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As my wife and I approached the stadium today, a lady came up to us and said that her friends had decided not to show and she had two extra tickets that we could have for free.
It was all down hill from there.
Quiet Stadium, Flat Team
UNT's offense seemed flat all day. Really. The entire team seemed flat.
Looking around the stadium, it was pretty apparent why there was no energy in the building: There were probably about 10,000 people in the stands. It looked like there were about 3,000 students in the student section and another 1,500 or so University of Louisiana-Monroe fans with about another 6,000 UNT on the alumni side (although that may be a little generous).
A good veteran team would not be bothered by the turnout, especially after a much-needed win, but UNT clearly was flat on both sides of the ball for most of the day.
The defense played a solid workman-like game, but the offense was a total no-show.
UNT's first series ended with another dropped deep pass by Michael Outlaw. As I have said before, Outlaw is not a natural receiver. That doesn't mean he won't be dramatically better next year if he continues to work hard. It just means he was limited today. Nine games into the season, one would hope the receivers coach would have figured this out.
UNT's staff continues to try to make him into a deep threat when he is the least-suited for that job of any of their starting foursome. He isn't especially fast. In fact, he appears to be the slowest of the four on the field. He doesn't run great routes on those slow-developing plays. He doesn't adjust well to the ball in the air. And he has trouble catching the deep pass.
He is a somewhat reliable and productive inside receiver. He catches those passes pretty well and is willing to take a shot. Let him be that guy.
Why UNT's offensive staff consistently puts him in a position where he loses confidence is beyond me. Today UNT may as well have been playing with three receivers, because they continue to misuse and destroy this kid's confidence.
Forrest Rucker was in on the next series and had to wait for a late-thrown pass from Riley Dodge. The issue was compounded because Rucker didn't run a great route and had very little separation. He dropped the ball, killing that drive and forcing UNT to kick a field goal.
Rucker has a long way to go in my book. Force-feeding him plays is not going to make this guy a player next season. He is slow, he runs lazy routes, and he doesn't have good hands. Those are issues that require offseason work. Playing time in games won't fix any of those issues.
Why some UNT fans want to see more of him at this point in his career is beyond me. I have repeatedly read suggestions that this guy is our deep threat. This guy is not going to beat anyone deep.
ULM just stopped UNT's third drive with good defense. UNT's fourth drive ended when the offense couldn't dig itself out of the hole that Tyler Bailey's offside penalty created.
UNT's fifth drive ended on an INT where either Riley Dodge over threw Forrest Rucker or Rucker quit on the route. You make the call (Considering Dodge's arm I know where I'd vote).
In between the last two UNT drives of the half, we saw Royce Hill watch as LaGregory Sapp caught a TD right in front of him. He was there and probably could have challenged the play, but instead just watched the ball make it's way there.
And that is how, despite very reasonable defensive play, you end the first half down 16-3.
Throughout the first half, the offensive staff kept trying to run Lance Dunbar and there just were no holes. At the half UNT had ran Dunbar eight times and he had gained 12 yards. It was pretty clear this was not going to be the kind of game where Dunbar would tear it up.
As I said in the preview, Dunbar does not have the strength to carry tacklers additional yards. Against another sound front-seven, Dunbar had another first half like he did at Troy and, just like at Troy, the offense was totally ineffective with a running game that left the offense in long yardage situations consistently.
In the second half, the troubles continued. Jamaal Jackson mishandled a kickoff and the ball went out of the end zone.
The offense did show a little life for a moment, as the offensive staff briefly remembered that B.J. Lewis is a pretty good receiver. But in the next drive he and Riley Dodge missed each other and the staff forgot about Lewis again.
Darius Carey caught three passes in a row before ULM sacked Dodge to force a punt.
Defensively, things got rougher in the second half. UNT had been doing a pretty decent job of controlling ULM's running game, but then the ULM receivers just started dominating UNT's corners.
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