Open Mic Bama/North Texas

GOAT Faithful,

What it is! Last night Miami’s beating of the Jackets has the GOAT starting this week off on the right track. I am looking to improve on last week’s drubbing I took at the hands of Las Vegas. Got several games lined up this week and we will get to those in due time.
For the moment, it is time for the breakdown that has been dubbed “Clash of the Titans” by local Denton, TX experts in:

The “Pride of Denton, Tx.” vs. The “Pride of the State of Alabama”
WHEN: Saturday
WHERE: Tuscaloosa, AL
WHO: North Texas/Alabama
CAPACITY: 93,000
“Talent” METER: 10
LINE: 39.5
LEAN: GREEN MACHINE +40.0 (BTH)

On Saturday the world will stop and every TV in America will be tuned into to watch a true “David vs. Goliath” battle at 12:30. ESPN KNOWS this is a HUGE game (to some folks) as it will be on display on their respective network! (ESPN GAMEPLAN anyway). This game may pull a PPV record in the town of Denton as North Texas football has this tiny spot on God’s great earth excited like never before. All 16 people in Denton will be sitting in front of their neighbor’s TV to see one of the greatest upsets in college football history! Yep, Da GOAT said it! And here is how I think it plays out:

North Texas (DAVID)

It has been said that there are probably 40-50 high school football teams in Great state of Texas that could HOUSE North Texas in tackle football, and some even say that they do not belong in D-1 football. UNTIL THIS YEAR. Old….Uh…What’s his name (It doesn’t matter), will have this team ready to get rolled….er….ready to roll on Saturday when they visit Tuscaloosa, Alabama! North Texas opened the season going to Ball St. and pulling out a MONSTER win 17-10. They came home to couches burning and champagne falling from the sky (PBR being spilled from balconies). Ball St. , it seemed, woke up a sleeping giant. Then the Green Machine started their home season bid by getting hosed by Ohio 31-30. It took the mighty Bobcats of Ohio a full regulation game and 2 OT’S to get the job done, finally winning out on a 2 pt. conversion that the replay showed CLEARLY “might” have been no good if the player would have dropped the ball. The ONLY reason the GOAT believes that the GREEN MACHINE lost this ballgame was the weather! It was pouring rain, a monsoon even, and every time Ohio got the ball the rain let up (as well as the N. Texas defense).

Riley Dodge (you WILL forget this name) put up “Tom Brady” style numbers completing a mind boggling 12 of 20 for 117 yards and touchdown! It wasn’t until the “grass monster” took a cheap shot on Dodge, that “Mr. Denton” Nathan Tune (who?) got his shot and lit up the stat sheet completing 9 more passed for 69 more yards. These numbers appear to be skewed as stated before; a tropical storm was located over Denton, TX during this game. I have no idea who is going to be the starting QB for North Texas when the bus arrives in Tide Town, but either way the GREEN MACHINE is loaded at the quarterback position. Either guy is good and could probably be the starting QB at any school in the country not in D-1, and that is being conservative! If one of these guys a “hot hand” against the TIDE, WATCH OUT, because it could be a long day….

Cam Montgomery is a good a back as any 4th stringer in the country, and he had a great day against the Bobcats as well. He “Peterson’d” it for 88 yards on just 22 carries. That’s a 4 yard average, against a very stingy Ohio defense that was one of the top in the country last year ranking in the top 110 (109 respectively) in the country last year; the guy is a beast! I personally think that he could have broken the 100 yard mark with more carries, and less rain, and more time on the clock. Montgomery is a speedy guy who averages 6.1 yards per carry with a 25 long TD. He averages 118 yards a game and if he gets loose in the ‘Bama secondary, he has a chance to take it the distance provided no one gets in his way. North Texas is averaging 205 yards on the ground a game, and they need to get this going against Alabama, but this number may fall off ever so slightly against a decent Bama defense that ranks a lowly 3rd in the country.
Royce Hill will anchor a MEAN GREEN defense that will be getting after Bama all day on Saturday, especially in the first half. Hill has 2 interceptions this year and a host of tackles. Co-Anchor of the defense is Tobe Nwigwe (I have no idea how to pronounce it) who is an animal piling up 10 solo tackles in their near non-loss to Ohio.

Da GOAT feels that N. Texas has all the tools in place to get the job done against Alabama in the first half and think that if they play WAY above their heads, then the a 3rd quarter win is not out of the question. If they play WAY above their heads and bring ball bats and CHUCK NORRIS, they win the game out right….OR ELSE!

ALABAMA (Goliath)

On offense, the Tide look to Greg McElroy (not to be confused with “Roy McElvoy”) to guide the offense against the GREEN MACHINE. McElroy is a quite leader that comes in sporting a workman like stat sheet going 33/54 for 471 and 2 TD’s. I like McElroy; I think that he will continue to gel as the leader of the Tide and should do just enough in this game not to lose.
Trent Richardson (You should NOT forget this name) is going to be a star. He is a V12 jaguar; smooth and fast when you need it, powerful and strong when it counts. He is averaging 7.1 yards a carry with 2 TD’s one coming from 35 yards out. Mark Ingram, Roy Upchurch and Terry Grant with also share the touches, which may bode well for the Tide in the second half, where they should be able to wear down the North Texas defense.

The defense is strong, but does have a tendency to go to sleep at the wheel, giving up garbage when they shouldn’t…..and this is where NORTH TEXAS will be strong…GARBAGE TIME!

Look I like my “Kool-Aid” MEAN & GREEN, but I have to be a realist. North Texas will hang tough in this ball game, and will cover 40 points. Alabama is strong and in a difference class; and they do have a big non-conference game on the horizon with Arkansas the following week. I think if they fall asleep like they did against FIU last week, North Texas has the talent this year to do the unthinkable. I like North Texas to cover in this ballgame….GO GREEN MACHINE

Oh, yeah…the GIANT SIZE UPSET I was talking about earlier in the game, I just had to “hype” up game breakdown….unless CHUCK NORRIS shows up…

Enjoy,
Da GOAT