UNT's season soon to reach point of no recovery

In 20 years of covering college or high school football, I've never quite seen anything like this. UNT already has a hard time winning, sometimes competing, with its starters and best players.

So, how can it be expected to do so with an epic backlog of injuries the past three weeks? Is the depth chart becoming too backup-heavy, too dependent on players meant to provide relief for starters, not replace them?

There are a million more questions and not a hell of a lot of answers after UNT took the field at Army with optimism and hope for a season-turning road victory, and left with a 24-0 defeat and about as bad an outlook to the rest of the season you can have. Backup quarterback Derek Thompson, making his first career start for Nathan Tune, is done for the season, as are center Nick Leppo -- another backup-turned-starter -- and starting receiver Chris Bynes. I'm hearing season-ending for all three, but no official word yet on their specific injuries.

Riley Dodge, like it or not UNT fans, is your starting quarterback until further notice. I imagine Aaron Fortenberry or Kelvin Drake will move in at center, and some combination of guys at outside receiver, perhaps Alex Lott, Jamaal Jackson, Brelan Chancellor or others will take Bynes' spot. Lott and Jackson usually play inside. Note that WR Mike Outlaw didn't play at Army, and not completely sure what's up with that.

I can't say there's much hope for a victory at FAU next Saturday, and 0-4 is, best guess the hole that will bury this coaching staff as athletic director Rick Villarreal begins scribbling his long list. UNT already has a consultant, Chuck Neinas, compiling a battle plan for the athletic department as it moves forward in an era of conference realignment and arms races.

Neinas also runs a headhunter service for new-coach hires. There's a lot of season remaining for candidates to surface, but one-stop shopping with Neinas at this point makes sense for Villarreal.

Injuries are a big reason this team might not win a game, and that's horribly unfair. By the same token, there's a mysterious disconnect between the time this team breaks practice and takes the game field nearly every week. Maybe it's talent. Maybe's it's coaching. No idea. But something about this program in its current state prevents the winning of games, which is the bottom line.

There's time to see improvement. But so far, the performance and/or inability of current players, or the coaching staff's failure and/or inability to get through to them has created a losing situation that appears irreversible.

I'd like to believe no one aspect (offense, defense, special teams, coaching, etc.) is to blame; that this and all the injuries could perhaps be the biggest cluster of football misfortune to befall an FBS program in several years. I doubt many folks will buy that, and blame will be assigned here and there. Bottom line is this is a sad situation that can't spiral much further. Injuries don't mitigate it, but they make it worse and take away your best players, which in turn reduces that which you can control as a team or staff.

Coaches and players talk about accountability, taking ownership, all that. You get fed up, angry and go out and take control of your circumstances. That's where UNT is now, regardless of its skill, talent or ability. If injuries or other factors such as mistakes and poor execution prevent that from happening next week or soon, then change is inevitable.

And whether or not you're a fan of the current coaching staff, it's just sad.