Is football a team sport?

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

I'd say yes.

Threw INTs more often than Thompson

Matt Barkley, USC: 15 in 387 = 1 every 25.8 / Trojans 7-6, lost Sun Bowl

Munchie Legaux, Cincinnati: 9 in 230 = 1 every 25.56 / Bearcats 10-3, won Belk Bowl

Gary Nova, Rutgers: 16 in 388 = 1 every 24.25 / Scarlet Knights 9-4, lost Russell Athletic Bowl

Sean Mannion, Oregon St.: 13 in 309 = 1 every 23.77 / Beavers 9-4, lost Alamo Bowl

Riley Nelson, BYU: 13 in 308 = 1 every 23.69 / Cougars 8-5, won Poinsettia Bowl

Steele Jantz, Iowa St.: 12 in 269 = 1 every 22.42 / Cyclones 6-7, lost Liberty Bowl

Bo Wallace, Ole Miss: 17 in 368 = 1 every 21.65 / Rebels 7-6, won BBVA Compass Bowl

Derek Thompson, UNT: 14 interceptions in 369 attempts = 1 interception thrown for every 26.35 pass attempts

Threw INTs less often than Thompson

Jake Medlock, FIU 2 in 263 = 1 every 131.5 / Golden Panthers 3-9

Jacob Karam, Memphis: 3 in 274 = 1 every 91.33 / Tigers 4-8

Graham Wilbert, FAU: 6 in 405 = 1 every 67.5 / Owls 3-9

Shaun Rutherford, Texas St.: 5 in 299 = 1 every 59.8 / Bobcats 4-8

Tanner Price, Wake Forest: 7 in 410 = 1 every 58.57 / Demon Deacons 5-7

Brett Smith, Wyoming: 6 in 330 = 1 every 55 / Cowboys 4-8

Rakeem Cato, Marshall: 11 in 584 = 1 every 53.10 / Thundering Herd 5-7

Phillip Sims, Virginia: 4 in 203 = 1 every 50.75 / Cavaliers 4-8

James Vandenberg, Iowa: 8 in 389 = 1 every 48.63 / Hawkeyes 4-8

Corey Robinson, Troy: 9 in 389 = 1 every 43.22 / Trojans 5-7

Zac Dysert. Miami (OH): 12 in 480 = 1 every 40 / RedHawks 4-8

Tyler Bray, Tennessee: 12 in 451 = 1 every 37.58 / Volunteers 5-7

Cameron Coffman, Indiana: 11 in 407 = 1 every 37 / Hoosiers 4-8

Chase Rettig, Boston College: 13 in 467 = 1 every 35.92 / Eagles 2-10

Ryan Griffin, Tulane: 11 in 394 = 1 every 35.82 / Green Wave 2-10

Andrew Manley, New Mexico St = 11 in 384 = 1 every 34.91 / Aggies 1-11

Mike Wegzyn, U Mass = 10 in 346 = 1 every 34.6 / Minutemen 1-11

Travis Wilson, Utah = 6 in 204 = 1 every 34 / Utes 5-7

James Franklin, Missouri: 7 in 234 = 1 every 33.43 / Tigers 5-7

Jordan Webb, Colorado = 8 in 265 = 1 every 33.13 / Buffaloes 1-11

Dalton Williams, Akron = 16 in 522 = 1 every 32.63 / Zips 1-11

Tyler Wilson, Arkansas = 13 in 401 = 1 every 30.85 / Razorbacks 4-8

Nathan Scheelhasse, Illinois: 8 in 246 = 1 every 30.75 / Fighting Illini 2-10

And, so, because football is a team sport, it's important to recognize that UNT wins and loses as a team. Quarterback is not even close to our biggest concern.

Schools who had quarterbacks that threw more interceptions per attempts still made bowl. Many whose quarterbacks threw fewer didn't qualify for bowls.

A football team is comprised of three components - the offense, the defense, and the special teams. We could have a quarterback throw 400+ passes and less than 10 INTs and still have a losing record. We could have a quarterback average almost two a game and still go to a bowl game.

Derek, Derek, he's our man, if he can't do it, maybe the special teams and defense can. But, hopefully, all three units will have great years.

Edited April 19, 2013 by The Fake Lonnie Finch

[MDH]

The whole premise of your argument is incorrect. DT's ineffectiveness does not stem from his turnover frequency. Did you see how many passes he threw that didn't even have a prayer of being intercepted? DT generally doesn't throw it for the sake of throwing it and the patterns chosen are more conservative.

I'd love to hear your opinion and see an analysis of Tony Romo.

[GrayEagle]

Let me throw a couple of stats at you.

There were 19 teams other than North Texas that had the same or fewer touchdowns vs. interceptions last year. The combined record of those teams was 26-119, or .218. Connecticut was the only 5 win team and they did that with the 19th best scoring defense. North Texas and Iowa won four games and 17 won three or less.

Another factor was our inability to score. It's not all the quarterback's fault but since he touches the ball almost every offensive play he is usually the catalyst for success. There were 19 teams other than the Mean Green that scored 31 or fewer touchdowns on the season. Buoyed by one team with a winning record, Michigan State, the record for those teams combined was 47-183. which was a 25.8 winning percentage. Michigan State had the ninth best scoring defense which enabled them to have a 7-6 record.

DT ranked 12th (last) in the Sun Belt Conference among quarterbacks last year. Okay, he was in a virtual tie with Matheny, the South Alabama quarterback. If Thompson has roughly the same statistics as last year, we may struggle to win five games. If that is satisfactory, then he should be our quarterback. Being likeable and loyal are good qualities but they don't win games. I don't want the job handed to anyone but unless he actually wins the job again I'd hope that we'd try some new blood at the start.

[BillySee58]

Much like everyone else has said, there is much more to success as a qb besides interception rates. Manipulate the stats anyway you want, teams don't respect DT as a qb and our offense was no good.

Also, as someone who grew up in Tennessee and a long time Vol fan, Tennessee lost games this year by scores of 44-51, 35-38, and 48-51. You can't blame those losses on Tyler Bray and that offense.

Tennessee's record you could legitimately blame on the defense, since their offense scored enough points to win a football game. Look at our scores, and in no loss do you look at our point total and say "wow, we should win a game if we score that much."

The most we scored was 34 against TSU and 30 against LaLa was the most we had against an FBS team. Heaven forbid we can actually hang with a team in a shoot out. With DT as our qb, if a team scores 30 points that game is over.

[meanrob]

I know we need more than just better play from the QB position to get better but.....

I'm stunned that anyone could watch Thompson last year and think we're ok at quarterback. He had two good games, a few okay games and the rest bad to horrible games. He had horrible games against TSU and South Alabama. Three of his worst games were at home. We won two of those because the competition was so bad.

I don't get it.

[greenminer]

How about effectiveness or efficiency of QBs between the 20s vs. the same QBs in the red zone.

Our offense, including DT, seemed to a be Jeckle/Hyde depending on whether it cracked the red zone.

[Green P1]

DT's ineffectiveness does not stem from his turnover frequency. Did you see how many passes he threw that didn't even have a prayer of being intercepted?

Thread ended.