MeanGreen61

MUTS win 44-0. 20,806 attendance for Thursday game with 6PM start vs 1AA team. Not bad.

Comments from a 9/13 NT Daily article She wants to make changes and said that NT is an excellent university and it needs to start acting like one. "It is easy to do things we have always done them, but it is not always OK," Bataille said.

I'm kinda slow, but am now also free !

WKU student newspaper. Students would play for move to 1A. Regents vote November 2nd. http://www.wkuherald.com/media/storage/pap...tml&mkey=620662

Just found out from another thread that we have an "Ignore" option. Open 'My Controls' & you'll find it. It works !

Thanks. What a wonderful option .

Actually it was three. Troy was not a conference member until the following year

Another lengthy "it's all bad" PMG post

UNT hopes SMU outing signals defense's return to dominance Mean Green thrived against Ponies 11:44 PM CDT on Wednesday, September 13, 2006 By Brett Vito/Staff Writer Sky Pruitt found himself wondering Saturday night if North Texas’ defense had gone back in time. UNT had limited SMU to 270 yards in a 24-6 win, an outing that reminded the senior defensive lineman of the 2002 and 2003 seasons, when the Mean Green featured one of the elite defenses in the Sun Belt Conference and beyond. “It was awesome,” Pruitt said. “It felt like when you were down in your stance you could count on everyone on your left and your right to do their job as long as you did yours. It looked a lot like our defense back when Booger [brandon Kennedy], Cody [spencer], [Taylor] Casey and [Chris] Hurd were out there.” Pruitt was a young backup on those teams and is now among a handful of veterans trying to ensure the Mean Green’s outing against SMU is the next step in UNT’s rise and not a blip on the radar heading into a game Saturday at Tulsa. UNT started off well defensively in a season-opening 14-7 win over Middle Tennessee last year before giving up 54 points in back-to-back weeks against Tulsa and Kansas State. The Mean Green went on to finish 2-9 and rank last in the Sun Belt Conference in scoring defense with an average of 31.5 points allowed per game. That total represented the continued demise of a unit that finished third nationally in scoring defense with an average of 14.8 points allowed a game in 2002. UNT’s slide prompted a few changes in the Mean Green’s staff after last season, including the return of Fred Bleil as defensive coordinator after a stint at San Diego State. Bleil’s first move was to put the Mean Green in a 3-4 base defense in place of a more traditional 4-3. A Texas team with superior size and athleticism handled UNT in a 56-7 win in both teams’ season opener, but SMU never deciphered the Mean Green’s scheme. “They jump from an odd-man front back to even and disguise their defense very well,” SMU coach Phil Bennett said. “Their kids play with the temperament defense is supposed to be played with.” Bleil said UNT’s performance was another step toward adjusting to the new system, but credited the Mean Green’s performance more to hustle than the scheme. “What was really good was the effort,” Bleil said. “We ran to the ball pretty well.” UNT’s players said Bleil deserves more of the credit for the SMU win than he has accepted since the Mean Green won for just the fourth time in their 32-game series against the Mustangs. “[bleil] not only put us in a new defense, he works with us on fundamentals and brings a lot of energy,” UNT junior safety Aaron Weathers said. “The players are really buying into what he is teaching and it’s showing on the field.” Head coach Darrell Dickey said that while the SMU win was critical, UNT would face a true test of how far it has come under Bleil in its rematch with Tulsa. UNT trailed the Golden Hurricane 5-2 with three minutes left in the first half last season before Tulsa blitzed the Mean Green for 49 unanswered points. UNT’s players hope to show on Saturday that this season’s defense will look more like the Mean Green of old than the team that collapsed against Tulsa last year. “Some of the defenses we have had in the past have been pretty good,” Dickey said. “We have the ability to be strong defensively again, but I’m not ready to anoint us as a great defensive team yet.” Briefly … Head coach Darrell Dickey said Wednesday that UNT is researching the eligibility situation of running back David Jackson, a former Haltom standout who began practicing with the team this week. The transfer from Oklahoma State will have one or two years of eligibility remaining and could also have a redshirt year. UNT’s plans for the 5-11, 190-pound back will be set when the Mean Green’s staff determines how many years he has left to play. … The status of linebackers Brandon Monroe (turf toe) and Derek Mendoza (sprained knee) for UNT’s game against Tulsa on Saturday will be a game-time decision. … Senior wide receiver Johnny Quinn practiced with a pad over his left hand on Wednesday and will play without a cast for the first time this season against Tulsa. Quinn has 12 catches for 148 yards in two games, despite breaking his hand during preseason practice. BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com UNT’s defensive slide North Texas showed signs that its defense could be turning the corner in its win over SMU after an extended slide the last few years. The following is where UNT has ranked in scoring defense the last four seasons. Year Points National rank 2002 14.8 3 2003 21.9 5 2004 29.8 81 2005 31.5 97

1A football meeting http://www.hilltopperhaven.com/board/viewtopic.php?t=7351

The Mean Green cloud lingers over SMU. Poor Ponies Bennett reins in talk of bowl with Mustangs scoring 4.5 a game 11:58 PM CDT on Tuesday, September 12, 2006 By CALVIN WATKINS / The Dallas Morning News UNIVERSITY PARK – At the start of the season, coach Phil Bennett said the goal for SMU was to reach a bowl. After an 0-2 start in which his offense is averaging an anemic 4.5 points a game, Bennett said he's not talking about bowls right now. That's probably a good thing, because it seems the rest of Conference USA has gotten better. Rice has increased its scoring average from 21.9 in 2005 to 23 through two games in 2006. Houston improved its scoring by 10 points to 38 a game. Marshall, which finished last in the conference in scoring at 18.5, is averaging 32 this season. Bennett said Tuesday the Mustangs' offense is inconsistent, and when that happens, it hurts the bottom line: wins and losses, which also makes reaching a bowl difficult. "I'm not writing off the season after two games, but I'm not going to talk about that [a bowl]," Bennett said. "I don't judge [other] games, because every game has a different mentality." Athletic director Steve Orsini said the team needs to continue developing the younger players, and reaching a bowl is a goal. "We played a team that was probably better than us," Bennett said of Texas Tech. "We lost to a team [North Texas] that wanted it more and made more plays than us."

It's not fair, they were a MAC team.I want my mommy.

1. Relax a little, Woody is starting. 2. Refrain from in depth research when DD comments about personnel or you may need to schedule a session with a psychatrist

Sports Network Tulsa/North Texas game preview & prediction. http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform...ive/pv14260.htm

Sun Belt coaches picked ULL to win & Arkansas State 2nd. Beleive nearly all of the so called experts picked Troy & NT to be below several other Sun Belt teams. Consensus seemed to be ULL as the big gun.

A prediction thread has just been started on the Tulsa board. Here's the link if you want to participate. Game Predictions http://tulsa.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=17...21&sid=&style=2

College Football News staff picks for week 3. Clucko the Chicken again favors NT. A good omen? Scroll down to CUSA http://cfn.scout.com/2/567686.html

NT Daily article NT offense gets rolling http://www.ntdaily.com/media/storage/paper...www.ntdaily.com

Article in today's NT Daily. Coach upbeat despite battle with diabetes http://www.ntdaily.com/media/storage/paper...www.ntdaily.com

Russ Goodall: Holman, young defense key for UNT 11:33 PM CDT on Tuesday, September 12, 2006 North Texas came a long way as a team between a loss at Texas to open the season and a big home win over SMU this past Saturday night. You can thank the play of a very youthful defense for that. After giving up 410 total yards and 56 points at Texas, the UNT defense allowed SMU just 270 yards of total offense in a 24-6 victory. Mean Green linebacker Maurice Holman was all over the field against the Ponies, having one of the best performances of any defender over the last 10 years at UNT. The junior from Houston finished with 11 tackles and a sack. More importantly is that three of Holman’s tackles came on third-and-short situations for SMU. All three forced the Mustangs to punt. “I know Maurice Holman and we couldn’t block him,” SMU head coach Phil Bennett said. “He was all over the field.” Because of Holman and the rest of the young defense, SMU came up with just the one touchdown despite entering UNT’s end of the field five times. However, there’s no time to celebrate for Holman and the defense. It was back to work on Monday, when the Mean Green ‘D’ began preparing for Tulsa and its experienced offense. “This is a team that definitely has our attention,” North Texas head coach Darrell Dickey said on Tuesday. “They [the UNT defense] are going to be tested by an offense with a quarterback that has experience. That is not what we have faced.” Unlike Texas’ Colt McCoy and SMU’s Justin Willis — McCoy was making his first ever start on the college level, while Willis was making just his second — Tulsa starting quarterback Paul Smith is very seasoned. For Smith, it is all old hat. Smith led the Golden Hurricane to a Conference USA title last season, and ended the year with a Liberty Bowl victory over Fresno State. And despite the loss of New England Patriots draftee tight end Garrett Mills, Tulsa is the same team that came into Fouts Field last season and took the Mean Green to the wood shed, 54-2. Does that worry Dickey? You know it does. “I’m very concerned because we are young, but very pleased with what they have done so far,” Dickey said about his defense. “We are playing pretty much four corners that are all freshmen. … The first two games they have done pretty well, and they have been tested. They haven’t played great. They are not where they need to be yet, but they are really doing a nice job. But, they will be tested again this week.” Tulsa opened the season with a win over Stephen F. Austin, and then followed that with a loss to BYU last week. But despite being 1-1, Tulsa’s offense is already in high gear. The ‘O’ is averaging 412 yards of output a game, while Smith has thrown for 411 yards and four touchdowns in the two games. And the Golden Hurricane are finding their way up onto the scoreboard — to the tune of 34 points a game. This could mean a long night for the young Mean Green defense, which is giving up 340 yards of total offense and 31 points a game. “We are a good defense that showed signs of being able to make some plays and contain a pretty high-powered offense,” Dickey said. “But this week is probably going to be the biggest test we’ve had, because we are going to see everything.” And it doesn’t get much easier after Tulsa, with games against Akron and Middle Tennessee on the schedule before September ends. This is going to be a year of growing pains for such a young defense. But with a player like Holman leading the charge, the Mean Green defense has a chance to stop anybody — including Tulsa.

It's all doom and gloom, right?

Amen to that. FIU has lost two 1 point games because of missed extra points.. WOW

I do agree that you've gotta be half nuts to go into psychology. Be careful that you don't end up on the couch yourself

He just can't get it right can he?

Maybe over analyzing a bit?