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My son is a redshirt this year and came home this weekend. I took my dad hat off and put my coaching hat on as I walked him out to his truck Sunday morning as he was leaving for Denton and told him the following: This week of practice is going to be tougher than any fall two a days practice you ever had...no one on campus; you have had your butt handed to you; and pride is all you are playing for against WKU. He like everyone of his teammates gets discouraged from time to time until they look at the future of UNT and Coach Macs visions....see, Connor has never played on team that has lost more than 3 games in a season from 4th grade pee wee through his senior year in high school. I also remind him of his high school and where they were prior to the new head coach. There were many loosing seasons at Arlington Martin. When Bob Wager took over the head coaching job there were not immediate district championships, but there were more notches in the win column...beginning to sound familiar to UNT? Last year Connor played on a Martin team that had it's best record yet...12-2. 9 players going on to play D1 football and 3 playing D2 or 3 off of that team. Prior to Bob Wager taking the head football job, Martin was thought of as a baseball and girls volleyball school...it still it, but now it has the same respect on the football field. See more similarities with UNT? 7 years now and Bob Wager has taken Martin from where it was to now one of the most respected teams in Texas high school football. 7 YEARS.....!!!! Coach Mac has been here two years and has given UNT more wins...well some of you know the stats better than I. I know college football and its demands are different that high school when it comes to expectations on the football field from the booster members and the UNT community....and yes, I still look back at that Troy game and wonder what if...but I also look at a very, very young team that is in transition; and I think a transition that my son will be able to look back on and compare to his high school. Past players, I applaud your past success on and off the field. I hope these current, younger players look back at those great teams and individuals that put the blood, sweat and tears on Fouts to help in building what is UNT Football today with Apogee and the UNT Athletic facility. But when it is all said and done, I think Coach Mac will have turned this ship around where players like my son can stand with the great alumni / players in the past and be just as proud as ya'll are. GMG

KenPom is a moron. If we score 75 and they score 68 I give us a 100% chance of winning.

lol jeremy phillips ‏@jphilican45 To whoever put my tweet on the football blog about getting drunk and driving go karts, here is another one you can read, kiss my a$$!

NT 53 IUPUI 35 15:43 to go Keeping the momentum going. This is as well as we've played this season.

This rant is based on the thread " but I didn't want to derail that thread too badly When all of this conference upheaval started a year or two ago, everyone said it would be good for North Texas. It has been good in that it has led to our invitation to C-USA that we have been coveting all these years. But the rate at which it's happening has not been good for North Texas and it has not been good for college football. The C-USA we have joined is not nearly as enticing as the one we had hoped for a couple of years ago, a C-USA including Houston, SMU, UCF, and Memphis. Now we will be in a conference with more new entrants to the ranks of FBS than the conference we are leaving. The only Sun Belt team joining us in that conference is the team which generated the absolute least interest among the UNT fanbase. By all accounts, we were C-USA's first choice to add . . . FIU was close . . . but we were ahead of LaTech, ahead of Charlotte, ahead of Old Dominion, and certainly ahead of UT-San Antonio. We didn't need a major upheaval in the conference landscape to receive a C-USA invitation. We just needed one change in C-USA to get an invitation. We may not have even needed a member to leave, as they are expanding to become a larger conference than they were before. But we could have been in a more attractive C-USA if there had been less conference upheaval. With Maryland and Rutgers apparently joining the Big 10, they will at the same time make both the conferences they are leaving and also the conference they are joining worse. The fallout will of course hit the lower conferences, as the BE and ACC will probably hit C-USA for at least one replacement (there goes ECU). We're left with a bunch of conferences that make no geographical sense, with schools in those conferences who have no tradition with each other, so that's not great for college football in general. Of course, the timing of the upheaval is terrible. If the spots in the BE had opened up just 3-4 years ago, there is no way that SMU would have been invited. And it's too bad that all this conference upheaval is taking place while North Texas's program is so down. I wish things would slow down.

This. We live in a "want it now" society where everything is at our fingertips. Very few want to put in the time it takes to build something from the ground up. I see it in my business, in everyday life and in the expectations of the 7th youngest team in NCAA football. We will get there, but we must believe and be patient.

I agree Mr Trussell. I think Mac with his 40 something years of college coaching experience knows what he's doing. GMG!

Yea, pick any year in the last 8 and you could apply this post. It's always 3 to 4 years down the road for UNT football. Always.

Was working in the CBS truck for the game, and the director kept screaming about how bad the Cowboys o line is. If they didn't suck as bad as they do, maybe Dunbar might be able to break a few. I kept my Player card roster because both Dunbar and Robertson are on it.

Sorry , but this sounds like a lame excuse and not a very good one ULM was down 5 or 6 starters MTSU was down their best RB & LB ULL was down their starting QB , RB & their top WR didn't even play the whole game because he was already banged up That's just off the top of my head , I'm sure there are others as well

Not only are we not beating Bowl teams, we're not beating Houston either.

NT 16 IUPUI 7 11:43 to go Nice early 11-0 run by the good guys.

The madness continues for no apparent reason. Other than perhaps the size of the TV contract there is no difference in the Big East, CUSA and the Mountain West. So to counteract that I'd like to see the three consort to negotiate a TV contract for the three conferences together and divide the three conferences geographically. BIG EAST Charlotte Cincinnati Connecticut East Carolina FIU Louisville Marshall Navy Old Dominion South Florida Temple UCF CUSA Houston Louisiana Tech Memphis North Texas Rice SMU Southern Miss Tulane Tulsa UAB UTEP UTSA MOUNTAIN WEST Air Force Boise State Colorado State Fresno State Hawaii Nevada New Mexico San Diego State San Jose State UNLV Utah State Wyoming Boise State and San Diego State can have all of their athletic teams in the same conference. Houston, SMU and Memphis can greatly reduce travel costs. Equitable distribution of the TV contract based on market and/or attendance, etc. would minimize the need for conference jumping. Rivalries can renew. Sanity can return.

ULL 57 @ Boise St. 63 MTSU 45 (Neutral site) (10) Florida 66 FAU 59 @ Elon 62 OT Louisiana Tech 70 (Neutral site) Troy 46 Rough day for the league

North Texas football will celebrate(?) their 100th anniversary next year. Some have watched North Texas football for over 50 years. This isn't a microwave mentality we're talking about here. Two instances in our history when things got turned around quickly and noticeably. From 1943-45 North Texas did not field a football team. So starting from scratch, Odus Mitchell is hired and his first season is 1946,, 1946- 7-3-1....including a win over Houston 1947- 10-2... including wins over Houston and Florida....went to bowl game 1948- 6-4. 1949-..8-4..including a win over Houston 1950 7-2-1. including wins over Houston and Nevada Hayden Fry 1973-5-5-1 co-champions of MVC......with previous coaches players from a 1-10 season 1974-2-7-2 ...losing season, but we also beat a ranked team. SDSU 14-0....the last time we've done that 1975- 7-4 with wins over Houston (who won the SWC the very next year) and Tennessee. 1976 7-4 none of the four losses were by more than 7 points (Miss St. 0-7, Texas 14-17, SMU 31-38, Florida State 20-21) Even Corkey Nelson went 8-4 in his second year with wins over New Mexico St. AND New Mexico....after driving out to Albuquerque on the bus. And his team won it's show-down game with ULM 27-7. All with a much smaller budget.

If you want to build a power house team from a small conference, Boise is the school that has shown the way. 1 They scheduled only one mid ranked team a year. 2 They recruited 2 & 3 star high school recruits and red shirted them. (Very few jucos) 3 They let them develop and learn the system well. 4 They always took care of business on their home field. It looks like we are finally doing the same thing. Granted if we could recruit 4 and 5 star recruits it would speed the process. However, the UTs of the world gobble them up like a fat kid at a Thanksgiving buffet.

This. And, a lot more of this. When asked what it takes to be a good quarterback, Ken Stabler once said, "Get your ass on a good team." Thompson has never been on a good team. I draw, again, on the comparison of Troy Aikman versus Tony Romo. In a 165 game career, Aikman had: -165 touchdown passes -completed 61.5% of his passes -had a QB rating of 81.6 -3.5% of his passes went for touchdowns -3.0% of his passes were intercepted In 115 career games, thus far, Romo has: -162 touchdown passes -completed 64.9% of his passes -has a 95.5% QB rating -5.4% of his passes have gone for touchdowns -2.8% of his passes have been intercepted Tony Romo has been more efficient that Aikman throughout his career. He's throw touchdown passes at a higher rate. He's thrown fewer interceptions. And, yet, when things don't go well for Dallas, it's Romo that people bag on. Why? That's what happens, fair or not, when you are the quarterback. Aikman, unlike Romo, had behind him what would be the NFL's all-time leading rusher in Emmit Smith, playmaking receivers Michael Irvin, Alvin Harper, and Kevin Williams, plus Jay Novacek at tight end. Aikman was also protected by an offensive line filled with perennial All-Pros. Romo, has had dick behind him at running back, an evolving cast of ball droppers at WR, and an ever-changing offensive line. The only positive constant he's had has been tight end Jason Witten. Thompson, like Romo, takes care of the ball. But, unfortunately, like Romo, he's never had more than one real playmaking wide receiver. He's had a good running game. And, over the past two years, a good offensive line. Quarterbacks and coaches will always get too much credit and too much blame. I think Thompson takes on more blame than he should. It won't matter who quarterbacks the team in 2013 if we have no wide receivers step up and make plays. I think Dan McCarney is fairly blamed for the roster predicament of lack of DL depth as well as WR depth. He's a man who doesn't make excuses, and that's refereshing. But, he's also right to say that his players, at the end of the day, need to drop the sense of entitlement from being on scholarship and make plays at game time. I'm afraid what McCarney is finding out is that many of the kids he signed - and, that Dodge signed before him - do not care as much about winning as they may tell him to his face. Actions, as always, speak louder than words. And, this team's action - particularly at WR - show that no one cares enough to grab the opportunity given them to make plays and help the team.

[ Scott Hall would have struggled without a top 10 defense.....also. Remember, we were not an offensive juggernaut back then. In 2002 in the second game of the season against a poor 1-AA Nichols State team we only took a 10-0 lead going into the 4th quarter. People started to leave for their cars at that point. But if I remember correctly, Nichols reached the 50 yard line one time, and that was all the Buick cared about. Our success was based around the other guy not being able to move the ball. At one point we were ranked 3rd in the nation in scoring defense and 9th in rushing defense. Now we're giving up 31 points in a half to a poor MTSU team without their stud running back. No one understands more the importance of dominating D Line play than D Mac. So it comes as a shock to me here late in his second season, with two recruiting classes under his belt, to not see us start to see some improvement in that part of our D. We must have this and next year we had better see it improve or we are going to be in more trouble than we originally thought? Rick

Love DT.. Great guy but if Brock isn't the quarterback come August 31st 2013.. I'll be absolutely stunned

You also have to take into account the fact the he faces cover freaking zero nearly every game. Tired of excuses, football is a game of results and we aren't getting any. I'll admit, I'm relatively new to this fan base but I did watch Scott Hall play while I was growing up and, sadly, I watched all of the Dodge era. Please, great people of this fan base, don't subject yourself to feeling that DT is an adequate division-1 quarterback. He's a good guy but it would be for the best of the team if Berglund were able to prove he is a better player and win the job. Also, if this happens don't feel bad for DT. He's going to leave here with plenty of memories and free schooling well into his master's degree.

This is so true. There is a reason everyone refers to "building a team." it is not a instantaneous process. It takes time and is often painful.,

Does anyone else enjoy the irony of a thread titled Misery Loves Company is hijacked by Cougking and GL2greatness.

WKU will be playing for a bowl birth. They went 6-6 last year & didn't get in , I'm sure that's in their mind sitting at 6-5

4-7

How would we not be better??? is this a joke post? Up front we have everyone back except one, running backs all will be back but brown (peagram, who i hear is a stud, takes his place no problem), quarter back (all i hear, from those real close to program, is real deal) and if not DT a 2 yr starter back that cant possibly be worse.. recievers- Delgado will hurt but outside that were ok.. Brelan our best WR back, Terrel will be eligible, smith and harris back.. we will be ok.. Defensive wise, our D line cant possibly be worse, plus i hear we have some young studs who can play, linebacker- Orr returns and so does polk, losing phillips hurts but still strong point.. DB's - everyones back!!! should be better... so tell me, please how we only win 3 games.. ya you can say conference is tougher, but non confrenece lightens up and with UTSA, Rice and UTEP on schedule idk how we dont win at least 5, 6, 7,8 games.. at least! Im not saying, im just saying

DT has a timing problem as to when to get the ball out. Thats why so many of his passes are behind the receivers. His biggest problem is his inability to go through a progression to find the open receiver. I know the TE is the third read on some routes, but #1 Power, has been wide open all year and DT never sees him. Power is 6'5" and is a mismatch for LBs and CBs. It seems like a QB would be looking for mismatches to make plays.

LOL. You make valid points. If we evaluated teams on who you worked with.

Yes, but after reading most of your posts it would be a wasted effort.

Who gives a crap? Are there schools judging us over our chants that we should care about? The band is enthusiastic and contributes to the atmosphere if they are yelling regardless of what they are chanting. It's better than them siting there silent except for when they're playing their instruments.

Just ignore trolls and they go away. Next time we play Cooger High, I'll unblock him as a fan from a school we play. At this point he's just a troll trying for a reaction. Completely ignore trolls and it spoils ther "fun."

It's amazing to watch this team play and try to consider the LSU and K State games. Talk about inconsistency! Is this what happens with a young team?

UNT's record versus the Sun Belt schools over the last 12 seasons. MTSU 7-5 ULL 6-6 ULM 5-7 ASU 4-8 WKY 4-2 FAU 3-6 Troy 2-8 FIU 2-7 USA 1-0 Idaho 4-0 NMSU 4-0 USU 2-0

Yeah, we lost and ended any hope of a bowl this season but look who else put their season on the line. Marshall beats Houston, ends U of H's shot at a bowl. Rice betas SMU, SMU's bowl hopes are on the line against Tulsa next week. Utah State upsets LA Tech, cost LA Tech the WAC title.

I don't like the pulling of Siddon's offer either, but if a concussion kept him out all year, then there could be concern that this would happen again and could potentially end his career. My guess is that DMac doesn't believe the program is in a position to offer under these conditions.

As one of the players for Arlington Martin during that transition, I completely see the similarities. I can't believe I never made the connections. Also, Coach Wintrich and Coach Gonzo appear to be from the same school of thought. When Coach Wager came in, we got a new weightroom and a strength and conditioning coordinator to kick everyone's butt. Looks like we have a good one at the helm in Denton as well. Good stuff Mr. Trussell.

Thanks, Harry. And thanks for this message board. Even though I don't post very often, my day wouldn't be complete without it! Let's keep the faith that Coach Mac will get this thing turned around. GO MEAN GREEN!

Trussbusdad is the most reasonable voice I've seen on this board. I love seeing such a level headed parent interacting here.

Awesome post.

+1 .. I believe.. Call me dumb call me crazy but relevant national football will be played at UNT in the next 5 yrs.. Great post

WKU opens up as a 11.5 favorite

Hurray!

Reread sparkmank's post. We return damn near the entire core of this team. Usually when that happens you can expect improvement. The last time we had this kind of depth returning was Dodge's last year. That team was a decent team that got completely wiped out by injuries. It's not a guarantee, but it is reasonable to expect a better, deeper, and more experienced team next year.

They're just about exactly as good as ULM. They will steamroll us in the exact same manner.

Yep. That's the second Browns game for me to watch this year and you're right. He received similar accolades in the other game I saw as well.

I got some Papa Johns Pizza for being on the (second) craziest row, so I guess I'm in the 10%. But this really grinds my gears, so what if someone like my wife or our friends' 3 year old daughter isn't going nuts. I was more disappointed in all of the empty seats. Creighton fans were not making noise the enitre game, but there were 16,000 of 'em. Student section was pitiful. 3 sections should not be that hard to fill, especially if greek row would show up. Regardless, I'm one of those who likes to go to the game and watch. Breakdown the gameplan, see what our strategy is, when Tony throws a no-look alley-oop to J-Will, I'll cheer. When CJ gets his head taken off on a dirty screen that it seemed like no one saw, I'll yell. But I do need to save my voice for my job, especially being in sales, and I did more than my share of going crazy during games as a student. As long as alumni showup, I don't care what they do. That's what really needs to improve, poor showing.

I hope you're wrong on the 3 wins but if this team doesn't win 6 or 7 next season then it should be time for looking at another direction IMO. Derrick Dooley did get fired from Tennessee today. Just sayin....

and Todd Dodge won half as many games in his 2nd year and we stuck with him also....a grand total of 1.

We score more points than they have letters in their name. Win.

If things hold up as expected Brock will be the starter next year. This program can't go into C-USA with a QB this bad

Or Clinton getting his pole smoked in the Whitehouse, and still the Democratic Party bows at his feet. And regarding people calling Obama's win a landslide, really? Since when did winning by 2% of the electoral vote and roughly 2-3 million of the popular vote become a landslide?