BillySee58

Maybe, but I find it hard to believe that someone would turn down scholarship offers to walk-on at Texas State. I don't know, maybe his family has money and it doesn't matter, but I find that hard to believe.

Yeah, that's thanks to the fact that we signed 2 qbs this year and Mac only wants 4 qbs on scholarship. By only wanting to have 4 qbs on scholarship, they have to be good. We are good quantity wise, I'm just not sure how good we are quality wise after Berglund. Our other 3 qbs (Thompson, Mcnulty, Williams) had a combined one other scholarship offer (Williams had a La Tech offer according to Vito). Thompson and Mcnulty had none and we've seen why to this point in their careers. My point to all this is that we have one qb spot open in the 2014 class and that's because Thompson will be gone after this year. I'd rather save it for a legitimate D1 prospect than grayshirt Bowen (who had no other offers) and use up our qb scholarship for the class on him. Who knows, maybe Berglund is lights out this season and makes our system seem attractive to a top-notch high school prospect.

Yes, we made up for not signing a qb in 2012 by getting one with 3 to play 3 (Berglund) and a high school qb (Williams). I was agreeing that we should not have offered Bowen a grayshirt opportunity, but I was replying to the statement that we should only sign 1 a class, if that. I was replying to the "if that" part of the statement. I believe we must sign a qb every class to keep depth at the position. Basically my point was that just because we signed 2 qbs this class doesn't mean we can take a year off and afford to not get a qb this class. I think we should go after a 2014 quarterback rather than grayshirt a 2013 qb who had no other offers.

No, you absolutely need one qb per class. Some don't pan out, some transfer out, etc. If you don't get a solid qb every class you end up starting a quarterback like Thompson and having a true freshman who had no other offers (Mcnulty) as a back-up. Not trying to get back into the qb debate, but quarterback is the last position you want to be thin at. That being said, yes we do need to get a quarterback in this class, just not Bowen as a grayshirt. You have to think if Berglund has a successful year and shows off the system, we will be able to attract another decent qb.

Absolutely. I think Jimmerson has to get more touches this year. He makes our offense much more dynamic.

Yup. The throwing windows are tight in the red zone and DT couldn't complete the passes in the red zone all year. Also, Byrd could not score in the red zone. For a "power back" he didn't score a single touchdown in the red zone last year against FBS opponents. Jimmerson gets in the endzone, so we need to see more of him.

We outgained them 422-382 yards that game. Problem was when we got down to the red zone, where the throwing windows are tight, we couldn't score and our kickers were 0-3. Also our quarterback was 12-28 that game.

Yes, I played at Arlington Martin. Honestly, the biggest negative was the lack of success. A couple of our players signed in 08 when I was a freshman (Jeremi Mathis, Joe Hawthorne) and the reason was because their other offers were not much better and Dodge was able to sell his Carroll success to players who played against and witnessed his success in high school first hand. They later transferred out for various reasons. The rest of my time in high school our program improved and most of our D-1 caliber recruits were getting offered by much more established schools. In order to have any success recruiting 5A schools in DFW, we have to win. High school kids watch a lot of ESPN and if we aren't on there ever we will have trouble garnering their attention. Coach Mac knows this and I even heard of a pitch of his to a couple of friends of mine that his goal is to win a national championship here. At least he's aiming high. Two guys who were in the class after mine committed to UNT because one was a late bloomer and one was undersized and UNT was his only offer. Both have a lot to prove but have performed well so far and I think Trussell has a chance to start this year. Our biggest key to recruiting DFW has to be finding the guys who slip through the cracks like Jimmerson and winning soon and becoming relevant. That way when recruits see Coach Mac walk through the door they actually know who he is and get excited, rather than disappointed that it isn't someone like Sumlin or Stoops walking in. When those guys walk in, the world stops.

Had a feeling Vizza would be mentioned, and for good reason. I don't know if Berglund will have better numbers than Vizza, but I sure hope we can win more games with Berglund under center than we did with Vizza. I'm also looking forward to three years of progression under Berglund. We haven't seen quarterbacks develop and get better over their career. We never got a chance to with Vizza and other guys just have not improved much. I'm holding my bowl hat on his progression. If he can get better with game experience over the year and the rest of his three-year career his talent will take care of the rest on his part (as far as being an upgrade at qb). Still a team sport, so a lot rides on the other players and coaches, but I feel like we were close last year and hopefully we can make that jump.

Honestly, this is the best way to do it.

We do Harry. People just like to make these old and clichè arguments that he hasn't proved it on the field in college or what if he doesn't live up to the hype. He will make our offense harder to stop and I can't wait. Like I said, people inside the program really like his game, Mac included, and this is a major reason why he will start. We're about to see it all play out, so either get on the bandwagon now or get off. You don't have to think he's going to be the next Johnny Manziel, just a significant improvement over any QB we've had since 2004.

It's not just the fans who are starting to get behind him and his abilities.

Season is 12 games long, not including a bowl game if we were to make one.

We don't need him to be Johnny Football, we just need him to be a significant improvement over Thompson, which should not be that difficult to do. Berglund has the pieces around him too. Thompson had all day to throw last year behind that line, which I think was the most inexcusable part of his performance last year. People tried to justify DT's play by saying he had no weapons, but he had all day to throw and still missed the receivers by ridiculous margins at times. But yes, you are right that the coaches, mainly Mac, have little to no confidence in DT so it would be shocking if Berglund was not named the starter.

I like the way we play at Apogee, especially when we have a balanced offense

If we can just win this year and this game, all of these issues would become secondary. I know it's stating the obvious, but winning really does make everything better.

You are just excessively in love with that phrase.

Yup, just like the ULL game last year. And there weren't even Halloween parties to go to that night. Poor saps missed an amazing ending.

For people that think Idaho isn't a step up from Texas Southern, I know the first game of the season pretty much sells itself, but let me give another perspective. As a college student, a very high percentage of other, more uninformed students kept calling Texas Southern Division II. Most students don't know the difference between FCS (D-IAA) and Division II. That won't be a problem with Idaho, so we should see more students leaving the hill at game time and actually walk into the stadium. Also, it's harder to sell tickets if potential buyers are being misinformed by others that the game is against a Division II school.

Or just see more Jimmerson and hopefully Pegram can be productive. I'm glad someone else actually watches the play and doesn't just see 2 and 3 yards gains and think "oh, he's a power back."

Gotcha. Good explanation, I just don't think that ever happened (him blowing up a linebacker) and I don't think he ran north/south effectively but that's me. P1 and Aztecskin can back me up on that. I would rather have Jimmerson "wear down the defense" all game. Jim Jim actually weighs more and was a nightmare for teams to try to tackle. A guy who slips your tackles all game long and punishes lbs and safeties (look at LaLa highlights) like Jimmerson would really wear down the defense. Then maybe Byrd could come in and pop a long TD run.

I did, which you think would make me biased right? He really has come a long way, and seeing the jumps that he keeps making it's incredible. From watching him play as a freshman on B team to seeing him take Polo Mainukiniu (spelling Eulessismore?) to the wood shed when he played Euless Trinity his senior year. He is the biggest late-bloomer I've ever seen and it seems that he isn't done tapping into his potential. He has gotten rave reviews from Coach Mac and he is bigger and stronger than Manu, so he has a chance. People are annointing Manu the starter because that's basically what Vito is saying. But yes, we will see what really happens in spring. Also, I have a question for you, and everyone who calls Byrd a bruiser/battering ram/powerback/etc. What has he done to make you believe he is a power back? I have yet to get a good answer and I watched all of the highlights from the season on MeanGreenSports and still don't know why people call him a power back. Honestly, the one thing he has going for him, save for a slight edge in pass blocking, over Jimmerson is breakaway speed. I believe Jimmerson would have been caught in that long td run by Byrd against South Alabama.

Thank you. Hey, good teams have good competition, which means knocking guys out of their starting positions. We should see a few surprises this spring.

QB: Brock Berglund - Expect this. Mac saying DT won't just give up this position is just coach protocol. Berglund is starting to garner the respect from his teammates as a leader of this team. RB: Jimmerson - Last year he had no game experience coming into the year so Byrd started essentially by default. I expect Jimmerson to beat out Byrd in the spring and I expect Pegram to beat out Byrd to be the first running back off the bench. WR (out): Darius Terrell - Brock likes throwing to him. WR (out): Darnell Smith - I expect Kidsy to see time here and may take this position over, but for game 1 I expect the dependable Smith to start here. WR (in): Brelan Chancellor TE: Chris Loving Fullback/H-Back: Drew Miller - Don't forget his role in this offense OT: Antonio Johnson OG: LaChris Anyiam C: Mason Y'Barbo OG: Cyril Lemon OT: Connor Trussell - dark horse, look out. A solid 6'5" 305 lbs frame and was a big reason, along with Berglund/Terrell/Pegram, our scout offense gave our defense fits in practice all year. - Look for Manu to sub in like Feeley and Anyiam last year *O-Line note - The best 5 lineman will play and if that means moving Y'Barbo to center, where he is capable of playing, it should be done. Also, people keep putting Lemon next to Antonio Johnson on these lists. Do you guys know he has been our right guard and Y'Barbo has been at left? DEFENSE NT: Abbe DT: Boutwell DE: Aaron Bellazin DE: Mccoy - Brown should battle with guys like Darryl Mason and Jarrian Roberts for first end off the bench. I wish we could see Alex Lincoln here more, but he is needed at tackle. LB: Will Wright - Look for Polk to play plenty and my dark horse is Jamal Marshall moving over from Safety. Marshall has track speed and is currently around 6'3" 220 lbs and growing. MLB: Zach Orr LB: Derek Akunne SS: Hilbert Jackson - Lee is a good player but he is undersized and plays hard which prevents him from staying healthy. He would be better served coming off the bench. Jackson is pretty well put together and I think would hold up better. FS: Marcus Trice CB: Zac Whitfield - Made Second-team all conference at arguably the hardest position to play in football in his first year playing that postion. Impressive. CB: James Jones/Chad Davis/Freddie Warner - Should make for good competition. My money is on Jones for game 1 at least and I wouldn't be surprised to see Warner move to safety coming off the knee surgeries. PR: Darvin Kidsy KR: James Jones & Chancellor Punter: Blake Macek Kicker: Zach Olen

I agree that he hasn't. Do you think if we have a breakout year our recruiting will pickup? Or do you think Mac just maybe might not be a good recruiter? We haven't exactly been winning recruiting battles, but the teams we've been losing out to have been winning more than we have recently, save for Tulane.