Great Expectations: Thoughts after watching Tee Goree play

[MeanGreenZen]

Tee Goree’s football skills are so magical that his Rivals page is now showing a scholarship offer from Hogwarts.

While it is becoming more and more apparent that Goree’s father is Zeus, let’s first examine the half of him that is human. Goree lost a fumble last night and on another play while returning a punt, he dove at a dying ball Leon Lett-style that was already surrounded by three members of the La Grange coverage team.

Let’s also remember that Goree is playing against Class 3A competition and it will be a big jump up to Conference USA. And if we are being really picky, Goree’s listed height of 6-3 might be fudging just a little.

Now that I got that out of the way, I am so freaking excited that Goree is committed to North Texas. He can be a special, special player in Denton. His upside is so much higher than Johnny Quinn, George Marshall, Casey Fitzgerald or any other receiver we’ve had here in as long as I can remember. I saw someone on Twitter saying that he is an SEC receiver. He is.

Goree caught every catchable pass last night and his speed allowed him to get behind the defense with ease on his routes. The pass to him on the 45-yard touchdown seemed to be overthrown but Goree hit his boosters like the cars in those Fast & Furious movies and pulled it in.

The most impressive aspect of his game was his runs after the catch. He NEVER got tackled by the first guy. His change of direction is absolutely elite. Twice during the game he gave a defensive back a juke that made the defender fall down.

Now it was just one game and the cornerback primarily matched up against Goree was a FRESHMAN (A freshman good enough to play both ways on a state semifinalist who also scored on a 64-yard burst playing running back and was La Grange’s leading receiver in the game). But still a freshman.

Goree is the type of player we have to sign to become a Top 25 program. I believe he will develop into the kind of player opposing coaches will have to gameplan around. I was impressed with his intangibles, too. He was a captain and he was at the front of the pack when the team ran on the field before the game. He is a leader and has a little Marcus Trice in him as he would motion to the crowd to get loud at key moments in the game.

My bet is that Goree is starting for us next year by the time conference play begins.

Our other commit from Carthage, wide receiver O’Keeron Rutherford, is every bit his listed size of 6-5. He is also SKINNY. He looks like Hasheem Thabeet in shoulder pads. He is fast enough and has solid hands, doing most of his damage against La Grange on slants across the middle. He wasn’t afraid of contact, but he didn’t any break tackles until his touchdown reception late in the fourth quarter when he dragged a defender with him into the end zone.

A lot of kids that tall are also a little clumsy, but Rutherford has smoothness to his movements. He has been a very productive player at the 3A level, averaging more than a touchdown reception a game. And you have to wonder how much more he could have produced if he didn’t have to play in the shadow of Goree.

Rutherford is a very strong candidate to redshirt. Put him on a 5,000 calorie a day diet and sic Frank Wintrich on him. I could see him developing into a unique offensive weapon, and not just as a red zone target.

Another prospect from Carthage that we are rumored to be interested in is running back Tevin Pipkin. After watching Pipkin, who will go over 2,000 yards rushing on the season next week, I am bummed that we don’t have a scholarship left to offer him (Call it the Kenny Buyers tax: which I will happily pay). I still prefer Willie Ivery, but Pipken has great acceleration. His style reminded me of Lance Dunbar. He is not big. He can be tackled, but if you give him any daylight he will take it to the house. He is an FBS-level talent and if we could somehow convince him to come on board as a preferred walkon that would be a grand slam. I wouldn’t mind if we tried to grayshirt him either or placed him at a junior college.

Let’s examine the Carthage quarterback who is committed to UTSA. Blake Bogenschutz has thrown for 55 touchdowns and three interceptions this season. He is listed at 6-0, but I would bet he is closer to 5-10. I assumed he was the JV quarterback while watching them warm up.

He is VERY mobile, throws a good deep ball and has excellent velocity and a tight spiral on his short to intermediate throws. He will have to improve his touch in college although his completion percentage is excellent.

Early in the second half, Bogenshutz went to Rutherford on short-yardage near the end zone on consecutive plays. He led Rutherford too much on both of them instead of just throwing it high and letting the receiver exploit his significant height advantage and win a jump ball.

In a best-case scenario, Bogenshutz is the next Eric Soza. Worst case he is Chase Baine.

I trust our staff’s talent evaluators and understand why we never offered him, but Bogenshutz is the kind of quarterback I like to watch play. He has a strong arm, can scramble and make plays with his legs, was VERY productive in high school and has won a lot of games.

Playing with elite skill position players certainly makes Bogenshutz look a little better than he probably is, but I can see why Larry Coker likes him and am maybe a little jealous that he is not coming to UNT.

[PlummMeanGreen]

Glad our cuttin' horses can cull some of the best steers for someone else to try to rustle.

Most kids as I understand it, though, and from some of this board's recruiting experts actually follow up with who they made their first commitment and because of that that I think we will be OK with most our recruits.

No, we won't keep them all but some of the others schools doing the rustling won't keep all theirs either; in fact, won't some of their recruits end up transferring to, uh, North Texas?

GMG!

Edited December 14, 2013 by PlummMeanGreen

[Rudy]

The picture of Rutherford I saw made him look pretty bulked up?

[H-towngreen]

Thanks for the insight. These two along with Fonzale will give NT a great WR corps for years to come. If you haven't go over to the FB Recruiting page and watch Goree's HUDL video. The dude doesn't get tackled for the first 6 minutes of film!!!!!!! As long as we have a QB to chuck it to these guys we are going to have a much improved offense next season.

[PlummMeanGreen]

Thanks for the insight. These two along with Fonzale will give NT a great WR corps for years to come. If you haven't go over to the FB Recruiting page and watch Goree's HUDL video. The dude doesn't get tackled for the first 6 minutes of film!!!!!!! As long as we have a QB to chuck it to these guys we are going to have a much improved offense next season.

And if I were a bettin' sort of guy I'd bet we will have a Mean Green QB or 2 who will be able to do the tossin'.

This is the kind of year you wish like in the old days you could recruit as many recruits as possible.

I remember reading Denton HS Bronco alum the late Gary Shaw in his NY Times best selling book from many years ago, ie, "Meat On The Hoof" about Longhorn football during the DKR era; anyway, Shaw wrote in his book how UT coaches used to recruit some kids knowing good well they would never start for the Horns but they didn't want schools like TCU, SMU and Baylor to recruit them, either. Not fair for those recruits at all, but that is how the Big Boys all used to do it back in that era. I'm glad that era is over and I'm glad North Texas never had such a recruiting modus operendi as that, too.

GMG!

Edited December 14, 2013 by PlummMeanGreen

[emmitt01]

Tee Goree’s football skills are so magical that his Rivals page is now showing a scholarship offer from Hogwarts.

While it is becoming more and more apparent that Goree’s father is Zeus, let’s first examine the half of him that is human. Goree lost a fumble last night and on another play while returning a punt, he dove at a dying ball Leon Lett-style that was already surrounded by three members of the La Grange coverage team.

Let’s also remember that Goree is playing against Class 3A competition and it will be a big jump up to Conference USA. And if we are being really picky, Goree’s listed height of 6-3 might be fudging just a little.

Now that I got that out of the way, I am so freaking excited that Goree is committed to North Texas. He can be a special, special player in Denton. His upside is so much higher than Johnny Quinn, George Marshall, Casey Fitzgerald or any other receiver we’ve had here in as long as I can remember. I saw someone on Twitter saying that he is an SEC receiver. He is.

Goree caught every catchable pass last night and his speed allowed him to get behind the defense with ease on his routes. The pass to him on the 45-yard touchdown seemed to be overthrown but Goree hit his boosters like the cars in those Fast & Furious movies and pulled it in.

The most impressive aspect of his game was his runs after the catch. He NEVER got tackled by the first guy. His change of direction is absolutely elite. Twice during the game he gave a defensive back a juke that made the defender fall down.

Now it was just one game and the cornerback primarily matched up against Goree was a FRESHMAN (A freshman good enough to play both ways on a state semifinalist who also scored on a 64-yard burst playing running back and was La Grange’s leading receiver in the game). But still a freshman.

Goree is the type of player we have to sign to become a Top 25 program. I believe he will develop into the kind of player opposing coaches will have to gameplan around. I was impressed with his intangibles, too. He was a captain and he was at the front of the pack when the team ran on the field before the game. He is a leader and has a little Marcus Trice in him as he would motion to the crowd to get loud at key moments in the game.

My bet is that Goree is starting for us next year by the time conference play begins.

Our other commit from Carthage, wide receiver O’Keeron Rutherford, is every bit his listed size of 6-5. He is also SKINNY. He looks like Hasheem Thabeet in shoulder pads. He is fast enough and has solid hands, doing most of his damage against La Grange on slants across the middle. He wasn’t afraid of contact, but he didn’t any break tackles until his touchdown reception late in the fourth quarter when he dragged a defender with him into the end zone.

A lot of kids that tall are also a little clumsy, but Rutherford has smoothness to his movements. He has been a very productive player at the 3A level, averaging more than a touchdown reception a game. And you have to wonder how much more he could have produced if he didn’t have to play in the shadow of Goree.

Rutherford is a very strong candidate to redshirt. Put him on a 5,000 calorie a day diet and sic Frank Wintrich on him. I could see him developing into a unique offensive weapon, and not just as a red zone target.

Another prospect from Carthage that we are rumored to be interested in is running back Tevin Pipkin. After watching Pipkin, who will go over 2,000 yards rushing on the season next week, I am bummed that we don’t have a scholarship left to offer him (Call it the Kenny Buyers tax: which I will happily pay). I still prefer Willie Ivery, but Pipken has great acceleration. His style reminded me of Lance Dunbar. He is not big. He can be tackled, but if you give him any daylight he will take it to the house. He is an FBS-level talent and if we could somehow convince him to come on board as a preferred walkon that would be a grand slam. I wouldn’t mind if we tried to grayshirt him either or placed him at a junior college.

Let’s examine the Carthage quarterback who is committed to UTSA. Blake Bogenschutz has thrown for 55 touchdowns and three interceptions this season. He is listed at 6-0, but I would bet he is closer to 5-10. I assumed he was the JV quarterback while watching them warm up.

He is VERY mobile, throws a good deep ball and has excellent velocity and a tight spiral on his short to intermediate throws. He will have to improve his touch in college although his completion percentage is excellent.

Early in the second half, Bogenshutz went to Rutherford on short-yardage near the end zone on consecutive plays. He led Rutherford too much on both of them instead of just throwing it high and letting the receiver exploit his significant height advantage and win a jump ball.

In a best-case scenario, Bogenshutz is the next Eric Soza. Worst case he is Chase Baine.

I trust our staff’s talent evaluators and understand why we never offered him, but Bogenshutz is the kind of quarterback I like to watch play. He has a strong arm, can scramble and make plays with his legs, was VERY productive in high school and has won a lot of games.

Playing with elite skill position players certainly makes Bogenshutz look a little better than he probably is, but I can see why Larry Coker likes him and am maybe a little jealous that he is not coming to UNT.

Careful. Recruits read these boards and expressing opinions is apparently a deal breaker.

[Cooley]

Tee Goree’s football skills are so magical that his Rivals page is now showing a scholarship offer from Hogwarts.

While it is becoming more and more apparent that Goree’s father is Zeus, let’s first examine the half of him that is human. Goree lost a fumble last night and on another play while returning a punt, he dove at a dying ball Leon Lett-style that was already surrounded by three members of the La Grange coverage team.

Let’s also remember that Goree is playing against Class 3A competition and it will be a big jump up to Conference USA. And if we are being really picky, Goree’s listed height of 6-3 might be fudging just a little.

Now that I got that out of the way, I am so freaking excited that Goree is committed to North Texas. He can be a special, special player in Denton. His upside is so much higher than Johnny Quinn, George Marshall, Casey Fitzgerald or any other receiver we’ve had here in as long as I can remember. I saw someone on Twitter saying that he is an SEC receiver. He is.

Goree caught every catchable pass last night and his speed allowed him to get behind the defense with ease on his routes. The pass to him on the 45-yard touchdown seemed to be overthrown but Goree hit his boosters like the cars in those Fast & Furious movies and pulled it in.

The most impressive aspect of his game was his runs after the catch. He NEVER got tackled by the first guy. His change of direction is absolutely elite. Twice during the game he gave a defensive back a juke that made the defender fall down.

Now it was just one game and the cornerback primarily matched up against Goree was a FRESHMAN (A freshman good enough to play both ways on a state semifinalist who also scored on a 64-yard burst playing running back and was La Grange’s leading receiver in the game). But still a freshman.

Goree is the type of player we have to sign to become a Top 25 program. I believe he will develop into the kind of player opposing coaches will have to gameplan around. I was impressed with his intangibles, too. He was a captain and he was at the front of the pack when the team ran on the field before the game. He is a leader and has a little Marcus Trice in him as he would motion to the crowd to get loud at key moments in the game.

My bet is that Goree is starting for us next year by the time conference play begins.

Our other commit from Carthage, wide receiver O’Keeron Rutherford, is every bit his listed size of 6-5. He is also SKINNY. He looks like Hasheem Thabeet in shoulder pads. He is fast enough and has solid hands, doing most of his damage against La Grange on slants across the middle. He wasn’t afraid of contact, but he didn’t any break tackles until his touchdown reception late in the fourth quarter when he dragged a defender with him into the end zone.

A lot of kids that tall are also a little clumsy, but Rutherford has smoothness to his movements. He has been a very productive player at the 3A level, averaging more than a touchdown reception a game. And you have to wonder how much more he could have produced if he didn’t have to play in the shadow of Goree.

Rutherford is a very strong candidate to redshirt. Put him on a 5,000 calorie a day diet and sic Frank Wintrich on him. I could see him developing into a unique offensive weapon, and not just as a red zone target.

Another prospect from Carthage that we are rumored to be interested in is running back Tevin Pipkin. After watching Pipkin, who will go over 2,000 yards rushing on the season next week, I am bummed that we don’t have a scholarship left to offer him (Call it the Kenny Buyers tax: which I will happily pay). I still prefer Willie Ivery, but Pipken has great acceleration. His style reminded me of Lance Dunbar. He is not big. He can be tackled, but if you give him any daylight he will take it to the house. He is an FBS-level talent and if we could somehow convince him to come on board as a preferred walkon that would be a grand slam. I wouldn’t mind if we tried to grayshirt him either or placed him at a junior college.

Let’s examine the Carthage quarterback who is committed to UTSA. Blake Bogenschutz has thrown for 55 touchdowns and three interceptions this season. He is listed at 6-0, but I would bet he is closer to 5-10. I assumed he was the JV quarterback while watching them warm up.

He is VERY mobile, throws a good deep ball and has excellent velocity and a tight spiral on his short to intermediate throws. He will have to improve his touch in college although his completion percentage is excellent.

Early in the second half, Bogenshutz went to Rutherford on short-yardage near the end zone on consecutive plays. He led Rutherford too much on both of them instead of just throwing it high and letting the receiver exploit his significant height advantage and win a jump ball.

In a best-case scenario, Bogenshutz is the next Eric Soza. Worst case he is Chase Baine.

I trust our staff’s talent evaluators and understand why we never offered him, but Bogenshutz is the kind of quarterback I like to watch play. He has a strong arm, can scramble and make plays with his legs, was VERY productive in high school and has won a lot of games.

Playing with elite skill position players certainly makes Bogenshutz look a little better than he probably is, but I can see why Larry Coker likes him and am maybe a little jealous that he is not coming to UNT.

Excellent assessment!

[Harry]

Great write up Zen!

[Rudy]

Shaw wrote in his book how UT coaches used to recruit some kids knowing good well they would never start for the Horns but they didn't want schools like TCU, SMU and Baylor to recruit them, either. Not fair for those recruits at all, but that is how the Big Boys all used to do it back in that era.

What do you mean USED to?

[BillySee58]

Careful. Recruits read these boards and expressing opinions is apparently a deal breaker.

But you could get a tweet mentioning you out of it Edited December 15, 2013 by BillySee58

[PlummMeanGreen]

What do you mean USED to?

Rudy, that was back before the NCAA stipulated that a school could only give out 30 football scholarships per year. As I recall reading Shaw's book years ago, it was not uncommon for schools like UT to sign over 100 kids to scholarships in one recruiting season. It was the beginning of the haves and have nots in many ways although the NCAA at least stopped that part of it.

So today's football scholarship limits of 30(?) per recruiting season would prevent the UT's of stockpiling additional recruits like they used to in the 60's since today they have to make every letter of intent count for their own future football program's success.

GMG!

PS: Hey UTSAMarineVet09, I found this on another recruiting board.....is this fairly correct?

UTSA only has anywhere from 9-12 scholarships for this class.

The mass exodus will be next year with currently 37-39 scholarshiped juniors.

5 current commits and all are rated 2 Stars by our National Recruiting Analysts.

Edited December 15, 2013 by PlummMeanGreen

[Rudy]

AAhh gotcha. I meant they still go after kids knowing that they will never play, telling them here they could start.

[Ben Gooding]

My expectation not only for these WR's but for the whole team is very high. Vito keeps pointing out who we are losing this year as to prep us for disaster. I think recruits are stock piling at UNT. If the 3 WR's committed stay true then we will have 6 very serviceable receivers on the roster. If and big if A. Wallace can come in and fill that void at MLB with the return of Akunne we should be solid there. Lee, Buyers, and Whitfield and co returning in the secondary. Losing sarge and BellaIn might be our irreplaceable guys, but they have recruited relatively well in that area so we should be able to maintain there. Throw in Skladany coaching these guys up I think on D we will be good. On O Byrd is a big loss but we got Jimmerson, Rollins, Pegram and a recruit coming in to compete. We are losing 1 o linemen and we have good up and coming TE's. I personally think this is Dajon Williams team to run next year and if he can get his mind right and learn I think he will throw for 2500 yds as DT did. He has a set of wheels though and that brings an entire different dimension to the O. At least 8-4 pending Willinas' development is attainable. If we can steal 2 non conference wins then 9-3 is doable. Kind of off subject, but yes MGN has high expectations.

[BillySee58]

Great write up Zen, great analysis Ben. We have a lot of winnable games next year both on the road and at home. Home games against SMU, Nicholls, USM, UAB, La Tech, and an east division team should set us up nicely to just need to snag a few road wins and have another good record.

Also guys, don't forget about Jalen Adams, the receiver from Oklahoma coming in. He turned down some decent offers like Tulsa and Indiana to come to North Texas. 4 guys coming in at receiver and you hope they all pan out, but we've got some options.

[PlummMeanGreen]

AAhh gotcha. I meant they still go after kids knowing that they will never play, telling them here they could start.

Yep, you got me green-handed alright.

GMG!

[DirtySavage]

Though Shall Not Blaspheme "The Mighty"