GrandGreen

Would you tell me if scoring one more td made any difference? The likelihood of scoring another was remote at best, and even if that miracle would have happened; would a victory been worth a year lost for a promising QB. Disregarding the possibility that running out of the wildcat was as likely to be as effective as a never used QB performing. Thompson did do great and NT scored a meaningless td to get closer to beating a 3-8 team. I can't think of anyway using a year of eligibility for Thompson was worth a minute chance at ending the season 3-9. It even makes less sense than using Kyle White in the Alabama game, playing him a few series and losing his redshirt year.

Hopefully, NT will learn how to schedule. This game should have not been played. I hope the guarantee was generous to fly half way across the nation to lose to a mediocre BSU. I don't know if JJ was trying to conserve his players but it looked like NT was playing a slow down for much of the game. A weird strategy with NT having a big edge in depth and quickness against a bigger team. I assume Johnson is injured, NT sure needs his speed. Another great offensive game by White. Good minutes by Spencer and I thought Knox looked good for his few minutes. Tremial, again came on strong in the second half, but NT needs him the whole game.

I have never understood the over the top criticism of Riley. He has certainly played as hard as anyone could. He has made more than his share of mistakes, but has also been very effective at times. If everyone on the team played as hard as Riley, NT would have had a winning team. I hope he has a speedy recovery and I also hope we see much more of him in a NT uniform.

I don't see any comparison between Dodge action and the black jerseys. DD's action was a not so veiled fu to NT and the fans. Dodge just made another dumb game time decision. I can't believe that there is anybody defending putting Thompson in the game. Even if Dodge was guaranteed a victory with putting Thompson in, it was not worth it. I also wonder why with Riley's injuries, Dodge would not have another QB on the travel squad or at least a back up plan that didn't result in losing a year of eligibility for a promising player.

Crowd was maybe disappointing but it appear close to the actual number of fans without the usual over count. The team is exactly were most would have projected at 3-1, still I have been disappointed with the early play. I was hoping this team would be something special and break out of the mode of the last few years, were they mostly beat the powder puffs scheduled and lose to the name schools and play .500 ball in conference until the last third of the schedule when they have been able to bring it together. First, the team struggled some with Cameron, a team that is usually no competition. Then they have to go to double overtime against a very mediocre UTA team. Although any kind of victory over UTA is good; their guards got to the basket at will and if they had any kind of interior game it probably would have not even been close. NT did not get completely blown out by OSU, but I did not feel that NT played particular well. In the last game against Jackson State they did only what was necessary to win and despite several double digit leads, they could not salt the game away. I think JJ is struggling a little with the lineup. This team is ultra deep, and trying to sort out the various player combinations is going to take time. I think White is trying to settle into the pg role, but anyone that saw the UTA game would not question his ability or heart. I disagree with several who have posted about his poor shot selection. For someone that can put up the numbers that White can, he takes very few shots. I didn't see bad shot selection in ether the OSU or Jackson State Game, those are the type of shots he routinely makes when he is on top of his game. Odufuwu has as noted improved his game more than any of the return starters. He is not taking and missing most of the outside shots that he threw up last year. Tremial has had somewhat of a slow start but it looks like he is getting back to par. Thompson looks like he is trying harder on the defensive end but has not found his shoot yet. He may be feeling the pressure of so many other good shooting guards, but it seems that he is always challenged before solidifying his position on the team. Holman is the first big off the bench and appears to have greater potential. I would like to see Knox play, I believe based on what little I have seen of him that he may have a lot more potential than Spencer. Shorter, Mangrum and Thomas have all had flashes at shooting guard. I think any one of them could develop into a real asset but it is going to be difficult with the three plus Johnson sharing minutes. I think JJ may be better off playing 7 or 8 the majority of minutes and developing a better game rhythm, however rolling out 10 or 11 players should tire out a lot of NT's competition.

Dodge had one great recruiting class, his second. Anyone that thinks that Dodge still has sway with Texas High School only has to look at last year's recruiting class. NT recruited more out of the New Orleans area than they did the Metroplex. I give TD and staff credit, they did dig and scrape and came up with a few good recruits, but they certainly didn't out recruit any other fb division team in Texas. If Dodge remains, expect about the same this year. Dodge, frankly has little creditability in college coaching at this time, and it is obvious that NT will again be primarily recruiting against the lowest level fb division schools for players that have been mainly ignored by most teams. One good thing about Dodge and staff is that I think they will continue to battle for recruits unlike DD who was largely content to pick from the most available.

Peters commits to WKU, per Scout.

1. On paper, NT's best chance for another win. 2. For Dodge dissenters, a loss would be giant motivation for a coaching change. 3. For Dodge supporters, a victory would double last year's win(s) and curtail coach change talk until the next loss. 4. Get to see one of the most exciting players in the country, Lance Dunbar. 5. Great tailgating for those so inclined. 6. Fouts can be as scary as any haunted house. 7. Potential offensive bonanza as the two worst defenses in the Belt collide. 8. Game is to early to have post-game fireworks. 9. Get first hand fodder for the QB debate, no matter who plays and how well; it can provide the basis for endless debate. 10. Beating WKU is NT's only chance for having a winning streak over one against any team. 11. Just enjoy a good Saturday afternoon of college football. 12. Show support for your University

To the factors of city size, student number, alumni numbers, you might want to add that TCU ticket prices are roughly double what NT's are. I think the TCU attendance situation just demonstrates how difficult it is to prosper in the collegian football arena. TCU is a school with a great location, tradition and enourmous resources relative to NT and most of the non-AQ teams. Yet, they struggle for coverage and attention against the pro and Big Twelve dominated media and the ever present UT influence over the entire state.

Hey, you got two for a dollar. Great memories.

NT basically is out of the title race after a very disappointing weekend. NT would have to beat Denver at Denver. Denver just beat WKU 2-0 at Bowling Green. FIU would have to lose at home to the next to last place FAU and MTSU would have to beat WKU. Possible I guess but highly unlikely. Hopefully NT can regroup and gear up for the tournament.

As a diversion from football, a look at the soccer race were NT is faring much better. There are basically five teams left in the race, NT 7-0-1, WKU 7-1, FIU 6-1-1, MTS 6-2 and DU 6-2 Cobbling up a quick analysis of those 5 teams, shows some interesting items: Scheduling for Soccer is completely unstable. NT has only 4 conference home games this year which they have already played. Denver has 5 home games, MTS 6, and FIU and WKU 7. Yes, I realize that this evens up across years, but I still wonder why it is necessary to so pollute the regular season championship by such unequal scheduling. FIU is actually in the best position to win. They have played all four of the other contenders with a 2-1-1 record. The other teams have only played one game against the other leaders. Denver is 0-1, MTS 1-0, WKU 0-1 and NT 0-0-1. Denver the favorite has lost games to both UALR and FIU. NT is fourth in goals scored only ahead of FIU among the top 5. NT has thus far the best defense leading in goals allowed. NT has by the far the worst remaining schedule playing MTS, WKU, and Denver all on the road. FIU the easiest, with UALR, ASU and FAU; all at home. WKU also has it last three games at home, Denver, NT, and MTSU. Denver plays at WKU and MTSU than gets NT at home. Winning the conference regular season will probably get you nothing other than the top seed in the tournament. It would be nice to win, however it is likely that NT would have to win all three remaining games to be alone at the top of the conference. One loss and they could finish behind WKU if that is who they lose to or in a tie with FIU who will be highly favored to win their last three games.

Did anyone else notice the great play Gilmore made in pass defense on a fourth down play by FAU in the fourth quarter were he defended an over the middle pass about 6 yards from the line of scrimmage? No doubt, the defense looked completely lost for most of the game. Part of that was due to a much better FAU offense than many realize. But I only remember Smith being hurried on a couple of plays the entire game. The overall defense looked like the Mendoza effort against Navy and SMU two years ago. I don't know what the deal is with the coaching staff and Gilmore, but I think it goes deeper than game time performances. NT was devoid of dts last year, so I can kind of see him being played there for part of the year. Gilmore is a defensive end and I can't think of any logic to support the coaches reported contention that his best chance at the next level is at dt. I doubt that Gilmore has any chance at the next level but if he does it would be at de and why would this be factor in where he plays at NT anyway? Gilmore played a lot at dt last night and like the rest of the line was almost totally ineffective. I also don't understand the fascination with Cantly at de, he also played a lot last night. He is a young player and hopefully as a bright future, but he appears to lack the quickness to be a de and certainly doesn't fit with the popular speed close to the ball theory being thrown around by the coaching staff. We won't see it, but it would be interested to see Gilmore at de and Cantly on the interior. The biggest disappointment for me, however was not the defensive line partially because I have continued to think this is a weak unit despite the hype. I did think that the defensive backs were greatly improved and they were obviously taken advantage of last night. True, an invisible pass rush was a major part of the problem. Smith did make some great passes but there were too many plays were there was not a defensive back anywhere close to the play.

Wrong Johnson. Walter (Weasel) Johnson was point guard in the mid-seventies. Lighting fast, but if you think JJ' point guards have a lot of turnovers. He would have a great assist on one play and a ball in the seat on the next. He was a lot of fun to watch and was the base of Bill Blakeley's run and gun offense.

Back to the point guard debate. No matter that Johnson had a very good year and White apparently played most of the year with one hand. NT point guard play will be fine barring injuries.

I believe that talking about T. Dodge future at this point is silly, he ain't going nowhere unless the team really crumbles in the next 7 games. My comment on your lists of factors: 1. Much of the legitimate Division 1A talent had disappeared by the time Dodge got here. A very valid point, DD's recruiting had gotten about as bad as a FB program could get. However, Dodge did inherit a veteran team especially on the defensive side that should have performed much better than they did in Dodge's first year. 2. The drug problem that was unknown to most of us. I really disagree with this. I don't think NT had any more of a drug problem than most teams. I certainly was not surprised by the percentage of failures and I would wager that it is not far from the norm if any other coaching staff in the nation was foolish enough to do mass testing. 3. The loss of scholarships due to deficiency in the APR. I think DD did take more risks than necessary with his questionable effort in recruiting and it ultimately hurt the program. However, I think the turnover in coaches also contributed to this as players left the program. 4. The racism accusation was a distraction. Not a major distraction but a distraction nonetheless. Not a major distraction? I am not sure there are many things that end a career faster than even a hint of racism in a program. This was truly unfortunate and put Dodge and the whole school on the defensive. To his credit, Dodge handled it as well as possible. 5. Dodge's system was the antithesis to the players on hand. True, however the offensive team actually performed better than expected with the change in the first year. 6. The team concept had to be instilled. Not sure about this point. I not sure that loyalty to the team or team concepts were a problem with Dickey's team. What was a problem is the bunker mentality fostered by DD in the team. 7. Dodge had a learning curve on being a college head coach. That is putting it mildly, Dodge was not close to being ready to be a fb division coach. IMO most of the problems stem from TD and many of his coaching staff not having the experience or skill necessary to coach at this level. This translated not only to lopsided loses but also quickly losing the confidence of the team. Hopefully, after a painful two seasons, the coaching staff is getting to be where it should have been in year one. 8. He did not have enough time to assemble a college coaching staff. In retrospect he should have retained the more competent from Dickey's staff. I don't think time or as other have suggested, money were big factors in his selection of coaches. I think he greatly overestimated the ability of high school coaches to successful at the next level. It takes time to learn the college game, and Dodge basically started his head coaching career with probably the most inexperienced staff in the recent history of division 1 football. Dodge has made a bunch of major mistakes in my opinion, but he also has demonstrated that he is willing to work and to change. I too, think he has significantly raised the talent level of the team, improved the coaching staff, and has got the program headed in the right direction. I have little doubt that he will be back next year and I also believe that the team will continue to improve this year.

The offensive line got manhandled in my opinion against Alabama and for the first half of the Muts game. They also only had 115 yards rushing against Ohio. However, Ohio only had 63 yards rushing against NT; so obviously by your logic their offensive line also is devoid of talent. That is going to happen occasionally to almost any team. Overall the numbers just don't support your contention. NT is 59 in the country in total offense, 41 in rushing offense, 39 in passing offense, tied for 4 in sacks allowed and 67 in tackle for losses allowed. Those numbers indicate that the offensive line is doing a pretty good job. Glad to know that Vizza left because of poor offensive line play. I have been wondering why he make that decision. As for as me playing QB, I assure you that would be apocalyptic, no matter who played offensive line.

Enjoyed your comments as always. One correction, Kyle White had his redshirt burned inexplicably against Alabama. I say that because I don't think he played in the next two games. I wonder why they would have played our only underclassmen dt if they were not going to give him significant playing time. Agree this team does have a lot more talent than any team since the championship years. Unfortunately few of them are going to be recognized beyond the loyal fans unless NT starts to get some wins. I think Royce Hill, Cook, and Dunbar are already playing at an all conference level. Add Akpunka and Dodge to the list and it is easy to see that the 2008 class is something special.

I see members of most of the teams at the football games. Unfortunately, I havn't noticed a lot of support from fellow athletes at the BB games. At last year's bb game with a half time presentation for the student athletes, I noticed and posted my disappointment that most of the athletes left after the half. Obviously, you can't mandate attendance and you should not even if you could. I do hope that NT has a much better student attendance as well as total attendance at this years, basketball games. This could be a very special year for the men's team. Unfortunately, a horrible home oc schedule will not help in this quest. I still find it increable that only a few hundred students usually make it to the basketball games.

Obvious, all five offensive linemen are starting on a FB level and have done so for at least two years. I wonder how you would know what the weight totals and 40 times are? I also see you disagree with Dodge who has on several times this year cited Santiago as having the best performance among the ol. There are multiple facets of NT's game to complain about, I just don't see the offensive line play very high on that list.

I watched the first half of the Texas Tech and New Mexico game, which was actually very close. I could not believe that it was a DD game plan, lots of different sets with most plays out of the spread. It sure didn't look like anything DD ran here.

You must have watched a different telecast. The only replay I saw was the players going up for the ball with minor contact. The penalty was for holding which had to take place before the ball was thrown, otherwise I think it would had to have been pass interference. I did go back and replay the action several times and it appears there was contact before the ball was thrown, however the referee threw his flag after the attempted catch and made no motion for the flag earlier. In any case, I didn't find it clear at all based on the television view.

Typical; fire the coach, bench the quarterback. It was a hard loss and Riley definitely had a horrible first half, but lets add just a touch of prospective. NT played well enough and in fact should have won this game as well as the Ohio game. There was not a game last year including NT's one win that I thought that about. Any speculative why no one attended that game. From a tv view it appears that 12,000 was a very generous attendance count. I suppose ULL just can't compete against a LSU tv game. Like any close games there are a number of plays that could have turned around the outcome. In this game: Riley's turnovers, awful punting game, and untimely penalties. The official really either blew the call or threw the game with that blatantly bad call on Hill at the end of the game. I don't think there was any foul but it was obvious that there was not enough contact to call a penalty at that point in the game. If it was hold at the line of scrimmage than the flag should have been thrown then not seconds after the play was over. Great play by the Defense for most of the game, but they still continue to falter late with the game on the line. For the most part, NT completely dominated a touted ULL offensive line. The offense played well other than the turnovers but also couldn't mount that late drive that could and should have won the game. Obviously, a great game by Dunbar. Back to the coach and the QB, Riley is the quarterback and Dodge is not going anywhere. Riley has had a couple of bad games in a row, but is the future of the program. Those that think that NT has better options at this point are mistaken. Riley has got to learn not to throw in heavy coverage. Someone opined that he is much better than ULL's young QB and I agree, but ULL's QB did not make the mistakes Riley did. I think most would agree that Todd Dodge was not ready to be a FB division head coach when hired. However, he has demonstrated enough of a turn around now that he is probably the best option going forward. I guess it is great to let of steam and demand a coaching change but he is not going to be fired during the season. As far as changing the offensive coordinator, do you think that Dodge doesn't really fill that position? NT has lost two games this year that were all but won. While this is tremously dissappointing, it does demonstrate progress. I don't think anybody is happy with the record, but it is still way to early to give up on this team. This team has talent and probably as much depth as any NT team. What it does not have, is a winning attitude. I saw a team Saturday night, that looks superior to ULL in almost all facets but when the game was on the line, folded; good teams don't do that.

Tyler was fired for off the field issues after one year so he may be the worst coach in history but his one year record was great compared to Dodge's first two years. I am not sure why an one year coach is brought up as a comparison to Dodge. 1981 (2-9) 9/5 ........L .....Kentucky ............................. 6-28 9/12 ......L ..... SMU # .................................. 7-34 9/19 ......L .....Texas .................................. 10-23 9/26 ......L ..... UL Lafayette ...................... 11-34 10/3 ......L .....OKLAHOMA STATE % ..... 0-9 10/10 ...W ...NEW MEXICO STATE .. 38-16 10/24 ...L .....UT-ARLINGTON % ........... 6-7 10/31 ...L ..... S. MISSISSIPPI .................. 0-22 11/7 ......L .....Auburn ................................ 0-20 11/14 ....W ... UL Monroe ....................... 17-14 11/28 ....L ..... San Jose State .................... 16-28

You may want to go back and check the results from the 2001 to 2004 years. I think there has been some improvement in the league mainly due to more teams, but this substantial improvement everyone keeps referring to is more wishful thinking than real. There have been more home games against more respected programs than in the earlier years and that has let to a few impressive victories. However, to tout a few victories and close games with highly favored teams and ignore the usual routs that happen when the Belt plays the Auto 6 conference teams and a woeful 1-3 record against the mighty MAC this year; does not make a strong case for the Belt being better. The fact is that the Belt is generally rated the worst conference in the NCAA this year as it has been through most of it's existence.