leopold wrote:I'm worried because everybody is kissing their arses. Big wins/close upsets many times tend to letdowns the next game. The only thing that lets me be truly optimistic is the fact that we have a game under our belt.
SMU 35 UNT 21
The fact that we were outscored 28-0 in the second half will probably keep that from being a problem.
We did better than expected vs Baylor, but I'd hardly call it a big win/close upset.
1 - We see a closer final score than we would all prefer but we get the W and add a few more highlights to the recruiting reel. 42-35. 2 - Our defense continues to be frustrating to watch, not getting off the field enough as they score over 30 points on us. 3 - Our offense has a faster tempo. We see some great running stats and a few more receivers get going (like Castille, maybe Gaines) other than Sutton. 4 - We see some nice kickoff returns. 5 - No second half offensive lag like against Baylor. UNT will make their adjustments, but HCCM will put more of an emphasis on that and better play calling in the second half than last week.
We all feel good with a W and fill up the offensive stat sheets and still see, of course, lots of improvement needed especially on defense. Nice swing of the ax though.
UNT offense scored 3 TDs and a few field goals last year against a horrible defense. This years defense is better and I don't think NTSU will run well and will have to pass. I predicted 27 pts from them in all my other posts but I am starting to feel that they may score less...probably 17 or so. I think Morris will put double what we did against Baylor. 42-27 or 42-17.
SMU wins 17-3 with 2 ties. They have 7 composite 3 star players in their lineup, we have 14.
Biggest matchups to watch: - Our D line should be able to do well against their O Line. - Two of the best players on their team are DE, so keep your eye on that. - I think we will play a lot of cover 0 again, so it will be interesting to see if that works better than it did against Baylor. I think it will. - Our linebackers and Star should play much better in this game against lesser competition. They need to tackle better
I think we see a much better defensive performance and win by 2 TDs.
Baylor ran a counter play where they would start weak and run to the strong side. Our MLB would be overaggressive and play the first move, then was walled out of the play on the weak side, and the star would be too outside the tackle to play the inside gap on the strong side, and there would be a huge hole.
Check out how Horton and Rhone play today to see if they are able to stay home and make tackles instead of overrunning and not being as involved.
To explain: Nearly 28 1st half points against Baylor: SMU 28 Playing at home: SMU 3 Davis gets tired in 2nd half: SMU 7 Last years debacle: UNT 20 Good (not great) athleticism fades in 2nd half for both teams: Tie
