Jeremy Kerley Wins Play of the Day
TCU’s Jeremy Kerley won the top play of the day at ESPN for Saturday, October 17, 2009.
Rayfield Wright at Harvey Martin Classic
Texas A&M University-Commerce athletic director Carlton Cooper announced today that Rayfield Wright, a former member of the Dallas Cowboys from 1967 to 1979 and teammate of Lions great Harvey Martin, has agreed to serve as the keynote speaker during the luncheon at the Harvey Martin Classic on Thursday, September 10 at noon. There will be a reception prior to the luncheon at 11 a.m.
Q&A With Rafael Priest
I had a chance to interview Rafael Priest at TCU’s Media Day for Pegasus News. I enjoyed visiting with Rafael, and he came across as very grounded and smart. Rafael is going to be a big part of the TCU defense this fall for the Horned Frogs as there will be so many new players on the field for the Frogs on defense.
Q & A With Marshall Newhouse
I sat down with Marshall Newhouse at TCU Media Day for Pegasus News. He
was gracious enough to answer my questions. If you get a chance, check out the article.
Q & A With Marshall Newhouse
Phil Steele and Jerry Hughes
What does Phil Steele’s college football preview and TCU’s Jerry Hughes have in common? Aside from the fact that they are both passionate about college football, Steele has put Hughes on the cover of his Texas addition. I picked up my copy on Friday at Borders Books, and have began the annual pilgrimage through the pages of Steele’s masterpiece preview.
Last year I reviewed four of the college football previews, but this year, I am just buying Steele. Phil Steele’s magazine is full of numbers. There is a misunderstanding that Steele’s magazine is a better’s magazine, but it really is not. He uses a complicated system of numbers to create power rankings in several different areas which means when the season is through, you will see he is pretty accurate.
True, the sports betters use his magazine, but that is because he is so accurate. If you want to pour through numbers and facts, Phil Steele’s magazine is for you. Just a word of warning. When he has a “read here first” to understand what he is doing, you need to follow instructions. Without the preface readings, you might be lost.
On the Texas cover with Hughes is Texas Longhorns QB Colt McCoy and Baylor QB Robert Griffin.
All-DFW College Football Team
I posted an All-DFW College Football Team at PegasusNews.com. TCU had
the most players, naturally, since they won more games. But, I tried to get a decent representation for North Texas and SMU. The Media Relations Department in the respective Athletic Departments were helpful in me picking some of the players. As far as I know, it the first time anyone has done an All-DFW College Football Team.
Check out the article. It is the lead story today at PegasusNews.com. Congratulations to all the players who made the team.
TCU Plays Boise in San Diego
In case you haven’t heard, the BCS Bowl selections came down this evening in a, almost, basketball tournament-esque type announcement on Fox. We saw the Cincinnati fans jumping up and down as if their team was sent to the East Regional as a number one seed. Not quite. It seemed as the BCS Machine wanted us to believe it was as big as the NCAA Basketball Tournament Selection Show, but it wasn’t. I mean, Virginia Tech, while a good team has four losses. Maybe Boise State should take their place.
In news closer to home (Fort Worth, TX), TCU has been matched up against those Boise State Broncos led
by senior (what year?) Ian Johnson and his cheerleader wife in the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. I had to make sure I got that sponsorship in there as they payed me an undisclosed amount of money to mention it (not really). TCU is number 11 and Boise is 9th. This match up may be better than some of the BCS Bowl games!
The Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl also made an announcement. They have decided to match up Case Keenum and the high flying Houston Cougars against the wicked option oriented Air Force Falcons in a rematch of a game played in early September when the kids from Houston were really thinking about their homes in Houston with Hurrican Ike making an appearance. Nevertheless, it was a close game. This one should be fun.
The Collegefootballtopten.com Top Ten should be out either Monday or Tuesday. I wonder who will be number one.
Metroplex Monday: Last Edition
It wasn’t a good year for SMU and UNT. The two combined for the 2 wins, the same number of losses that TCU had on its own. SMU’s only win was against a Football Championship Subdivision team, and UNT’s
only win was against a FCS team who is transitioning to the Bowl Championship Subdivision. Does that make UNT better?
June Jones, SMU’s coach, came in with reputation of turning around a program quickly after his one year turn around of Hawaii. However, he endured all kinds of problems this year. Can Jones get this program turned around? SMU ponied up the cash, and now its time to see if June really do “cometh.”
A lot of people around Denton aren’t sure what to make of the Todd Dodge “experiement.” However, Dodge had an unusual number of bad circumstances to happen this year. He lost multiple players to suspension, injury or simply leaving the program. Many of those players were receivers, a position in which numbers are important to the Dodge Spread Offense. Dodge recruited extra receivers in his first two classes to get the numbers, and then lost several of those. More importantly, UNT needs to recruit some good offensive and defensive linemen to begin the process of winning the trenches. To improve his defense, I would recommend that the UNT coaching staff travel south to Fort Worth and take a defensive coaching clinic from Gary Patterson and Dick Bumpas.
What they are saying
UNT
SMU
Metroplex Monday: UNT Gets First Win
You can check out my write up at Pegasus News here.
And thus, I will start with UNT. It has been a tough year for the Mean Green, and one win over a team stuck between Division I and I AA will not erase all of the damage. However, it gives a much need jolt of confidence and momentum into a program that has face all kinds of adversity this year. Ironically, it came the Saturday after it was revealed that 15 players tested positive for recreational drugs. (Incedentally, it also came right after I wrote an article on how to turn around the Mean Green football team this year. Maybe Coach Dodge read the article and used my advice.)
The offense got 51 points and the defense got 4 turnovers including a 97 yard INT returned for a TD by Tobe Nwigwe. Even though the defense gave up 40 points, they had several big plays to preserve the victory. This doesn’t mean that that UNT will rally and win the rest of their games, but a win in the remaining games gets them back to last year’s 2-10 record. And, considering all of the problems that this team has faced this year, that doesn’t look so bad right now.
UNT 51, Western Kentucky 40
TCU
What can I say about the Frogs? They went in to Vegas to play a tough and gritty UNLV team who has given teams fits and knocked off Arizona State in Tempe earlier this year. I thought it might be hard-fought since TCU has the Utah game coming up. Never mind. The Frogs dominated the game 44-14, and right now, look like they might be the best of the non BCS schools. I guess we’ll find out on Thursday night as they travel to Salt Lake City, UT to play the Running Utes. Utah, however, struggled on the road against New Mexico to win 13-10. Find a way to watch that game Thursday night. TCU is on a roll.
SMU was idle.
What are they saying?
UNT
Brett Vito–Denton Record-Chronicle
Brett Vito–Denton Record-Chronicle
TCU
Metroplex Monday: 10/19/2008
Once again, TCU won and UNT and SMU did not. You can read my write ups at Pegasus News here and here.
TCU
TCU played a Thursday night game against BYU on national TV (sort of, it was on Versus) and really drummed eighth/ninth ranked BYU 32-7. TCU had not done so well on Thursday nights lately, but this time, they got the job done and looked good doing it. They showed the nation that they have a very good defense. For some people, the BYU/TCU game was more compelling than the Florida State/NC State game on ESPN. Kudos to the guys from the Northeast (or the “mouse ears” as Randy Galloway calls them) for picking the best game ahead of time. I suppose they thought this was the year that Florida State would be good again. Of course, those are teams from the ACC, a BCS conference. At least that game was closer. TCU gets a couple extra days to rest, and then they get a hapless Wyoming team at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
SMU
SMU is playing competitively. They have been close to getting wins the last three weeks including a near upset of Tulsa. I really do believe that a team has to be able to run the ball and stop the run to be a championship level team. There defense doesn’t seem to be getting the job done. They can’t hold the leads that their offense gets for them, and the Pony offense is still too young to complete the come-from-behind victory. By young, I mean young in the system and at QB. They have some mature, older players such as Emmanuel Sanders along with the emergence of Aldrick Robinson. SMU’s offfensive line has had injury problems too. I think that Mustang coach June Jones is about a year away from a significant turn around. He will need to get help on both sides of the line as it seems he has been able to find guys to step in to the skill positions and make plays.
UNT
The students have approved a referendum which will allow a Athletic fee to be charged so that the Mean Green Athletic programs can experience improvement. One of the areas of improvement needed is a new football stadium. Fouts Field, the UNT home, is old and deteriorating. The facility was not kept up very well, and the Mean Green stadium and its facilities are among the worst in the Sun Belt. Just imagine that your a young man being recruited by UNT and you visit their facilities. Every where you turn you see outdated facilties that are falling apart. Then, you get a phone call from SMU or TCU with their nice facilities. Is there any doubt where you would rather go play? I have been in the TCU’s Justin Athletic Complex. It is brand new, and it is awesome. The first step is to get the stadium up to par and then build athletic facilities for tutoring, meetings, etc. You can check out the concept drawing at GoMeanGreen.com. Unfortunately, the Mean Green football could not match the referendum’s success on the football field.
What are they saying?
TCU
Matt Zemek–BigPurpleNation.com
SMU
UNT
