gangrene

I smell something foul in this story. Kyle Padron commits to SMU and then big brother Justin claims diabetes will force him to give up football so that Todd Dodge will give him his release. Only a few weeks later we hear that Justin is going to walk on at SMU. I don't know how great our pipeline with SLC was in the first place (aside from Riley last year, we missed out on 3 highly-rated recruits and this year's best prospect, Brayden Burnett, wouldn't give us the time of day) but it's drying up faster than a rain drop in Death Valley.

For Directv customers, the Sat-go is a really cool option too. It offers a receiver, satellite dish and TV in one complete, easy-to-carry unit. The initial cost is very reasonable if you haven't already bought a TV specifically for tailgating purposes and the monthly surcharge is the same as having an additional receiver in your house.

I agree. He obviously has no clue about our current QB situation but when has anyone ever publicly pondered the idea of putting a UNT QB in the Florida Gator offense???

Hmmm...could it be...check the facts has returned impersonating a slut fan? Whoever he is, I think the Greater Internet Dickwad Theory applies:

Spread offense QBs have to fight the stigma by Peter Schrager Peter Schrager is a frequent contributor for FOXSports.com. You can e-mail him at PeterSchrager@gmail.com Updated: August 22, 2008, 2:23 PM EST 11 comments They're the two dirty words no college football player ever wants to hear. Tossed around recklessly by draft pundits on studio sets and Internet message-board posters across the country, these two words have haunted the hopes and visions — while simultaneously discounting the achievements and successes — of Colt Brennan, B.J. Symons, and countless other players before them. They're ugly, cruel, and, in many cases, downright inaccurate. Yes, I'm talking about the term System Quarterback. Florida's Tim Tebow is pretty much the prototype for the modern college quarterback. At 6-4, 235 pounds, he's got the skills, body and brains to do it all. In 2007, he became the first college player ever to run and throw for 20 touchdowns in the same season. En route to winning the Heisman Trophy and scoring an average of 4.25 touchdowns per game last year, Tebow did (and ran over) everything he possibly could from the quarterback position. As former Gator coach and Heisman winner Steve Spurrier put it after seeing Tebow play last season: "He's the quarterback of the future. Actually, he's the quarterback of today. He's really the type of quarterback that almost everyone is looking for." And yet, even with the accolades, statistics, and universal praise — there are still some Tebow doubters out there. Minutes after winning the Heisman in December, a reporter asked Florida head coach Urban Meyer if his young signal caller was truly a great college football player, or just a product of the (shudder) "system" they run in Gainesville. The Florida coach bristled at the suggestion. "I've heard the word 'system' tossed around a lot this week," Meyer said. "But let me tell you something — personnel is all that matters. Tim Tebow is a great player. And that has nothing to do with the offensive style he plays in." But the skepticism remains. In draft forecasts across the web, Georgia's Matt Stafford and Purdue's Curtis Painter — two quarterbacks in more traditional pro-style offenses — are considered better NFL prospects than the multi-talented Tebow, who gets downgraded as a "spread system guy." Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel, a fellow spread system quarterback with his own pack of doubters, finished fourth in last year's Heisman voting. Speaking with the media following the Heisman ceremony, he gave his thoughts on the "system" label. "The spread offense works, it's not some gimmick," he said. "It's now the staple in college football. Tim's a special player. He'd be a special player in any offense." Daniel was really speaking for a long list of accomplished college players who have heard the criticism. Tebow, Daniel, West Virginia's Pat White, New Mexico State's Chase Holbrook, Washington's Jake Locker, Arizona's Willie Tuitama, even Texas Tech's Graham Harrell — they've all heard at some point that they are merely products of the system. In a way, it's chicken and egg. Does the system make the player or do the players make the system? Although Meyer may argue for the latter, insisting it takes a special group of players to run a successful spread scheme, it's sexy to take the side of the former. The aforementioned Alex Smith is the poster boy for those in the "it's the system" camp. Under Meyer at Utah in 2004, the undersized Smith threw 32 touchdown passes, just four interceptions, compiled 563 rushing yards, and ran for 10 touchdowns. After looking like a maestro on the gridiron in a Fiesta Bowl blowout victory over Pitt, Smith was selected as the top overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers. To say he's struggled in his three seasons as a pro would be an understatement. After a rookie campaign in which he stunk the joint up, he showed some encouraging signs in his second season, actually playing fairly well for offensive coordinator Norv Turner. But last year was an utter disaster — a morbid campaign in which he battled injuries, lost his starting job to a journeyman, publicly feuded with coaches and lost the confidence of his fan base. Heading into Year 4 — this time under offensive coordinator Mike Martz's watchful eye — there's a chance Smith, one of the highest paid quarterbacks in the league, will enter the season as low as third on the depth chart. If there's anything we've learned about the spread offense it's that when equipped with the right tools, it's nearly impossible to stop. With so many options built in and, in truth, more talent and speed on the offensive side of the ball than the defensive side, the opportunity for fireworks is limitless. The system can truly revolutionize a team. More specifically, it can change a player. Auburn quarterback Kodi Burns looked good backing up Brandon Cox last season, seeing some action in certain situations and succeeding as a primarily running quarterback. In 2008, he'll be the likely starter, running the spread offense for Hal Mumme disciple and spread offense "guru" Tony Franklin, the new Auburn offensive coordinator. In Auburn's old pro-style offense, Burns would have been viewed as a player on the rise, sharing the spotlight with running backs Brad Lester and Ben Tate. If he gets the starting nod in Franklin's high-flying offense (Junior Chris Todd still may win the role), watch his numbers and national profile take off. Will Burns be the one responsible for such success? He is, after all, the same player he was a season ago. Or will it be the Franklin offense, which some summer observers say is ready to erupt down in Auburn? The North Texas situation is one worth analyzing this season, as well. North Texas? Yes, North Texas. After guiding Southlake (Texas) Carroll High School to five state titles in seven years, coach Todd Dodge made the move to the college game last year, bringing his explosive spread offense scheme to the Sun Belt Conference. In his first season as the Mean Green's coach, Dodge, a former University of Texas quarterback, introduced his "air raid" offense and saw wild results. Though North Texas finished just 2-10, the Dodge Ball offense was at times electric, averaging 24.8 points and 408 yards per game. The greatest beneficiary of the spread offense scheme was quarterback Giovanni Vizza. Though just a freshman, Vizza started the final eight games of the season, accumulating 1,881 passing yards and 16 touchdowns in just two months of football. Against Navy on Nov. 10, Vizza went 40-for-50 for 478 yards and eight touchdowns. Quarterback or system? Whereas Tim Tebow was one of the more heavily recruited quarterbacks coming out of high school, Vizza was a relative unknown out of San Antonio. He flourished in Dodge's system. The real rub, though, is what happens this year down in Denton. Todd Dodge's son Riley, a Texas schoolboy superstar and Dad's former quarterback at Southlake Carroll, joins the Mean Green as arguably their most prized freshman recruit ever. He's expected to play right away. So what about the sophomore incumbent Vizza? The kid who mastered the spread offense and made a name for himself in just two months of action? As the boys at College Football News explained: "It's not like Vizza can't play. He took his lumps last season, but he had a few phenomenal moments to suggest that he's not just going to hand the offense over. But Riley Dodge is it. He's the one who was literally born into this offense and knows it backwards and forwards. While he might not be that big, he's the ultimate triggerman for his father's attack, and he plans on playing from Day One." So, yes, even "system quarterbacks" can be outdone by better "system quarterbacks." In Vizza's case, he may very well end up being a one-year (or two-month) wonder; a guy plucked from anonymity who showed just how explosive the spread offense could be. If Smith is the poster boy for how the spread quarterback can be an illusion to pro scouts, Vizza's the poster boy for just what a competent kid with a solid arm can do once mastering the spread. Hey, there's no doubt about it, the spread is spreading. It's everywhere — Auburn, Kansas, Missouri, even Michigan. What it's doing, though, is making it more and more difficult to determine which quarterbacks are the real deal, and which ones are products of the scheme. In the college game, it probably doesn't matter. But for the pro scouts, it can be quite a pain in the neck. What would Giovanni Vizza be in Urban Meyer and Dan Mullen's Florida offense? Well, we'll never know for sure. But you can bet he'd look better and put up better numbers in Gainesville than he would in your standard ho-hum pro-style scheme. Then again, he'd likely be considered a more attractive pro prospect if he excelled in the latter. Chicken and the egg? Sure. But when assessing spread quarterbacks, you're dealing with some unique chickens and some scrambled eggs.

Bingo!!! Ding, ding, ding....we have a winner. I'm not going to go around spreading that news because I make a living on people NOT routinely clearing their cookies but, if you're really that sick of seeing the SMU banner ad, what keith recommended is the way to ensure you won't see it again.

Sorry, I just find the comment very amusing.

I agree with you, but for reason #3. The UNT Athletics Marketing/Advertising department is sub par, to put it mildly. I don't know that SMU necessarily knows what they are doing either but they have employed an ad agency that does. Conquesting is a popular form of internet advertising and that may be the tactic the SMU campaign has taken.

I know what you're saying but we only have to go 3-9 to have more wins than last season. I sure as hell hope we can accomplish that.

Let me try to shed a little light on how internet advertising generally works. All banners that you see while surfing random web sites are not permanent placements, in fact, most them are not permanent placements. What does that mean?? Basically, it means that the advertiser did not necessarily contract with the actual site you are observing the ad (in this case, the Richards Group likely did not sign a contract with meangreensports.com to place a SMU banner there). So, how in the world did the Pony Up ad appear on the meangreensports.com website?? It's called Behavioral Targeting. There are several internet advertising companies that employ behavioral targeting strategies and these companies have networks of internet sites that number in the thousands. Behavioral targeting allows advertisers to identify customers that express an interest in their product and then, through the use of the networks, allows the banner ad to follow those interested customers to other websites. In this case, adman and every other poster that saw the SMU banner had previously been identified as customers that are interested in college football (or whatever identifiable action the ad planner set up) and so when they went to a site within the purchased network (in this case meangreensports.com) they were served the SMU banner ad. For a perfect example of how this works, visit omahasteaks.com and view a few pages on that site. Soon, you'll be seeing Omaha Steaks banner ads at nearly every web site you visit. I'm not saying this is definitely how the SMU banner ad ended up on meangreensports.com but, in my professional opinion, this is the most likely scenario.

The FIU and WK games will also be available on ESPN Gameplan and ESPN 360.

From the DMN College Sports blog. Schnellenberger seems to have diarrhea of the mouth lately. I guess that's what a successful season does to him?

I just got back from San Antonio myself and noticed that board. That was very strange. I'm guessing they are targeting UT-Austin students that are traveling from the DFW metroplex and either flunk out of UT or wish to be closer to home, but still remain within the UT system. I know, I know....I'm an advertising/marketing guy...I think about those kind of things as second nature. I saw an LSU National Champion congratulatory board in some random, unpopulated place south of San Antonio. I figured it must be some LSU alum that lives there showing his/her school pride...the board probably didn't cost more than $500-600 and was likely in over run because they couldn't sell the inventory to another advertiser. I heard one this morning too. I sure hope the one I heard was not typical of the campaign. UNT was co-sponsoring a ticker with some steakhouse restaurant and then the restaurant got the spot directly after the ticker sponsorship. So, all I heard was, "This ticker brought to you by XYZ Steakhouse and UNT" - then, ticker update - then, the XYZ steakhouse commercial. I almost thought I was just imagining they said UNT. Typically, such sponsorships are negotiated as part of a larger buy and usually given as bonus (although they can be purchased separately). I hope what I heard was just a mistake by the Ticket. Otherwise, that's basically worthless advertising.

When exactly is the last time you spoke to any students about our football team? Of the ones that even care, the vast majority of our current students would tell you our football team sucks and they don't expect us to win more than two or three games. Even the most pessimistic GMG poster (which I am certainly not) is more optimistic about our football team than the average UNT student. I thought we had a good chance at beating Tulsa the last time they came to Denton. Need I remind you we lost 54-2?? I certainly don't expect that this time and actually wouldn't even be totally surprised should we win...but to think or expect us to beat a team that went 10-4 last year and is predicted to win their conference this year?? Come on, have you even been following our team?? We've already lost both of our projected starters at DE, our projected O-Line is a bit light and a few other players that were expected to make contributions this year are no longer in the picture. I hope we win five or six games this year, but I don't think we'll get a victory in any of our first three games. Also, you don't have to think we're going to win a game just to go to it. If I adopted that philosophy, I wouldn't have traveled to Austin, Lubbock or Fayetteville over the last several years. Now, if you want to talk about our chances against Rice, I'm all ears.

I hear ya GMG 99. I'll be one of the happiest Mean Green alumni on this board should we win any of those games, but will we be less than 15-point underdogs in any of them?? No. Some people choose to stay loaded on the spiked green kool aid while others choose to drink it in moderation.

Yes, I've been watching Jim Harbaugh's coaching career quite intently for that very reason. Not that I'm unhappy with Todd Dodge, but I'll always wonder if Harbaugh would have accepted the UNT job had it been offered.

FIU is employing the two QB offense this fall. One QB is left-handed (#5) and the other right-handed (#1). The idea is to keep the safeties from cheating left or right before the ball is in the air. This should be real interesting when they choose to line up under center, instead of shotgun formation.

That, or else our DL is in worse shape that we thought.

Excellent idea. I check this site far more often than I do the DRC or the Mean Green Blog, so putting a link to your stories here will ensure that I won't miss any "breaking news". Looks like a win for the DRC/Brett Vito and a win for all Mean Green fans. Welcome aboard. I know that you've already stated you won't post here, but maybe you can make a comment every now and then?

Hmmm...I find this entry curious: Jeff from Denton Q: How is the kicking game looking? A: Yesterday was the first time we’ve seen any action from freshman Trent Deans and he was consistently nailing them from 30-40 yards out. It remains to be seen how he’ll fair once Aug. 30 rolls around but our crew was impressed with his power. I thought Jeremy Knott was going to be our kicker? That may still be the case but I find it very odd that someone asked about the "kicking game" and the reply is regarding Trent Deans. I sure as hell hope we have a more reliable kicking game this season.

I don't see Chris Brainard on the roster anywhere, whereas fellow invited walk-on, Aaron Fortenberry, is listed.

I was just reading some of the anti-stadium comments and it got my blood boiling. The ignorance of the comments is astounding. These people have absolutely no idea of what they are talking about, yet they will be the ones to vote. Here are some of the comments that drove me crazy: From "Samantha" If you think your facilities are sub par then do a fund raiser like other departments. You can't fill your stadium because no one wants to come, a fancy one is not going to change that. As to the fact that all students pay for the library, bus system, and rec center, well, students are encouraged to use those free services. Every student is allowed access to those services at all times. What does an upgraded stadium do. Do we receive a service there? no. Are allowed access anytime? No. Do all students use it? no. A new stadium does not make the college experience better for all of us it makes it cushier for you. If there wasn't a stadium already I'd be all for building one, but you have one that works just fine. All of the public access areas are fine, it holds all of the fans with plenty of extra room and there is plenty of space for the food and concession stands which wraps up the needs of the fans. As to the other areas you're complaining about, those are not public access are they? Those other services (library, rec, buses...) are there specifically for the students and they can use it anytime not just to come and watch football. This is not high school, football is not everything. Students should not come here because of a stadium they should come to learn, since this is college which is what the rest of us are here for. That reason that you need a new stadium to get new fans has nothing to do with the school. You just want more people cheering for you. and "Kristin" Please, it goes both ways. Have a decent team (one that at least tries) and you will build up enough support from the students to get a stadium that can expand of that decent team. (not that we have much of a say in the matter either way) I came from an area that had a crappy everything compared to everyone else and we did pretty well in just about all are extra-curriculars because we tried, not because we got all the awesome people because we had pretty stuff. I see what you are saying and that does have a leg to stand on however, that leg needs a body first and without a team that can create that body, the leg isn't worth much... but you do still have that leg. I do believe we will have a great team one day and that team will have a great field. I just hope is starts with this coming year with Dodge being able to get his tactics in a little better. Let me put it this way, I have faith the team will prove me wrong. I just can't agree to this new field, personally, until that happens. "One that, at least, tries" ---- grrrr... I bet she's been to ZERO games. I wonder if she ever tries to study for her tests or tries to make a good grade and ends up with a "C" instead?? Some would say she must not have tried very hard...and they would be just as ignorant as she is.

Last year's recruiting class is looking less and less stellar overall and not one of those players has played a single down yet. I wonder what ails Justin and hope it's not anything serious. Same thoughts for Evan... I was really looking forward to seeing him on the field this year. I'd love to hear some good news for a change.

No, I've heard enough talk already...that was the point of my comment. I can pay for and lay out the plans for my 10,000 sq. ft. dream mansion too, but those plans don't provide shelter from the heat, rain and cold....nor does hiring a company to design a stadium translate to being a done deal. How long does it take to design a stadium anyway? HKS got the contract in February. Were their designs in the packet that Vito got? If so, why is it ok to publicize the fact that we hired a prestigious company like HKS but we can't publish the actual designs? And until a get a phone call from someone in the marketing department inquiring about the possibility of one of my clients becoming a corporate sponsor, I'll have to believe that the marketing efforts are nonexistent. I don't have much more to add than what emmitt already mentioned. I've been hearing about proposed stadium plans, UNT Master Plans (the latest from Sasaki Associates), proposed land/propery acquisitions, etc, etc, etc, since at least 1998. I've seen some progress over the years but I've also seen a LOT of missed deadlines and heard a LOT of excuses.

What do you mean you people?? This kind of important roll?? Or this kind??