Harry

LOL. Seriously this one is under wraps I think.

We could really use him this week.

Look for TJ Covington to be moving on up the lists especially if he keeps playing like he did Saturday.

http://tulsahurricane.collegesports.com/sp.../091205aad.html Tulsa Football Coach Steve Kragthorpe Press Conference Quotes Tulsa travels south of the Oklahoma border to play North Texas Sept. 12, 2005 Tulsa, Oklahoma - Steve Kragthorpe Press Conference Quotes on Sept. 12 Opening Statement: I am very proud of the way our team played Saturday. I thought they played with great effort in a very challenging environment. You have to give a lot of credit to the University of Oklahoma and their coaching staff and players. They made plays at the end to beat us. Our team responded extremely well to the challenging week of practice that we put them through and they played hard through the course of the game. I think I saw a team that was disappointed about what transpired throughout the game. And again, we felt like going into the game that we could win. We knew we were going to have to play some good football on the road in order to do it, just like we are this week going to Denton. Again, I thought there were no moral victories. They were disappointed that we did not win the football game they knew that we went toe-to-toe with a good football team, and had opportunities to win the game. So, I would say that they were disappointed, but not discouraged. We can take some positive things out of this football game in terms of the ways that we improved for week one to week two and like I said after the game on Saturday we need to continue to make significant improvements each week to put ourselves in position to hopefully secure our first victory. How big of a leap was it from week one to week two for your team? Does it seem like a vast improvement? Well, I think it was pretty significant. But again look at Minnesota and what they did to Colorado State. Minnesota has a very good football team, and I think that they are going to have a fine season. They are well-coached and have good players. We did not come out and play the sisters of the poor in week one and then go to Norman and play them in week two. We played a very good football team in week one and diagnosed some things we knew we needed to improve upon, such as taking care of the football, minimizing turnovers, which for about 55 minutes of game we did a good job of that. But again as we approach this week we knew that there were some things that we were going to have to improve upon to compete and to put ourselves in position to beat Oklahoma and I think we did that. On the match up problems Garrett Mills presented to Oklahoma: Garrett Mills is a very good football player. Again, you have heard me say on numerous occasions the thing that Garrett provides us is not only his athleticism, but his ability to think on his feet, so we are able to move him around and put him in several positions and situations to try and create those match ups for Garrett as we do for a lot of the players on our football team. The thing that you saw in the Oklahoma game is once they finally found him they did try and double him and we were still able to get the ball to him. One time they tripled him and we went somewhere else with the ball. We are going to continue to find ways to get Garrett the ball and if they want to try and minimize his impact on the game then we are going to have the ability to get the ball to other players and that is the team concept, really the concept of playing offense. What are your impressions of UNT running backs Patrick Cobbs and Jamario Thomas? They are both very good players. If you look at the statistics that they have been able to put up in each of the last of the two years -- they have a great one-two punch and we have certainly played some good tailbacks in the first two games of the season in Laurence Maroney and Adrian Peterson. But as I look at North Texas they have more depth in their offensive backfield than any team we have played thus far. It is going to be a real challenge for us because again they have a great one-two punch. When either of them is in the game they are able to take the ball and do some significant things with it. You cannot relax when one of them is out of the game, because they have another guy that can go in there that is just as effective and I anticipate maybe seeing some things this week where they put both of them in the game at the same time. Can you reflect on your time as an assistant coach at North Texas? I met Coach Schultz there and Spencer (Leftwich) and I worked together there in 1994-95 and then I left to go to Boston College for the 1996 season, but that was a great experience. Our youngest son, Nick, who turns 11 on Wednesday, was born while we lived in Denton. So we have a lot of fond memories there. Denton is one of my wife's favorite places that we have lived. There are a lot of great people there and I look back on those times as fun times in my coaching career. How did Paul Smith come out of the game on Saturday? He came out fine. He got bumped and bruised a little bit, but heck that's the nature or playing quarterback. I thought he managed the game well. He avoided the big hits. You're going to get knocked around a little bit, but that comes with the position. You can't block them all, and Brent (Venables) was going to bring a bunch of them throughout the course of the game. We knew that there were going to be some match ups we could create for all of our players if they were going to employ that type of strategy. When you are playing a blitzing aggressive defense you know you're going to get the ball out, but the expense is you're going to get knocked around a little bit. We made some big plays versus the blitz. It's often easier to complete passes against the blitz, than it is against people who are going to play two deep or three deep zones because the holes are tough to find in those situations. But when you create some match ups like we did for Garrett or some of our other players throughout the course of the game, and we can get the ball out to them in a pretty expedient fashion, you are going to be able to make some plays. What about Paul Smith's performance? I was really pleased with Paul's decision-making process throughout the course of the game. The measure of a quarterback in my opinion, is when you get knocked down, can you dust yourself off, get back in the huddle, and go snap the ball again, and play with great proficiency and move the sticks on third down? Because that's what it is really all about. And Paul made a lot of plays on third down with guys draped on him, or scrambling out, and getting some yardage from a run standpoint. He did a good job, but particularly in the second, third, and fourth quarters at keeping his eyes up and getting the ball down the field. That's something we talked to him about on the sideline and he made that adjustment from the first quarter. Again, I thought he played well, no question about it. He completed almost 70% of his passes and did some very good things in terms of pulling the ball and running it after they were dropping the coverage in the empty backfield situations. A lot of times people say you don't necessarily have to call a quarterback draw, we don't necessarily call a quarterback draw and it might just happen because of the way the defense is configured. Paul is a very good competitor. He's tough, he understands what the game is all about, he's been around it his whole life and he's gotten knocked around before, maybe not as significantly or by as big of guys as the other day. But no, I wasn't surprised at all by the way that Paul performed. I knew that he would thrive in that kind of environment, and great competitors usually do and we saw some guys step up and really play some good football. Guys like Paul, guys like Garrett, guys like Nick Bunting, and I thought Roy Roberts did a great job for his first start, and so I was impressed with the way our guys responded. Your thoughts on the performance of the offensive line: I'm pleased with the way our offensive line is playing right now. They've done an excellent job of protecting our quarterback. Paul did get knocked down a couple times, but our theory is we're going to send people out in the pass route and make them cover. They can always bring one more than you can block. But again, I think our offensive line is playing very well right now together. They're protecting our passer or they're opening holes, and we played two pretty good defensive fronts. Against two quality fronts, I think that our guys played pretty good football up front and they are starting to really gel and mold together, which is important for those five guys. On the defensive improvement from week 1 to week 2: I think we tackled a little bit better, and like I said we were able to get the runs moving North. We had a good game plan. We knew going into the game that we needed to limit the things that Adrian (Peterson) could do and his impact in the football game. We stacked the box a little bit. And we said that Rhett Bomar is going to have to beat us, and we didn't think he could do that, so that was really our thought process going into the game, is to take him out of the game. And if they could beat us throwing the football, then they would win. I think for three quarters we did a nice job with that, it's tough to bring that Peterson down, because he's a good football player, and he has shown that against very, very good teams. Can these two games against quality opponents boost your team's confidence? Well, we haven't won a game yet, and that is something that we need to do. Obviously it's going to be a challenge again this week to go down to North Texas, and play them, because they've got a very good team. They're a team that has won the conference championship each of the last four years, and gone to a bowl game each of the last four years. They have a long winning streak in terms of their conference record, and it is certainly going to be a challenge for us. But, we have 11 challenging games this year. Everybody we're going to play is a good football team, there's no question about it. We are going to play some teams in Conference USA that are every bit as good as Minnesota, and Oklahoma, and North Texas. So it is going to be a challenge. You know you could just press rewind and run the same tape every week, I'll just put a different shirt on for you. It's going to be a challenge every week - that's the nature of the schedule we have, and that's the nature of the league that we're going to play in. We're going to play good teams every week. Talk about North Texas on offense: I think you have to be real concerned with them throwing the ball over the top. I'm really impressed with their quarterback. For his first start he was really efficient. He was very accurate. He put the ball on the guys where they could be runners after the catch, and threw the ball down the field well. Quinn is a very good receiver he can make plays, catching the football at the highest point, I have seen him go up numerous times, and go grab that ball out of the jaws of the defense. They are a very, very good at throwing the football. I think in terms of throwing the football they're as good as any team we have faced so far. So that is something we are going to have to be very cognizant of is their ability to make plays down the field. On Steve Craver's performance: Steven is starting to come on, and I was pleased with the way he played in the game. He did some very good things throughout the course of the game, and made some big plays. The interception was obviously a big play that we were able to convert into points right before halftime. The sack on the first play of the second half was a huge play, gosh that ball looked like a boomerang, it bounced right back to Rhett. Steven made some big plays for us in the game. I think the challenge for him is to continue to be a more consistent player, which we are asking of all of our players. But I am pleased with the progress we've made so far. On Brad DeVault's play as your kicker: Bradley DeVault has been a big weapon. There's no question, when you get down into that area of the field, you want to be able to put points on the board. One of the things you heard me talk about after the game is that we want to score touchdowns. But, it is good to know that Brad is playing the way he's playing. I thought he had a good rhythm going in to the game and was really comfortable in pre-game warm-up, and that is why we decided to go ahead with that 52 yarder in that situation. Boy, he banged that thing right through. We know we had a little breeze, but it was a good kick. I think it would have been good from about 60. It was a good smooth kick. He didn't try to jump on it, and he's had a little bit of a tendency on the long ones to try and jump on it. But he did a good job of being real smooth and had good rhythm on that kick, and that's big when you know you can get some points that way, no doubt.

DE - not a bad game but man they have to make a decision. I saw several times where there was indecision against the option play. Our defensive ends would try to read the play instead of punish the QB and allowed the QB to make a clean pitch. I got news for you at this level you rarely can catch a running back with a full head of steam to the wide side of the field. There were several plays where they should have rocked a small Marks and they did not do it. I expect Russell will correct that problem against Tulsa. DL Stunts - since we're a little smaller and faster up front the stunts really worked well at times. Having good linebacker play helps because line stunts can leave you open for big plays. Man Chris Miller looks like a different player he looked really mobile and active putting a lot of pressure on the QB's - hope he can keep it going against Tulsa. OL - we had a lot of oline errors and missed assignments against MTSU. It was their first game I think they can play a lot better. Brown has ability and let me tell you, if he can step up and be the player he has the potential to be with May alongside him on the weakside our running game could be awesome. Branch - Wow, Jamel is an amazing corner! He made some wild plays and he plays much bigger than his size. Covington - Has NFL ability. Special Teams coverage was awesome. Really need to keep this going against Tulsa because Davis will kill you if you let him. He played like crap against Minny and was held out of OU so he will be very hungry against UNT. We gotta get better in the Oline and front four. Tulsa has some talented linemen and we need to win those battles to win this game.

http://www.kntu.fm also you Houston boys let us know if you can get it there on 88.3 FM! Also Chat is open: http://client1.sigmachat.com/sc.pl?id=73780

OK - my adopted player LB Travis Thompson did not get to play against the MUTS but I guarantee you he will be knocking some Tulsa heads come Saturday. For the others who adopted players - let's hear how your player did and cheer them on against Tulsa.

LOL!!!!

The students section could be huge. I hope they are running some promotions for the students. they can change the attendance = or - 5K easily. If Tulsa brings 5K we could rival the Baylor game for attendance. When is the last time we were 1-0 heading into the home opener?

This game against Tulsa will be HUGE in recruiting terms. We are major recruiting rivals with Tulsa because of proximity. Same for the La. Tech game to a lessor extent.

Man this could be a well attended game if the weather is kind. How many will Tulsa bring? Any estimated attendance numbers? 20k? More or less?

Hey Weatherdemon, thanks for the link. We are very much looking forward to the game and hope to show you and all the tulsa fans a lot of hospitality on Saturday. I put my responses in caps: 2) Obviously you have a strong running game. Is your passing game enough to keep the other team off balance or is your typical gameplan to just punish the defense inside and pound it out? WE WILL ALWAYS USE THE RUN TO SET UP THE PASS. WE HAVE A STRONG RUNNING GAME LED BY PATRICK COBBS AND JAMARIO THOMAS. WE WILL TRY TO PUNISH YOU INSIDE AND OUT WITH THE RUNNING GAME SETTING UP THE PLAY ACTION. IF WE CAN RUN THE BALL ON YOU WATCH OUT BUT IF YOU CAN STOP THE RUN WE COULD BE IN TROUBLE. 3) OU's Peterson and Maroney do most of their damage in the open field. How does this compare to your guys? LIKE I SAID INSIDE AND OUT, COBBS IS QUICK AND STRONG MORE LIKE MARONEY, THOMAS IS STRONG AND VERY FAST LIKE AP. 4) Is your defensive weakness against the run or pass or is it pretty good against both? I THINK OUR CORNERS ARE TOP NOTCH AS ARE OUR LINEBACKERS. I WOULD SAY IT IS REALLY TOO EARLY TO TELL WHAT OUR STRENGTH AND WEAKNESSES ARE CAUSE WE ONLY HAVE HAD ONE GAME. I think this is going to be a very good and very close game! I think TU wins but I can see where UNT has a good chance at the victory. I think the line is you guys by 6. I AGREE 100% A COUPLE OF RETURN QUESTIONS: 1). WHAT HAPPENED TO ASHLAN DAVIS? DID HE NOT PLAY AGAINST OU? I SAW HE MADE A LOT OF MISTAKES AGAINST MINNESOTA AND WONDERED IF HE WAS HURT OR BENCHED. 2). WHO DO YOU EXPECT THE STARTING QB TO BE, SMITH OR JOHNSON? 3). WHAT IS THE SIZE AND SPEED OF #30 MILLS?

As I said these reports are often incorrect. We will get a better idea after Dickey's press conference on Tuesday. I would be very surprised if they would have played Thomas given his medical situation. Now - I do think he may play some against Tulsa.

LOL!

If he played it would have been very minimal reps - at his size he's hard to miss.

Well according to the participation reports here is who participated: North Texas: 4-Monroe, Brandon, 9-Gilmore, E., 11-Cox, Deavin, 17-Henderson, K., 19-Carter, Tyrone, 20-Thomas, Jamario, 25-Spencer, Truman, 29-Bazaldua, Nick, 30-McCoy, Saul, 32-Hopovac, Denis, 37-Mitchell, James, 48-Davenport, Ryan, 56-Pruitt, Sky, 62-Gray, Frank, 63-Cooley, Chad, 65-Miller, Joseph, 82-Stickler, Brock, 85-Chaney, Jimmy, 88-Davidson, Beau, 89-Burruss, Blake, 91-Thomas, Issac, 93-Ransom, Willie, 95-Pistole, Chase, 97-Durodoye, Raifu, 99-Harmon, Robert. Now, these reports can often be incorrect. They didn't list Green (#2) for some reason. If Gilmore played I missed it. I did see redshirt transfer Ryan Davenport on punt coverage. I didn't see Saul Mccoy so I'm guessing he played on special teams.

Zeke Bingo! He was an outside linebacker from Rockdale actually a 1st team in his district in 19-3A in 2004. He was listed as 6-2, 200. Good looking athlete.

Good find Southbend - they usually put those at the bottom of their game recap. I couldn't find it on the MTSU site either.

I did not see Gilmore play. Davidson handled the deep snapping. The only true frosh that I saw on the field was Joe Miller although mystery man Germaine Dawson played on kickoff team. They played 5 dends that I saw including Durodoye, Burriss, Ransom, Chapman and Hutcheson. Speaking of Dawson, is there truly a town in Texas called Rockride as it is listed as his hometown? I keep looking for it but can't find anything. I wonder if it is a misprint on the roster.

greatness!

He played - I didn't see him in on a lot of plays other than he was in the scrape with Chapman on the fumble recovery. They played a lot of defensive ends last night. There actually hasn't been a participation report released. As soon as there is one available we will have it posted. I get the feeling that we saw a lot of the front four switching in and out but the linebackers stayed in there with the exception of Monroe subbing in for Holman. I did see Higgs play some safety. Stickler was in some as well on offense.

It will take time for Issac but I do think he will figure in soon. I think we need to give credit to Chris Miller, Montey Stevenson, Sky Pruitt and Joe Miller as they played pretty well as the game went on. Our linebackers are pretty good and they will help give our front four time to grow up.

http://www.gomeangreen.com/mgr

http://www.goblueraiders.com/?go=story&doc=4309 Football - September 10, 2005 Turnovers Bedevil Blue Raiders in 14-7 Loss MT Media Relations MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - North Texas capitalized on five Middle Tennessee turnovers to defeat the Blue Raiders 14-7 for its 26th straight Sun Belt Conference victory. Maurice Holman returned a Clint Marks interception 99 yards with 8:48 remaining in the third quarter to allow the Mean Green (1-0, 1-0) to tie the game at 7-7. After a fumble on a handoff, Patrick Cobbs capped a 3-play, 46-yard drive with a 4-yard touchdown run to give North Texas a 14-7 advantage with 1:56 left in the third quarter. Cobbs, the NCAA's leading rusher in 2003, gained 103 yards on 28 carries. Middle Tennessee held a 7-0 advantage at halftime. Eugene Gross, who rushed for a game-high 129 yards, tallied for the Blue Raiders on a 6-yard run with 7:53 left in the second quarter. The Blue Raiders' won the time of possession, but shot themselves in the foot with turnovers. Middle Tennessee quarterback Clint Marks threw three interceptions, including two that were picked inside the Mean Green 10. Marks completed 21-of-27 for 195 yards. The Blue Raiders will host Akron next Saturday. POSTGAME NOTES MIDDLE TENNESSEE VS NORTH TEXAS SEPTEMBER 10, 2005; FLOYD STADIUM GROSS GETS 100: For the fourth time in his career, junior Eugene Gross topped the 100-yard rushing mark when he scampered 129 yards on a career-high 28 attempts against North Texas. It marked Gross' first 100-yard game since gaining 113 yards against North Texas in 2004. It was just the second 100-yard game for Gross at home. Gross' 28 carries were the most by a Blue Raider back since Dwone Hicks rushed 37 times in a win over Vanderbilt in 2001. FINALLY ... A SACK: Senior Jeff Littlejohn recorded his first sack of the season at the beginning of the third quarter to mark Middle Tennessee's first quarterback sack in the North Texas series. Littlejohn now has two career sacks and the one tonight was his first since the 2003 season. GROSS ON THE BOARD: RB Eugene Gross scored his first rushing touchdown of the season when he ran one in from six yards out in the second quarter against North Texas. It was the 18th rushing touchdown of Gross' career, which places him just two behind Kelverrick Green for 10th spot on the all-time list. MARKS MOVE TO NO. 7: With 195 yards passing tonight, QB Clint Marks moved all the way to sixth place on the all-time passing yards list at Middle Tennessee. Marks jumped past Andrico Hines, Phil Ironside, and Billy Walker tonight. Marks now has 3,654 career passing yards. LITTLEJOHN GETS BLOCK: Senior Jeff Littlejohn recorded his first career blocked kick when he rejected a field goal by North Texas' Nick Bazaldua in the third quarter. The block was the 16th blocked kick (four have come against North Texas) of any kind under Head Coach Andy McCollum and the sixth field goal rejected under McCollum. SAINTIL GETS CAREER-HIGH: Senior wide receiver Cleannord Saintil had five receptions for a career-best 94 yards against North Texas tonight. Saintil's previous yardage high was 75 yards against Florida Atlantic in 2004. The wide receiver has five catches in both contests this season to lead the club in receptions. QUICK HITTERS: PK Colby Smith missed his first field goal attempt of the season in the first quarter against North Texas to break a string of five straight made field goals ... Offensive lineman Germayle Franklin made his 19th straight start in today's game against North Texas ... A record five NFL scouts attended tonight's game (Seahawks, Colts, Titans, Chiefs, and Jaguars) ... Redshirt freshman Franklin Dunbar started at left guard in the second half ... The 99-yard interception return by North Texas tonight was the longest against MT in school history ... RB Ralph King made his first appearance as a Blue Raider tonight when he came in during the third quarter (first ever carry went for five yards) ... WR Chris Henry ran his streak to 19 consecutive games with at least one reception ... The Blue Raiders fell to 0-5 against North Texas, with the five contests decided by a total of 34 points ... Middle Tennessee fell to 19-8 in home openers in the last 27 years and 3-4 under Andy McCollum in lidlifters at Floyd Stadium ... The Blue Raiders suffered just the fourth Sun Belt loss at home under McCollum, falling to 11-4 in SBC play and 22-10 overall at home under the seventh-year head coach. MIDDLE TENNESSEE POSTGAME QUOTES HEAD COACH ANDY MCCOLLUM Opening comments: "I really hurt for our football team tonight. These players laid it out there and played tremendously hard. I thought it was a very good defensive performance with that unit allowing just the one touchdown. Offensively, we moved the ball up and down the field but we killed ourselves with turnovers. We stress not turning the ball over and ball security but you can't have that many miscues and beat a quality football team like North Texas." On the five turnovers: "We had every chance to put ourselves in a great position because I really believe that if we could have got up 10-0 or 14-0, I don't think they could have scored twice on our defense, but give North Texas the credit. They forced turnovers and made some big plays. On the interception they returned for a touchdown, Clint (Marks) was trying to go over the top to Chris Henry and he just didn't see the guy. It's tough when you have controlled the game and they return one interception and it is tied but that's what happens when you don't capitalize on field position and make plays. We talk about it all the time. No one is hurting more than (Marks, who had three interceptions), but he is a quality player and person and will bounce back. We tried to overcome the turnovers and still had a chance late in the fourth quarter despite turning it over five times and missing two field goals so that kind of tells you how hard our team played." On the defense: "Our defense really got better tonight and showed improvement from last week's game (at Alabama). Our defense allows one touchdown and was able to get off the field at key times and give us a chance. I thought it was a great defensive effort. We had a lot of plays for lost yardage and put them in some tough down-and-distance situations but it wasn't enough. All-around, this one was one of the better defensive performances we've had against a team with a very talented ground game and an efficient passing attack." On the crowd: "The crowd tonight was great. They gave us an edge and we didn't take advantage. This team appreciates the support and it meant a lot to run out of the tunnel and see all the people in the stands early. It was a great atmosphere and I'm sorry we didn't get it done. I hope the fans will come back and support this team next week when we play Akron. Thoughts from North Texas Head Coach Darrell Dickey: "Our kids have great character and great heart, that's kind of our style of play. Our style is to hang in there, hang in there, and hang in there. Fortunately we made a play that changed the momentum in our favor. Middle Tennessee gave us the toughest game we have ever had against them. They got a good football team and we were very fortunate to come out with a win tonight." Thoughts from North Texas linebacker Maurice Holman (#41): Holman's thoughts on his interception in the first half: "I was at the right place at the right time and I was able to do something with it. I really didn't think I was going to make it to the end zone but I made sure I kept two hands on the ball and the next thing you know I scored."

Explain to me why in hell we are having a discussion of the "lack of imagination" of the uniform after possibly one of the biggest opening season wins we have had? The last time we opened the season with a win was against freaking Texas Tech in 1988! Come on guys this is ridiculous. Kudos to the team and the program tonight. Huge win on the road against a good team! I ask that we save this disturbingly petty thread until at least Wednesday possibly Thursday. GMG!