College Confidential

A&M postgame reaction

The mood was surprisingly positive following a rather sloppy Aggies victory today over winless Army. Here are a few postgame quotes from coach Mike Sherman:

On the win"This was a tremendous atmosphere. The fans were great. I've got to say that I thought Army played well. They gave us everything we could handle and more."

On Jorvorskie Lane's increased work load in the game:
"We planned going into the ball game that he was going to be our short-yardage back and just asked him to get his pads down. When he gets his pads down, he can run with anybody. I thought he did a good job. He had some running lanes and he made some extra yardage on his own, as you could see. I was pleased with his effort."

On freshman safety Trent Hunter's 17 tackles in his first start:
We placed a lot on him. The safety generates a lot of tackles for us, as he did. And he's just a fired-up kid. He brings a lot of juice to the defense and plays downhill and with passion. I'm not surprised he played the way he played. That's how he practiced all week long."

On Stephen McGee's injury
"McGee injured his shoulder exactly how he injured it the last time. He landed right on it again. He felt pretty good on Friday though he never really cut it loose in practice. And then in pregame I thought he looked OK but not 100 percent. He was probably about 95 percent."

Mark these words

UNT will not win a game in the Sun Belt Conference playing special teams like this. Casey Fitzgerald signaled fair catch on a punt return and dropped it anyway. Rice recovered, and Chase Clement just found Jarett Dillard for their 40th career TD combination -- an NCAA record for a QB and WR. Rice leads 49-20, and it's not even halftime.

--Troy Phillips

Make it stop, please

Words barely describe how poorly UNT is capable of playing special teams, and today is more of the same. Rice just went up 42-20 on a two-play, 19-yard drive after UNT true freshman John Shorter fumbled a kickoff return. Good grief.

--Troy Phillips

Defense on the board, finally

UNT's defense just recorded its first sack of the season, either by Marquis Sykes or Joseph Miller or both. UNT and Washington were the only Bowl Subdivision teams without a sack this season. Regardless, Rice is still driving, and Former Azle High star James Casey just converted a Rice fourth-and-two...as I'm writing this, Clement just scored from six yards. Owls up 35-20.

--Troy Phillips

Defensive carnage continues in Houston

Rice and UNT yet again traded long, fast scoring drives. Rice leads 28-20 early in the second quarter. UNT's Giovanni Vizza is slingin' it around pretty consistently, especially to Casey Fitzgerald and Sam Dibrell. He started to run it in for a short TD, but pulled up and found Lance Dunbar for seven yards. Wonder if UNT can get back that missed PAT?

--Troy Phillips

UNT O making it watchable

UNT and Rice have combined for 359 total yards in the first 13:10 of this game. The Mean Green just went 63 yards in four plays (that Mean Green?), capping the drive with Cam Montgomery's 15-yard run around end. Rice leads 21-13, and yes, UNT made the extra point.

--Troy Phillips

So far, UNT defense just awful

Looks as if Rice can do whatever it wants today, because UNT's defense has shown zero signs of putting up any resistance. Chase Clement just wandered down the middle of the field for a 25-yard touchdown that had to be as easy as it looked. UNT went on fourth down from the Rice 35, but Giovanni Vizza was sacked. Rice up 21-6, and it's already getting away from the Mean Green.

--Troy Phillips

Rice playing speedball

Owls just scored on a two-minute hurry-up drive for 14-6. Chase Clement and Jarett Dillard hooked up for the 39th time in their careers, which apparently moves Dillard up on several conference and/or NCAA lists. Can't keep up with all the announcements of Dillard's career feats at Rice. Anyway, Rice 14-6.

--Troy Phillips

Whazzup with UNT's extra points?

UNT just drove 71 yards to ostensibly tie Rice, but didn't. Jeremy Knott's extra point was blocked, the second time this year and UNT's third overall miss on extra points. If not official before, this is a now a problem area. Rice leads, 7-6.

--Troy Phillips

UNT already down

Sometimes you can't blog fast enough to keep up with UNT's deficits. Rice leads 7-0 after a quick 50-yard touchdown pass by Chase Clement. It was Toren Dixon's first career TD catch.

--Troy Phillips