Greendylan

"Somethigns were funny a little bit, like 51 yards on 4 kickoffs being a menace..." He won respect and admiration--as well as suspicion--in the locker room with his awesomely average special teams. One anonymous teammate was quoting as saying, "four kickoffs and he didn't fumble at least two of them?! Come on guys...you know it...I know it...the guy's juicin." I'm just kidding around! I can't wait to see Dunbar play this season!

Yes! So there's hope for us this year!

We should consider such circumstances when we bemoan the fact that various teams have “passed us by.” I’m not suggesting that it hasn’t ever happened, but there is clearly more behind a program’s overall prestige than on-field performance during the span of a year or two.

I could be wrong, but I tend to think that in these situations it's not necessarily a fear of losing again that prevents them from scheduling. Rather, they simply don't want to remind their fans about an embarrassing loss in their history.

Since the first game is on the road against a respectable team, I think that could be a recipe for disaster with a redshirt freshman QB. With two or three turnovers I think this one ends up around 10-38. Ohio U is a team that is expecting an improvement this year. They are well-coached and usually have a sound defense. Since it's at home and they're not typically a high scoring team, I think it may be close but still not a win...17-27.

This is an excellent question. In fact, I really haven't jumped into the "Dodge is and always will be terrible" vs. "Good things are happening" debate because I truly believe that the team's performance in the first two months of the season will determine the fate of the head coach. I don't know for sure--just a hunch. Furthermore, perhaps I'm childishly naive, but if you can't be at least a little optimistic during the summer about your team's upcoming season, then you might as well give up on college football. To me that's simply one of the irrational joys of being a fan and alumnus. Regardless, if a coaching change is to be made, I imagine that, like Dickey, a dismissal will occur toward the beginning of November. Thus, I can only speculate about what performance during the first eight games will be necessary to avoid a firing. I predict that 3-5 will be the benchmark. This would mean that we were still, at least marginally, in the running for a conference title, and a winning season would still be mathematically possible.

I see your point, but comparing Dodge's final five high school years (79-1) to his first two years of college (3-21) is a little misleading. His first two years of high school coaching he was 8-12.

Attendance Year 18694 2003 15184 2004 16446 2005 15650 2006 16,493.5 2003-2006 Avg. 17734 2007 16956 2008 17,345 2007-2008 Avg. Make of this what you will. 2003 was the best year of this grouping, but the 07-08 average is almost 1,000 higher than that of 03-06, which contains two conference champion teams. However, 08 lost almost 1,000 from the previous year, so if that trend continues in 09 then the overall average between the two periods will be almost identical.

It's because the Basketball forum suddenly realized that the Sun Belt has more players (2) starting in the NBA finals than any other conference. Take that C-USA! Scoreboard!

Well the last time the Sun Belt and MAC met in football was the 2008 Motor City Bowl: Florida Atlantic 24, Central Michigan 21. As for North Texas, I'm sure our 1-11 last place team would have had quite a clash of the titans with last place Miami (OH) at 2-10. The truth is that all the non-AQ conferences trade places from year to year regarding who, at the moment, is a better overall conference. In my opinion, all the "conference envy" conversations are purposeless when comparing the non-AQs. They are all, ultimately, in the same position: If you go undefeated you will probably get into a BCS bowl. If you don't go undefeated you probably won't. If North Texas had been 1-11 in the MWC, WAC, MAC, or C-USA, would the casual football fan have regarded us with any additional enthusiasm? If we go undefeated next year (which would mean a road win over Alabama), would UNT be snubbed by the BCS in favor of a 10-2 WAC or MAC team? That seems equally unlikely. Don't get me wrong, I'd happily embrace an invitation to C-USA, but that's mainly because it makes sense in terms of travel costs and regional rivalries.

This should be the epigraph inscribed on the wall as visitors enter the athletic center!

I think there's just something in the Denton water that makes us unable to execute screen passes. If memory serves me correctly, we weren't any more competent at screen plays during the Dickey years.

This looks like a player who could potentially fit in quite nicely with an already talented team for the next two years. However, at this point, am I wrong to assume that the final recruit will have to be either a freshman or a transfer with at least two years left (after sitting out next season)? I realize that I'm looking way ahead, but I would hate to see nearly the entire roster have to be replaced before the 2011-2012 season.

I would think that we should aggressively pursue any form of postseason play, even if it isn't the most prestigious tournament or would lose the school money. At this stage in the program's development I think any bid would be a great sign of growing national respect and visibility. Granted, it wouldn't make front page news, but I think it's the type of baby step from which we could really benefit.

Forgive my ignorance, but how would all the tie-breaking scenarios play out here? If we lose to Denver, would they jump ahead?

Thanks for compiling all those stats! I think your system provides a pretty good snapshot of who the most productive players are. My one minor suggestion would be to double the assists since each one usually results in two (sometimes three) points. I think adding a +/- category would also be interesting, but it doesn't seem like anyone even tracks that for NCAA games.

On the post game show, Johnny Jones mentioned how disappointed he was in how they finished the game. The players also seemed somewhat frustrated with themselves. I agree with Chris that it became pretty painful to watch toward the end. However, I would think that's even more reason to leave those guys out there and allow them to learn. Hell, Tristan Thompson was forced to play the last few minutes because of the foul out. Overall, it was an energetic atmosphere in the Super Pit and a fun game to watch. I think we really saw the team play up to their potential throughout the first half (and most of the second).

Wow! What a great quote! Where did this come from?

It tells us that 45 of us are infected with something known as GMG disease. It's a pandemic!

At this school we should probably stop using the word "commitment" in reference to a player who claims he's coming here. Instead we should say he has "marginally expressed some last minute desperation interest as long as he still has the desire to play football in the future, overcomes countless academic eligibility hurdles, and isn't known to be alive by a single other NCAA scholarship-bearing program."

Very true! I'm still holding out hope, however remote, that we can eventually pull off the best overall conference record.

"All things considered" (as Vito would say) this is actually a remarkable recruiting effort, and we should be very proud of our coaches.

Yes we can!!

It's certainly early, but I really feel like we cannot let a single home game slip away, especially against a team we only play once.

I get the feeling that the upcoming Troy game may have more implications than we previously realized.