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I will give you mine. Keep in mind this is a one game review, not a critique on whether or not Coach McCarney will be successful in rebuilding the program. The only thing one can take from the game plan rolled out against FIU is that Coach Mac played to shorten the game and try to keep the score manageable. This was prevelent under Coach Dickey, but was reserved for money games and not conference opponents. But even if he was trying to do this, there were completely contradictory calls made to this stratagy. If you don't believe this, let me offer up the following: Zero 1st down pass plays until under 2 minutes in the 1st half. Zero Kicking the ball to T.Y ever chance he got Going for 4th and one and a half on the first series of the game (which was 4 straight running plays, by the by). Having an offensive game plan that a 2 year old could see coming 4 weeks ago Dodge was down 28-0 at the end of the 1st quarter in his debut. Coach McCarney was down 28-0 against FIU at the end of the 1st quarter in his debut. Yes, Dodge did have 9 defensive starters returning, but he was also playing OKLAHOMA. The rest of the game really doesn't matter, because when the other team scores 28 in the first quarter they know they can do it anytime they want, and the game is over, anyway. I don't think constantly telling the media how little talent you have is a good idea, either, and I have posted about it before this game. You keep telling a 20 year old kid he sucks, and he is going to start believing it. Say it in private to your AD, say it in private to your assistants, but don't continually say it publically and expect your players to have any confidence when they open against the defending conference champion. I hope that Coach McCarney rights the ship, finds a way to make the Houston game competetive, and goes on to turn the program around and make it what we all want it to be, but judging on one game, and one game only, I'd give him the same grade I gave Dodge after his debut.

Did you make the above information up, except for the freshman QB. http://www.utahstateaggies.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2011-2012/usu01.html Check your facts. RT Gapela RS Senior starting his 29th game RG Schultz RS Soph Starting his 7th game. Signed with USU in December of 2008, after an LDS Church Mission and went through spring drills. Will be 24 years old next week. C Larsen RS Soph Starting 13th game. Is also on the 2011 Rimington Trophy watch list. LG Asisi RS Senior Starting his 19th game LT Lasike JR JUCO Transfer Starting his first game. 2 Seniors. 1 Junior. and 2 RS Soph. That really sounds like and inexperienced offensive line.

This is my first time in Miami and I've enjoyed it quite a bit; I'm not at the team hotel and haven't ventured anywhere near South Beach or the clubs. Today has been more golf and then plans to eat some more Cuban food and see the Miami Science Museum. And then eat more Cuban food! Here are my thoughts from the game. I don't think any of us saw this kind of shellacking coming, but it's happened, it's over, and there are some correctable things that I think the coaches and players will take away from it and improve on before next weekend's home opener versus Houston: ...let's talk nuts and bolts about the…game?…last night. I hesitate to call it a game, because it was more of a football massacre than a game. In the run up to the season opener, I had told everyone who would listen that one of the two keys to having a shot at upsetting FIU was keeping T.Y. Hilton from beating us. From the opening kickoff through the end of the first quarter, T.Y. Hilton came out to make a statement, and he made it. He had big plays that directly contributed to all of FIU's 28 first quarter points. His 62 yard return of the opening kickoff set up the first FIU TD, he scored FIU's second TD on a 60 yard pass from Wes Carroll, he converted a 3rd and 2 with an 18 yard reception and drew a 15 yard pass interference penalty on the drive for FIU's third TD, and he ran a 31 yard reverse to the Mean Green 1 yard line to set up the Darrient Perry 1 yard TD run for FIU's fourth and final touchdown of the first quarter. I don't think there could be a more emphatic example of letting a single guy beat you than what T.Y. Hilton did to the Mean Green in the 1st quarter. The short and sweet of the game from the Mean Green side of the ball is this: on offense, we never established a credible passing threat, which allowed FIU to tee off on Lance Dunbar and the running game. Derek Thompson didn't have much of a chance to get comfortable in the pocket as FIU's relentless pressure, although resulting in only three sacks, hurried him and knocked him down all game long. That same pressure resulted in lots of balls thrown too early or too late that were easily defended by the FIU secondary. When passes were there, too many were dropped. The one that really stung was the wide open drop by Breece Johnson Willie Taylor, a pass that would have gone for 30 yards or possibly even a TD instead when through his arms, off his number 17 3 on his chest, and into the puddles on the FIU turf. On the defensive side of the ball, adjustments were made after the first quarter, but the defense was never able to shut down FIU's running game. The Golden Panthers didn't throw for a huge number of yards, but thanks to their ground dominance, they didn't need to. When Wes Carroll did drop back to throw, the Mean Green were unable to get pressure on him. I paid attention to the line play on both sides of the ball for the Mean Green last night. That's what I decided I was going to focus on in the offseason: the lines. So much of what goes on in the rest of the game is determined by how the lines play; success on each side of the ball begins at the line and radiates out from there. Good offensive line play allows you to run the ball on any down and distance and gives your quarterback time to throw from the pocket. Good defensive line play stops the opponent's inside running game and pressures the QB from the outside. Unfortunately, I don't have much positive to say about the line play in last night's game beyond the obvious that we never established the running game, Derek Thompson was hurried and knocked down more times than not when he dropped back to throw, we were unable to stop FIU's running game, and Wes Carroll likely felt like he was wearing the red jersey in practice with the lack of pressure he had on him. I think most of us understood that this was going to be a transition year for both lines; we lost a lot of experience last year due to graduation. Going forward, though, the coaching staff and the guys in the trenches are going to have to find ways to step up and make some plays or else what's likely to be a long season will be that much longer. The injury bug bit the Mean Green in this game in a potentially big way. J.J. Johnson, our senior center, broke his non-snapping hand. If they can set the fracture, he'll miss three or four weeks. If they can't, then he could be done for the year. That would be a tremendous blow to the Mean Green o-line, a unit that after one game doesn't look like it can afford too many big blows. There are three North Texas players that impressed me in the midst of this otherwise unimpressive evening: Brelan Chancellor, Derek Thompson, and Brent Osborn. Had T.Y. Hilton not been on the other side of the ball, Brelan would have been the individual player performance talk of the game. He racked up an astounding 200 yards in returns, caught passes for 55 yards, and even rushed for 7 yards. I think our return game is safe in his hands for the season. Our two QBs also impressed me. About now, you might be asking yourself how the starting QB who went 14/27 for 167 yards and no TDs was impressive. What impressed me was his fire as exhibited in his body language. I doubt that was evident on the ESPN 3 broadcast. It was evident in person at the game. Down 28-0 at the end of the 1st quarter, Thompson was fired up. He was angry. He was in the faces of his receivers and his linemen for getting into the game late as substitutes, for dropping balls, and for blowing blocking assignments. While that's not exactly what you'd like to see from your starting QB (think more Cap Rooney from "Any Given Sunday"), I liked that he was fired up instead of dejected. I liked that he was still after his guys to do better instead of hanging his head and staring at the field as he walked to the sideline. I was also impressed with what I saw of backup QB Brent Osborn. He plays like a pocket passer, but I was most impressed with his delivery; his passes have some authority to them. It's hard to give much more of an assessment than that considering that by this time in the game FIU was subbing in a lot of bench players on the defensive side of the ball. In terms of looking forward, I think it's a good idea to think about the things that are correctable versus things that aren't correctable. Correctable issues are things that can be changed in practice. Things that aren't correctable include hoping our offensive line suddenly plays like two year veterans or that our players go through growth spurts in a month's time. On the correctable side of the ledger, I think the first priority is to get the defenders to wrap up in tackling. FIU likely would have had a third less rushing & return yards last night if the guys had gotten their arms around the FIU runners and brought them down in the first half. To both the players' and coaches' credit, it appeared that they did a much better job of this as the game progressed. Second item on the correctable side is dropped passes. The dropped passes last night were drive killers and, in the case of Johnson's drop, a real momentum killer. I would guess that the wet weather combined with the Golden Panthers' relentless pressure on Derek made for a lot of less-than-desirable balls thrown to receivers. FIU's receivers didn't have issues with drops, but then again their QB is a senior veteran who had plenty of time to throw, which led to many more receivers making grabs in stride. This is going to be one of those seasons where we simply can't afford the dropped balls, no matter the quality of their delivery. At the end of the day, though, a tip of the cap to FIU. They've got a very good squad, better even than I expected in my preview of them. As a side note, FIU's students were really into the game, but their tiny stadium wasn't even halfway full. If the cards fall the right way and given their weak non-conference schedule this season, it would not surprise me to see FIU in the Top 25 at some point. T.Y. Hilton also deserves some love for the Heisman. I think playing in the Belt will likely make him a ghost as far as the Heisman race goes and FIU's weak non-conference schedule is going to hurt their visibility, but perhaps ESPN will fall in love with him and give him that crucial national recognition that he deserves. Good luck, T.Y. I'm sure glad we don't have to play you again! This post has been promoted to an article

Can we claim the CUSA title?

You're right, but I can't tell if you are angry about that game plan or not. Or what you would have done differently without hindsight. I don't understand kicking the ball to T.Y. Let me offer up the following: Go back 4 weeks prior to Thursday. If you were coach for a day what's your game plan? I kicked the best WR off the team for who cares what. I have a new QB. I have a BA running back with a questionable O-line. My game plan is: 1. Get Lance Dunbar going. Early and often. Even if they know what's coming I can demoralize them if I can establish the run early and take pressure off this young QB and get my WRs opened up. 2. Control the clock and the ball This does have the effect of shortening the game, but it also has the effect of keeping their defense on the field, and ours off of it. 3. Limit turnovers - especially interceptions thrown by my developing QB. It's not too different from his and once you are down by 21-28 in the 1Q you have to open things up to try to climb back into it.

You could have posted this after Dodge's 1st game. How did that work out again? As far as the whole shut up and get friends to come to the game, I've got 30 coming September 10, and I'd like for them to have a reason to return. Oh, and this is a college football fan board. If no one told you before, this is kind of what we do.

Others may know about this, but I just came across it. http://texashistory.unt.edu/explore/collections/UNTFBC/ Some quick images. My all time favorite QB. http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth164129/ And the only image I have ever found of the (late) great Bernard Jackson...all 5'11" and 175lbs....who gained over 1400 yards that year. http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth164130/ overachieving at it's finest.

I know the Chico that coached the last 5 games last year, and that game plan wasn't him. Do you seriously think it was his decision to run the ball on every 1st down the entire 1st half? Did you not see last year's offense? Do you not remember the one knock on Coach Mac from the Iowa St. fans that came on here after the hire? Agreed, you would have to execute the game plan I mentioned, but at least you would 1) have a much better read on DT as a QB, 2) would have given your team a chance to win. I'm not saying they would have, but at least you give them a chance. Also, to answer one of your previous questions, I predicted a breakout game for DT, because I thought the game would be to use Dunbar as a decoy early and open up the passing game. For those who somehow think FIU is more of a "mudder" than UNT, well, that's just...

If you know something, please share. Otherwise your statement is speculation. Your game plan would be fine, but we still would have had to execute it.

Agreeance. He should have effed Boehner and did the speech on Wednesday anyway. Heck with the Tea-tard pandering GOP 'debate'.

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Sign pictures up in my gallery here

Yep, and people who are poo-pooing the performance last week should realize that a lot of Alums that have been disconnected will be at this game. I will have several at my tailgate. We really need to give them a reason to come back.

Expectations for this team is to cut down on mistakes, execute the gameplan and win baby win!!!! I still think under Mac this team finishes 5-7!! GMG

Riley 9-14 for 107 yards and td. Plus 11 carries for 45 yards. Carey 7 receptions for 73 yards.

These days are long gone because we won't pick up full court with 8 seconds left in a game.

My favorite time of the year! Depending on how Saturday goes, I might even be looking more forward to women's basketball than the rest of football season.

Powers should have caught the ball that was thrown behind him but the others were not his fault. The balls were slow coming out and plays were slow developing. Osborn was much quicker, sharper and crisper.

Got my info from a USU depth chart, which listed the (most importantly) true freshman QB, 3 Sophs, 1 Jr. and 1 Sr..... and according to you, its actually.... one less sophomore lineman, replaced by a JUCO transfer making his first start?!? Seriously?!? Wow. That really IS a totally different scenario. I guess I shouldn't be surprised they ran all over Auburn. Nope. It's a young team with a terrible track record the past decade starting a true Freshman QB. Sorry, still gives me some hope.

Awesome signs....well done!

+1, but I'm not sure how far being rational and informed will take you here.

I enjoyed the pics and y'all are awesome for going out there with those signs!

Hey some good stuff here. One thing before you call out one of our players for a drop pass #17 Breece Johnson ( that did not happened) you might want to make sure of it before you type it. Breece had one pass thrown his way for 7rds. The 3 passes that were big drops were from the inside slot not the out side WR. We had one drop from TE but it was raining pretty hard at the time. Mayby you confused the drop pass from the 2nd team slot>>>the player that replaced the slot that had 3 drops. Glad you were at the game and glad you had a good "Dog", but if you going call out a player make sure you have the right NUMBER !

Yes, it was a beating on Thursday. Yes, it looks like we have a long year ahead of us. Yes, we will probably get the shaft in yes another round of conference shakeups. Sure, it would have been nice to get it all with a new stadium, coaching staff, wins, conference, etc... but there is plenty to be happy about as an NT fan right now. Most of my excitement of next weekend is that we will FINALLY not be in watching football in a stadium that was more embarrassing than if family showed up to your house unannounced only thirty minutes after the sewage system filled it up six foot deep! The grass is always greener... I'm just glad that the facilities are now vastly improved, bigger donations coming in, that it seems we have a renewed commitment to athletics, and I'm excited about the future. The coaching staff now looks to suit an actual D1 program and I am sure that they will do their job... It just takes time to identify game-day weaknesses (they actually are different than practices, you know), try to coach the players, make some judgement calls based on how effective the coaching decisions were... the whole gambit. Give them time, because I will. Do I want a win against Houston? Of coarse I do. But if it doesn't happen, I'll judge the staff on what they do about handling it during and after... By the way -- did anyone buy a copy of the EA Sports NCAAF game this year? Is our stadium in it? Did they *finally* include the NT fight song? Did they include the blood curdling Eagle CAAAAAAWW! sound and cannon fire when we score? These are all important questions.

For those that weren't there, it was a sloppy wet mess, rain the entire first half. Didn't stop FIU, but they spend quite a bit of time in South Florida in the rain. It affected us, especially when you arm tackle. The fact we manned up on Hilton is beyond me. We should have doubled him all night with press at the line and a dedicated safety over the top, made them beat us some other way. We tried to establish Lance early, they loaded up and crushed it. We kept feeding T.Y. with punts, kickoffs and open receptions and he did his damage. Expected more, still do, interesting to see what kind of character this team has.

W. Kentucky - 3 Kentucky - 0 Illinios - 7 Arkansas St - 0 Clemson - 13 Troy - 6 Middle Tennessee - 7 Purdue - 0 Florida St. - 7 La. Monroe - 0 Florida -10 Florida Atlantic - 0 Oklahoma St - 10 Lala- 3 Several teams picked beneath us in talent were more prepared for a better opponent than we were Thursday night. Simple as that.

I think this would be a great model to follow. Plus it makes every game count.

Texas St. up 10-0 on Texas Tech Passing us by?

Did anyone see the post-game DT interview? He looks borderline emotional.

Correct the drops from Powers. The over throws from Thompson. The holding on the Lance Dunbar screen and improve WR blocking. Our poor execution won't help us regardless of play calling / adjustments.

NT lose the first game bad and looked worse than they did last year against everyone; but guess, FIU. Now, the majority of fans apparently think this is a rebuilding season and NT will be lucky to match last year's record. As bad as it was it was one game. I don't see the talent level dropping from last year and I don't think a 4 win or less season is inescapable. No one should have thought that NT would beat FIU and NT didn't. I don't think FIU is a good as NT made them look, or NT is as incapable as they looked. What concerns me is what looked like a DD game plan which only works if you have the superior athletes. Run up the middle even after you lose the starting center, and depend on in this case a very porous defense to keep you in the game. Didn't work for Dickey after he lost the athletic superiority and it won't work now unless NT is willing to wait years to slowly build up the roster. I see references to the lack of size still being a factor in spite of NT just getting run off the field by a smaller team in FIU. I was not at the game, but it looked from the ESPN view that NT lacked the fire that they had the last half of last year and that is difficult to understand. NT is going to be massive underdogs in the next 4 games, and the game against FIU could look like a picnic if this team does not get much better. The season has just started. I hope the team and staff unlike a lot of the fans don't give up because it is obvious they just don't have the talent. I expect a much better game next week against a better team than FIU and a team that is ready to do some damage by the time they get to the rest of the Belt schedule.

UTSA drew 57K to its first game.

Agreed, but we aren't stuck. We will progress regardless. That can't be stopped now. JRock

Well he sure told us! I can appreciate one defending a friend. But the original topic was Overlander and I was merely stating my opinion that there should really be no comparison between the 2 and why I feel that way. Real ballers recognize and appreciate talent! And to claim that I am envious leads me to ask,,, of what?!? Not my style! I commend all young men who play this game for the love and enjoy seeing guys take full advantage of their opportunities. But I must be honest in saying your boy wasn't that good, sorry that's just how I feel! I still wish him the best! Overlander will contribute off top!!!

We got that kind of coverage in the DMN when we destroyed Baylor in '03. Thank goodness we don't have them on our schedule this year? This was a week in which I didn't mine we were back page fodder. Rick

News...pa...per? I believe I heard my grandparents tell me about having those during the Great Depression, but always assumed they were a myth.

And it couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of sumbitches!

Fixed that for you. Right now, no one wants us (besides an even worse WAC). Period. And they won't until we show we can compete.

I don't think it makes any difference. We are a joke or unknown at best. Triple what we pay for a coach and the same result: a team completely unprepared. You can either motivate and train or not. That was not promising. Promise is the only thing we would have to offer a conference.

OU could poop on Texas for all-time by going to the SEC with A&M. Texas would be double pooped on by their two biggest enemies. And, they will have no one to blame but themselves.

Bad news. Rawlings just told me I can only contact him from one email account. He said there are apparently rules in City Hall about that. Don't worry, I quickly found 5 early voting polls for the next election and voted for the other guy in all of them. That'll teach him.

So, congratulations on playing organized football AND making a stupid point? If you think the prep that wins games is in the pregame stretching, I don't think you paid much attention during your all-too brief career. Did Art Briles just have a better warm-up formation?

I know that, but he played and contributed and got to feel like less of an outsider. I'm not saying I like it, just that I get it. I have no interest in digging through a young man's FB post history, but as long as he is not actively discrediting us or working against us, I'm just going to shrug my shoulders and move on.

It's kind of like stalking an ex on FB. What's she going to do, bash her new flame and pine for you after she moved on? It sucks to read, but he would be a pretty crappy teammate to his current squad to be invested anywhere else.

I understand why you want to focus on the FIU game last year. But that game was without doubt our lowest point of the year, with injuries, starting our 4th string walk-on QB, a walking dead man as head coach, and a virtual no-show by several of our starters. Once Coach Dodge was gone, things turned around, and a lot of us were hoping some of that energy and ability to compete in and win games would carry over into this season. We came into this game with a healthy roster, riding a wave of enthusiasm and optimism. From a personnel and emotional standpoint, this should not have been a comparable situation with last year's FIU game. But we came out and got whupped about the same as last year, and worse from an offensive standpoint. So you're saying it should be expected that this year, we pick up from where we left off at last year's FIU game. Maybe you're right that it worked out that way, but others of us were hoping that we would pick up with MUTS and K-State. Anyway, I don't think I'll post or read any more on this game. It's done, it's over, and hopefully we can move onward, and especially upward. I hope this year's FIU game is also the low point of the season.

Tap the brakes on how great FIU is. Sure, they're Belt-good... maybe they'd even BEAT K-St (not convinced).... but you're saying their defense is 41 points better than K-St's? Wanna rethink that? I think you're misunderstanding what i said... all I'm saying is a drop off from 40-point performances against Big XII talent to a SHUT OUT against FIU means there's a hell of a lot more offensive issue and blame than to the O-Line. I can't believe that's being debated.

Oh, I "get it".... Waaah. Different positions. A.... gasp!... FRESHMAN!!! Last five games last year, offensive points scored: 33, 35, 23, 37, 41. Tonight: 0. That freshman and guys sliding left to right sure made a huge-assed difference, eh? Imagine if we started TWO freshmen!!!!1! We might just give up safety after safety!!! I sure am glad I know all these other teams scoring "points" aren't starting freshman and are all returning starters on their lines. I'd think maybe there was a little more going on otherwise.

By posting long diatribes in the VIP forum?

TOGTFO!