ForneyGreen

Thanks for the post-Gio article Harry! One thing's for sure... never a dull moment at good 'ol UNT I am excited to see what Riley and Tune can do behind a revamped OL with the addition of two speed guys at receiver. I also agree that we'll see more DL JUCO commits than we have announced at this point. Not sure what to think about Atkinson - I guess that's the risk you take when you are going for high-caliber players. I am mostly looking forward to seeing Cam next year as a starter all season - that guy may have a very special year.

I truly wish Gio the best and appreciate his time at UNT, but the whole idea of leaving your team with two years remaining (a team that needs you) just kinda makes my stomach turn. Maybe kids are just different now... Mitch's comments reminded me of when I was 2 years into my stay at UNT. While I was not on athletic scholarship and thus not "committed" to the university, I still felt a sense of ownership in the school after being around other students, the community, and the faculty. Maybe the UNT die hards like myself just want some of that same passion from the student athletes - I remember knowing a lot of those athletes during my time at UNT that wouldn't have dreamed of playing anywhere else. I know that some of our kids today still feel that passion - obviously some others do not. Best of luck Gio - hope you're able to find what you're looking for

Honestly, I think we'll win 3-4 games next year. Last year's team was bad enough to get blown out by a so-so MUTS team and good enough to hang with a pretty decent ASU team that had a lot to play for toward the end of the year. I think Riley will be on the field a lot one way or another. The defense will be improved in its second year under Deloach. Not a spectacular season, but expecting better than last year's carnage.

Cowboys didn't have a chance because they play in an old stadium. You see, football teams can't be expected to win if they have an old stadium. Maybe the Cowboys will get a new stadium some day...

I think Juco's are every bit as tough (maybe tougher) to evaluate than high school kids. They will always be hit-and-miss - same with every D1 footballl program. Some things to remember about Juco's: 1) There is a reason that they went to Juco as opposed to taking a D1 scholarship (could be grades, family situation, talent level, lots of things) 2) You really don't have any development time for a Juco - they either come in and contribute, or they take a valuable scholly spot for 2 years and don't do much All in all, I think HS is almost always the best route. We have a lot of holes to fill right now - thus we're hitting the Juco trail very hard. Of the Juco's mentioned on this thread, I would put Kevin Galbraith as my #1... that guy was an awesome Juco find and an example of a perfect Juco fit while a great HS running back (Patrick Cobbs) developed behind him.

1. Body-bag games at LSU, OU, etc. 2. Any home game scheduled on either * Texas/OU weekend or * Thanksgiving weekend 3. 1-11

Something has me feeling good about this game (not a win but close)... MUTS 30 UNT 27

Classic video! I tend to like me some kool-aid too... How's this for kool-aid? UNT 34 FAU 31 Woooohooooo!!!!!!

Great post Rick! We need to keep our eyes on the prize: a new football stadium, better recruiting, more money support, a new men's baseball program, future conference membership possibilities, etc. I think that during these hard times, it may help to look back and see just how far we've come since 2000 (and better yet since the 80's). Granted our programs have not progressed as quickly as many had hoped, but the upwards progressions are seen in the foundations being laid (Athletic Center, new football stadium which is now a reality, etc.). We all loved and enjoyed the 4 Sun Belt championships in football and are very thankful to those that made it happen. But the program didn't blossom from that success and in fact regressed over the next 2 years. We are in the midst of a major overhaul - it is extremely tough right now - but it will get MUCH better. Stay the course - give Dodge his 4 years to make something great happen. Recruiting has improved - fan support has improved - season ticket purchases have improved - the foundations are being laid.

Troy - 44 UNT - 27 Attendance: 19,300 I think Dodge and Company pull a few rabbits out of their hats on offense and the defense plays their best game of the year, but we have at least one special teams meltdown that leads to Troy points.s New Stadium = Good Times

That is a true statement and very good point. If this thing doesn't pass, I think we should all send scathing letters to the Daily and to the UNT Administration letting them know that their own Student Body signed their university's death warrant. Many folks (donating alumni that make this thing work) just won't feel like fighting for this thing any longer if the Student Body just doesn't care enough. That being said - I will remain cautiously optimistic. I greatly appreciate the efforts of UNTflyer and other students who worked very, very hard to get this thing passed - UNT needs 34,000 more of those folks. Fingers crossed...

Just curious if we're expecting to get any injured players back for the Rice game. Stickler, Drake, or Mosely (or anyone else)? Also, it seems I heard somewhere that Sam Roberson was banged up and that was preventing him from getting more reps - any injury update news would be appreciated!

I think you're in trouble with the boss man :-) Here's the deal... in today's world, a nice 32,000 seat stadium will cost 60+ million dollars. A nice 32,000 seat stadium is much better than a bad 45,000 seat stadium (and much, much better than a bad 30,000 Fouts Field stadium) from all perspectives (recruiting, scheduling, etc.)... Let's do this... get the new stadium built. Then if some big donor decides to chip in an extra 15 million for an upper deck later, we'll build it and call it the "Joe Donor Upper Deck".

The concept is more along the lines of the perception that many people in the workplace have concerning various universities. Basically, universities with large athletic programs are considered "large" schools, and many associate "large" schools with being "good" schools. Universities with small athletic programs are considered "small" schools. In the case of UNT, we are obviously a big university with many quality programs, but we are still referred to as a "small" school by most in the marketplace, and that is primarily tied to the association of athletic program size to university size. That's just the way it is in America. If you are not an Ivy League school or one of the few nationally-recognized tech-based schools like MIT or CalPoly, then the size of your athletics programs (men's football and basketball in particular) along with the commitment level to those programs often weighs heavily toward the perception of the school.

The renovations are good news - I want the Cotton Bowl to look nice when the Mean Green gets their bowl invite in a few years

I was VERY glad to see Riley get playing time. Even at receiver, he is one of the most talented guys on the field. Notice how the offense seemed to "click" a little better with Riley on the field? I'm glad that the offense did finally show signs of life in this game. Tulsa has one of the best offenses in the nation, so the big points against us don't bother me too much - except that I hated to see some really poor tackling at times. Give TD some time - he's playing a ton of youngsters right now - that will pay off later this year in Sun Belt play (and into the following years).

Wasn't that the game that Scott Davis had to make a freaky 50+ yard 4th down throw into the end zone to get us the lead, only to see K-State drive in the last minute to win? I can't remember who caught that pass in the end zone from Davis, but I remember it was a pretty cool looking play. Scott had a funny hitch to his throwing motion but could really get the ball downfield. Just another coulda, woulda, shoulda from our I-AA days...

#1 and #15 Wish I had more time to know much more about the goings-on with UNT Athletics, but my career just doesn't allow for it. I still believe UNT can be the major college sports force in the DFW Metroplex - gotta believe!

Also, don't we have Cam Montgomery coming in at running back (another highly-regarded transfer from 1 year ago)?

When we were I-AA, I remember all too well watching our 1-2 top recruits get cherry-picked by other programs (like old SWC schools) just before signing day. At that time, it seemed like many SWC schools would swoop in and snatch the top I-AA recruits at the last minute if they had 1 or 2 scholarships to fill at the end of the recruiting period. Some of the recent threads about "stealing" recruits got me to wondering... do we ever go after the top recruits for local I-AA programs? I never hear anything like "UNT received a commitment from Player X who was at the top of Sam Houston State's recruiting list". Anyway, it seems like we always paint ourselves as a waiting victim when it comes to snatching recruits - why can't we be the predator and make use of other schools' research into little-known players?

Getting Deloach back would be *huge* for this program. I wouldn't have any specific expectations for his first year regarding the rank of our defense, but I can guarantee that it would be noticeably better. Just having a slightly better defense last year results in a much different W/L record. A Deloach defense after a couple of recruiting years could be very special. I wonder what Mendoza made last year (salary) and just how much of an increase would be required to secure Deloach?

I was really surprised to see that Colorado St. and Wyoming, two MWC schools, both averaged under 23,000 for the year. Northwestern from the Big 10 averaged under 25,000. Western Kentucky went over 15,000 (I guess that's still a requirement for going IA) - they had 16,488

Wow - never thought that I would see Notre Dame, Minnesota, and Marshall all on the Bottom 10 list - I'm sure their supporters would never have thought this would happen as well!!!

My gut feeling is that we would be 0-5 with Dickey Ball - we would just be losing these games 23-13 instead of 38-29 Nothing about Dodge's coaching ability causes a receiver to drop a ball in the end zone or to not have the speed to run past a cornerback. We don't "yet" have all of the right players to run Dodge Ball - even so, this offense is pretty fun to watch!!! Dodge was the right choice.

Vizza is definitely a D1 QB and will only get better going forward. Actually he reminds me a bit of Scot Hall in his freshman year with his grit and the fact that he presses a little with the ball (Hall threw his fair share of ill-advised balls his freshman year). He looked good in the 2nd half after he settled-down a bit. The competition between Vizza and Dodge next year will be fun to watch. Our biggest problem is that we have other guys starting that are not really D1-level players. I don't say that to bash anyone because I know that our guys play hard and do their best. Hell, I wouldn't be able to sniff the 3rd string of a JUCO team. But, facts are facts, and we've had a few bad recruiting years at gool 'ol UNT. Let's hope that we are getting a lot of speed in the upcoming recruting classes...