Ok, now that I'm calmer

[emmitt01]

I knew that when I logged onto the board tonight I'd see a lot of negativity and every post would talk about firing Dickey or how our playcalling is horrible...or, heaven forbid, talk about firing an AD who took us out of the valley of the shadow of death because *gasp* someone had to wait to get into Fouts Field when they didn't make an effort to get into the stadium before kickoff. Let's look at a few things and then tell me where the logic in all this is:

1)We had a decent crowd. I know, I know, it's not that common but suspend your disbelief for a moment. With the normal extremely late arriving crowd, an effort to get a true butts in seats number, and the fact that large crowds are an anomaly do we really expect a stellar gameplan for handling the numbers that showed up. We are so, so, so, so, spoiled at North Texas.

2)Jamario is nursing a hamstring injury...still.

3)Our quarterback is young, has trouble on his deep ball, and was facing a blitz allllll night long.

4)Tulsa knows this (about our QB) and is putting 8 and 9 in the box on EVERY play.

5)Our O-Line got whooped.

6)Oh yeah, Tulsa is pretty good.

7)We killed every possession we had with dumb penalties....sure, this is a discipline issue that the coach should take care of, but he's not out there playing.

Now, before anyone calls me a Dicky apologist or thinks I'm satisfied with the product on the field tell me one thing: What play do you call when your quarterback has ONE game of experience, your O-Line gives neither him nor your backs an inch of breathing room, your team isn't making great decisions, and the other team just might be as/more talented? All I'm saying is that until our passing game is a threat, ANY THREAT, the playbook will be extremely slim by necessity not choice, we will see teams daring us to throw, and we will have "knee jerk day" on GMG.com

[mini_green_cooper]

i couldn't have said it better. thanks emmitt

[TheColonyEagle]

I pretty much agree.

I told my friend, "I hope you got a good look at this big crowd, it will be about 10 to 12,000 smaller next game.

We actually beat them in time of possession. (Which should be a key to keeping us in any game, right?)

I don't remember seeing an offensive line get man handled the way ours did last night. Now 5 or 6 blocking 8 or 9 is gonna have trouble, but WOW did Tulsa have their ears pinned back the entire game!

Better get the hot routes ready because it won't take a genius defensive coordinator to figure out how to play us the rest of the way.

I can't figure out if Tulsa's D is really fast or we're that slow.

Truman Spencer may just be a good one.

Jamel Branch has never done anything for me on end arounds. He's this big "threat" but always seems to get about 3 yards.

Patrick Cobbs made the sweetest f-ing juke I've ever seen in my entire life.

I'm glad I brought a girl to the game. Her first UNT game. "Oh yeah, the games are a blast, you've got to see our running backs, they're expecting a big crowd, we'll have fun."

I like the upgrades to the hospitality deck.

One of my buddies had me laughing at the end of the game. He kept looking around at all the little kids assuming it was their first game and saying, "Daddy, I thought we were gonna see those good running backs? I thought they were gonna run up and down the field for me Daddy?"

- "I don't know son.............I don't know."

So, hey, we got our butts kicked. Maybe KState will be looking past us. I think they open conference the week after.

Edited September 18, 2005 by TheColonyEagle

[GreenBrigadeDebbie]

You summed up everything very well Emmitt.

[GreenEagle05]

Way to keep it positive man. I'm glad to see someone who has been around for a while keeping his head in the game.

[GreenBat]

I knew that when I logged onto the board tonight I'd see a lot of negativity and every post would talk about firing Dickey or how our playcalling is horrible...or, heaven forbid, talk about firing an AD who took us out of the valley of the shadow of death because *gasp* someone had to wait to get into Fouts Field when they didn't make an effort to get into the stadium before kickoff.  Let's look at a few things and then tell me where the logic in all this is:

1)We had a decent crowd.  I know, I know, it's not that common but suspend your disbelief for a moment.  With the normal extremely late arriving crowd, an effort to get a true butts in seats number, and the fact that large crowds are an anomaly do we really expect a stellar gameplan for handling the numbers that showed up.  We are so, so, so, so, spoiled at North Texas. 

2)Jamario is nursing a hamstring injury...still.

3)Our quarterback is young, has trouble on his deep ball, and was facing a blitz allllll night long.

4)Tulsa knows this (about our QB) and is putting 8 and 9 in the box on EVERY play. 

5)Our O-Line got whooped.

6)Oh yeah, Tulsa is pretty good.

7)We killed every possession we had with dumb penalties....sure, this is a discipline issue that the coach should take care of, but he's not out there playing. 

Now, before anyone calls me a Dicky apologist or thinks I'm satisfied with the product on the field tell me one thing:  What play do you call when your quarterback has ONE game of experience, your O-Line gives neither him nor your backs an inch of breathing room, your team isn't making great decisions, and the other team just might be as/more talented?  All I'm saying is that until our passing game is a threat, ANY THREAT, the playbook will be extremely slim by necessity not choice, we will see teams daring us to throw, and we will have "knee jerk day" on GMG.com

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emmitt,

When I saw you at halftime, you said Harry would spin this performance into a smile. You did a pretty good job with the spin!

[TIgreen01]

No "knee jerk" here. I have been watching this same sorry gameplan of DD's for what seems like forever (what is it?--7 or 8 years?). I've defended it before (yes, this gameplan will win the Sun Belt most years), but I'm getting tired....

[ForneyGreen]

I do appreciate the words of optimism and the reminder that "the sky is really not falling". But... as Mean Green faithful, I do think we have some things to be upset about today:

1)We had a decent crowd. 

I would have expected this team to be MUCH better prepared for Tulsa - the approach to this game should have been as a Big, Big Game.

2)Jamario is nursing a hamstring injury...still.

Great point, and we'll pray that the hammy improves over the next 2-3 weeks (it should with good care).

3)Our quarterback is young, has trouble on his deep ball, and was facing a blitz allllll night long.

Yes, so why does the offense run plays as if we're not going to see a blitz and 9 in the box on every play? Why aren't we running plays that explicitly take advantage of this type of defense. Slants - skinny posts to TE's - 8 yard comeback against single coverage... I just don't understand why we look so unprepared for the type of defense that we'll see every single week. And... I'm still very frustrated that we couldn't at least find an above-average JUCO QB for this season. Meager will be fine over time, but our QB situation right now just isn't good.

4)Tulsa knows this (about our QB) and is putting 8 and 9 in the box on EVERY play. 

Again, we have to stop preparing for Tulsa like we would for Nicholls State - don't expect that we can block 9 people in the box - take advantage of single coverage and open slants.

5)Our O-Line got whooped.

Agreed - they should get a good chewing this week.

6)Oh yeah, Tulsa is pretty good.

They sure looked like world-beaters against us!!! And I agree with you - they have a nice team. We do too... our good team just didn't show up.

7)We killed every possession we had with dumb penalties....sure, this is a discipline issue that the coach should take care of, but he's not out there playing. 

Again, this is the type of thing that happens when the game approach during practice is not "Big Game" - bad mental mistakes and sloppy play.

I'm really not a pessimist and will always support this team, but as a Mean Green fan, I'm just a little pissed off that our program didn't take advantage of a ripe opportunity to show itself in front of a large crowd with lots of media attention.

[KingDL1]

emmitt

I like the positive spin.

But you know Dickey did not wakeup with this team thrown into his hands yesterday morning, he developed this team and he knew where his strengths and weaknesses were. His team preparation as head coach is too plan for exactly that.

Now, before anyone calls me a Dicky apologist or thinks I'm satisfied with the product on the field tell me one thing: What play do you call when your quarterback has ONE game of experience, your O-Line gives neither him nor your backs an inch of breathing room, your team isn't making great decisions, and the other team just might be as/more talented?

I know I need some of the cool-aid.

[FirefightnRick]

Emmitt and Forney bring up great points. And as I posted last night, the secret is out, we have ZERO passing threat. If we had it, I truly feel we would have seen it last night. The entire world knows who is getting the ball, we must pass to stretch the defense. If a defense stuffs the run, we're done.

I was glad to see Tulsa continue to put on their traveling clinic of how to play "pass n catch" with their tightend Mills, #20. Maybe, just maybe we learned something watching the guy run around in the open lanes all night long but I'm not going to hold out a lot of hope on this. We had the state's leading High School reciever in catches on our team for 4 years in Andy Blount. He got the ball thrown to him maybe 6 times a year average? Instead, he was used mostly as a blocking back, which he 1. Hated to do, 2. Didn't do well in the first place. A complete waste of talent on the field. Everyone here remembers full well what he did when Scott did get him the ball.

Will we finally start to utilize the Tight End after seeing what that position can do to a defense?

Rick

[posiesnivy]

After much thought, it seems to me that we as fans can second guess all we want to. The bottom line is the players themselves have got to look within themselves and decide how they want to perform from here on out. Losing a game can be a positive if you learn from it and correct the mistakes and attitudes that contributed to the loss. I mention attitudes because it is a BIG part of the game as well. This team needs to know they can win and carry that onto the field. We need leaders to step up on both sides of the ball.

At this point, it's their attitude that concerns me more than anything else. They have talent and I for one still believe in them just as many of you do.

For those players who do read this, do not doubt yourselves! You just need some BAD ASS ATTIDUDE!!! (Can I say that on this board? If not sorry, I'm not one to use this type of language but doing so cuts to the chase.)

[SilverEagle]

For those players who do read this, do not doubt yourselves!  You just need some BAD ASS ATTIDUDE!!! (Can I say that on this board?  If not sorry, I'm not one to use this type of language but doing so cuts to the chase.)

←

I know that this may sound a bit harse (especially to a player's parent) but what those players needed was to get their collective heads out of that orifice located just below their belts.

I was never more angry at a North Texas player than when we were called for a "helmet off" personal foul. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE FOR DRAWING THAT PENALTY.

Holding penalties? I don't think I've seen that many called since I watched a High School JV game!

Meager was running for his life most of the night, due to the relentless blitzes. And it doesn't take a real genius to figure out that that would be your opponents plan. Especially when your opponent regarded themselves as BETTER THAN MTSU! Did anyone honestly think that Tulsa was afraid of us (or overly concerned about us) because we found a way to beat MTSU?!?

How hard would it have been to give you QB some simple "hot route" pass plays (three steps and throw)......ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU SAW AFTER THE FIRST QUARTER THAT TU WAS GOING TO KEEP BLITZING THE HELL OUT OF US UNTIL WE STOPPED IT WITH SHORT PASSES.

I totally agreed with DD's assessment that he gave to George Dunham last night in the wrap-up show "we got out-played and out-coached".

[TIgreen01]

I know that this may sound a bit harse (especially to a player's parent) but what those players needed was to get their collective heads out of that orifice located just below their belts.

I was never more angry at a North Texas player than when we were called for a "helmet off" personal foul.  THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE FOR DRAWING THAT PENALTY.

Holding penalties? I don't think I've seen that many called since I watched a High School JV game!

Meager was running for his life most of the night, due to the relentless blitzes. And it doesn't take a real genius to figure out that that would be your opponents plan. Especially when your opponent regarded themselves as BETTER THAN MTSU! Did anyone honestly think that Tulsa was afraid of us (or overly concerned about us) because we found a way to beat MTSU?!?

How hard would it have been to give you QB some simple "hot route" pass plays (three steps and throw)......ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU SAW AFTER THE FIRST QUARTER THAT TU WAS GOING TO KEEP BLITZING THE HELL OUT OF US UNTIL WE STOPPED IT WITH SHORT PASSES.

I totally agreed with DD's assessment that he gave to George Dunham last night in the wrap-up show "we got out-played and out-coached".

←

Hmmm....weren't we saying the same thing about the 2004 NO Bowl loss? SMiss used a host of blitzes that we never adjusted to. Again, we have run the EXACT same gameplan for 8 years. We don't gameplan to the opponent. We just go out and run our offense--problem is, our offense has never been that good....it is really just that simple.

[posiesnivy]

Just wanted to clear up what I meant about "BAD ASS ATTITUDE." It means going into a game knowing you own the field, it's your house and you take no prisoners! It does not mean pulling off cheap hits, blocks, etc. If you are confident in your abilities, there is no room for unsportslikeman conduct. As I have said before, the talent is there but we're lacking the confidence and attitude.

[GreenBat]

"BAD ASS ATTITUDE."

I also think it means showing some senior leadership. That's a hint JaMel Branch & Eli Hutchinson!

[Coffee and TV]

Whether your points are good or correct, we still lost 54-2 to a probable 3rd place weakened C-USA team, so to me it's impossible to find any kind of positive spin.

[Guest e-bone]

The coaches don't need to be bitched at for the playcalling, they need to be bitched at for not recruiting the talent it takes to beat teams OOC. It doesn't matter how good your playcalling is when both your offensive and defensive lines get pushed around by bigger, stronger athletes. I thought we were getting to the point where we could recruit some better athletes, and we are to an extent, but not to the point where we can compete in OOC. Getting Jamario was fantastic but we need some men on the lines who can hold their own, and we need a QB who can complete a pass 10+ yards down the field. Until that happens we aren't going to be winning many OOC games.

[Guest Aquila_Viridis]

Getting Jamario was fantastic but we need some men on the lines who can hold their own, and we need a QB who can complete a pass 10+ yards down the field.

←

We have to have more dimension to our offense. When the D knows what we are going to do, our players will be outmatched. I think Meager can complete a pass down past the line of scrimmage, but it's got be set up to happen in about 2 seconds.

[FirefightnRick]

Ebone has a good point. Without discussing too much dirty laundry here, I'll just say our "recruitment" was not at full strength last season.

And I believe what AV is describing is us not having the ability to beat the blitz other than the back-out screen. Very few hot routes being thrown, especially none to the Tight End.

Rick

[UNTLifer]

The coaches don't need to be bitched at for the playcalling, they need to be bitched at for not recruiting the talent it takes to beat teams OOC.

←

No, the coaches do need to be bitched at for the playcalling too. Did anyone not expect every team we play this year to run the same defense as Southern Miss did? Our passing game is an embarrassment. We have Quinn, Muzzy, Nwigwe, Jackson, etc... to throw the ball to, yet most of our pass plays are play action. Play action doesn't work when you aren't running the ball consistently. Play action doesn't work when your OL can't provide protection. Our passing game is either a "heave it down field and hope Quinn out jumps the defender" or a play action roll out to hit someone in the flat. There is no imagination to our offense. Absolutely none and this is our coaches fault. It still amazes me that we have former QB's as a HC and OC, yet we run the most unimaginative offense in the nation, including high schools.

[Stan R]

Did anyone notice several times players looking to the sidelines with hands in the air in desperation (most likely to get a passing play called in?) I remember on one play watching the tight end throwing his hands up basically to say (COME ON !!!). That was really embarrasing to see the players totally confused and obviously second guessing the playcalling.

[stebo]

Daniel is a young kid that probably just lost a lot of confidence. The guy in front of me was an old man and he kept pronouncing his name MEE-ger... I thought that was very ironic givent he situation... gave me a chuckle.