Big E

Pegram has had some nice flashes, but he just doesn't seem the same after the knee injury and they seem to be protecting him by not using him a ton, certainly not like the workhorse that was Byrd. Jimmerson looks pretty good, but doesn't have the speed of a Dunbar, so he gets caught often trying to break it outside. Wilson seems to have the speed, but injury has prevented us from seeing all that he appears to have. I agree the o-line has not dominated like many thought they would in conference play.

Our defense is going to be really good. Even though the defensive line is smaller, they were not getting pushed off the line by the much larger Texas O-line. The rotation of players kept the players as fresh as possible and I was impressed at how our defense did not appear overly fatigued. The Wintrich strength and conditioning program appears to be excellent and will pay off. I feel really good about our defense and special teams. My only concern on special teams is will we have the big play ability we had with Brelan. To restate the obvious, QB play was poor with terrible passing accuracy. It's hard to tell what our WRs and TEs will be able to do with so little to evaluate based on the poor throws, but if our QBs can improve their accuracy, which I believe they will (at least to an average level), I think we will be ok at the receiver spot. RBs will be strong with better o-line play and a better passing game. Our o-line will be a strength this year, but they were only fair last night against superior athletes and under constant blitzing. They did not keep the pocket open as long as they did last year (even against Georgia, if memory serves me correct). They struggled to get holes open for the RBs. Canales found more success when he had the offense start running outside veers to stretch the defense and allow for a little more running room (in the 4th quarter). I think the team will be fine after they take their learnings from this weekend and move on and get a fresh start next week against a much more evenly matched SMU team. Go Mean Green!!!

Go Johnny, go!!! That's awesome!!!

HOD Bowl - Cheering with the largest group of UNT fans to ever watch the Mean Green in person! It was an awesome day! My UT grad wife was there with me and was very impressed!

Total lack of maturity by this young man. And he probably received some bad advice from family/friends and/or he didn't want to listen to good advice. Of course the other Tech QBs understood...less competition for them with Mayfield gone and they don't have to listen to him complain anymore! Interesting that he followed the lead of his best friend, Garrett Gilbert, by leaving his school when things got challenging. He will learn that life is challenging and things don't always go as you expect or desire. You learn to adapt and persist...building strength and character along the way. He will probably get lost on the depth chart at OU if he ends up there. Ridiculous sense of entitlement from this fella'! But an interesting story...thanks for posting.

First bowl game in person! Watched all 4 NO Bowls on TV.

TEXAS!!!

Oh, ok...thank you.

Anyone getting redirected to Dallas Morning News account sign-in every time you try to click on a link for Vito's blog?

Lake Highlands High School Wildcats, Dallas, TX (Richardson ISD), class of 1992. Played TE and DT, wishbone offense, Wildcat/Ram Stadium was nicknamed The Boneyard. Consistent playoff team. Coached by the late Mike Zoffuto, who was made famous by providing guest commentary for the famed Plano East/John Tyler back and forth game, when he said, "God bless those kids...I'm going to throw up!" after JT came back to win the game. Coach was a great motivator who was driven by his battlefield experiences in Vietnam. Had three fellow seniors go on to play Div. 1A (Detron Smith, FB at TAMU and Denver Broncos/Indianapolis Colts; Marcus Coleman, DB at Texas Tech and Houston Texans/New York Jets/short stint with Dallas Cowboys; John Walters, LB at Alabama (played special teams true freshman year and won a national championship). Locker mate my senior year was a junior by the name of Phil Dawson, kicker at UT and longtime kicker of the Cleveland Browns. Another junior was a RB by the name of Roderick Newhouse...dad Robert of Cowboys fame. Roderick went on to play for Rice. Great memories!

I'm partial, but my vote is for my former teammate at Lake Highlands, Detron Smith (Class of '92). He was a man among boys as the fullback in our wishbone attack. Went on to play for Texas A&M, the Denver Broncos and finished with the Colts. He was 240 in high school with power and speed and quickness. He was the strongest guy on our team. Great memories!

The Interstate Batteries CEO is Norm Miller, UNT alum. I emailed Rick V. a few years ago to see if Norm had been contacted about Interstate being a major sponsor of North Texas athletics and never got a reply. I've always been surprised that Interstate hasn't had more of a presence at UNT with Norm's relationship to the university. I've heard Norm speak in person and he speaks very positively of his time at North Texas. Perhaps they are content with their NASCAR presence.

This is a no freak-out zone...this team will progress as the year goes along and this program will progress each year. FIU is very good and simply has better overall talent and had better execution. They won the Sun Belt last year and are the favorites to win it this year. Give it time...things will get better...we have the right coaches, the right facilities and this team is slowly, but surely getting the players and experience this team needs to win, but there is not a quick fix. In the mean time, I am excited to make the trip to Denton for our first home game in our new stadium!

Yep...saw it. I'm thinking free tickets possibly?

I share your excitement, FloMoGrad! As someone who has followed and supported this program since 1992, this is definitely the most support and "doing it the right way" I have seen from the administration!

Wouldn't that be $150,000? Regardless, pretty nice!

Thanks

Anyone know?

Just to clarify...I agree on Mean Green 93-98's post. With all due respect to Tasty Greek, I still think Bower would be worth checking into. But that is where RV steps in.

Absolutely. I agree with you.

Some thoughts: 12 players out for most if not all of the year since two-a-days...the 12th player is a true freshman, Knockus Sashington (gotta love the name). Most of these players are starters. Jason Sehorn and Dave Ryan, commentators for CBSCS were discussing how these injuries of this magnitude are unprecedented and break down the leadership and connectedness of the team in addition to the obvious problem of having so many of your top players out. They also brought up the fact that we are already short of the 85 scholarships available to FBS schools, so it just makes it worse. We need to support our team the entire season, no matter what happens with the coaching staff. It will be a monumental feat to overcome this many injuries, especially when you consider how tenuous the situation is already. The fact is that most of these players will be around next year and in future years. We need to support them...period. If Dodge can lead this team to a dramatic turnaround under the current circumstances, he'll be a hero. If not, RV will be faced with the biggest hire of his career. RV has done a great job with the athletic program in his tenure. He overcame huge deficits in facilities, lack of school and fan spirit and support and has helped to create a culture where people are proud to cheer our student athletes and our programs and facilities are vastly improved. The game atmosphere is dramatically improved, despite the W-L record. We will succeed and become a solid football program again. Perhaps Dodge pulls off the amazing turnaround. If not, I'm thinking Mike Leach and Jeff Bower are good places to start the coaching search. Leach may not be interested/affordable and I'm not sure what Bower is doing these days, but they are both proven HCs and are top of mind to me. For now, let's support the Mean Green as Dodge and his staff work to overcome improbable odds. Put yourself in their shoes. I can not imagine the pressure they are under right now. They want to succeed...let's support them in that. If they don't succeed, RV will make a change. The players, coaches and we, the fans, all understand that. Now they have a lot to do to get ready for FAU.

Just to clarify: Jackson dropped Thompson's deep throw, not Darius Carey, but Jackson came right back and caught a TD not long after.

I am pretty sure he lives in the Southlake area as I have seen him eating with his family at the Corner Bakery in Southlake. Babe Laufenberg also eats there. There is lots of support for Todd Dodge in Southlake.

I think RV will give TD another year to turn the corner and learn from his mistakes. If he doesn't turn the corner, then a new coach will open the new stadium. Next year will determine TDs ultimate fate as the Mean Green's head coach.

So I'm sitting at the game looking at fourth and five thinking you go for it instead of kicking the field goal because all a field goal does is prevent a potential tie if Army were to drive down the field and kick one. A touchdown seals the game. And if you don't make the first down, Army still has to drive the length of the field. So I'm pleasantly surprised to see Dodge send out the offense, but then we all know what happens then. Dodge said they were trying to catch Army with their field goal defense in. When Army didn't do that, there was no plan. Hence the timeout and sending out our middle school league kicker. Dodge said he should have gone with his first impression and actually gone for it on fourth down. I was talking to myself as they lined up for the field goal saying "what are you doing, no, go for it, you had it right the first time". Unbelievable. George and Hank concluded the broadcast by saying 90 players will return next year and they will be bigger, stronger and better next year. Probably true, but the talent of the players didn't lose this game, although five turnovers kept Army in the game...the play calling and coaching decisions sealed the fate of this team.