FOOTBALL 3 MT guys CUSA all defensive team
- Thread starter Matt Dossett
- Start date
Really not sure the hype around Devyn Curtis is warranted as such. According to that list, he's either the best or second best LB in the conference? Props to the guy. I hope he is, and I'm just way off in my analysis, but....
I'm not sure he's even the best LB on our roster, much less the conference. Top LB's on the team are Curtis, Hartley, Rayam, and Butler (Who would be my choice for best LB on the team if he was never injured). How Butler bounces back from injury will be a major deciding factor in how the defense goes for 2023. I hope Curtis can be the break out player and beast that the pre-season publications seem to think he will be, but nothing I see from previous seasons indicates he is any better than the other LB's discussed above.
Perhaps everyone is so enthralled because he's nearly 240 pound Mike LB that can cover side-to-side. I've never been one to obsess so much over size at our level though. I trust my eyes and how these kids perform under the lights and with the pads on.
Also, keep an eye out for LB Parker Hughes. If he was 15 pounds bigger he would have a legit chance at playing at the next level. Watch him grow into a star these next few years and remember where you heard it first.
We have 5 LB's that are legit starter material in my opinion, assuming Butler is back to 100%. And those are just the known commodities. There are a lot of younger talented players that probably can play too along with some transfers but we just have not seen enough of them yet to know.
Our defense, IMO, is stacked again. This time, our secondary will have some experience at least though. It will still be the weakest unit by far on defense, but at least they have grown some. Patterson was overrated IMO and I have zero concerns about replacing him. Front 7 looks as stout as ever despite the loss of Ferguson (who cannot be replaced). Could be a break-out year for Q Dunnigan.
I expect our team to be much like last years. We will lose games for two reasons (much like last year):
1. Our secondary simply cannot hold up and teams will score too much through the air and we can't keep up. Very few teams, and nobody in CUSA, will be able to beat us running the ball. They will have to throw and throw quickly to beat our defense. I suspect this is the direction the WKU game will go.
2. Our offense plays so poorly that, eventually, our defense does wear down and starts giving up big runs and gets off balance. At this point, we were going to lose anyway because we are not scoring, losing the field position and time of possession battle, etc.
We will win games this year, and potentially win a lot of games, if our offense can move the chains and score points. Doesn't even have to always be TD's either. Field goals, time of possession, field position, etc. will be critical. Our defense is going to be good, and I expect continued success in the take-away department.
Special teams needs to continue to at least be decent. I've always been weary of kickers who had a good kicking year (Rankin did amazing last year connecting 16 for 19 on FG's) following up that good year with another good year. You see so much inconsistency at that position in college. I hope Rankin can deliver for us again in 2023. You can never take a good kicker for granted. For punting, Turk was good enough last year and should be fine for 2023 as well.
Much like last year, this team will go as far as the offense can take it. More on that later
I'm not sure he's even the best LB on our roster, much less the conference. Top LB's on the team are Curtis, Hartley, Rayam, and Butler (Who would be my choice for best LB on the team if he was never injured). How Butler bounces back from injury will be a major deciding factor in how the defense goes for 2023. I hope Curtis can be the break out player and beast that the pre-season publications seem to think he will be, but nothing I see from previous seasons indicates he is any better than the other LB's discussed above.
Perhaps everyone is so enthralled because he's nearly 240 pound Mike LB that can cover side-to-side. I've never been one to obsess so much over size at our level though. I trust my eyes and how these kids perform under the lights and with the pads on.
Also, keep an eye out for LB Parker Hughes. If he was 15 pounds bigger he would have a legit chance at playing at the next level. Watch him grow into a star these next few years and remember where you heard it first.
We have 5 LB's that are legit starter material in my opinion, assuming Butler is back to 100%. And those are just the known commodities. There are a lot of younger talented players that probably can play too along with some transfers but we just have not seen enough of them yet to know.
Our defense, IMO, is stacked again. This time, our secondary will have some experience at least though. It will still be the weakest unit by far on defense, but at least they have grown some. Patterson was overrated IMO and I have zero concerns about replacing him. Front 7 looks as stout as ever despite the loss of Ferguson (who cannot be replaced). Could be a break-out year for Q Dunnigan.
I expect our team to be much like last years. We will lose games for two reasons (much like last year):
1. Our secondary simply cannot hold up and teams will score too much through the air and we can't keep up. Very few teams, and nobody in CUSA, will be able to beat us running the ball. They will have to throw and throw quickly to beat our defense. I suspect this is the direction the WKU game will go.
2. Our offense plays so poorly that, eventually, our defense does wear down and starts giving up big runs and gets off balance. At this point, we were going to lose anyway because we are not scoring, losing the field position and time of possession battle, etc.
We will win games this year, and potentially win a lot of games, if our offense can move the chains and score points. Doesn't even have to always be TD's either. Field goals, time of possession, field position, etc. will be critical. Our defense is going to be good, and I expect continued success in the take-away department.
Special teams needs to continue to at least be decent. I've always been weary of kickers who had a good kicking year (Rankin did amazing last year connecting 16 for 19 on FG's) following up that good year with another good year. You see so much inconsistency at that position in college. I hope Rankin can deliver for us again in 2023. You can never take a good kicker for granted. For punting, Turk was good enough last year and should be fine for 2023 as well.
Much like last year, this team will go as far as the offense can take it. More on that later
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I appreciate the breakdown Wiley. Always good insight. I can’t keep up with the talent on the roster like others can so I always like the understanding who is strong and where Our possible weak areas are.
On offense I’m looking forward to a new QB, but sounds like neither Lowe and Riles will be the starter. I was Hoping they could bring a new spark.
On offense I’m looking forward to a new QB, but sounds like neither Lowe and Riles will be the starter. I was Hoping they could bring a new spark.
It'll be Vattiato 100% unless injured. Stock loves a familiar face and steady hand.
Replacing Cunningham and Lane will be a monumental task IMO, particularly Lane. Insanely talented kid who should tear it up at VT.
Personally, I see a difficult season ahead. I see lots of growing pains on the offensive side of the ball. This team has the classic, patented Rick Stockstill start slow and then beat up on bad teams in November when we are out of the conference running vibes to it. Season has 6-6 written all over it, 7-5 at best, ending in a whimper in a bowl.
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Indeed, but I'll be shocked if we clear 8 wins this year.
When I look across the conference and look at rosters, coaching staffs, and 2023....I actually believe this conference is just as strong as it was with previous members. Are Liberty, NMSU, Jax St, and SHSU as good as UAB, UTSA, and North Texas? Liberty maybe, and the other 3 are probably not quite as good at this very moment.
But, I'm still not a believer in UTSA long term. Yes, they have pretty good local support. Yes, they had a great run these last few years. But let's see how good they are when their superstar QB, 3 headed WR monster, and beast RB are not around anymore. I'll eat a heap of crow if they can keep up their current success. And let's see how good UAB is now without Bill Clark and a host of great players that are gone. UAB has been a solid-to-great program these last few years but let's see how long they can sustain it. It's so hard to do that at the G5 level. North Texas is North Texas, about like MT. Never really that great or that bad, no big deal if they come or go.
I really see all those schools that left us, along with our new member schools, as one in the same over the long haul. We all recruit from the same pool of players and have about the same coaching wise. UTSA and UAB are going to come back down to earth and get their humble pie here shortly. CUSA, AAC, MAC, SBC etc. are pretty much all equals when you look at the conferences with a macro view. At one point, the MAC was easily the worst G5 conference....but then at another point they were arguably the best and had undefeated teams playing in New Year's day bowls. G5 football and it's conference is notoriously cyclical.
If others want to bail and pay huge exit fee's because they think the grass is greener, let them. Everyone bailed on the SBC a decade ago and look how things came full circle, now everyone thinks they are a premier G5 conference and paying millions to migrate over there. Thanks for the coin.
We need to position ourselves for the best geographical footprint and TV deal going forward and just be mindful of the landscape as it changes. I'm not saying we should ignore the AAC or SBC if they wanted us, but I don't think it's a guaranteed ticket to the G5 promised land either nor is it an automatic yes we will leave CUSA.
We need to be thoughtful, and most importantly focus on us. That's by far the most important thing to do right now. The landscape will take care of itself. We need to win, win, win....and build, build, build. It is starting to feel like, finally, after 20 years....there is a real sense of urgency. I could be totally off in that estimation, but the Build Blue Campaign has been successful, and despite construction taking infinitely longer than it needed to, it has begun.
There is still a lot of musical chairs to be played amongst the landscape. Our administrators better understand that it is now or never if they want us to end up with a good seat. Now is not the time to do everything on the cheap and cut corners. The college football landscape is rapidly evolving with NLI, Mega Conferences, the transfer portal, and unprecedented TV money. We had better be ready when the opportunity presents itself, and I hope our coaches and the few that do provide NLI money to our athletes understand that the time is now.
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Couldn't have said it better Wiley. I'll eat my crow and admit I was pushing for the MAC, and admit I was wrong. I was looking at the immediate picture and I'm glad we stayed. Should we always stay in CUSA, like you I don't know. Maybe so, maybe not. Have to see how things play out.
But I agree it is nice to finally see some movement. And not just with bulldozers but with fundraising, outreach, etc. I think Lee and Hans have done wonders. I hope we can keep them. For years it seemed the admin was content to let things happen. To not control US. I do hope this is the change needed.
I fully 100% believe within the next 12 years, by the time the ACC deal is up, that it will be SEC/B1G, then everyone else. I also believe there is a distinct possibility that it will be them, and two everyone else's. We don't want to be in that third tier. Our new TV deal helped, but we need results on the field from all conference schools. The CFP and bowl system will drastically change in '26 and we need to make sure we are ready from a $ commitment and results standpoint.
We can't be reactive at all anymore. And I mean that by McP as well as Judy. I just told soelmeone on Twitter that we need a proactive extrovert commissioner as a non-autonomy conference. The TV deal and Birmingham are a start, but we need more to set us apart and keep a seat at the table once the SEC/B1G have their own.
But I agree it is nice to finally see some movement. And not just with bulldozers but with fundraising, outreach, etc. I think Lee and Hans have done wonders. I hope we can keep them. For years it seemed the admin was content to let things happen. To not control US. I do hope this is the change needed.
I fully 100% believe within the next 12 years, by the time the ACC deal is up, that it will be SEC/B1G, then everyone else. I also believe there is a distinct possibility that it will be them, and two everyone else's. We don't want to be in that third tier. Our new TV deal helped, but we need results on the field from all conference schools. The CFP and bowl system will drastically change in '26 and we need to make sure we are ready from a $ commitment and results standpoint.
We can't be reactive at all anymore. And I mean that by McP as well as Judy. I just told soelmeone on Twitter that we need a proactive extrovert commissioner as a non-autonomy conference. The TV deal and Birmingham are a start, but we need more to set us apart and keep a seat at the table once the SEC/B1G have their own.
UTSA will be strong as long as Jeff Traylor is there, and the Blue Raiders will be .500 as long as 7-wood and stuckstill are here.
Sun Belt is set to become the top non-power conference in football. But will be a middling basketball conference.
It is all cyclical. Not worried about the SBC one bit personally. They do not recruit notably better players than any of the other G5's. Law of averages will even it all out sooner rather than later. Excited for the 2023 season. Let's get some SBC teams on the schedule and not do it opening week. Preferably week 6 or later so we can get them when we are playing at our best.
We'll see. One thing UTSA has that I'm jealous of is their local fan support. I grew up in South Texas and understand hispanic culture more than I'd like to, and that is by far the most overriding and popular culture in San Antonio. Interestingly, they love their local athletic teams, whether it's high school sports, small 1A baseball, college sports, or the Dallas Cowboys. When I was in high school on the border (McAllen), you should have seen the size of our high school stadium, it seats nearly 14k people. For a high school team.... And the locals loved and supported it and nearly filled the stands every Friday night. Hispanics just love their local athletics teams for some reason. Props to them. I wish I could say the same about the residents of Rutherford Co. and Murfreesboro, but it's a polar opposite there. The local university that helped build the city and competes at the highest levels in NCAA athletics is 100% taken for granted and ignored. Well done.
Anyway, UTSA has no competition in San Antonio for the locals because there's no other major teams there except the Spurs. Many don't realize San Antonio is the #7 most populous city in the country. It is a very big city, and a shit ton of people live there and in the surrounding communities and there's not a ton of available local sporting events for them.
UTSA has major potential to draw those people in as fans, and already have started to do so. Look up their attendance numbers. They're impressive and beat some of the lower level P5's already. If they do it right, they could really build something there. Many would say they're already doing it, but I'm not so sure. Consider me skeptical.
As far as Traylor goes, we'll see. It's so easy to look like a genius when you hit on your players at the key positions (QB, WR, RB). Many of those guys are gone or will be gone soon, and were already there when Traylor was hired. They've brought in good recruits on paper but it's so hard to keep that momentum going at the G5 level for a multitude of reasons. I don't think they will be nearly as successful going forward, but I've been wrong before. My money is still on a major regression to the mean and much less successful seasons here soon.
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A couple of things to clarify here. Populations of cities are extremely misleading. Metro size gives a much better idea of how large a city is. It’s still much larger than Nashville but it ranks 24th in metros.
UTSA has great potential, when winning, to draw large crowds. That’s not the norm for them though. They have had a great run the past few seasons but they’ve had a lot of games around the 16-22k mark. I don’t care to lay out all of the games but they’ve had success we haven’t even remotely sniffed and have still struggled to draw a steady crowd. The numbers are all over the place. I feel very confident in saying if MT had back to back championships with 11 and 12 win seasons we’d be packing Floyd. We just haven’t been able to do that. Winning cures everything.
Those are actual, real numbers UTSA puts out. Not funny math where only 25% are actually there. Trust your eyes and look in the stands when they play. It’s Impressive. I have actually never even looked at their numbers, or anyone else’s. Nearly everyone lies and lies big time. So why bother ? Just look in the stands during the games and you’ll see the crowd size for yourself.
How many games of theirs have you watched? They are very similar to UTEP when it comes to fans. When they are winning a lot they can pull numbers we cannot (location helps this a lot). When they aren’t they are just as pathetic as the rest. It was just a few years ago that they were pulling 14k (reported, less in the stands) for CUSA matchups. These past couple seasons have been the exception not the rule.
I have seen their games off and on since they joined CUSA. Not every game every year, but usually at least 2-3. Fan support was always, by far, the best in CUSA. Visually speaking.
Again, this isn't by the numbers. I go by what I see in the stands. The posted numbers mean nothing to me. Havn't looked at them for 10+ years for any school.
