UNT Announces Football Spring Game Festivities April 6

SilverEagle · April 7

2 hours ago, GMG_Dallas said:

How did arm strength compare?

Mid-range arm accuracy and quick release is much more important. One of the problems with Aune and Ruder was that sometimes they would throw the ball so hard it would hit the receiver in the hands or "bread basket" and bounce out.

MeanGreen22 · April 7

9 hours ago, GreenBacker said:

17-22 for 214 yards according to Vito for Earle. Pretty good percentage. My understanding is they made White play into the wind the whole game instead of flipping. Maybe because the lead was so big?

He also threw multiple passes that 100% should have been intercepted but either his receiver saved him or the DB didn’t make the play.

SilverEagle · April 7

15 minutes ago, MeanGreen22 said:

He also threw multiple passes that 100% should have been intercepted but either his receiver saved him or the DB didn’t make the play.

No, that happened (pic-6) to Cash (everyone latest shiny object). I think about two times.

MeanGreen22 · April 7

23 minutes ago, SilverEagle said:

No, that happened (pic-6) to Cash (everyone latest shiny object). I think about two times.

I think one was Cash and the other Reese. I’m saying Stone could have easily had one too. Had a throw to the sideline that was telegraphed and DB had a clean break at it. If I remember right, the WR was able to come back and make a play on the ball to save him.

I guess the ultimate silver lining is that our DBs were flying around yesterday. Absolutely hunting INTs.

Edited April 7 by MeanGreen22

SilverEagle · April 7

5 minutes ago, MeanGreen22 said:

I think one was Cash and the other Reese. I’m saying Stone could have easily had one too. Had a throw to the sideline that was telegraphed and DB had a clean break at it. If I remember right, the WR was able to come back and make a play on the ball to save him.

I guess the ultimate silver lining is that our DBs were flying around yesterday. Absolutely hunting INTs.

....and how many close calls like that happened to Mason Fine during his career?

Green Lantern · April 7

13 hours ago, MeanGreen22 said:

My Spring game takeaway: Chandler Morris will be QB1 by week 2 on campus.

Earle looked the best. That said, they all threw balls that either were actually picked (2 pick 6’s) or should/would have been picked by teams in regular season action. Morris should be QB1 this fall. If not, I’m concerned about the team’s ceiling right off the bat.

Lack of DL size and depth continues to be a problem. Can’t believe we didn’t aggressively address this in the portal in the off season. Crazy.

Tackling in running situations seemed more consistent to me. Don’t know if that’s a product of less RB talent than last year or improvement in the defensive talent and comfort in scheme. Safeties are bigger and look more athletic than last year.

Edited April 7 by Green Lantern

Tommy Gadberry · April 7

46 minutes ago, Green Lantern said:

Lack of DL size and depth continues to be a problem. Can’t believe we didn’t aggressively address this in the portal in the off season. Crazy.

My group said the exact same thing yesterday. How can they expect to compete with this? Frustrated!

Glory to the Green · April 7

1 hour ago, Tommy Gadberry said:

My group said the exact same thing yesterday. How can they expect to compete with this? Frustrated!

I’ve seen a couple of DL offers sent out the last few days. The coaches seem to think it’s an area of need. Would have liked to get in some guys for spring ball. We’ll see if we can land some contributors…

GMG_Dallas · April 7

5 hours ago, SilverEagle said:

Mid-range arm accuracy and quick release is much more important. One of the problems with Aune and Ruder was that sometimes they would throw the ball so hard it would hit the receiver in the hands or "bread basket" and bounce out.

Completely agree. It was just a question out of curiosity. That deep ball threat still has to exist to keep the safeties honest.

Glory to the Green · April 7

1 hour ago, NT80 said:

Vito’s DRC article about the scrimmage quoted Morris looking at the Portal when it opens for DL help. Depends on how many ships we have left. When does it open?

The 2024 college football transfer portal will open for the spring transfer window on April 16 and run through April 30.

https://247sports.com/college/transfer-portal/article/college-football-transfer-portal-faq-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-april-16-30-spring-window-229788456/

GMG_Dallas · April 7

6 hours ago, SilverEagle said:

We better hope that he is more durable than when he was at TCU. OR that he can get rid of the ball quickly.

Based on what you saw yesterday, if Morris is QB1 but goes down for some games, who would you rather take over: Earle or McCollum? Obviously Earle has the experience but McCollum has more upside with him being a freshman. Who do you feel is more capable of winning a game or two if needed? I'm still scarred by that FIU game...

Edited April 7 by GMG_Dallas

SilverEagle · April 8

4 hours ago, GMG_Dallas said:

Based on what you saw yesterday, if Morris is QB1 but goes down for some games, who would you rather take over: Earle or McCollum? Obviously Earle has the experience but McCollum has more upside with him being a freshman. Who do you feel is more capable of winning a game or two if needed? I'm still scarred by that FIU game...

Well, Earl is certainly capable of winning games, but he needs a talented and confident team surrounding him. I don't understand how being a freshman is any sort of upside. He's either a person that is mostly confident in his abilities by the time he gets here or his's not. His body language conveyed confidence to me. There was no "deer in the headlights" look about his play. He's physically talented and mostly needs (as the old saying goes) some rough spots smoothed out. He loves throwing the long ball, but the mid-range needs to be worked on.

Speaking of confident players, did they hold Landon Sides out because they didn't want to risk injury, or was he injured?

Edited April 8 by SilverEagle

Glory to the Green · April 8

16 minutes ago, SilverEagle said:

Speaking of confident players, did they hold Landon Sides out because they didn't want to risk injury, or was he injured?

I think he has a knee injury that is keeping him out of spring ball. He should be good to go by fall.

New2Green · April 8

On 4/6/2024 at 8:12 PM, Tommy Gadberry said:

Porter looked good to my eyes!

He wasn’t anywhere near 100% healthy so good to see what he was able to do not 100%

MeanGreen2024 · April 8

GMG_Dallas · April 8

22 hours ago, SilverEagle said:

Well, Earl is certainly capable of winning games, but he needs a talented and confident team surrounding him. I don't understand how being a freshman is any sort of upside. He's either a person that is mostly confident in his abilities by the time he gets here or his's not. His body language conveyed confidence to me. There was no "deer in the headlights" look about his play. He's physically talented and mostly needs (as the old saying goes) some rough spots smoothed out. He loves throwing the long ball, but the mid-range needs to be worked on.

Speaking of confident players, did they hold Landon Sides out because they didn't want to risk injury, or was he injured?

Being a freshman means more upside for the simple reason that he has more time to develop into a stud. If Earle and McCollum can give you about the same right now, I'd rather go with the guy who has 3 more years. That early experience is valuable. I'm thinking of the Fine vs Morris battle where neither was going to give you much but rolling with the freshman payed dividends the following 3 years.

Back to the onfield play, if McCollum can't figure out the intermediate game, that's going to be a problem for us.

Edited April 8 by GMG_Dallas

NT93 · April 9

2 hours ago, GMG_Dallas said:

Being a freshman means more upside for the simple reason that he has more time to develop into a stud. If Earle and McCollum can give you about the same right now, I'd rather go with the guy who has 3 more years. That early experience is valuable. I'm thinking of the Fine vs Morris battle where neither was going to give you much but rolling with the freshman payed dividends the following 3 years.

Back to the onfield play, if McCollum can't figure out the intermediate game, that's going to be a problem for us.

This used to be true, but not anymore.

Even if McCollum didn’t play this year, we would still know that he was likely our future QB and we could look forward to “the McCollum era.” Those days are gone.