Camp Starts Tomorrow

[AustinFromUNT]

Fall football camp starts tomorrow. What are you most looking forward to about camp? Who do you want to see excel? Can the season start any sooner???

[Mean Green 93-98]

I really want to see Fine excel.  Or failing that, Shanbour.  I feel pretty good about our defense and running game.  But for us to have a winning record, we have to improve our passing game.  That means we need significant improvement from the WR corps and O-line pass protection.  But it all begins with having a smart, playmaking QB.

[GrandGreen]

Yes, it will be great to have an active sport to argue about.   I think there are a lot of position battles that will be very interesting.

 Maybe the most competitive will be the offensive line.  There are more offensive linemen on the team than I can ever remember and just looking at the roster, I think there about twelve players that should be legitimately competing for a starting position.  I think this may be the most improved segment of the team.  

The most concerning part of the team imo is the linebacker corp, there are going to have to be some new players whether they are freshmen or walk-ons that must significantly contribute.  I wish they had spend some of those ships for ol on linebackers.

The strength of the team should be the defensive line and secondary.  

The QB position must substantially improve.  I think the best bet is Fine just getting more confidence and better.  Shanbour, Pearson, Isadore and O'Hara are all without game experience and none were highly sought. 

Running back is a strength and I think the wr's will be significantly better.   Vito's talks of the loses at this position, but this group was very weak last year.

My premature non-informed ratings of the units.

Plus: 

Defensive backfield 

Defensive line

Running backs

Average:

Offensive line

Questionable:

Receiving

Quarterback

Minus:

Linebackers

[THOR]

don't forget about our new punter...i hope he lives up to our expectations for a punter

[El Paso Eagle]

1 hour ago, Mean Green 93-98 said:

I really want to see Fine excel.  Or failing that, Shanbour.  I feel pretty good about our defense and running game.  But for us to have a winning record, we have to improve our passing game.  That means we need significant improvement from the WR corps and O-line pass protection.  But it all begins with having a smart, playmaking QB.

Two areas I am the most concerned about. Number one, Fine.  I am hoping he comes in and clearly separates himself from everyone else. If there is not a wide gap in difference between him and number two this worries me. Number two, the offense line. How they come together will be the big difference in my opinion. If they can play good to solid ball I think we could be in for some nice surprises this year.How they come together will be the big difference in my opinion. If they can play good to solid ball I think we could be in for some nice surprises this year.

[emmitt01]

I want to see an emphasis on playing a "clean" game.  

Eliminating false starts, offsides and holding penalties will be the difference in games at our current talent level.

Edited July 30, 2017 by emmitt01

[UNT 90 Grad]

Can't have a good camp without s'mores!

S'more maturity in Fine.

S'more growth and durability in Wilson.

S'more new tricks up our sleeves in special teams with new leadership. 

S'more vision on defense without co-defensive coordinators.  

etc.

 

[BTG_Fan1]

3 hours ago, AustinFromUNT said:

Fall football camp starts tomorrow. What are you most looking forward to about camp? Who do you want to see excel? Can the season start any sooner???

Hoping and praying that this offense can play fast and smart...

2 things on each side of the ball...

1) Fine needs to have better understanding of the offense and be more accurate with passes... He did not help the WRs last year at times, nor did they help him either.

2)Offensive line have a better  understanding and ability to know who should play where... us using multiple different OL alignments during the season (and even during some games) can hurt us... Excited to see what Mose the G from Trinity can do, and what the T from ACU (mayfield, I believe) and hope they can come in and right the ship and allow other guys to fall into place.

Defense-

1) Improve the pass-rush, and hopefully it will happen with a better/deeper DL and another year under Reff. More pressure hopefully allows for more INTs which hopefully will lead to McClain and Jenks getting NFL attention. 

2) LB Depth is something that is very, very worrisome to me

42 minutes ago, UNT 90 Grad said:

S'more maturity in Fine.

S'more growth and durability in Wilson.

S'more new tricks up our sleeves in special teams with new leadership. 

S'more vision on defense without co-defensive coordinators.  

Hopefully Wilson will get a break more with someone like Nic Smith..

More trick plays after Keena? Im just hoping for the same level of play

Hopefully having 1 voice, and another year in the scheme will help, plus Reff is the man who has used this defense for years.. hopefully will have better results

[SilverEagle]

58 minutes ago, emmitt01 said:

I want to see an emphasis on playing a "clean" game.  

Eliminating false starts, offsides and holding penalties will be the difference in games at our current talent level.

Totally agree. Both of those are drive killers.......especially the holding. Which usually happens when they are trying to protect their QB. Which leads us back to better QB play.

[El Paso Eagle]

5 hours ago, emmitt01 said:

I want to see an emphasis on playing a "clean" game.  

Eliminating false starts, offsides and holding penalties will be the difference in games at our current talent level.

Great Post. 

[llaacy]

I have a lot of expectations for Fine this year. I don't know what it is about the guy but I believe he has the ability to be the leader this program needs. Obviously an improved third down defense would be nice, as well. 

[Harry]

13 minutes ago, llaacy said:

I have a lot of expectations for Fine this year. I don't know what it is about the guy but I believe he has the ability to be the leader this program needs. Obviously an improved third down defense would be nice, as well. 

He has to improve his accuracy especially in the long ball.  He's a really smart valedictorian type of kid so my hope is the game will slow down for him.  I have high hopes for him and hope we can keep him healthy.

[MeanGreenTexan]

Biggest concern: O-Line.    Losing Rice & Keenan hurts, but not as much as losing Coach Davis.  Expecting Manase to wrestle the starting RG spot away from whoever currently has it.  Need Miles, Murray & Woodworth to step up their game & challenge each other.  Henson is good, and I like Kirby Barr too.

If these guys cannot pass-pro, we may as well put Shanbour back there since he's a runner, and could at least turn nothing into a little-less-nothing.  I hope Fine has been working on making quick decisions, including when to throw the ball away.

Biggest ?: The whole defense.  Now that Reffett is 100% in-charge of his unit, I wonder how different it will be.  I love the secondary.  LBs are good, but lack depth, and with the expectations heaped on English, I hope he doesn't disappoint, or we'll consider the DL a weakness.

Highest Expectations:  RBs.  Coach Littrell is also the position coach, and has Coach Choice helping.  Wilson is a Senior.  Nick Smith is coming off a redshirt year with some expectations, and Tucker has always been effective when healthy.  All 3 are kindof the same type of RB.  Hoping a guy like Siggers can come in and be the Willy Ivery-type, sparkplug, 3rd-down guy.

 

EDIT: I keep getting the departed Kaydon Kirby & Creighton Barr mixed up.

Edited July 31, 2017 by MeanGreenTexan

[MGNation92]

3 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Highest Expectations:  RBs.  Coach Littrell is also the position coach, and has Coach Choice helping.  Wilson is a Senior.  Nick Smith is coming off a redshirt year with some expectations, and Tucker has always been effective when healthy.  All 3 are kindof the same type of RB.  Hoping a guy like Siggers can come in and be the Willy Ivery-type, sparkplug, 3rd-down guy.

I was highly impressed with Christian Hosley. I think he'll fit that role quite well. I also think both Siggers and Evan Johnson will play Slot/RB and do a lot of damage. I'm looking forward to (hopefully) seeing 2 back sets and seeing what kind of mismatches they can get running routes out of the backfield.

[TIgreen01]

1. No drop off in special teams.  Tommy Perry fielded very good units over the years.  Sorry to see him leave.  I hope SL has hired a solid replacement and we don't get the cliff dive we got when Dodge came to town.  We need this unit to be good to help pick up the slack for a young offense and put them into good field position.

2. On paper, O line is a concern but SL has been talking it up recently.  Hoping he's right and this unit turns out to be a strength.  

3. Finding another playmaker (or multiple) amongst our skill position guys.  Being one dimensional again will spell trouble for Fine and the rest of our offense.  I think Bussey looks the part, but he needs to stay healthy.  It would be nice for the hybrid-TE position (or whatever we're calling it in this offense) to produce one of these guys, as well.

4. No major injuries on defense.  We've got some serious talent on this side of the ball.  Need to keep them healthy into the season so they can be the difference making unit we expect/need them to be.

 

[GOMG2013]

47 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

 

Biggest ?: The whole defense.  Now that Reffett is 100% in-charge of his unit, I wonder how different it will be.  I love the secondary.  LBs are good, but lack depth, and with the expectations heaped on English, I hope he doesn't disappoint, or we'll consider the DL a weakness.

I am looking forward to seeing what ref does with the defense cause I am expecting a lot more pressure and agressive play.  I think Jenkins will have a big year because he is a ball hawk and is not scared to jump routes.  Nate is a great zone corner but he has to work on his man to man.  Really he had good position a lot of times, but just need to get that head turned around.  If ref is going to be aggresive, I think there will be a lot more gambling with the safeties.  I would hope with the improved DLine, we can get a real ball hawking nickel back that can cover instead of some one that needs to help out in stopping the run.

[Mean Green 93-98]

57 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Biggest concern: O-Line.    Losing Rice & Keenan hurts, but not as much as losing Coach Davis.  Expecting Manase to wrestle the starting RG spot away from whoever currently has it.  Need Miles, Murray & Woodworth to step up their game & challenge each other.  Henson is good, and I like Kirby too.

If these guys cannot pass-pro, we may as well put Shanbour back there since he's a runner, and could at least turn nothing into a little-less-nothing.  I hope Fine has been working on making quick decisions, including when to throw the ball away.

Biggest ?: The whole defense.  Now that Reffett is 100% in-charge of his unit, I wonder how different it will be.  I love the secondary.  LBs are good, but lack depth, and with the expectations heaped on English, I hope he doesn't disappoint, or we'll consider the DL a weakness.

Highest Expectations:  RBs.  Coach Littrell is also the position coach, and has Coach Choice helping.  Wilson is a Senior.  Nick Smith is coming off a redshirt year with some expectations, and Tucker has always been effective when healthy.  All 3 are kindof the same type of RB.  Hoping a guy like Siggers can come in and be the Willy Ivery-type, sparkplug, 3rd-down guy.

Great thoughts.  I'm not sure that the success of the D-line depends quite that much on English, though.  Even if he were a complete bust, we just slide Rod Young back inside, and we're in good shape.  That said, barring injury, he won't be a bust.  The very fact that the coaches feel comfortable moving Young to DE tells you how confident they are in English.

[TreeFiddy]

Still can't believe we did not add a JUCO LB.  I hope that is a good sign that coaches are confident that a couple of lesser known guys are ready to contribute.

[MeanGreenTexan]

34 minutes ago, GOMG2013 said:

I am looking forward to seeing what ref does with the defense cause I am expecting a lot more pressure and agressive play.  I think Jenkins will have a big year because he is a ball hawk and is not scared to jump routes.  Nate is a great zone corner but he has to work on his man to man.  Really he had good position a lot of times, but just need to get that head turned around.  If ref is going to be aggresive, I think there will be a lot more gambling with the safeties.  I would hope with the improved DLine, we can get a real ball hawking nickel back that can cover instead of some one that needs to help out in stopping the run.

Nate gets the #1 assignments.
I just remember watching Nate get frustrated and completely melt down right before my eyes while being shredded by Carlos Henderson last year.  Henderson easily got in his head & made him pay.  Same thing happened to him VS WKU's Taylor (both in the NFL now).  
Other than Richie James (who we won't see this year unless we match up in the Conference championship game!), I don't think there's another guy on that level in CUSA.  Combine that with another year of maturation, and I think Nate is primed for a great year.  His biggest challenge this year will be Courtland Sutton...  and that guy had better have double-coverage or brackets on him all game long.

[Ben Gooding]

21 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Nate gets the #1 assignments.
I just remember watching Nate get frustrated and completely melt down right before my eyes while being shredded by Carlos Henderson last year.  Henderson easily got in his head & made him pay.  Same thing happened to him VS WKU's Taylor (both in the NFL now).  
Other than Richie James (who we won't see this year unless we match up in the Conference championship game!), I don't think there's another guy on that level in CUSA.  Combine that with another year of maturation, and I think Nate is primed for a great year.  His biggest challenge this year will be Courtland Sutton...  and that guy had better have double-coverage or brackets on him all game long.

word. 

[BTG_Fan1]

29 minutes ago, TreeFiddy said:

Still can't believe we did not add a JUCO LB.  I hope that is a good sign that coaches are confident that a couple of lesser known guys are ready to contribute.

Hopefully they can find a guy late, which is unlikely but we can hope

[GOMG2013]

11 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Nate gets the #1 assignments.

Not trying to nitpick, but Nate played exclusively at left corner.  It's not like he stayed matched up on the teams best wr at all times and followed them.  

 Davis played only right corner.  Jenkins is the only one that played a little of both sides.  Most of the time there was a safety over the top of Nate since the left side is usually attacked more.  Bad thing is all 3 safeties were committed to helping the front guys instead of pass coverage.

The defense is not going to work if the front guys can't stop basic run plays and apply pressure. Ref seems to take more risks, im hearing there will most likely be more man to man...maybe...hopefully... even some press coverage.  I mean, if we're gonna get beat, at least give the dbs a fighting chance with a blitz and tight coverage.  I think we will still get picked apart by good QBs that are protected well, but I think ref is going to come after any inexperienced QBS and teams that don't have a Sutton type WR.

I doubt ref leaves Sutton one on one.  That is just stupid, horrible coaching.

Correction.  Not right and left corner...field and boundary corner.   

Edited August 1, 2017 by GOMG2013

[GMG24]

8 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Nate gets the #1 assignments.
I just remember watching Nate get frustrated and completely melt down right before my eyes while being shredded by Carlos Henderson last year.  Henderson easily got in his head & made him pay.  Same thing happened to him VS WKU's Taylor (both in the NFL now).  
Other than Richie James (who we won't see this year unless we match up in the Conference championship game!), I don't think there's another guy on that level in CUSA.  Combine that with another year of maturation, and I think Nate is primed for a great year.  His biggest challenge this year will be Courtland Sutton...  and that guy had better have double-coverage or brackets on him all game long.

I think you'll be pleased with our secondary's progress.  A guy who trains local HS DB and college kids told me they've been working all summer in man technique every one of our DBs.  His opinion, Brooks best player in secondary, McClain could be a NFL talent if he has break out season with a few more INT/PBU's, said Jenkins is the hardest worker of the group FWIW.