Okiefan

That is not true. None of the players are paid for UNT graphics during the season as long as they appear in a UNT ad or post.

What some of the people on here don't understand is that this team had great chemistry even in the dark days of the 4 game losing streak. Listen to the player interviews, especially the seniors. They wanted to build something but that wasn't the direction. When you tell some to leave, it affects everyone in the locker room. In addition when some stars leave, it becomes a virus. Processing all the dang paperwork must be a chore in itself for this staff.

Patrick Smith also in the portal.

I had posted this in another topic. The offense is gone. This also includes graduates.

Here is an interesting view. Take a look at the 2-deep depth chart as of today. This includes seniors and transfers. People wanted the defense replaced, but currently the offense is leading the way.

JD- Believe it or not we agree on more than we don't. I just been state facts and feel without a strong NIL or winning culture, it is tough to make big jumps quickly. If we had stayed in CUSA, we would have defiantly made a bowl this year. Heck, just winning ONE of our close losses puts us in a bowl and I doubt this drastic transformation would have happened. I might be wrong. Power 5 football is a business inside the facilities and the kids know it. Now G5 is trying to play the same game with fewer bullets in the gun unless you have deep pockets. The old saying- football is a game of inches. Just think one Memphis play might have just changed the whole course of action at UNT.

Isn't this what the Mean Green Forum wanted.? The current roster didn't meet your expectations. We are up to 17 in the portal +19 seniors. I had predicted 50 new scholarship players for fall camp. The big challenge now is getting enough in school in the next few weeks to have an effective spring. Its not as easy as it sounds, especially with limited grad level classes.

Well you and many others are getting your wish and unfortunately the high powered offense is clearing out too. In my opinion the Texas State transfer model hasn't been successful. Without NIL, the replacements UNT gets will have a hard time meeting certain people's high expectations because it will likely be those that can't get the money elsewhere. I am sure it will be fun for those involved in recruiting because there will always be something new to talk about. I approve of bringing in key transfers but hate the trend of burning down the house to do it. Just my 2 cents.

I agree that the lower level guys are not all bad, others disagree. My point was that the fan base is not looking for that. They want the 4 star DFW guy coming back home, which is great, but that hasn't happened and won't without NIL. A lot of the 2023 2-deep have been transfers that have moved up and down levels. Almost all of them have not been good enough in the eyes of the fan base.

Bigger Brand of Football? We don't have a bigger brand of football compared to the places the players you want to attract would come from. I don't think the fans will be happy with the FCS and DII guys coming up a few levels. Please explain your bigger brand theory.

All of this is very interesting. Many on this board have preached all year that most of the players except Rogers, a few receivers, and the RBs were no good and needed replaced. You are getting your wish. UNT is taking the Texas State approach and you will see at least 50 new players next year. All the talk of culture and family is out the window and since we have no real NIL, they likely won’t be the dominant power 5 transfers you want. It will be interesting to see what it looks like come fall camp. I hope it’s successful.

Avg time of possession per game 2022- UNT 27:17 - OPP- 32:27 2023- UNT 29:12 - OPP- 30:34 No idea on number of drives

Should have phrased in differently I suppose. Just showing the numbers. You call it the worst in history.

Thought I would share the numbers Defense allowed avg per game 2022 (Bennett 4-2-5) Rushing - 197 yards Passing- 262 yards total - 460 yards Points- 31.71 per game 2023 (Caponi) Rushing - 255 yards Passing- 221 yards total - 476 yards Points- 37.08 per game Additional differences: Tougher strength of schedule with the move to the American Conference, a Power 5 opening opponent, and the first triple option this team has faced. What are your thoughts before I share mine?

This is an example of hat on hat ( 5 blocking 5 in the box) and the theory is the play is to be bounced out but a lot of things went wrong. The end didn't hold the edge pressure, but a bigger issue is the two DE's are on the backside of the NG away for the play somehow. That is a problem. The safety is late running down the hash since he had no receiver to cover. He is at least 3-4 yards too deep and that increased the difficulty. The other cover safety should see run and peel off into run support. The NG actually split his block to help spill.

You can tell with all three of the players that it means something for them to represent UNT. We as fans need to remember that sometimes. They want to win as bad as anyone regardless if you think they are good enough or the stadium is empty. It more than just a game to these players.

It was their passing game that was more effective. The only chunk rushing play was the TD run on the stretch zone down their sidelines for 28 yards. We got sealed and the back end missed two tackles that broke him loose.

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.

Over 50% of each position group are transfers or freshmen, except TE.

Not sure most people understand that a 3-3-5 defense is NOT a read and react defense in most cases. It is a gap assignment defense where everyone in the front 6 owns a gap. Even when you see our DE lines up inside the tackle, someone has the outside edge set and running lane support. The NG is technically supposed to be a 2-gap defender and draw a double team or split it. The LB's own a gap and that is why you see them often shoot a specific inside gap or blitz off the edge on the snap regardless of the play direction. This is a "fill" and "spill" defense where the goal is to spill the play to allow pursuit to come downhill and rally to the ball. The safeties are very important as they must also be run support. Even in the 4-2-5, the Star safety actually has the run first mentality. A 4-man front is more read/react. If you over blitz with the 3-3-5 and someone misses an assignment, chuck plays happen. The big chuck runs we have given up in the first half recently have been mostly blitzes with blown "fill" assignments. Yesterday we were often caught with technically only 4 in the box (3 DL and the MLB )with the SLB and WLB backers flexed out in space. UTSA was spreading us out to create lanes and putting pressure on the backend for support. Their TE's were often flexed that created some additional gap issues. That is why a safety was the leading tackler. Our performance is better when we DON'T blitz as often. You can't successfully run a true 4-3 defense against spread teams as there will always be a mis-match in the passing game. The offenses have a lot of advantages. That is why a 4-2-5 is the most common defense. When a team goes empty, there are 5 receivers. Is UTSA's defense terrible? They gave up more yards than UNT yesterday, The difference is we turned the ball over 3 times, with 2 in the red zone that resulted in 10 points for UTSA. UNT only gave up 60 yards rushing in the second half. What was different? We were cleaner on gap assignments and blitzed less.

Yes, they have to use the "walk down" method to be multiple up front as the call can change pre-snap. They are usually walking down the Mike LB to come off the edge. When 4 DL are in these they are limited in their calls. If you go back and look at tape, our traditional 4 man front has a DL replacing the MLB which I think causes issues with tackling in the box. Other 4 man fronts usually take out a safety when the extra DL goes in.

In my opinion:, Offense- We showed improvement in offensive execution, tempo, and energy. We were able to adjust tempo based on need. Early we ran clock and when needed, we stepped on the gas which was a positive change. Rogers did a good job of moving the ball and used his legs to make plays. We need to convert TD's in the red zone as the game would have been very different had we grabbed the extra 8 points that were left on the table on the two early field goals. When we establish the run, it opens up the passing game. I am not a big fan of the bunch set into the boundary but that is an Air Raid mindset. As been mentioned, the reverse was unnecessary and really gave them a spark. Defense- I liked the personnel changes as well as being multiple up front to keep things interesting. 21, 32, and 15 were very active all night and the overall energy of the defense was good. Ironically when we knocked out the starting QB, the back-up actually played better and threw a better ball which hurt us a few times in the 4th quarter. I like when we were able to roll the MLB off the edge in the condensed 2 tight end formations they were running in the second half. We did have some penalties but I don't think we got any calls last night. Both roughing the passer calls were not roughing. Heck they even had to conference on them. We caught every 50/50 call and they got the pass in most cases. Overall the safeties did a better job with run support but we still have much to improve across the board. We looked more physical and they had a lot of offensive guys that left the game for injuries or being banged up on a play. If we can continue to be physical that will help us defend the run for sure. This is the first game we were the more physical team. I was glad to see us get to the QB multiple times which has been lacking. Not perfect by any stretch but good things to build on as we continue to improve execution. Kicking - Outstanding all the way around.

Wag, you point to ISU’s LB at 260 and gets everything funneled to him. That is technically incorrect in the 3-3-5. That doesn’t work with a guard or puller always free with a 3 man front. In this scheme The LB’s are assigned to be gap fit and spill backers. The ISU backer at 260 usually filled the inside gap that the Nose did not. It also depends what blocking scheme the Offense is running regarding fit technique. In all reality this defense is built on the safeties being dudes that come downhill and fill on the run. At times last night we only had 4 in box and both outside backers were flexed in space making them gap fillers when the ends crashed down. The 3 high safeties and a nose that can 2-Gap makes or breaks this defense. The whole concept is to confuse the o-line as to where are the defenders coming from. Everyone has a job and must be in sync. this defense scheme takes a lot of discipline and that is why it often fails. The 4-2-5 offers the safeties to play the pass a little better as they turn into a pass first responsibility. This is an issue with the scheme change. I have a background in this scheme and just sharing what I know.

The big issue with the 3-3-5 is how the responsibilities of the safeties have changed. This system is about gap control with the front 6 and the stacked safeties are supposed to come downhill and be the open field tacklers. That is why you saw the Mike And Will plugging gaps and spilling the play and then no one there or a missed tackle by the safeties. While the LB's missed some tackles, they also led the team in tackles on Saturday. Additionally, we were in a 4 man front more than you realize yesterday but got zero pressure on the QB. All conference DE Mazin Richards had 2 tackles and struggled. The LB's were blitzing to bring pressure but that was ineffective. Watch the infamous 4th and 2 TD when we missed a million tackles. LB (19) is off the edge in the 4 man front. LB (32) plugs his gap which funnels the run to the opposite b gap and then the safety (11) comes downhill and misses the first chance at the line and then it turned into a dumpster fire of bad play. Safety makes his play and it is no more than a 1-2 yard gain. To be objective, success of the 3-3-5 really depends on the 3 safeties. Inside backers are not read first (which is typical in a 4-2-5) they are gap responsible first. This is one major difference in this set-up. The safeties must be aggressive on the run but not get beat over the top. That is a tough balance.

My goodness what was UTEP doing on those last two plays??? Blew it!