Game Ball (game 6 Edition: Nt's First Victory

MeanGreen61 · October 17, 2007

10-16-2007 - Stellar defense notches Dodge's first victory

REPORT CARD FOR ULM GAME

Quarterback (Vizza): B

Receiving Corps: C+

Rushing Game (Jamario and Mosley): C+

Offensive Line: B

Defense: A-

Special Teams: D

Game Balls: the entire starting defense.

On Saturday night an emerald beacon shattered the darkness of the early autumn sky. Moments earlier, NT students and fans had made the long overdue spirit march across campus with the victory bell from Fouts Field to light the clock tower green in honor of the football team's first victory of the season.

"This first win is the start of something new," Fitzgerald said.

NT, backed by some incredible defensive plays and a record-setting offensive one, notched Todd Dodge's first career head coaching victory at the college level. The Mean Green dismantled conference rival Louisiana-Monroe 31-21 in front of a home crowd of over 18,000. The game was not nearly as close as the score indicated.

It was the first NT victory since its 16-7 win on the road against Louisiana-Lafayette on Nov. 11, 2006.

The story of the game was NT's defense, which headed into Saturday's matchup ranked last in the nation in scoring defense and total defense and second to last in rushing defense. It was statistically, and quite convincingly, the worst defense in all of college football the first half of the season.

But that changed Saturday night. Gone was the defensive unit of the first five games. Present was the type of defense that could carry a team all night long, which it did as the offense struggled to get off the ground for most of the first half.

"We've had bad things happen to us," said defensive end Montey Stevenson. "We just kept telling ourselves that good things have to happen to us and tonight they happened all night long."

For the first time all season, NT's defense held its opponent to a first half shutout. Stevenson started off the fireworks by intercepting the Warhawks for a 20-yard touchdown reception early in the second quarter. Defensive back Dominique Green joined in the fun by intercepting the Warhawks for a touchdown of his own, taking this one 75 yards to the house at the end of the second quarter.

Not to be outdone, the always incredible Fitzgerald made the first impact for the offense by catching a shallow dump pass from Vizza. He then eluded several ULM defenders for a school record 99-yard touchdown reception, which also counted as only the 16th such play in NCAA history.

However, ULM gave NT and its fans something to worry about as the Warhawks attempted a gutsy last minute comeback. The Warhawks scored 14 points in less than a minute with under a minute to play. The two scoring drives cut NT's strong 31-7 lead to 31-21, where it would stand as a botched onside kick allowed NT to recover the ball and let the final 34 seconds expire.

Vizza finished a below average 16-of-30 with a respectable 202 yards. The passing game never really got off the ground. The rushing game didn't earn its stripe either, as Mosley led the team with 73 yards while Thomas pitched in with a meager 32 yards.

The NT rush is allowed to have an average to below-average night as long as the pass is excelling as well as it has, except that wasn't the case this time. Neither stood out as the defense stepped up and saved the day.

Fitzgerald led the receivers with 118 yards, 99 of which came off his touchdown reception. Next was Stickler with 68 yards, then Jackson for 16 yards.

Vizza, however, earned his grade for two major reasons:

1) He's learning to control his turnovers. His only interception of the game could have come back to haunt him, forcing him out of his comfort zone if ULM had scored on the turnover, causing him to throw additional picks. But all was well as Stevenson made things right by picking off the Warhawks quarterback Lancaster seconds later on the first play of their possession.

2) He's maturing in his mobility. Vizza rushed for 66 yards, good for second on the team, just seven yards behind Mosley. His ability to scramble has always separated him from the other NT quarterback's, giving him the edge. If he continues to develop it, he'll become the dangerous dual threat Dodge always envisioned him to be.

"When we recruited Giovanni, that's what we wanted to have in our offense: a quarterback that is an accurate distributor but also can produce in the ground game," Dodge said. "He's a warrior and he's a kid that will definitely throw his body around a little bit."

Credit should also be rationed out to the offensive line. This was one of their best games this season. They gave solid protection to Vizza, but did slip at times, resulting in four sacks. In the end, they were able to allow him the space he needed to make his mad dashes.

Last, but not least, is the downright shutout showing the NT defense put on conference leading rusher Calvin Dawson. To be kind, NT's defense has been utterly porous and sloppy against not just talented but even average rushers and rushing quarterbacks all season. Opponents have racked up ugly rushing totals against NT in its previous five games, which only serves to make its showing against Dawson that much more impressive.

Dawson was averaging 134 rushing yards a game. The Mean Green suffocated and stuffed him all night, holding him to only 65 yards. This forced ULM to rely on their passing attack, which even on a good day is nothing spectacular.

"When our defense caused the two early turnovers and returned them for touchdowns, it really took them out of their game. They're a team that wants to pound the ball out of the spread," Dodge said. "They ended up throwing the ball more than they're comfortable with and our defense put them in that position."

This was precisely the type of defensive performance NT needed heading into this week's road game. Conference leader Troy will put up a fight, but Dodge believes his players will roll into the game with the momentum generated from Saturday's uplifting victory.

"There's always going to be extra pep in your step when you get a win under your belt," Dodge said.

Talking to the players after the game, the change in their faces, words and attitudes was profound. After weeks of searching, they had found themselves and are now ready to see what they can do with six games left to play. It won't be easy the rest of the way with some solid opponents still to come, but they're more prepared now than they ever were before.

http://media.www.ntdaily.com/media/storage...y-2960510.shtml

MeanMag · October 17, 2007

I thought our running game faired pretty well, myself. Our passing isn't normally what it has been. I swear, if we can get everything working for 4 full quarters it's going to be scary.

Lot's of flashes of brilliance in that last game save for the last 1:30.