can't go 5-0 the rest of the year.
Rick

If the defense continues to play this poorly, I can assure that one win is probably the best we can get.

NT91 · October 27, 2009

FirefightnRick said:
There's no reason we can't go 5-0 the rest of the year.
Rick

This is true. 6-6 would be very nice!!!

Quoner · October 27, 2009

emmitt01 said:
I can think of one whose initials are T.D. and I don't mean Terrell Davis.

LongJim · October 27, 2009

Quoner · October 27, 2009

mad dog · October 27, 2009

OldTimer · October 27, 2009

"should have beat Ohio (absent coaching errors)." This changed things in my eyes.

This is an interesting statement...if I remember correctly didn't a NT wide received dropped a pass in the end zone that would have won the game. Oh, of course that is a coaching error.

8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888 I will add another improvement to this post later this evening...have to run.

eulessismore · October 28, 2009

OldTimer said:
"should have beat Ohio (absent coaching errors)." This changed things in my eyes.
This is an interesting statement...if I remember correctly didn't a NT wide received dropped a pass in the end zone that would have won the game. Oh, of course that is a coaching error.
8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888 I will add another improvement to this post later this evening...have to run.

OldTimer, I'm not really one on here calling for Dodge's firing. However, I can distinctly remember wishing that (and before the play was called), late in the first half of the Ohio game, that they had gone for a chip shot field goal, instead of going for it on fourth (and turning it over on downs). Jeremy Knott had made one from 32 yards earlier, as well as both PAT kicks up to that point, and I couldn't see any reason to think he would have missed it from a shorter distance. Given everything else that happened in that game, those 3 points, if made, would have made the difference for us. I don't take any joy in pointing this out; I only wanted to see my first win at home during the Dodge era at that time. However, I think it's important for those involved in something with as much of a mental aspect as kicking that everything is "not their fault". And I can't say that I can remember seeing the drop in the end zone; I was kind of moving around in a futile attempt to keep from being completely soaked. I do think it's worth considering though, that Tune's passes "get there" a little faster than Riley's, and that might make it more difficult than usual for a receiver, playing in the less than ideal situation of that night.

And again, this is not all just to be slamming the coaches, but there's quite a sting in a losing streak for all concerned (and now we have the news of Tobe out for the season to deal with), I just can't think it all comes down on the players, and I feel I must make the comment regarding the Ohio game, since you have already mentioned the dropped pass.

UNT90 · October 28, 2009

OldTimer said:
"should have beat Ohio (absent coaching errors)." This changed things in my eyes.
This is an interesting statement...if I remember correctly didn't a NT wide received dropped a pass in the end zone that would have won the game. Oh, of course that is a coaching error.
8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888 I will add another improvement to this post later this evening...have to run.

I was specifically referring to being up 4 points, 3rd and 4 from the opponents 36, mid (9 minutes left) fourth quarter, and you have your 2nd string QB throw the ball, when that QB had just recently entered the game, resulting in a pick 6 for Ohio. And it was this game where the defense had played quite well. Should have never thrown the ball in that situation.

I am not calling for Dodge to be fired by any means, but this was the single worst coaching decision of the season, and in my opinion cost us a victory (which would have been a huge confidence boost to a young team).

A running play here, and you most likely don't have to worry about any dropped passes from anyone the rest of the game. But all that is history.

Flame away.

EDIT: When rereading my original post, I think you might be misunderstanding what you have quoted. What I meant by "This changed things in my eyes" is that my expectations for the season were greatly increased by these two games, not that the coaching decision changed the way I felt about the team. Just so there is no misunderstanding.

Edited October 28, 2009 by UNT90

NT03 · October 28, 2009

Todd Day ?

Cerebus · October 28, 2009

adman said:
Tyler Durden?

You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everyone else, and we are all part of the same compost pile.

Great book, alright movie.