gangrene

First lead of the game with 5+ minutes to play...63-62.

TIE GAME!!!

29-18 now...we're still in this!!!

Might that have something to do with our miserable defense?? Did those 4 top 25 offenses move into the top 5 after they played us???

I did say this was arguably the easiest schedule we've had in years. Maybe the SBC is better but we're a lot worse and our OOC games certainly weren't as tough as some of the past years. I'd never expect us to beat OU and Arkansas (of course I'd love it if it happened) but Navy (even this year) and SMU are teams we should beat and we should NEVER, EVER be satisfied with losing, much less being blown out, by our SBC opponents. You can post all the stats you want to regarding how great our competition was this year compared to previous years, but it won't change my opinion. We gave two very bad schools their only victories of the season. That's not like giving Baylor or Minnesota or some other BCS conference school a victory.

We gave up 45+ points SIX times this season!!! In fact, we averaged giving up 45 points per game over a TWELVE game season!!! If those were basketball stats, that would be wonderful...but you can't give up 45 points a game in football and expect to have a winning record.

to SMU and FIU...you're welcome for giving you the only victories of your 2007 season...consider it our Christmas present to you. I hope this season will be just a bad nightmare this time next year. That's all I have to say.

Playoffs?? Playoffs?? Are you kidding me?? Did someone say something about playoffs??

There seems to be a fair amount of posters that want and think they can steal Todge and Rodge away from us. There's a five-page thread about the possibility of hiring Todge (looks like about half want it and half don't).

The announcement will be sort of like an awards ceremony in which the coaching staff will issue helmet stickers for this season's outstanding achievements.

There are a lot at the Walgreen's on W. Park in Plano (just across from the The Shops at Willow Bend). These are Schutt brand and have the metal face masks (instead of the plastic ones that Riddell used on their cheaper models). In addition to the schools greenjoe mentioned, they also had Texas Tech and TCU...I don't recall seeing Baylor at this location though.

You know Holman is going to be having recurring nightmares about that tipped pass that hit him right in the hands. If only he could have managed to catch that one....

The really sad thing is...I knew we were going to lose as soon as ASU got the ball back with under two minutes and 80 yards to go. My greatest hope was that we could hold them to a FG and play OT.

I don't know about the Navy DC, but the HC had this comment in the ESPN story: "There wasn't a whole lot of defense being played on either side. Look at them, they scored 62 and they lost," Navy coach Paul Johnson said. I don't think this is just the worst defense of this season....I think we've got to be considered for the worst defense in the history of NCAA D-1A football. The performance by our defense this year is truly embarrassing. Call me old-fashioned, but I subscribe to the theory that "defense wins championships"...if we are to expect our future football scores to be 50, 60 and 70 points for both teams (only winning or losing by 10 points) than I guess I need to find myself a new UNT sport to support. 74-62 is just ridiculous and makes a mockery of the sport...that's not football as it was meant to be played. Maybe we could move indoors and get the NCAA to sanction collegiate arena football?

Yes, I have been quite offended by this year's football team, but accusing Mitch Maher of playing the same kind of "offensive football" is just insulting!

I have to agree. Given our current situation, I'll be mildly surprised if Riley's not behind center to start next season.

I totally agree. I was probably one of the most vocal about starting Vizza over Meager (and I still feel the same way), but that doesn't mean I don't respect Meager's determination and spirit. That kid has heart and drive and he's a true competitor. I have full confidence that he can pick up where the starter (be it Vizza or Rodge) left off, should our starter get injured.

So we're supposed to be happy about "losing to an awesome team who is getting AP votes"??? Let's set our sights a little higher, shall we??

Unfortunately, I don't think we're going to win many kids that are truly concerned about academics. See Stanford commit, SLC OL Sam Schwartzstein. Agreed. Legitimate question: How long will Dodge's (high school) winning reputation resonate with recruits before he'll need to duplicate some semblence of that success at the D-1A level in order to lure recruits to UNT?? I say 3-4 years. It's a "what have you done for me lately" environment and four consecutive 2-3 win seasons won't impress top high school talent...regardless of your past successes (unless maybe if you've had Top 10 D-1A success ala JoePa). I really hope we never have to find out the answer to that question because we'll be at or above .500 within the next three years.

I just love some of the great argumentative, rational statements some of "you people" come up with! For those of you that do not know, Mike Leach's offense has repeatedly been referred to as being analogous to Playstation. Making that statement does not implicate me as a Playstation player nor does it limit my understanding of the game of football to what one might learn from playing a video game. It didn't take a genius to realize (after the first quarter) that we weren't going to beat Troy. "Settling" for field goals would have at least put some points on the board. Now, I will buy the argument that our kicker is suspect, at best...but he's not going to get any better kicking into a net all of the time. Stebo - I agree with your post. I don't think there's any way this team could have beaten Troy, even with the seven turnovers. However, we shouldn't be happy with a blowout loss to Troy as some seem to be. A kicker with a long of 36 yards would be laughable if wasn't true and it wasn't our kicker. I can't help but think we could find someone within our student body that could kick better than that. Hell, USC even got one of their former kickers (Mario Danelo - RIP) as a walk-on. I also think that our kick-offs have been a big detriment to our defense because our opponents never have very far to go to score. So what if "more coaches are going for it on fourth down"??? You sound like you have a real knowledgeable mind for football. I bet you played all the way up until 6th grade.

I'm sick of going for it on fourth down when we're within field goal range. Down 21-0 with a 4th and 16 at Troy's 28 yard line and we go for it?? About three drives later, we did it again at Troy's 23. And...because going for it on fourth down two times in one quarter wasn't enough...we went for a fourth and one at Troy's 16 with 2:02 to go in the first half. I don't like field goals any more than the next guy (and I know we don't have the world's greatest kicker) but a score is a score. 28-9 or even 28-6 is much better than 28-0. This going for it all the time on fourth down is just stupid. It's reminiscent of Texas Tech's Playstation offensive play-calling of Mike Leach...and I can't stand Mike Leach. Now, I don't mind going for it every now and then when we're at the fringe of being within field goal range, but we're foregoing some "chip shots". That's just not acceptable. We're 5-18 on fourth down conversions this year, but I couldn't tell you how many field goals we passed up to go for the first.

Happy B-day Rick. BTW...do you have a fire-fightin' cousin in Buffalo?? I saw him decked out in his Bills jersey and blue and red fireman's helmet on Monday night.

I'm know I'm a little late on this one but I was out and about when the game was being played and caught the George Dunham broadcast on the radio. I "Tivoed" the game and just watched it last night. WOW!!! I've watched a LOT of football on TV over the years and that was absolutely the WORST announcing I have EVER, EVER heard...bar none!!! It started off bad when the announcer was bragging about Meager's stats vs. SMU and it took him two whole series to realize that the QB was actually Giovanni Vizza or, as he pronounced it the first time...Gianni. The first time our offense crossed the 50-yard line, we got the ball in Ragin' Cajun "terory"...what the hell does that mean??? And I think the camera men were trying to help, but he obviously can't read. After Brandon Jackson caught a pass and that guy called him JACOBS, the camera zoomed in on the back of #49's jersey where, lo and behold, it said J-A-C-K-S-O-N. The cameras did the same thing when he kept calling #82 StRickler. I could understand one or two slip-ups if he was trying to say Brock Stickler really fast, but that wasn't the case. And....what the hell is an "intercept"??? It's called an INTERCEPTION you IDIOT!!!! Ok, I'm done now and, yes, I do feel better. I'm thankful the game was televised but next time can we get someone who can actually read to announce our game??? I guess you can't get top-quality talent to call a game between two winless SBC schools??

No, actually my point was that being ranked #6 in the country in the rushing category didn't seem to help LaLa get any victories prior to us so why should we have gone into the game fearing their running game and expecting to lose? Frankly, I don't care anymore whether we win or lose the rest of our games. We stand zero chance of winning the belt and going to a bowl game. Vizza has been named the starter for the rest of the year and that makes me happy. Win or lose, zero INTs or 6 per game...it matters not. I like what I've seen of Vizza and I want to give him every opportunity to get real-game experience and lead this team wherever they may go. That being said...I think we just need to blow up our defense and start from scratch. It sucks beyond suck.

So, what's that supposed to prove? Last year we sucked and we punted a lot and then we fired the coach.