GrayEagle

No, he could have meant Sam Houston State University. Everyone is passing us by.

But...apparently yesterday he eliminated all but La Tech and Nevada. I expect him to visit Ruston tomorrow and sign with them if offered.

If we but could. Our hope could be that if he can qualify this month and that others wanting him will have already filled their limit. I don't know this for fact but I believe that if he were qualified that he would already be committed. On another note Curry and Prince have both since committed.

I doubt that we've pulled any offers for cornerbacks. Most of our defensive backs on the roster and that have been recruited are safeties. Warner is the only corner returning and we'll be adding Kelly and Johnson to that. We have offered six other corners beside young Deion and desperately need at least one more so I don't believe that we pulled the offer. Sanders probably decided that we weren't far enough up the totem pole for him. I'm amazed that he had enough interest in us to list us in the first place.

One thing about the five listed above...they came from a coaching change. It could have been that their scholarship offer was pulled or it could have been that they didn't feel that they fit well under the new coach's style. I hope that Walling stays too but there will be occasional movement at our level. It also works the other way. Sometimes a higher rated player falls to us from annulled BCS commitments. As another poster said, if it happens I hope that we can get a cornerback. We are fairly well stocked at offensive line and have only two seniors.

Unless and until we are in an AQ conference we won't go toe to toe with the big boys. With our university, facilities, coaching/recruiting staff, location, winning seasons and a new conference, we should be able to hold our own with all of the rest. The recruiting hasn't been that bad considering our circumstances. It's what we did with them after they were here that hurt. Boise State didn't get to the top of the non-AQ teams with 4-star recruits; they took 2 and 3 star recruits and developed them.

Right now, we still have the potential to have two good? home games next year and still have a money game...LSU. I don't remember the AD "promising" us six home games every year. Maybe he did and I just missed it. But, as long as we must have a money game, and occasionally work in a two for one to get a known opponent, there will have to be some makeup years. The alternative is to buyout some of the away games. That can get expensive and cloud future scheduling. Remember what Air Force did to us? There will be occasions where we may have to deal with a wrinkled hundred dollar bill. We are trying to advance our conference cause and fill Apogee and we may have to give a little at times in order to accomplish that. Personally, I'll try to cut them a little slack unless I feel that I'm intentionally being misled. I certainly don't feel that way yet.

Please do not take this post to heart. It is one person's not too informed opinion. To begin with, ODU is not one of the top 5 academic institutions in the southeast. It might be in the state of Virginia but it's definitely behind the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Richmond and VCU. That's based on freshman SAT scores. Then why is the poster worried about Old Dominion entering the CUSA division? How many times has it occurred that an FCS team has been accepted for membership in CUSA? The MWC and CUSA are not entry level conferences. He could be right on some of his speculation but no one can possibly know until after January 15. The Alliance may or may not take Hawaii in as a full member. If they did that would eliminate the need for another 'football only' member. I also think that the final results will depend on how the TV package is structured. If the package is for football only there will be no need for the alliance to operate as one conference. But, do they return to 'as you were' with CUSA at 12 teams and Mountain West at nine or do both go to the same number? I don't want to rail against any possible member at this time but I sincerely hope that the conferences add teams more centrally located if they are planning to operate coast to coast. Adding a Temple, for instance, even though they are worthy, must prove cost-effective. Travel expenses will soar when teams are added to the extreme east or west. We're due for a lot of rumors and speculation in the next few weeks. Just try to keep all this in perspective. Most of those who will comment are sharing their own views and may, or may not, have much to do with reality.

Without impugning Coach Mac's integrity or arguing the merits of the other three scholarship quarterbacks, let's talk about Cooper Jones. I find it hard to believe that Cooper Jones can play any other position than quarterback at the FBS level. I seem to recall that he was a top pick at a quarterback camp that he attended so he does have some acumen for that position. He could get by on physical ability at the 2A level but he had plenty to learn and needed to work on bulking up as well as building speed. Thus the redshirt year. Having little need to block, he would have a lot to learn to get up to speed at tight end. He could probably handle the pass-catching phase of that position because quarterbacks have good hands. If he chose that route he'd likely be fifth or sixth team next year. We will have two seniors at that position so he might move up to third team the following year if he can pass one of the Smiths. Coach McCarney misspeaks at times but don't we all? Especially when we are put on the defensive.

And maybe even the 6'10" redshirt forward Robinson.

With this such a varied thread I hesitate to bring this up but are we certain that Swarn will get a redshirt? He appeared in two games last year...FAU and Louisiana and given how the NCAA seems to stick it to us on eligibility can we be sure that he did not lose a year's eligibility?

Jordan Williams is our third best player...for him not to start would be a travesty. He's a freshman learning the college game but he won't learn from sitting on the bench. He ranges from second to fourth in almost every category. He wasn't billed as a three point shooter but that will come with practice and game experience. Even now, he's tied for the lead in 3s with 42 points. Also, where would this team be if not for Jordan Williams? I view him as being responsible for getting Chris Jones and to a lesser extent Tony Mitchell. When he committed he didn't just leave it at that he went out and tried to recruit others to NT. I think we owe it to him to give him a chance as long as he's not a detriment to this team. If you'll look at the team statistics that's certainly not the case. Williams still makes freshman mistakes but he'll continue to improve. Roger Franklin is used to coming off of the bench and providing a spark as the sixth man. He's good at it and is more beneficial in that role, given our level of talent, than he would be if he started. He still gets his minutes.

No doubt a good player but do you realize how many defensive ends that we have already and some are bigger and faster than Struble.

True, but somehow they seem to find an academic scholarship for certain (smart) athletes.

That one is extremely hard to believe. With four starters returning (three are sophomores), a 4-star transfer, and a letterman who has appeared in 20 games, that is likely our deepest position. Add to that Mac's penchant for taking JUCO's only when absolutely necessary and this story sounds phony.

No more pain and suffering, Glen. NT was better because you passed our way.

Because of his height. You don't see 5'8" safeties in FBS football. You'd have to have spectacular leaping ability which I'm told that he has. I also thought that he would be a corner but it's been posted more than once that he will play safety. I believe that we got a very good corner. He's a 3-star athlete who should be very good until we can fare better with future recruits. Davis and Kelly are potential starters but they won't be ready as freshmen. I'm glad that the coaching staff recognized that Warner needed experienced help and went the JUCO route.

I hope that he stays potential. We already have four quarterbacks on scholarship and unless we could sign a 4-star then I think that we should spend scholarships on other positions. BTW, Scotty Young was a 4-star QB.

There were seven walk-ons who played according to the performance chart given the NCAA. It has been mentioned that at least three of these earned scholarships. The seven are Jeremy Brown, Colton Clay, Nick Crewe, Ivan Delgado, Lynrick Pleasant, Tanner Smith, and Nicoloas Summerfield. Those that were previous walk-ons that I believe have earned scholarships are Aaron Fortenberry, Mike Marshall, Brandon McCoy, Drew Miller, and Konockus Sashington. No other walk-ons played and surely weren't considered for a scholarship.

What position could he play? He doesn't have the speed for a wide receiver or defensive back. He'd need to bulk up to play Tight End/H-Back. I don't know what other positions that he has ever played. This is not Class 2-A; he needs to somewhat polished at another position.

If the above is true then I have lost several players. We are allowed a total of 85 scholarship players if there are no penalties. The maximum number of recruits to be given a scholarship in any year is 25. There can be an additional 20 non-scholarship players bringing the total to 105. We have 45 players who participated in at least one game last year returning. I count 38 of those who I'm fairly certain have scholarships. Some of the remaining seven have since been given scholarships. For the sake of this exercise let's assume that all were scholarship players. There were ten scholarship players who were red-shirted and one gray shirt, bringing the total to 56. We had two transfers sit out this season but supposedly they were included in the allowed 23 total. Fifty-six and twenty-three total 79; six short of the total number of scholarship players allowed. Does anyone know why we have been short-sheeted?

I don't believe that transfers are included in the 23 scholarships that will be offered. What I do believe is that the coach totals the number of scholarships returning, adds the transfers and walkons that he plans to give scholarships, subtracts that number from 85, and that figure is the number of scholarships available for this class. Of course, the number cannot exceed 25, the maximum allowed per year. He could also be holding back a couple for possible late recruits or preferred walkons. Transfers are not included in the recruiting class but are included in the maximum 85 scholarships.

I don't believe that transfers are included in the 23 scholarships that will be offered. What I do believe is that the coach totals the number of scholarships returning, adds the transfers and walkons that he plans to give scholarships, subtracts that number from 85, and that figure is the number of scholarships available for this class. Of course, the number cannot exceed 25, the maximum allowed per year. He could also be holding back a couple for possible late recruits or preferred walkons. Transfers are not included in the recruiting class but are included in the maximum 85 scholarships.

I think that the coaching change that appears imminent (Cristobal to Pitt) took its toll on team enthusiasm. FIU seemed unfocused and lacked the enthusiasm of earlier games. I fear that stAte may suffer the same syndrome but at least they have one advantage...they know and approve of their new coach.

My money's on he was not holding a valid offer from North Texas when he chose UTSA. In fact, I have real doubts that he still had an offer from SMU. I'm glad that he's found a fit at UTSA. May he enjoy the WAC.