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All Systems Go

August 3, 2008 By toddler Leave a Comment

This week marks the beginning of the 2008 season for TCU, SMU and UNT.  Earlier today, TCU Head Coach Gary Patterson met with the media as a part of the Horned Frogs’ Reporting Day.  Among the things that Patterson talked about was the last minute addition of Atoine Hicks and the Texas heat.  The high temperature at DFW Airport on Sunday, August 3rd, was 107 degrees.  The Frogs will have their first practice on Monday, August 4th at 4 PM.  TCU will also host their annual “Meet the Frogs” on August 23rd beginning with Inflatable Games at 10 AM.  There will be an opportunity to meet players, coaches, cheerleaders and showgirls along with free posters and player trading cards.  To find out more about “Meet the Frogs,” visit GoFrogs.com.

In Denton, TX, UNT players report for the first practice of 2008 also on Monday, August 4th.  One of the interesting things in which the Mean Green website is doing is blogging the two-a-days workouts.  If you really want to know what is going at each practice during the next couple of weeks, you can log on to MeanGreenSports.com and follow the live blog.  That’s right, I said live.  Blogging begins at 7 PM Monday.  Check it out.

The Mustangs begin practice on Monday too.  SMU will begin practices for the 2008 season beginning at 9:30 AM.  Players report on Sunday, and the June Jones era will begin.  Fans are welcome to watch practices, but they are asked to watch from behind the “fence for practices on Pettus and from the stands for workouts held in the stadium.”  Jones will usher in a new era of “Pony Express”–by air.

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TCU Adds Receiver

August 3, 2008 By toddler 1 Comment

According to the TCU Athletic Department, TCU Head Coach Gary Patterson has announced that Antoine Hicks of Arlington, TX has been added to the TCU Football team.

The following is from a statement released by TCU Athletics to the Media on Sunday afternoon.

TCU head coach Gary Patterson has announced the addition of wide receiver Antoine Hicks to the Horned Frog football program.

The 6-foot-2, 193-pound freshman, who originally signed with Texas, is from Timberview High School and Arlington, Texas.

Hicks was a versatile athlete used at several positions, and I am sure that the Horned Frogs will find a way to use his athletic abilities.  No word was given on whether or not Hicks would redshirt.  In July it was announced that Hicks would not be playing for Texas as speculation mounted about academic issues.  Whatever the issues were seem to be unnecessary at this point.

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Pac-Man Jones to Sign Autographs

July 26, 2008 By toddler Leave a Comment

Former West Virginia Mountaineer and current Dallas Cowboy, Adam “Pac-Man” Jones will sign autographs at Gameday Connexion in Fort Worth, TX on August 23rd beginning at 1:00 PM. Jones will be signing numerous different items at the store which is located in Ridgmar Mall West Fort Worth.  The pricing is $50 per item with and $15 for an inscription.  If you don’t have anything for Jones to sign, then you can pick something up at the store.  Gameday Connexion has some of the neatest products I have ever seen in a memorabilia shop.  There are signed products, mini helmets, jerseys, cards, footballs, photos, and much, much more.

Gameday Connexion is an experienced host in autograph signings including recent signings with Jason Whitten, Adrian Peterson, Mean Joe Green and new Cowboy Felix Jones.  Click on the link to the map and make your way to Fort Worth for this signing.

Map

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UNT Preview: Defense

July 9, 2008 By toddler Leave a Comment

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 UNT Helmetturnovers 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.

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Success at TCU is a Tradition

June 23, 2008 By toddler Leave a Comment

Sitting in my favorite eating establishment this morning, The Old Neighborhood Grill in Fort Worth, I was thinking about Dan Jenkins.  Dan is one of the greatest sports writers in the last 50 years, and he is a native TCU Helmetof Fort Worth.  He is also a big TCU fan.  Peter, the owner of Old Neighborhood Grill, and I were talking about some of Dan’s books including his latest one.  Dan is a reminder of just how successful the program has been in years past.  And, recently, with coaching of Gary Patterson, the program has returned to prominence.  It is telling when you realize that the Frogs won 8 games last year, including the Texas Bowl, and that was considered a disappointment.

For years, the Horned Frogs were a part of the old Southwest Conference.  Usually, any team who was at the top of the Southwest Conference was considered relevant in the national rankings, scene.  When the conference folded, the Frogs missed out on going to the Big Twelve.  They spent time in the Western Athletic Conference and the Conference USA before moving the Mounatin West Conference a few years ago.  They seem to have found a home.  As conference strength goes, the MWC is the toughest outside of the BCS power conferences.  It boasts at least two teams with national championships:  TCU and BYU.  TCU came close to busting the BCS “glass ceiling” in its first year in the MWC going 11-1.  Its lone loss was to SMU one week after beating Oklahoma in Norman, keeping it out of the BCS bowls.

When people think of TCU, they might think of “Slingin Sammy” Baugh, Davey O’Brien, Bob Lilly and LaDainian Tomlinson.  You might not realize that the Horned Frogs have two national championships.  The 1930′s were very good to the Frogs as they took the 1935 and 1938 national titles.  TCU has 14 conference championships in 5 different conferences (source).  For a team that is not in a “power” conference, TCU has a pretty rich tradition.  Recently, winning games has become an expectation again.

TCU is not afraid to play against their share of BCS conference teams.  As I mentioned earlier, TCU knocked off OU in Norman in 2005.  They have played Texas Tech home and away, Baylor, Stanford (who comes to Fort Worth this year) and Texas in Austin.   And TCU has beaten every team mentioned but Texas in the past 3 years.  What’s more, the Frogs travel to Norman again this season to take on the Sooners.  The past two trips to Norman have been wins for the Frogs.  Do you think the people in Norman remember?

Bowl games against BCS teams have been successful too.  They started this recent success by knocking off USC in the 1998 Sun Bowl.  Granted, that wasn’t a Pete Carroll coached team, but it was a win over USC.  Then, the Frogs knocked off Iowa State in the 2005 Texas Bowl.  They also own victories this decade over Vanderbilt,  Arizona, and Northwestern.  They have suffered losses to Texas A&M (2001 Bowl game) and Nebraska (2001).  And, the Frogs have a future date with the SEC’s Arkansas.

If the past is any indication, especailly the recent past, the Horned Frogs look to have another succes-field season.  Look for the Frogs to contend for the Mounatin West Conference Title once again.

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TCU’s Phillips Touted as a Top Warrior

June 10, 2008 By toddler 3 Comments

I like to post top ten lists. However, I can’t come up with every top ten list, and I fail to qualify as an expertTCU Helmet to post some top ten lists. Bruce Feldman, however, is qualified. He listed his Top Ten Workout Warriors. And, TCU’s Jason Phillips is on the list. Just listen to these eye popping stats where he says that Phillips

“. . .has a squat of 710 pounds, a power clean of 410 pounds and a bench press of 450 pounds.”

Phillips, a senior, is 6 foot 1 and 234 lbs from Waller, TX, and was a QB and LB in high school. Phillips has been named the state’s best Linebacker two years in a row by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football. He is a preseason All American, and on the Watch List for the Bronko Nagurski Award which is awarded to the best defensive college football player. TCU will once again have a strong defense with guys like Jason Phillips who simply makes plays and is tough.

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UNT Needs More Mean

May 27, 2008 By toddler 1 Comment

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.

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Fourth and New Orleans: A Book Review

May 11, 2008 By toddler 1 Comment

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Tulane football team endured a long and grueling season filled with weekly trips to different stadiums, a semester living in a condemned dorm rooms, and the horror of knowing that players’ families lost much or all that they owned.

This book follows the Tulane University football team, New Orleans’ own college football team, through the 2005 season after Hurricane Katrina slammed into their home and sent the team packing for the entire fall. The book begins just a few hours before the hurricane makes shore as the football team loads chartered buses and pulls out of New Orleans. The Green Wave football team, along with some extra passengers, eventually end up in Dallas, TX, hosted by Southern Methodist University. It is there that Coach Chris Scelfo and his staff, along with the team, make the gut wrenching decision to proceed with the season.

The book delves into the lives of many of the young men on the team and their families. Once such person was Tulane linebacker Brandon Spincer. Tragically, Spincer, a young man from New Orleans, who wanted help rebuild New Orleans and work with disadvantaged kids was murdered during the fall of 2006.

The book also gave a glimpse into the plight in which so many New Orleanians suffered in the aftermath of Katrina. Even the Tulane coaching staffs were not immune to Katrina’s destruction. And, of course, the Tulane University campus was severely damaged.

The toll of living from a broken down dorm in another town, dealing with the loss of so much, and the stress of the entire situation turned an otherwise promising season into a disappointment. Indeed, it seemed as if the team was relieved that the season was over instead of preparing for a bowl game. Getting back to normalcy became the goal, but the goal was a very implausible one. The 2006 season also suffered from the events of 2005, and Tulane did not fair any better on the field. In the end, the University decided to part ways with Coach Scelfo.

Check your local bookstore, or your local Borders, for a copy of Fourth and New Orleans: How Tulane Football Survived the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina by Benjamin Hochman and Coach Chris Scelfo.

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Running the Spread: Frequent Flyer Miles May Add Up in DFW

May 7, 2008 By toddler 1 Comment

In a metropolitan area which is home to two of the largest airlines in the country, three NCAA Bowl Subdivision football teams will take the field in 2008 logging as many air miles as any team in the country. It’s an exciting brand of football for the fans to be sure, and with signing of June Jones to be the new head coach at Southern Methodist University, the tickets just might sell. Texas Christian University, Southern Methodist University and the University of North Texas are neighbors in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.

If anyone throws the ball as much as Jones did at the University of Hawaii, it would be Todd Dodge out of his no huddle Spread Offense at UNT (University of North Texas) known as “Dodge Ball.” Last year Dodge’s team averaged 46 passes per game for 3476 total yards on the season.

Jones’ Hawaii team averaged 51 passes a game for a total of 5713 yards on the season. In case you are wondering, that’s about 476 yards per game (12 games). Jones uses the old “Run and Shoot” offense that was used so well at the University of Houston in the 80′s. Jones has the services of two year starter Justin Willis, if he can pull it together and get himself back on the team.

UNT, of course, is located in Denton, TX, just north of Dallas, and SMU is located in Dallas. In Fort Worth, Gary Patterson is the head coach of TCU (Texas Christian University), where the passing game has always helped balanced the usually stellar running game. In the past, TCU has used dual threat Quarterbacks to complement such running backs as LaDainian Tomlinson, Lonta Hobbs, and Robert Merrill. However, in QB Andy Dalton, TCU is starting to benefit from a strong, accurate arm. TCU averaged 34 passes per game for a total of 2881 yards on the season, up from 27 passes per game in 2006 and 29 passes per game in 2005. With a more confident Dalton, will the Frogs throw the ball more? The Frogs have never been afraid to throw the ball when it needed to. In recent years the TCU QB has had big passing games. TCU is not a one dimensional team.

DFW college football may be exciting in the 2008 season. While watching a game, you might look to the skies. However, it may not be just to see the airplanes.

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