GrandGreen

Now we are complaining about the band being too big and less nimble. I thought they looked and sounded great. Entrance could be better but all that has to be coordinated with the teams that are actually playing the game. A grand entrance might be more fun but it would likely have to be a lot earlier and thus a lot less fans to view it.

I think Casimino is one of the better commits. IMO, a lot of you are underrating Brazilian BB, playing on an all star team in Brazil is nothing to dismiss. This player has been playing with Brazils' pro equivalent for years. We will know a lot more as the juco season plays out, but I like this pick up.

I think NT should be favored in every Belt game. USA could be better than either MTSU and WKU. Away at any of these three teams will be tough but on paper none should be able to hang with NT. There is not a player in the league who should be able to play with Mitchell and unlike last year; NT has a lot more options. NT has seven players returning that started a lot of games last year. Add to that Hardwick, Coleman, Patton and Taylor and a coach that I believe will take the conference games a lot more serious than JJ and NT should be a heavy favorite to win.

Having played two very hard to analyze games; one against one of the best teams in the nation and one against a team that NT should have had no problem with. However, based on what little we have seen: QB - C Thompson was very good against LSU and not so good against TSU. I believe LSU was the far more meaningful for all evaluations. RB - B Jimmerson will probably end up being number 1 but Byrd is right now should be the starter; he is the best blocker by far and doesn't make mistakes WR -D Other than Chancellor against LSU, the WRS have not shown me much OL - B Did well against a stacked formation by TSU to prevent the run, Did about as well as expected against a super talented LSU TE - C Have not made the catches in the few throws to them, heavily used against TSU to offset 8 and 9 man in the box defenses with some success DL - B Trouble as expected against LSU, but overall a better group than anticipated Bellizan and Lincoln have been pleasant surprises LB - B Akunne, Phillips, and Orr very solid starters; Polk and Wright give descent depth DB - C Much better than feared, very young and should get better Already as good as last year starters Lee and Trice are hitters ST - C Lots of mistakes, Atterberry has been good but was challenged by the TSU kicker KO return and punt coverage need lots of work

Give TSU some credit, they were not musically great but they are a small school with I would imagine a small band budget. Yes, they were out shown by a band over twice the size and one of the best in the land, but they put on a good show. I applaud them for bringing the band, they definitely added to the event.

Yes, they are a lot easier to see from the stands or TV. Every game at every level, has secondary receivers open and not thrown to. There were a couple last night that almost could have walked in they were so open. One in particular, the primary was on the alumni sideline and the secondary receiver broke open on the student sideline. Easy to see from a fan view, but very difficult to pick up by a QB. It is obvious, Thompson had a bad night; but he didn't get a lot of help from his receivers. TSU receivers were open more than NT's, fortunately their QB's missed most of those throws.

If you are going to have a bad game, this was the game to do it. The wind seemed to be a big factor for all QB's, and frankly the wrs for the most part were not getting open. Delgado and Bynes both looked slow and were not getting open. Chancellor was pretty much taken out of the game by coverages which should have left the other wrs more open. Thompson definitely had an off game but I am more worried about the wr position.

I hope the AD department lists the former players that attended. Willie Davis who has been mentioned was an all MVC center who at 6'8 was the biggest player on the late sixties team. I wish NT had of worked the ex players more before, NT could have had some good teams just signing all of Stanley Blackman's offspring.

Hard to rate the Ocean of Soul half time performance as they performed to the student side, but they were loud and enthusiastic throughout the game. The GB was great but the team, cheerleaders and band could come up with better entrances. NT has a giant band this year and musically they are always first rate; but this could be the best performing band in a long time.

Maybe someday NT tickets will bring that, although against a team like Texas Southern; there will have to be a lot of inflation

Followed up that loss with a 3-0 loss to A&M CC, not good to lose two straight in home tournament. Youth of team must be showing plus my guess it is hard to mesh returning team with probably more talented newcomers. I hope it is just growing pains and they will get more consistenly good.

Don't want to knock anything free and a lot better than nothing, but NT's volleyball broadcasts are about as bad as it can get. Watching UTA's which actually had a camera crew and play by play announcers; NT's stationary camera; no announcers, an out of focus scoreboard and undecipherable audio make the game impossible to follow on-line, sure looks second rate. This team deserves better and I would think better coverage would help recruiting. From what I could tell EMU had a very good team and deserved the win. Windham kept NT in the game, the only player I could identify but EMU was a better team in this match.

Based on the first week results. NT should be better than a break even team. At this point, NT would be favored over TSU, Troy, FAU, ULM, USA and the Muts. I think NT can beat both ULL and ASU at Apogee. Houston would be about a toss up at this point and NT a big dog at KSU. I would not bet the house on it, but I think NT has a good chance at 9 wins.

Yes, leading the juco nation in rebounds and 3rd in blocks was a fluke. He certainly is not smooth but results do count for something. He may not be pretty but you don't get those stats without a lot of natural ability. NT has a signee in Coleman that did not stand out in juco and a commit Norris that did not even play a lot as a freshman. I hope both of these players turn out to be great but their Juco numbers are nowhere close to Odoh. Norris has another year to shine and Coleman only played one year, so the comparison is tilted in Odoh's favor but he has shown much more than either of them at this point.

Will I am not as sure as many who seem to think Odoh will be a bust. I would not be surprised that he turns out to be a very productive player. JJ is not exactly signing a bunch of 4 or 5 stars players yet. I still think the whole Odoh, JJ, NT thing smells.

USA has got all their starters back plus some good recruits. I would pick them second to NT. MTSU, USA, and NT on paper should be way above the rest of the conference.

Anyone should be optimistic after the LSU game. The team showed a lot of determinism and looked in better condition than LSU and played hard till the end. Best performance in a guarantee game since Clemson who was not in the same league as LSU and the 0-28 loss to UT which also was not close to LSU in talent.

Why? He had the best season as a running back that any NT player has ever had. If he had his freshmen year performance in his senior year instead of his first, he would be seen by many as the best rb ever at NT. Disappointment that he didn't follow up his freshmen with similar seasons is no reason to not recognize the greatness of his rookie year and a very solid career.

Great, Chapman was recognized, late but much appreciated by this fan. He IMO was overall a better player than Brandon Kennedy and the best player to play for Fry. I will be lost not getting to go into my annual rant about why he was excluded.

Thanks, that must be the question. Playing UT, OU, LSU etc for most of those first games, it is very likely that NT never had 2 td passes

I am still puzzling about that trivia question, what is the last QB that passed for two tds in a game. Answer Maher I guess they don't count the 8 tds Vizza threw against Navy or many other QBs that have thrown two or more since Maher. Heck, Thompson throw for 2 last year against Troy. Maybe I miss understood the question, but if not someone needs to do a litttle research.

Why not 5 million? No one is going to pay double market to get a home game with NT.

Why should he apologize for the way he feels? You may not like his view but what would he apologize for, being honest?

Playing one guaranteed game a year is fine, it gives a good measure of your program, provides exposure, and believe it or not is a treat to most players. It also creates an unbalanced home schedule and provides a lot of money for the program. Odds are stacked against ever winning, particularly if you continue to play LSU, Alabama, UT and OU. However, I think a game like this is much preferable to a TSU home game which IMO does nothing for the program. I don't like these games being the first of the year, and I certainly wouldn't be opposed to playing team a notch lower such as Iowa or Clemson for example. However, I doubt the financial rewards are comparable.

I thought Jimmerson ran very hard and moved the stack a couple of times. All three backs had their moments but I doubt any rb is going to look very good against LSU unless they have an Alabama like offensive line.