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As stated before, this was a very impressive win. Vegas had us winning by only 4. Stone did make his shots, if we can get offense with his defense, it's going to really help this team. I think A Scott did A Scott things. We are really just one shot away from playing for a higher place, but that's the way the ball bounces sometimes. Some people may say Towson was tired, but we played the same schedule. This was a great confidence booster for the team and also as others have stated, we have 2 more games to gell even more before a tough match up in Boise. I think by that point we will see how much improvement the team has made. I can't wait!!

Coach Burton really has been as impressive as we could have asked for thus far. Excited to see this continue to play out.

The issue is most people can't tell what they are actually running just by watching. Much of the scheme involves changes in gap assignments so you can't tell who busted just by watching. You also can't tell when someone in the box goes and does their own thing trying to maker a play and leaves their assignment which is the reason why some of the long runs have happened. The last two weeks you have seen teams putting hat on hat because we have been out numbered in the box when they have a H back in the wing on inserted on the line (6 blocking 5). The issue is getting spread out with minimal numbers in the box. This is why a safety has been the leading tackler the last few weeks. Its by design to fill gaps and spill to the outside. The alignment against Memphis was supposed to have a high safety covering the middle but he bolted to the under cross route and let his spot open. We were man across with extra safety and it busted. The late Tulane score looked like a blitz and 19 got shielded by the back and we were man in the back end so there was no response. It was a gamble when we just needed to play straight up on 3rd and 12. It looks like we have gambled less the last few weeks and have been better against the run. The defense was out there too long vs SMU since the offense had issues in the 3rd. This week, the QB made throws early and then started feeling more pressure in the 2nd half as we had more edge pressures on 3rd down. You can tell when a LB walks up off the edge. The new young safeties have had a lot of responsibility. The biggest issue has been that we need a 2 gap nose guard to eliminate the head up blocking. They need to draw a double team everytime or be able to beat the center and get in the backfield. When 10 has done that it has been successful.

https://meangreensports.com/news/2023/11/19/mens-basketball-basketball-rolls-to-65-39-win-over-towson

North Texas Wins 79 - 73 A good victory. Light the Tower! This was a road victory against a senior laden team that won the Missouri Valley Conference in 2022. The Mean Green is off to a strong start in 2023-24, posting a 4-1 record through five games. .

One thing I noticed about the scores in this tournament. The three teams North Texas played each had their lowest point production of the tournament in their game against North Texas. That makes me feel good about our defense. Our tempo doesn't look as slow as last year, but it's still a good idea to slow down those teams that like to run.

Yeah, but I'm not creating accounts on other schools' fan boards and beating my chest about the greatness of UNT.

Moore played 5 minutes…1 rebound, 1 steal

We’ve gotten some really talented kids from the FCS. I hope we’re able to identify and land some of those players.

Emphasis added. This has been the biggest highlight on that side of the ball. Those kids know where they rank but they show zero signs of give up. That part has been impressive.

Stone this season... 57% from 3s, 63.6% from the field. My hope for Stone and all of our perimeter shooters: limit the pump fakes. When you have a good shot, just take it. Against the longer and more athletic teams, being open may not look the same as being open against Towson. Let that 3 point shot fly. Better to get off a contested shot than let the clock run out.

My biggest complaint currently (I'm leaving run game out of it because no excuse just fact, he's running this system with guys who were recruited to play 4 down and slant and move) It seems like we have LB's lost in coverage as in they have no idea where to go or what they're looking at. Running the 3-3-5 should allow for dang near double teams on every wide receiver unless they go 5 wide, yet we constantly have guys catching a ball with no one near them. I LOVE that they are getting the young guys in and getting tape to see where we stand in the future as well as now. That young DB class is going to be fun watching IMO. Inside LB's seem to be fitting the run better and seeing the windows and closing them. I am cautiously optimistic. As bad as we were early on, we were within a score late against the top 3 teams in conference. Fix a few things here and there that get cleaned up and we would be having an entirely different conversation. I also put blame towards offense for laying eggs for entire halfs (makes playing defense pretty tough when offense is on the field for 40 seconds and right back off).

Go. Bring Friends & Family. Be Loud. Have Fun. Beat Memphis! Beat UAB!

Brian Nelson also is tied for second on the team in passes broken up despite having only played in 4 games. Really excited about the future of this secondary with Nelson, Patrick Smith, Jayven Anderson, Evan Jackson, and even Taylor Starling started that ACU game but looks like he’ll still redshirt.

I would have never have expected to keep my job if I was told in my annual performance review that I was the worst @ what I did.

NT 65 -------- Towson 39 Final

Dude led the team in tackles against Tulsa and is only a freshman!

So if they think a high school recruit gives us a better chance of winning games than a portal player, you would defer to the portal just to check a box? Portal doesn’t necessarily equal better, in my opinion.

Many QB have stated that the Chrome helmet during the day games provides a glare and they do not like the helmets. I think Fine said it was like having 10 flashes going off in his field of view, and it was distracting. That is why the chrome helmets we limited to night games.

And 2 turnovers.

I think the only true freshman who has played 4 games exactly is Brian Nelson. So maybe he would be.

Come on, man

He’s got one more game to go. Win that first

Houston will always be known as "Cougar High".

Nah you’d be on a performance improvement plan. Just like Caponi will be next year.

He wouldn’t and isn’t.

I think that is what took it over the top. Those two are ruthless.

I've finally had a chance to start reading up on the 3-3-5 defense. Someone - I forget who - asked me to explain why you use smaller linemen in a 3-3-5. Here's what I found from an article in the San Diego Tribune - "The defensive linemen in the 3-3-5 tend to be smaller and more mobile, their main objective not to rush up the field, but to tie up blockers so the linebackers and safeties can fill the gaps and make tackles." I found this from a primer on the 3-3-5 from Throw Deep Publishing. The primer is good and understandable for those of us not steeped in deep Xs and Os. You do need a base level of football understand to follow, but it assumes a pretty basic starting point. The primer is free, but the more in-depth training with videos is behind a paywall. Here's a link to the free stuff https://throwdeeppublishing.com/blogs/football-glossary/the-3-3-5-defense-an-in-depth-guide

247 is reporting that he is scheduled for an official visit on December 4th followed by visits to USF and TN.

Is it the DC's fault or are the players just not that good? Its not like expectations were high for this squad going into the season, they didn't make a splash in the transfer portal, and they lost some key players from last season. Did anyone not expect this defense to rank near the bottom of the AAC? I'm not sure a different DC would have had any more success.

he should not get another year, but he will. Understand it is a new system, but there is no excuse that can be justified being the worst defense in FBS.

UAB can be 0-11 and I'd still worry about this defense.

Another issue with this game, this year, is that in past seasons, when the team is out of bowl contention, a diehard fan could justify going to this game to watch the young guys and hope for the future. But now, with the transfer portal and NIL, any young player showing a flash becomes a target for the bottom-feeder P5’s who raid our roster. Someone was bragging about all the young players in our secondary. I would love to be wrong, but I bet atleast 50% of those guys get picked off by Ole Miss, Auburn, Arkansas and whatever other low-level P5 wants to outbid us this off-season.

UAB is 0-5 on the road so there is that.

I am starting to climb up on the fence, if the defense does well this Saturday I will be sitting squarely on the fence waiting to see what is done in the off-season. We should probably do a new poll with an in-the-middle choice.

All to lose to a 5-seed in hoops and pay Dana Holgorsen $4 mil+ per year to lose to Rice and go 2-7 in conference play.

Respectable showing in this tournament by the team. Disappointing they were not able to get one of the first two games, but the team seems to have some ability and unlike the football team, the coaching staff seems like they have a better idea of what they are doing.

FFS, no he does not DESERVE another year, but knowing this cluster F of an athletic department and HFC he probably WILL get another year. Total Defense: DFL (130 out of 130) Scoring Defense: 128 out of 130 Rushing Defense: DFL (130 out of 130) Red Zone Defense: 106 out of 130 When Ron Mendoza would be considered an upgrade at DC, something has gone horribly wrong.

well... SMU is almost not a conference memeber anymore, and as for UTSA they are just the exception that confirms the existence of the rule.

They have no offense. They've held Navy to 10 (lost 10-0), FAU to 7 (won 22-7), Tulane to 13 (lost 13-10), Charlotte to 10 (lost 10-7). I'll even consider holding SMU to 31 and Michigan to 30 as successes considering how poor their offense performed. They held SMU to 2.5 yards per carry and 50% passing. Michigan was held to 3.9 yards per carry. Their defense with our offense could be undefeated.

Except for SMU and UTSA, right? 😂

The secondary is gonna be a no fly zone in a year or 2. So many talented freshman making big plays.

It was great to see several underclassmen make significant contributions.

The AAC gifted SMU a spot in the title game since they didn’t have to face Tulane or UTSA and only have Navy left on the schedule. Tulane and UTSA will cannibalize each other next week and it will likely be Tulane squeaking by into the title game as Traylor is likely distracted by the goings on in College Station.

Believe it or not there are some things money can’t buy and in SMU’s case it’s relevancy.

I'm not all in our all out on the guy, it's just that the entirety of his HC resume involves one QB.

Well, looking back at their football record over the past several years, if that defense is what they have been running call me unimpressed with a 3-man front. https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/schools/syracuse/index.html

He's 3 posts into this. Let'm get it out of his system.

I think I read that on SMU's official seal. I believe it is their motto.