Lets Look At The Offense...

bigntex · June 25, 2008

Chase Daniel was over 205 lbs. and played as a true freshman at Missouri. Daniel's arm vs. Riley's is comparing apples to oranges.

If you think that Vizza is going to lay down and take a whipping from Riley you don't know who he is, what he's capable of, or what he stands for. If Riley beats him out then so be it.

Riley knowing Dodge's high school system is a lot different than knowing the system and how it works at the collegiate level. TD, himself, had a huge learning curve last season. TD underestimated the Sun Belt, the talent in the Sun Belt and more importantly, the coaching staffs in the Sun Belt last season. Everyone knows Vizza was thrown to the wolves and took a vicious beating with a young OL, a inexperienced Dodgeball staff, etc.

Knowing the system is very important, but executing it with the big boys who have every bit the talent, size, and speed is another thing.

Dodge's play calling will improve this season. The key to the whole deal will be the OL's progress and whether or not Micah Mosely can run the ball effectively to keep the defenses honest. Tre' Newton and the huge OL at Carroll kept defenses honest. FG kicker will be an important component as well.

Riley is going to be an outstanding player. Just don't believe that Vizza is going to hand it to him or that he doesn't have the moxy, talent, and heart to compete with one Riley Dodge. If Vizza would have played in the SLC system and been in the Metro Plex, he wouldn't be at UNT.

If you look at Coach Dodge's quote in DCTF "Vizza has the potential to be great." Dodge doesn't throw around comments like that for grins.

Will Riley compete, hell yes. He has a ton of talent and is a fantastic player. The back up QB's are every team's favorite topic. Time will tell, just don't sell the "wild italian" short. Great problem to have if your a fan of UNT football.

It will be also interesting to see how well the Mississippi JUCO's can catch on and play out of a two point stance and whether or not they can compete with the current OL who have a season and two springs, under their belts, in this system.

FirefightnRick · June 25, 2008

I'm not doubting the abilities of either Vizza or Riley Dodge as they lead us into the future. There's no doubt that they seem to have what it takes to get our program to levels never reached before. But what I pray for both of these two young men is that they have the heart, the attitude and the fight to keep their heads up and stay positive like a Spencer Stack, a Scott Hall, an Andrew Smith and mostly a Danny Meager when things go wrong for them. And when I mean WRONG FOR THEM, I mean everything within a game, within practice, within health and personally within the team and it's coaches... etc going WRONG FOR THEM.

Rick

TIgreen01 · June 26, 2008

Chase Daniel was over 205 lbs. and played as a true freshman at Missouri. Daniel's arm vs. Riley's is comparing apples to oranges.
If you think that Vizza is going to lay down and take a whipping from Riley you don't know who he is, what he's capable of, or what he stands for. If Riley beats him out then so be it.
Riley knowing Dodge's high school system is a lot different than knowing the system and how it works at the collegiate level. TD, himself, had a huge learning curve last season. TD underestimated the Sun Belt, the talent in the Sun Belt and more importantly, the coaching staffs in the Sun Belt last season. Everyone knows Vizza was thrown to the wolves and took a vicious beating with a young OL, a inexperienced Dodgeball staff, etc.
Knowing the system is very important, but executing it with the big boys who have every bit the talent, size, and speed is another thing.
Dodge's play calling will improve this season. The key to the whole deal will be the OL's progress and whether or not Micah Mosely can run the ball effectively to keep the defenses honest. Tre' Newton and the huge OL at Carroll kept defenses honest. FG kicker will be an important component as well.
Riley is going to be an outstanding player. Just don't believe that Vizza is going to hand it to him or that he doesn't have the moxy, talent, and heart to compete with one Riley Dodge. If Vizza would have played in the SLC system and been in the Metro Plex, he wouldn't be at UNT.
If you look at Coach Dodge's quote in DCTF "Vizza has the potential to be great." Dodge doesn't throw around comments like that for grins.
Will Riley compete, hell yes. He has a ton of talent and is a fantastic player. The back up QB's are every team's favorite topic. Time will tell, just don't sell the "wild italian" short. Great problem to have if your a fan of UNT football.
It will be also interesting to see how well the Mississippi JUCO's can catch on and play out of a two point stance and whether or not they can compete with the current OL who have a season and two springs, under their belts, in this system.

Whoa, dude...you act like I'm calling Vizza a chump when I actually said he reminds me of one of the best QBs to play at UNT. It is a great problem to have when one of the top recruits in the nation (well earned) is coming on to challenge yet another great player. Having seen R. Dodge and Vizza several times each, Riley is more accurate at 20 yards and in, Vizza has a cannon for an arm, both are tough and will stand in in the face of a big pass rush, but both can run when called for with Vizza the more straight ahead fearless type and Dodge more elusive. Both players have their strengths and I will guess that if we aren't able to develop a run threat with our RBs that Vizza will more than likely maintain the edge b/c of his homerun long ball threat and durability. Maybe I'm wrong...it's just an opinion.

Edited June 26, 2008 by TIgreen01

GrandGreen · June 26, 2008

I am probably all those things, but have no idea who or what Sam Smith refers to.

adman · June 26, 2008

Whoa, dude...you act like I'm calling Vizza a chump when I actually said he reminds me of one of the best QBs to play at UNT. It is a great problem to have when one of the top recruits in the nation (well earned) is coming on to challenge yet another great player. Having seen R. Dodge and Vizza several times each, Riley is more accurate at 20 yards and in, Vizza has a cannon for an arm, both are tough and will stand in in the face of a big pass rush, but both can run when called for with Vizza the more straight ahead fearless type and Dodge more elusive. Both players have their strengths and I will guess that if we aren't able to develop a run threat with our RBs that Vizza will more than likely maintain the edge b/c of his homerun long ball threat and durability. Maybe I'm wrong...it's just an opinion.

So that begs the question: Which is easier to develop - Throwing the long ball or accuracy at 20 yds?

greenminer · June 26, 2008

Whoa, dude...you act like I'm calling Vizza a chump when I actually said he reminds me of one of the best QBs to play at UNT. It is a great problem to have when one of the top recruits in the nation (well earned) is coming on to challenge yet another great player. Having seen R. Dodge and Vizza several times each, Riley is more accurate at 20 yards and in, Vizza has a cannon for an arm, both are tough and will stand in in the face of a big pass rush, but both can run when called for with Vizza the more straight ahead fearless type and Dodge more elusive. Both players have their strengths and I will guess that if we aren't able to develop a run threat with our RBs that Vizza will more than likely maintain the edge b/c of his homerun long ball threat and durability. Maybe I'm wrong...it's just an opinion.

Based on what I've seen, if Riley is more accurate in the short ball then Vizza isn't too far behind. And we're comparing a kid throwing balls to Southlake wideouts running wild on Texas vs. a kid throwing balls to North Texas wideouts that weren't even originally recruiting for this system.

Just my humble opinion, Vizza wouldn't be too far behind Riley on any short range accuracy, but on the long ball Riley has a long way to go. Vizza is a more physical runner and has proven himself a leader that the team rallies around; Riley can lay claim to a faster 40, though. It'll sure be interesting to see how a bunch of kids who have gotten used to Vizza will warm up to the coach's son with 3 state titles under his belt. And, in my own personal interest, I am fascinated by the psychology of sports. How will these kids who lost maybe 5 games total in their prep career react to possibly losing as much in their first year in college? Seems like we recently had to deal with quite a mess when a couple kids weren't getting what they wanted.

TIgreen01 · June 26, 2008

Based on what I've seen, if Riley is more accurate in the short ball then Vizza isn't too far behind. And we're comparing a kid throwing balls to Southlake wideouts running wild on Texas vs. a kid throwing balls to North Texas wideouts that weren't even originally recruiting for this system.
Just my humble opinion, Vizza wouldn't be too far behind Riley on any short range accuracy, but on the long ball Riley has a long way to go. Vizza is a more physical runner and has proven himself a leader that the team rallies around; Riley can lay claim to a faster 40, though. It'll sure be interesting to see how a bunch of kids who have gotten used to Vizza will warm up to the coach's son with 3 state titles under his belt. And, in my own personal interest, I am fascinated by the psychology of sports. How will these kids who lost maybe 5 games total in their prep career react to possibly losing as much in their first year in college? Seems like we recently had to deal with quite a mess when a couple kids weren't getting what they wanted.

I agree, the psychology of this situation is unlike anything we've seen at UNT in quite a while and will hopefully be fun to watch. From what I've seen, Vizza is a tough, tough kid who doesn't let losing destroy his confidence, but steels his will instead. We definitely need more like him.

My personal opinion on the long ball vs. the accurate short throws is that the long ball can be thrown to open spots on the field (ala Scott Hall who didn't have a very strong arm but consistently completed long passes with great accuracy) where fewer defenders are crowded around, but the short ball has to be dead-on accurate as most defensive players are going to be inside a 20 yd box. I guess it's hard to gauge Vizza's accuracy with last year's blocking, but from what I've seen of Riley, he's one of the most accurate passers I've seen in a long time....and alot of that does have to do with timing and repitition with each receiver. We'll see how he looks on a level playing field in a few short months.

DallasGreen · June 26, 2008

Matt Tomlison will be recovering from off season surgery.
I read in DCTF that Tomlinson will not be ready until the
3rd-4th game of the season. My guess is that Troy Franklin
from Celina has a great chance for 2nd team, R-OT behind
Jenkins. Maybe even push for starting OT. Franklin is 6-5,
300+ now. Victor Gill may be light as a OT, but Gill is quick
and strong, plus the coached have stated he is developing
faster than expected. Heck, the OL might even develop
into a stength this year! What about Jacob Kasier, 6-7, 290+
I sure hope Kasier gets some game time this year.
Slot WR, take a look at B.J. Lewis. I look for Lewis to have
a break out year, even as a back up. Played last year,
did play good for a true freshman, 10 catches , 86yds-
the coaches see Lewis has the talent to be a very good
slot WR. The O-WR's and S-WR's are very talented, all
have good speed, all have a year of experience in Dodge
Ball, good size for mis-matches of defensive backs. Best
of all, look at the talent level, even with the 2nd, 3rd team
players! WOW!