collegefootballtopten.com

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  Every where you turn you see outdated facilties that are falling apart.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

Mercedes Mayer–FWST

Trae Thompson–FWST

Gil Lebreton–FWST

SMU

Bobbi Roquemore–DMN

PonyPride.com

UNT

Brett Vito–DRC

Brett Vito–DRC

Another week and another loss for SMU and UNT.  Could there have been improvement?  Check out my write up at PegasusNews.com.

UNT

The Mean Green’s offense finally woke up after its season long slumber putting up 30 points on Louisiana-Lafayette.  Too bad the needed to score 60.  The Ragin Cajun beat UNT 59-20.  There does seem to be some hope for optimism according to GoMeanGreen.com.  UNT’s defense has some work to do, and it probably starts up front.  They are going to have to find some guys who make plays in the front four during recruiting season.  That being said, Eddrick Gilmore has been playing, but had to move inside to DT due to injuries.

SMU

The Mustangs let an upset slip away against Tulsa for the second year in a row, but the fact that they had a lead in the fourth quarter against one of the most explosive offenses in the country is good news for the Pony faithful.  The Mustangs seem to be close to getting their first Conference USA win.  They have been competitive the past couple of weeks.

TCU

In case you haven’t heard, there is a big game in Fort Worth on Thursday night.  Ninth ranked BYU comes to town to play TCU.  Both teams are undefeated in conference with TCU’s loss to Oklahoma as the only loss among the two.  Both team were sloppy in their wins last week.  TCU needs to find its offense.  If Andy Dalton can come back and play well, and the running game is clicking, then this game will be a great one.  However, as Spitbloodtcu rightly pointed out, there are some problems with the offense.

What are they saying?

UNT

Brett Vito–DMN/DRC

Brett Vito–DMN/DRC

SMU

Bobbi Roquemore–DMN

Bobbi Roquemore–DMN

TCU

Josh Harvey–Big Purple Nation

Michael Hicks–DMN

Mercedes Mayer–FWST

Mercedes Mayer–FWST

O.k., you can check out the only college football game in the metroplex by reading my summary at Pegasus News.  TCU played SMU while UNT sat it out.  Therefore, there is only one game to talk about.

It was the DFW Duel: The Battle for the Iron Skillet.  The skillet will return to Fort Worth with the Horned Frogs as they took out the frustration of their 2005 game with SMU on these Ponies.  June Jones has a lot of work to do, but I don’t doubt that he is the guy to do the job.  His offense will get better and better with more reps.  His defense is another story.  He has to find some athletes to put on that side of the ball.  He will find them because there are plenty to be found in the metroplex and across Texas.

What are they saying?

Spitblood TCU

Bobbi Roquemore

Bobbi Roquemore

Trae Thompson

Hughes was going to score

Aaron Brown comes through

Mercedes Mayer

David Thomas

Josh Harvey

If you really need a wrap up of what happened this weekend, you can check out mine a Pegasus News.

TCU

The first question I want to ask is, “Has Andy Dalton become a dual threat QB?”  Dalton ran for 91 yards and passed 145 against Stanford.  Apparently, TCU used a lot of Zone Read plays out of the Shotgun to move the ball against Stanford and keep the clock moving.   TCU’s defense is awesome.  There is no other way to say it.  They held Stanford to 192 total yards on offense.  Compare that to LSU holding UNT to 210 yards of total offense.

UNT

The Mean Green had the biggest challenge of the DFW 3, and you just knew it was going to be a long night.  They did manage to get a field goal, and one positive is the Giovanni Vizza still continues to protect the football.  That improvement will prove to be helpful when they actually play teams they have a chance against.

SMU

The Mustang’s offense wasn’t quite ready to take on a Big 12 defense.  Bo Levi Mitchell had 5 INT’s, and backup Logan Turner came in to help stop the bleeding.  Later in the fourth quarter, Turner hit Aldrick Robinson for a TD to help the Ponies avoid the shutout.  They have to go back to the drawing board because I think TCU’s defense is better than Tech’s (see above).

What are they saying?

Spit Blood TCU

Go Mean Green

Brett Vito

Brett Vito: Bayou Blues

Brandon George

Mercedes Mayer

Bobbi Roquemore

Gil Lebreton

Trae Thompson