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It’s all about upsets in week five of college football.  It all started on Thursday night in Corvallis, OR where the unranked Beavers of Oregon State shocked the world again as they beat the number one ranked USC Trojans.  Not to be outdone, unranked Ole Miss upset 4th ranked Florida in Gainesville at the Swamp.  And on it goes.  The Houston Cougars upset 23rd ranked East Carolina.  The Michigan Wolverines made a valiant come-back to upset 9th ranked Wisconsin.  Navy beat 16th ranked Wake Forest, Maryland got 20th ranked Clemson, and the Alabama Crimson Tide (9th ranked) upended the 3rd ranked Georgia Bulldogs.  Is that enough for us?  There will probably be more to come this year.  Few teams look unbeatable.  Most have stumbled and played sloppy.  Teams can’t do that anymore as the parody is prominent.

I did watch the Oklahoma-TCU game and I was very impressed with the Sooners.  The Horned Frogs held OU to 25 yard rushing, therefore, Sam Bradford dropped back and threw the ball over the coverage for a total of 411 yards passing.  Broken plays cost TCU along with penalties.  TCU was able to do what no other team has been able to do against OU this year and that was slow down the attack.  They held Oklahoma to almost 20 points below their average, but TCU’s offense just wasn’t explosive enough to stay with OU.  As they Sooners get into Big 12 Conference play, they will face far more explosive offenses.  They will need that ground game to keep offenses of teams like Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State’s off the field.  Otherwise, they might be in for several shootouts.  Nevertheless, I now put Sam Bradford at the top of my Heisman Trophy list.  He was just plain impressive.  He was knocked down, sacked and hurried all day, but he delivered.

Looking Ahead

Oregon State vs. Utah
Fresh off their upset victory over USC, the Beavers travel to Salt Lake City to face the Utes.  Utah is undefeated, but less impressive than I expected at this point.  Can the Beavers parlay their win over USC into a successful season?

Oregon vs. USC
Oregon is is 4-1 with its only loss coming to Boise State.  USC is coming off of their upset loss to Oregon State.  Oregon State showed that a shifty, small back can help keep the chains and the clock moving against USC.  Can the Ducks follow that recipe to a win in LA?  Or does upset simply refer to what the Trojans will be when they step on the field?

Auburn vs. Vanderbilt
The Commodores, yes Vanderbilt, is on top of the SEC East standings.  They play an Auburn team that has shown very little on offense in their transition to a spread by new Offensive Coordinator Tony Franklin.  Well, Vanderbilt does it pretty well, and maybe they can give the Tigers a few tips, after the game.  Vandy averages a full touchdown more a game than Auburn, and they are gunning for an historic year.  Oh, and the game is in Nashville, and both teams are ranked.

Missouri vs. Nebraska
The Cornhuskers had a chance to be ranked this week.  All they had to do was beat an improving Virginia Tech at home on national TV, run their record to 4-0, and await their showdown with Mizzou.  Well, it didn’t work out as planned.  Tyrod Taylor gave Nebraska fits, and Tech got the quality win on the road.  Now Mizzou comes to town, and I am sure Chase Daniel was watching that game.

According to Phil Steele, SMU’s schedule ranks #82, ahead of neighbors UNT (#92) and TCU (#84).  If you consider their opponents’ winning percentage, then SMU is ranked #53.  SMU plays 8 teams in 2008 who went to a bowl game in 2007.  That’s not an easy start for the June Jones era in Dallas.  Also on tap for SMU is a trip to Lubbock to face a team some are giving preseason buzz to for a run at the Big Twelve Title and maybe greater.  Without further ado, here is SMU’s schedule.

@ Rice, August 29, 2008, 7 PM
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.

Texas State, September 6, 2008, 7 PM
The Bobcats are a member of the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (you know, IAA), and this should be a good game for the Mustangs to work out some kinks before they go to Lubbock.

@ Texas Tech, September 13, 2008 6 PM
Texas Tech returns their top offensive play-makers, QB Graham Harrell and WR Michael Crabtree who is from Dallas.  Crabtree and Harrell both should be on most people’s Heisman list.  Most people refer to Coach Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense as a spread, but it contains elements of the Run and Shoot.  In the Air Raid, one can see where the Spread meets the Run and Shoot.

TCU, September 20, 2008, 7 PM
With 14 starters back, the Frogs appear headed for another bowl game.  The offense should be much better as it improved under the guidance of Andy Dalton.  Dalton became TCU’s primary weapon at times last year with the injuries to RB’s Joseph Turner and Aaron Brown.  Both backs seem to be back and ready to go.  Defense is led by Jason Phillips and Stephen Hodge and should be another stellar TCU defense.

@ Tulane, September 25, 2008, 7 PM
The Green Wave return 15 starters from a team that was 4-8.  Gone is Tulane’s number two Career Rushing Leader, Matt Forte, who ran for 2127 yards and 23 TD’s in 2008 including 342 against SMU.  The Green Wave return 4 of their 5 top tacklers from a year ago.

@ UCF, October 4, 2008, 2:30 PM
After rushing for 2567 yards and 29 TD’s, UCF’s Kevin Smith entered the draft, and the feature back duties will be in someone else’s hands.  The Knights won last year’s C-USA title beating Tulsa in the Championship Game 44-25.  UCF returns their top 7 tacklers from 2007 and a total of 9 starters on defense.  The offense will spend its time trying to find an identity with the departure of Smith and QB Kyle Israel.

Tulsa, October 11, 2008, 7 PM
Tulsa had basically the best offense in the country last year with about 543 yards of total offense per game. It should be a battle against one of the best hurry up, no huddle, Spread Offense gurus, Offensive Coordinator Gus Malzahn at Tulsa, versus the premier Run and Shoot Offense guru, June Jones from SMU.  First team 60 wins.

Houston, October 18, 2008, 7 PM
The Cougars had another good year in 2007 going 8-5 earning Coach Art Briles a shot at being the head coach at a BCS program, Baylor.  Replacing him is Kevin Sumlin who was Co Offensive Coordinator at Oklahoma.  Summlin brought with him Dana Holgorsen from Texas Tech to create a high octane attack of his own.  Holgorsen and Sumlin inherit QB Case Keenum who is a natural play-maker for the Cougars.  Houston returns 7 on a defense that gave up just 366 total yards per game.

@ Navy, October 25, 2008, 2:30 PM
In Paul Johnson’s final year as head coach, Navy was the best among the service academies (5 straight) defeating Air Force (31-20) and Army (38-3) along with the long awaited victory over Notre Dame (46-44, 3 OT).  Johnson moved on to Georgia Tech, and now Navy will turn to Ken Niumatalolo.  His defense should be solid returning 8 starters, but they need to improve after giving up 36.4 points per game and 439 total yards per game.  Niumatalolo doesn’t have to replace QB Kaipo-Noa Naheaku-Enhada who accounted for 1786 total yards and 20 TD’s.

Memphis, November 8, 2008, 2 PM
The Tigers have big holes to fill at QB and RB.  If they can find someone to get the ball to their WR’s, Memphis could be a surprise contender.  The WR’s are deep and talented, but the Tigers have to find a help as they lose Martin Hankins (3220 yards, 25 TD’s) and RB Joseph Doss (806 yards, 5 TD’s).  On defense, Memphis returns 8 starters including 4 of their top 6 tacklers from a year ago.

@ UTEP, November 15, 2008, 8:05 PM
Last year the Miners were 4-8, and in 2008 they return 5 starters on offense and 7 starters on defense.  Returning QB Trevor Vittatoe passed for 3101 yards with 25 TD’s and only 7 INT’s.  Vittatoe will need all the help he can get as the top two RB’s from last year are gone leaving UTEP with with a battle between Sr. Terrell Jackson and So. Donald Buckram.  While the defense returns 7 starters, the Miners hope to leave the numbers behind.  UTEP gave up 302 yards passing per game along with 203 yards rushing per game.

Southern Miss, November 29, 2008, 2 PM
The Golden Eagles just return 10 starters for new head coach Larry Fedora but one of them is RB Damion Fletcher (1586 yards, 15 TD’s).  Southern Miss will have to replace its QB and 8 starters on defense and should consider this a rebuilding year using a lot of young, inexperienced players.

Conference USA Championship Game, December 6, 2008

While UNT’s offense was productive last season and stands in a position to improve, the defense struggled and its ability to improve is uncertain.  The defense seemed unable stop any opponent last year, and was a nation’s worst in scoring at 45.1 ppg.  In an era of the high-flying, air-it-out football of the Sun Belt, UNT gave up 229.7 yards per game rushing.  Much of the damage in rushing defense was done against stellar run teams and nonconference foes Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Navy.  UNT still gave up 300 yards rushing to Louisiana-Lafayette, and only held one opponent less than 100 yards rushing (Florida Atlantic).  UNT didn’t do much better with pass defense ranking 95th giving up 256.8 yards per game.  UNT ranked 110 in turnovers at -11 for the year.

With six returning starters, it looked as if UNT had something to build upon, but yesterday UNT announced that Eddrick Gilmore will not return for UNT in the fall.  Gilmore was one of UNT’s few returning starters at Defensive Line, but certainly not the only Defensive Lineman with experience.  UNT will return the services of Sophomore OLB Craig Robertson who had 48 tackles and 5 interceptions.  Robertson finished the year with an Honorable Mention All Sun Belt Conference award.  They also will return Antoine Bush and Kartey Agbottah in the secondary.  The Mean Green may have gotten a big boost to its defense when it nabbed Alonzo Horton.  Horton was rated as a JUCO Top 100 by Rivals.

Coach Dodge has turned the defense over to former Defensive Coordinator Gary DeLoach in an attempt to shore up the defense.  DeLoach’s defenses were very good in 2001 and 2002 ranking first in the Sun Belt Conference.  DeLoach may have to count on some young players to help turn the defense around.  If he can find more young players like Robertson, he might make the turn quicker than later. Royce Hill of Cypress Ridge HS in Houston, Darien Williams of Vernon, TX and James Hamilton of Cedar Hill, TX look to be able to contribute early.  A darkhorse early contributer is Jeremy Phillips of Waller, TX.  His brother is All Mountain West LB Jason Phillips of TCU.  Phillips is a coach’s son, and former QB for Waller.  He may be too good to keep on the sidelines.

Special Teams

If any area was worse than defense, it might have been special teams.  UNT Punter Truman Spencer fell off his pace last year with a 34.2 Net Avg.  His actual punting average went up, so look for improvement in the punting game with better coverage.  UNT Place Kicker Thomas Moreland was 8 for 15 kicking and did not hit a field goal longer than 37 yards.  However, UNT signed JUCO kicker Jeremy Knott who was an NJCAA All-American kicker at Northeastern Oklahoma A & M.  Micah Mosely held the KR duties last year and returns for the Mean Green.  UNT will be searching for a new Punt Returner and a second Kick Returner.

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.

When Todd Dodge became the new head football coach at The University of North Texas, few people doubted that he would put up big offensive numbers. Some even believed he would be successful leading the Mean Green to be a top program in the Sun Belt Conference. Others, however, doubted his ability to be successful at the college level. Dodge’s previous stop was at the high school level, head coach at Southlake Carroll High School in Southlake, TX.

Dodge proved both sides right, and wrong. Dodge’s offense was good. Freshman Giovanni Vizza was Freshman of the Year in the Sun Belt Conference. He threw for over 2300 yards with 17 touchdowns as a starter in 8 games. Wide Receiver Casey Fitzgerald was a 1,000 yard receiver for UNT, including a game against SMU where he caught 18 passes for 327 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Mean Green moved the ball well, but struggled to score a lot of touchdowns in the red zone. The big problem was their defense. Dodge and his Defensive Coordinator, Ron Mendoza, seemed to be overmatched at the college level.

At the end of the season, Dodge made a defensive coaching change. Dodge brought former UNT Defensive Coordinator Gary DeLoach. DeLoach’s defenses at UNT were spectacular. During the spring practices, it seemed as if the UNT defense is already making progress. This move may have been a college level move by Dodge. If DeLoach can make the UNT defense significantly better, then UNT will be a dangerous team in the Sun Belt Conference.

For the Mean Green to be successful, Dodge, DeLoach, and UNT has to put the mean back into the Mean Green. They have to force turnovers like they did against UL Monroe, their lone conference win in 2007. They will need more depth at the defensive line. There is enough talent in the DFW area to recruit and find the defensive skill players, therefore, it is the defensive line they have to find talent to help make the front 7 better. If we remember Terry Bowden’s characteristics of a champion, we will recognize the need to stop the run. A good, a better, defensive line is key to stopping the run. The highlight of UNT’s ineptness against the run was against Navy when the Mean Green gave up 572 yards on the ground.

Keep an eye on UNT this fall to see if they put the Mean back into the Mean Green.