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Vizza Sees Stock Rising With U N T

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Football: Vizza sees stock rise with UNT

Dodge says freshman in hunt to start against OU

11:46 PM CDT on Tuesday, August 14, 2007

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

Todd Dodge was walking off the field at the Alamodome last December following Southlake Carroll's win over Austin Westlake in the Class 5A Division I state title game when one of his best friends in coaching, Lee Bridges, handed him a piece of paper with two names scribbled on it.

One of the names was Giovanni Vizza, a standout quarterback from San Antonio Alamo Heights.

Eight months later, the recruiting tip is paying off for Dodge.

Dodge is seriously considering starting Vizza at quarterback Sept. 1 at Oklahoma.

"The players competing for the job knew all along that we were going to evaluate Giovanni," Dodge said. "I have been pleased with how he has responded. The game is starting to slow down for him, which is important. He is definitely in the hunt."

Vizza (pronounced Vee-za) and junior Daniel Meager split time with the first team in UNT's initial scrimmage of fall practice Saturday, and they have continued to share time with the first team in practice this week.

Vizza said he knew playing at the college level would be an adjustment, but he still set his sights on starting.

"Being in the mix for the starting job has been a part of my thought process all along," he said. "I didn't come in with the mind-set that I was going to redshirt."

Competing with a host of veterans hasn't bothered Vizza, who moved to Denton over the summer to work with his wide receivers and adapt to playing at the college level.

UNT started fall practice with several quarterbacks, including redshirt freshman Nathan Tune and junior Matt Phillips, who started three games last season.

Todd Dodge's son Riley, a senior at Southlake Carroll, committed to Texas shortly after Vizza signed with UNT, but he changed his mind and decided to follow his father to UNT in late June. Riley is the reigning Class 5A offensive player of the year and one of the top recruits in the state.

Despite the tough competition Vizza faces this season and next, his former coaches at Alamo Heights are sure he will be able to compete for the starting job.

"There was no doubt that we thought he would have a chance to start at North Texas," Alamo Heights quarterbacks coach Kelly Parker said. "He has a lot of drive to be the best he can be. He is never satisfied with where he is. He always wants to get better."

Parker said Vizza spent several Sundays throwing passes to his father at Alamo Heights, long after the rest of his teammates had gone home.

Vizza threw for 3,278 yards and rushed for another 667 yards as a senior while leading the Mules to the Class 4A Division I state title.

"Giovanni is a great leader on the field and knows where everyone is going to be all the time," said Sam Dibrell, the other name scribbled on the paper. "He knows all the receiver positions like the back of his hand. If the first option is covered, he knows where the second and third options are going to be."

Dodge saw those qualities shortly after receiving the tip to recruit Vizza, who originally committed to Nevada.

"Coach Dodge played a big role in my decision to come here instead of Nevada," Vizza said. "North Texas was also a lot closer to home."

Dodge counts landing Vizza was one of his biggest coups in recruiting since arriving at UNT.

"I don't know if we had the entire year to recruit the state of Texas that we could have found a better fit for what we like to do than Giovanni," Dodge said.

After the first few days of spring practice, it appears that Vizza might have a chance to show what he can do as a freshman.

"When everyone else is going out, he is in his room studying plays and getting better," Dibrell said. "I knew he would have a chance to start right away."

Dodge happy with two-a-days

Dodge said he was happy with the way his team performed during the first day of two-a-day practices.

UNT worked out just once a day for the first seven days of fall practice before practicing once in the morning and once in the afternoon on Tuesday.

"It went really well for the first two-a-days of the fall," Dodge said. "We got what we needed to done."

Fitzgerald in line to start

Former walk-on Casey Fitzgerald is in line to start for the Mean Green, despite competing with six freshman wide receivers and a host of other veterans, Dodge said.

The junior caught just five passes for 92 yards in two seasons before making an impression on Dodge in spring practice.

"Casey will be a one all the way," Dodge said. "He has played a lot of football and has been out there under the lights."

Briefly …

The Sun Belt Conference announced a new set of academic and athletic expectation standards on Tuesday. The standards include playing a minimum of 11 home football games in a two-year period, having all men's and women's basketball teams to play all of their games against Division I opponents and establishes attendance requirements in football and men's and women's basketball.

… Dodge said that he was happy with the way senior running back Deavin Cox performed in his first practice in pads on Tuesday after missing several days of workouts. … Sophomore defensive lineman Draylen Ross is among the players who have not practiced with the Mean Green yet this fall.

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.

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Mad Hatter Contributor

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Dodge is seriously considering starting Vizza at quarterback Sept. 1 at Oklahoma.

"The players competing for the job knew all along that we were going to evaluate Giovanni," Dodge said. "I have been pleased with how he has responded. The game is starting to slow down for him, which is important. He is definitely in the hunt."

The Godfather is making an offer Dodge can't refuse.......Seriously, if he starts, can we get the Green Brigade to learn the trumpet solo from the Godfather? Every time he makes a big play they show their respect?

Edited by Mad Hatter
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NCMeanGreen Newbie

NCMeanGreen

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The Godfather is making an offer Dodge can't refuse.......Seriously, if he starts, can we get the Green Brigade to learn the trumpet solo from the Godfather? Every time he makes a big play they show their respect?

Yes...I like! :)

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Green to the Bone Newbie

Green to the Bone

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The Godfather is making an offer Dodge can't refuse.......Seriously, if he starts, can we get the Green Brigade to learn the trumpet solo from the Godfather? Every time he makes a big play they show their respect?

Sure, and we could also have them play flamenco music with castanets for Calderon, Gomez and Mendoza, the Nigerian national anthem for Durodoye, the Peanuts TV theme for Charlie Brown, and the Lucky Charms "magically delicious" jingle for Fitzgerald.

Time to move past the stage of gee-whiz, we've got a player with an Italian name. The world has turned.

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mad dog Newbie

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Vizza said he knew playing at the college level would be an adjustment, but he still set his sights on starting.

"Being in the mix for the starting job has been a part of my thought process all along," he said. "I didn't come in with the mind-set that I was going to redshirt."

When asked what he thought of having to compete for the starting job, Vizza replied, "Fuggedaboutit, eh?"

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KingDL1 Mentor

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Sure, and we could also have them play flamenco music with castanets for Calderon, Gomez and Mendoza, the Nigerian national anthem for Durodoye, the Peanuts TV theme for Charlie Brown, and the Lucky Charms "magically delicious" jingle for Fitzgerald.

Time to move past the stage of gee-whiz, we've got a player with an Italian name. The world has turned.

A little thin skinned there PC police. I am half Sicilian and it does not bother me a bit in fact I like it, if the crowd and Vizza get into it fine. That solo would sound like the Kiss of death!

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Got5onIt Experienced

Got5onIt

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Sure, and we could also have them play flamenco music with castanets for Calderon, Gomez and Mendoza, the Nigerian national anthem for Durodoye, the Peanuts TV theme for Charlie Brown, and the Lucky Charms "magically delicious" jingle for Fitzgerald.

Time to move past the stage of gee-whiz, we've got a player with an Italian name. The world has turned.

Why no salsa music? :D

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Green to the Bone Newbie

Green to the Bone

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A little thin skinned there PC police. I am half Sicilian and it does not bother me a bit in fact I like it, if the crowd and Vizza get into it fine. That solo would sound like the Kiss of death!

Nope, I'd just like it if we didn't act like we just fell off a turnip truck. "Hey, looky there -- that's feller's Eye-talian! We never seen us a Eye-talian feller around these parts!"

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jimmyjames_99 Newbie

jimmyjames_99

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Sure, and we could also have them play flamenco music with castanets for Calderon, Gomez and Mendoza, the Nigerian national anthem for Durodoye, the Peanuts TV theme for Charlie Brown, and the Lucky Charms "magically delicious" jingle for Fitzgerald.

Time to move past the stage of gee-whiz, we've got a player with an Italian name. The world has turned.

Rain cloud post of the day...

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adman Apprentice

adman

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"You ruined my meat-a-balls!!"

How about every NT fan is given a jar of Spaghetti sauce at the gate for attending each home game as long as Vizza starts. Then we can all cheer in accents that make Joe Pesci proud.

Does this mean we throw spaghetti now instead of tortillas? Or perhaps green olives.

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Quoner Mentor

Quoner

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Time to move past the stage of gee-whiz, we've got a player with an Italian name. The world has turned.

Yeah, just like the Rangers did with David Dellucci...

Oh wait, they didn't move past it, played the music and the fans liked it? My bad.

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meangreenfreak Newbie

meangreenfreak

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Sure, and we could also have them play flamenco music with castanets for Calderon, Gomez and Mendoza, the Nigerian national anthem for Durodoye, the Peanuts TV theme for Charlie Brown, and the Lucky Charms "magically delicious" jingle for Fitzgerald.

Time to move past the stage of gee-whiz, we've got a player with an Italian name. The world has turned.

OMG!

GROW-UP!

Get a sense of humor.

Try some Paxil. It will help you relax.

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SCREAMING EAGLE-66 Rookie

SCREAMING EAGLE-66

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---Back in the era of TV series "Untouchables" the Italian-Americans had a bit of a problem with the program's portral of Italians and so many Italian names as gangsters. I know times have changed some but I would be careful... He might like it and he might not. Might try to find out somehow. If his HS did something similiar then I would not worry about it. I suppose doing it one game would not hurt and then stop if he objected.

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KingDL1 Mentor

KingDL1

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Does this mean we throw spaghetti now instead of tortillas? Or perhaps green olives.

We could have the pasta toss, Zitti bake, Fettuccine fling, Pennette pitch, Fusilli flight, Lasagna launch, Tortelli throw, Ravioli wristers, Manicotti massacre, or Cannelloni fire.

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DeepGreen Grand Master

DeepGreen

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Sure, and we could also have them play flamenco music with castanets for Calderon, Gomez and Mendoza, the Nigerian national anthem for Durodoye, the Peanuts TV theme for Charlie Brown, and the Lucky Charms "magically delicious" jingle for Fitzgerald.

Time to move past the stage of gee-whiz, we've got a player with an Italian name. The world has turned.

Hey, cumba, it has been brought to my attention that you are not showing my friend, Don Giovanni Vizza, the respect he deserves. You should not disrespect a person of Italian or Sicilain decent. I am 100% American-Sicilian and will forgive you. :rolleyes:

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