Harry

On Friday, Scott will be inducted in the Schertz Athletic Hall of Fame. This is big honor for Scott and his family - and well deserved. I just wanted to share this good news with the Mean Green family.

Hey I write my opinions. Please allow me to do that. I give you that same opportunity. My relationship with the Athletic department has nothing to do with the opinions that I write on this board - never has never will. The best I can see is that you are trying to disrespect me, or minimize what my opinions are by making that claim. Try to defend your position on the facts instead of globally trying to dismiss what I am saying by dismissing it as skewed. In terms of my attitude towards the athletic department, I certainly am not looking to start a lynch mob either as I see that as counter productive. I'm just a fan like many of you. I tend to look at things a little more glass half full than most, but that 's just my nature. And one last thing, please don't spin what I said to support your agenda. I was the one who said that the comparisons of Fry and Dickey weren't fair. In fact I said, and I quote, " Some state that Fry would have accomplished more if given the situation Dickey faced. I have a lot of respect for Fry but it is in the very least debatable as to whether or not he would have fared any better than Dickey. When Fry was coach, NTSU was getting the leftovers of the SWC in recruiting. Now we have a couple dozen other BCS caliber programs recruiting in our region, not to mention CUSA/Mountain West and others. It's a different world, it's not fair to compare them." My closing sentence in discussing Fry and Dickey is, "It's a different world it is not fair to compare them." Let me again put my point in LARGE CAPS SO EVERYONE IS VERY CLEAR AND IT CAN'T BE TWISTED. I HAVE TREMENDOUS RESPECT FOR COACH FRY AND HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS. I THINK IT IS UNFAIR TO COMPARE FRY AND DICKEY BECAUSE THEY COME FROM SEPARATE AND VERY DIFFERENT ERA'S. In terms of the arguement over the era's, let me just say that your 20 additional scholarships arguement is full of holes. The main reason is, very simply the BC$. Back in Fry's day literally anyone could get on TV and there weren't such blatent discrepancies in terms of revenue sharing etc... heckfire, in 1977 when Fry was coaching at NTSU Arkansas State was in the top 20! We have assistant coaches at Oklahoma State making 3-4 times what our assistants are making in this crazy BCS environment. The BCS has developed a system of the Haves and Have nots. Fry didn't have that beast to overcome. I submit that Fry had a wealth of talent in the State of Texas regardless of the scholarship situation. People weren't as willing to move and transportation wasn't as cheap. Fry could do a lot more in the recruiting game as the rules weren't near as restrictive as they are now. You didn't see the Miami's, the Florida State's and programs like that raiding the State of Texas of it's best players. Most of the best players in Texas would stay in Texas. If a player did not go to a SWC school then NTSU had as good or better a shot than anyone else. Now we see Tulsa, Colorado State, New Mexico and Tulane and La. Tech and UTEP and Memphis and ALL of the Big 12 North Programs like Kansas and KState and Colorado and Missouri that used to be in the Big 8 but now they all LIVE in Texas all recruiting year long. The other point is, yes the Texas and schools of that caliber did recruit some players to sit on the bench and not play for other teams. But I would suggest that - by in large - if a player knew that they weren't going to play they would end up transferring to another IA school. Here's a quick chart that shows the history of scholarship limits in NCAA Division I-A football: Years - Limit • Pre-1977 - None • 1977-1991 - 95 • 1992 - 92 • 1993 - 88 • 1994-present - 85 Fry was coach at NTSU from 1973-1978. Again - if you don't agree with me or my opinions that's fine, but please don't try to label me or minimize my opinions by calling me a shill for the Athletic Department. Last I checked I wasn't on their payroll.

With Tulsa shocking USM in Hattiesburg, I think we can definitately move them into the good team category. K-State beat Kansas this past weekend and while they lost to OU in Norman (no crime even this year) you have to think that K-State, a Big 12 team, is still in the upper half of the D-I ranks. Our third loss was against Troy. I think Troy is a pretty good team. Their QB is a pretty poor passer but their defense has good speed and good tacklers. I like their offensive line and their power running game. I am disappointed as the next guy about how this season has turned out thusfar. I also am realistic. I am realistic enough to know that we probably won't beat LSU in Baton Rouge. I also realize that being 1-3 against the teams we have played is not reason for a "Dickey/Caine mutiny" either. Clearly Dickey has his critics, and included in this group are some of our most loyal fans. That pains me deeply and I wish that it wasn't the case. If you blame Dickey for all that ails us, then please feel free to make your opinions known. You have that right. But please, don't take what has happened to this young team with a RS freshman QB who never played a college game against some pretty decent competition and try use that to fuel your agenda or vendetta against Dickey. It's premature for that in my opinion. The guy has led us to 4 straight bowl games and 25 conference games for goodness sake. He and his staff deserve the benefit of the doubt.

34 - 17 in Hattiesburg? Yikes! And USM returns Dustin Almond at QB?

- A couple of thoughts. The Sun Belt is where we are. That is by no fault of DD's. It is the fault of prior administrations. I sense that people want to lay the blame on Dickey because we are in the Sun Belt - it isn't his fault it is ours. - Dickey has won four straight conference championships. Some like UNT Lifer and others will downplay this and say that it is a sorry conference etc. Again, I restate, it is our conference, it is the conference that we play in and recruit against. Regardless of what your opinion is of the Sun Belt winning 4 bowls is a major accomplishment - one that Fry and many others who are revered around here couldn't accomplish in their time here. 4 straight Bowl games and national television appearances have done wonders for the image of this program. - Some have short memories. We were - at best - an average I-AA program. Sure we had the big upsets of downtrodden SWC team now and again, and beat a post death penalty SMU but all in all we did not win more than we lost. Some state that Fry would have accomplished more if given the situation Dickey faced. I have a lot of respect for Fry but it is in the very least debatable as to whether or not he would have fared any better than Dickey. When Fry was coach, NTSU was getting the leftovers of the SWC in recruiting. Now we have a couple dozen other BCS caliber programs recruiting in our region, not to mention CUSA/Mountain West and others. It's a different world, it's not fair to compare them. - I would love to see how the 2002 team would have fared against this years schedule. Unfortunately most of the players on that team aren't here anymore. We suffered some key losses to graduation and academics. We are young at many positions including quarterback and the defensive line. - The Troy loss hurt (13-10) but I thought our defense fought hard and gave us a chance to win that game. I am not yet ready to give up on this team and I hope that they will continue to improve as the season goes on. I am watching the La. Tech game and the remainder of the SBC slate closely. - It is very clear that we need help in several areas, namely the offensive and defensive lines. This is not necessarily a Dickey phenomenon, as many mid-majors struggle to get the better linemen. I think they landed a quality one in TJ Raymond but ended up losing him to grades. Is this Dickey's fault? I think it is TJ's fault primarily, but I also think that you need to have an academic support structure in place to assist the student athletes that need extra help. - To not think that we would hit a bump in the road along the way from where we have been was probably naive and count me among the guilty here. The first major problem is starting a quarterback that had no college experience. That is probably the hardest deficiency to overcome. - I think it would be wise® to question the coaching after the season is over. There is still a lot of football left to be played and we should assess the season in aggregate. I believe to start down the road of whether Dickey deserves to be here is premature. - I share the pain of losing like we did to Tulsa at home and then Troy in front of good crowds. Those losses sting. I'm sure Dickey feels the same way. As bad as those losses hurt, let's see how he and the team respond in the remainder of the season and not be too quick to judge.

Some new names and updates on others. Here's the Link: http://www.gomeangreen.com/mgr/recruit.php

NDT - Thanks for the kind words. You are correct, Harriet is my aunt, and we are very close. As you can probably imagine my entire family is very excited and proud. We know her to be a special person and believe - if confirmed - she will make a terrific Supreme Court Justice. GMG!

The problem for MTSU is that they will need us to lose twice to get to the bowl. Now I'm not saying we won't lose twice, but the Troy game should give us a better idea of where we stand. Note on Troy - Dija watch their game against South Carolina last week? Can I tell you that they gave SC all they could handle and basically turned the ball over so much that they didn't give themself a chance. Troy has a big athletic o-line, their defense is salty and their QB while not great is capable at times. Get ready for smash mouth city, these guys love to run the ball up your gut. They have a big RB named Dawkins that is rather large and really hard to bring down. If we try to arm tackle this guy we are doomed. Troy had 5 turnovers against SCarolina which made this game appear to be a lot more of a blowout than it was (45-20). They have a very physical defense that will - like everyone in the galaxy- line 8-10 in the box and dare us to beat them with the pass. This will be a very tough game for us. Blakeney will not allow them to turn the ball over like they did last week so we can't expect "gifts". We will have to earn this one.

- I watched the entire MTSU Vandy game and it was awesome. Great win for MTSU and I was really happy for Andy Mac. I think Vandy was 4-0, undefeated and playing MTSU at home in front of a capacity crowd. Great announcers who were fair and even despite probably being payrolled by Vandy. Game went to the wire, Vandy got a field goal blocked with seconds remaining. That game tells you that anything can happen and that MTSU has some talent. - Houston beat Tulsa and the pure athleticicm of Houston was impressive. They have so much speed. As good as the Tulsa QB Johnson was against us, he is not in the class of UH's Kevin Kolb. I still think Tulsa is a decent team. One thing, Tulsa's home crowd was pretty disappointing from the TV perspective. The other thing I took from this game was that you HAVE to have a good quarterback to win (ie Kolb). We may have one on the roster now, only time will tell, but we MUST do everything we can to get more talent at this position for the future. If our running game philosophy is part of why we haven't been able to land the better QB prospects we ought to consider changing it. I personally don't buy that having a running team absolutely precludes you from landing a good QB prospect. The QB is the most important position on the field and the teams that win have good ones. - Watched a lot of the Memphis game against UTEP. The amazing thing is Memphis has lost like their top 2 quarterbacks this year and yet they have hung tough with UTEP. The Memphis QB is a freshman and hardly knows all of the plays yet he is getting the job done and making plays. DeAngelo Williams and the Memphis running game is lighting up the UTEP defense. You also have to give Mike Price credit as he has built a very good team in a short amount of time. Talk about a good investment, Price has literally turned UTEP's entire athletic program around into a CUSA contender. Hat's off to Memphis Coach Tommy West, as he threw the playbook at Price with receivers throwing touchdown passes and lots of misdirection and reverses. Great ballgame which appears to be heading to overtime as I post this 20-20... another point, a strong passing attack will ALWAYS give you a chance to come back in games. UTEP looked dead to the wind but a couple of long balls connect and they are back in it. A passing game can also draw interference call late in the game which stops the clock and moves the chains. Another point, defensive backs fall down and miss time their jumps to the ball. Defensive back is probably the most vulnerable position for an offense to capitalize on. True outstanding defensive backs are hard to come by. - Watched the Baylor A$M game. Just another example of how a program with far lesser talent can hang with the big boys on a given day. Baylor lost in overtime, but I would hazard a guess that there may be 1 or 2 Baylor players that could start for A&M. Hat's off to the Baylor Administration who have basically ressurected their program from the brink of death through scheduling winnable I-A and I-AA games early in the season. Reggie McNeil is a nice running QB but his passing was horrible today. - SMU Marshall...wow, tough tough loss for the Ponies as they led for the entire game and then faltered to Marshall in overtime. Fellas that loss may be the end for Bennett. I hope it isn't because he is a class guy and the win over TCU showed that he can succeed. - Man how things can change. Watched some of the Wyoming/UNLV game. UNLV seemed to be a program on the rise just a couple of years back. Wyoming was horrible. Now Wyoming trounced UNLV today like a stepchild today. Things can change in this game so quickly. Good recruiting helps for sure, but I am convinced that there is such a mental aspect to the turnarounds, ie getting a coach that can convince the team that they can succeed and implementing a system that works. - Did I mention that Gameplan and CSTV are beautiful things?

http://www.gomeangreen.com/mgr

You do not have to be a member - just stop by.

The Denton Chapter of the NT Exes is hosting a networking social tonight, September 29, at El Guapos at 419 S. Elm in Denton from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Along with providing munchies, door prizes will be given and there will be some cool NT Exes apparel for purchase. Come and enjoy!

Losing Coach Bell is a big, big loss for the Mean Green.

http://media.unt.edu:8080/ramgen/cmp/Athle...?DB_OEM_ID=1800

No apology necessary EagleD - hope you are doing well!

Moot you are right. This is a huge addition and key recruiting tool.

Wow Mick - solid post. I agree 100%.

We lost a game, we got whipped. It happens. Hat's off to Tulsa, they had their offense working on all cylinders and we were sputtering. It's a long season and we still have a lot of football left to be played.

http://www.gomeangreen.com/mgr

http://www.statesman.com/horns/content/spo...17TEXWHERE.html LONGHORNS FOOTBALL Catching up with Van Malone, 1989-1993 Advertisement UT ATHLETICS (enlarge photo) Texas' Van Malone played with the Longhorns from 1989 to 1993. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Cedric Golden AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Saturday, September 17, 2005 One of the nation's hardest-hitting defensive backs, Malone was part of a Texas secondary that led the nation in pass efficiency in 1990 and 1991 before the Detroit Lions selected the All-American in the second round of the 1994 draft (57th overall). He played four seasons there before signing with Arizona, but a preseason hip injury ended his playing days. Malone is in his second season as the defensive backs coach at the University of North Texas. Malone says he's 35 "going on 70." He has been married to Nedra for 10 years. The parents of two sons are expecting a third child in December. Q: How different is being the teacher as opposed to being a player? Which is harder? A: I have wanted to coach since I was in the seventh grade. I found a little notebook from that time in my life. I had drawn up offensive plays that I would use as a coach. Funny. As a player, I worked hard to study the opponent. As a coach the time commitment is doubled. Coaching is surely more difficult than playing. Q: Your greatest memory at Texas? A: When we lost the Colorado game (29-22) in 1990 and our seniors stood up in the locker room and proclaimed that we would not lose another game that season. Of course, the games against A&M when I had 14 and 17 tackle games were big for me as well. I would have liked the wins more than all those tackles. Q: The best athlete you ever played with? A: Barry Sanders, hands down. When I was leaving the practice field everyday, the greatest runner ever to play the game was still there doing wind sprints. He did 20 everyday after practice. Players would come to me before the game and ask for tips on how to tackle him. Q: And the best you ever played against? A: Jerry Rice, Tim Brown, and Brett Favre because these guys understand the game inside and out. They study the opponent and know how to take advantage of defensive weaknesses Q: How has the game changed since you played? A: Like any old schooler, I would say that these young whipper snappers are not as tough as I would like them to be. XBox and PlayStation2, which I have both, has made our kids TV athletes.

http://tulsa.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=456027 Pre-Game Notes: Tulsa at North Texas -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scott Bennett TheHurricaneAlert.com Staff Writer Date: September 17, 2005 Kickoff: 6:00 p.m. Location: Fouts Field [30,000] • Denton, Texas Radio: KRMG 740 AM -- Bruce Howard, Rick Couri and Chris Kaiser call the action. The network broadcast may be accessed at KRMG.com. Television: None UNT Athletics Jamario Thomas led the nation in rushing last season The Series: Tulsa and The Mean Green have played twenty games total throughout their respective histories. The Golden Hurricane owns a 14-6 series edge, with all games played between 1944 and 1982. Tulsa won the inaugural game, 47-6. The second game was not until 1957, won by North Texas, 41-12. The two teams played yearly, except for three seasons, until 1974 as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. Tulsa won the most recent game, 38-20, in 1982, John Cooper's fourth season. The teams are tied at 4-4 in games played at North Texas. The game will be played at 30,000-seat Fouts Field in Denton. Fouts Field was named in honor of Theron J. Fouts, who came to Denton in 1920 as coach of all sports at the university. Fouts initiated track and field as a varsity sport at UNT, and it was that program that gained the first national recognition for the university in athletics. Under his guidance, teams won national honors in football, basketball, golf and track and field. Fouts compiled a 23-14-2 record as football coach and later served as the athletic director. Coaches: TU coach Steve Kragthorpe is entering his third season in the driver's seat of the Golden Hurricane program. With a two-year record of 12-13, the Pocatello, Idaho native is loaded for big game in 2005. Entering his third year as a head coach, Kragthorpe has already been a finalist or nominee for five national "Coach of the Year" awards, and was the Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year in 2003. That in addition to glowing testimonials from Drew Bledsoe, whom he tutored for two years with the Buffalo Bills, Greg Williams (Bills Head Coach), Kevin Gilbride (Bills Offensive Coordinator), and Dan Henning (Boston College Head Coach). During Kragthorpe's three years as Offensive Coordinator at Northern Arizona, the team posted an 11-11 record. During three years as Texas A&M's offensive coordinator, those teams went a combined 26-12 and played in the Sugar, Alamo and Independence bowls. The Mean Green is coached by the ultra successful Darrell Dickey. Dickey was named head coach at the University of North Texas on February 25, 1998. He became the only coach in North Texas history to win four straight league titles, leading North Texas to Sun Belt Conference crowns in 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. Dickey is the only current Div. I-A coach in the nation to lead his team to four straight league titles in the same conference. The foundation of Dickey's success at the Denton school comes from his successful mining of the talent pool of Texas and Oklahoma high school football. Less than six percent of the 2004 roster was made up of players outside the two-state area. All but two of the 22 regular starters during the 2004 season were from either Oklahoma or Texas. Beginning in 1999, North Texas has made steady progress on the field, registering wins over such teams as Texas Tech and Boise State. In 2001, UNT won its first conference title (Big West) since 1973, followed by three more through last season. Dickey, a 41-year-old Texas native was an outstanding quarterback at Kansas State, leading the Wildcats to their first bowl appearance in school history, the 1982 Independence Bowl. While at Kansas State, Dickey started all four seasons at quarterback (1979-82), throwing for 4,098 yards and 23 touchdowns and finishing with 4,526 yards of total offense. He is the only player to lead Kansas State in total offense and passing offense all four years. Dickey was an offensive coordinator at UTEP and SMU from 1994 to 1997. Scene Setter The Hurricane is coming off an excellent performance against Oklahoma, in front of the largest crowd ever to see a Tulsa football game (83,877). It is hard to see much of a home field advantage for The Mean Green after the Norman experience. Tulsa opened the 2005 season facing Minnesota's Laurence Maroney, who went for 203 yards on 22 carries. Two of those caries, both in the first quarter, netted 140 yards. The subsequent 63 yards on 20 carries were more like the real Tulsa defense. The next week, came a huge dose of Adrian Peterson, 32 carries for 220 yards. This week, the defense has to swallow the same rushing pill in two halves. Patrick Cobbs and Jamario Thomas combined for 168 yards on 38 carries against Middle Tennessee. Neither player fumbled the ball. Cobbs was the nation's leading rusher in 2003, Thomas the same in 2004. Game Notes: UNT Athletics Patrick Cobbs • The defensive unit was North Texas' dominant question mark coming into fall practice. The team lost seven starters to graduation - 10 who accounted for all-conference honors last season. The Mean Green returns all of its linebackers, which will be a key to the success of the young defense. • The 2005 UNT offensive line is highlighted by Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year Dylan Lineberry. Lineberry was a second team all-conference selection in 2004, but did not participate in spring drills in order to work on his academic progress. The senior is expected to be the leader of the line. • For the first time in four years, The Mean Green secondary is without perennial all-conference safeties Jonas Buckles and Markeith Knowlton. Up to the challenge of replacing the duo is Cliff Higgs and Roderick Cotton. Higgs is a redshirt freshman. • College football has never seen a team with the luxury of two national rushing champions in the same backfield. Jamario Thomas and Patrick Cobbs wiped that circumstance off the record books when they stepped on the field against Middle Tennessee. Cobbs churned for 1,771 total yards in 2003, while Thomas went for 1,801 in 2004. There is only one solution bringing harmony to this duo for the 2005 season. Play all games on a three hundred yard field. Inside the numbers: • In 2003, North Texas average 177 rushing yards per game, 153 by Cobbs. In 2004, North Texas averaged 186 rushing yards per game, 180 by Thomas. Cobbs and Thomas playing at the same time would seem unlikely. Do they alternate plays or does Tulsa see the one with the hot feet and shoulder pads for most of the game? Or, does Cobbs get the most carries because Thomas has two more years of eligibility left, and Cobbs none? • North Texas must replace a graduated quarterback. That quarterback must replace 158 yards per game of passing yardage. Daniel Meager hit 10-of-15 passes for 122 yards with no interceptions against Middle Tennessee. The yardage is not overwhelming, but the accuracy is. A ball control supplement to the rushing capabilities of these two backs could wear out any defense. • North Texas started off 2004 with four straight losses to Texas, Florida Atlantic, Colorado and Baylor. They started off 2003 with one win (Baylor) and three losses (Oklahoma, Air Force and Arkansas). All this to say the Mean Green is a team conditioned to the same BCS loaded schedule Tulsa is. The two opponents will look at each other similarly -- meaning not only not intimidated, but anxious to play. Southland Conference vs. Conference USA. Both better bring their 'A' game. The Fourth Quarter: It would be tempting to identify this game as a breather. Minnesota/Oklahoma compared to Middle Tennessee. C-USA vs. Southland. Tulsa versus a team it hasn't seen in 23 years. In spite of the comparisons, both teams are after the same things. First, one win at a time. Second, national recognition. At this point, North Texas has more of the latter than Tulsa, given two straight national rushing champions. They appear to have found a quarterback who has one successful and efficient game under his belt. And they are at home. Tulsa enters the game on an upswing after a near miss against Oklahoma. This is a good game as schedules go because it will be a fist fight between two talented teams. A road win here can be a significant boost to TU's season.

I didn't get to join but I understand there was a good group in there for the MTSU game.

http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/school...pdf/tls0910.pdf

Question is how really good is MTSU? I think they are pretty good - we will see. Tulsa is going to give us all they can handle - this game probably makes or breaks their season. I like that we have them at home though. We usually (damn FAU game) play pretty tough at home.

Coming from Big D. I'm in for 8! 4 are potential season ticket holders!