D Rc Article - Josh Alexander

[MeanGreen61]

UNT's Alexander still hoping for return this fall

08:03 AM CDT on Wednesday, July 25, 2007

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

NEW ORLEANS — Josh Alex-ander has missed out on playing in plenty of games and being a part of several memorable moments during his career with the Mean Green.

Fortunately for the senior offensive lineman, the first day of fall practice in the Todd Dodge era won’t be among them. During the final session of Sun Belt Conference media days on Tues-day, Dodge said the former starter will be back on the field after missing the end of the 2005 season and all of the 2006 campaign with a knee injury.

Alexander was planning to make his comeback last season, but wound up having surgery late in the summer. His status for this fall was in question when the stitches in the patella tendon in his knee began to pull apart.

Alexander (6-3, 295) worked to rehabilitate the injury instead of having surgery in the hope that he could return in time for the upcoming season. That rehabilitation process has gone well enough for the former Fort Worth Southwest product to give playing a try once again.

“I don’t know if I have been around someone who had things look bleaker for him, but Josh never missed a meeting or a practice and he never wavered,” Dodge said. “We will get him out there to see what he can do. Our strength and conditioning guys say he has gotten stronger. I want to see him make it, but we won’t know what he can do until we get him out there.”

The return of Alexander would add depth to a spot where UNT lacks experience. Redshirt freshman Matt Menard and sophomore Robert Peachey are at the top of UNT’s depth chart at left and right tackle, respectively.

Both Menard and Peachey will be in their first season as starters in a passing offense that will depend on the offensive line to protect the quarterback.

Few UNT tackles were better at that task than Alexander, who started in six of the nine games he played in the 2005 season. Alex-ander did not allow a sack the entire season.

Addition of WKU could be boon for Sun Belt

Western Kentucky will begin making the transition to the Division I-A level this season after a successful stint in Division I-AA.

The move is one Sun Belt Conference officials and coaches believe will be a boon for the league.

“Western is a great school and a great addition to the conference, plus it gets our numbers up,” Louisiana-Lafayette coach Rickey Bustle said. “Their athletic programs are top-notch and they are putting a lot of money into it.”

WKU recently received a $5 million donation from Houchens Industries to expand and renovate L.T. Smith Stadium.

Western will be the ninth member of the Sun Belt, which has a Division I-A football program, giving each team in the league four home and four away conference games each season.

Sun Belt commissioner Wright Waters said the addition of WKU would also prompt the conference to take a harder look at adding a second bowl tie-in for the league. The conference sends its champion to the New Orleans Bowl, but has had a second team play in a bowl game in two of the last three seasons.

WKU will spend two years in the transition to Division I-A and will be eligible for the Sun Belt title and a bowl berth in 2009. WKU finished 6-5 last season but has made 12 postseason appearances in its history.

“Our biggest concern is the transition years,” WKU coach David Elson said. “We want to build and be ready to be competitive in 2009.”

New FIU coach confident in future of program

Stepping into a tough situation in his first season as the head coach at Florida International has done nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of Mario Cristobal.

FIU was involved in a nasty on-field fight in a cross-town game with Miami last season, finished 0-12 and fired former head coach Don Strock. Cristobal left a job as an assistant coach at Miami after last season to pick up the pieces.

Cristobal and Dodge are the only new head coaches in the Sun Belt this season.

“It has gone great so far,” Cristobal said. “The one great thing about FIU and the players in South Florida is that they are hungry young men who want to be successful. We are also emphasizing reaching out to the community. We are working hard to develop a championship football family.”

Cristobal said that building process has gone well thus far at a school he thinks can develop into a power.

“All the coaches who go down to South Florida in recruiting have known in their hearts that the day FIU gets going, it would be a monster in the making,” Cristobal said. “It’s in a great location. We have the commitment to facilities to make it happen and every administrator is on the same page.”

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com