College Football Confidential

Will the Mean Greenies go there?

While not generally receptive to giving message-board folks a lot of credit, I can't let this priceless nugget from www.gomeangreen.com pass without a quick thumbs up.

Someone suggested that just maybe, the score in Norman on Saturday could get a little out of hand -- maybe even in the Sooners' favor.

Then it was theorized that a few bored Sooner fans near the UNT visitor section (read: end zone) might throw down a little smack talk.

If said smack talk occurs, then it's suggested that a brave group of UNT fans pull off their Mean Green gear to reveal a sudden undying love for Boise State.

Ticket to UNT road game at OU: $50.

Gas to Norman: $30.

Leaving with your pride intact, thanks to some other school's T-shirt: Priceless.

--Troy Phillips

Bomar reappears

Former Oklahoma quarterback Rhett Bomar was back in uniform Thursday night, this time for Division I-AA Sam Houston State, which beat D-II Angelo State 17-13.

Bomar sat out last season after he and teammate J.D. Quinn were dismissed by OU before the 2006 season. During a summer job at a Norman auto dealer, they basically punched a time clock (or had someone else do it) but did little to no work.

To play again, Bomar (now a junior) surrendered a year of eligibility, gave his ill-gotten paychecks to a charity and fled to Transfer Quarterback U. In recent years, Sam Houston has taken in QBs from Oklahoma State, SMU, Texas A&M, and Texas Tech. Three were named player of the year in the Southland Conference.

On Thursday, Bomar threw for one TD and ran for another, staking SHSU to a 17-0 lead. He's done few interviews since his self-inflicted debacle at OU, but the tone of his comments in various reports have changed in the time he's been away.

A year ago after his transfer, he copped a mea culpa, admitting he messed up, with no one but himself to blame. Other than that, he offered no insight into Car-Gate.

Now, in addition to wanting to move forward, Bomar has that put-upon tone of "why can't people just get off this?" At the same time, he's dangled a vague no-one-will-ever-know-the-whole-story carrot.

Everyone gets that Bomar just wants to play football, but if he's hiding anything or trying to convince us he's personally faced up to substantial public scrutiny about the OU episode, he shouldn't be surprised people are curious.

--Troy Phillips

Catching up with Dickey (sort of)

Ran across various accounts of the whereabouts of former North Texas coach Darrell Dickey, the most comprehensive being here.

UNT fired Dickey before last season ended, and he's caught on at Utah State as offensive coordinator. Another story says Dickey was hired to "punch up" USU's offense, which ranked 114th in Division I-A last year and didn't score in its first four games. Hmm.

A few talking points:

1. Wondering how Dickey -- let's call him a rambunctious fun-lover -- will play in Logan, unmistakably conservative Mormon country. A very liberal friend spent 10 years in that area, and let's just say a sense of humor comes at a premium.

2. USU's quarterback is gone for two years on an LDS church mission. But hey, the guy replacing him beat Fresno State last year for the Aggies' only victory (1-11). By the way, how far has Fresno State fallen?

3. Defensive coordinator Mark Johnson on Dickey: "The guy knows football. He believes in a scheme and stays with it." No arguments here, coach.

4. USU's offense is shifting from throwing out of the shotgun to a "traditional" running game. "Ideally in this offense, what we try to do, and we did a little of this at North Texas, there will be a guy that carries it 20-25 times, minimum," Dickey said. "Sometimes, it's as high as 40. Sometimes at that position, one guy carries it 30 or so and another guy gets eight, 10, 12 carries."

5. A quick check reveals UNT's offense, in its best year (2004) under Dickey, ranked 82nd in I-A. Average ranking in six of Dickey's nine years: 113.

No doubt, Dickey's a smart guy after leading UNT to four bowls, but he did it with defense and a running game that caught lightning in a bottle. Where this so-called punch will come from, who knows.

--Troy Phillips

New unis, good company

Under Armour, inventor of those stretchy, breathable football undershirts years ago, is now in the outerwear biz.

Early this month, North Texas showed off its new helmet-to-cleat Under Armour uniforms, having benefited from a relationship between the company and coach Todd Dodge. Southlake Carroll was one of about 15 high schools nationwide in the UA stable.

UNT"s sharp, new look includes white helmets for the first time since "Mean" Joe Greene terrorized opponents in the late 1960s.

"When I got this job," Dodge said, "I never thought in my wildest imagination [Under Armour] would call and seek us out to be their fifth team."

Starting this week, UA's fledgling uniform line will be worn by only Auburn, South Carolina, Maryland, Texas Tech and lil' ol' UNT. Dodge has taken some teasing for a resemblance to Carroll, especially with the white domes and return to Kelly green.

"I knew people would try to turn it into something, which I can't control," he said.

When you have an official head-to-toe outfitter for the first time in 90 years of football, who cares?

--Troy Phillips

NCAA's binding views are constricting

In the world of college recruiting, “oral commitments’ are considered non-binding. Makes sense when you’re dealing with teen agers and cut-throat coaches. If you’re murdered, though, the NCAA considers an “oral commitment” to be forever.

Herman Mitchell, a linebacker from Houston’s Westfield High School, said in June he would play for Oklahoma. Signing day was more than six months away.

Last Friday, Mitchell was shot and killed.

Adam Fineberg, a Houston resident and OU booster, raised about $4,500 he planned to give to Mitchell’s family to help with funeral costs. When Oklahoma’s compliance officials heard about it, they asked Fineberg to cease and desist. He was violating NCAA rules regarding illegal financial assistance.

Mitchell’s younger brother is a sophomore and a potential recruit; Fineberg is considered a booster/representative of OU football. Herman Mitchell had said he planned to attend OU. All those facts should mean nothing because Herman Mitchell is dead.

Fineberg has refunded the money. He might be able to re-collect it. OU is seeking an NCAA waiver that would allow for money to be donated to the Mitchell family because of the unique circumstances.

In these types of cases, the NCAA is a big, fat, easy target. I’m guilty as charged. Common sense should always win out over a strict intepretation of the rules.

Martellus Bennett in midseason form

As usual, the Texas A&M tight end was quite entertaining when questioned by the media.

He said the Legion of Doom, what he dubbed himself and fellow tight end Joey Thomas last season, is intact for this season. In fact, he even got it tattooed on his right forearm.

Bennett said some of the younger tight ends on the team want to join the Legion of Doom, but they haven't earned their membership yet.

"They try to do the secret handshake and stuff and they want to get in, so I make them carry my pads every day and stuff like that," Bennett joked. "I'll probably make them wash my car some weekend."

He also said the Aggies are coming to 'ball out' this season. When asked what 'ball out' meant, Bennett replied: "Ball out means, like being successful, doing good -- for those of you who don't have an ebonics dictionary."

-- John Miller

Dodgeball era to start at UNT

UNT is set to debut "Dodgeball" at Oklahoma on Saturday. Figure this to be a rude indoctrination for the Mean Green's new spread offense and new coach Todd Dodge. If they can leave with anything of value, more power.

Had a great talk with Dodge earlier this week about what he expects and where he's come from. His root message, he hopes, is sinking in with all the UNT constituencies before the first snap.

"You may have to roll with us a little bit," he said. "But we have a plan to get it done." He predicts some hard times. He refuses to boil expectations down to a specific win-loss record, though he's asked to do so all the time. "To me, it's about a conference championship. I don't know how else to coach a team. Why can't we win it?"

Dodge is imploring the student body to invest five Saturdays of their fall semester into UNT football. He believes any grassroots effort to make it special begins with them. Traditionally, UNT students and their rampant apathy are the biggest obstacle to, well, tradition. Dodge wants desperately to reach out and connect with this sector.

His message to them: Don't jump ship and start beating up on the program at the first sign of trouble -- please.

As for what makes Dodge Dodge, look no further than 1984, when he "lost" a grossly insensitive Austin American-Statesman readers' poll over who should start at Texas, him or Bret Stafford. No need for every ugly detail (there were many), but his treatment by UT fans and media that year should go down as some of the worst ever heaped on a college quarterback or any athlete -- struggling or not.

So, when Dodge is protective about his program, you sort of get why.

--Troy Phillips

The Clausen clauses

Jimmy Clausen, Notre Dame’s Golden Boy freshman quarterback, had his media muzzle removed Friday.

After eight months in South Bend, Clausen finally spoke to the media.

Here are the facts (in the Notre Dame football program, “facts” are subject to laundering.)

-- Last March, Clausen’s father said his son’s throwing arm was injured.

-- The next day, Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis made it clear that any injury information would come only from Charlie Weis. And, by the way, Jimmy Clausen was “good to go.’’

-- Clausen participated in spring practice. For whatever reason, he was not able to distinguish himself from fellow QB candidates Evan Sharpley and Demetrius Jones.

-- Some time after spring practice, Clausen was rumored to have undergone a surgical procedure on his right elbow.

-- Weis would not comment on Clausen’s “surgery.’’ Notre Dame policy is to only comment on surgeries or injuries that will sideline players from game action. Disclosing the truth about a ballyhooed freshman QB who showed up in South Bend in a Hummer limo with an ESPN film crew in tow to announce his verbal commitment to Weis’ program would be a violation of policy.

-- During his 30 minutes with the media Friday, Clausen said he had undergone arthroscopic surgery -- gasp! really? -- to remove bone chips from his right elbow. Clausen said he is practicing and said he was “day to day.’’ Which is an odd of way of a young athlete describing his status while battling for one of the most prestigious jobs in college football.

Moody headed to Florida

Emmanuel Moody, the Coppell High School All-American running back, announced his decision Monday. He will transfer to Florida.

Moody was USC's second-leading rusher last season as freshman. But with a glut of running backs in Trojans Land, Moody decided earlier this month that he'd be better off if he transferred. Per NCAA rules, he will sit out this season. Moody will be eligible to play for the Gators in 2008; he'll have three seasons of eligibility remaining.

The move from USC to the defending national champions was called a "business decision" by the running back. Moody told ESPN.com he chose Florida over North Carolina because, "They get their playmakers the ball."

Farewell, Rust Bucket

I covered the Florida State-Miami game last season at the Orange Bowl. It was not a pleasant experience.

In this day and age, one expects to be able to access the Internet and make cell phone calls. The city of Miami, which puts the funk in dysfunctional, owns the Orange Bowl. It doesn't care if reporters facing night-game deadlines are able to access anything but three typical phone lines. (Dear Miami officials: there is something called wireless; check it out.)

University of Miami folks in charge of making sure that a minimum of preparation is taken basically shrugged their shoulders in a "whadda ya want us to do?'' manner.

After what I considered to be a truly awful experience -- based on just trying to do my job -- I swore to myself that I wouldn't return to the Orange Bowl unless a national championship hinged on the outcome.

Luckily this week, the University of Miami and the Miami Dolphins removed the problem. After this season (which I doubt will take me to Miami to cover any Hurricanes games), Miami is moving from the Orange Bowl to Dolphins Stadium. Hooray.