Quarterback play

[trussbussdad]

billy, you were there last night? if so, sorry i missed you. yea, C is very excited about the spring and next season. I am anxious to see what Bull does this spring.

[chrisfisher]

I didn't think our defense was terrible, but they defintely need to improve. The defense kept us in games with our low scoring offense. Here are final 2012 ESPN Rankings...I think the numbers speak for themselves:

PASSING YARDS 219.1 (national rank: 74)
RUSHING YARDS 173.1 (national rank: 52)
POINTS FOR 20.9 (national rank: 105)
POINTS AGAINST 27.8 (national rank: 61)

Source: http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/_/id/249/north-texas-mean-green

Our defense was actually a bright spot even with some brutal OOC games. On average, we held opponents to 28 points per game.

[BillySee58]

billy, you were there last night? if so, sorry i missed you. yea, C is very excited about the spring and next season. I am anxious to see what Bull does this spring.

No I wasn't, I've just seen Connor a good amount of times this semester. Yeah I hope he and Bull have a good spring. Both will get a chance.

[BillySee58]

I didn't think our defense was terrible, but they defintely need to improve. The defense kept us in games with our low scoring offense. Here are final 2012 ESPN Rankings...I think the numbers speak for themselves:

PASSING YARDS 219.1 (national rank: 74)

RUSHING YARDS 173.1 (national rank: 52)

POINTS FOR 20.9 (national rank: 105)

POINTS AGAINST 27.8 (national rank: 61)

Source: http://espn.go.com/college-football/team/_/id/249/north-texas-mean-green

Our defense was actually a bright spot even with some brutal OOC games. On average, we held opponents to 28 points per game.

Exactly. No excuse for such a low point production. We only scored more than our average points given up (27.8) once against an FBS opponent and that was the 30 we scored against UL-LA.

[GrayEagle]

Maybe, but Louisiana Tech last year would prove you wrong. La Tech had the #1 offense in the country and the #124 defense (dead last). There were only five that gave up more points than the Bulldogs. Their record...9-3.

It's way too early to tell whether our defense will be improved. On the surface it appears that the backfield will be improved but the linebacking and defensive line could be a little weaker due to the loss of Phillips, Obi, and Cantly.

Maybe we can just outscore our opponents. It has worked before.

[outoftown]

And, I'll say more...

...we have a big problem with depth and talent on the defensive line and everyone around Denton - UNT football coaching staff included - seems to be in a fog about it.

We have 8 (!) DL guys coming out of their redshirt year. I have a hard time believing our depth there will not improve and given that fact can't quite see how you came up with the argument that the coaching staff had no clue where it's DLine would stand.

Also I do think our D as a whole did not regress last year despite loosing pretty much evey DB and am pretty sure it will be even better this year. D in general has gotten much better since coach Mac has come to Denton. I see much more stagnation (at best) on Offense, and frankly outside of the OL -which is already not the problem- few impact players being brought in. We are betting the house on Berglund... that might work out but seems a risky gamble to me. What is worse: we brought in preciously few good WRs in pretty much any of the classes since Mac came in, so even with a good QB we may be seeing less of an improvement than some seem to predict.

Edited February 8, 2013 by outoftown

[Green P1]

I'm always confused when I hear that Dickey hated to pass...and, yet we slobber all over Scott Hall and Johnny Quinn as our best ever QB-WR tandem.

But, people confusing their hindsight with reality is a discussion for another day...

...what we are discussing to today is the absurdity of thinking the success of the 2013 season will be on the QB.

It won't matter if Jesus Christ himself descends to play quarterback for us in 2013 - if we don't have a defensive that can stop the run or defend the pass, we will be having our butts kicked weekly anyway.

People pout and preen on and on about Derek Thompson. Bag on Derek all you want. If the defense doesn't do its job in 2013, this thing ain't getting off the ground no matter what happens on the offensive side of the ball.

Bag on the defense all you want... if the offense had a quarterback that could hit the broadside of a barn to extend drives and avoid constant 3 & outs maybe they wouldn't have been put in quite as many bad situations. It goes both ways.

[H-towngreen]

We brought in 3 wrs in the last class, 2 of which got hurt before the season even started and had to RS. In this class we have 2 wrs plus a transfer. I wouldn't call that ignoring the situation.

[BillySee58]

We have 8 (!) DL guys coming out of their redshirt year. I have a hard time believing our depth there will not improve and given that fact can't quite see how you came up with the argument that the coaching staff had no clue where it's DLine would stand.

Also I do think our D as a whole did not regress last year despite loosing pretty much evey DB and am pretty sure it will be even better this year. D in general has gotten much better since coach Mac has come to Denton. I see much more stagnation (at best) on Offense, and frankly outside of the OL -which is already not the problem- few impact players being brought in. We are betting the house on Berglund... that might work out but seems a risky gamble to me. What is worse: we brought in preciously few good WRs in pretty much any of the classes since Mac came in, so even with a good QB we may be seeing less of an improvement than some seem to predict.

Coach Mac said during the national signing day press conference that we were out of scholarships on defensive line, so we're good numbers wise. In that sense our depth is ok, but we need more quality depth. Guys who can come off the bench who actually are capable and deserve to be on the field.

You're absolutely right though. It all comes down to scoring points and our offense was something like 104th in scoring points and defense was around 65th in points allowed. Defense wasn't exactly lights out but they held their own and gave our offense a chance most games. It also didn't help our defense field position wise when our qb throws 14 interceptions.

As for betting the house on Berglund, I think people are too worried about him not living up to the hype. So what if he doesn't live up to the hype? We're not asking him to have the season that Cam Newton had at Auburn in 2010. We're just asking him to be more productive than Derek Thompson was. As long as Berglund shows steady improvement and utilization of his tools we will be better off than last year.

[untjim1995]

The defense will get help if the offense can move the ball and score. The defense last year just got run into the ground from too much time on the field and a lack of depth. Whether the depth issues have been addressed adequately is subjective, but the offense needs a guy who can throw the ball. Plus, DT would be a great backup if Berglund can play like we hope he can, just in case of an injury. To me, its kind of like the Rangers--their pitching may not be great, but having gold glove players in the infield sure helps you to get outs and stay in games until your offense can score more runs. Our defense, especially the line, may not be anywhere close to what we want it to be, but if we can give them more rest by having the offense control the ball and the clock, they will get better. Probably not better enough to challenge for a conference title right now, but good enough to get to 5 or 6 wins, which would show us all that we are still improving.

[greenminer]

Bag on the defense all you want... if the offense had a quarterback that could hit the broadside of a barn to extend drives and avoid constant 3 & outs maybe they wouldn't have been put in quite as many bad situations. It goes both ways.

yep.

I expect improvements on both sides of the ball.

[JesseMartin]

What seems a bit silly to me is the constant DT debate. It seems like almost everyone thinks he is either terrible or awesome. Overall, he is what we got: a moderate FBS QB, not god-awful overall but also not consistently good. I appreciate his stance on improvement, regardless of how Berglund plays out, as I am always a fan of someone pledging to get better at whatever they are pursuing. For those who hoped he would be our greatest QB ever, I can see how he's been a disappointment. For those who thought things were going to be worse, I can also see how he appeared to be a bright spot when he was "on". But in general, he's an acceptable option, and since everyone likes the grading system so much, really I think we would probably all agree that he's a C-level QB.

If he was FCS or D-II he would probably be going into the postseason, but he's not. He's been an integral part of Mac's development of the team, and if he does improve, then will continue to be just that. He (and the team) may not have made great strides, but I refuse to ignore someone's potential just as much as I refuse to assume that their potential is good enough, regardless of performance. Regardless of how things play out with Berglund, improvement from Thompson can do nothing but help us, and retention of his status quo wouldn't push us further down.

There are too many variables in play to know what this fall can be like yet, so the best thing is to see how new recruits - as well as the current team - develop on both sides of the ball before we can understand the gestalt of the team as a whole.

[UNTnewbie]

What seems a bit silly to me is the constant DT debate. It seems like almost everyone thinks he is either terrible or awesome. Overall, he is what we got: a moderate FBS QB, not god-awful overall but also not consistently good. I appreciate his stance on improvement, regardless of how Berglund plays out, as I am always a fan of someone pledging to get better at whatever they are pursuing. For those who hoped he would be our greatest QB ever, I can see how he's been a disappointment. For those who thought things were going to be worse, I can also see how he appeared to be a bright spot when he was "on". But in general, he's an acceptable option, and since everyone likes the grading system so much, really I think we would probably all agree that he's a C-level QB.

If he was FCS or D-II he would probably be going into the postseason, but he's not. He's been an integral part of Mac's development of the team, and if he does improve, then will continue to be just that. He (and the team) may not have made great strides, but I refuse to ignore someone's potential just as much as I refuse to assume that their potential is good enough, regardless of performance. Regardless of how things play out with Berglund, improvement from Thompson can do nothing but help us, and retention of his status quo wouldn't push us further down.

There are too many variables in play to know what this fall can be like yet, so the best thing is to see how new recruits - as well as the current team - develop on both sides of the ball before we can understand the gestalt of the team as a whole.

I really like what you've said here and agree almost 100% (I think Derek is better than a C grade QB). I think Derek is an above average QB that graded out as a C last year. I'll be a bit disappointed if Derek does not start next year as I beleive he deserves the chance to work with a WR group that will be more experienced route runners and hopefully better at catching balls (really hope Coach Grant helps us out in this area). If a receiver stops short on a route, the ball is overthrown. If the receiver runs a 12 yard pattern when it is supposed to be a 10 yard pattern, the ball is underthrown. When a receiver runs an out instead of a slant, the ball is intercepted. If the QB doesn't have faith that a route will be run correctly and precisely, the ball will be delivered late.

All this being said, IF Brock is the better Dual Threat and IF he clearly wins the job in the spring, I will be on board with that decision because it will make this team harder to defend!

[adman]

I'll say this about our QB situation. If being comfortable and relaxed in front of a camera, coming off as thoroughly confident, intelligent and well spoken is any measure of BB and his on the field capabilities, he will be first ballot HOF by the time he is through at NT.

[BillySee58]

He seems to be a good guy and very committed, but if you guys watch any college football outside of UNT games I can't see how you can think that DT is a moderate FBS quarterback.

Opposing defenses (in the sun belt nonetheless) wouldn't be able to stack 8-9 in the box and run cover 0 all game long against a moderate starting FBS quarterback.

We're definitely going around in circles with this argument, though. Brock has to be better than DT or we will be embarrassed game in and game out with this schedule.

[wardly]

What really hurt us last year was poor play in the red zone. We would try,more unsuccessfully than not, to run the ball more than pass, which might of been lack of confidence in our qb.

[outoftown]

As for betting the house on Berglund, I think people are too worried about him not living up to the hype. So what if he doesn't live up to the hype? We're not asking him to have the season that Cam Newton had at Auburn in 2010. We're just asking him to be more productive than Derek Thompson was. As long as Berglund shows steady improvement and utilization of his tools we will be better off than last year.

I appreciate what you say and there is a point to that... at the same time the risk does not only come from his quality of play. It is not a coincidence that last year we finally had a QB upright for 12 games, improved OL play sure helped there. That said BB is supposed to run the ball more himself, which inproves chances of him getting hurt a bit again. In general I think if we stay healthy we have every chance at a good season (5-8 wins). But I also think we are between 1 and 3 injuries away from the season imploding. Take out BB/DT and Chancellor, and then whoever is the one player we don't know yet that does step up on WR and we are done.

Edited February 9, 2013 by outoftown