The Fake Lonnie Finch

Or, anyone on Alabama front seven, anchored by 6-5 365 pound behemoth Terrence Cody. If I'm reading everything correctly, Bama returns all of their front seven as well as all seven of their back-ups. The depth chart of Bama's front seven: Defensive end 97 L. Washington | 6-5, 275, Jr., 2V 57 Marcel Dareus | 6-3, 280, Fr., HS 90 Milton Talbert | 6-3, 263, So., 1V 94 Undra Billingsley | 6-3, 275, Fr., HS Defensive end 95 Brandon Deaderick | 6-4, 286, Jr., 2V 96 Luther Davis | 6-3, 299, So., 1V 58 Nick Gentry | 6-1, 254, Fr., RS 92 Damion Square | 6-2, 290, Fr., HS Nose Tackle 62 Terrence Cody | 6-5, 365, Jr., JC 99 Josh Chapman | 6-1, 303, Fr., RS 64 Kerry Murphy | 6-5, 320, Fr., TR Linebacker 13 Cory Reamer | 6-4, 223, Jr., 2V 5 Jerrell Harris | 6-3, 215, Fr., HS 55 Chavis Williams | 6-4, 223, So., 1V Linebacker 32 Eryk Anders | 6-2, 225, Jr., 2V 41 Courtney Upshaw | 6-2, 230, Fr., HS Linebacker 25 Rolando McClain | 6-4, 255, So., 1V 36 Chris Jordan | 6-2, 220, Fr., HS Linebacker 30 Dont'a Hightower | 6-4, 250, Fr., HS 45 C. Higgenbotham | 6-0, 218, So., 1V 42 Jennings Hester | 6-3, 219, Fr., RS Behind those guys, is a 6-2, 224 pound safety named Justin Woodall. This is a game that, if it starts to get out of hand early, we wouldn't really blame Dodge for going the K-State route once again and folding up the playbook. When they're going to be subbing in a 299 defensive end for the 286 pound one...that, as Norm Hitzes would say, could get ugly for us. This WKU player looks very small compared to Bama NT Terrence Cody. Bama scored the first 24 points of the game, led WKU 31-7 at half, and 41-7 after three quarters. Saban then called off the dogs and 41-7 was the final. WKU gained nine total first down, 42 rushing yards and 116 passing yards. Alabama held the ball for 37:21, almost 2/3rds of the game. Our strength and conditioning will really be tested against Bama. The other Sun Belt team Bama played last year was Arkansas State. Bama shut them out 35-0, holding ASU to 11 first downs, 91 rushing yards and 67 passing yards. Did I mention Bama returns the entire front seven and their backups? Anyway, Illuvius is correct: injuries have been a part of Riley's career and Alabama has huge, fast, experienced players all over their defense. Hopefully, Todd Dodge will have the sense enough to mix in enough running plays, tight end sets, and at least keep a tailback in to block every now and then so that Riley isn't pummelled before halftime.

Here's what will earn blind faith: -Win some games, like half of them on your schedule in the...Sun Belt Conference, for pete's sake! Every team in the Sun Belt conference should have the ability to go 3-4 or 4-3. This isn't the dadgum Big 12 or SEC. It isn't even the MWC, for crying out loud! -Don't get blown out by the likes of...Florida International? Six months have passed, and I still can't believe that one. -Swallow your pride and stick in two tight ends and a fullback on 3rd or 4th and 1 and challenge the other team to stop you from getting that 1 yard. These are football players. Let them knock the snot out of each other at close range very intensely for one play for the sake of 1 measly yard and continuing a drive or scoring a touchdown. Yes, this mean the QB will have to crouch down behind the center for at least one play per game. If Urban Meyer and Mack Brown and Bob Stoops can carry TEs and FBs on their roster to employ at times in their spread offenses, you can, too. -If you find yourself behind by 21 or more in the fourth quarter and we have the ball inside the 20, don't even think about calling out the kicking team for a field goal attempt. Forget about inside the 20, if we're inside the 40! This is a passing offense, right? Throw the ball downfield into or closer to the end zone. When you're down three TDs or more in the fourth quarter, three points doesn't amount to a hill of beans. Good things that have happened to earn blind faith on the other side of the ball and on special teams: -Every coach has college experience...FINALLY! And, where we really need it - coordinator and along the front seven - decades worth! -Some people are worried about the punter. I'm not worried because I know it will be Shelton Gandy coaching him when he hits campus and not the former head coach of Southlake's track program.

I have said what I like - all college coaches on the defensive side of the ball and running special teams. That's not what you want to hear, though. What you want out of me and others is blind faith in Todd Dodge as a coach and his son as a QB at the FBS level. That's not going to happen. Nothing Todd Dodge has shown thusfar has earned the blind trust of anyone. The on the field product has been horrible, almost without exception, since he's arrived. Further, anyone who believes UT was recruiting Riley as a QB is looney tunes. He's a good athlete and needs to be in a position where he can help this team. QB ain't it. He doesn't have the size nor does he have the arm strength to challenge defenses. They will simply sit on our short routes as they have the past two seasons. There's nothing earth-shattering or secret about it. The 21 losses over two seasons don't lie. We don't have a coach or offensive coordinator who is fooling opposing defenses. That's fine. Some of us knew it all along. The rest of you simply continue to believe that the impossible can be done. It can't. No matter how nice a guy Todd Dodge or Todd Ford might be personally, they are not cut out for this level of football as coaches. Riley is cut out for some level of it as a player, but not at QB. The result is predictable - another losing seasons for us, with the defense and special teams giving us any possible chance of improving on last year's two win mark. Then, we wait to see whether or not our athletic department has brains enough to pull the plug and go out and hire college football coaches to run the whole show, not just part of it.

A flunky is someone who does the unsavory work of someone else...generally because that someone else doesn't have the rocks to do it himself. Yes, you may deliver it to me personally. Or, you can just mail it. PM me and I'll give you the address.

Florida's offense Oklahoma's offense Texas' offense Etc., etc., etc. All run spread offenses that have success running or throwing. Although, they are also led by offensive coordinators with decades of experience at the collegiate level. In the end, that's the solution and it always has been. We're not playing with a full hand of the offensive side of the ball. Our two main gameplanners are the two Todds, Dodge and Ford. Dodge had two years of I-AA experience 13 years before he was hired; Ford had no collegiate coaching experience whatsoever. Neither has shown the ability to prepare for college defenses. Not even remotely. This year will be no different, except that there will less experience at every skill position but running back - the very position these two will never have the sense enough highlight. In 2009, we'll have more experienced offensive line coached by a real college coach, and a stable of experience running backs coached by a real college coach. So, what will we do? Have a woefully undersized quarterback throwing the ball to receivers with little or no experience. It will be ugly...and some of you will still wonder why. Even as the two Todds remain and we falter, some of you will still wonder why. If we are lucky, the experiment will end this fall and we'll have professionals hired all the way around by December. The problem is, as UNT alumni and fans, we are rarely lucky when it comes to football fortunes.

It wasn't people on the board who thought I was Kenny Evans, it was Rick Villareal and his internet board-checking flunky. Pathetic.

It's going to be a looooooooooooooooooong season, folks. Last year was bad. The year before was bad. Without a bona fide QB, there's no telling how bad this year will be. Deloach and Nelson are going to go beserk trying to make up for the crappy offense we're about to behold.

Bwaa-haaa-haaa-haaa!

Don't these idiots know that Obama is the president now? I mean, he's supposed to be inspiriational in a global way like no other president before.

Awesome! Even if we disagree about UNT football under Todd Dodge, you are now my favorite poster of all time!

Bwaaa-haaa-haaaa-haaaa-haaaaaaaaah! Re-heeee-heally? The tight end is that secret a weapon? Also, I love how Dodge still thinks he has something to hide from the college football world. It's just sad, very sad at this point. It's like a college football version of Don Quixote. Folks, like I said before, any improvement in 2009 will be on the defensive side of the ball and on special teams. Amateurs are still running the show on offense. Seriously. Anyway, was Todd Dodge wearing his wrist band with the plays on it?

Ball State's new head coach was their offensive coordinator, so it's not like they picked up someone new off the streets. The offense is the same; he's been there five years now. The leading rusher and receiver are back, as well as the starting tight end. The QB will probably be the guy who is a fifth year senior who has spent his entire college career in the new coach's offense. This is a road game that will not be easy, and is probably not winnable. Ball State does return a bulk of their playmakers on both sides of the ball. It's not like FAU where almost the entire defense is gone. It's also not the new coach's first time as a head football coach. He's got a winning record as a I-A coach. Ball State will be fine. Ohio and FAU are the most realistically winnable September games for us. If we don't at least compete well against those two, we're in for another 1-3 win season as it has been for the past four years.

The discussions about Vizza are laughable. He was comitted to Nevada under Chris Ault. It doesn't matter who else offered him. Ault is a coach with 198 career wins and has guided the Wolfpack to four consecutive bowl games. And, he's done it out west in passing offenses. If Chris Ault thought the kid could play I-A/FBS ball, there's no question about it. As far as what he'll do at Texas A&M, we won't know, but it doesn't look bad. A redshirt season in A&M's S&C program and eating at their training table off the field combined a former NFL QB coach who had a good track record will do him well. In short, Vizza will be getting a huge upgrade in terms of coaching and preparation than he was getting down here. He has the tools. If he does indeed surface at A&M, redshirt in 2009 and backup Johnson in 2010, he will be in competition for starting job in 2011. He's already got more game experience than any of those guys already on A&M's roster. I expect that Mike Sherman, having coached quarterbacks under Mike Homgren and putting together five winning seasons as an NFL coach and been in the Super Bowl as a coordinator, will be able make an excellent QB out of him. He's already proven he's got grit. Get some real playmakers and competent coaches around him and he'll do well in College Station.

Um, yeah. At Texas, he'd beef up the way Colt McCoy has. He'd also have the benefit of a wide receivers coach with close to two decades coaching receivers at the I-A/FBS level. The guy who coached the ACC's all-time leading receiver when he was at Wake Forest and who coached Reggie Williams at Washington. So, yes. Given the overall coaching environment he'd have been in down at UT, he'd have been a receiver - and probably a good one. Our training table and S&C program is nothing like a UT...and our offensive coaching staff is loaded down with high school guys. So, basically, he's gettiing little more here than he'd already gotten at Southlake. Which is fine if his competition was still going to be against high school teams. But, we're not. He's being groomed by high school coaches to play at the FBS level of college. It would have been vastly different for him at UT.

Yes, obviously because we have more speed at WR than at anytime in the past. It's just a matter of whether RIley has the arm strength to get it there, and get it here accurately.

Right. But, for some reason, pointing it out means you hate Riley. At his current size, Mack Brown would have moved him to DB or WR so he could get on the field. And, again, it's no big deal. High school quarterbacks who are on the skinny side get moved all the time when they get to college, mostly to DB where you need your best athletes in the college game. TCU's Gary Patterson has made a career by moving high school prep stars to the defensive side of the ball. That's why the Horned Frogs defense is so lethal despite being undersized. They're so fast and athletic. The guy who led OU in tackles last year was a redshirt refreshman who was a runningback in high school and played almost no defense at all as a prep. Noe of us hate Riley. We want UNT to win. Some of us just look at the percentages more than others. And, the odds aren't good for a guy his size playing QB on this level. As I posted last season and earlier this year, I'd love to see him at flanker and returning punts. It's where he'd best be able to use his athletic ability. But, it's not going to happen.

I'm the other way, shorten in back down to 14. At that point in the season, the men have already been separated from the boys. There's nothing more to prove at 18. I'd also pare down the preseason to three games.

No, if he were 6-4, 250, there'd be no problem. He's not. But, at 6-4, 250, I'd rather have him at tight end or defensive end, anyway.

To me, it will all hingle upon Ohio and FAU. Ohio is an opportunity to match up with another mid-major. They ran and threw it at about a 50/50 ratio last. So, we will see whether or not both the run and pass defense have improved at all. Plus, it's a home game. If Dodge doesn't have the squad jacked up for the home opener - and, he didn't against Tulsa last year - it's a bad sign. FAU lost almost all of it's defense to graduation. They'll be sporting eight new starters, including all three linebackers. If we can't move the ball versus FAU's virtually brand new defense, it will be a harbinger of tougher times against the more experienced defenses. On the other side of the ball, FAU returns eight of offense. If we can stop their offense, that will be a good sign. Although, not stopping them wouldn't necessarily be a bad sign. FAU does move the ball well against most teams, SBC or not. In short, September 2009 will be the barometer of the overall health of the program. You can cite off the field improvement all you want (and, even that's a sketchy argument at this point). But, if we see the same old, same old in September and are limping into October 0-4? Then, it will be time to call church on the Dodge experiment, and possibly Rick Villareal as well, and get down to getting people in place who can truly take the program upward without all of the hush, hush and wait, wait, wait. Personally, I'd view 1-3 with close losses to Ball State and Ohio as progress. If we're 2-2, I think we'll be competing for the Sun Belt crown. Unlike many others here, I expect the leadership of any type of turn around to come from the defensive side of the ball and special teams since that's where the bulk of our college coaching staff lies.

Because they're not skinny. They have muscle and thickness. Riley has neither. He's just a short, skinny kid. It's no big deal. The mass to protect him just isn't there. He's just not thick. So, in high school, he had his collarbone broken. In his first year at UNT, he suffered a concussion. There's nothing you can do about it. Each person's physiology will only take on so much more new mass...without steriods. The small running backs you are talking about aren't skinny little guys. They usually have very thick thighs, thick arms and torsos - what you'd call "stocky." Riley isn't that. Also, running backs are normally running with blockers in front of them. A guy might reach in a grab an ankle or grab onto a running back through a mass of other bodies at the line of scrimmage. The shots QBs take are often direct, and without warning. That's why it's important to have tight ends and fullbacks (Todd Dodge is now half way there). The kid you talk about from K-State is Darren Sproles. He was a thick little guy with speed...who is doing very well in the NFL. Riley looks nothing like him physically. Like Barry Sanders, he's muscular from head to toe with thick thighs:

Again, his size is brought up. It always will be until he can show it isn't an issue. It ain't 1984 with 260-270 pound DT. These days, DEs are that size. As much as we joke around about it, it will be essential to have a tight end, at minimum, added to the blocking scheme. Otherwise, we're looking at throwing walk-ons and former Glen Rose players into the QB mix early due to more concussions and broken collarbones.

Finally, a schedule with only one guaranteed whipping. Three mid-majors + Alabama is the way we need it. I'd still mix in a Stephen F. Austin, Sam Houston, or Texas State. But, this is as good as we can hope for. Now, if we just just make a better showing versus Ball State, Ohio, and Army than we have recently against Tulsa. I'm not even saying win those, but at least compete with them. If we're not competing with those three very well, it's a serious problem.

MiQaule Lewis? Also, I'm sure Ball State isn't worried about their QB situation. Their head coach was the QB coach at Michigan during the Brian Griese and Tom Brady years. He also was the Tampa Bay Bucs QB coach in 2002 when they won their Super Bowl. Anyone who can coach Brad Johnson to a Super Bowl win is not someone who will be unprepared in the QB department at any level. Besides, the senior taking over for Davis is in his fifth year of the system. The leading receiver and starting tight end return. Lewis not only rushed for over 1,700 yards, he was also third on the team in receptions. So, Ball State isn't lacking experienced playmakers. Rather than focusing on the Cardinal offense, we should be more worried about their defense, which returns their front seven, including all four defensive linemen. We're breaking in a new QB and wide outs. Facing an experience DL will show us right off the bat wheth.er or not we've improved from 2008. Either way, to chalk up a win prediction against a team that has won its division two consecutives years, returns 3/4ths of its playmakers of offense and its entire defensive line, is naive at best.

There is no "male point of view of the law." The law is what it is - written in code (statutory law) or given in judicial decisions (common law). In America, we have jury trials because everyone is guaranteed the right to a trial if accused of a crime. The juries are composed of men and women. Men and women serve as attorney, judges, and advocates. To say that there is a "male point of view of the law" is to simply discard reality. Liberal judges and legislators are responsible for "sudden passion" laws and decisions because they favor criminal defense attorneys - the people who fill the campaign coffers of liberal judges and legislators. It's okay that you don't like the truth. I've met many liberal people in the law who struggle with their conscience about criminal matters. They are in a profession where they choose to defend cold-blooded killers, so their consciences should be pricked somewhat. "Sudden passion" is one of the many defense schemes they've concocted over the decades. It offends your sense of justice, but the majority of defense attorneys don't really care about your sense of justice. They will walk into a voting booth, the same as you, and pull the lever straight ticket Democrat because they know liberal judges and legislators are the best friends of their profession. That's why they and trial attorneys shovel money to Democratic candidates. Liberal judges and legislators are all about parole for "good behavior", "rehabilitation" programs, "early release" programs, "insanity" defenses, probation instead of jail time even for some violent offenses, and on and on and on, on and on (the beat don't stop until the break of dawn). If Conservative/Republican judges were more lenient on criminals, they defense attorneys would be giving them the campaign cash. It's real easy. You just follow the money of those who use these defenses and who defend criminals - they go to liberal candidates. It's not rocket science. People in all walks of life are going to favor those who help them out.

That's what surprises me...the lack of information in the media itself. WKU has five consecutive 20-win seasons, and eight 20-won seasons in the last nine years. They've been to the NCAAs five times in those nine years, and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen just last year! Granted, they have a new coach, but he's not some stiff. He was Rick Barnes assistant down at Texas for several seasons. It's not like the guy hasn't helped prepare teams for big games and tournaments. I had WKU over Illinois in my bracket. My only misses yesterday were Clemson/Michigan, BYU/A&M, and Cal/Michigan...and those were tougher games to call.