[Mid-season review of North Texas women’s soccer team]

11 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

**From a soccer novice point of view**

Stupid system Hedlund runs.  It works when you have a talent advantage, but USF made us look silly controlling the ball with a much better technical game.  They controlled the ball and worked their way down the "pitch", but ever time we got the ball, we went for the home run.  We end up having trouble controlling those balls we get to and don't get off good shots.  Really frustrating because I think we have the talent to run a better system.

I didn't watch the game last night, but I would assume they did the same.

This is kinda like saying, hypothetically, that NT football runs a dumb offense because the Air Raid is not like other teams’ ground game, ball-control offenses.  

The longball is deadly when you have a good defense & lethal forwards… which is exactly what NT has been strong in over the past few decades.  You can bypass the midfield when you see an opportunity.  
Not having Burnell hurts bad.  Think like if Maclin went down with injury.  That’s a huge weapon that really stretches the field & puts pressure on the opponent’s safeties (or, in soccer, the center backs).  Sure, you can change your style to more dink/dunk/quick throws, but that’s tough to implement mid-season.
    
And, as Blurbeard mentioned, losing a bright young defender in Renfro hurts the back line.  You have to be able to win the ball before you can send it!

All that to say, you must have extremely high standards to call out the winningest coach in NTs history (regardless of sport).  Be sure to keep that same energy for the gridiron coaches (who routinely struggle to reach .500)!

[Jake Roberts for Noah Rauschenberg--Good Trade?]

NT's run of great kickers continues.    We don't seem to be utilizing TEs much in Morris' version of the Air Raid.   Not sure if that's because he is missing guys like Roberts & Gumms, or if that position is just not as important.

I'll take the trade so far.   We lose Rauschenberg after this season, and Roberts still has some time to improve at Baylor, so we'll see.

[UNT vs. Tulane (10/21/23 Score Predictions)]

3 hours ago, GMG_Dallas said:

I just want to point out Tulane has not scored more than 37 all year and you're predicting a possible 59, granted they played 2 games with their backup QB.

...

You know what?   Upon further review, I'd like to take this bit of info you provided and lower the blowout score, because yes, you're right.  Tulane has played 3 other teams with piss-poor defenses like ours (SoAL, SoMiss, & UAB), and could only score 37, 21, & 35.

So, if Tulane quick-strikes us, and takes the wind out of our sails, I'll say 42-17.    I'll stick with my other "competitive" score... just a little too much Tulane.

[UNT vs. Tulane (10/21/23 Score Predictions)]

NT beats the worst team in the AAC, playing their backup QB, and now we have people thinking NT is going to get a win against a ranked team on the road.

Y'all are funny.

 

If NT comes out swinging, gets on the scoreboard first, and plays with some confidence, it could be something like:
NT-27
Tulane-38

If NT comes out slow, or lets Tulane hit a big play TD early, it could be something like:
NT-14
Tulane-59

[Not sure we can compete anymore]

On 10/8/2023 at 2:57 PM, Andrew said:

I wouldn’t want to ever scoop to that level of disgusting and pathetic. 
 

I would never want a player who has to stoop to that level of pathetic on my team. Don’t pay players! Fix the system!

Do you still have a landline phone?
Do you still use a mapsco to get around?

It just seems like you're extremely against any sort of change at all.

[UNT vs. Temple (10/14/23) Score Predictions]

I think this one is gonna be a real fight.     I think being at home should help us gut this one out.

NT-38
Temple-34

[AI Renditions of DATCU Stadium Renovations]

1 hour ago, Mean Green 93-98 said:

How is that remotely a bad thing?

There's already a Ballpark in Arlington.   
I don't think anyone would want to try and lean into an existing building elsewhere when there's a chance to be unique.

[AI Renditions of DATCU Stadium Renovations]

Rendition 1:  Too North Korea-ish.   Hard pass.
Rendition 2: Too Ballpark in Arlington-ish.  No thanks.
Rendition 3: Too Fouts-ish.  Hard pass.

[Calling This Before I Can Say "I Told You So"]

[North Texas vs Navy (10/06/2023) Score Predictions]

12 hours ago, emmitt01 said:

Navy - 56

North Texas - 41

 

And all of you who think Navy will win by driving the ball down the field and eating clock are WRONG.  
 

We don’t tackle..anybody.  They will gash us for 60 yard runs, not 6 yard runs.  
 

We’ll score with them early but in the second half it will be our OFFENSE that is tired because they don’t get a breather.  😭

Yep.
Our defense is not at the level of "keeping things in front of them", and staying gap-disciplined, that most defenses, where we can hope to keep Navy chewing up clock.

Anyone recall what Cal's RB did to us?   He had all of those huge chunk runs without the threat of misdirection that comes with the Triple Option.   
We're going to have LBs & Safeties whiffing at air and tackling the wrong guys all over the field.

[Our Defense is TERRIBLE!!!]

3 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

What would really help is running a 4-4-4.

[North Texas vs Navy (10/06/2023) Score Predictions]

I see a rather uncomfortably competitive win over a pretty terrible FCS team has some of y'all feeling pretty good!
Not me.
For instance, this bad Navy defense allowed 0 points to FCS Wagner.    NT's even worse defense allowed 31 points to FCS ACU.
NT is going to score points, for sure.   But Navy's Triple Option is going to shred this defense up.

Navy: 48
NT: 38

[Early Prediction - Will we hold Navy to less than 500 yards offense?]

46 minutes ago, greenminer said:

Dilfer’s “uncomfortable” defensive staff just surrendered 21 2H points and lost.

just win

I don’t see a HC in Morris that looks apathetic. I think he prefers to handle these things behind closed doors.  And I think he knows this kind of defense is not going to win tons of games.

now, if we are losing loads of games and I see apathy on a level with end-of-SLs-tenure, then I will raise the pitchforks.

I definitely don’t think SL was “apathetic”.  I think he wanted to win.  The guys were obviously playing hard for him.

And I don’t know what else he could’ve done defensively.   He basically pulled one of the better DCs we’ve seen in a while, and gave him the keys.  I think we’re 3-1 with a much better fan-feel if PB we’re still running the defense.

[Our Defense is TERRIBLE!!!]

44 minutes ago, NorthTexan95 said:

Fun offense, bad defense ... sounds very, very familiar.  

[So we really can't criticize the head coach, eh?]

1 hour ago, wardly said:

So someone posted information regarding the number of transfers that Texas State signed this year and because Morris was hired later that he was a step behind the Bobcat's coach in this recruiting vehicle [ I am paraphrasing ]. I asked what was the time difference between the two hires. The next thing I know is that I am blocked from this post, which had been deleted. I can only assume that someone responded to the original post in a manner that was illegal, immoral ,or fattening as the original post and my response to it seemed harmless. Anyone know what happened to cause the original post to be removed? Just asking.

[Extend Eric Morris!]

16 hours ago, BillySee58 said:

I agree. We need him here for a long time. It’s clear he’s building something special here just like he did before at UIW. The only guys the offense is set to lose are Burns and Moreka, and should be able to shore up the defense in the portal. I think we win 7 or so this year then push for double digits next year.

You're probably right.   With all the excitement happening on Saturdays, it's only a matter of time before some P5 comes calling.

[Fire The Mods Now!]

[So we really can't criticize the head coach, eh?]

10 hours ago, GrandGreen said:

I am definitely missing something here.   Is this not a private board and the owners basically have control within the rules of the internet?  

GMG provides a free service and it is up to the users if they want to participate or not.  

The site owners don't owe the users anything.   

Look at other sites and I believe you will be much more appreciative of this messageboard.

 

Agree.
If Harry and the mods/admins wanted to replace every mention of the words "Mean Green" with the words "Fart Farts", he/they certainly could. 
If Harry and the mods/admins wanted to remove every thread ever created with the exception of threads exhorting Todd Dodge & Tony Benford, he/they certainly could.

This is Harry's world.  We're all just living in it.

Thanks @Harry!

[So we really can't criticize the head coach, eh?]

Just now, Udomann said:

Your MySpace page?

[So we really can't criticize the head coach, eh?]

You mad guys obviously won't get access to the VIP forum.   But you may be interested in the spinnoff board.

[UNT Soccer - RPI Ranking!]

This is a really good team.  Looking forward to Brown/Burnell/Wesco gel’ing up top & all of the goals they put in as the season rolls along.

[North Texas in 4 Man Front]

19 hours ago, Coach_1976 said:

What has happened is they have taken Mike LB and moved to just a Will and Sam backer. Think I would have moved a DB out and gone 4/3/4. But I’ve only coached at Middle school level.

Isn’t this exactly what Bennett’s D was?  4-2-5?  Hence, why Mazin was able to make an impact when in that look.

[Game Thread: 9/16 @ LA Tech]

This looks like a different team than what we’ve seen so far.

Morris seems to have figured out our OL is full of mean maulers that like to run block.  Glad the run game has been working.   I really believe it’s helping the defense a lot.

LATech still got that quick strike to end the half, which is concerning.  But, hey, at least we were able to answer!

[DCTF: Are Texas State and North Texas Case Studies in Roster Building]

32 minutes ago, TreeFiddy said:

The offense should be a no brainer.  Air Raid to Air Raid with minor differences.  ...

 

To level set fairly, this is not accurate.   
We were definitely running Briles' Veer-&-shoot under Bloesch, with a few Air Raid nuances from Littrell.   It's a different offensive philosophy altogether, and we've seen that with the cliff-like dropoff of RB production.    But, Morris being an OC by trade, he can implement and run his Air Raid.   We saw it work against FIU to the tune of 39 points.    I expect it to get better as the year goes on as well.  Especially if he sticks with Rogers.

But yeah, apparently you need more LBs to run a 3-3-5 instead of the 4-2-5 Bennett was running defensively.  Who knew?   Then you lose a guy who started a bunch of games over the past few years.... you may want to try and find a guy to play there if you're not sure Wesloski & Brown can do it.  Preferably, a guy that wasn't playing QB his whole career prior.

[DCTF: Are Texas State and North Texas Case Studies in Roster Building]

I read that losing KD Davis and Larry Nixon III was the catastrophe.   And heck, maybe it is.  Maybe we're underestimating how great KD really was, and to an extent, how good Nixon was (although Nixon could barely play over Wood).

- We replaced Jyaire Shorter with a TCU transfer and a Tech transfer.   No problem, as Shorter was not necessarily the most reliable guy to suit-out every game.    For as awesome as he was, he missed a lot due to injury in the past 2 years.   
- We replaced Manase with Miner, and that has not been a problem at all.   The rest of the offense remains in-tact, including the great OL & entire stable of RBs.
- We upgraded the safety spot Faulkner occupied by grabbing Hill from UNLV.
- Texada and Davis (when healthy) were already starting most of the snaps at CB anyway, so losing Gaddie didn't really hurt that bad.
- Obviously, Brown is not KD.  And I've seen some nice things from Wesloski, but he still has some development required before he's at Nixon's level.    So with the importance of LBs in the 3-3-5, why wouldn't NT hit up this guy, who was in the portal at the time Nixon entered, but wound up at ULM?

I'm really tired of hearing deflections away from coaches to the players.   That has to stop.   These are, for the most part, the same guys that were somewhat-successful last year under Bennett (whom, outside of Davis, appears to be the biggest loss of all).