Fun With Speculation

[adman]

Anyone think our chances of beating OU are better in 07 due to the element of surprise we'll have. i.e. OU not having game film of NT to study? Or do you think the learning curve for Dodges system will be too steep to be effective in the first game of the season?

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

This is a joke, right?

[DeepGreen]

Good grief, adman. Lay off the "surprise OU" crap!

[adman]

Good grief, adman.  Lay off the "surprise OU" crap!

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I thought it would be fun to go ahead and stir up the kool-aid and pass a few glasses around.

[buff64]

If I'm not mistaken OU plays Texas Tech each year.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

Um, here's something to note - Bob Stoops was an assistant to Steve Spurrier, coached against and with Mike Leach, and the "spread" that Baylor tried to install this year didn't work against him. I sincerely doubt a former high school coach is going to show Stoops & Co. anything they haven't seen. I mean, it's just laughable.

Add to that, Oklahoma loses only two starters on offense and maybe three on defense, so you basically have the Big 12 Champions returning intact for 2007. Look for a righteous beating in Norman next September. Remember, OU has hung 50 and 60+ on Texas Tech several times.

Look, some of you are really outdreaming reality. Dodge is going to be 0-4 or 1-3 going into Sun Belt play, just like Dickey was. It doesn't matter what the scheme is. We are playing schools that by default have better athletes.

Edited December 13, 2006 by The Fake Lonnie Finch

[El Paso Eagle]

Fake - Are you really this clueless or is this the "fake" part of your name?

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

Oh? Which part of the post is clueless?

Bob Stoops didn't coach with Steve Spurrier and with and against Mike Leach?

OU doesn't return the vast majority of its 2006 starters in 2007?

OU hasn't hung 50 or 60+ on Tech several times?

The likes of OU and Arkansas don't by default have better athletes than we do?

Edited December 13, 2006 by The Fake Lonnie Finch

[El Paso Eagle]

Fake - Are you really this clueless or is this the "fake" part of your name?

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OK to be more clear - not only this post but almost all of your post. You seem to need to go against things just to do so.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

I think what you mean is that I seem to inject reality into the discussion. Let's focus on beating who we can beat.

We haven't hired someone who has ever faced the likes of Bob Stoops with the type of athletes Stoops has at his disposal on both sides of the ball. We've hired someone who's been outcoaching the guys at Grapevine, Colleyville, and various other high school teams.

[foutsrouts]

I've seen Rocky beat better athletes on a regular basis and so can we.

[El Paso Eagle]

I don’t think many have ever expected wins against the UT’s, OU, etc. – However we should be competitive occasionally. What we should expect is very competitive games and wins against the Tulsa’s, LaTech’s and so forth.

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

Ah, yes, Rocky...good point.

[Travis]

I think what you mean is that I seem to inject reality into the discussion.  Let's focus on beating who we can beat. 

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While I understand what you are saying... to an extent... isn't this the type of mentality that we had from DD? The same mentality we no longer accept?

I am not having huge expectations on Dodge in his first year or two. He needs a curve to implement his system and adjust. But, I do expect to see progress as we go.

[jtcozy]

Ummmm I think OU wins.........big. OU>UNT no matter who the coach is.

[greenminer]

We are all aware of the reality, Fake. Even Adman admitted to passing around the green koolaid.

It's still fun to speculate. You like having fun, right?

-gm

[untbowler]

WOW!! DD is gone but obviously not forgotten as the loser, poor UNT mentality is still prevalent. hopefully Dodge will be able to change this pathetic mentality of some fans.

[ForneyGreen]

WOW!! DD is gone but obviously not forgotten as the loser, poor UNT mentality is still prevalent. hopefully Dodge will be able to change this pathetic mentality of some fans. 

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At a minimum, we won't have to suffer through a QB draw play on 3rd and 15...

This coming year is actually going to be fun!

[Mean'n'Green07]

WOW!! DD is gone but obviously not forgotten as the loser, poor UNT mentality is still prevalent. hopefully Dodge will be able to change this pathetic mentality of some fans. 

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I agree with fake. Im excited by dodge, and i think the talent level will rise quite a bit in the next few years, but lets face the facts. I dont know if any coach in football could pull this off given the time restraints and our current athletes.

And is pathetic mentality being realistic about situations? Dodge won't have a ten win season next year and OU is going to crush us. I think we all have high hopes for Dodge turning us into a top 25 program, but it's going to take at least a few years.

Edited December 13, 2006 by Mean'n'Green07

[untbowler]

I agree with fake. Im excited by dodge, and i think the talent level will rise quite a bit in the next few years, but lets face the facts. I dont know if any coach in football could pull this off given the time restraints and our current athletes.

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Then basically we are all slapping the players in the face saying they should not even be on the field. Lets take the USM and Troy mentality go play and leave it on the field. Doing that we will beat many teams that some feel we should even be on the field with.

Ask Ball State if they did not belong on the field with what many consider to be the #2 team in the nation or

Troy going into Tallahassee and nearly pulling off the upset.

Edited December 13, 2006 by untbowler

[SilverEagle]

Ummmm I think OU wins.........big.  OU>UNT no matter who the coach is.

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Well, just keep in mind that even a DD-coached team got into a tight game with OU in 2001 (10-37). I was in attendance, and that game was pretty tight until the fourth quarter.

I'm not saying that we are going to beat OU next year, but what I'm looking forward to is a coach who, at the very least, is going to take his team up to Norman with the attitude of........

I DIDN'T COME HERE TO LOSE!

OR possibly this attitude.

IF OU THINKS THEY ARE GOING TO BEAT US, THEY BETTER BRING THIER SUPPER, BECAUSE IT'S GOING TO TAKE THEM ALL EVENING.

This is all that I have ever ask for in a coach. When you always show up with that attitude, everything else takes care of itself.

[Mean'n'Green07]

Then basically we are all slapping the players in the face saying they should not even be on the field. Lets take the USM and Troy mentality go play and leave it on the field. Doing that we will beat many teams that some feel    we should even be on the field with.

Ask Ball State if they did not belong on the field with what many consider to be the #2 team in the nation or

Troy going into Tallahassee and nearly pulling off the upset.

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I'm not saying we need to just roll over and take it, I expect our team to play to win. I expect 110% effort out of everybody and a no excuses mentality. But I think you are going to be very disappointed if your expecting dodge to perform a miracle and get us to be ranked in the top 25 this season.

Look at it this way, if you were to put your life savings on the UNT vs OU game next year I don't think anyone on this board would be betting on UNT. I'm being realistic with the current situation, not settling for being a loser. We hired dodge to get us out of these types of situations... I don't expect to be in the same position 2 or 3 years down the road.

Edited December 13, 2006 by Mean'n'Green07

[The Fake Lonnie Finch]

I agree with fake. Im excited by dodge, and i think the talent level will rise quite a bit in the next few years, but lets face the facts. I dont know if any coach in football could pull this off given the time restraints and our current athletes.

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It's not just given the time restraints and athletes. It's that Billy Bob High School Coach isn't standing on the sideline of OU or Arkansas with a sideline full of undersized white kids who are on the team more to have a better shot at the cheerleaders than to actually play football.

Bob Stoops and Houston Nutt have seen spread offenses. Missouri didn't faze OU this year. Neither did Baylor or Texas Tech. Stoops and Nutt have both coached either with or against the spread offense Steve Spurrier runs.

What I'm saying is that some of you need to come around to the reality that what Dodge is selling isn't new. Yes, it's new around Denton. But, it's a philosophy Big 12 and SEC coaches have seen for well over a decade now, year in and year out.

Combine the athletic differences in the players at OU and Arkansas with the fact that their coaching staffs have already seen the spread and its varients, and we're better served focusing our energy on winning the Sun Belt again.

I personally think we have a chance to win the Sun Belt title next year, but not because of some offensive revival. Going 1-3 or 0-4 out of conference never hurt us before. And, as long as we insist on playing the OUs and Arkansas' of the world, that's what will happen.

A great defense gives you a chance no matter what the offense does. Think Baltimore Ravens, Chicago Bears. During their Super Bowl run a few years back, the Ravens got almost nothing from the offense, but the defense was so dominant that it didn't matter. The Bears have done that this year.

Despite our record, we've already got some players on defense. If Bleil or some Bleil-like guy is in charge of our defense, we can beat enough Sun Belt teams to win the conference title while Dodge "gets his system installed, gets the right players, etc., etc., etc."

[Eagle-96]

I think we will be hard pressed to beat OU. It is unrealistic to think that we can change coaches and just up and run the table against the likes of OU and Arkansas. The one difference next year to years past is that TD will bring confidence and attitude to the game. He will come in with the attitude that "why can't we beat OU" instead of the old tired DD addage " we're lucky to be on the same field, woe is me".

[UNTflyer]

I'm glad that there is excitement, but beating OU simply isn't realistic.

It's fun to think about though. Would enough people show to cart their goalposts out of the stadium?