DucksForever's Dynasty Blog
">HB Brandin Byrd rushes for 114 yards in Saturday's 24-21 victory
The Ed Gravy era starts with victory in which emotions are hard to describe. On one hand, the Mean Green emerged victorious in a game where they were out-gained by almost 100 yards and were down by 14 at the half. On the other hand, Idaho has been a doormat in the FBS for the past 60 years, and North Texas almost had a monumental week 1 loss.
Still, a win is a win, and there are definitely building blocks that Gravy can use to keep these winning ways consistent. The first and most obvious reason for hope is the emergence of backup tailback Brandin Byrd. Starter Reggie Pegram was having a decent game before a head injury ended his day. As much as our hearts go out to Pegram following the injury, the addition of Byrd to the Mean Green's offense seemed to be the spark that they needed. He averaged better than 6 yards a carry and he scored the game-winning touchdown with less than a minute to go.
Thompson really struggled at times, but in the clutch he delivered. On a 4th and 5, Thompson delivered the play of his life as he scrambled to the left and threw a strike for a 1st down. However, he was erratic with his throws and inconsistent in general. It's obvious that he will have to improve if they hope to beat the Bobcats next week.
The defense was a mixed bag this week, but it mainly underperformed. The run defense was pretty stout, but it was facing an inept Idaho rushing attack. All in all, the tackling was poor, but they eventually stiffened as the game went on. The passing defense, however, was pretty awful. The secondary was not expected to be a strong spot on the defense this year, but getting torched by Idaho is embarrassing. There was virtually no pass rush, and the team was forced to play cover 3 instead of matching up man-to-man because they do not have the ability to play one-on-one.
That'll be a major problem when playing teams with more experienced quarterbacks or more talent at receiver...basically every other team left on the schedule. The good news is that the 'cover 3 spy' scheme worked very well in controlling the receivers and masking the talent deficiencies of the secondary. I look for the Mean Green to continue employing this scheme as the season goes on.
As for the win, Coach Gravy said, "Are we supposed to be satisfied with this? I mean really, are we? I'm awfully proud of our kids and the way that they fought to win this game. That shouldn't be taken away from them. But this can't be the top of the mountain, if it is, then I guess I won't be coaching here for long. We've got so much room to grow, and this team has so much freakin' potential that I can't wait to get to practice on Monday."
On the offense, Gravy said, "Well we struggled to move the football down the field, but I really like how we protected the football and controlled the clock in the second half. Derek's gonna have to manage some game's for us, and that's what he did."
Next week, the Mean Green play the 0-1 Bobcats.
| Idaho Vandals at North Texas Mean Green | |||||
| Sep 1, 2013 | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |
| Idaho Vandals (0-1 (0-0)) | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| North Texas Mean Green (1-0 (0-0)) | 0 | 0 | 9 | 15 | 24 |
| Team Stats Comparison | ||
| IDHO | UNT | |
| Total Offense | 396 | 313 |
| Rushing Yards | 121 | 167 |
| Passing Yards | 275 | 146 |
| First Downs | 14 | 17 |
| Punt Return Yards | 4 | 39 |
| Kick Return Yards | 136 | 141 |
| Total Yards | 536 | 493 |
| Turnovers | 0 | 1 |
| 3rd Down Converstion | 7-13 (53%) | 5-13 (38%) |
| 4th Down Conversion | 0-0 (0%) | 1-1 (100%) |
| 2-Point Conversion | 0-0 (0%) | 1-2 (50%) |
| Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals | 2/0 (100%) | 2/0 (66%) |
| Penalties | 1-15 | 1-0 |
| Posession Time | 12:28 | 19:32 |
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