Q&A with Sean Isabella of the Monroe News Star

[Harry]

Sean Isabella of the Monroe News Star is our special guest on the blog this week to talk about UNT’s game against Louisiana Tech. Isabella covers Tech for the News Star. You can find his work on the paper’s website that includes a Louisiana Tech section.

Here is what Isabella had to say about Saturday’s game.

1. What happened to Scotty Young? He’s a former Denton Ryan standout that a lot of people in Denton were looking forward to seeing play this year.

Simply lost his job. Young started the first two games of the season then injured his ribs against Tulane. Redshirt freshman Ryan Higgins finished the game with mixed results, but played well against Kansas, then followed that up with another solid outing against Army and has kept the job. Young hasn’t seen the field since, except for Tech’s last game against UTEP when Higgins injured his ankle and couldn’t finish the game. The ankle isn’t a concern and Young will be relegated back to backup duties.

2. Tech has gotten off to a bit of a slow start. What has been the issue?

No issues, per say. A slow start was expected, but probably not to this extent. Tech lost 32 seniors last year, including its quarterback and two wide receivers, both of whom are on NFL rosters. The offense was among the best in the country in 2012, so it was somewhat unrealistic to expect the same. Having said that, Tech could easily be 4-2. Turnovers cost the Bulldogs in losses to Tulane and Kansas — the only games they were outplayed in were North Carolina State and Army.

Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/10/qa-with-sean-isabella-of-the-monroe-news-star.html/

[FirefightnRick]

Tech lost 32 seniors last year, including its quarterback and two wide receivers

We will be in a similar situation next year.

Rick

[BillySee58]

They lost 32 last year and have 26 this year, not sure how many are scholarship, but we're only losing 18 scholarship seniors. Anything under 20 is a low number of seniors graduating.

Problem is we're losing studs like Orr and Chancellor, as well as four d-lineman where we have the least depth. Plenty of teams in the country, our conference, and our division will lose more than us.

[VideoEagle]

When I read the comment about wondering which team would show up, I wasn't sure if she was talking about Tech or us.

[Harry]

Seems pretty confident that Tech can win. Hmmm. That concerns me and of course the fact we don't play well on the road. Maybe time for another "I'm worried about X" post? Hmmm.

[BillySee58]

Seems pretty confident that Tech can win. Hmmm. That concerns me and of course the fact we don't play well on the road. Maybe time for another "I'm worried about X" post? Hmmm.

Bad ju ju

[FirefightnRick]

...but we're only losing 18 scholarship seniors. Anything under 20 is a low number of seniors graduating.

Problem is we're losing studs like Orr and Chancellor, as well as four d-lineman where we have the least depth. Plenty of teams in the country, our conference, and our division will lose more than us.

We are losing 12 to 14 starters. But more than that, we lose ALL of our on-field leadership. ALL of it.

I can't emphasize how desperately I want to see a blowout early in one of these games and see a cluster of next year's team get some significant playing time.

Rick

[UNT90]

Seems pretty confident that Tech can win. Hmmm. That concerns me and of course the fact we don't play well on the road. Maybe time for another "I'm worried about X" post? Hmmm.

Chill. That's just someone who only knows UNT by our reputation, which is terrible right now.

Not to mention, I'm getting the distinct impression that many (not all) of those associate with the Tech program think they can simply beat us because we are UNT. That's fine. Let's hope the La. Tech football team feels the same way.

[glick1980]

Chill. That's just someone who only knows UNT by our reputation, which is terrible right now.

Not to mention, I'm getting the distinct impression that many (not all) of those associate with the Tech program think they can simply beat us because we are UNT. That's fine. Let's hope the La. Tech football team feels the same way.

Spot on post. It will take more than a .500 record for us not to be considered horrible.