akriesman

And I 2nd that.

Saying the team lacks talent overall should not be seen as a direct attack on the players IMO. Most players probably have pretty high egos and probably assume that the comments are directed at someone else. On the other hand, singling out individual players for attack here cannot be a good thing. Most of us here have probably played some level of team sport competition. I think everyone sees themselves on a higher plateau than what they really are. Welcome OA5II. Thanks for taking the time for your comments.

Great to hear about the young guys playing more.....lets do it. The big plays against us (offense and defense) have caused us to be 0-5. I did come checking around and was kind of shocked by some of the numbers this year. North Texas has more first downs than their opponents (111 to 106). But, NT has give up 9 touchdowns of 35 yards or more. When you consider that NT has played Oklahoma and Arkansas in those 5 games, the first down numbers are pretty shocking to me. In games against FAU, SMU and ULL, North Texas wins the first down battle 80 to 49. I cannot find the time of possession for those games. But, I would assume that our offense is doing pretty well in that regard, since they are winning the first down battle. What does this tell me ? TD's system can move the ball and keep the our defense off the field. So, fatigue should not really be a problem for the D. The defense has to minimize the number of huge plays. I have no doubt that the defense could switch to a bend, but not break, formation and minimize the number of big plays. But, my guess is that the team is implementing the defense that they will run in the future, when they will have better athletes to win the 1-on-1 matchups (no disrespect to the current players). To play Mendoza's D schemes, we need better athletes from what I have seen (I am not a coach). If the top notch athletes on D don't come in the next year or two, the scheme will have to change. Two years from now this offense is going to put up some incredible numbers. IMHO, they are already overachieving this season. We need time and a few athletes. When that happens, I think we are going to see a dramatic turnaround. It is going to happen folks. One more thing.....I think both the offensive and defensive numbers are skewed somewhat. With this offense, the games are longer and more plays are executed. As a result, both the offensive and defensive numbers are going to be higher than they normally would. Just my thoughts as an armchair coach

Come on guys. This thread is embarrassing IMHO, a lot of the expectations were way too high coming into the season. Yes the defense is underachieving. But, please give the team some time to work things out. We all agree that the problem right now goes beyond player talent. But, we have a group of coaches that know each other and will work things out together. These guys know far more about what is going on than we do. If coach Mendoza and the other guys feel that they need some outside help, you can bet they will do whatever it takes to improve the situation. Yes, it is bad. But, it will get better. The defensive problems have obviously caught the coaching staff off guard. Lets give them a little time to adjust. Don't say something now that you will regret when all this gets turned around. People do remember those that prematurely jump off the bandwagon.

Funny that you mentioned this Rick. I was thinking about Idaho while watching the game saturday night. That is a pretty scary stat.

"To be exact: North Texas: 40:26......ULL: 19:34 " So much for the defense being tired......

Thanks. Sorry that I missed that earlier.

Is it just me, or have the length of our games increased by about 30-45 minutes ? I assume this is due to the no huddle offense. But, the games definately seem to be longer. I tried to verify this online. But could not get enough info.

Wow. Tough to argue with the facts.

Bingo ! That toughness is the leadership we need. You can't be a top QB without it. When Vizza throws a bad pick, he does not sulk. Instead, he comes out firing again.

Nice post Smitty. The team needs our full support NOW.

The difference is that Vizza got stronger has the game went on. And, he never had that "deer in the headlights" look. It was his very first full college game. If you take out the first 3 or 4 drives, he played a really good game.

"That is what I hear. Though I have been told he probably wouldn't fire him, but move him to another role on the team, and bring in someone else. " I suspect this is true. And, it is probably the right thing to do after this season.

yyz28, I can't argue with anything you are saying. The defense has been completely putrid. But, the guy needs more time than 5 games.

"Vizza exhibited EVERY PROBLEM people on this board beat on Meager about," Not true. Vizza showed more leadership. And, I think he runs the running part of the spread better (those option dives, or whatever they are called). I am not trying to bash Meager. And, I was not one that was calling for his benching. But, I was really happy with what I saw from Vizza tonight. And, he will get better.

Vizza is a TRUE freshman making his first start. That was a pretty damn good performance overall. He gained confidence as the game went on and showed leadership skills that are sorely needed right now. Congrats to Vizza. You should be pretty proud of that performance, which was good enough to win. Vizza will cut down on the turnovers as time goes on, which is why he needs to be playing now. On the other hand, you have to agree with Rick that we won't win until the D shapes up.

I just don't get it either. 3 times in the 4th quarter the defense had a chance to make a big stop and give the offense a chance to win. They failed all 3 times.

With just a little help from the defense, tonight would have been a victory. The early turnovers hurt. But, the offense came around and played very well in the 2nd half. The offense has a good excuse for having some rough edges this season. The defense has no such excuse. A little bending would be OK. But, the 'D' is completely out of wack.

I guess we will win our first game when Vizza leads to team to a score on every drive That is, provided we get the ball last

I am trying to be patient with Mendoza's schemes. But, the learning curve should not cause this big of a dropoff. I just cannot believe that this is all a lack of talent on defense. No way.

I am just speechless.

Well, here we go again. If the defense was going to pick a time to make a stand this season, now is as good as ever.

I am really excited about the offense. I see no reason why Vizza won't finish out the season.

Our defense just cannot get it done at all when it counts. Very upsetting. 428 yards of offense and we are down by 9 again.

Defense has to keep them out of the endzone. Come on guys!!!