Deonte Simpson was dismissed “effective immediately” after being arrested for domestic violence. This is clearly awful behavior and it was met swiftly with the kind of response we can appreciate. Kudos to Seth Littrell for doing the obviously right thing. That is good.
Less importantly, NT is losing a guy with a ton of talent and potential. To be absolutely clear, this is obviously secondary to Real Life stuff, but the whole purview of this blog is covering things that Do Not Matter As Much As Real Life so we will discuss it.
NT is thin and getting thinner at the skill spots throughout the depth chart. Simpson had the talent and showed signs of becoming the heir apparent to the Darden role on this squad. Poor QB play, injury, and all the terrible aspects of the poor NT offense have combined to make him something of a non-factor this season. I mean, his highest light was a play that did not count.
He will be missed long term, and here is hoping he learns some lessons from his actions, takes steps to make everyone he hurt whole, and everyone can work to achieve some restorative justice.
Marshall head coach Charles Huff on the game this week:
Obviously, really big challenge this week, excited for the opportunity. I haven’t played in these midweek type games probably since I was with Western Michigan, many moons ago. So this is exciting, you get to adapt your schedule a little bit, you get a chance to refocus. It’s really good, I’d say a really good North Texas opponent that we are facing. It seems like every team we’re about to face is starting to get really good as we face them. I don’t know if that’s coincidence or the coach in me. They did a really good job against Missouri last week. Their offense is starting to come together. I think, their new quarterback, they had a quarterback get injured, the quarterback they have coming in –I think, they found some continuity and flow with their system for him. Defensively, I think these guys run to the ball. This is probably one of the fastest teams that we play as far as team speed. They do a really good job on defense running to the ball, they’re aggressive up front. So, it’s going to be a challenge.
Charles Huff
North Texas head coach Seth Littrell on the game this week:
On the first portion of the season:
In a football season, there’s a lot of ups and downs. We have seven games and a lot of football left. It’s really just focusing on this week and the opportunities it presents. The mentality has been great. They’re working hard. All year long this group has stuck together … and they’re getting better together.
On Marshall:
They’re a very physical team. They’ve always been one of the top teams in our conference. They’ve played for a lot of championships [and] they’ve been able to put points on the board. Defensively, they do a great job within their scheme … It’s always a challenge, and we’re looking forward to the challenge. It all starts with their run game. They do a great job getting downhill. They’ve got very explosive receivers. I think their quarterback does a great job, and I’ve been very impressed with him over the past two years.
On playing on Friday night at home:
It’s a quick turnaround, but the first couple of days have gone well. Practice has gone smoothly. I love Friday night football, in the state of Texas especially, it’s unbelievable. It’s always been a tradition, and I love playing football whenever they tell me we’re going to go out and play.
Seth Littrell
The Depth Chart for Marshall. Keep in mind that this is rarely gospel.
Game book from Missouri final.
Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger had a scoop — he acquired and posted the letter from CUSA and UNT’s own President Smastresk to the AAC leadership asking about going halfsies on a region.
We have posted in this space before about realignment. Our thoughts can be summated as such: whatever league that gives NT a decent chance to get into the NCAA tournament, and have some regional football is fine by me. If that means UTSA, Rice, and La Tech? Cool. If that means Tx State, Rice, and Tulsa? Cool as well.
The administrations care about alignment of resources and cultural fits. It makes sense if everyone is pulling in the same direction and at roughly the same capacity. It makes decision making and advertising easier on everyone. That is roughly the reason that current programs will not likely make good on this Hail Mary attempt. SMU simply does not want to be associated with NT or UTSA. There is a public/private thing going on at the very least.
You can get a sense of that a bit with Rice’s Karlgaard interview with the student paper.
Somewhat relatedly, there was that survey, or “Athletic Power Index” that touched a nerve for everyone not named UNT. Haha. Here it is.
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