GrandGreen

The participation report always contains a lot of errors. They had McNulty starting at safety a game or two ago. Not sure how anyone tracks who played and is eligible for redshirts but it is sure not from the published participation report.

It would be a big win and may turn out to be one of the biggest wins in NT history but there is no way to tell that until much later. I see a lot of comments about this team being the best in NT history. Way premature, this could be one of the best if not the best, but this team has done absolutely nothing yet.

NT can win or lose to any remaining team USA is not a bad team and the Muts should be sky high for Saturday's game They still can finish well and got to remember last years thrashing ASU should be close to an even game but NT has home field ULM and WKU are top dogs but can both be beat The real variable is NT, IMO they have played 3 games well with two of them loses, and 3 bad with 2 being wins. If NT plays like they did against KSU, LSU and the second half of ULL; they could be conference champion but if they revert back to playing like they did against FAU, TSU and Houston; they could not win another game. I am going to drink the green kool aid and with more hope then logic pick NT to win the next three and split the last two 7-5

Don't care how its done but score. Everyone is happy now but if NT had lost, McCarney would have been ripped for his ultra conservative play on those two series from almost under NT's goal line. He was right as Atterberry and the defense played great to keep them from scoring more than 3. I think it was more dangerous running every time than it would have been to attempt a few low risk passes I can't knock NT for not passing more, they just don't have the athletes at wrs. Having said that Delgado had a great game and Chancellor always delivers and the passing game has improved, they just need more play makers at the position.

You don't read many other college fan message boards? The reactions on GMG are mild if anything. Standard operating procedures after a loss is to pan the QB and coaches and lose all prospective. After a win, the staff and players generally get a reprieve until the next loss.

Did you watch the replay? Clearly a very marginal call that is usually not made. I agree with the announcers on this one.

I think NT would have been better served with a Houston win, this just makes the loss look worse. It also proves the problems looking at prior games to predict games, but mostly it can get real nasty when you play a team that got embarrassed in their last game. I just hope another bad omen doesn't surface against the Muts, a team that got beat 59-7 the prior year is going to be sky high to revenge the stomping.

Speaking of that series, watched the taped game and that called back td, sure seemed to be a bad call by the refs. The fumble seemed to be a case of the ULL player grabbing the ball after the play was over, which works often when there is a big pile up. There are always if and buts, but it seems that bad ref calls cost NT two tds. If that had not happened and ULL's two big plays had been prevented and this would have been a rout. Of course ULL will counter that if a couple of their long tosses could have been caught, they would have won. It is just good to have NT win and not have to play the what if game.

I have no idea who will win this game. ULL will bring in a lot of confidence and swagger, not always a good thing. NT hasn't played well at home yet. NT hasn't played well since the KSU game. By the way, the point that KSU and LSU weren't up for NT is as stupid as it is true. I don't think those type teams were up for NT when they won by 40 to 70 either. Up or not there is an enormous resource and talent gap. This could be the great turnaround or be the worst loss of the year. The season won't be over with a loss but the probability of an improved season will be almost gone. A win could catapult NT a la the MTSU victory in 2001 to a great season. I predict NT will play one of its best games of the year but I am not sure it is good enough. I don't think the talent level is that uneven but one team is now used to winning and the other is still searching.

Some follow up on men's observations. Holmen really impressed me at least in the first portion of the scrimmage He played down low and I bet he was the leading rebounder. He didn't slid to the outside for the inevitable threes till late. Walton who I didn't mention earlier had a good game and hit a couple of threes. Niko also looked in better shape. I wasn't unusually impressed with Mitchell other than a couple of drives to the basket. I think he could have done that on every possession had he desired. I don't anyone in the Belt can stop him, and if they do double him just pass it off for an easy shot. Coleman can be very effective just by hovering around the basket for easy dunks or lay ins. This guy could be bad news in CUSA. I wondered about Patton and Walton because they seemed to be damned by faint praise in the Benford start of practice interview. Walton was very good at the end of last year and appears to have improved. Patton is the type of player that just seems to make plays. He can run and although no one really played defense in the scrimmage, I think he could be be very good at it. Overlander is a player not only a designated three guy. He runs the court well and gets in the right position. Franklin who I thought would have a tough time getting minutes and he still may but he really had some good moves to the basket. I don't see him as being the post up player he was last year often. However, with his new found quickness he may get a lot of time at the three position. If everyone stays healthy and the players work together, this could be the year. Mitchell is the no doubt an once in a lifetime type star for NT but Jordan Williams and Chris Jones could also be HOF type of NT players. Mitchell, Jones, J. Williams, A. Williams, Patton, Franklin, Niko, Holmen, Walton and Coleman. Pick your starting five and then look at what left. I think if those second tier players were the starting five, they could still be one of the better NT teams. Probably not championship caliber but could finish in the first half of the Belt and probably beat JJ's first NT teams easily.

A few women's team observations Lots of new faces Godbolt and Hyder ( someone I really wanted to see play) were held out Thought the best players in brief scrimmage were McCoy, Winn and Hooker Unfortunately Winn and Hooker are both transfers and not eligible this year Surprised Dawkins who was lauded as a point by Aston, was not playing that position McCoy and Christian (not big on mohawks for ether sex) were the points McCoy's play based on a small sample has gotten much better Christian had best assist of scrimmage Field goal percentage was bad Arcel Tac, a freshman and tallest player on team at 6'1 was thin but looked very athletic This also looks like a deep team but near at the talent level of the men Like the men's scrimmage there was not much defense Team is trying to run more, but definitely a work in progress I believe this team will be significantly better than last year's who started well but caved at the end of the season

Great Crowd, bigger than most games I've seen there This team is incredibly deep One short scrimmage doesn't mean much but some player observations Mitchell is Mitchell but he wasn't the best player in this scrimmage Chris Jones looked fantastic, he had a couple of dunks and really looked better than last year when he would have been all conference Holmen looked the best I have seen him, he actually played very well inside Coleman is huge and can play Outlander is apparently NT's best outside shooter Franklin looked like a new player to me, much quicker Alzee Williams guarding Jones was a great match Patton also can play, looks like a compete player Jordan Williams had his usual great dunks Taylor didn't play and I don't think Hardwick did It is going to be hard to guess the starters this year Have the dunk contest before the scrimmage

I wonder about Chris Jones, had the best vertical on the team last year and in hs was winner of dunk contests, yet I have never seen him even attempt a dunk in college.

Yes, it is to me a perhaps an unintentional slap at both Mitchell and NT with the continued reference to grades and Missouri. He did not qualify under NCAA rules because of lack of required credits due to the disallowal of those from the Florida Prep school. Those credits would not be allowed anywhere under NCAA rules. The difference was that under Missouri conference rules they could not provide a scholarship to a player that did not qualify for the year he would have to set out and under the Belt rules, NT could. The other thing that bothers me a little is the mention of Tony being a transfer from Missouri. You can't transfer from a school that would not enroll you.

Difficult to say being no one has seen Benford as HC. My guess and hope is that the team will be more defensive oriented and rely less on the three point shoot. JJ ran mostly a guard oriented offense and had trouble winning when the shots didn't fall. I also think that Benford will take the overall season more serious. JJ did a great job of having the team peak at the right time and play their best ball at tournament time. The issue I had is that they generally were mediocre until that point. Beating cream puffs and playing about even with everyone else. With the depth and talent on the roster this year, I see Benford using a lot of players and hopefully a fast paced game, pressing and fast breaks.

I am more concerned that a bad UAB team looks much better against UH than NT through the half.

Never heard of Steve Ramsey? There have been plenty of good passing QB's at NT in the last fifty years. Dickey is probably the most run oriented coach NT has had in that period. McCarney may be second.

I sometimes wonder if we are all watching the same game. Thompson didn't have a great game, but he certainly was not the major problem with the offense. I guess you blame the QB no matter what, I still remember some complaining about Meager after SMU beat NT, he only throw for over 600 yards. Thompson to Chancellor pass was a thing of beauty. Others not as good but some of you overlook the fact that despite FAU focus of stopping the run, there was not that many open receivers. I am not sure Dickey was as conservative as McCarney. Note I said McCarney not Canales. Again, McCarney calls the shots not Canales. FAU was crowding the line of scrimmage just like Troy and probably everyone else if NT doesn't figure out how to play against it. NT's answer seems to be play at least 2 tes and try to run no matter how many are in the box or throw a short pass that is also covered up. Other than middle screens does NT ever pass in the middle of the field? Great game by special teams for the most part, other than the punter had an off game. I wonder if his job will be up for crabs this week. The defense obviously won the game for NT who had the worst offensive performance of the year. It was a win and although I was disappointing in the offense. Listening to the players celebrate after the game reminded me that this team just needs some success and this certainly counts.

I actually like Casimiro as a recruit. Without getting on my moral high horse, I don't think giving commitments to players and then reneging is a policy that will serve NT well on a long term basis. That will ruin a coach or schools' reputation in a hurry. You don't think rival coaches will spread the word about a program that does not honor its commitments.

Did I not say rivals? By the way I am not sure how you can make valid comparisons based on all the services 3 star ratings unless you want to track every team through 3 or 4 services. Even assuming NT has two threes that doesn't compare well with Tulsa, Rice, ECU and others. The facts are despite a great new stadium and a new conference, NT has not significantly upped their recruiting at this point. Now there are many who will disagree no matter who NT has signed. You know ratings mean nothing, the coaches know better, etc. and cite countless examples of low rated recruits who turn out to be stars and highly rated ones that do not. Ignore the fact that primarily ratings are based on who is recruiting who, more than any other factor. These agencies such as Rival and Scout don't, as they would like you to believe, spend hours reviewing players to achieve a rating. Why should they? They can tap in to people whose jobs depend on finding good players. They know if a power team is interested, the player must have a lot of potential. They know if multiple lower tier teams are interested, then the prospect has shown more than a player with single team interest. It's not perfect, but it at least produces a logical rating system. I think recruiting is slowly improving but it is not close to where it needs to be, and every NT football coach knows this.

Other than Mitchell and Jones, it is a guess who the other starters are. Coleman, A. Williams, Patton, Walton, Franklin, Holmen and J. Williams are all fairly strong candidates to start. If Taylor is eligible you can add him in. Walton, Franklin, MItchell, Holmen and A Williams were the starters at the end of last year. Jones and J. Williams were starters at the first of the year, with Williams comfortable settling into the sixth man role before both became ineligible. Add Colman who may be the center the team needs and Patton who is a very versatile experienced player and maybe Taylor and competition for minutes is going to be extreme.

Is NT over with early recruiting? NT has no ships left if everyone signs but assuming Mitchell is leaving would have one more. The problem if everyone signs is that using that one ship before the season is dangerous. Suppose MItchell decided he wants another year or he or one of the seniors is injured and able to redshirt. Or maybe more likely a super recruit becomes available late. We are all familair with that scenario. The commits are not signed yet, but if NT early signs all them, it appears that NT options are limited. Yes, a ship can be not renewed but that may be a bad option with the players NT currently has.

At this point, I would be a lot more concerned with not having any rival three stars committed. The three star rating is given out much more freely than in the past, yet NT has yet to get one. To move the program up at some point, NT is going to have to beat out peer programs for recruits. I would like to get a few signings by players not referred to as diamonds in the rough, steals or other such verbiage indicating that the recruit was not highly sought.

I wonder why being a fan is viewed the same as accepting mediocrity. Yes, I go to the games and bitch about the lack of improvement. However, I have been doing that for a lot of games over a 40 plus year period. That what most fans do, they look at wins as more than than are and some losses as catastrophic events. Would not supporting the team be an antidote for a program that is not where we want it to be? Would firing the coach after a bad loss or benching the QB really work? In the vast majority of cases, no. Few individual fans can turn a program around. If you are Boone Pickens or the owner of NIke, you maybe can; but those individuals are very rare. The point is that no one accepts a bad program because they want to follow a struggling program. They follow it because they love sports and have some kind of connection to the team. So the concept that fans somehow contribute to the poor status of a team because they accept the status quo is totally ludicrous. Withdrawing your support is not going to elevate the program, in fact it will exactly the opposite.

A couple of more plays in the game, and most fans would be talking about a conference championship. Now, it is gloom and doom; all is lost. It was one bad game, NT did not play well enough to win against an opponent they should have beat at home. The prior week they play very well against a top 10 team. My guess the team is somewhere between those two performances. This team could still finish very well or fold. The next two games are very winnable and NT can regroup and still have a very good season.