akriesman

OU - 56 NT - 13 I actually expect our offense to move the ball better than our past games at Norman, at the expense of some costly turnovers resulting in defensive scores for OU. I also expect this game to be much more entertaining than 2003. We have a new system, lots of youth, hostile environment....... Two years from now this prediction would be vastly different. No matter what happens, I will be watching and cheering.

I am very glad to hear about the possible extension for RV. The man has done so much for this university in the time he has been here. The next 5 years are going to be a critical time for NT. We need RV here to finish the fine job he has started.

Willis could make SMU a dangerous team at times this season.

Agreed. What a terrific story.

My thoughts exactly. It's a nice problem to have to worry about.

Count me as one who is very concerned about the PK position. Opening day at Oklahoma. Wow, talk about a first time experience for a walk-on kicker. Whoever wins the battle had better have ice in his veins.

First, let me say that I am really looking forward to the upcoming season. I expect our team to be exciting, disciplined and well set for the future. I have full confidence that 2 years from now we will be back on top of the conference and gaining some national recognition. However, it is going to take a while for things to gel. There will be a lot of players that are used to the old system and some new players that are just too young and inexperienced. While I think TD will have the team better prepared than Hal Mumme at New Mexico State, there could be some similarities. Mumme went 0-12 his first year with the spread offense at NMS and 4-8 last year, despite leading the nation statistically in some categories. Based on all the changes taking place, I think a 4-8 or even 3-9 record for the first year would be a pretty good accomplishment. 9/1 @ OU- L 9/8 @ SMU- L (I want this one as bad as the rest of you......but) 9/22 FLA ATLANTIC-L 9/29 @ ARKANSAS-L 10/6 @ LOUISANA LAFAYETTE-W 10/13 LOUISIANA MONROE-L 10/20 @ TROY-L 10/27 MUTS-W 11/10 NAVY- L 11/15 @ARKY STATE-L 11/24 WESTERN KENTUCKY-W 12/1 @ FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL-W 4-8 this season, but look out in 2009.

FWIW.....Section D, Row 19, Seats 7 & 8.

Guys. It is not bullshit that the white helmets help the QB spot the receivers. Green uniforms against a green grass background can make things more difficult for a QB. Does the helmet color really matter ?. If the white helmet gives us even the slightest advantage, it is a worthy change IMHO. We can all argue about the logo on the helmets. But, the white helmets do serve a purpose when you are a green team, unless you are playing at Boise State

No, you are correct. My statement was indeed a little misleading and/or misinformed. I have only been a fan since '84. Since then, I have seen nothing like this around here. It is hard to remain objective, after seeing all of the positive recruiting news for 2008.

I don't mean to belittle what Hayden Fry did. If he had stayed around for a few more years, things might be very different today.

Amen. TD is the best thing to ever happen to this football team. And, he has not even coached a single college game yet. I know, Hayden Fry was awesome. But, his tenure was far too short and the football program tanked afterwards.. Thank you Rick for making a terrific hire.

I like that people here have realistic expectations for this season. Personally, I don't expect any real magic to happen for at least 2 seasons, until Todge starts getting his recruited players on the field. In 2010, look out ! Here is what I want to see. 1) Disciplined players. 2) An emotional team. 3) An unpredictable offense. 4) Fans that continue to support the team, even if the record does not show the improvement. 5) A home field average of 20k+ per game. 6) A stadium announcement. I am convinced that 1-3 will definately happen. I HOPE that 4-6 will happen. Can't wait for the season. This is the most excited I have been in my 23 years as a MG fan.

Stadium !

I have no doubt, that the next 4 or 5 years are going to be the most exciting times we have had at this school in several decades. It may take a few seasons to get the win totals up. But, in the meantime, we should see an exciting and disciplined team take the field each and every week. That alone is going to be worth coming to Denton for on saturday nights.

Emmitt, I did consider the possiblity that those were designed runs. But, I assumed (perhaps wrongly) that TD would have Woody running the same type plays as the other QB's, to see how he handles the normal offense. This was my first time to actually see TD's offense executed. So, I really don't know how the QB runs factor into the gameplan. When Woody ran, he was effective.

One more very important thing........This spring game was more fun to watch than most regular season games over the past few years. TD's team will be very entertaining at the least.

My quick impressions.... -Terrific crowd for a North Texas spring game. -Saw lots of SLC bumper stickers in the parking lot (compliments of TD). -Casey Fitzgerald was the man. He had at least 2 super-long TD's from Meager. I believe he may have had 3 TD's overall. -Meager looks like a different QB in this offense. -Woody still runs the ball too much. -Fentriss seems to have some good hands. -Defense dominated early. Then, the offense just took over for the middle 2/3 of the game. The two main things that stood out to me were Fitzgerald and Meager. TD is right about this guy. He really stood out in both his route running and his hands. Right now, he looks like a stud out there among all the other recievers. Very polished. I don't think there is any question that Meager is the #1 right. He seems confident. He runs the offense well. And, he had some nice touch on his passes.

Deep Green. FWIW, your helmet design with the unique Eagle (not the Philly or Rice Eagle) is the best I have ever seen IMHO. It would make an absolutely outstanding helmet and would be one the university could be really proud of. It even looks good in white. For several years now, I have thought that the green jerseys and helmets have put the team at a disadvantage. The all green uni's make it slightly more difficult for the QB to spot the receivers on a green field. Heck, you can even see this playing as UNT in the Madden college FB game. I really don't mean to hijack this thread regarding helmet design. But, I just wanted to compliment Deep Green's work.

I agree that Wisconsin is a weak #2 seed. But, TAMU-CC deserves any credit they get if they can keep it up.

Yep, it's easy to jump on the bandwagon when a team wins. True fans are the ones that are able to give the team their support after a hard fought loss.

Yep. Just think of what a good playoff system could do for college football. Personally, my favorite is the first 2 days of the tournament. There is nothing better than watching the 14,15,16 seeds trying to pulling off the upset. This year will be even more special. After the first 2 days, my interest usually starts to wane a bit as the tourney continues. With some great play and a lot of luck, a certain green team certainly could change all that though

#2 seeds are 84-4 against #15 seeds. -An NT win would be both glorious and stunning. -A single-digit loss would be very good. -A loss by 10-18 would be decent -A loss by more than 20 would be disappointing. The worst thing that could happen, would be to fall way behind early on and stay within that 20-30 point deficit range the entire game. If Memphis gets up big, they will start resting their starters and make the final score closer than it actually was. I say Memphis is up by 12 at the half and wins by 18. This would not be a bad showing on NT's part. Neither Davis or Watson can have one of those really cold shooting days, or this game will get out of hand fast.

Niagara has a good reason to be hacked off. There is no way in hell they should be in the play-in game (but, neither should NT). It really does not matter anyway. Niagara is going to crush Florida A&M. Kansas will end up playing a very tough #16 team. After North Texas, Niagara is going to be the other team I watch closely that first game. That's assuming they don't get tripped up by Florida A&M, which would be a pretty big upset.

That would be a dream spot. But if that happened, there would be a lot of angry teams that are much higher ranked then us.