stebo

Well, I don't think that we need to "cut them" - but we always seem to have a sound problem. Why not mike them? That way the band director would be happy and the fans would get that "bigger/louder is better" out of their system. Other bands "mic" their instruments, why not NT?

Yep, that is their average - they only counted like 8K for our game; but they had 33,500 for McNeese State. That loss to McNeese killed their attendance for their next home game - against US, lol - and it was pouring on top of that,

Don't forget - FIU is building their new stadium this year, during football season - so they are playing their home games away at various locations. Also - FAU does not have a stadium at all. It just got the approval to be built. They are playing their home games split between 2 different places, an abandoned high school stadium about 30-40 minutes from campus... and Dolphins Stadium - which is like NT playing in Waco... Both schools will have better attendance once they have on campus stadiums. FIU is building theirs during this season, it is being built right now... FAU should start next summer. They both have bigger athletic budgets than us.

18,973 - just 27 people shy of 19K. Not bad for an 0-5 team. Anyone doubting this hire? LOL

http://client1.sigmachat.com/sc.php?id=73780

Just come to one of the tailgate parties and ask around. I am sure that someone can help you out. I know that anytime our group needs extra tickets, we just ask our group or one of the many groups around us - someone ALWAYS has an extra ticket or 5

Happy b-day Rick - see you at the game today! steve

Gross! You should get some professional help for that!

Dodge is smart. He has a set of goals that he put up and after the game he sees if they accomplished those goals or not. Todge has told the team that if they are able to hit those goals for each game that they will win. I have also heard him say time and time again - when a player (or unit) is messing up - that is the time that you encourage them the most. Now - changes will be made if there is not an improvement by the end of the season, I do not doubt that. After all, our old coach would still be keeping the Dan Wagon in, insisting that he is their best chance at keeping it close so that they could squeak out a win in the 4th. Dodge saw what most of us saw - that Meager had done ok - but that we had seen the very best from the Dan Wagon and it just wasn't enough. I think that Coach is a very good coach. I trust his judgment and like that he shows the positives. He knows about the big play and the collapse of the line. He will fix it. In the three winnable games (FAU, SMU, and UL) - we have gotten burned by their QB with his feet... usually after the D had done their job and shut down all of the options. That is the area that we have to improve on, the coverage after the play has broken down... that is where were are getting killed. Todge will fix it.

What makes you think that Dodge would bench Vizza for his son? That would be silly. He didn't do that at SLC when Riley was a FROSH and I seriously doubt that he will do that at NT. The way that I see it, Vizza is going to finish out the year. Either he will make strides like he did in the UL game or he will retreat like Meager did. If he makes the kind of strides that we all want him to - then that will set him up nicely for a Sophomore year with no distractions. Meager is an ok backup QB in case of injury. Next year, Riley can start to learn the college game in practice and from the sidelines. His next year will be his 2nd freshman year and Vizza's Junior Season, Riley will probably be the backup by this point. I don't see a problem until 2010, 3 years from now. Riley will be a Sophomore and Vizza will be a Senior (and Meager will have graduated). Does Todge want Riley to play his Sophomore year to give him 3 years on the field? Well, it all depends on how Vizza is doing. If Vizza is kicking butt then Riley will probably have to wait until his Junior year - no big deal - he will still have two full years to make his mark. If there is healthy competition, there is nothing wrong with that at all. In Todge we trust

We also have no idea what Dodge's budget was. I mean - we replaced an entire coaching staff. Contracts were bought out, including a cool half million for Dumbass Dickless. Maybe Mendoza was the very best that we could afford. I doubt that a HS DC makes that much and any type of raise for him would be jumped at.... but maybe we only had "x" for staff and Dodge went the HS route so that he could afford a whole staff. We don't know the ins and outs of it, we spent a lot of money to get rid of DD and to hire Dodge, I doubt that much was left.

I really think that it is time to ban a few people from this board.

Damn - again, talking without knowing the truth. There was time on the clock (6 seconds) and the Cajun players were all on the field celebrating. While we were not going to win the game, they cannot just storm the field without taking a knee. Dodge was screaming about that, asking the refs to do their job and let the kids finish the game before the party started. Geez, you guys are really hard on Todge. Way to go - maybe we can make another coach bitter about North Texas!

That is funny. We need to fix the D, it is last in the nation. Nobody can argue with that. If TD can turn around the worst offense in the nation that quick - there is no reason why the D can't be a top 100 D at least - at this point they are dead last and are giving up close to 500 yards a game. As for the kciker. He missed a freaking extra point. Then, as the game went on - we have so little confidence in him that we would not even attempt a 40 yarder. His long for the year is a 37 yard field goal and he tied that last Saturday (yeah for him!) - but it was barely over the bars... I mean, barely. Lots of schools will invite a kid to walk on. It doesn't cost them a penny. The more the merrier. The school and the program have nothing to lose at all. Our kicker hit the upright on another PAT as well, it just got lucky and bounced in. All season long we have had to go for it on 4th because our kicker cannot hit anything over 37 yards. For those of you paying attention - that requires us to be INSIDE the 20 in order to make a FG. The kicking position needs to be consistent from 30, that is their entire point. Also, our punter is a good punter... but he does not have kickoff potential with the line moved. So generally we would use the FG kicker for this new situation. But guess what? Our kicker is not only inaccurate, he has no leg strength! So we can't use him for kickoffs. Maybe I am spoiled by the past kickers and punters. Those are two positions that we have never had a problem with. Toby Gowin, John Baker, Jason Ball. All kickers and punters that have gone on to play professional ball in the last decade. And by the way, I was an English Major. If I type something really fast - I don't really check it. I would be willing to bet that my posts have less errors (even hastily typed from work) then the average Mean Green fan, lol. Chill out dude, our kicker sucks. Maybe with more practice he can suck less.

That is actually a good thing. As soon as we can get some receivers fast enough to outrun the D-backs, we will have a deep ball threat for the first time - ever.

One more thing - our kicker sucks, lol.

Vizza was the #7 passer in the country yesterday. This was his FIRST GAME! The DaMN also said that Dodge has declared Vizza to be the starter for the rest of the year! I am so happy that I could care less about the loss. Let's face it folks, Danny is a nice kid but he we have seen the absolute very best that he could offer and it just wasn't enough. With Vizza, at least we are building for the future. Going into this season, I believed that we would win two games - FIU and maybe WKU. Anything more would be great but I am not expecting it. ULM will beat us next week, they throttled ASU this week.... but I will be there because I want to cheer on our new QB. I feel the same way about Vizza that I did about Scott Hall - just an incredible sense of relief that help is on the way. Like with Hall, the relief won't be immediate - but the air is already lighter. This team is about the future and unfortunately, when I see the Dan Wagon out there, all I can think about it Dickey and all of the crap that came with him. I want to see new kids like Fitz and Vizza out there. Out with the old, in with the new! As for our DC, he might have to go. This defense is more then just porous, it absolutely sucks. But Bliel went along with Dickey and the black unis - there is no way we could have kept anyone from that staff after that stunt. Diet Coke boy is lucky to have a job still. I will be patient and see how they look at the end of the season. Anything over 2 wins will be a huge achievement in my opinion. Next year I will expect a 500 team. The next, I will EXPECT us to win the Belt. Simply put, I am going to enjoy watching this team grow and get better. It feels like we are really building something special now and I can't wait to say that I stuck by my team - ONCE AGAIN; while chicken littles were declaring that we had made the wrong choice. Just laughable.

FAU holds, down by 5 with plenty of time left. Nice crowd for Lockhart, probably the best home crowd that stadium has seen in awhile.

It was 4th and 2, FAU held - they got the ball back on downs and are moving it...

FAU's Rusty Smith throws an INT, USF ball

USF fumbles - FAU ball!

21-17 now... damn, FAU missed an easy FG early in the game... I bet that they are wishing for that try back now.

It looks like FAU is finally coming around the way I thought that they would. I have always been a huge fan of the FU expansion. Those two teams saved the league and have more money in their budgets then any of the other Sun Belt programs. Schnelly is like a God in the state of Florida and found success early on with FAU. I expect them to win the league either this year or the next, the big question is if the fans will come around at FAU. There seem to be more fans for winless FIU then for competitive FAU... But I really think that has to do with FAU not having a stadium yet. Once they get a stadium on campus, they will really explode. I don't know if they will win this one, they are down 21-14; but they are sure hanging tough with a very good top 10 team.

Tied 7-7 now

Whoops, got it mixed up... but still, the point remains the same. If Hawaii busts the bubble, they should be in the Sugar Bowl. The arrangement was for the non-auto-qualifier bowl to be in the same city as the Natl Championship... so if the Natl Champ game is at the Superdome, the Sugar Bowl should have Hawaii in it (if they end up in the top 16 or whatever the deal is)...