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Fitzgeral Breaks Receiving Marks, Drc/vitto Article

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Football: Fitzgerald breaks receiving marks

08:30 AM CST on Friday, November 16, 2007

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

JONESBORO, Ark. — One would never guess how North Texas wide receiver Casey Fitzgerald started his career with the Mean Green, judging by his record-setting season that reached new heights on Thursday.

Fitzgerald caught 11 passes for 58 yards and set a pair of school records in UNT’s 31-27 loss to Arkansas State at Indian Stadium.

The junior pushed his season yardage total to 1,184 to break the previous mark of 1,130 set by John Love in 1966. He also pushed his receptions total to 96 to surpass the previous mark of 91 set by Marvin Walker in 1982.

Not bad for a former walk-on.

Those records didn’t matter much to Fitzgerald after the Mean Green dropped its fourth straight game. UNT had a 21-point lead in the second quarter only to see the Indians rally for the win.

“I don’t take a lot of pride in it,” Fitzgerald said of the records. “I would rather have the team do well.”

Fitzgerald has played a key role in several of the highlights of the Mean Green’s season thus far after taking on a prominent role in UNT’s wide-open passing attack.

Fitzgerald has caught at least six passes in each of the Mean Green’s last six games and on Thursday reached double figures in receptions for the fifth time this season.

The former walk-on burst onto the scene in early in the season and caught 18 passes for 327 yards against SMU. Both marks were Sun Belt Conference and UNT records.

Fitzgerald didn’t reach those totals against ASU, but continued a standout season that has earned him a spot in the Mean Green’s record book.

Running game effective

North Texas has quickly developed a reputation as a potent passing team in its first season under head coach Todd Dodge.

The Mean Green showed on Thursday that at times it also isn’t too bad at running the ball as well, when it gets on a roll. UNT finished with a season-high 221 rushing yards against Arkansas State at Indian Stadium only to come up short in a 31-27 loss.

The Mean Green’s rushing total was its season high, surpassing the 171 yards it posted in a win over Louisiana-Monroe, its lone victory of the season.

“We ran the ball better tonight than we did all year long,” UNT head coach Todd Dodge said. “We protected the ball all night with their good safety [Tyrell Johnson].”

Johnson is the Sun Belt Con-ference’s all-time leading tackler. UNT was able to run even with Johnson in the game.

Three UNT players rushed for at least 60 yards. Quarterback Giovanni Vizza led UNT with 79 rushing yards, while running backs Micah Mosley and Jamario Thomas added 78 and 64 yards, respectively.

Thomas scored on a pair of 4-yard runs.

UNT scores on first drive again

UNT scored on its opening drive for the second straight game when Thomas dove into the end zone from 4 yards out to give the Mean Green an early 7-0 lead.

The Mean Green had failed to score on its opening drive in each of its first eight games of the season, a streak it broke in a 74-62 loss to Navy last week.

UNT needed 10 plays to move 65 yards on its opening possession against the Indians. The Mean Green converted a pair of third downs on the drive.

UNT comes up with key block

Senior safety Aaron Weathers came up with two key special teams plays that helped UNT jump out to its early lead.

ASU drove to the Mean Green’s 12-yard line, but came away empty when Weathers came off the corner and blocked a 29-yard field goal attempt by Josh Arauco.

Weathers also blocked a punt that set up a 4-yard touchdown run by Jamario Thomas that gave UNT an early 21-0 lead.

Agbottah, Bailey pulled from starting lineup

Sophomore safety Kartey Agbottah did not play in UNT’s game against ASU due to a leg injury he suffered in the Mean Green’s loss to Navy last week.

Agobottah came into the game ranked fourth on among UNT players with 45 tackles on the season. Linebacker A.J. Penson moved into the starting lineup for UNT, which opened the gamed with four linebackers instead of using a second safety.

UNT guard Tyler Bailey, who has been battling the effects of a concussion, also made the trip to Jonesboro, but didn’t start. Senior Chad Rose made his third straight start at left guard in place of Bailey, who started the first four games of the season.

Bailey suffered his concussion in a car accident in the week before the Mean Green’s game against Louisiana-Lafayette on Oct. 6.

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

Cooley Mentor

Cooley

Posted
Posted

Fitz isn't getting the recognition he deserves from even our own fans. If this had been Johnny Quinn, everyone would be going apeshit. I loved watching JQ go up and make great plays on horrible passes, but Fitz is doing things I haven't seen before. Where's the love?

Not many people knew of Fitz before this year. Quinn lead all of Class 5A in receptions his senior year. Quinn also stood out more in a running offense. No question that his performance is worthy of the record books. The most pleasant surprise in a very dismal season. Congratulations Fitz! If he could only tackle or cover a WR also!!!

nautique Newbie

nautique

Posted
Posted

Not many people knew of Fitz before this year. Quinn lead all of Class 5A in receptions his senior year. Quinn also stood out more in a running offense. No question that his performance is worthy of the record books. The most pleasant surprise in a very dismal season. Congratulations Fitz! If he could only tackle or cover a WR also!!!

Fitz has been nothing short of spectacular. Maybe Cooley can find us a DC and some great JUCO players to bring on over to UNT.

SilverEagle Mentor

SilverEagle

Posted
Posted

They keep mentioning John Love only. While John Love is probably my favorite receiver of all time, the record was a tie between him and Barry Moore. John Love did establish the record first however.

There are some similarities between Fitz and John Love. They both got a lot of yards-after-catch.

Also, good to see Fitz get this record in 10 games.

1966, John Love, 68 catches, 1130 yrds, 16.9 yrds per catch.

1969, Barry Moore, 71 catches, 1130 yrds, 15.9 yrds per catch.

2007, Casy Fitzgerald, 96 catches, 1184 yrds, 12.3 yards per catch.

NT03 Newbie

NT03

Posted
Posted

With several top WRs going into the draft next year , I wonder if Fitz will earn any preseason All-American team considerations next year ?? Only WR I can think of off the top of my head that will have better returning stats is Tech's Crabtree. If Kelly stays , I can see Kelly & Crabtree on the 1st team , who knows maybe Fitz's numbers will earn him a 2nd team preseason spot??

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