This week there are more interesting games in the context of conference races, and, ultimately, in the context of the BCS race.  This is week number 9 which means that I will update my CFTT Top Ten after the week is over.

Games to Watch

Oklahoma State vs. Texas
Two teams that are undefeated.  The Big 12 South is on the line, the Big 12 may be on the line, and the BCS Championship is on the line.  Is that enough drama for ya?  The Horns have struggled to beat the Cowboys in recent years.  How will these two teams match up?  Oh yea, the game is in Austin.

Georgia vs. LSU
The ‘Dawgs are still in the hunt for everything with their only loss being to undefeated West Division Alabama.  LSU rebounded from the pounding at Gainesville.  This game should be a peir six brawl in Baton Rouge.

Penn State vs. Ohio State
The Nittany Lions take their Spread HD offense into the Horseshoe to take on Chris Wells, Terrelle Pryor and the Ohio State Buckeyes.  Can Pryor manage the game with the help of Wells while the defense keeps the Lion offense in check?  Or will the Buckey offense have to try to keep up?

UCF vs. Tulsa
The Golden Hurricane take their new top 25 ranking in against a team that beat them twice last year.  Can the Hurricane take advantage of a down year for the Knights?

I would like to thank LSU and Wisconsin for failing to show up for their games this weekend which allowed me to focus my time Saturday night on the Oklahoma State vs. Missouri game and a real exciting game from Conway, AR featuring the Bears of the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) vs. the Sam Houston State Bearkats and Rhett Bomar.  I don’t usually talk about teams from the Football Championship Subdivision, but it was fun to watch UCA and Sam Houston go at it until the end.  Most people know about Rhett Bomar, but UCA’s QB is Nathan Brown and he is setting records in Arkansas.

Whoo Pig Sooie. . . . I don’t really get to talk about Arkansas unless their relevant, and this year, they’re not.  However, they put an exclamation mark on the end of the Auburn week.  The Hogs upset the Tigers, and fired offensive coordinator Tony Franklin was probably sitting at home laughing.  The Hogs out-did everything statistically and survived their turnovers to pull out the win for the second time in a row on “The Plains.”  Coach Bobby Petrino’s team looks like they might be improving.

BCS Busted. . . . . Just a few weeks ago, we were talking about East Carolina as a possible BCS Buster team.  They had won two in a row over ranked teams including Virginia Tech.  After a 3-0 start, the Pirates have now lost 3 in a row including Saturday’s loss to Virginia.  Yes, the same Virginia who loss at home to USC 52-7, but now has won back-to-back games.

Lions and Gators and Horns, Oh MY! . . . . . . By far the most impressive teams this weekend were the Texas Longhorns, who are now ranked number 1, the Florida Gators, and the Penn State Nittany Lions.  Texas beat Oklahoma, who looked unbeatable thus far, 45-35 in Dallas.  The Gators found their offense and ripped LSU in “the Swamp” 51-21, and Penn State made it look easy at Camp Randall beating Wisconsin 48-7.

Sic’em Bears. . . . . . . Congrats to Baylor for winning their first conference game in two years.  Coach Art Briles has his team playing well, and they may win more than one game this year.  If you haven’t had a chance, take a chance to watch Freshman QB Robert Griffin play.  Griffin has 9 TD passes on the year with 0 INT’s.   Next up for Baylor, the best team in Oklahoma (?).

Note: I just want to reiterate my reasoning for updating every 3 weeks.  I read on a message board this week about my doing so as being kind of strange.  That’s fine, maybe I am strange.  Look back at the original post which I will link to on every CFTT Top Ten hereafter.  I think parity, for the most part, has arrived in college football, therefore, I want to see teams play out a few weeks before updating.  Again, at the least, I’ll be kown as “the guy who updates his poll every three weeks.”

1.  Oklahoma, 5-0
The Sooners continue to prove their worth unlike anyone else in the country.  They have not had a close game including road blow outs against Washington (before Locker was injured) and now Baylor.  The even handled TCU at home by 25 points.  Sam Bradford rises in the Heisman Trophy race each week.  This week, they get their toughest test by far, Texas in the Red River Shootout (I mean Rivalry).

2.  Alabama, 6-0
Thus far, the most impressive team because they have knocked off two teams ranked in the top ten, and they won fairly handily.  If you throw out the Georgia game where they gave up 30 points to Matthew Stafford and Co., the defense has only given up 9 points per game.  Their offensive and defensive lines may be the best in the country.  Sure, they struggled with Kentucky, but good teams will struggle in at least one game (usually more), especially after an emotional win against Georgia.  Oh yeah, Kentucky is pretty good.

3.  Missouri, 5-0
The Tigers dominated Nebraska, on the road.  Now, I know the Cornhuskers aren’t quite a top 25 team, but it was still impressive.  Missouri’s schedule hasn’t been the toughest just yet, but their offense is humming.  They have only played one game outside of Missouri, and Texas awaits them in Austin on October 18th.  Take out the Illinois game, and the Mizzou defense has only allowed 14.5 points per game.

4.  LSU, 4-0
The Bengal Tigers should be 5-0, but Hurricane Ike forced the Troy game to be moved to November.  So far, the Tigers have had to revamp their offense with their defense leading the charge.  The last couple of games, it seems that the LSU offense has found an identity.  It seems as if Jarrett Lee is the QB of choice.  After a disasterous start against Auburn, Lee found his poise and threw some nice passes down field giving LSU a deep threat to complement their run attack.  Their defense, however, has uncharacteristically given up 20 plus points the last two games against Auburn and Mississippi State, two teams not known to be great offenses.

5.  Texas, 5-0
The Horns are giving up just 11.4 points per game, and they have played some offenses who have exploded for big scores this year (Rice, UTEP).  Many wondered how they would do on the road against Colorado, but their was appraently nothing to worry about.  They buried Buff in their own stadium setting up a huge game against number one ranked Oklahoma.  Their offense is really playing well, and their defense has been surprising excellent under first year coordinator Will Muschamp.

6.  Penn State, 6-0
The Nitany Lions have been almost as impressive as Alabama.  They beaten everyone handily with their only struggle on the road against Purdue.  The Lions have already played tow road games which gives them early season tests that should be good for the stretch run against Wisconsin (this week) and Ohio State (10/25).  They are the team to beat in the Big Ten.

7.  USC, 3-1
The Trojans have dominated everyone except Oregon State who should prove to be pretty good when the years done.  They don’t have a single ranked team left on their schedule as it is now.  How good are the Trojans, we probably won’t know until the bowl season.  They need a game against a Big 12 or SEC team.

8.  Texas Tech, 5-0
For the first time this year I have the Red Raiders in my top ten.  There are some stats that are standing out that lets me believe this a legitimate top ten team.  First, defense.  They are giving up just 18.4 points per game which is tough considering the type of offense they run.  Second, they are averaging 144.4 yards rushing per game.  That is something that was missing last year, and it looks like Mike Leach has found himself some backs.  Unfortunately for Tech, they are in the same conference with Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri.

9.  Georgia, 4-1
I would make too much out of Georgia getting beat by Alabama at home.  The Tide is very good, and so is Georgia.  Georgia was not ready in the first half against Alabama, but once they woke up, they made a very good rally and looked like they would keep their national championship aspirations alive.  Unfortuantely, Knowshon Moreno was hurt, and the score took him out of the game as they were coming from behind.  They still have a tough schedule.

10.  BYU, 5-0
BYU has only had one close game and that was at Washington before Jake Locker was injured.  Their offense is averaging 41.2 points per game and their defense is giving up just 11.6 points per game.  At Utah State Saturday, BYU put it in cruise control during the second half winning 34-14.  After hosting New Mexico Saturday, they have to come to Fort Worth on Thursday to play the Horned Frogs.  TCU made it close in Provo last year, and their defense has been dominant.

Rising

BYU
Alabama
Texas Tech
Penn State

Falling

South Florida
Oregon
Auburn

Note:  Remember, poll is updated every 3 weeks.  The poll will be updated next week.

1. USC
The Trojans were ambushed by the Beavers in Corvallis.  They play Oregon in LA.

2. Oklahoma
The new number 1 team in the polls defeated a good TCU team in Norman on Saturday.  The Sooners play a Baylor team coming in with a bit of a swagger in Waco.

3. Florida
The Gators were caught off guard Saturday against Ole Miss in Gainesville.  The will most likely be very “upset” when they play at Arkansas on Saturday.

4.  Georgia
The ‘Dawgs got knocked around against Alabama in Athens, but the rallied only to fall short. They get Tennessee at home and will be looking to take out their frustrations on one of the most disappointing teams so far this season.

5.  LSU
The Tigers beat Mississippi State on Saturday and get the week off before traveling to Gainesville to take on Floriday on October 11.  The Tigers running game continues to roll, and they may have found the perfect complement in the passing game with Jarret Lee who passed for 261 yards against Mississippi State.

6.  Missouri
Mizzou sat at home last week watching Tyrod Taylor and the Virginia Tech offense tear up their next opponent, the Nebraska Cornhuskers.  Chase Daniel will be ready.  The game is in Lincoln.

7.  South Florida
The Bulls haven’t been particularly impressive, but all they have done is win.  The may have put it all together last week when they routed NC State.  This week they host Pitt on national TV.

8.  Oregon
I thought that the Ducks would struggle with Boise State, and they did losing close.  This week the Duck travel to USC.  Oregon is playing with a back up QB, and we all know how that worked out last year.

9.  Auburn
The Tigers have a highly anticipated game against a ranked and undefeated SEC East team who is also in first of the SEC East standings.  No, it’s not Florida, or Georgia.  Auburn travels to Nashville to play the SEC East leading Vanderbilt Commodores.  Vandy is ranked at 19th too.  What’s next, Ball State will be undefeated too?

10.  Texas
The Razorbacks were no match for the Longhorns Saturday, and the Buffaloes better bring some defense if they want to beat the Horns.  Will Muschamp has the Texas defense playing better, and Colt McCoy looks like a career passing leader for Texas.

AP Top Ten

USA Today Poll

Well I didn’t get the Wednesday Preview done by Wednesday, so now this week it is on Thursday.  So let’s do the preview.

Games to Watch

Trine (Indiana) Thunder vs. Defiance (Ohio) Yellowjackets
Mike and Mike’s Small College Game of the Week
The Clash of Mother Nature’s Wrath
This might be an interesting game to tune in to, although, I don’t know if it’s on TV somewhere.  Someone else thinks that Trine will win the game.  It seems that they have the better record, maybe the better team.  They’ve already won one game 41-13.

Georgia vs. Arizona State
Much of the intrigue left when UNLV upset the Sun Devils in Tempe.  Was Arizona State looking past the Running Rebels?  Maybe.  Georgia’s sloppy performance at South Carolina may have also been due to the ‘Dawgs looking past the Gamecocks to this week.  I think both teams will show up for national TV.  I also think Georgia’s defense will smother the Sun Devils.

LSU vs. Auburn
This one is the one ESPN has decided to go with on Saturday night.  It looks like a good fit, but if you like to see the ball get flung around and wide open offenses, then you better watch Oregon vs. Boise State.  Both defenses look like they are among the top 10 best.  If you like a defensive “slug fest,” well you might want to order a pizza.

Boise State vs. Oregon
Boise still has a good program, and with Oregon being a little vulnerable at the QB spot, this could have upset written on it.  Boise has shown the kind of play over the past couple of years that makes it a difficult team to put away.  Oregon’s offense shouldn’t be quite as effective with a backup QB, but they should run the “zone read” almost to perfection.

Troy vs. Ohio State
I admit it, I want to see how this game turns out.  I think Troy may be the class of the Sun Belt this year, and they have impressive wins over teams that are about the same level of competition as Ohio State.  However, the Men of Troy never struggled.  Ohio State lost more than a game last week, they lost any credibility they had left for being a top level team.  How is the team’s psyche?  I think that this group of Trojans from Troy (Alabama) is a very dangerous team for Ohio State to play after the embarrassment they suffered to USC last week.  Things get real interesting in Buckeye-land if Terrelle Pryor starts and plays most of the game.

On Metroplex Monday, we will break down the past games from the DFW college football teams and look forward to the following week games and opponents.  You can check out my wrap up report at Pegasus News here.

UNT

The Mean Green dropped its game to Tulsa.  I didn’t really see that as a suprise.  I expected Tulsa to put up big numbers against UNT, and they did.

A few observations.  Freshmen Lance Dunbar and Riley Dodge gave the offense a bit of a spark.  Dunbar was quick and agile and led all UNT rushers with 72 yards on 10 carries.  He did muff an kick return, but those are things that he will get better at.

Dodge had 8 yards per touch playing as a slot receiver.  Look for these two to get more playing time.  On an end around play called for Dodge, QB Giovanni Vizza got out in front and made a decent block.  It didn’t look like he was threatened that Dodge was playing.  That is a good sign.   The presence of Dodge and Dunbar should make things easier for Vizza.

Finally, the defense held Tulsa to 135 yards rushing.  That may not seem very good, but put in context, it is a very hopeful sign.  Tulsa got that 135 yards on 35 rushing attempts.  That is an average of below 4 yards per rush.  The first thing a defense needs to do to get better is stop the run.  UNT seems to be getting better.  Next up for the Mean Green, LSU.  We have to keep up with Hurricane Ike to see if and where the game will be played.

SMU

SMU got its first win for June Jones.  They beat Texas State.  The Mustangs’ offense seem to be rolling, but the defense still has issues.  That’s bad news because the Ponies play at Texas Tech next week.  They will have to win a shootout to have a chance.  And, I would take Graham Harrell over Bo Levi Mitchell at this point.

Nevertheless, the Tech defense should provide a good test for Jones’ Run and Shoot.  I think the match-up is intriguing between Jones and Leach who has all but perfected the Air Raid offense.  These two teams may run a total of 200 plays.  There is a possibility that they mght combine for 1000 yards total offense.   I think it will be raining footballs in Lubbock.

TCU

The Frogs did what they were supposed to do.  They routed an out-manned team in Stephen F. Austin.  Any chance that TCU would be witout focus was erased when the Lumberjack coach gave them locker room material.  Ryan Christian had the most rushing yards, and Joseph Turner had three touchdowns in the first half.  Turner is looking like he might be almost back to full strength which is good news in the absence of Aaron Brown.

A whole lot of guys got to play.  The Frogs host Stanford on Saturday who will be looking for a little revenge after they lost to TCU last year–one week after they beat USC.  Stanford better play better than they did against Arizona State Saturday.  I am sure that Amon G. Carter Stadium will be sold out for this game.

Continued from Part 1

5.  June Jones signs with SMU–After leading Hawaii to the greatest season in history, and launching the Warriors all the way to the BCS promised land, a rout at the hands of Georgia in the Sugar Bowl, the Run and Shoot Guru himself was lured away by the SMU Alumni who were willing to Pony Up the cash.  Jones inherits a fairly talented, but downtrodden program which he will make a contender in the Conference USA.  Jones, after moving to SMU, moved Katy, TX QB commit Bo Levi Mitchell to Dallas as well (from a commit to Hawaii), and he, subsequently, went on to be named the starter for the opener against Rice.  June Cometh.

4.  Interesting Coaching Changes–Every year coaching changes happen.  Many happen before the bowl season, therefore, they are not technically offseason.  However, the consequences are felt throughout the offseason as the new staff comes in to their first Spring practices, first recruiting class, etc.  Some of the more interesting hires this year are Houston Nutt from Arkansas to Ole Miss, Rick Neuheisel to UCLA, Paul Johsnon from Navy to Georgia Tech, Bobby Petrino from Atlanta (NFL) to Arkansas, Art Briles from Houston to Baylor, June Jones (see Above) and Rich Rodriguez from West Virginia to Michigan (see Below).

3.  Terrelle Pryor signs with Ohio State–Every year it seems as some kid is the coveted prize of the recruiting world.  Pryor seemed to be wined and dined by the programs and fans who wanted him to sign with their school.  A photo even surfaced of Pryor at a Michigan basketball game talking with Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez.  Pryor delayed his signing, he remained uncommitted, until after he finished his basketball season which went deep because his team won the state championship.  Pryor considered Michigan, Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State where his father lobbied for him to play.  In the end, the Buckeyes won the prize.  Think Vince Young, only bigger.  Buckeye fans are thinking National Title!

2.  Ryan Perrilloux dismissed from LSU–The highly recruited QB who waited his turn at LSU struggled with off the field probelms.  No need to rehash all of that.  Head Coach Les Miles gave him several opportunities to remain on the team.  Perrilloux showed his abilities last season leading LSU to a win over Tennessee in the SEC Championship game with starting QB Matt Flynn injured.  Without Perrilloux, the Tigers go from defending national champions with a proven QB to defending national champions with no proven QB.

1.  Rich Rodriguez to Michigan and Saga–Rodriguez bailed on the Mountaineer fans.  At least that is how they feel about it.  Rodriguez, a West Virginia Alum, was poised to stay for many years in Morgantown and lead them to the elusive national title.  However, when it was all over, Rodriguez took the Michigan job feeling as if he had been cheated by his employers.  The Hawaii athletic director apologized to fans when June Jones left, no such action from the West Virginia AD.  He and WVU sued Rodriguez for the $4 Million buy out in his contract which Rodriguez claimed was void due to an oral agreement between he and the AD to take out the clause.  Of course, we know, contracts don’t mean anything.  Meanwhile, in Ann Arbor, Rodriguez wasn’t a hit with every player.  QB Ryan Mallet decided to transfer to Arkansas to play in Spread Offense that doesn’t need the QB to run the option like in Rich Rod’s offense.  And, Michigan lineman Justin Boren transferred saying that the “family values” have left under Rich Rod.  And that was only Spring!

According to Phil Steele, UNT’s 2008 schedule is ranked 92nd toughest out of 120 teams.  If you just take wins and losses of the teams on the 2008 schedule from the year before, UNT is ranked 82nd compared to 96th in 2007.  With their 92 ranking in Steele’s magazine, UNT’s schedule is considered tougher than Texas teams Rice, a UNT opponent, and Houston as well as nearby Tulsa, also a UNT opponent.  With that in mind, let’s take a look at the UNT schedule.

@ Kansas State, August 30, TBA
The Wildcats are known to Texas fans for knocking off the Longhorns the last two years.  In his first year as coach, Ron Prince took the ‘Cats to the Texas Bowl, but last year K State fell apart after a promising start.  The Wildcats return 7 offensive starters and 5 defensive starters and will be relying on some newcomers to get back to a bowl game.

Tulsa, September 6, 6 PM
This will be the home opener for the Mean Green, and it should be rough.  Tulsa had basically the best offense in the country last year with about 543 yards of total offense per game.  This is an interesting match up as UNT Coach Dodge was leading Southlake Carroll High School to the 2005 Texas 5A DII State Championship at the same time that Tulsa Offensive Coordinator Gus Malzahn was leading Springdale High School to the Arkansas 5A State Championship.  Both coaches employ a hurry-up, no huddle, spread offense.

@ LSU, September 13, 7 PM
Mark this down as a nice pay day.

@ Rice, September 27, TBA
Only once did Rice hold a team to less than 29 points, and that was FCS Nicholls State.  Rice will be looking to get better on defense, but the offense returns 9 starters.

Florida International, October 4, 6 PM
Simply speaking, FIU was the worst team in the nation last year winning just one game, but they beat UNT in the last game of the season.  I guess the Golden Panthers were due for a win.  They return 9 starters on both sides of the ball.  FIU was fairly competitive with most of its Sun Belt Conference foes, just don’t get them mad.

Louisiana-Lafayette, October 11, 6 PM
The Ragin’ Cajuns return 8 starters including the QB on an offense that rushed for 252 yards per game.  In fact, ULL rushed for 300 yards against UNT last year.  The Ragin’ Cajuns finished last year 3-9, and, of course, look to build on that toward a winning record.

@Louisiana-Monroe, October 18, 6 PM
The Warhawks return 7 starters on offense and 8 on defense.  The defense struggled last year, but the offense rushed for 209 yards per game.  ULM finished the season winning 5 of their last 6 after losing to North Texas including a stunning 21-14 upset at Alabama in front of 92,138 fans.  UNT is 3-2 against ULM in the last 5 years.

Troy, October 25, 6 PM
The Trojans, the Alabama version, returns 7 starters on both offense and defense.  Troy has a new Offensive Coordinator after OC Tony Franklin left to take the same position at Auburn.  Troy has been one of the most consistent teams in the Sun Belt the past couple of years winning 8 games in each year including a trip to the New Orleans Bowl as the representative of the Sun Belt Conference.  Trivia:  Ohio State plays back to back Trojans, first USC and then Troy (September 2008).

@Western Kentucky, November 1, TBA
UNT won a thriller last year in Denton, but the Hilltoppers who are still in transition from the Football Championship Subdivision to the Bowl Championship Subdivision, will return 7 starters on offense and 6 on defense.  WKU averaged 247 yards on the ground but a meager 162 through the air.  So, who wants to travel to Bowling Green?

@ Florida Atlantic, November 8, 3 PM
The Owls were the surprise champions of the Sun Belt Conference a year ago when they knocked off Troy at the end of the year to earn the trip to the New Orleans Bowl.  This season FAU returns 10 starters on offense and 8 on defense.  QB Rusty Smith may be the best QB in the state of Florida not named Tim Tebow.  Smith passed for 463 yards in their upset at Minnesota.  For the year, Smith threw for 3688 yards with 32 TD’s and only 9 INT’s.  In 2008, FAU begins the season in Austin against the Longhorns.

@ Middle Tennessee State, November 22, TBA
The Blue Raiders have flirted with the Sun Belt Conference Championship in each of the last 2 years with their best chance in 2006 when they were upset in the last game against Troy to lose the title.  MTSU returns their top QB’s Dwight Dasher and Joe Cradock.  The Blue Raiders return 6 starters on offense and defense.  Despite injuries at the QB position all year in 2007, the Blue Raiders averaged 336 yards per game including 202 yards passing per game.

Arkansas State, November 29, 1 PM
2008 marks the first year as ASU will be called the Red Wolves changing it from Indians per the NCAA.  The Red Wolves returns the dynamic duo of Corey Leonard and Reggie Arnold.  QB Leonard accounted for 3057 total yards of offense for ASU in 2008 for an average of 254 total yards per game.  Arnold was a 1000 yard rusher for the second year in a row, and when he and Leonard are healthy the Red Wolves are dangerous and never out of a game.  However, the Red Wolves lose a lot from a defense that included Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year Tyrell Johnson who was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the second round with the 43rd pick.

This is UNT Preview week at Collegefootballtopten.com.  We will review the offense today and the defense and special teams tomorrow.  Finally, we will conclude with a look at the UNT 2008 Schedule.

After just averaging 12.8 points a game in 2006, Todd Dodge brought “Dodge Ball” to North Texas and the Mean Green picked up the pace with an average of 24.8 points per game.  The transition wasn’t easy as UNT scored more than 20 points just once in the first four games in 2007.  By the time that the Green played the University of Louisiana-Lafayette, Dodge had turned to true freshmen QB Giovanni Vizza to run the offense, and the points began to rise along with yardage.

Of course, no performance had garnered more passing yards than the performance by QB Daniel Meager against SMU.  Meager passed for a staggering 601 yards against the Mustangs, but UNT failed to score enough points and lost the game 45-31.  Meager threw eight interceptions in four games, and Vizza became the starter.  Vizza had a huge performance in the late season shootout with Navy.  Vizza passed for 478 yards as the Mean Green lost 74-62 in the highest scoring regulation game in NCAA history.  Vizza went on to earn Sun Belt Freshman of the Year honors.  What makes Vizza so potent in Dodge’s Spread Offense is his ability to run.

Vizza had options at the wide receiver spot, and most of those return.  At the top of the list is Casey Fitzgerald whose performances in 2007 earned him an Honorable Mention All American from SI.com.  Fitzgerald tunred in a dizzying performance against SMU when he caught 18 passes for 327 yards.  Overall, Fitzgerald caught 111 passes for 1322 yards and 12 touchdowns.  UNT also returns Micah Mosely at Running Back.  Mosely had 461 yard rushing and 5 touchdowns and should be called upon to be the leading rusher with the departure of Jamario Thomas.  Helping out Mosley will be Cam Montgomery.  Montgomery took a Medical Redshirt last year after coming from Northeast Mississippi Community College.  Rivals.com listed Montgomery’s 40 time at 4.4.

The Offensive Line is a more uncertain area of the UNT Offense, but it seems to be in better shape than it was last year.  The Mean Green return 4 starters and at least 7 lettermen which should provide better depth.  UNT will hope to improve on the 39 sacks it gave up last year.  The UNT line will be anchored by Junior Center Kelvin Drake and Sophomore Right Guard Esteban Santiago.  To help strengthen the Offensive Line, UNT signed a couple of JUCO players.

The X Factor for the UNT offense is Freshman QB Riley Dodge.  Will Riley play as a true freshman or redshirt?  Will Riley take over the starting job at QB?  How will coach Dodge use his son?  Dodge is a great athlete who could be used on the field in certain situations or in other posistions such as a WR or some kind of H Back.  However, as good as an athlete as he is, college football takes time to get accustomed to.  If Dodge can adapt to the speed of the college game and adjust to college life, he might be playing on Saturday.  If QB Giovanni Vizza continues to improve, then  there should be no pressure on Coach Dodge to throw his son into the fire early.  Then, he would have the option to ease Riley into college football.

I expect to see UNT’s offense be even better in 2008.  The Mean Green played a lot of young players last year and now everyone is in their second year of “Dodge Ball.”  The Offensive Line may be slow to improve, especially with early games against Kansas State and LSU.  However, by the time conference play rolls around, they should be better able to protect the QB.

Here it is. The top 4 magazines’ preseason top ten. You can buy each magazine at your local Borders.