Thoughts on Derek Thompson back on top

[wardly]

Very simple-- DT gives us the best opportunity to win. That's all any coach will tell you he can do! For all the ducks, etc. that many of you choose to thrive on , remember that someone has to be under center against UGA. Can you see Berglund, McNulty ,or even Williams in that environment? DT having played against LSU and KSU will not be fazed, and he will have receivers who can run their routes unlike after Brelan went down at MTSU. I have been saying since spring the team believes in him and the coaches believe in him. Get over it he is our QB, he won the competition. I'm sure he'll have a short leash, but I've seen a true frosh QB start at NT in Kenny Washington of Port Authur Lincoln under Coach Fry. It was not pretty no offense at all and we lost to pre death penalty SMU 7-6. Idaho is not Notre Dame, we will be fine with DT. Personally I do not fear the MAC like so many on this board. Stolich may be a better coach, but he beat a Monroe team that was very rusty after they foolishly sent their players home at winter break. I also recall Ball State was defeated in their bowl game. If the team and QB I saw at KSU shows up we will be just fine for the season. DT has done it before and gives us THE BEST OPPORTUNITY TO WIN until someone proves otherwise.

plus 1

[Green Dozer]

Well, it seems only one guy here has seen things. That makes his opinion carry a pretty heavy weight.

I wouldn't be so sure of that. If somebody had a different perspective, it would do no good for them to write about it because his opinion fits with what the majority here wants to hear. Not that it's a problem, that's what makes sports fun.

Edited August 18, 2013 by Green Dozer

[MeanGreenGlory]

[emmitt01]

I wouldn't be so sure of that. If somebody had a different perspective, it would do no good for them to write about it because his opinion fits with what the majority here wants to hear. Not that it's a problem, that's what makes sports fun.

I have a name fir someone who stands out in scrimmages and practices...scout team quarterback. Until DT proves he can lead this team in GAMES I'm not seeing more than the four gimme wins.

And save the "he was great against K-State" garbage. He threw short dinks and dunks against a team that was in sleep walk mode. Even if he had truly been brilliant his play against Sun Belt foes screams "inconsistent" and "uninspiring". That he is the starter is not a testament to any great leadership that he has shown in games, it's a testament to the turtle-like mentality of this staff...hide your head at the first sign of danger and slow and steady.

4-8

[Green Dozer]

I have a name fir someone who stands out in scrimmages and practices...scout team quarterback. Until DT proves he can lead this team in GAMES I'm not seeing more than the four gimme wins.

And save the "he was great against K-State" garbage. He threw short dinks and dunks against a team that was in sleep walk mode. Even if he had truly been brilliant his play against Sun Belt foes screams "inconsistent" and "uninspiring". That he is the starter is not a testament to any great leadership that he has shown in games, it's a testament to the turtle-like mentality of this staff...hide your head at the first sign of danger and slow and steady.

4-8

How you got all of this out of my post, I have no idea!

[MeanGreen61]

Since a very vocal group here apparently have absolutely no confidence in coach Mac's decisions, who will start the first "fire Mac" thread ?

Edited August 18, 2013 by MeanGreen61

[outoftown]

Since a very vocal group here apparently have absolutely no confidence in coach Mac's decisions, who will start the first "fire Mac" thread ?

I am not for firing Mac but the fact that he gives us pretty much 0 independent information is something that I as a scientist find both heavily suspicious and frustrating. I was tought not to take people at their word (no matter who they are) without steady evidence. Someone saying trust me is not good enough in my world. Under these circumstances someone needs to keep an absolutely clean sheet with the truth and/or good outcomes. so If I read the following and it is about all the independent (since I don't know whithers940, I can't say whether it is really independent) information i got, it makes me very suspicious:

I went to the scrimmage yesterday and was not impressed at all with Derek Thompson's play. He never threw a tight spiral, his arm strength was poor and his accuracy is on par with a high school QB. I don't know what the coach saw but hopefully once he goes over the film he will come up with a true #1. Dajon looked very good with a strong arm, good accuracy and super mobile. He is young and has tons of room to grow and needs to get better at handling the snaps because he fumbled a bunch of snaps during the scrimmage. Brock I thought stood out more than anyone. He has a strong arm and can run the ball so I am definitely drinking the Berglund Koolaid.

If only a fraction of this is true then I got some serious Beef with Mac as a coach, because it means he always knew who it was going to be no matter what happened in practice. If this open competition thing was all coach speak then that is not ok.

That is a problem. If results should not be good at the end of the season i will not be able to believe him if he says it will get better, because he has proven to BS the fans. This whole action has cost him some credit with fans he might be needing at the end of the season.

Edited August 18, 2013 by outoftown

[MeanGreen61]

If only a fraction of this is true then I got some serious Beef with Mac as a coach, because it means he always knew who it was going to be no matter what happened in practice. If this open competition thing was all coach speak then that is not ok.

That is a problem. If results should not be good at the end of the season i will not be able to believe him if he says it will get better, because he has proven to BS the fans. This whole action has cost him some credit with fans he might be needing at the end of the season.

So Withers940 attended a close scrimmage ? Interesting.

Edited August 18, 2013 by MeanGreen61

[UNTLifer]

I truly believe that it is impossible to make a QB more accurate when he is a senior in college.

I disagree. Accuracy is the result of good footwork and mechanics...his coach's job. Good coaching can improve accuracy, arm strength and foot speed are more difficult to develop but aren't terribly important to winning at the college level. Steve Walsh, Danny Wuerfel and a host of other successful college QB's have proven this. I put the accuracy and poor mechanics like throwing ducks and off the back foot squarely on Canales.

I agree with others and believe that DT is starting the year because he is the incumbent and a senior and is being given the opportunity to be successful but will have a short, short leash.

[UNTLifer]

Lived in Denton my whole life and a long time North Texas fan, 2010 Grad but just discovered this website though. I'm glad I did because I love seeing people just like be that live North Texas and bleed green. My dad is also a letterman and his last year was Fry's first year.

So how did you have access to a closed scrimmage?

[outoftown]

I disagree. Accuracy is the result of good footwork and mechanics...his coach's job. Good coaching can improve accuracy, arm strength and foot speed are more difficult to develop but aren't terribly important to winning at the college level. Steve Walsh, Danny Wuerfel and a host of other successful college QB's have proven this. I put the accuracy and poor mechanics like throwing ducks and off the back foot squarely on Canales.

I agree with others and believe that DT is starting the year because he is the incumbent and a senior and is being given the opportunity to be successful but will have a short, short leash.

I hope you are right, but the last seasons don't make me all that optimistic about the short leash part.

I too belive that there is good evidence that QBs can improve in their senior year (and again when they get to the NFL), but I agree that Canales still owes us the proof that he gets a QB to take a real step in his development. Our sample size may be very small, but that is part of the buisness he works in.

Edited August 18, 2013 by outoftown

[UNTLifer]

True, but who was going to step in last year? McNulty was hurt and Osborn looked horrible in his brief stints. We now have an improved McNulty, Berglund and Dajon

Edited August 18, 2013 by UNTLifer

[northtexassigep]

Andrew Power had some great things to say about Brock last night, him and few other former players all believe Brock to be the best but he is a greater risk because he tries to make to much out of a play when he should throw it away or run out of bounds. Sounds like a guy with a winners mentality to me but that's just my 2 cents.

[outoftown]

True, but who was going to step in last year? McNulty was hurt and Osborn looked horrible in his brief stints. We niw have an improved McNulty, Berglund and Dajon

Do we? I hope it is the case, but color me skeptic until there are at least 3 people not on the team or on staff that have seen this with their own eyes

[UNTLifer]

Well, I saw the Spring Game and was shocked at McNulty. I honestly had to ask someone who he was, because he looked much better and much more mature, but he had too many fumbles when caught from behind. Not a strong arm, but accurate and good enough to lead the team.

Berglund is athletically exciting but seemed to try to do too much and lean on that athleticism too much to make something happen. He would be exciting on one play and maddening on the next. Once he harnesses that ability he will be awesome. Hope that happens.

I haven't seen Wiiliams live but he is the first real QB recruit we have had in years.

[BillySee58]

I disagree. Accuracy is the result of good footwork and mechanics...his coach's job. Good coaching can improve accuracy, arm strength and foot speed are more difficult to develop but aren't terribly important to winning at the college level. Steve Walsh, Danny Wuerfel and a host of other successful college QB's have proven this. I put the accuracy and poor mechanics like throwing ducks and off the back foot squarely on Canales.

I agree with others and believe that DT is starting the year because he is the incumbent and a senior and is being given the opportunity to be successful but will have a short, short leash.

Thing is, DT has a long release where he whips the ball down very low. He used to be a pitcher and this happens from time to time with guys who were pitchers growing up. It's the same mechanical flaw that Tim Tebow has.

This causes the ball to come out wobbly and not as right a spiral. This makes accuracy harder to predict. Especially when you're talking about throwing into a tight window.

[UNTLifer]

Thing is, DT has a long release where he whips the ball down very low. He used to be a pitcher and this happens from time to time with guys who were pitchers growing up. It's the same mechanical flaw that Tim Tebow has.

This causes the ball to come out wobbly and not as right a spiral. This makes accuracy harder to predict. Especially when you're talking about throwing into a tight window.

Very true and something Canales should be able to correct.

[Harry]

Thing is, DT has a long release where he whips the ball down very low. He used to be a pitcher and this happens from time to time with guys who were pitchers growing up. It's the same mechanical flaw that Tim Tebow has.

This causes the ball to come out wobbly and not as right a spiral. This makes accuracy harder to predict. Especially when you're talking about throwing into a tight window.

That is the best description of his release I have heard. +1

[greenminer]

I am ready to shift the focus of my reading to happenings along the DL. I feel like that is where our hope now really is.

Sorry DT, please prove me wrong.

[Mean Green 93-98]

Osborn looked horrible in his brief stints.

That's simply not true. Remember Tulsa a couple of years ago? He went 6 for 7 with 2 TDs and no INTs. He and Ivan Delgado were about the only bright spots from that game. When did he ever look "horrible"?

[FirefightnRick]

I wasn't there. Rick must have mistaken me for Jub or something. Practices are closed. The AD is the only one allowed to cover practices and scrimmages. It's been that way for awhile. I do think players parents/family are allowed to attend certain practices.

It's frustrating but it is what it is.

Sorry about that, misunderstood. I was told yesterday though by someone who was there that there were more people at the scrimmage than there were at the kickoff event.

Rick

[Green P1]

Very true and something Canales should be able to correct.

So Canales has to lead DT to the water AND make him drink it?

[UNT90]

8 days of contact is an extremely long time?

And where do the ideas come from that the coaches don't want Derrick or don't trust him? In three years now the coaches have brought in three or four other QB's to push DT and havent been able to find one who can unseat him yet. So,..if the coaches don't trust DT by now what does it say about the coaches abilities to evaluate talent?

Rick

This This This This.

[Withers940]

So how did you have access to a closed scrimmage?

It was open to letterman and my father is a letterman so I went

[DentonAmerica]

I also attended the same scrimmage Withers did and the "mock game" Here are my observations. Derek Thompson is the same guy he has been the past 2 yrs. He has not gotten any better from what I can tell. He still has the same issues he has had since he walked on campus. His accuracy is terrible and I dont think he threw a spiral the entire time. His footwork in the pocket was still sloppy with lots of back foot throws. He still had problems making reads that were not already predetermined and he still stares down his recievers like he has in the past. DT struggled in both the scrimmage and mock game to complete a pass. The mock game was against scouts who are mainly freshman and walkons. Judging by his performances he should not be the starter IMO. McNulty looks about like he did in the spring. He isnt very gifted as a quarterback especially in the arm strength and accuracy department. He is just average from what i saw and is nothing really special but is an ok backup qb. Brock Berglund played the best of all the qbs and really stood out. He has a quick release and a very strong arm with a tight spiral. He made most of his plays outside the pocket and you can tell that is where he is comfortable. His style of play is much different from anyone else we have in the fact that he is an improvisor which has its pluses and minuses but from what i saw it was more good than bad. He is definatly the fastest of the qbs and the most explosive in the run game. If this offense was molded around his strengths our chances at a bowl game would be much greater. Dajon Williams has lots of natural talent and is a smooth athlete. He has a whipping type throwing motion but the ball seems to come out with some velocity and accuracy. He is definatly not ready from what i could tell to play in a real game but in a few years in the weightroom and on the practice field he could turn out to be a very solid player. These are the official stats from the second scrimmage....

Derek Thompson- 7-18 57yds 39% 0td 0int

Andrew McNulty- 7-14 41yds 50% 0td 0int

Brock Berglund- 7-8 124yds 88% 1td 0int

Dajon Williams- 7-15 52yds 47% 1td 1int