MeanGreen61

Soccer team has tough schedule ahead Head coach John Hedlund hopes to create chemistry Lindsay Williams Issue date: 9/7/06 Three games into the season that could possibly lead to a third Sun Belt Conference title and the Mean Green has already begun to show its strengths as a team. NT is now 2-0-1 and still has a challenging non-conference schedule left to play. NT will travel to Lincoln, Neb. this weekend for match ups against the University of Nebraska on Friday and the University of Southern California on Sunday. The two nationally ranked schools look to push the Mean Green to perform at its highest level possible. "Obviously we're the underdog," said head coach John Hedlund. "For me, I want us to go out and play good soccer." Playing good soccer and attacking the goal are two things Hedlund feels are vital aspects of this weekend's games. The veterans on the team are accustomed to playing in big games and facing competitors that are equivalent to that of USC and Nebraska. However, the team also consists of many young players. Coach Hedlund said that for the veterans this is nothing, and the rookies he has played have really stepped up and handled the pressures rather well. It is hard for any team to establish a strong sense of chemistry among one another both off and on the field. Hedlund said getting the team chemistry going was his main focus for the offense in practice this week, as it prepares for the tough competition in Nebraska. Hedlund is looking to attack with six players on the offense and he will have those six do drills together all week in practice. He hopes this will get the women to really start working together and integrate more combination passes into their game. Chemistry will take time for the offense, but on the defensive side of play it seems as though Hedlund has already worked out any possible kinks. Junior goalkeeper Kandice Ellis has already proven herself to be the possible backbone of the NT defense. Ellis had a career-high 13 saves in the game against rival Southern Methodist University. NT has changed up its formation to benefit the defense in the past two games; the team has been in a 4-4-2. That formation has varied a bit, sometimes shifting into a 4-3-3. "I think it helps us to have that extra defender," Hedlund said. The outcome of the games this weekend will help clarify what the Mean Green soccer team is capable of doing this season.

Mean Green psyched to take on Ponies UNT, SMU haven't squared off since 1992 10:43 PM CDT on Wednesday, September 6, 2006 By Brett Vito/Staff Writer Long before he began his career at North Texas, Daniel Meager spent his fall afternoons sitting in the stands at Ford Stadium watching SMU. The Mustangs were an obvious choice for a team to follow for Meager, a former Richardson Pearce quarterback who lived just down the road from the SMU campus. Meager is just one of several Dallas-area players who will face off against a familiar team — and in some cases some old friends — when UNT takes on SMU at 6 p.m. on Saturday at Fouts Field. The game will mark the first meeting between the teams since 1992. “It means a whole lot to play SMU,” Meager said. “I went to a lot of their games. One year I made it to every home game they had. This game is a big deal to me and all the guys on the team.” UNT recruits Texas and Oklahoma almost exclusively, while SMU’s roster is also loaded with players from Texas. The recruiting tactics of both schools have set up several interesting matchups, including one that will have UNT junior running back Deavin Cox facing off with his old high school teammate, Chris Phillips, who is now playing tight end for the Mustangs. “I have a couple of friends on the team,” Cox said. “Chris was my quarterback in high school. We still talk every once in a while, although we are not as close as we were in high school. It will be a great opportunity to play him and SMU.” The ties UNT shares with SMU have added to the buzz both in Denton and Dallas about a game that is expected to challenge the Fouts Field attendance record of 29,437 for the Mean Green’s win over Baylor in 2003. The top four UNT games in terms of attendance in Fouts Field history all came when the Mean Green faced an in-state rival. “There is no question any time two teams play and there is some familiarity it adds a little excitement,” UNT head coach Darrell Dickey said. “There probably won’t have to be a lot of speeches made this week to get anybody excited.” That excitement has extended beyond just the members of both teams. Several Mean Green players said they have been asked about the game around campus and in Denton this week. “I think there is a buzz about this game,” Meager said. “You could tell when the schedule came out and people were talking about it and asking about it. I am glad we are getting this opportunity — a lot of us are.” UNT’s players are well aware of what a win would mean to the program after a down 2005 season that saw the Mean Green finish 2-9. UNT has dropped seven straight games since knocking off Florida International in the fifth week of last season. UNT also went winless at Fouts Field in 2005. A victory could help the Mean Green get back on track. “There is definitely a chance to get a buzz going about this team if we win,” Cox said. “We didn’t have a home win last year, so it would be a nice way to get it started at home, getting a win against a team from right down the road.” While resuming its series with SMU will create a buzz, it will also put added pressure on UNT. The challenge is one the Mean Green say they are ready to face. “It does not make a difference that there is a buzz about this game,” Cox said. “You prepare the same every week. But it’s a team that is just right down the road and the stadium will have a few more fans. It will make us more motivated and fired up for the game.” Dickey to pick starter today; Meager ready to go North Texas head coach Darrell Dickey said Wednesday that the Mean Green’s coaching staff would pick a starting quarterback for Saturday’s game against SMU during its meetings this morning. “As of right now I don’t foresee changing anything about our rotation, but we will meet offensively [today] to discuss if there will be any changes in the rotation at any position, including quarterback,” Dickey said. Dickey said sophomore Daniel Meager will be in consideration for the start after a solid week of practice. Meager said he felt 100 percent healthy Tuesday after his first practice since recovering from a concussion that kept him out of the Mean Green’s loss to Texas. Sophomore Matt Phillips started against the Longhorns, while junior Woody Wilson came off the bench to lead the Mean Green on their only scoring drive of the day.

Remember they're Ponies. Call Animal Control.

Maybe you could order your tickets over the phone and have them put into 'will call' at the gate

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/foo...9-06-troy_x.htm Troy looks to beat powers, join them By Jack Carey, USA TODAY Troy athletics director Steve Dennis insists the Trojans football team has not bitten off more than it can chew. An outsider looking at Troy's schedule for the next few weeks might beg to differ. Coming off a 38-0 victory Saturday against Division I-AA Alabama State, the Trojans embark on an ambitious three-game swing that at first glance looks like college football's version of the Bermuda Triangle. Troy is at Florida State this Saturday, at Georgia Tech on Sept. 16 and at Nebraska on Sept. 23. The three "guarantee" games for the program that moved to Division I-A in 2001 will add about $1.5 million to the school's athletics budget. Beyond the obvious financial boost, Dennis says, the games can act as great advertising tools for the program and the Troy, Ala., school, a Sun Belt Conference member often in the shadow cast by Auburn and Alabama. "We have an opportunity to attract outstanding young folks to our place, and this is a great opportunity for the athletic department to be the front porch for that effort," says Dennis, who was an assistant football coach at Georgia and Auburn and worked in Auburn's athletics department before heading to Troy last year. And, Dennis points out, the Trojans have a history of being more than pesky when facing big-name opponents. In the last five years, Troy has won at Mississippi State and at home against Missouri and played tough in a 31-16 loss at Nebraska. "The Missouri game was a jumping-off point for creating tremendous excitement around the program," Dennis says. "And it got us noticed on national TV." The 2002 game at Lincoln was one of three recent trips the Trojans made to Nebraska. When the NCAA allowed teams to begin playing permanent 12-game schedules starting this year, the schools decided to fill the spot by playing each other again. From Troy's standpoint that meant playing the Cornhuskers on the heels of Florida State and Georgia Tech. But the possibility of wearing the players down was not really a concern, Dennis says. "We're not a high school team," Dennis says of program that two years ago made the postseason with an appearance in the now-defunct Silicon Valley Classic. "We're not going to put our players in any physical jeopardy. We've got 300-pounders, and we've got speed, and we're 85 strong. (NFL players) DeMarcus Ware and Osi Umenyiora came from this institution. You do the best you can from day to day and move on." More of the same is on tap. Troy already had games on the 2007 schedule at Georgia, Florida and Arkansas and then jumped at an opportunity for a home-and-home series with Oklahoma State. The Cowboys visit next season, and the Trojans go to Stillwater, Okla., in 2008. Such games raise enough revenue to help fund the school's 15 other sports, Dennis says, but are also important in forging relationships with alumni. "We're building a generation of young alums who want to stay and watch games here and say, 'I'm not going to go watch Auburn or Alabama,' " Dennis says. "Are we where we want to be yet? To be honest, no. You can't snap your fingers at our level and get to the level of Nebraska. But can we move toward that goal? Yes, we can."

Scroll down to CUSA. http://cfn.scout.com/2/565283.html

Link to Q&A's from today's DRC chat session on the Mean Green. http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/dws/...t.72ec24a5.html

SMU @ North Texas Game Info Date: Saturday, September 9, 2006 @ 6 p.m. Location: Fouts Field, (30,500), Denton, TX Weather Forecast: Partly cloudy, 85 degrees F, 20% chance of rain, wind S 5-10. No Television Season records: SMU (0-1, 0-0 C-USA), North Texas (0-1, 0-0) Sun Belt All-Time Series: SMU leads, 27-3-1 Injury/Personnel Report: SMU: No serious injuries UNT: LB Phillip Graves, strained MCL; out SMU @ UNT Overview SMU and UNT are coming off good thumpings on the road against Big 12 tough guys, No. 25 Texas Tech and No. 3 Texas, respectively. The good news for the Mustangs and The Mean Green: it's a long season and neither club will face a tougher team the rest of the way. SMU's 35-3 loss at Tech was not what this not so prolific prognosticator expected. But, it wasn't just Peruna kool-aid drinkers who were surprised by the score. At a Fina station just outside Lubbock on Sunday morning, in the tiny berg of New Deal, a young, female attendant said this: "I'm surprised [sMU] got beat that bad." Me too, sister. Somehow, word had reached the plains of West Texas that SMU was going give Tech a game. But, the Red Raiders are GOOD, folks. As the season progresses, holding them to 35 will look pretty good. But, I digress. This week's game with UNT is a dangerous one for SMU. UNT players, coaches, fans, students and alumni and are sky high. They know a UNT win would make their season and most definitely wreck SMU's. Signs have adorned the campus in Denton since August. Some UNT faithful feel SMU kept them out of C-USA, and out of the SWC before that, when former SMU coach Hayden Fry was leading The Mean Green. SMU won the last meeting with UNT, 28-14, in Dallas in 1992. The Ponies have played in Denton only once before, in 1990, when The Mean Green picked up one of their three series wins, 14-7. Darrell Dickey, in his ninth year as head coach at UNT, has a 39-56 record. Phil Bennett owns a mark of 11-36 into his fifth season at SMU. Bennett and Dickey are long time friends. UNT's offensive coordinator, Ramon Flanigan, is SMU's all-time total offense leader. Check out the Great Plains Sports Conference USA football picks which are posted on Wednesday or Thursday each week! SMU Offense vs. UNT Defense Advantage: SMU SMU managed 189 yards total offense and 10 first downs last week, twice failing to score points after taking over deep in Tech territory. Not good. Bennett noted Tuesday that unforced errors, (penalties and fumbles), were the major problem. The Ponies were also 3-13 on third down conversions. Although QB Justin Willis didn't have big numbers, (9-16-69-0), Bennett said the redshirt freshman handled himself well under pressure and was not intimidated at all in his first collegiate action. Willis broke off a nice 22-yard run on the Mustangs' first possession and wasn't sacked once. Bennett said Willis needs to stay in the pocket a bit longer, though, and get to his second reads. He said protection was there and Willis will get better at it. DeMyron Martin was held to just 30 yards on twelve carries last week. "We had him thinking too much," said Bennett, of the read-zone rushing plan. "I still think DeMyron is a heck of a player." Johnnie Fitzgerald (5-25) found a little room, bouncing it outside on a couple of plays. No deep balls were completed by the Mustangs. WR Bobby Chase led the team with three catches for 25 yards. For UNT, sophomore linebacker Germaine Dawson stepped in at Texas for the injured Phillip Graves. Dawson led The Mean Green with three pass breakups. He also collected eight tackles, second on the team. UNT defense started just one senior against the Longhorns, defensive lineman Sky Pruitt. Linebacker is The Mean Green's most experienced position on defense. Former walk-on Derek Mendoza leads this corps with 17 career starts. UNT Offense vs. SMU Defense Advantage: SMU SMU best be ready to deal with RB Jamario Thomas (5-11, 210), the nation's leading rusher in 2004, (189.9 avg.). He's healthy again after missing four games last season with a hamstring injury. Thomas was held to 38 yards on 14 carries last week – against the monster that is the UT defense. He's gonna have some big days. UNT's senior WR Johnny Quinn has caught a pass in 37 consecutive games, the second longest active streak in Division I-A. He played against Texas with a cast on his broken left hand and made three catches. The Mean Green's starting QB is not known as of Tuesday. Sophomore Matt Phillips saw action last week as did junior Woody Wilson (5-6-65), who came on at the end of the first quarter, eventually leading UNT on its only scoring drive of the day. Last season's starter, sophomore Daniel Meager, is now back in the mix, too, after injury. Like SMU last week, UNT's third down conversion performance was poor– 2-12, with the majority of attempts coming in long-yardage situations. For SMU, DT Adrian Haywood got good pressure on Tech's QB and DE Cory Muse picked up a sack. Otherwise, Tech's huge O-line was dominant. SMU's D-line and linebacking corps should have a more productive Saturday this week. Safety Randall Goode led SMU with eight solo tackles. On the other side, Joe Sturdivant had a pick. Special Teams Advantage: SMU SMU's kicking game was solid at Tech. New punter Thomas Morstead punted for a 43.3 yard average, with a long of 57. He also kicked a 38-yard FG and was just short on a 49-yarder into the wind. True freshman Kellis Cunningham put kickoffs in the end zone. Senior Blake Warren's 54-yard punt return to the Tech 26 in the third quarter was the second longest of his career. He's now 127 yards shy of Doak Walker's career school record of 750 yards. UNT's punter Truman Spencer averaged 41.2 yards on 8 punts at Texas. Kicker Denis Hopovac missed a short field goal on his only attempt. Intangibles: Advantage: UNT This is UNT's Super Bowl, Daytona 500, World Series and trip to the Dairy Queen rolled into one. Win and the campus will spontaneously combust. With the talent advantage, there is pressure on the Mustangs not to lose this game. Regional respectability is on the line. SMU made huge strides in this area with last year's win over TCU and can ill afford a setback. UNT could get up and, with a weird play or two, win this thing - especially if SMU's offensive jitters continue. It's also homecoming for SMU's Willis, who starred for Denton Ryan High School. More pressure? Final Prediction The Mustangs will regroup and perform well in a tough game Saturday. SMU's offensive line has something to prove. Look for holes this week for Martin and Fitzgerald. One of them will reach 100 yards. Willis will get comfortable and have a big day passing. He'll also get loose for another long run - this one for 6. The defense, led by Haywood and Muse, will record multiple sacks and keep Thomas under wraps. Another pick for Sturdivant and corner Devin Lowery has a good day. SMU, 24-9. (Hey, bet the girl in New Deal believes it.) by Rick Atkinson - CUSA-fans.com SMU Correspondent

Russ Goodall: Running game key for UNT turnaround 10:19 PM CDT on Tuesday, September 5, 2006 The outcome in Austin certainly wasn’t what North Texas head coach Darrell Dickey had in mind when the Mean Green opened up against No. 3 Texas on Saturday. He knew it was going to be tough. He knew it was going to be a monumental challenge for both his offense and defense. And he knew that he probably wouldn’t garner too much information about his team’s on-field performance -- thanks to the talent level of the Longhorns. But now just three days removed from the 56-7 loss, Dickey and his troops have to turn their attention to SMU, which is coming off a 35-3 loss at Texas Tech. They have to put the loss to Texas in the rearview mirror, and look toward the Ponies -- a squad against which Dickey can get a true sense of his team’s abilities. To get in the win column, the Mean Green will have to get production out of the running game. “As our entire offense comes along, that tailback person has the opportunity to shine,” Dickey said. “It was tough for everybody on Saturday, because we were playing against a good defensive team and we weren’t executing very well.” While it might be a bit unfair to look at the numbers from the Texas game and throw up your arms and declare the season is over, there is some cause for concern. That concern might not be so much with running back Jamario Thomas (14 carries for 38 yards), but the offensive line. “Jamario looked pretty good at times on Saturday, taking the ball and running north and south and making some cuts,” Dickey said. “But at times there was no place to run. He didn’t get frustrated with anybody, he just wants to do well. He is used to having more success, obviously, but I don’t think anybody is down on what Jamario can do.” From missed assignments to just getting beat, the UNT offensive line struggled for most of the 60 minutes on Saturday. Yes, they did help lead UNT on an 80-yard drive that produced the Mean Green’s only points of the contest, but this is a unit that has now struggled for 12 straight games -- going back to the beginning of the 2005 season. The Mean Green are 2-10 in that span, and, quarterbacks aside, the offensive line is one of the main reasons for that. “It has taken our offensive line, and our tight ends, a while to come together so that they know each other and know their assignments,” Dickey said. “We always want it to come together faster than it seems to happen. As our unit gets better, our tailback will become more productive.” If UNT is going to return to the glory days of four-straight Sun Belt Conference championships and four consecutive berths in the New Orleans Bowl, then this is the week to show it. It’s a game that will test the focus of the Mean Green, especially with all the hoopla surrounding it. -- UNT offensive coordinator Ramon Flannigan quarterbacked SMU to a win over UNT in 1992 -- the last meeting between the two schools. -- SMU starting quarterback Justin Willis is a Ryan graduate, and led the Raiders in their last deep playoff runs -- a loss to LaMarque in triple-OT of the Class 4A Division II state title game in 2003 and a regional final loss to Southlake Carroll in 2004. -- Hayden Fry coached at both UNT and SMU, while current UNT wide receivers coach Chip Garber coached at SMU under Ron Meyer. Those are just the tip of the iceberg. The UNT players will have to put all this out of their minds, as they get ready for the biggest game at Fouts Field since Baylor came calling in 2003. A win is definitely in the realm of possibility. And it will all begin with the offensive linemen and the holes they create for Jamario Thomas and the time they give for whomever starts at quarterback.

SMU 31 North Texas 26 Florida State 28 Troy 6 Kansas 30 UL-Monroe 10 Kansas State 33 FAU 7 Maryland 24 MUTS 7 Oklahoma State 28 Arkansas State 8 South Florida 17 FIU 14 TAMU 27 UL-Lafayette 7 ALL GAMES http://cbs.sportsline.com/collegefootball/story/8820391

Post from the Pony board re: tickets. I went over to Ford last week. We do have sections K and part of J at $25 per seat. The ticket clerk said that's all the UNT allocated. It looked like they were between 10 and the goal line. There's a group of 8 of us going, so if you want to sit with the SMU faithful, that would be your best bet. Look at this way: Should we win, you'll feel that the extra $10 was worth it.

Brett Vito: Former UNT RB Cobbs beating the odds again 09:29 AM CDT on Sunday, September 3, 2006 Former North Texas running back Patrick Cobbs has never been guaranteed much of anything in his football career. Not a Division I college scholarship, not a starting spot at UNT and certainly not a shot at an NFL career. Of course, that has never bothered Cobbs before and it didn’t appear to affect him during the NFL preseason. Cobbs wasn’t invited to the scouting combine and was passed over in the NFL Draft. He had to earn his way to training camp with the New England Patriots. Now he looks like a good bet to be a pro at the start of the regular season after the Pittsburgh Steelers swung a trade with the Patriots for Cobbs late last week. The Steelers sent a conditional draft choice in 2007 for the rights to Cobbs, who is quickly becoming one of the feel-good stories of the NFL preseason. The former national rushing champion ranked sixth among players in the preseason with 188 rushing yards and had caught seven passes for 115 yards at the time of the trade. The Patriots didn’t need another rookie running back after drafting Laurence Maroney of Minnesota and likely wouldn’t have been able to sneak Cobbs through waivers and onto their practice squad. A conditional draft choice might not sound like much, but it was a show of respect from the NFL for Cobbs, who had just one Division I scholarship offer out of high school. The scouts might not have liked his size or his speed, but it looks like officials in the NFL are catching on to what UNT’s coaches and those who have faced Cobbs have known for years. The guy can flat play. And while we are talking football … When it comes to the college game, landing on the cover of a media guide is among the highest honors a sports information department can bestow on a player. The lucky man gets to be displayed on a publication sent across the country and stashed away in files for years to come. It also makes for one heck of a souvenir. Here’s my suggestion for the cover of next year’s UNT media guide: Fifth string offensive linemen of the Mean Green. Why? Think back on this list. Johnny Quinn and Jamario Thomas in 2006, Thomas and Patrick Cobbs in 2005, Cobbs in 2004 and Brandon Kennedy in 2003. I think we have a case for a curse here. Kennedy had a bad ankle in 2003 and never was at full strength. Cobbs lasted all of two games in 2004 before a knee injury ended his season, while Thomas’ hamstring hampered him all year in 2005 when UNT shut him down three games before the end of the season. Oh yeah, and Johnny Quinn broke his hand in preseason practice this fall. Cue the creepy music. Injuries happen in college football, but that’s a season ender and two other major injuries since 2002 when UNT last featured more than two players on its cover. Sports Illustrated has nothing on the UNT media guide when it comes to curses. And speaking of publications … There is still a long way to go, but now that the season is upon us it appears as if UNT coach Darrell Dickey could have a recruiting class that is better than advertised. Most publications and Web sites had UNT’s class rated below just about every other Division I team in the state, but there appear to be a few good players in what could be an underrated group. Tight end Bryant Seidle and offensive lineman Kelvin Drake will make an impact early. Victor Gill of Argyle might also contribute. It just goes to show rankings are not always the best gauge in recruiting, especially when rating players below the top 100 in the state. UNT signed five players from The Dallas Morning News Area Top 100 list in 2004, plus Thomas, a state top 100 selection. Two years later, Thomas has lived up to his billing, but only quarterback Daniel Meager and backup linebacker Colt Mahan remain from that group of five area top 100 players. Linebacker Brandon Monroe of Electra didn’t receive much publicity after signing with the Mean Green in the same class and is starting for the third straight year. It just goes to show that you can’t judge a player by his ranking.

Here's the Ponies team report. Inside Slant SMU put its improvement on the line against Texas Tech in its season opener and found it wasn't as improved as it needed to be to beat a Big 12 team. After finishing 5-6 last season and closing with three consecutive victories, SMU entered the season with goals of a winning record and a bowl bid. Those goals remain intact, but a 35-3 loss at Texas Tech suggests the Mustangs still have a lot to work on. "I wasn't disappointed in our effort at all," SMU coach Phil Bennett said. "Believe it or not, I saw some bright spots. I'm disappointed offensively." That's where the improvement has to start. The Mustangs entered the season with high expectations for a running game led by sophomore tailback DeMyron Martin but found that running might be awfully difficult this season until the offense can get redshirt freshman quarterback Justin Willis established. Willis completed 9 of 16 passes for 69 yards and junior college transfer Cory Slater completed only 1 of 3 passes for 2 yards, giving no relief to a running game that produced only 118 yards on 34 carries (3.4 yards per carry). "Overall, I think I did all right," Willis said. "Tech has a good defense, but we didn't move the ball consistently. The effort was there, but we just missed some opportunities." If the Mustangs are to meet their goals, they must start by taking advantage of those opportunities next Saturday when they play at North Texas. The Mean Green opened its season with a 56-7 loss to Texas. Notes and Quotes GAME BALL GOES TO: FS Randall Goode -- Goode moved into the starting lineup with 11 tackles, including eight solo stops. KEEP AN EYE ON: QB Justin Willis -- SMU's redshirt freshman made his first start and provided some mixed results, completing 9 of 16 passes for 69 yards and leading the Mustangs with 39 rushing yards on 12 carries. QUOTE TO NOTE: "I thought Justin handled himself well for a guy in his first college game. He was not intimidated at all. He didn't have the great numbers, but I see a future in him." -- SMU coach Phil Bennett on QB Justin Willis Strategy and Personnel LOOKING GOOD: The Mustangs didn't allow any sacks. SMU averaged 19.3 yards per punt return. SMU came out even in the turnover departments, losing a fumble and intercepting a pass. STILL NEEDS WORK: The running game produced only 118 yards on 34 carries (3.4 yards per carry). DeMyron Martin, SMU's top returning rusher, finished with only 30 yards on 12 carries, averaging 2.5 yards per rush. SMU committed three consecutive false start penalties on one possession. SMU finished with only 71 total passing yards. SMU has lost six consecutive season openers. ROSTER REPORT: SMU coach Phil Bennett said last week he would play two quarterbacks, redshirt freshman Justin Willis and junior college transfer Cory Slater, and did just that. Willis received the bulk of the playing time, throwing 16 passes and carrying 12 times, while Slater threw three passes and did not carry the ball. Sophomore Thomas Morstead punted eight times for 43.2 yards per punt, with three inside the 20. He also made a 38-yard field goal and missed one from 44 yards into the wind. The only other kicker SMU used in the game was freshman Kellis Cunningham, who handled kickoffs. Several Mustangs got their first starts: Willis, FS Randall Goode, TE Vincent Chase, WR Emmanuel Sanders, LB Tony Hawkins and OLs Tommy Poynter and Kenard Burley. Sanders, Willis and Morstead saw their first collegiate action.

http://msn.foxsports.com/cfb/teamReport?ca...=NotesAndQuotes Notes and Quotes GAME BALL GOES TO: LB Maurice Holman -- The junior led the Mean Green with nine tackles against Texas. KEEP AN EYE ON: QB Woody Wilson -- The junior college transfer relieved starter Matt Phillips and completed 5-of-6 passes for 65 yards and the team's only touchdown. QUOTE TO NOTE: "All the little things we have been working on finally came together on that drive. It showed what we can do when everyone does their assignments." -- UNT junior QB Woody Wilson told the Denton Record-Chronicle, referring to the Mean Green's only scoring drive against Texas last week. Inside Slant When you're trying to find a dependable starting quarterback, playing Texas is hardly the ideal situation. Such was the case, though, for the Mean Green last week when they lost 56-7 at defending national champion Texas. North Texas' only true question mark is at quarterback, where junior Matt Phillips started and junior college transfer Woody Wilson backed up. Phillips completed only 4-of-13 passes for 22 yards, while Wilson showed some good things by completing 5-of-6 for 65 yards and a touchdown. UNT coach Darrell Dickey was noncommittal as far as who will start this week at home against SMU. "Without looking at the film, it seemed like Woody made a few more plays," Dickey told the Denton Record-Chronicle. "What we are going to look at is if Matt was getting as much of a chance and if the problems were his fault or if they came in other areas." It didn't help that North Texas couldn't get its running game going. The Mean Green had just eight yards rushing, and Phillips and Wilson were both sacked twice. Strategy and Personnel LOOKING GOOD: The Mean Green defense struggled much of the game, but did force two turnovers. JUCO transfer quarterback Woody Wilson's play was encouraging. STILL NEEDS SOME WORK: The special teams play wasn't up to normal UNT standards. UNT prides itself in the running game, yet had just eight yards at Texas. In all fairness, though, it will be the best defense UNT faces this season. ROSTER REPORT: Sophomore QB Daniel Meager, last year's starter who is competing for the job this year, missed the game at Texas with a concussion. OL Kelvin Drake and TEs Bryant Seidle and Victor Gill are the only true freshmen expected to play for UNT this season. Despite a broken bone in his left hand, senior WR Johnny Quinn played at Texas last week. North Texas is starting or playing two freshmen -- Desmond Chapman and Antoine Bush -- and two sophomores -- Dominique Green and Steve Warren -- at cornerback.

Is funny the right description?

Not football, but it IS UNT vs SMU Ellis Makes 13 Saves As North Texas And SMU Battle To A Tie Courtesy: University of North Texas Release: 09/03/2006 DENTON, Tex. (9/3/06) – Junior goalkeeper Kandice Ellis dazzled the crowd as she made 13 saves to preserve a 0-0 tie between the North Texas women’s soccer team and SMU. Ellis made three saves in the double overtime period including one in the final 30 seconds of play to keep the game scoreless. North Texas (2-0-1) remains unbeaten on the year and extends its home-unbeaten streak to 16 games. The 13 saves by Ellis are a career-high and tie for the fourth most in school history. Both regionally ranked teams had multiple chances to score throughout the match and into overtime. In the 37th minute of play North Texas had a chance to take a lead as freshman Kendall Juett had her initial shot saved by SMU (2-1-1) goalkeeper Ashley Gunter. Sophomore Brittany Cleveland followed up Juett’s shot with one of her own on the rebound, but fired it just high of the net. The Mean Green had its best chance to score in the second overtime period. Following an SMU foul, junior Heather Hutyra had a free kick from 20 yards out on the right side. She rifled a shot that hit the crossbar and ricochet out, keeping the game scoreless. SMU nearly won the game with less than 30 seconds to play in the double overtime frame. Kirsten Moran’s shot from the top of the North Texas box was saved by Ellis, but the rebound went right in front to SMU’s Kimber Bailey who headed the ball over the net from point blank range with 20 seconds left. SMU outshot the Mean Green 27-10 in the match. North Texas returns to action Friday, Sept. 8 with a road match at Nebraska followed up by a neutral site game with nationally ranked USC.

Isn't that a little fantasy thinking ? I'll be happy for him if he sticks with the team and earns some quality playing time.

We'll be 0-2 in a 12 game schedule.

Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ... It's next to impossible to figure out how good the Mean Green might be after playing Texas. After all, the defending national champion would beat most teams 56-7. Woody Wilson faced the Longhorn defense once the heat and pressure were off, but he looked far better and far more effective than Matt Phillips and has to be the starter going into the SMU game. Jamario Thomas ran well when it got a sliver of daylight, but he only had a few chances to see any breathing room.

When telling, writing and emailing be sure and include your level of donations/personal committment. Let's um know you're actively committed and not just another sideline complainer.

26,265 - Troy v Alabama State 23,426 - Arkansas State v Army 20,058 - Middle Tennessee v FIU (Thursday) 18,106 - UL-Monroe v Alcorn State (Thursday)

Athletic director mulls challenges UNT's Villarreal looks back on five years of effort 09:03 AM CDT on Sunday, September 3, 2006 By Brett Vito/ Staff Writer Rick Villarreal knew a big challenge was waiting when he agreed to take over as the University of North Texas athletic director back in the spring of 2001. The boisterous former pizza mogul with a trademark mustache just didn’t know how big until he sat down to discuss the previous year with his new staff. “The first meeting I had with [uNT football coach Darrell Dickey], I asked him about the season and he told me that at the last game, there were about 600 people in the stands,” Villarreal said. “That was the first wake-up call that we had a real challenge ahead of us — and a big opportunity.” Villarreal talked about that opportunity and what he saw as a chance to turn an athletic department with mostly floundering teams, an apathetic fan base and few big-money boosters into a power in the Sun Belt Conference and beyond from the moment he stepped to the podium at his introductory news conference. Reaching those goals has been a constant battle ever since, but as Villarreal looked back earlier this month, he was generally satisfied with his first five years at UNT. “It was one of the hardest transitions I have ever been a part of,” Villarreal said from his office in the Mean Green Athletic Center that was merely a concept when he arrived at UNT. “But it’s the one that gives me the most satisfaction. What our staff, coaches and athletes have accomplished would be considered very successful by anyone’s standard.” The athletic center is just one of the new facilities that has popped up in Villarreal’s tenure that essentially entered year six with the football team’s season opener at Texas on Saturday. A softball field, tennis complex, academic center and a whole new complex dedicated to women’s sports also have been built or renovated. UNT’s football team has won four conference titles under Dickey from 2001-04, while the women’s soccer team has been to the last two NCAA tournaments. UNT has also increased its graduation rates among athletes from 37 percent to 67 percent. Those milestones have put the Mean Green in a better position, but even the biggest Villarreal supporters would acknowledge a few missteps along the way. An opportunity to land a spot in Conference USA slipped away. Boosting game attendance and raising funds continue to be a challenge. Fouts Field, an archaic facility by today’s standards, was a problem when Villarreal arrived and remains one today. A speech that was meant to bolster enthusiasm among UNT students wearing other university’s T-shirts got Villarreal into some hot water shortly after his arrival when he stumbled over his words and spoke about female students changing into UNT shirts in his office. Former UNT President Dr. Norval Pohl acknowledged that not all has gone as planned for the man he helped hire but was happy with Villarreal’s achievements after five years. “I am a huge supporter of Rick,” Pohl said. “I think he has done a fantastic job and has the right priorities. He puts the students first.” Starting from scratch UNT was searching for someone to breathe life back into its athletic program and convince the school’s coaches, administrators and fans that the Mean Green really could succeed on the Division I-A level back in 2001. At the time, UNT’s prospects didn’t appear very promising. UNT had only resumed competing in Division I-A in football in 1995 and had a 19-47 record since making the jump from I-AA. The men’s basketball team had a 45-116 mark in the same span. There were only 100 members in the Mean Green Club, a group of athletic boosters, and UNT’s facilities were mediocre at best. Fouts Field opened in 1952 and only so much could be done to upgrade it. Those factors seemed to be pushing the glory era of UNT athletics under legendary football coach Hayden Fry in the 1970s further and further into the past. Villarreal has tried to turn the tide with ideas that have sometimes been unconventional. Students who wore University of Texas or Texas A&M University hats or shirts on campus became targets for Villarreal, who would offer new UNT gear to those willing to trade. The fans who used to park next to Fouts Field for football games were told to clear out to make way for tailgate parties. “Rick came in and shocked some people early on with his ideas of what could happen here,” said Deputy Athletic Director Hank Dickenson, who is in his 12th year as an administrator at UNT. “Five years down the road, while maybe not everything has happened that he planned to do, he has set the bar so much higher. In conjunction with the football team’s success and a great president, Rick was defiantly the missing piece of the puzzle.” Getting creative to advance Villarreal said he basically had to start from scratch when it came to fundraising because actively raising money was not part of the university’s culture. Villarreal has started to change that attitude, thanks in part to Dickey. Dickey had a long-term relationship with Houston furniture mogul Jim McIngvale, who donated $1 million toward the construction of the Mean Green Athletic Center. California businessman and UNT alumnus Ronald Waranch later kicked in $1 million for a tennis center. Those two large donations helped Villarreal’s staff raise $12.3 million in his first five years. “Based on what I know now, I am comfortable with $12 million, but I wish we would have raised three times as much,” Villarreal said. “It’s not from a lack of effort. … If you look at the university as a whole, fundraising is not where we want it to be.” UNT was able to stretch that money, thanks to its neighbor Liberty Christian High School moving to a new campus. UNT purchased Liberty’s old facilities for $5.1 million and has since turned a portion of the campus into a women’s athletic complex that has helped address its gender equity issues. UNT’s soccer team left the recreational field it played on since its inception in 1995 for a new stadium this fall. “Rick is my third athletic director, and he has done more for my program than any of the others,” UNT soccer coach John Hedlund said. “He has come in and given us so much that has helped us succeed. A lot of athletic directors will say this is what they are going to do for you and might even draw you up blueprints, but it never happens. Rick is a guy who will tell you what he is going to do and gets it done.” Villarreal said his most important achievements include improving facilities that helped put some UNT teams on par with other Division I programs and addressing gender equity issues. UNT’s women’s tennis team played in a city park before moving to the Waranch Tennis Pavilion last season. The softball team UNT added to its athletic lineup in 2004 also will have its own on-campus facility for the first time this year. New turf was installed in Fouts Field before last season. Villarreal is confident more improvements will happen soon, thanks to more productive fundraising. “In the last month we have gotten a $150,000 gift and a $50,000 gift,” Villarreal said. “We are working gifts every day, six- and seven-figure gifts. The cultivation process will pay off in the very near future.” A new student athletic fee and improved advertising and concession sales have helped UNT push its budget from just over $8 million to $13 million in Villarreal’s five years. But perhaps Villarreal’s greatest accomplishment has been in helping bring some enthusiasm back to UNT for its athletic teams, an achievement that can also be credited in part to Dickey’s run of four Sun Belt titles. “You have to give Rick credit for helping change the attitude on campus,” said Steve Thomas, a 2001 UNT graduate who still follows the program. “He wanted to do that before anything else.” A miss or two Even with all of UNT’s progress, Villarreal acknowledges that there have been a few disappointments in his tenure. Perhaps the biggest came when the landscape in college athletics shifted in conference realignment. UNT officials have long said they want to play in a regional conference that includes teams from Texas such as SMU, Rice and Houston that would create rivalry games and boost fan interest. That opportunity came when Conference USA expanded. UNT made a presentation to the league along with Louisiana Tech and UTEP, which received the last invitation in the spring of 2004. UNT later had a chance to join the Western Athletic Conference but passed on moving to the West Coast-based league because of the strain the travel would put on its athletes. Instead UNT stayed in the Sun Belt, a still-developing league based in Louisiana and Arkansas. UNT is the only Texas team in the conference. “We were a couple of years behind when it came to Conference USA,” Villarreal said. “I know today that we can be competitive with our facilities and budget.” A bid to Conference USA might also have helped UNT address its continuing problem with attendance. Even during the Mean Green’s bowl run in football, from 2001 to 2004, UNT averaged between 14,769 to 18,694 fans for its home games. The men’s basketball team averaged just over 2,100 fans a game last year. UNT ranked No. 97 nationally in football attendance and didn’t crack the top 100 in men’s basketball last season. Villarreal also has missed on a few of his coaching hires. The softball team’s first coach, Stacey Segal, scheduled more games for her team than is allowed by NCAA rules, and didn’t complete the year before resigning, setting a new program back. Villarreal also recently hired Joe Dykstra to replace Mona Nyheim-Canales, a swimming coach he hired and worked with for four years before not renewing her contract for the upcoming season. Tension with Dickey and his coaching staff also has boiled over at times. This season will mark the 10th straight year that UNT has played five home games or less. The Mean Green often play non-conference games on the road against national powers in exchange for six-figure payouts that fund the athletic department. Villarreal has cut back on those games in recent years, but several challenges remain. “Rick has done a good job, and we have a good relationship,” Dickey said. “But it’s quite natural for the head coach of a football team that is playing people [teams] 90 percent of the time that have a lot more resources to want those same resources. The athletic director has to balance the books. Those two things don’t mesh, but we work through things.” A plan for the future In some ways, UNT is coming to the end of a cycle as Villarreal begins his sixth year. The athletic and tennis centers are finished and the women’s athletics complex is nearing completion, giving Villarreal time to turn his attention to two of the bigger projects on his original wish list: a new football stadium and a baseball program. Villarreal said adding a baseball program would hinge on raising enough money for a stadium, a project that has been pushed back multiple times. A total of $4 million to $6 million is needed, about $400,000 of which has been raised. Replacing Fouts Field will be an even bigger undertaking. “It will be a whole process,” Villarreal said. “A lot of things we have been able to accomplish we have been able to do on our own from increased revenue, the Mean Green Club and some donations. Building a stadium is going to take the involvement of every fan, alum and the local community. You just don’t go out and say that we are going to start raising money for a stadium. You have to go out and find out what’s out there and go from there.” UNT has the general plans in place and is studying what it will take for the project to be completed. UNT Board of Regents chairman Bobby Ray said that Villarreal and the athletic department would likely form a fundraising group that would try to put together the financing for a stadium in the near future. And while not all of the goals Villarreal set when he was introduced at UNT have come to fruition, enough have become reality to convince some diehard Mean Green fans that he just might be able to reach even the biggest of his goals. “What Rick has done gives me confidence that he can do more,” said Brad Olson, a 1973 graduate and booster. “The boosters who have been here and remember what the past was like support him. Some of them don’t like his timetable and ask what the university has done to merit support, but I think Rick has done a lot. … You have to go back to the Hayden Fry era to match what Rick has accomplished in the last five years.”

http://www.jhowell.net/cf/cfpred.txt North Texas -4 vs SMU

Nebraska 49 Tech 10. Nebraska had nearly 600 yards in offense (586 - 252 rush, 334 pass) and had 1 TD called back.

Attendance 360 per official site stats.