Here are my thoughts on the scrimmage

calvin · August 22, 2005

After watching the scrimmage yesterday, I came away with a lot of positives and a lot of negatives. I guess I will start with the positives: I thought Cobbs looked great, I was a little worried about him b/c of the long lay-off, but on the first carry where he went about 45 yards and shook Cotton out of his jock, my worries went away. He looked awesome on that first drive. J-mo looked good as well and him dragging the defenders that one play was great. Probably the biggest positive for me, was looking out there and seeing all those young talented kids. Kartey Agbottah, Dominique Green, Evan Robertson, Tobe Nwige, Eddrick Gillmore, the big Banks kid. I thought Robertson and Green looked the best, I was really impressed with Green though, that was a great sign for us. If you add those guys with the redshirt freshman and the sophomores, we are in good shape for a while. Those guys make so much more athletic. Another positive was our receivers, we are loaded there. I wish there was a way to get all our recievers the ball b/c I think Stickler and Covington are really good. I also think our LB's looked good and they will be very good this year. I was most impressed with Holman, he is coming into his own.

Now the negatives, I am worried about the QB situation, honestly I thought Phillips looked better than Meager. He looked way more comfortable back there to me then Meager. I thought he made some nice throws, and he only missed one throw and that was a deep post to Muzzy. But I am not sure if Big Dawg was watching the same scrimmage as me b/c Meager didnt have that great of a scrimmage to me anyways. I said to myself leaving yesterrday, that I think Phillips needs to be starting at LSU. I thought the secondary would look a little better, that were beat a few times and Cotton missed a tackle to start the scrimmage. Now I do think the secondary is going to be good though, there is too much talent back there not to be. I am not too worried about the O-line b/c the do their thing year in and year out. I made it a point to watch the d-line and there is definitely no Booger or Pruitt there, I am also a little worried about them. I heard someone say they were disappointed about Ransom, I thought he looked good, he got to the QB quick a few times, and I really think he is going to be a good pass rusher and will have some big sacks this year. I guess the biggest concern for me is QB, I guess i was expecting a lot more from Meager.

Zeke · August 22, 2005

I too thought Phillips played better than Meager. For a freshman, I felt he is ahead of where you would expect him to be.

Meager will probably be the starter, but if his injury past says anything - we will see Phillips this year as a starter as well.

meangreenfreak · August 22, 2005

I too thought Phillips played better than Meager. For a freshman, I felt he is ahead of where you would expect him to be.
Meager will probably be the starter, but if his injury past says anything - we will see Phillips this year as a starter as well.
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I don't want to discredit what BIG DAWG posted, but I too thought Phillips looked a little sharper. If he had connected on that long pass down the center of the field to Muzzy, there would be no discussion on who had the better day.

UNTFan23 · August 22, 2005

I don't want to discredit what BIG DAWG posted, but I too thought Phillips looked a little sharper. If he had connected on that long pass down the center of the field to Muzzy, there would be no discussion on who had the better day.
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Agree.

One other thought I had about the scrimmage:

Damn it's hot out here!

Harry · August 22, 2005

Good eye on Green Calvin, his ability is clear. Banks is a load. I too came away feeling very good about this most recent signing class. There appear to be more impact players than I can recall although it is still early. I also felt better about the team in general. Still wish we didn't have MTSU in the 2nd game of the year but they have to play that game too, and after Bama.

H-towngreen · August 22, 2005

Any word on how Gilomore did at D-end

Zeke · August 22, 2005

Any word on how Gilomore did at D-end
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I thought Gilmore seemed pretty quick on the end. From the plays where I was focusing on him, it appeared to me he could make some noise from that position as a true freshman.

PlummMeanGreen · August 22, 2005

I too thought Phillips played better than Meager. For a freshman, I felt he is ahead of where you would expect him to be.
Meager will probably be the starter, but if his injury past says anything - we will see Phillips this year as a starter as well.
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We obviously do have concerns at QB just as we did in 2001 when we had no idea what we had during 2-a-days back in that day, but if we had a QB-dominated offense then we'd be in bigger trouble; but we all know that is not the case in Mean Green Country.

Said it before but look for whoever starts at QB to be under the watchful eyes & tutelage of Darrell Dickey and Ramon Flanagan. Look for them to handle these 2 QB's just like they did Andrew Smith when Scott Hall was lost for the season in 2002. They will not let these kids do things (IMHO) that will cause either to feel that its all completely on their shoulders. I think our coaching staff will just ease both QB's into the 2005 season

Many have expressed their concerns about Meager non-stop before he has even started one game at NT, but one concern about Phillips is why he had no 'ship offers until the end of Spring; that is, unless he is just one of those Texas HS football stars who just simply fell thru the cracks. Matter of fact, at NT we've had many of those kind of athletes now haven't we? Some of that group even made it to the NFL.

BACK TO MATT: So I get my trusty 2004 Dave Campbell's TEXAS FOOTBALL magazine and it has Matt listed as running a 4.9 forty, so if anyone is going to have to depend on the strength of his arm and thus the passing game it would be Matt (since at 4.9 we are hardly going to ask him to be a running quarterback at NT and at a D1-A level of college football). Yet in another sense, one of the great needs of this "run dominated" NT offense is having a QB like Phillip's seems to be who can throw that soap on a rope way downfield for a Johnny Quinn to run under for some long gains; but moreso, a way to keep 8 or 9 off the line of scrimmage waiting for Cobbs and Thomas to work their magic.

Matt Phillips has still won this alum's admiration inasmuch as he has come into Denton with (somewhat) the underdog role (having had no 'ship offers and all until almost the first of the summer); he has gone into 2-a-days and Fall camp with an apparent reckless abandon "nothing to lose" type attitude such as that of an old West gunslinger and because of his efforts, has impressed the NT coach's (and Mean Green fans who have seen him play). All this an obvious reason why he has worked himself up the depth charts as one of our top 2 QB's.

Good luck to both Dan Meager and Matt Phillips. We need both of them to stay healthy in order for this football team to advance.

GMG!

Edited August 22, 2005 by PlummMeanGreen

Harry · August 22, 2005

I think ideally you would love to redshirt Gilmore, but he's so tall, rangy and athletic that is going to be very hard to keep him off the field this year. You can tell he has a frame that will hold 275 easy in time. We have really gotten tall at the defensive end position, Gilmore is 6-5, Hutcheson is 6-4. Chapman is 6-3 or 6-4, Burriss is 6-7 and Ransom looks at least 6-3. You love to have the tall dends with long arms to block passes and Gilmore's wingspan is as wide as they come.

Any word on how Gilomore did at D-end
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Monkeypox · August 22, 2005

BACK TO MATT: So I get my trusty 2004 Dave Campbell's TEXAS FOOTBALL magazine and it has Matt listed as running a 4.9 forty, so if anyone is going to have to depend on the strength of his arm and thus the passing game it would be Matt (since at 4.9 we are hardly going to ask him to be a running quarterback at NT and at a D1-A level of college football). Yet in another sense, one of the great needs of this "run dominated" NT offense is having a QB like Phillip's seems to be who can throw that soap on a rope way downfield for a Johnny Quinn to run under for some long gains; but moreso, a way to keep 8 or 9 off the line of scrimmage waiting for Cobbs and Thomas to work their magic.
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He ran for 485 yards and 14 TDs last year, to go with his passing numbers. He's a shifty runner, at the very least. More importantly though, he knows WHEN to throw and when to run. The big difference is the style of offense we run compared to his high school. Lake View ran a fairly advanced spread offense, 4 wides and one back, so there are some things for him to learn seeing as how we're about 180 degrees from that. One thing though is that he doesn't have to put in the time mechanically or in the gym (as much) that you might have to committ to with a QB just out of high school.

And you won't be afraid to open up the offense with him.

It's also nice to know we've got other top offensive players from Lake View along with him.

H-towngreen · August 22, 2005

It seems like we have a lot of athleticism at d-end. I expect a lot from Gilmore and I wouldnt be surprised to see him out there opening day. Another prospect at d-end is Burriss. Everyone says he has the body and speed for one but just hasnt gotten enough reps there yet, so it will be intresting to see how he develops.