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Planter's Punch wrote:Not looking forward to injuries on defense from the grind that is Navy's offense before a must win at Tulane.

Considering how many freshmen we've played and the kind of pace in which we play I worry about that as well. As Coach Morris said we see some of the biggest improvement from game two to game four and from game four to game eight. If what we have seen so far is any indication of how we will progress throughout the season I think we will be just fine.

AusTxPony wrote:If we want to get over 4 wins, then I agree we have to beat ECU. Don't know much about them, but we have beaten them in Ford before with a worse team.

The team that beat the ECU team at Ford may have been a better team not worse.

GreenbeltPony wrote:

Puckhead48E wrote:I stand firmly with my prediction that we will play 12 games this season.

Come on now, we all know that's a bit outrageous.

All right...we will participate in a total of 12 games!
Look, we have a good chance to do something "special" in terms of the year after a 1-11 season with a completely new coaching staff. We even seem to have fan boys now who think teams like Baylor and TCU are obsessed with us! My 100% honest prediction is that I will care more about this season than any recent one.

StallionsModelT wrote:

Planter's Punch wrote:Not looking forward to injuries on defense from the grind that is Navy's offense before a must win at Tulane.

Considering how many freshmen we've played and the kind of pace in which we play I worry about that as well. As Coach Morris said we see some of the biggest improvement from game two to game four and from game four to game eight. If what we have seen so far is any indication of how we will progress throughout the season I think we will be just fine.

Love that we have played at least 5 guys at both DT and DE. And we are 2 deep at LB and star. That will really help us out against Navy.

our stating LBs are averaging COLLECTIVELY 3 tackles a game (Horton 1 and Yenga 5).. Our leading tacklers at LB/Star are Rhone with 7 and Kyran Mitchell with 6. Shakiel Randolph has 5 tackles on the year. Caleb Tuiasosopo is still trying to find the opponent with the ball after a very uninspired performance for the North Texas TD drive

Stallion wrote:our stating LBs are averaging COLLECTIVELY 3 tackles a game (Horton 1 and Yenga 5).. Our leading tacklers at LB/Star are Rhone with 7 and Kyran Mitchell with 6. Shakiel Randolph has 5 tackles on the year. Caleb Tuiasosopo is still trying to find the opponent with the ball after a very uninspired performance for the North Texas TD drive

I think we are going to find that while Horton has the physical gifts, Rhone is just one of those players who finds himself in the right place at the right time. Reads the game really really well and gets the defense in better positions. I thought it was pretty evident in the spring during the first two scrimmages where he significantly outplayed Horton. But that is just my opinion .

The great thing about our rotation is that our 2's are playing against 1's and so there is an even evaluation. The only thing that has been disappointing so far about the depth is that our second string d-line doesn't get any pressure at all on the QB. In the UNT game, the limited success the QB had was when the second string line was in there and he was able to dink and dunk. The Lawler, Wood, Gentry combination looks pretty good, and McCleneghan has shown he can beat a guy when isolated.

I haven't been able to watch tape, but I did notice Minor was called offsides twice. I also thought the performance of the second string d-line improved significantly when Green hobbled off injured and Hollie came into the game. Hollie looked very interested in getting on the field.

Rebel10 wrote:

AusTxPony wrote:If we want to get over 4 wins, then I agree we have to beat ECU. Don't know much about them, but we have beaten them in Ford before with a worse team.

The team that beat the ECU team at Ford may have been a better team not worse.

I agree..had a very opportunistic defense that year too. Just like in 2012 no bowl game if it were not for defense and special teams. Margus Hunt is the unsung hero of the June Jones era. 2009 would have just been a 4 win season or so otherwise


That being said if June Jones were a good game manager that win total could have gone as high as 11 that year

The thing that makes this years ECU team average is it's QB imo. He did not have the best games against Towson and Florida. Florida I can understand but not Towson.

North Texas beat SMU by the same margin that Memphis beat SMU last year. Are they both that good or was SMU just bad?

Memphis is a good team.

They are good but it's still too early to tell if SMU is good/bad. We are 1-1 and just off a 31-13 domination of North Texas.

For this season alone, my biggest concern is not maturation of young players or integration of HCCM system... but Matt Davis' health. Our record lives solely on his legs this year. He is a true difference maker when he runs outside the pocket and will win us several games on that ability alone (i.e. UNT 4th qtr).

Unfortunately think we'll have to rely on his legs a lot more this year than we'd like, but when you're averaging 20 rushing attempts for 120 yds per game on the season, you're really leaving yourself vulnerable. Hope that reduces over time.

5-7 (given he stays healthy). Keep that run threat alive and cross your fingers that he doesn't take any brutal hits.

Toughest games left on schedule: TCU, UH, Temple, East Carolina, Navy, and perhaps Memphis. Less tough games left on the schedule: JMU, Tulsa, Tulane, South Florida. Given that, 5 and 7 is possible and even 6-6. But 4-8 is still my view.

EastStang wrote:Toughest games left on schedule: TCU, UH, Temple, East Carolina, Navy, and perhaps Memphis. Less tough games left on the schedule: JMU, Tulsa, Tulane, South Florida. Given that, 5 and 7 is possible and even 6-6. But 4-8 is still my view.

USF is a road game and they are much improved. I put them at the same level as ECU

EastStang wrote:Toughest games left on schedule: TCU, UH, Temple, East Carolina, Navy, and perhaps Memphis. Less tough games left on the schedule: JMU, Tulsa, Tulane, South Florida. Given that, 5 and 7 is possible and even 6-6. But 4-8 is still my view.

This is where I still stand:
Tough: Baylor, @TCU, @UH, Temple, Memphis
Easier: UNT, JMU, Tulsa, Tulane
Winnable: @USF, ECU, @Navy

Temple is the one team who moved from Winnable to tough. I think ECU is beatable here, and I think the improved physicality of the team and depth on the DL and at LB allows us to compete better against Navy than we have in years. I get to 6-6 by having us beat ECU and the split the USF and Navy games.