Where we go from here with DW at QB

[untjim1995]

I was out of town for the La Tech debacle (thankfully). It sounds like Coach mac realized that Dajon is his only chance at having something develop at QB for this season. At least Greer was given the chance against three teams to prove he couldn't handle the gig--maybe he can be adecent backup QB going forward.

I am hopeful that the reason we got ass-pounded by La Tech was because we played such an emotional game just 5 days earlier against the fanbase's rival du jour, SMU, and just had a huge letdown. You cannot be losign to someone at home 42-7 and blame it solely on the QB, so I have to believe that the team just celebrated that big win a lot and wasn't mentally prepared for a much better opponent in just 5 days. It probably didn't help that La Tech was crushed by us in Ruston last year, either. But I do think that DW will help this offense get better, but I don't know if its enough to get us above .500. I do think we will win 1-2 more games with DW than Greer or McNulty would get us, though. This is what I see going forward:

Nicholls State--Win

@ Indiana--Loss

@ UAB--Loss

Southern Miss--Win

@ Rice--Huge Loss

Florida Atlantic--Win

@ UTEP--Win

Florida Int'l--Win

@ UTSA--Huge Loss

I think we go 6-6, with our wins being over 5 of the absolute worst FBS programs in the country and a horrible FCS school. I don't know if we will get bowl berth, either, at 6-6. As I can see the conference filling up their five bids with other schools ahead of us, but I could see us somehow getting a bid to a bowl that no travelling fan will be able to attend (like Hawaii or The Bahamas).

[pastorgrant]

I think you're underestimating either the importance of the QB position or just how bad off we were there.

[forevereagle]

I watched Indiana play Bowling Green this weekend. Indiana is not a great team. If DW can be an average passer, that is a game we can win. Not completely disagreeing with your prediction, but they are not good and we could pull a win there.

[MeanGreenTexan]

LA Tech played their biggest rival 5 days prior as well... and, they had to travel to Denton too. Their emotional high was probably just as high.

Hopefully as we're preparing for a conf championship game &/or a bowl game in early December, we're all saying, "LA Tech was just lucky they got us before DW came on..."

[Aldo]

Our special teams continues to do well covering, it's the punt return team that has been lacking (maybe I was spoiled on Brelan). Our run D is still solid, allowing Dixon only 75 yds.

I have seen our receivers open many a time, but when it's close to the line of scrimmage, they aren't strong/physical enough. That's another reason why Greer was holding on so long (when 1 or 2 receivers weren't wide open).

Our receivers need to get stronger, or better at beating off DB's or LB's within 5 yards of the LOS.

This is my first season on these boards, do we never have any receiver controversy talk?

Edited September 15, 2014 by Aldo

[10Eagle10]

UTEP might be better than Indiana if they were to play on a neutral field. The only difference is match-ups. Indiana's strength appears to be the passing game, while UTEP might have one of the best ground attacks in the conference. UTEP provided the blue print for Arkansas's ground domination vs. tech

As I typed this, I have to agree with you that if we win one and lose the other, it's probably Indiana - L and UTEP - W, based on our strengths. Perhaps this is a "nothing to see here, carry on" post.

I think we can win both games, though. There are three clear cut tiers for our remaining schedule:

1) W's: Nicholls State, Southern Miss, Florida Atlantic, FIU - the four weakest teams left on our schedule and all four at home

2) toss-ups : Indiana, UTEP, UAB - as a B1G team they'll have better depth than everyone on our schedule but Texas and throw the ball well; UTEP is much improved, have a very solid ground game (don't they remind you of us 2013 a little bit?), and always tougher to beat in the Sun Bowl; UAB is also much improved and roughly in the same group as these other two. UAB lacks the depth of UTEP and Indiana, though and will have no home field advantage in that cavernous stadium of theirs. We really need to win one of these three games and not lose any of those first four.

3) TD+ underdogs: Rice and UTSA - two blossoming "rivalry" games on the road. We'll probably open up as +7 or more when these games roll around (which means we're a TD or more underdog for those who are unfamiliar with betting lingo). Luckily there are no 100% guarantee losses on the schedule, although there are a few I'm not going to be holding my breath for.

[Mean Green 93-98]

FAU might end up a win, but that's no gimme. They absolutely curbstomped a Tulsa team that had just beaten a decent Tulane team. They are far, far better than USM or FIU.

[SouthBendGreen]

FIU actually led Pitt at the half. I only watched about one quarter but they have a true frosh QB that isn't all bad and will get better if they stay with him. Obviously we should still win that game, but outside of Nicholls St how can we say anything is a lock?

Seriously. We all reasonably think DW will improve the offense but we don't truly know. I am betting he will, but it's a different ballgame playing LA Tech's 3rd team guys as opposed to the 1's of the other schools.

Again, going with DW is the right call and the offense should be better, but to try and predict what our record will be the balance of the year is as useless as those that pontificate as to what injury a guy might have by just seeing a replay.

[MeanGreenTexan]

FAU might end up a win, but that's no gimme. They absolutely curbstomped a Tulsa team that had just beaten a decent Tulane team. They are far, far better than USM or FIU.

Depending on what DW does, I still count FAU as a win, just because it's at Apogee.

FIU looked great VS PITT at home, but they're coming to Apogee too.

[MeanGreenD]

In this thread and others, I've read "we don't know what we have with Dajon"

As one of the few people still hanging around Apogee Thursday night, UNT had the ball right by my seats. Dajon threw a pass that was unlike anything I had seen all year. A sharp, tight spiral delivered right on target as he was rolling out of the pocket. In that moment I saw the future, and it was glorious.

I think our offense will be drastically different moving forward (fun-to-watch vs. agonizing-to-watch) and we will have a chance to win every game moving forward.

Honestly, I think we can go on a win streak from here. Mark my words, we will be having deja vu of last year in late October when we take on Rice for an opportunity to #Hit6 and get back in the CUSA West race.

[JesseMartin]

If Dajon is as good as we're hoping, I can see us still going better than 6. We've really only lost one game that we should have won, and that's La Tech, so I expect a decent shot against UAB and we may possibly knock off one or more of Rice, Indiana, or UTSA. Let's see how he plays first, but I'm still thinking we make it to 7 or 8 wins. I still expect us to finish 2nd or 3rd in the West, but if our opponents lose the right games, who knows what could happen?

[golfingomez]

Our special teams continues to do well covering, it's the punt return team that has been lacking (maybe I was spoiled on Brelan).

there's no maybe about it... Brelan is the best return man I have ever seen at UNT and in most other places as well

[EagleGreen]

I think DW playing is a game changer...and we don't know the results. He may freak out and he may not. Let's see but we now have hope...we didn't before.

[HoustonEagle]

The bar has been laid on the ground. All DW has to do is step over it, and we have our QB. I am more concerned if he can stay healthy with his frame. As we know now, if he gets injured, our QB play wont give us much of a chance to win.

P.S. I know that the players read this board on a regular basis. Every time I write a critical post I just took another anonymous jab at someone that is most likely a salt of the earth individual. It comes with their job. I know. With that said I am going to lay off beating that horse and hold out hope for the future.

[Mean_Green09]

If Dajon is as good as we're hoping, I can see us still going better than 6. We've really only lost one game that we should have won, and that's La Tech, so I expect a decent shot against UAB and we may possibly knock off one or more of Rice, Indiana, or UTSA. Let's see how he plays first, but I'm still thinking we make it to 7 or 8 wins. I still expect us to finish 2nd or 3rd in the West, but if our opponents lose the right games, who knows what could happen?

I don't expect us to finish 2 or 3rd in the west. We will be battling UTEP for 4th place and a bowl birth. The conference west race is down to La. Tech, Rice, and UTSA.

La Tech is in the drivers seat with Rice and UTSA both traveling to Ruston.

We could play a spoiler roll in late November vs. UTSA

[pastorgrant]

I don't expect us to finish 2 or 3rd in the west. We will be battling UTEP for 4th place and a bowl birth. The conference west race is down to La. Tech, Rice, and UTSA.

La Tech is in the drivers seat with Rice and UTSA both traveling to Ruston.

We could play a spoiler roll in late November vs. UTSA

Way too early to say that. We are not out of the race unless La Tech runs the table.

[Travis]

Way too early to say that. We are not out of the race unless La Tech runs the table.

Agreed. We are looking at a season record the same as we had last year at this time and we saw how it turned out. Extremely early to say either way. We are still in competition for first place. Anyone who gives up this quickly has a bit of a knee jerk reaction.

Edited September 16, 2014 by Travis

[MeanGreenTexan]

Agreed. We are looking at a season record the same as we had last year and we saw how it turned out. Extremely early to say either way. We are still in competition for first place. Anyone who gives up this quickly has a bit of a knee jerk reaction.

I think their game on 10/18 will give us a good idea of what to expect from LATech this year. Beat UTSA, and they'll be the favorites.

[JesseMartin]

Yep. Honestly, based on their OOC play, I'd say UTSA is probably looking like the overall favorite at this point.

[Mean_Green09]

Yep. Honestly, based on their OOC play, I'd say UTSA is probably looking like the overall favorite at this point.

They don't have the QB that La Tech has and they have to go play at Ruston. So La Tech is my favorite right now, they are the most complete team.

I'm not trying to have a knee jerk reaction. The way the schedule sets up, it would be extremely difficult for us to win CUSA W. Especially after losing the most important game of our season. Now we have to take tough road trips to UTSA, Rice and UTEP with a RS FR. Its pretty clear to me that we are 4th in the race.

Games still have to be played and things may change with a new QB, but right now we aren't in the race. We don't really know much about this team yet.

We were 2-1 to start last season. Yes we lost our conf opener, but it was a road game. Tough to rebound from a home loss against division champ contender.

[TIgreen01]

Put me on the LaTech bandwagon, as well. They look hugely improved with Sokol running the offense and Diaz running that defense. Any team that has a QB not making really simple decisions is going to be confused and stymied by the crap that guy calls at times. He also has a better than average secondary (for CUSA) at his disposal, which will enable them to be even more creative. As someone already mentioned, they can press effectively and will limit all the underneath stuff and short slants that UTSA likes to have their WRs run. If you can block them effectively, there are plays to be made down the field, though.

I am still not sold on UTSA, at this point. They looked really good against Houston and did some nice things against Arizona....but I think the early returns on their QB show that he has a ways to go to be as effective as Soza was. They are beatable if we can stay healthy and get DW and the offense playing more efficiently.

[Ben Gooding]

Haha, utsa is going to skull you know what almost every CUSA team they play this year. Not bragging on them bc I dislike them, but just telling it how it is.

[meangreanmick]

I was out of town for the La Tech debacle (thankfully). It sounds like Coach mac realized that Dajon is his only chance at having something develop at QB for this season. At least Greer was given the chance against three teams to prove he couldn't handle the gig--maybe he can be adecent backup QB going forward.

I am hopeful that the reason we got ass-pounded by La Tech was because we played such an emotional game just 5 days earlier against the fanbase's rival du jour, SMU, and just had a huge letdown. You cannot be losign to someone at home 42-7 and blame it solely on the QB, so I have to believe that the team just celebrated that big win a lot and wasn't mentally prepared for a much better opponent in just 5 days. It probably didn't help that La Tech was crushed by us in Ruston last year, either. But I do think that DW will help this offense get better, but I don't know if its enough to get us above .500. I do think we will win 1-2 more games with DW than Greer or McNulty would get us, though. This is what I see going forward:

Nicholls State--Win

@ Indiana--Loss

@ UAB--Loss

Southern Miss--Win

@ Rice--Huge Loss

Florida Atlantic--Win

@ UTEP--Win

Florida Int'l--Win

@ UTSA--Huge Loss

I think we go 6-6, with our wins being over 5 of the absolute worst FBS programs in the country and a horrible FCS school. I don't know if we will get bowl berth, either, at 6-6. As I can see the conference filling up their five bids with other schools ahead of us, but I could see us somehow getting a bid to a bowl that no travelling fan will be able to attend (like Hawaii or The Bahamas).

I think you are being optimistic with that prediction. FAU and UTEP will be tough, if we win one of those that would be good. Our defense got exposed last week by La Tech. All of our upcoming opponents are going to see that and attack that. We do not put enough pressure on the QB and we are vulnerable to good passing teams. Add to that that we are small on the defensive front and we have a chance to be exposed there.

QB was a huge problem for this team, the biggest problem. But it was far from the only problem we face to be competitive in CUSA and for a bowl game.

Add to that too that, you all seem to think the offensive game plan will suddenly change. That won't happen. Mac is stubborn and he does what he does. The offensive game plan will be exactly the same, if not more conservative with Dajon at QB. We can only hope that Dajon can complete passes on the very few opportunities he gets. It wont be an issue vs Nichols as we can run over them, but it will be an issue the rest of the season. He won't throw the ball more than 15 times a game, if its event that many.

I am excited as any about Dajon starting, but I think everyone is overlooking a lot of weaknesses we have in their exuberance about Dajon. He probably wont be pass blocking, he probably won't be playing any on defense - secondary or Dline, and he won't be calling the plays.

[TIgreen01]

Haha, utsa is going to skull you know what almost every CUSA team they play this year. Not bragging on them bc I dislike them, but just telling it how it is.

Oh...I definitely think they are going to be one of the top 3 teams in the West....just think that they can be had.

[Withers940]

In this thread and others, I've read "we don't know what we have with Dajon"

As one of the few people still hanging around Apogee Thursday night, UNT had the ball right by my seats. Dajon threw a pass that was unlike anything I had seen all year. A sharp, tight spiral delivered right on target as he was rolling out of the pocket. In that moment I saw the future, and it was glorious.

I think our offense will be drastically different moving forward (fun-to-watch vs. agonizing-to-watch) and we will have a chance to win every game moving forward.

Honestly, I think we can go on a win streak from here. Mark my words, we will be having deja vu of last year in late October when we take on Rice for an opportunity to #Hit6 and get back in the CUSA West race.

I was there too Brother and I loved what I saw in D Dub. This guy is what we need to put a jolt into the offense to get the ball moving down the field and give the defense some rest. I think with the defense not playing the whole first half we are a good enough team to pull of some big wins and fight for a championship but I might be crazy. I might just be drinking the Mean Green Cool-aide with matching track suits on this one but....

Nicholls State--Win

@ Indiana--Win

@ UAB--Win

Southern Miss--Win

@ Rice--Close Loss

Florida Atlantic--Win

@ UTEP--Win

Florida Int'l--Win

@ UTSA--Win

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