PlummMeanGreen

Weatherdemon, the MTSU game was not a very good barometer of Jamario Thomas at all. He didn't get his usual carries as to break one of his long runs. Last summer, I thought Tulsa would be a gimmee' of a game based on your season last Fall and our 2 RB's and good offensvie line for this Fall. I think the whole college football world is wondering what kind of guage OU is now because TCU beat OU, the TU GH plays them impressively close, SMU beats TCU so when Baylor plays the Sooner, are they going to be a 22 point favorite over the crimson and cream? I watched much of your game against OU, was duly impressed with your team and was pulling for a Golden Hurricane win, but as we all know, the Big Boys do have this depth thing working for them. ............................................................................... It may have already been asked, but how many TU fans you feel are coming to Denton this Saturday? ANOTHER QUESTION: How many Tulsa alums live in the DFW area? Any idea on that? GMG!

I think many of us felt their pain post-game the other night, but MTSU will not be the better team in any year until they can show it on the scoreboard! What else are they wanting to use as their barometer? Is there something new on the horizon that we haven't heard of yet in MG Country that determines who is the better team other than the scoreboard when the final whistle blows? The Blue Radas' will just need to stick with their national signing date Rivals recruitiing wins for now. They might also tell their Rivals friends that they sure don't know how to effectively evaluate Texas HS football talent, either.

Someone once said: Keep doing what you've been doing the same way and you can expect to keep getting the same results. I live a bit over an 1 hour from campus, so I don't really know whats going on in Denton and UNT on a daily basis. I (as most of you) get much info about the Mean Green scene on GMG.com, but I haven't read anywhere on it or elsewhere where we have expanded our athletic marketing outside the usual groups. I hope someone will pleasantly surprise me while telling me that we have. This athletic program seems to get most of its new fans/new faces from record-setting NT freshmen classes of the last 5 or 6 years. I presume even this Falll we set another record for our freshmen class, but haven't read that as of yet. I also presume we will get many new faces at Fouts Field this Saturday from that 2005 NT freshmen class. I am going to say for this home season opener with our team being 1 & 0 and playing a school who has a pretty good travelling fan base (or did in the past): ....................................................................... A most optimistic 24-25,000 (with good weather) ....................................................................... If we don't draw more than MTSU did for our game with the Blue Raiders (and their game VS us was televised locally in the Boro), then I am beginning to wonder what the hell we are doing to turn a helluva' lot of people off in Denton. I can't even see the Denia-ites over by Eagle Point holding long-time grudges against a bunch of 18-21 year old young men who have given their city of Denton a helluva' lot of positive publicity the last 5 years; in fact, with all that positive promo coming to a crescendo this summer with all the recent (and most impressive) national newspaper and magazine coverage of the Mean Green, P. Cobbs and J. Thomas. Folks, this thing won't stay small time forever. Its still a numbers game and those numbers will (still) eventually win out over all the negatives of our past with all this happening at the top of the DFW Golden Triangle, ie, Denton, Texas, America! GMG!.

The NFL scouts know what Cobbs and Thomas can do and I'm not worried what Tulsa fans think one way or another. FWIW, I think the MUTS got a copy of the USM win over North Texas in the NO's Bowl and just simply tried to emulate what the Golden Eagles did to us with our running game at the Super Dome. It seemed to have worked everywhere except the scoreboard.

IT'S ALL ABOUT FINESSE, MAN! Quasimodo was a manhandling rough shod son of a gun, too, but if you read the story he saves the day for Esmerelda but he doesn't win her in the end! (Isn't that how it sorta' turned out)? If not I am sure it would have that way had their been a sequal.

If we would have won all 4 NO's Bowls I might tend to think we have outgrown the Sun Belt, but we have room for improvement and even in the SBC. I have to watch the replay of the game to make sure we (in deed) won this game the way it was going most of the night. We maintained our "bend but not break" defense which we had even with more expeienced players. One of the weirdest games I've seen us play and still win. I've been hacked most of the summer because this young team would have to play an SBC game the first part of the season because it didn't take a rocket scientist to see that this team would need time to develop (and it still does). We lost one major DL talent to grades and another DL with great potential to Texas heat thus far (and who is still in recovery state), so what makes this even more remarkable is how with all we had against us last night---WE STILL WON THE GAME!

I didn't think he really had any boomers last night, but (as I said) for his first college game, I was impressed with how he did not lolly-gag back there too long to get a punt blocked.

Agree, Harry...I've been watching the replay of this game over and over at different intervals of the game and I was really impressed with Montey Stevenson's mobility and quickness. Why is all this rehab taking so much time with Issac Thomas, Harry? I guess he just had a very bad bout with the Texas heat; maybe just like you and I discussed weeks ago, maybe another reason NORTH TEXAS may need an Indoor Practice Facility even before we turn dirt for our new football stadium? Concerning Chad Rose, lest we forget, he is yet another one of our freshman who started last night. Also impressed with just how quickly Truman Spencer was getting off his punts last night. Anyone know what his average was?

Rivals.com in their star system of rating high school football talent just cannot seem to gauge heart, desire and those who will ultimately make it in D1-A football or those who will only be pretenders. Said this before, but here in the Lone Star State we have close to 160,000 who are our Friday Night Heros and there is no recruiting service capable of knowing how many of that group will or will not make it in D1-A. I know Rivals and other services do a fine service and we all check out what they have to say, but they seem to rarely have a clue as to who Darrell Dickey and his staff are recruiting that annually beats their multi-starred "sure bet" talents at other SBC locales and beyond. The game is still played on the football field and not the recruiting gurus computer data bases.

The suggestion on Venegas came from this Monday morning quarterback about 2 weeks ago in a thread. My gut feeling on him, DG, is that Dickey wants to keep him for offensive line depth. Harry or Cerebus or Illuvius, what is the progress of Issac Thomas. Do any of you know of his situation with a near heat stroke during 2-a-days or is this something we don't need to discuss on this forum?

Most obviously, Howell.net did not watch the Tulsa/OU game yesterday.

I am sure the "North Texas" will grow on us eventually, but don't most schools in NCAA D1-A merely use their school's abbreviations or a simple logo, ie, UT and SMU? I've seen some very nice 2 letter "N T" 's on this message board created by some of you digital graphic artists. When you put 2 letters on your helmet you have some room to work with as to make those 2 letters quite large, much larger than having the 10 letters on a helmet that are in the 2 words......."North Texas." Yet who could get "N T" confused when its on a Mean Green football helmet? We know few would ever think those 2 letters stand for, uh, "Northern Telecom". Last I checked, Northern Telecom does not have a football team at any level of the NCAA. NT surely will never be known in sports circles for having much imagination in creating the good uniform look, helmets included. But that is my my .02 on that subject and we know there are a few of those on GMG.com. GMG!

I hope to be responsible for 5 newbies showing up if all works out. We grow with new fans/new faces, folks. Love each and everyone of you of the MG Nation, but I want to see new faces at Fouts than just yours (and I bet you'd say the same about my mug, too)! ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ** As suggested by one of you earlier last week, why not honor the Katrina displaced Americans staying at Camp Copass Baptist Encampment just outside Denton? They need to see that we all care en ma$$ IMO and they would probably have one heckuva' good time at our tailgating for both adults and for their kids in the tailgate playground area just for the kids. I would think this group may be running out of things to do at Camp Copass as it is. Any ideas how we can possibly make this happen?

They do think it will be a "W".....after all, they are in the 2'nd coming of the Big 12, ie, CUSA and we are in the Sun Belch (to quote our collegiate "would be" social climbing friends in Ruston). You who are thinking about not coming to this game---change your mind now! Mean Green Nation, we need to be "the 12'th man" (sorry, Aggies, yall don't own that phrase although yall made it famous); anyway, Mean Green fans need to be that 12'th man as to encourage our young Mean Green team with some of the loudest decibals ever heard at Fouts Field this Saturday night.

Coach Dickey's good friend SMU Coach Phil Bennett may have given himself some extended year(s) on the Hilltop. He finally has a significant win. TCU fans have to be sick over that loss. Not taking anything away from TCU's success in Norman, but I think some of their players may have watched NT's opponent for this Saturday, ie, the Tulsa Golden Hurricane's mild "non win" success on TV yesterday. This probably only proved to many from the TCU Nation that what some of the Horned Frogs (including TCU alum/ex SI sportswriter Dan Jenkins) called their all time greatest victory was probably merely just a win over an average OU team that may remind some of the Sooner faithful of some of their (unsuccessful) Coach Blake teams of the 90's. We have our work cut out for us against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane and I only hope our fans show up en mass and become the 12'th man as to encourage our very young Mean Green team, ie, the 3'rd youngest team in NCAA D1-A according to the MGRN guys.

BlueRaiderPride, I empathize....Some of us have been around this program when we didn't think we would continue football at NT at any level. We spent 12 years in 1-AA which was a form of college football purgatory for those of who were around when we beat a school just down the road from yall in Knoxville, Tennessee. It was tough going to some of heights and expectations of the Hayden Fry era to one when very little good was happening in Mean Green Country. BRP, NT did tackle your RB and knocked the ball loose as I watch the replay as I post. I asked you in another thread, but do you think had yall had different turf that your player may not have had that injury? Reason I ask, is we had a Troy U player have a similar injury on our (former) piece of crap turf we just replaced this last summer.

Strangely enough, I didn't hear the MGRN guys even mention the Houston radio station which means there must have been a funding glitch (which would be my guess); but this radio station addition to the MGRN was posted on MeanGreenSports.com, the NT Athletic Dept's official website. Lets wait and see if this KAFR 88.3 FM story has a happy ending, though. At least you guys down in Houston were able to watch the game on TV, which I'd guess would have been the choice for our most ardent NT fans down in Space City, USA, anyway. GMG!

THIS FOR YOUR 2'ND OR 3'RD CUP OF SUNDAY MORNING COFFEE (maybe by the 4'th cup you will have finished reading this unless you lose complete total interest) BlueRaiderPride, I think what happened to Cobbs and Thomas was the same thing that happened to Alabama's offense, ie, your fine MT defense. It was not a pretty game, but you have games like that and if you are lucky enough to win them (as we were last night with an inexperienced QB) you take the win and a quick plane out of town. I don't think this Cobbs in/Thomas out OR Thomas in/Cobbs out will work as for either to get some serious yards this season, but even local, regional and national sportswriters predicted the same thing even if both were to be in the same backfield (which is the preference of most of our fans). If you cut each back's number of carries in half, you cut down the opportunities for those long runs to materialize (some for TD's) which both RB's have been fairly adept in their careers in Mean Green Country. Yet (as already said) with both Cobbs and Thomas spelling each other in the course of a game will not allow either to get any semblance of rhythm going. Both of these backs are the kind (like most) who need to stay in the game and get all those carries. Of course (God forbid) in case of the injury bugaboo, then you have the other to carry the full load. Jamario Thomas you can hold for a yard or 2 many times during the course of the game, but then he breaks the long run when least expected. He did that last year even against 2 Big 12 schools (which we didn't win). IMO, Super Jamario (which he still is to us) was not in long enough last night to get that opportunity. Same thing for Cobbs although he saw much more playing time last night than Thomas (and I think that was because he is a senior who came back from a Med RS and Coach Dickey honored him for that last night). By the time this young Mean Green team (3'rd youngest in NCAA D1-A according to George Dunham, Voice of the Mean Green) plays the rest of the SBC I think we will be fine. We get Troy U at home and they lost a tremendous number of players last year to graduation. We can be tough at home, just like yall can. THE FLORIDA SCHOOLS MICROWAVE THEMSELVES FOR INSTANT SUCCESS MYSTERY: The 2 Florida SBC schools are a complete mystery to me. I am trying to figure out how all these non BCS Florida schools do it and do it fast. Even U of South Florida can begin a football program from scratch just a few short years ago, have their coach's offices in a mobile home, then get in some fans panacea of a dream conference, ie, CUSA and then get in the Big East (for heaven's sake) after only 1 or 2 official years in CUSA?!?!? As Ricky Ricardo constantly asked Lucy: Please 'esplain? Simply, how are these Florida non BCS schools able to put such competitive football programs together (seemedly) overnight? BTW, we play both of them on the road this Fall. Now FIU and FAU had the recent switch from 1-AA to 1-A advantage in recruiting other good 1-AA collegiate players (and don't think FAU's Howard Schellenberger didn't take advantage of that rule). Of course, the advantage as you would know are that those kind of transfers become elgible immediately. FAU's Coach Schnelly' is a good tactician coach and will beat some teams base on that; but after all, the man has an NC or 2 under his belt at Miami. Coach Howie' and Don Strock (FIU) have been able to put some good talent together and did it darn fast. BlueRaiderPride, what you saw last night is an NT team under construction, some call it re-tooling others call it rebuilding. That game last night was one of the wierdest I've seen lately. Yall dominated in all phases except the one that counts in the W/L column. Yet NT did the same thing with MT that we've always done defensively, ie, bend but not break. The red zone is our zone and has never been that friendly to your team when yall play NORTH TEXAS; but since all our games have been decided by less than 10 points, I'd suppose it hasn't been that friendly to us, either. IT'S THE MT TURNOVERS: Obviously, this has mostly always been the difference in our games as NT has been able to convert points from many of those turnovers just as we did last night. I think its a safe prediction that your Coach Andy Mac will not be around next year and that may be both a blessing for him and your school. As you would know, because he has good coaching credentials & friendships in the college coach's "good ol' boy" network will help him land at some high profile school (or maybe even the NFL). He will be just fine with his future, though. NT has been his noose around the neck, his albatross or his personal Waterloo with his SBC tenure in the Boro' , though. Who knows, eventually some other school will give Coach Mac a chance to recycle his head football coaching career one day. NORTH TEXAS did that for the great Hayden Fry (after SMU fired him in 1972 with a 7 & 4 record). Coach Fry would not have gotten his Big 10 job had he not had the success he had in Denton, but he beat a few high profile teams that also allowed that to happen, too. One of those high profile wins by Fry's Mean Green was down the road from yall over in Knoxville, Tennessee. If Coach Dickey wants to leave Denton (and most would eventually like a Top 10 job), he will eventually have to do the same thing. I don't think he or his players would object to winning some of those OOC games, either. We have a tough one vs Tulsa this Saturday night at Fouts Field. They gave OU fits yesterday. BLP, good luck to yall the rest of the season, yet it is a long season for sure. The Mean Green are a work in progress and it will be interesting for our fans/alums to watch some of these kids develop (and hopefully by the time the rest of the SBC schedule comes around). GMG! PS Sorry about your player's serious injury last night. How is he doing? Do you think, BlueRaiderPride, that a different turf might have prevented such an injury or would it have not really mattered?

BlueRaiderPride, I think what happened to Cobbs and Thomas was the same thing that happened to Alabama's offense, ie, your fine MT defense. I don't think this Cobbs in/Thomas out and visa versa is really going to allow either back to get a rhythm going and both are the kind of backs who need to stay in the game. Jamario you can hold for a yard or 2 or more many times during the course of the game, but then he breaks the long run. IMO, he was not in long enough last night to get that chance; same thing for Cobbs. By the team this young team (3'rd youngest in the NCAA) plays the rest of the SBC I think we will be fine. We get Troy U at home and they lost a tremendous number of players last year to graduation. The 2 Florida SBC schools are a complete mystery to me. I am trying to even figure out how U of South Florida can begin a football program from scratch just a few short years ago, then get in some school's dream conference (not mine), ie, CUSA and then get in the Big East?!?!? How are these Florida non BCS schools just simply able to put such competitive football programs together (seemedly) overnight. Now FIU and FAU had the switch from 1-AA to 1-A advantage in (recruiting, and don't think Schellenberger didn't do this) good 1-AA players to come to their schools to become immiediately elgible. Schnelly' is a good tactician coach and has an NC or 2 under his belt at Miami, but he and Strock (FIU) have been able to put some good talent together and fast. BlueRaiderPride, what you saw last night is an NT team under construction. That game last night was one of the wierdest I've seen lately. Yet NT did the same thing with yall we've always done defensively, ie, that is bend but not break. The Red Zone is our zone and has never been that friendly to your team; but since all our games have been decided by less than 10 points, I'd suppose it hasn't been that friendly to us, too. IT'S THE TURNOVERS:

I love to replay from time to time the 2002 NT CHAMPIONS highlights DVD of that bowl winning season and mostly just to listen to the 23,000 NT fans come together as one very large and unified pep squad when we hosted the NMSU Aggies that Fall. IMO, that NT home crowd was louder than the almost 30,000 we had for the NT/Baylor game 2 years ago. Yet the collective noise our Mean Green fans made for a most unique afternoon back in the Fall of 2002 that many of us will not soon forget. You can just tell by watching this DVD how the NT crowd noise had our football team so pumped, so fired up and they responded to it. Higher decibal levels in the stadium just seems to increase the adrenalin level of a football player and if you have played Texas UIL organized sports, you would know that to be a fact. The Tulsa U Golden Hurricane are coming to Denton this Saturday (9/17) with many of their fans/alums from the DFW area and Oklahoma and they are thinking that they not only should beat us, but that they will beat us. So...........will we as NT students, fans and alums have a very loud and vocal response to our Okie' friends? Can we be this young Mean Green football team's 12'th man in this upcoming battle at Fouts this Saturday? Your thoughts (and ideas)?

mdmeagreen, I'd say most of the Mean Green Nation are duly impressed that you are flying in from Maryland to be at Fouts Field this Saturday night! Way to go, fellow Mean Greener! GMG!

A toast to the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders who played a good, clean football game tonight while giving the Mean Green more than we wanted.

You say George Dunham said NT is the 3'rd youngest team in NCAA D1-A? Unbelievable... Lets hope our guys show much improvement from Game 1 to Game 2 vs Tulsa U this Saturday. I think NORTH TEXAS will be TU's 3'rd game of their season. I really thought Tulsa was going to beat OU today until Sooner depth and Peterson came thru in the 4'th quarter. Tulsa is a scary team and we will have our work cut out againt those guys. GMG!

What do they say: Rather be lucky than good? I think this MG football team has a chance to be good as they develop each week this season. NT QB Dan Meager favors his mending shoulder when he passes the ball and I think one of the ESPN guys even mentioned that. I noticed it at one of the scrimmages during 2-a-days as I'm sure some of you did. Yet, he is accurate in the area where we need him to be accurate and the area of a football field where most passes are thrown in the course of a game and (for NT) that is a big, big positive. Yeppers, ipEALGLE, we were very lucky tonight. GMG!

I think we were all impressed with the MT Blue Raiders tonight. This is one of the most unusual games I've ever seen NT play while still winning the darn thing. But as far as NT vs MT, this is just one of those things you see in college football where one school just seems to have another school's number. None of us hate to see anyone lose a job, but I think NT may have put the final nail in the coffin for Coach Mac. He is a good coach and will land somewhere if he loses his job at MT; most likely as an Assist. Head Coach, Offensive or Defensive Coordinator for a high profile school who may pay him more salary than he makes at MT. GMG!