BIG DAWG

We do not have ONE...game ready DE on the roster! This is absolutely RIDICULOUS! I still cannot believe this is happening! We went from having Horton and Gilmore, maybe the best tandem in the Sunbelt to having anyone's best guess at DE! Yes, we have players that have the POTENTIAL to step up, but we know the story about POTENTIAL! We have equally the same chance at them being inadequate at this stage in their careers as we do any of them being studs...in matter of fact I would say due to age and lack of experience at this level, we are closer to trouble with any of the DE's on our roster than we are to solid. Words cannot say how disappointed and PISSED I am at our current situation...not jsut at DE, but the whole damned program! We are not even close to where 90% think we are, and we should be in a lot better situation! I have never been so pissed when it wasn't directly tied to the outcome of a game than I am right now, and like I said, it isn't just the DE situation, but the direction of the whole damned thing!!!

Holy SH!T I cannot believe all this is happening...is the sky truly falling? What did we do to deserve so much bad karma lately??? My head is spinning and I am feeling like vomiting!

Something screams to me about Sam Roberson and Justin Edwards. I got the chance to see Roberson in the spring, and he was as advertised, and I think he will be a BEAST. Then with Edwards, something about him makes me think of Buckles. I know that is saying a lot without the guy even putting on a green jersey, but I have a feeling. Buckles is one of my all time favorite Mean Green players

Other than losing Gilmore on our D-Line, him with all the others we have lost, do you all realize what this could do to tear down our program??? We cannot afford to take many more hits with the APR score business. If I am not mistaking, if they get you twice, the second time is more severe. What is happening here? It seems like yesterday we were wining titles, going to bowls, getting national pub on the cover of USA Today's sports page, and now...where are we? Losing scholarships, games, studs, and soon to be all the added support we got with the Dodge hire. If this stuff doesn't change drastically, and do so fast, it is going to lead to a situation where we struggle for a long time because we won't be able to replace talented players. I mean if we are all honest with each other, if you recruit 18 kids, how many of those really end up to big time contributors? Yes, sometimes it looks like on paper that they all will, and they will all be studs, but that isn't the case even for the big super conference teams. You cross your fingers, and hope you can catch lightning in a bottle and have half the class become stud contributors, and many times half is hoping for too much. I am a HUGE NT fan, back the team to anyone, but I am really concerned. I fear we are inching ourselves closer and closer into REALLY big trouble, at a time when we should be capitalizing on the rebirth of our program, yet it seems our program is having it's foundation erode away.

Not that we will, but even if we were to go 0-fer, Riley still redshirts. It goes back to want is best for the long term goals of the program. No one is realistically forecasting us to do big things this year. Hell, most green-tea drinkers would even be happy with a 5-6 win season. There is, as we all seem to agree, no reason not to redshirt Riley this year

I couldn't agree more. Meager has earned the rigth to be the #2 guy regardless of what people say about him. People forget the fact he threw for over 600 yds...in one game...in this system. He is MORE than capable to be a backup on this team. Secondly...regardless of what people believe Dodge really needs to redshirt. This is regardless of how well he knows dad's offense, as I know people are going to say that he has been playing in the system since he left the hospital as a baby, BUT he has not been playing at the college level, and the system has been tweeked since being brought from Carrol. The guy still weighs like 180 lbs wet. He needs to build some muscle on what frame he does have, so he can be the most effective player he can be when it is his turn in 2011. To burn his redshirt to be a backup would be the worst possible situation for this program. WORST POSSIBLE SITUATION for the PROGRAM. Notice I did not say for Riley, Todge, or anyone else, I said the PROGRAM.

I totally lost track of what this thread was saying due to Green Goblin's avatar

I would take it

Exactly! Couldn't have said it better myself!

Remember the days when these kind of posts didn't happen??? Or the days when we backed our players??? What happened to those days??? Here is the best to you B-Jax...hope you get another shot with another team!

Yes, you are correct, I was talking about Edwards at safety. BUsh is a very solid corner...maybe still the best on the teamin my opinion. Yes, he does not have the great size, but he can play the run, and more than holds his own as a coverage guy...IMHO

There may be many things up in the air with the rosters and depth charts, but one thing is certain, Adams will not be playing corner. He was recruited as a safety to fill a need. He will be playing safety.

QB - Vizza RB - Mosley WR - Roberson WR - Dibrell WR - Fitz (slot) WR - Fentriss (slot) LT - Menard LG - Hollivay C - Drake RG - Santiago RT - Jenkins The only thing that scares me is that JUCO OL worry me ever since that JUCO OL we got that was to be a mauler...Travis something...he didn't even stay long enough for regular season competition. Then throw in the fact that we really haven't had much luck with JUCO's lately...the last one being Weathers. I am probably glaringly overlooking someone that I will smack myself for later, but please point that person out if you can. Any changes to this lineup???

NT Ike Thomas DT Joe Miller DE Ed Gilmore DE Zo Horton LB Craig Robertson LB Tobe Nwigwe LB AJ Penson DB Kylie Hill DB Justin Edwards CB Antoine Bush CB Adryan Adams

Many seem to be forgeting about Justin Edwards at safety. This kid is one that I am really excited about.

I am noticing the actual football talk increasing on the board as the season draws nearer, but when does fall practice actually begin this year? Anyone have any concrete dates?

IF...these things happen, we WILL have a VERY special season in God's Country (Denton of course)! I only say IF because I do not want to get too excited. The implications of these things happening are so HUGE for this team that we would possibly have one of those seasons that are remembered for a long time...dare is say 2002??? If these things happen on the defensive line, coupled with the offense we are going to have, the sky is the limit folks. BIG things would be happening in NT land!

I know a lot ofpeople on this board look at things through green tinted glasses, but CRAP can you look at anything more negative than this post??? "Well if we didn't make the plays we did we would have lost..." Doesn't that go for every team in every sport?

And who said our leadership wasn't insightful and couldn't look to the future?

Mr. Rafes, ex-NT admin, is the president there...word is from some people that are close to the situation that he was run off...I wish he was still here. He was a very big Athletics supporter!

You all need to tap the breaks on the Green Cool-Aid if you think just getting a new stadium is going to magically boost our attendance over 30K...That is ridiculous. 30K is penty...we will have a hard enough time filling that up until we get good year in and year out...that should be the focus

I wouldn't mind trading one of our "body bag" games in for one of the opponents you mentioned, but I think it is always good to play at least one with the big boys to know you're alive

This is by no means an attack post, or thrown out to be negative, but simply stating that whether it is feasible or not, Fouts will not be remodeled. There has been too much work put into (whether or not some believe it to be so or not) into a new stadium. After releasing pictures and videos of what this new stadium is to be, anything less would be seen as an unacceptable failure. There could be possibilities to your idea, but it just isn't going to pan out that way. I seriously doubt it was even a consideration.

This is HUGE news...this guy looks to be a mauler...of course we will have to wait and see...

Sounds like if our 2008 score shows significant improvement, we can avoid an annual penalty, which was my fear. I thought that we might receive a penalty every year until we were above 925, which I keep reading could take 3-4 years to accomplish. This is actually good news?!?!?!?!?!