North Texas 2010 (Real Outlook And Message To All Nt Posters)

January 31, 2010

I agree with your comments and the figures to back it up. Many of us, whether we admit or not, have been disappointed with the Gary DeLoache that we've seen since UCLA.

I'm guessing that he played zone to prevent the lopsided scores of the past when we were continually giving up the big play. Perhaps it will change this coming year because he will have some pretty good speed. Most of the DBs appear to 4.55 or better forty guys. Two or three will be in the 4.4 range. That should match or beat most in the SBC. Maybe he should play zone against the Alabamas and Clemsons of the world but mix it up against the others.

What I am hopeful of about the new OC is that we can outscore some conference opponents. We did move the ball very well last year but all too often we were stopped by a pick, turnover or poor play-calling/formations in short yardage situations. If we can eliminate most of those we could be good for another 7-10 points per game.

Special teams should be improved next year. Gandy did well with the return and coverage units from the previous year but he needs to shore up the blocking for extra points and field goals.

That will put the ball back in the defense's court. I believe that the back seven will be stronger than last year, especially with Nwigwe missing half of the year. I believe that we are really going to like our new JC linebackers. We're still hurting on the DL and there wasn't a lot available this year for big DTs.

Stlll, with their jobs on the line, I think that you'll see the entire staff coaching their asses off this coming year.

P.S. I hope that DeLoache returns to the sideline and Peterson goes to the box this coming year.

MeanGreen61 · January 31, 2010

Exerpt from a Vito Blog post.

It's interesting that UNT continues to load up on junior college players for its defense. One always got the impression that Gary DeLoach wasn't overly thrilled with what he had to work with. UNT has gone back to what worked back when it had a good team, and that was pulling guys like Aaron Weathers and Michael Pruitt out of the Kansas JCs.

Smart move, if you ask me.

Harry · January 31, 2010

Be careful NTFB4life, the last time I posted something about The Great DC .I found myself on a Suspension list on the forum. He is so good that with all of these BCS openings I am suprised he hasn't left yet. I did here one of the Kansas JC's are looking for a DC.
Did we just waste some more money on a OC? We should have spent the money on a DC first.

Defense Wins Championships

You can't hold DeLoach responsible for the lack of defensive talent he inherited. This year there are no passes for this staff.

MeanMag · January 31, 2010

Turnovers are a huge issue with a Dodge offense. Yes they are part of the game... A part of the game that has been killing us as of late. I do not understand why it is okay to turn the ball over and pass it off as "it's going to happen", and blame the defense. The offense puts up gaudy numbers in every statistical categories. Even the bad categories.

I want Dodge to do well and win to the point that he gets offers from other schools. I want other schools to want our coach. Our biggest indicator and problem right now is turnovers.

As you can see: defensive takeaways really aren't that much different.

Dickey's offense last 3 seasons (2004-2006):

Fumbles: 27

Interceptions: 36

Total: 63

Defensive Takaways: 61

Wins: 12

Dodge's offense past 3 seasons (2007-2009):

Fumbles: 34

Interceptions: 64

Total: 98

Defensive Takeaways: 55

Wins: 5

To put this in other terms:

- Dodge's offense is responsible for 1.1 more turnovers per game than Dickey's. That's a lot when you think about it.

- Had Dodge's offense turned it over the same as Dickey's; I think Dodge's Wins would be beyond that of Dickey's

- Only 5 teams in the FBS turned it over more than we did.

Thanks for posting. Good discussion, and probably the most interesting conversation of the off-season.

Edited January 31, 2010 by MeanMag

eulessismore · January 31, 2010

Kicker's stats:

Field Goals

FIELD GOALS FGM-FGA Pct 01-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-99 Lg Blk
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Knott, Jeremy 10-15 66.7 2-2 4-4 3-6 1-3 0-0 41 3 <--- so he actually missed 2 field goals

PAT

PAT-ATTEMPTS.................. 35-41 85% <-- missed 6 PATS (4 Blocked) missed 2 PAT attempts by the kicker

I went to games too and don't remember our offense driving down to the 30 yd line with 10 seconds left, where our kicker is consistent at making by the way(6-6), and him missing it to lose a game. I pulled all of the stats in previous posts and not one that had us missing a field goal to lose in a final drive. Now lets talk PATs, he was 35-41 85%, and more than half of those 6 miss attempts were blocked!!! So that kicker isn't the weak point to this team. I think North Texas fans like to jump on the college experience bandwagon, yet the offense ran by previous HS coaches have improved a great deal and a successfull JC coach runs the special teams which has been 10 times better than the previous 2 seasons.

My point is that Deloach and his defense gets excused due to his GREAT experience in college...I don't see that experience anywhere when his defense comes to play...

I do like the way you've quantified the kicking issue; I've gotten kind of tired of people like eulesseagle saying so many of our problems were on this one guy...now if he said so much of it was on the kicking game, including the guys who coached(?) it, I might go along with that.

Green Crazy · February 1, 2010

Kicker's stats:

Field Goals

FIELD GOALS FGM-FGA Pct 01-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-99 Lg Blk
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Knott, Jeremy 10-15 66.7 2-2 4-4 3-6 1-3 0-0 41 3 <--- so he actually missed 2 field goals

PAT

PAT-ATTEMPTS.................. 35-41 85% <-- missed 6 PATS (4 Blocked) missed 2 PAT attempts by the kicker

I went to games too and don't remember our offense driving down to the 30 yd line with 10 seconds left, where our kicker is consistent at making by the way(6-6), and him missing it to lose a game. I pulled all of the stats in previous posts and not one that had us missing a field goal to lose in a final drive. Now lets talk PATs, he was 35-41 85%, and more than half of those 6 miss attempts were blocked!!! So that kicker isn't the weak point to this team. I think North Texas fans like to jump on the college experience bandwagon, yet the offense ran by previous HS coaches have improved a great deal and a successfull JC coach runs the special teams which has been 10 times better than the previous 2 seasons.

My point is that Deloach and his defense gets excused due to his GREAT experience in college...I don't see that experience anywhere when his defense comes to play...

for the most part you are correct with your analysis, but you lose some credibility with this post. i hate saying anything bad about players for us, but knott wasn't good and missing the two extra points that weren't blocked is proof of that(that's not easy to do). also, at least half of the blocks (xp and fg)were because he routinely kicked the ball low (like about a foot and a half above the lines head) making it easy to block. i'm also assuming you meant driving the ball to inside the 10, not 30 yardline with 10 seconds left, because his long was 41 yards which means the ball was on the 24. i trust your stats, but i can't find any other attempts of 40 or more besides the 41 yarder he made, the 2nd longest attempt he made was a 36 yarder. i think it's safe to say that dodge didn't have alot of faith in him either.

NTFB4LIFE · February 1, 2010

for the most part you are correct with your analysis, but you lose some credibility with this post. i hate saying anything bad about players for us, but knott wasn't good and missing the two extra points that weren't blocked is proof of that(that's not easy to do). also, at least half of the blocks (xp and fg)were because he routinely kicked the ball low (like about a foot and a half above the lines head) making it easy to block. i'm also assuming you meant driving the ball to inside the 10, not 30 yardline with 10 seconds left, because his long was 41 yards which means the ball was on the 24. i trust your stats, but i can't find any other attempts of 40 or more besides the 41 yarder he made, the 2nd longest attempt he made was a 36 yarder. i think it's safe to say that dodge didn't have alot of faith in him either.

No I definitely meant 30 yardline: I said 6 for 6 between 01 - 29 yardline!!!

These are yardlines

FIELD GOALS FGM-FGA Pct 01-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-99 Lg Blk

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Knott, Jeremy 10-15 66.7 2-2 4-4 3-6 1-3 0-0 41 3

Edited February 1, 2010 by NTFB4LIFE

NT03 · February 1, 2010

No I definitely meant 30 yardline: I said 6 for 6 between 01 - 29 yardline!!!

These are yardlines

FIELD GOALS FGM-FGA Pct 01-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-99 Lg Blk
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Knott, Jeremy 10-15 66.7 2-2 4-4 3-6 1-3 0-0 41 3

Are you new to football ? If so that's ok , welcome aboard

If those are yardlines then that means Knott had a 57yd + FG made. That's Knott the case

Those are the length of the field goals made, not yardline that we got to. A standard FG atttempt is 17 yards back from the spot of the yardline. Getting to the 30 yard line would mean a 47 yd FG attempt

Edited February 1, 2010 by NT03

eulessismore · February 1, 2010

No I definitely meant 30 yardline: I said 6 for 6 between 01 - 29 yardline!!!

These are yardlines

FIELD GOALS FGM-FGA Pct 01-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-99 Lg Blk
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Knott, Jeremy 10-15 66.7 2-2 4-4 3-6 1-3 0-0 41 3

I still say it's a fair assessment that there's plenty of blame to go around for the shortcomings in our kicking game. One attempt I can remember hoping we would make at the time was right before halftime of the Ohio game. I think we were somewhere within the 5 when Dodge decided to go for it on 4th down, and we didn't convert. Knott had made a field goal from further back earlier in the game, so I couldn't see a reason to have no confidence in him to make that chip shot, rather just thinking we could get a line surge that didn't happen.

I think that winning that game could have been a real confidence builder for UNT. Of course, we turned out going into overtime and losing by a point; the difference being the 2 point conversion for Ohio in the second OT, I believe. I see that one game turning on Dodge's decision making, and wonder if there was some psychological "hangover", both for Knotts and for the rest of the team (especially since nobody expected us to win in the next two games against Alabama and Troy).

Green P1 · February 1, 2010

Are you new to football ? If so that's ok , welcome aboard

Those are the length of the field goals made, not yardline that we got to. A standard FG atttempt is 17 yards back from the spot of the yardline. Getting to the 30 yard line would mean a 47 yd FG attempt

With baked potatoes.

emmitt01 · February 1, 2010

If we're gonna lay this at the feet of this defense let's keep something in mind. The number one thing you want your defense to do is tackle. Deloach wasn't allowed to teach this in any meaningful way. Why? Because, according to someone who watched practice regularly, hitting (and especially hitting junior) wasn't allowed. That's right, a defense that was expected yo makeup for turnovers and bad field position had to practice live hitting...in the game. How many less yards would have been given up with sure tackling?

Not to invoke the memory of the Dickey monster but does anyone remember the way he ran practice? Long marathon affairs with things like "blood alley". You often hear people say "I wish someone on this defense had some meanness". That stuff's not accidental.

Many of you like to chalk my critiques of Dodge up to personal vendetta or hating him and his son. What do I gain by that? What would be my reason? I could pump sunshine up your asses like some but results speak louder than rhetoric. I want badly to be "proven wrong" but all I see is a coach who started out in over his head and who has sloooowly rectified his shortcomings by bringing in people year by year who DO know what they're doing. If you named me chief of surgery at parkland and every patient I cut open died I would be a crappy surgeon. If I went out and hired competent cardiologists, neurosurgeons and general surgeons and patients started living I wouldn't miraculously become a worthy chief of surgery...I'd be a caretaker and caretakers are a dime a dozen.

sports1 · February 1, 2010

If we're gonna lay this at the feet of this defense let's keep something in mind. The number one thing you want your defense to do is tackle. Deloach wasn't allowed to teach this in any meaningful way. Why? Because, according to someone who watched practice regularly, hitting (and especially hitting junior) wasn't allowed. That's right, a defense that was expected yo makeup for turnovers and bad field position had to practice live hitting...in the game. How many less yards would have been given up with sure tackling?

Not to invoke the memory of the Dickey monster but does anyone remember the way he ran practice? Long marathon affairs with things like "blood alley". You often hear people say "I wish someone on this defense had some meanness". That stuff's not accidental.

Many of you like to chalk my critiques of Dodge up to personal vendetta or hating him and his son. What do I gain by that? What would be my reason? I could pump sunshine up your asses like some but results speak louder than rhetoric. I want badly to be "proven wrong" but all I see is a coach who started out in over his head and who has sloooowly rectified his shortcomings by bringing in people year by year who DO know what they're doing. If you named me chief of surgery at parkland and every patient I cut open died I would be a crappy surgeon. If I went out and hired competent cardiologists, neurosurgeons and general surgeons and patients started living I wouldn't miraculously become a worthy chief of surgery...I'd be a caretaker and caretakers are a dime a dozen.

Did he have enough quality depth to live in practice? Because if you don't have quality depth and someone gets hurt then you're in trouble. That is why some coaches don't go live. Just asking.

Edited February 1, 2010 by sports1

NTFB4LIFE · February 1, 2010

Are you new to football ? If so that's ok , welcome aboard

If those are yardlines then that means Knott had a 57yd + FG made. That's Knott the case

Those are the length of the field goals made, not yardline that we got to. A standard FG atttempt is 17 yards back from the spot of the yardline. Getting to the 30 yard line would mean a 47 yd FG attempt

That's fine, I miss read the stats thinking the yardage was included but Knott still missed two field goals and two PATs.The rest were blocked low kicks or not. NT03, thanks for correcting me on that because I want only facts not the Mean Green Nation bandwagon point of view.

NTFB4LIFE · February 1, 2010

Just because we line someone up outside of the tackle with his hand on the ground doesn't make him Jason Witten or Dallas Clark. Tightends for the past thee years have been there to block so give that arguement a rest. We could line Cole or Outlaw up tight but wouldn't make them tight ends either. Deloach HAD to run zone 99% of the past two seasons because we simply didn't have the speed to play man. The more talent we get, the more man we will play. Why do you think we are signing so many db's and linebackers that have experience in JUCO.

BTW: Dodge piled up those offensive numbers against an SBC schedule. Canales against a BCS schedule. Same letters, big difference.

Yeah just because he puts his hand down doesn't make them Jason Witten or Dallas Clark. If we had players that were good as these two guys then they would not be at North Texas.

UNT90 · February 1, 2010

The past is the past. What I worry about for next season is no JUCO recruits at DT. When we were good, we were good on the d-line. I just don't see us being very good on defense next year. As usual, hope I'm wrong, but what has been done to bring immediate improvement to the D-line???

NT03 · February 1, 2010

The past is the past. What I worry about for next season is no JUCO recruits at DT. When we were good, we were good on the d-line. I just don't see us being very good on defense next year. As usual, hope I'm wrong, but what has been done to bring immediate improvement to the D-line???

I'm holding out hope that TD has been secretly holding onto a stud DT or DE that he will announce on Wednesday. If not my hopes are dashed. We only had 1 decent pass rusher last year in Gilmore and he's gone

FirefightnRick · February 1, 2010

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FACT: Coach Dodge hired Coach Deloach, not RV. And I'm still damn happy he did. Watching the man coach on our defensive sidelines for over a decade now has proven to me he knows what he's doing. If given the tools he needs, he will find the answer to putting the Mean back into the Mean Green!

Rick

HoustonEagle · February 1, 2010

Turnovers turnovers turnovers. Cut them in half and the wins will come.

greenblooded43 · February 1, 2010

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FACT: Coach Dodge hired Coach Deloach, not RV. And I'm still damn happy he did. Watching the man coach on our defensive sidelines for over a decade now has proven to me he knows what he's doing. If given the tools he needs, he will find the answer to putting the Mean back into the Mean Green!

Rick

WoW!!!!!!!

When will we know, we have talent. I guess when the great DC lets us know.

His job is to put players in positions to make plays. TCU was much more athletic than Boise State but, Boise State was more discipline. Who won that Bowl game. Their DC didn't go, well, they have better players. He put his players in position to make plays.

LoveMG · February 1, 2010

i do not care who coaches or who plays defense as long as it gets fixed this season. otherwise start over, who cares.

GrandGreen · February 1, 2010

Am I the only one who thinks this blame it on the offense, defense, or special teams is pointless? NT was bad in all areas. An above average offense until you consider turnovers and inability to score in the red zone. A defense who often was good early but usually failed when the game was on the line. Special teams that were improved primarily in the return games but punting and field goal attempts were dreadful plus an unreliable kick off return defense.

As far as Deloach, who knows; was he successful here before because he had superior Belt players or did he recruit and develop those players? I will give him the benefit of the doubt, but another bad defensive year will tell a different story. Comparing Medoza with Deloach is IMO beyond stupid. There is no way that Medoza should have ever been hired for that position.

Dodge goes into his fourth year with undoubtedly the best coaching staff and player talent he has had at NT. I hope he puts it to good use.

oldschoollefty · February 1, 2010

Welcome to the board. Solid post. I particular agree with you that until we get better in the front four DeLoach needs to mix in a blitz now and again.

Then by gawd, give this guy a big ole +1

DallasGreen · February 1, 2010

I still maitain the end of the Ohio game set the tone for the rest of the season. The call on 4th and 16 must rank among the all time worst in UNT history!!!

Got5onIt · February 1, 2010

7 wins or he's gone says RV. That's what everyone should really be concerned about this year. Will RV stick by his ultimatum? All the statistical analysis, blame game, etc. doesn't mean a thing. His staff continues to change but the results never do. An 0-4 start should warrant a quick firing with an interim replacement.......

FirefightnRick · February 1, 2010

WoW!!!!!!!
When will we know, we have talent. I guess when the great DC lets us know.
His job is to put players in positions to make plays. TCU was much more athletic than Boise State but, Boise State was more discipline. Who won that Bowl game. Their DC didn't go, well, they have better players. He put his players in position to make plays.

Thank you for making another point of mine I never even thought of. The last time Deloach DC'ed against the TCU Horned Frogs for the Mean Green, in only his third year as DC, his nationally ranked defense held them at Amon Carter to a total of 178 yards.

FORT WORTH (9/21/02) – TCU broke open a defensive slugfest with North Texas and battled to a hard fought 16-10 win over the Mean Green on Saturday night before 33,281 at Amon G. Carter Stadium.

The game was tied at 3-3 at halftime with both teams’ defenses yielding little in the air or on the ground before the Horned Frogs (3-1) came up with a touchdown pass and two field goals in the second half to hold off North Texas, now 1-3.

North Texas’ defense had another outstanding effort, limiting the Frogs to 178 yards of total offense. The Mean Green allowed 102 of those yards on the ground and held the Frogs to just 76 yards in the air.

But the North Texas offense – with the exception of a touchdown drive in the final minute of the game – also had its own problems moving the ball against TCU most of the night. The Frogs’ defense held the Mean Green to 34 yards rushing and 70 of North Texas’ 219 yards of offense came on NT’s last-minute TD drive.

"I thought our defense played really well tonight," said North Texas head coach Darrell Dickey. "It gave us some opportunities. But offensively, we didn't protect (QB) Andrew Smith very well and we weren't able to convert the chances we had."

The Mean Green’s only touchdown came through the air and from the arm of third-team quarterback Hiram Gonzalez, who took over for starter Andrew Smith on North Texas’ final possession of the game. Gonzalez, a sophomore reserve seeing his first collegiate action, marched the Mean Green 70 yards on three plays and hooked up with junior wide receiver Kevin Howard for a 32-yard scoring play with 0:42 in the game.

Smith, who completed 10 of 30 passes for 120 yards, started his third consecutive game for the Mean Green. George Marshall led North Texas’ passing attack with four catches for 78 yards while Howard and Ja’Mel Branch each had three catches.

TCU snapped the 3-3 halftime tie late in the third quarter. Redshirt freshman backup quarterback Tye Gunn – coming on after starter Sean Stilley got injured early in the second half – hit tight end Cody McCarty on a four-yard touchdown pass with 4:01 left in the period to put TCU up 10-3.

Then in the fourth quarter TCU padded its lead with a pair of Nick Browne field goals from 29 and 22 yards.

It was after Browne’s third and final FG of the game, coming with 1:28 left in the game, that Gonzalez came on to lead North Texas to its only touchdown. The score came on a nice pass to Howard in the middle of the end zone.

A pair of TCU turnovers in the last six minutes of the opening half gave the Mean Green two chances at putting points on the board. But only on the second opportunity, made possible by Chris Hurd’s first career interception at the TCU 27 with 2:32 remaining, was North Texas able to convert the chance into points.

After Hurd hauled in TCU quarterback Sean Stilley’s pass and got it back to the 25-yard line, the Mean Green had to struggle to get into field position for Nick Bazaldua’s 28-yard field that tied the score, 3-3, at halftime.

In fact, it took an 11-yard personal foul penalty on the Frogs after sacking Smith to keep North Texas’ hopes alive. The half-the-distance-to-the-goal penalty moved the ball down to the 11-yard line and after an incomplete pass into the end zone, North Texas settled for the field goal with six seconds remaining before halftime.

The Mean Green also had an opportunity to have some offensive success with 5:22 left in the second period after Stilley fumbled away the ball on an option run and NT linebacker Taylor Casey recovered at the Horned Frogs’ 26-yard line.

North Texas’ offensive possession, however, was stalled with a pair of penalties and the Mean Green eventually was forced to punt after being pushed back to the TCU 45.

The Horned Frogs’ only first-half points came following a North Texas turnover in the first period when Smith fumbled at the Mean Green 16-yard line and TCU’s Brandon Johnson fell on it. Six plays later, Nick Browne kicked a 22-yard field goal to give the Frogs an early 3-0 lead.