A Riley Question For Some Of You Experts

UNT Mean Green · November 23, 2009

Riley is a red shirt freshman...remember that. His arm strength is such that he really will have a hard time throwing a really deep ball...30 yards should be about his most accurate max., but that's deep enough in the scheme he will be playing. The kid is a competitor. To question his character and his competitiveness is just plain WRONG. I seem to recall seeing several players get hurt Saturday...are they just too fragile to play DI ball? Come on, give it a rest.
Let's evaluate Riley on his body of work. Cut down on the turnovers...stop carrying the ball like it was a loaf of bread and stop the "rainbow" deep passes that allow defenders to catch up and make plays and picks...use your tight end more and use the slant...Riley will be just fine and I'll be really glad to see what postings are written here on GMG.com when Riley leads this team to multiple victories beginning next season.
Did you see some of the mistakes Stafford made yesterday in the win over Cleveland...Rookie is as rookie does. Riley is a DI Rookie! I'll wait to make judgement. You go ahead and rush to judgement.

I agree with some of your post, but here's an interesting take on Riley (just food for thought, and not criticism). Alot of programs/NFL teams give the rookie excuse as a learning curve in becoming familiar with the offensive system and they 'allow' for more mistakes to happen as a result of that. Riley simply cannot go off of that logic. This is NOT a new offensive system for him. The only excuse he has is 'speed of the game', and unfortunately for him, he missed playing against the 2 fastest defenses that North Texas has played against this year because of injury.

That being said....surely Army's DB's aren't all blazing 4.4 guys. There's a problem with the playcalling and telegraping passes to couple with the 'speed of the game' excuse for Riley that lead to a lot of his turnovers.

forevereagle · November 23, 2009

See Ohio Bobcats game.

You mean where he came in cold and was asked to throw a pass to a receiver that stopped the route?

Excuses.

And what are we saying about Riley? He is a RS FR. Is that an excuse? It sure seems like one to me.

risinggreen · November 23, 2009

You mean where he came in cold and was asked to throw a pass to a receiver that stopped the route?
And what are we saying about Riley? He is a RS FR. Is that an excuse? It sure seems like one to me.

He has been in the system for years, and at 21 he's only a few weeks or months younger than a large percentage of Seniors around the country who will be playing their final regular season collegiate games next week, so I don't really see the freshman thing as being that much of an excuse. I just hope that TD bites the bullet and gives the other guys an honest shot at the job next Spring. And yes, I will be absolutely shocked if TD isn't back next year. Unless of course he decides that D1 is not for him and leaves voluntarily to take on a prime high school job that happens to come available next year. Of course that would basically mean that he is willing to give away roughly 400k in the process. Very doubtful that he would do so unless this job is driving him absolutely nuts.

yyz28 · November 23, 2009

I know nobody wants to talk about emotion other than raw competitiveness when we're talking about football...

...but I'm prepared to erase Saturday's game from Riley's record when looking at his body of work. Why you may ask -

How would you perform if the pressure and stress of saving your dad's career rested squarely on your shoulders? I love my dad, and would do ANYTHING for him, and I can tell you that stress and strain would be almost impossible for me to play through and do my best.

You asked for experts to answer this question - I'm certainly no expert, but Riley was put in a virtually impossible situation. I was watching Todd and Riley on the field before the game. There was a lot more one on one time and hugs that seemed like they knew this was likely their last hurrah in a friendly stadium together. Assuming Riley stays at North Texas if Dodge is gone next year, I think he will improve. What we've seen isn't unusual from Freshman QB's. ...I think he may still be the best QB we've had here in a long time, or even ever when all is said and done. He's a good kid and certainly has talent. If Riley is in Green next year, I'd expect to see a more mature and polished player, no matter who the coach is.

Go Mean Green!!!

The Fake Lonnie Finch · November 23, 2009

I know nobody wants to talk about emotion other than raw competitiveness when we're talking about football...
...but I'm prepared to erase Saturday's game from Riley's record when looking at his body of work. Why you may ask -
How would you perform if the pressure and stress of saving your dad's career rested squarely on your shoulders? I love my dad, and would do ANYTHING for him, and I can tell you that stress and strain would be almost impossible for me to play through and do my best.
You asked for experts to answer this question - I'm certainly no expert, but Riley was put in a virtually impossible situation. I was watching Todd and Riley on the field before the game. There was a lot more one on one time and hugs that seemed like they knew this was likely their last hurrah in a friendly stadium together. Assuming Riley stays at North Texas if Dodge is gone next year, I think he will improve. What we've seen isn't unusual from Freshman QB's. ...I think he may still be the best QB we've had here in a long time, or even ever when all is said and done. He's a good kid and certainly has talent. If Riley is in Green next year, I'd expect to see a more mature and polished player, no matter who the coach is.
Go Mean Green!!!

Of course, there's that pressure. But, who created it?

To me, Todd Dodge has to be realistic. He's got to see on game film the size and strength of other quarterbacks, not just in the Sun Belt in other places. It seems that it's his responsibility as a coach, and a dad, to say to Riley, "Look, you're on fire against Western Kentucky, which is basically a I-AA/FCS school playing up. But, against the big guys, it's not working. We need to move you. Or, you can go play QB and dominate the FCS."

I just don't think Todd Dodge really has the ability to do it. I don't think he realizes his son is too small to be an FBS quarterback. And, if he doesn't realize it, there's a huge problem in his perception of college football at this level. And, that's huge problem for us.

Based on what Riley did against Western Kentucky, I think he'd be a monster FCS QB where the game is a step slower all the way around and the linemen are more fat than tall in most cases. Up here, if we're going to take advantage of his knowledge of the game and his shiftiness when he runs, he's got to be moved to a position that allows us to do that. But, it's not at QB.

UNT90 · November 23, 2009

I'm not making excuses for Riley. I don't even know his physical condition. But, if you'll recall a few games back Riley had a 2nd degree? shoulder separation and it could be a hindrance to how far he can throw the ball. I've never thought of him as having a strong arm but he seemed to be doing much better on the longer routes earlier in the season.

I am pretty sure that the shoulder seperation was on the non-throwing shoulder.

Riley has been bad on the deep ball all year. Remember the floater he threw over the head of a wide open receiver that would have been an easy TD against Ball St.?

It's nothing against Riley. I love his leadership abilities, speed, and athleticism and would love to see him in widcat sets, but he just doesn't have the arm strength to play QB at this level. Slot receiver with the occasional wildcat appearance is how I would use him.

Edited November 23, 2009 by UNT90

cdizzle86 · November 23, 2009

You mean where he came in cold and was asked to throw a pass to a receiver that stopped the route?
And what are we saying about Riley? He is a RS FR. Is that an excuse? It sure seems like one to me.

I stated both of their statuses in order to show their difference in experience. Nice try though.

houstonmeangreen · November 24, 2009

I think Riley will be fine. If he is making these same mistakes in 2 years, then he is a bust. I love what he brings to the team with his feet. His completion percentage and distribution are great. We all know the problem has been the turnovers.
Regarding the deep passes, I am not sure it is really just an arm strength thing. I think that will improve over time. What needs to be coached out of him is when he throws the ball. Those deep passes would have been complete if he threw them earlier in the route. Dodge seems to wait until the WR is clearly wide open to throw the ball. The fact that he throws a bit of a floater allows the DB to catch up and make the play. Thrown earlier, those floaters land in the hands of the WR. The INT at the end of the game was another example of that. By the time Dodge threw the ball, the receiver was out of room and the safety had closed the gap to make the pick.
With added strength and coaching, I think Riley will be fine. Small quaterbacks can succeed in college ball. And we play in the Belt...

I too think RD will be OK...just needs someone to work (coach) him....apparently he is not being coached, or coached well....if he can stop the turnovers he could be a great QB at UNT....if not, he is more of a liability as a QB.

risinggreen · November 24, 2009

I too think RD will be OK...just needs someone to work (coach) him....apparently he is not being coached, or coached well....if he can stop the turnovers he could be a great QB at UNT....if not, he is more of a liability as a QB.

Kind of sad when a guy who has been living with a head coach all of his life is not being well coached. It says something about somebody. I too think he will get better, but I'm still a bit worried about the arm strength issue. His size is a non-issue to me if he can get stronger and somehow avoid injury a little better than he has thus far. He sure was "ragdolled" by Army's big DE shortly before halftime last Saturday. He picked Riley up and tossed him around like he weighed 150 pounds. <_<

Edited November 24, 2009 by risinggreen

keith · November 24, 2009

2009 Cumulative Stats are available here....

http://www.meangreensports.com/ViewArticle...TCLID=204788005

I think the primary reason we're 2-9 is that we are -16 on turn-overs. It's hard to overcome that. We've given it up a lot, but haven't taken it away very much. We've only had 4 picks. Riley's had 14 INTs to 9 TDs. He's also had 5 rushing TDs. I couldn't find how many fumbles. It may be in there somewhere. I also agree that the positives for Riley currently outweigh the negatives. It he stays healthy, I think his name will be well represented in the North Texas record book.

Keith

Mean Green 93-98 · November 24, 2009

I like Riley. I like Nathan. I'm glad they're both here and playing for the Mean Green.

football fan · November 27, 2009

You have to have empathy for RD. He has been put in a very difficult position at the ripe old age of 21. Cannot imagine my father asking me to save his job at that age. It just isn't right. But, it has happened. I just hope there isn't any resentment towards TD from RD going forward. Both of them have done what they thought was right at the time. As we all know, life can be very cruel.