North Texas 34 MTSU 7 — 10.12.13

The run game was awesome. Three hundred yards after putting up two games in a row that made everyone freak out about it. I know I was freaking out. You had every right to be if you were, also. Thirty-four yards vs Tulane and seven against Georgia? This game against the Blue Raiders says something about the quality of the MTSU run defense and that of the Green Wave’s.

That said, as much fun as it was to control MTSU and chase Redshirt Freshman Austin Grammar all over the place, it would have been a little more reassuring to me to score a bit more easily than we did. That odd little sequence that forced Derek Thompson into back-to-back QB draws was weird. On a night where the three-headed monster was tearing through the line the call was to Derek? Strange. I can see one — it was the second that had me bewildered.

I figure it has something to do with Brelan and his slight buld. He is clearly our best WR but speed isn’t how you score in the red zone … or is it? I don’t know the reason (obviously) but it seems to me either Canales or McCarney is afraid of a red zone interception. Against the likes of MTSU, that won’t be a problem. On the road against a bit stiffer competition? Should work on those fade routes, guys.

I don’t mean to sound like those people who don’t appreciate good things. I just don’t want to be surprised when these problems spring up later and I see a 400 tweets asking why we cannot score. The short answer seems to be that if we can’t run it in, or Brelan Chancellor isn’t BRELAN! and scoring TDs from 40 yards out we may have a problem.

Things To Be Excited About

• North! Texas! Twitter helped me find the apparently amazing North Texas chant. Thanks, Annie Irwin. It’s great to see that chant back with such force. I haven’t been to as many games in Apogee as in Fouts but it seems like we lost a few things in the shuffle. This chant being one of then.

• Attendance The numbers say 21k but the sound said there was much more. I’ll take a loud, enthused 20 thousand over a quiet 30.

• Defense! For the second week in a row, the defense was outstanding. There have been hints and signs throughout Danny Mac’s reign of this style and production. Something has clicked and now the defense is booming on guys, flying around and making plays. Although some of the reason the ad was so amazing was that Austin Grammer came in for an injured Logan Kilgore, the D has been playing well all year.

  Absent are the hiccups allowing 50+ yard scores. Present is Lairamie Lee creating turnovers (pick six!). Awesome. The line has been incredible and deserves a ton of credit for the secondary’s fortunes. Will Wright (I know he’s a LB) tipped the pass that Lee ran back.

Things to Be Concerned About

• Balance Sure, we aren’t Alabama. It would be nice to see both phases of the offense have a nice game.
• Let Down The program hasn’t had consecutive wins since 2004. La Tech is terrible but letting up can ruin the good times.