Vizza Has Moments, Mistakes

MeanGreen61 · October 1, 2007

Football: Vizza has moments, mistakes

08:58 AM CDT on Sunday, September 30, 2007

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Freshman quarterback Giovanni Vizza knew coming into North Texas’ game against Arkansas on Saturday that he was going to get a chance to show what he could do in the Mean Green’s offense.

For the second time this season, the freshman from San Antonio Alamo Heights had his moments and his mistakes.

Vizza led UNT to its only touchdown of the night in a 66-7 loss to the Razorbacks, but also had an interception returned for a touchdown for the second time this season.

“Giovanni is our backup and we would like to get him in because we burned his redshirt,” UNT head coach Todd Dodge said. “We went into this week and told Giovanni and Daniel that our plan was to play Giovanni the second quarter. We wanted to evaluate him. … We are not going to get in a merry-go-round. We are trying to evaluate our young one when we get a chance to.”

The freshman from San Antonio Alamo Heights came on in relief of junior starter Daniel Meager and led the Mean Green on a nine-play, 80-yard touchdown drive. Vizza completed 4-of-5 passes on the drive for 42 yards and scored on a 1-yard plunge into the end zone.

The drive proved to be one of the few offensive highlights of the night for the Mean Green on a night when both Meager and Vizza struggled to get UNT’s offense on track.

The Mean Green finished with just 329 yards of total offense, a performance that marked a drop-off from its last two outings.

UNT scored 31 points in a loss to SMU and 20 while dropping its last game to Florida Atlantic.

Meager set a school record with 601 passing yards against SMU and followed up that performance with 301 yards against FAU. UNT was unable to convert those performances into wins partly because Meager threw three interceptions in each game.

Dodge said he wanted to get Vizza time in the game against Arkansas to help his development, not because he lacked confidence in Meager.

Vizz finished with 118 passing yards after completing 8-of-26 attempts, while Meager had 71 yards while completing 7-of-15 attempts.

Arkansas defensive back Jerrell Norton returned a Vizza interception 100 yards for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Vizza also had a pick returned for a touchdown against Oklahoma in the Mean Green’s season opener.

UNT came into the night ranked fifth nationally with an average of 378.0 passing yards a game, but finished with just 189 yards against Arkansas.

The performance was one wide receiver Brandon Jackson said was due to more than just the performance of UNT’s quarterbacks.

“The receiving corps was not executing well at all tonight,” Jackson said. “A lot of it had to do with the environment and the intensity of Arkansas defense. Give the Razorbacks credit for coming prepared, as we were most definitely not.”

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

Mean Green 93-98 · October 1, 2007

“The receiving corps was not executing well at all tonight,” Jackson said. “A lot of it had to do with the environment and the intensity of Arkansas defense. Give the Razorbacks credit for coming prepared, as we were most definitely not.”

Hmmm...who does the responsibility for that fall on?

BIG DAWG · October 1, 2007

Hmmm...who does the responsibility for that fall on?

The players

UNTLifer · October 1, 2007

The players

Really? I think the coaches share in the preparation department.

BIG DAWG · October 1, 2007

I think the coaches share in the preparation department

I completely agree, BUT I am sick and tired of people placing all the blame on the coaching staff when the players aren't making plays. The players still have to make plays