Spring Game

[DeepGreen]

Offense 48

Defense 29

Crowd in excess of 5,000.

[SouthBendGreen]

I can't wait for the updates from those that attended.

Edited April 22, 2007 by SouthBendGreen

[MCMLXXX]

Casey Fitzgerald had a great touchdown catch of, I believe, 87 yards from Meager. He and Fentriss both looked good at receiver.

[MCMLXXX]

The announced crowd was 5194.

[Green to the Bone]

The announced crowd was 5194.

Veterans, how does that compare?

[LadyGreen]

Veterans, how does that compare?

There is no comparison from years past to today game...

[CorinthEagle]

I've been to regular games that didn't have this many people. A lot to be excited about with this team. Fentriss looked great, too bad he has to sit out next year.

[UNTflyer]

Some dropped passes early... one nearby fan said "Well, some things don't change."

I was unimpressed the first half of the game but then the offense seemed to get in a groove and lit it up.

Keep in mind this is still Darryl Dickey's team. I'll be happy with a .500 season.

Overall, lots of fun and a fantastic turnout.

Edited April 22, 2007 by UNTflyer

[good_ken]

Veterans, how does that compare?

You could add up the attendance from the last 7 spring games and it might not equal that.

[akriesman]

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.

[akriesman]

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.

[UNT Mean Green]

Was impressed with the energy and enthusiasm of the crowd. Announced crowd of 5,194 which was a good turnout. Had several Carroll players down in the endzone including Riley, Chris Brainerd, Blake Cantu. Saw Jordan Scoggins, a UNT signee at Defensive Tackle, and Euless Trinity's Team MVP, standing down on the sidelines.

Scrimmage was run very smoothly. Hardly any problems with guys knowing where to go, when they went on and off the field, etc. Very organized.

Offense started slow. Dodge tried to get tempo going out of the gate with a bubble screen that was significantly underthrown. The play was there for a nice gain if the ball had been delivered from Meager. It was evident that he was trying to establish rhythm and consistency in his play calling, however it took a while to get going. Once that got going, I felt very positive about the play of the offense. Still very rusty and unsure, but there were certainly more bright spots than low points. Defense flew to the ball early on, and seemed to tire out towards the end, as there were some long plays, and they were trying to complete several deep balls. There was some good collisions out there.

Kicking game looked very good. Was consistent all day.

Punting game also looked good, until he had to punt into a 30 mph wind!

All in all, thought it was a very successful day. Great turnout, energy in the stands, and a good product on the field. Can't ask for much else.

I'll say we'll go about 7-4ish next year. Really feel like after the midpoint of the season, we will be tough to beat!

[EastTexasMG]

Had several Carroll players down in the endzone including Riley, Chris Brainerd, Blake Cantu. Saw Jordan Scoggins, a UNT signee at Defensive Tackle, and Euless Trinity's Team MVP, standing down on the sidelines.

.......Also Marcus King, AJ Penson, Giovanni Vizza, Sam Roberson, Evan Walker, Breece Johnson.....I didn't see Micah Mosely

[Smitty]

Fentriss and Casey Fitzgerald were impressive, but I thought one of the biggest standouts was Meager. He does look completely different. He was poised, looked very comfortable, and threw some terrific passes. Started slow, but then he was hitting receivers in stride for big gains.

[EastTexasMG]

The funniest part of the day was when FFR stood up and said that he has seen more passes in the first five minutes of the scrimmage than he has seen in the last five years........ and then he said "lets hear it for the pass"............the whole crowd clapped for him

[emmitt01]

Woody still runs the ball too much.

How much is too much when you consider the number of designed runs? I agree that his touch and accuracy could not rival Meager's today but I don't think we should knock him for the one thing he brings to the table that nobody else can.

Also, I don't think it can be overestimated how important and special 5,000 plus is for a spring game. If you took all 9 years of DD's tenure and combined them you wouldn't come up with 5k in the stands. This says to me that there are is a growing number of diehards and, more importantly, a good contingent of 'curious' souls out there.

[EastTexasMG]

Casey Fitzgerald had a great touchdown catch of, I believe, 87 yards from Meager. He and Fentriss both looked good at receiver.

Fitzgerald also had a 76 yard TD where he was tackled but never touched the ground, so he got up and ran it in

[Mad Hatter]

I was VERY impressed with the crowd. I kept saying that the parking lot had more cars in it than the last home game. Great tailgate atmosphere!

At the start of the game, I thought the crowd didn't know what they were supposed to be doing. Very little cheering going on for offense or defense. I think in future games they should get the Cheerleaders and Band there to work on getting the crowd used to doing certain chants and getting more "into" the game.

N-O-R-T-H TEX-AS! is a 7 sylable cheer we might try sometime.

[meangreendork]

You can't compare this to any other Spring game. 5000+ fans = the alumni side pretty packed!

I saw a different carriage in the players today; they seemed a little more relaxed and way more focused than in previous years. It looked like they were playing for real, and that's not because they wore real uniforms and had family in attendance. That also brings me to the families being there, too. Normally, only real hardcore fans are there, but today, it looked like a senior day game with so many parents in attendance!

On the players:

Phillips and Tune looked okay, I'll also say Tune's INT wasn't his fault. Meager looked better than he has, though I didn't like seeing him scramble around for losses, get picked off, and throw short. Still, I won't take way from his production, and the score on the board says it. I did like Wilson more, when he ran, he made it count, and his passing was effective. Mind you, all of this offensive production came with the firepower from the offensive line, and they looked good, too. Wilson, Fentriss and Fitzgerald = a big part of our new WR package.

The defense looked good initially, and they kept on for the most part, even when the score got out of hand. They were hitting hard and what I really liked the most:

I didn't see SHOULDER BUMPING from the defense. I'm betting they were grilled about that when the new coaches came in.

They hit hard and seemed pretty on the ball.

Dodge has the team looking like a different team. They seem a bit more unified and focused, and this team looked far better than last year. Thanks Coach Dodge, thanks Mean Green football! Great show.

I'm thinking 7-4 to 6-5.

[THOR]

it was also great that at the end, all the players turned and thanked the fans and many came to the front row to give high fives and personally thank each fan! it was pretty cool!

[chrisfisher]

I came away feeling pretty good about our team, both defense and especially offense. Given the replies so far, I'd say that many others were too. Knowing that the players are playing under a completely new system (Dodgeball!) that was only recently installed, I'd say they looked fantastic.

Edited April 22, 2007 by chrisfisher

[akriesman]

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.

[emmitt01]

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.

From what I've understood (and hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong) Dodge has had Woody running some option and designed keepers in practice. Perhaps a different wrinkle to keep teams honest or punish defenses that are weak against the run?

[UNTflyer]

I did like the announcer saying "Let's play DODGEBALL!"

[trud1966]

I got there early, and decided to hit Voertmans. It was very slow, only me and two other families. (husband+wife+1 son each). But the couples werent in tow with each other. Eventually they all start talking, and realize both their sons will be playing this fall. One was Giovanni Vizza, the other was Justin Pardon (I think?) The guy I though was Justin had his arm in a sling. Heard him say somethingabout upcoming surgery. Can someone confirm this was him? So THEN I'm sitting in the stands, and Head basketball coach Johnny Jones sits in front of me with him kid. I did see FFR,. Never met the guy, but didnt get the chance to go shake his hand and introduce myself. Still a very fun day, weather turned out beautiful.

What gives? I heard George on the ticket on Friday saying the Green Brigade was gonna be there? Wish they were...