Charlie NT 73

I read over some of the Ohio Univ media guide, found at "Ohiouniversityathletics.com" Here are 10 fun facts and notes- 1. The NT game is only the second time in Ohio football history, the Bobcats have played a football game in TX. The first game was at West Tx St, Sept '65, a 16-14 Ohio win. 2. During HFC Frank Solich's last 4 yrs, Ohio is 19-6 when leading at half time, and 12-7, when Ohio scores first. 3. Watch out for Sr RB Chris Garrett- who handles double duty at KO and punt returns. Garret has 2 KO returns for TD's and 1 punt return for a TD, during his career. 4. FG kicker, Matt Weller hit a 50yd FG vs UConn last week. 5. SR WR, Taylor Price is on the Bilutnikoff Award watch list. LY, Price had 51 recp's, 694yds, 5 TD's. 6. Ohio runs TE's and multiple WR sets. The OL is huge. The OT's and OG's, 2 deep, are all 6-4, 6-5, 295 to 320 7. QB Boo Jackson set single season offensive records, passing- 2688yds, single game passing- 237yds, 19TDs 8. DL is huge also, 2 deep, DE's 6-3,6-4, 250; DT's and NG's 6-1, 6-4, 300+; NG Marcelis Williamson, 6-1, 342 9. Ohio defense allowed on 11 pass completions vs UConn- but UConn did not pass much. UConn ran on the Ohio defense, over 250yds rushing, while Ohio used the pass vs UConn. 10. Looking at the roster, Solich seems to red shirt sophmores, juniors, and seniors during their playing careers. There are alot of players listed a R/S Sr's and R/S Jr's. There is depth at every position.

Heck, I missed Quoner too! Next "TV Game" event, maybe be can get together.

Tasty, If I would have known you were at the F&H, I would have bought you some cold beers! Were you the guy walking around with that good looking trophy that was making all the guys ohh and ahh? I was on the back wall seating, facing the double big screen TV's. White NT polo and cap.

I was at the Fox and Hound,Lewsiville, with the Alumni group. From start to finish!

My favorite Cam Montgomery run last night- 3rd and 10, then received a 15yd penality. Now 3rd and 25. The team needed the 1st down to keep the drive going. I am thinking pass. Riley hands the ball to Cam, who plows through the DL, the LB'ers, drives hard with the BS secondary on him, and Cam makes the 1st down! Holy cow, what a run! Wow!

17 minutes ago, "On the bus to the stadium. Totally focussed on Success!" 3 hrs ago, "Last minute preparations at the hotel. Make sure the plan is committed to memory so we can just go play!" 3 hrs ago, first tweet, "Feeling Live. Freestylin with AJ about the mass destruction we are about to cause!"

I am wearing my NT polo shirt, and my NT cap, here at the office. There are Texas, OU, and TxTech grads here, and as usual, I am the focus of their attention. Actually, these fans have been somewhat decent this morning, regarding NT. All of these fans are going to watch the game this evening, and they are predicting a NT win!

From Tobe, 2 hours ago, "The road to victory has begun"

This ESPN guy really knows college football. See item # 22, which reviews new HFC's having new opportunities. Kevin Sumlin of Houston, and Derek Dooley of La Tech, are "both parked in the Sun Belt", but have a better chance to move up than Turner Gill.

I would like for the out of state NT fans to chime in. The Mean Green nation is all across the country! Any game watching parties planned? If so, where are you located? Maybe there are "local" NT fans in your area that would like to meet up with other NT fans, to watch the game. Please provide details about your game watching parties.

Ball State will put the weight of their offense on RB Miquale Lewis, as RB, and WR, with their pro set offense. I would not be suprised to see Lewis have 25-30 running attempts in this game. Ball State has 2 good TE's, and 2 WR's with game experience. Red shirt freshman, QB Kelly Paige starts. I think Ball State will not become fancy with their offensive game plan, and keep the offense somewhat simple for Paige to manage. There will be pass attempts, but I see passes out to the RB in the flats, and to the TE's in the middle. I do not see alot of deep pass attempts, but more of the short, safer pass routes. Looks too me, HFC Stan Parrish does not have alot of confidence in Paige. Second, the Ball State OL has 3 veterans, and 2 red shirts starting at OT. One OG was moved to center, and another 1 yr player moved up to OG. This OL group is starting their first college game together this season. Ball State believes NT has no depth, and only believes NT has 2 over weight DT's, so Ball State plans on running the NT out of gas, chasing Lewis all over the field. Last point, Ball State believes the North Texas game is a "easy win". The MAC experts predict a 5-7 season, with a 2-6 in conference record. Easy wins over NT, New Hamshire, and Army. Vegas has the red birds as 17.5 point favorites, and the red bird fans are predicting a easy 2 to 4 TD win over NT. Keep your hopes alive red birds! North Texas is going to make a statement! North Texas 37 Ball State 17.

Steve Warren may be on special teams. No Jesse DeSoto? Now that is a suprise. Is DeSoto hurt?

The team is ready and so am I. NT 37 BS 17.

I do not know if the Colorado duo of the Hawkin's will gain more or less national media attention. Already, stories in these news medias, USA Today, The FWST, and WFAA, had features that reviewed the Dodge's father/son/NT football relationship. Will all types of national and local news media focus on the Dodge's? No. I am expecting the Dodge's will be one story line the media will pick up on, and could feature throughout the season.

The Dodge/Dodge story lead will be the focus of the local and national media this season. North Texas will be followed by the media this season, just becasue of the unique situation of the father and son combination. "Saving Daddy's Job" is not the goal what North Texas football is all about. The media will only view this theme, and not focus on the hard work the staff, and the players, are putting into turning the team into a winning college football program. I have always heard, "Any publicity is good publicity!" I thought the story was good, and good publicity.

So I am writing comedy now? Funny glowing report? If you were at the scrimage, and sitting with me and the other 12-15 Mean Green fans in the group, maybe you would have a different opinion about this team. Several of the veteran's in this group know college football, and each had very positive views on this team. I think it would do you some good to talk to the coaches, just like I have. If you want to see a team that is evolving into a prety good team, watch this North Texas team. If you want comedy, watch Ball State ex David Letterman.

My opinions are my own- I was impressed with the scrimage, the coaches, and the players. The beginning of the turn around is just around the corner! I do Believe in the Mean Green!

Harry- good report. I was at the scrimage, so here a few observations and thoughts. No particular order. 1. I arived early, before the players arrived. As the players came in, they were carring their pads. The first thing I noticed was this. Most of the players looked like Under Armor models- these guys are in shape, even the big OL/DL certainly have added muscle and shed fat. TE Bryant Seidle looks more like 240. As the scrimage progressed, you could clearly see the OL and DL players were bigger. Another note- none of the players were holding their arms on their hips, or looked tired. These guys are in shape. 2. Interesting note on "Do It All Carey" - he was holding for the FG attempts. He handled the snaps-got the ball down, and did not seem rattled. Carey handling FG attempts! That is interesting. 3. Gilmore is being out played. I am sure Gilmore will play this season, and will be valuable, but right now, the OL is blocking him. I think the OL players are very solid. 4. Kelvin Jackson, Shavod Atkinson, Draylen Ross, and Jesse DeSoto, will be a heck of a group of DT's. I though Atkinson would be the big DT guy, but, Jackson, is something special. The interior DL is strong, and opposing teams will find runing up the gut very difficult to accomplish. 5. Desmond Brigham, and Chris Brainard had some good catches. Brigham is comming on strong. 6. Sam Roberson, Bryant Seidle, Forrest Rucker, Austin Fitzpatrick at TE, all looked very good. Sam and Forrest both went up to snare high passes. The TE position is solid. 7.OT's Victor Gill, Matt Tomlinson, Esteban Santiago, Jeremy Bean, and Troy Franklin played very well. 8. Jeremy Phillips and Darien Williams had D1 hits that drew the fans approval. You could hear the sound of strong hitting in the stands. I think the defensive players are becoming pretty darn salty! 9. The coaches were all over the field- I heard the coaches shouting "Tackle, Tackle, Tackle" throughout the scrimage. I thought the team tackling was good. 10. Riley- has a strong arm- he can zip the ball, very accurate. Riley did have a QB draw that would have been a big gainer. Tune looked very good. He can run the offense. Baine is a deceptive runner. Thompson looks to be a very good QB for the future. There were some deep passes, but not many. The short routes will create opportunities for the deep passes. I liked the passes out to the flats to Lance, Cam, and Mosely. Several bubble screens out to Carey too. Carey does not look or play like a true freshman. I can see big plays with Lance and Carey out in the flats. This team has very good players on both sides of the line. I can see many are 1st team, and 1-A first team. Depth at every position. Lots of mixing up 1's, 2's, and 3's today. Overall, the scrimage was successful. The coaches have a ton of tape to review, and decisions to make. This team was showing attitude, and pride. This team needs to hit somebody else, plain and simple. This team will be ready for Ball State. I

From reading this article, the offense has solid palyers, with several red shirts projected as starters. http://ballstate.scout.com/2/889944.html

Count me in! I will be there Saturday morning!

Riley is very accurate with the short passing game. In the last scrimage, I believe Riley was 41 of 49, which is amazing for even a scrimage game. Riley seems almost automatic with the short passing game. For the total passing yards, I voted 150-175, for the dink and dunk short passing attack. The key to big passing numbers is this. The yards after catch. The staff has been working drills with the WR's and TE's, to break tackles and turn a short 5yd pass into a big gainer. Michael Outlaw, Jamaal Jackson and now, Darius Carey, have 4.4 speed. BJ Lewis, is in the 4.5 range. Alex Lott and Willie Taylor have speed too, and can break away. Chris Brainard is quick. If Breece Johnson can get back on the field, Johnson is a proven go to guy. TE/WR's Forest Rucker, Sam Roberson, Bryant Seidle, Austin Fitzpatrick- are big targets, and suprisingly fast. If any of the WR's/TE's can break a short pass route into a 20-30-40yd pass play, the passing yards can add up quickly. Hit 5 big gainers, for example, 25yds each, will add another 125 yds. If Riley gains 175yds on dinks and dunks, add another 125yds on big gainer plays, then Riley is at 300yds. Pretty darn good for total passing yardage. I want to see the yards after catch, turn into Touchdowns. I believe this group of WR's and TE's will make the short passing game turn into big passing numbers, and touchdowns, for Riley.

I agree with Harry- Riley on a zone read to start, to let BS see his speed. Shake up the BS DC! Other than that- dink and dunk down the field.

I read the "live" practice blog from each practice. I like this feature very much. Keeps NT fans up to date on what is going on at practice. The staff runs multiple drills with each practice, and they do focus on tackling- position, foot work, all the fundmentals. DeLoach and Nelson are very, shall I say "encouraging", with the tackling progress. OL vs DL, 11 vs 11, 7 on 7, and other variations. The LB's and secondary are involed in mutiple practice formations, drills, and work. There is alot of hitting going on, focus on technique, wrapping up the ball carrier's- RB's, WR's. I am looking forward to this afternoon live practice blog!

Defensive team worries? DeLoach and his staff are working the defensive team and all defensive players very hard. The defensive staff is coaching, teaching, and motivating the players. Check out this mornings Mean Green practice blog. IMHO, this defensive team will suprise many MG fans. I think the defense is starting to gel! LB's, and the secondary- are full of play makers now. Depth. Expreience. DT's Atkinson, and Jackson, both 300 pounders, are tough. These two are becoming stronger and stronger with each practice. Next, our 2 previous starting DT's, Ross and DeSoto, both 295-300, are the DT rotation. Very solid at DT, with 4- 300 pounders! Holy cow, when was the last time the defense had this many good DT's? DE's Cantly, AK47, Weber, Owusu-Hemeng, are solid DE players. Cantly will be a star. AK47, is very quick and fast. Weber is big and strong. Owusu-Hemeng, 6-2, 250, is making a statement, and is in the mix for a starting DE position. Freshmen DE Tyler Washington, 6-1, 221, LaChris Anyiam, 6-4, 285, and DT R/Fresh Joe Hawthorne, 6-4, 270, may not see playing time for the 09 season, but, these 3 are very good defensive players. From reading the blog, the DT's and DE's are helping each other to set up plays, where one or more players can break through the OL. I would look for more LB and Saftey blitz packages this season too. This defensive team is becoming stronger with each practice, and will be ready for the 09 season.

From the Ball State board- Youth on their OL. Good size, and height. I would not take too much value in the listed weights of these OL guys. HFC Stan Parrish, ask QB Kelly Paige to write down the plays he is comfortable with, not the plays Parrish wants. http://www.thestarpress.com/article/200908...s-2-deep-roster Current Ball State OL with 2 weeks to go. (I gained the player for from the BSU roster). LT Cameron Lowry, R/Fresh, 6-6, 270, first year to play LG Michael Switzer, Junior, 6-5, 278, 2 yr letterman Center, Kreg Hunter, Soph, 6-3, 300, 1 yr letterman RG Travis Arnold, Senior, 6-8, 300, 1 yr letterman RT Austin Holtz, R/Fresh, 6-5, 280, first year to play Also, OT, true freshman, Kitt O'Brian, 6-6, 300 and R/Fresh Steve Yoder, OG, 6-3, 300 could see playing time this season, or possibly start. Wildcat formations will be used in 09, with #1 RB-Lewis, and #2 RB Williams, Paige at QB. Change to the 4/3 defense last spring.