Spring Game

[DeepGreen]

Watching on the game on MG Sports internet broadcast is not the same as being there in person, but here goes.

Pretty much agree on the QB's and receivers. For 15 days to learn a new system, they looked good. The defense looked good as most have described. I especially liked, from the defensive standpoint, that several attempted passes were batted down at the line of scrimmage. That's a really good thing. Gilmore is going to be a factor this year.

Coach Dodge has not implemented his whole offensive playbook, probably due to the introduction of his system in only 15 days, and no doubt because of OU spys in attendance, but I would like to see passes out in the flat to our running backs. And of course the screen pass. Also, I'd like to see the QB under center a few times. Or will this be a 100% no-huddle spread? Not complaining, just asking.

All in all it looked like a very productive game. Very well organized on the sidelines.

[LAZER]

I really thought the team looked great. Meager looked like a differnt QB, he has alot of work still but I think in the end he could be really good. Woody looked great as well, if the guy could be more accurate with the pass hed be my pick. I say that because when he gets the chance to run he can fly none of the others can do that. Phillups and Tune both looked pretty sorry to me (Tune especially). Fitzgerald blew me away and I think hes going to be amajor contributer next year. Fentriss also looked great to bad he cant play next year. It looked great Ive never been this excited about UNT football!!! I forget there names but one of the defensive ends and cornerbacks looked awsome.

[Zeke]

Phillups and Tune both looked pretty sorry to me (Tune especially).

I think Tune has regressed a bit. He started out his NT career looking very good. He seems to be locked into receivers now.

[trud1966]

I really thought the team looked great. Meager looked like a differnt QB, he has alot of work still but I think in the end he could be really good. Woody looked great as well, if the guy could be more accurate with the pass hed be my pick. I say that because when he gets the chance to run he can fly none of the others can do that. Phillups and Tune both looked pretty sorry to me (Tune especially). Fitzgerald blew me away and I think hes going to be amajor contributer next year. Fentriss also looked great to bad he cant play next year. It looked great Ive never been this excited about UNT football!!! I forget there names but one of the defensive ends and cornerbacks looked awsome.

Yeah, Meager seemed to start a little slow, but then found his groove. Phillips looked good too. When they both hit consistancy, I thought to myself back to last year when I was pulling my hair out watching the quarterbacks. It proved itself today that last years quarterbacks werent the problem, it was the coaching they received. I thought Tune just performed like a Freshman quarterback. He just needs time and good coaching. Both are in his future now.

[UNTflyer]

Coach Dodge has not implemented his whole offensive playbook, probably due to the introduction of his system in only 15 days, and no doubt because of OU spys in attendance,

Oh, I saw several... one of them wearing an 'OU Broadcasting' shirt.

[drex]

Here is a very small element of the day, but it is rather significant. At the beginning of the game the public address announcer said, 'The City of Denton, Chancellor Lee Jackson, President Gretchen Battille, etc. welcome you to the Green and White scrimmage, etc. I thought it was significant that the City of Denton was mentioned as a host....I hope this translates into more Denton participation.

[GreenSquared]

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.

[LAZER]

Oh, I saw several... one of them wearing an 'OU Broadcasting' shirt.

I bet they are secretly terrified of the mean green....

[UNT 90 Grad]

Bret Vito on Belo's Mean Green Blog seemed to think we might see big things out of Jamario today. I wouldn't call what I saw big, unfortunately. If I remember correctly, he got a TD, but I think he wound up netting about even on yardiage. Then they didn't seem to play him much after the first few seires. It would be nice if he could become the threat he used to be...giving the opposing defenses that much more to think about.

[GreenSquared]

Wife and I were two of the many SLC stickers (we also have a Mean Green, son is a student) that attended the spring game. North Texas fans (and the metroplex) have a a lot to look forward to as TD builds this program. This was an example of the excitement TD gave us in Southlake every Friday night. There's still a lot of work left to do and it will take time, so be patient. However, it will be exciting, enjoyable and will fill the Mean Green fans with pride.

We've now got Fridays and Saturdays to look forward to next fall.

Go Mean Green!

[DeepGreen]

Bret Vito on Belo's Mean Green Blog seemed to think we might see big things out of Jamario today. I wouldn't call what I saw big, unfortunately. If I remember correctly, he got a TD, but I think he wound up netting about even on yardiage. Then they didn't seem to play him much after the first few seires. It would be nice if he could become the threat he used to be...giving the opposing defenses that much more to think about.

I didn't see much of a threat in our running game at all. Handing the ball off from the shotgun needs a lot more work. And lastly, without the draw play, life as we know it won't be the same.

[THOR]

we were inside the one on two different occasions and still lined up in the shotgun. one of those plays, we lost yards, the other woody scored. shouldn't we go under center when we are that close? it was driving me nuts to see the shotgun so close to the goal line!

[eagle60]

What a fantastic thing it was to be sitting out here in Phoenix AZ and watching the entire scrimmage! It was on full screen and it it looked very well organized and many new faces popped out of the squads including Gilmore, Fitzgerald, and Fentriss. Occasionally they ran the camera over the crowd and they all seemed enthusiastic!

What a difference from previous years!

[akriesman]

Wife and I were two of the many SLC stickers (we also have a Mean Green, son is a student) that attended the spring game. North Texas fans (and the metroplex) have a a lot to look forward to as TD builds this program. This was an example of the excitement TD gave us in Southlake every Friday night. There's still a lot of work left to do and it will take time, so be patient. However, it will be exciting, enjoyable and will fill the Mean Green fans with pride.

We've now got Fridays and Saturdays to look forward to next fall.

Go Mean Green!

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.

[NT91]

Did anyone see any local TV news teams at the game?

[NT80]

I was pleased with the crowd size and the fact the athletic department finally started to market this as an event, something the 100 of us at past spring games thought was overdue. However, I would say 80% of the crowd was adults/alums. I would like to have seen more UNT and high school students there. A small band, cheerleaders, and Scrappy would have added to the atmosphere too. No big announcement.

QB was a mixed bag again, some good plays then some gaffs. Meager seems to have a lock on starter unless Vizza shows us something special in the fall. Kicking was good. Defense seemed to tire before offense. I like the progress after only 15 practices. I think the offensive play calls will be fun to watch but I still think it will take Dodge a year or two to complete the transition to his team/offense. 6-6 in '07.

[Cr1028]

After all the positive talk of play calling and offensive production in the Spring game, I had to satisfy my curiousities.

Utah State Spring Game Stats

From the UStateAgs.com

LAggie posts:

"Stats:

54 plays

214 yards, 98 rushing, 116 passing

38 rushing plays, 2.6 yards/carry

16 passing plays

Running backs rushed 26 times for 76 yards, 2.9 ypc

Quarterbacks rushed 12 times for 25 yards, 2.1 ypc, some sacks probably hurt this #

Those that were there seemed positive. Help me get the feeling. I've been going to games since I had to crawl through the huddle club helmet at the old stadium and I've never been so down about our prospects going into a season."

2004AG posts:

"If 2.6 yards a carry doesn't get you excited, i don't know what will.

38 rushing plays and only 16 passing plays?

Sorry, I cant help you get that positive feeling. I'm with you."

Boy I sure am happy we're finished with that chapter.

Edited April 23, 2007 by Cr1028

[gangrene]

I was pleased with the crowd size and the fact the athletic department finally started to market this as an event, something the 100 of us at past spring games thought was overdue. However, I would say 80% of the crowd was adults/alums. I would like to have seen more UNT and high school students there. A small band, cheerleaders, and Scrappy would have added to the atmosphere too. No big announcement.

I'm going to quote you NT80 because I pretty much agree with all of your comments. I still can not understand why the former regime couldn't do more with the spring game. However, I was a little disappointed today with the concession stand...they ran out of hot dogs at only 15-20 plays into the scrimmage!!

I can't really give a complete assessment of the scrimmage because my four-month old daughter got a little unhappy at the mid-way point and required my full attention. Prior to that, I was not real impressed with the QBs to start the first few series. Meager went three and out and Phillips threw a pick (although that wasn't really his fault). Meager did seem much improved though and had a nice toss to Brandon Jackson that looked like should have been caught for a TD. Enroute to the second TD by the White team, Korey Washington caught a quick out pass, had a missed tackle and was quickly walked down by the DB. I thought Korey was faster than that?

Evan Fentriss did look pretty good although it seemed the DBs were always right there. He doesn't appear to be all that fast but he knows how to use his body to shield the ball from the defender and, when I squinted a little, Evan looked somewhat like Johnny Quinn...it's a shame he has to sit out a year. I was also a little concerned that Fentriss seems to be the #1 or #2 receiver right now, but then I remembered just how little depth we have at that position until the Freshmen arrive in the fall.

QB was a mixed bag again, some good plays then some gaffs. Meager seems to have a lock on starter unless Vizza shows us something special in the fall.

"Mixed bag" about sums it up. Meager seemed to gain more confidence as the game went on. I don't really have any comments on Phillips other than he put way too much air under one long pass he threw, resulting in a dead duck that should have been picked. I thought Woody looked pretty good. From what I saw, he wasn't asked to pass much. His running ability can serve as a great change of pace for defenses keying on the pass, but I'm not real sure I want to rotate QBs again. I REALLY hope that Giovanni Vizza comes in here and just blows everyone else away.

I can't tell if the Defense looked good to start the scrimmage or if the Offense just couldn't execute properly. At any rate, the Defense certainly did tire more quickly than the Offense did and that largely contributed to some of the scoring. I think everyone agrees that the Offense did start slowly but that had to be somewhat expected, given the limited time to learn a new offense and the fact that this new offense is such a drastic departure from that thing we called an offense last year. Unfortunately, I only heard the cheers for the 87 yarder to Fitzgerald as I was taking my screaming child to the car. But, I looked around and I definitely wasn't the only one leaving early!!! What's up with that?? I think I had an excuse to leave early with my tempermental child, but why was everyone else leaving early?!?!?!

Kicking was good.

Everyone keeps saying that the kicking game looked good and I'd agree except...didn't we miss an extra point??

I like the progress after only 15 practices. I think the offensive play calls will be fun to watch but I still think it will take Dodge a year or two to complete the transition to his team/offense. 6-6 in '07.

Good summation. Unfortunately, I think expecting anything more than five to six victories this season is probably unrealistic. It will take Dodge some time to get this team up to speed on the offense and it will take some time to get the right personnel in place to do the job. Now, having said that, I'm still going to expect to go undefeated in the SBC and regain our rightful place in the New Orleans Bowl. 10-2 or 9-3 (with losses coming to OU, Arkansas and possibly Troy) is what I'm hoping to achieve and, yes, I'm drinking the green kool-aid again and, yes, I believe in the MEAN GREEN!!! Seriously though...I would have expected the same from last year's team with this year's schedule. We only have two "unwinnable" games on the schedule (OU and Arkansas) this season and there's no reason to not expect to be in a position to win the other ten. I just hate that we have to play SMU in the second game of the season. I'd like to play them a little later in the season when the team has a better grasp of the new offense.

Ok, I guess that about sums up everything I have to say. Just as some others have already mentioned, I also dropped by Voertman's and dropped about a c-note to pick up some new UNT attire for the family. I absolutely can not wait until this football season to start!!!

[NTEdgex2]

Had a great time today and was wowed by the attendance after freezing through last year's game on a March night with only about 200 (maybe) other spectators. We also stopped by Voertman's after the game (before our trip to Beth Marie's) and I bought some North Texas flip flops! I was impressed that at the end of the game Coach Dodge told the team to greet the fans and thank them for coming out. What a change in attitude!

GMG!

[SilverEagle]

Overall the whole team seemed more pumped for this scrimmage.

QB's

Meager looked the best of all of them, although he still has a tendency to try and force his throws sometimes. He settled down after a while and did fine.

I didn't like Wilson starting off by running, but before the day was over he was a pretty close second to Meager in his overall performance. He's not the most accomplished ball handler, but he slowed some pretty good touch on some of his passes.

I agree with Zeke that Tune seems to have regressed some......for that matter I thought that Phillips has too.

I rank them this way going into fall practice, 1. Meager, 2. Wilson, 3. Tune 3a. Phillips.

That pass catch by Fitzgerald where the DB rolled him over the top and Fitz's feet never touch the ground was fantastic. It showed a lot of "heads-up" by Fitz. He's going to make plays any way he can. This guy is hungry and it's going to take a lot to keep him out of the WR rotation this fall.

Our D-line rush was awsome today. I'm not worried at all about out defense this fall.

[H-towngreen]

Few quick questions that haven't come up yet:

How did the offensive line perform?

Not much has been said about the defense other than it tired. Who stood out, who are the starting lb's, and db's?

[TIgreen01]

Did the defense tire?...or did we just play too aggressively in the secondary? I have to say, this defense (secondary anyways) is much different than DDs. We're not giving 10-15 yard cushions to all the WRs. Gone are the days of the soft zone. I would be interested to hear what people thought of the defensive gameplan...was Mendoza playing the spread that tightly b/c that's just how he wants his D to play next fall? Can we expect him to gameplan passing teams the same way he did today? Just looking at our schedule next year, we're going to have a schedule full of running based offenses...so maybe he's just gearing up for that?

The oline looked good enough on passing plays, and they got alot of help from the RBs---which was nice to see. Not that we've had trouble with that in the past, but everyone of them looked ready to layout for their blocks. Running plays were not so great...but our D is so aggressively pursuing the ball now and coupled with the new offense it's hard to compare to last fall. The defense is back to the gang tackling look that we had in the late 90s.

I thought the crowd was AWESOME. That and the fact that Dr. Battaille was there showed that this is going to be an "event" from now on.

[Daddy Dumpsalot]

Yeah I thought it was great that the players came over and talked to the fans and thanked them, it showed real class. There were a lot of ppl that stayed around for a long time after the scrimmage to talk to the players. I overheard 2 guys talking about when they have to get started cleaning up and the one guy said 'when everybody leaves'. They were in no rush to get ppl out of there or anything.

Also, coach Dodge and his staff stayed around for a while and signed autographs and just talked with ppl that came up to him. At no point were there a shortage of 3-4 ppl waiting to talk with the star. Did anyone have a chance to talk with him?

[UNTLifer]

I didn't see anyone mention Brandon Jackson much. How does he look?

As for the turnout, unbelievable.

[Guest GrayEagleOne]

I didn't see anyone mention Brandon Jackson much. How does he look?

As for the turnout, unbelievable.

Jackson had one fabulous catch but wasn't thrown to very much.

The defense played the receivers tight and even on most of the long plays the coverage was good. The heartening thing was that on a couple of the touchdown plays it took an almost perfect pass to be completed and a couple of throws were perfect.

If there's one bit of concern for this fall's receivers, it's that they don't quite get the separation for a surefire catch. Fentriss was the exception. Not only does he have great hands but always seems to get a full stride separation or more from the defender.

Casey Fitzgerald was the star receiver of this show, in spite of Fentriss. The one play where he was tackled but rolled over the defender, never touching the ground, and then was able get up and run in for the score was a classic, once in a lifetime type of play.