Issue date: 11/27/07 Section: NEWS

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Nerves were frayed and tensions ran high between NT (2-9, 1-5) and Western Kentucky University during Saturday's home finale at Fouts Field. An incident occurred seconds after NT beat WKU 27-26 in front of a sparse crowd of only a few thousand on a cold, rainy Senior Night.
Players from both teams had to be separated from a scuffle that lasted several minutes at mid-field.
Senior defensive back Aaron Weathers said the fight had been brewing throughout the game.
"Their antics during the game got to us and at the end of the game it showed," Weathers said. "There's nothing good about getting disrespected on your home field so we had to come out and show that we weren't going to take that."
WKU (7-5) is on provisional status this season and won't become an official NCAA Sun Belt Conference team until 2008. Many Mean Green players said that they were shocked that a team serving a provisional status would purposely stir up so much trouble in the first meeting between both teams.
"They weren't very classy," said senior defensive end Montey Stevenson. "They were jumping around on our 50-yard line as we were doing our pregame preparation. They were hoisting their helmets in the air and spinning towels and joking around and saying a few choice words. It was ridiculous, so we just kept fighting and got the win."
Hampered by hamstring injuries for much of the last few seasons, senior running back Jamario Thomas returned to his dominant freshman form against the Hilltoppers.
Thomas rushed for three touchdowns and 147 yards off 16 carries to propel NT to victory. The last time Thomas scored more than two touchdowns in a game was against Idaho in his freshman season. Thomas said Saturday's game was one of his best performances ever.
Head coach Todd Dodge said he was moved by Thomas' gutsy showing.
"I really love that kid and I'm so proud," Dodge said. "He was the guy tonight and he really stepped up."
Like the rest of his teammates, Thomas was outraged at WKU's disrespectful actions. The Hilltoppers had 11 penalties for a total of 118 yards. WKU had numerous unsportsmanlike conduct penalties called against them, including two on the same play.
After scoring a touchdown, several WKU players circled around one another in the end zone and performed a popular "bomb" celebration where they collapse after a tossed football hits the ground.
"The bomb in the end zone was major disrespect. That made me mad and it takes a lot to make me mad," Thomas said.
That resulted in an excessive celebration penalty, which cost WKU the game as it added 15 yards to their ensuing point-after-touchdown attempt, which their kicker missed. If WKU had scored the extra point, the game would have eventually gone into overtime with a 27-27 tie.
"We've had so many locker rooms this year where you come in and there's not a whole lot to say because you're dejected and you love your kids and you hurt for them," Dodge said. "But today we celebrated and we really let it out. When you're a competitor you need to enjoy the wins as much as those losses rip your heart out."
Offensively, NT relied heavily on Thomas as the passing game was never established because of the wet conditions, which affected freshman quarterback Giovanni Vizza's performance.
"I think [the weather] had a big affect," Dodge said. "He [Vizza] was trying to wear gloves and it didn't work too well after the first interception so he took them off."
Vizza was sacked three times and hurried a dozen more as he failed to connect on more than half of his passes. He finished the game 20-of-42 with 202 yards and three interceptions. WKU scored touchdowns off Vizza's first two interceptions.
Junior wide receiver Casey Fitzgerald led NT with 80 receiving yards off only eight receptions. Junior wide receiver Brock Stickler was second with 38 receiving yards off three receptions.
NT's special teams had a pivotal performance, forcing a blocked punt for a touchdown and a fumble recovery to start the second half. Defensively, NT had one of its best games of the season. Although it faltered at times, the defense came together when it counted the most, allowing only six second-half points.
"Defensively, the key was that we bent but we didn't break in a bunch of situations," Dodge said. "It feels as good to win this one as it was terrible to lose some of the others."

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