Greendylan

I think one under-appreciated aspect of Thompson's game was his ability to take a step or two away from the pass rush and then quickly release the ball. He helped the offensive line minimize their sacks allowed totals and maybe inflated our expectations of them going into this season. Don't get me wrong; our OL is one of the strengths of the team. But, they are far less effective when we are in obvious run/pass downs.

Is there a banner in Denton for each North Texas player and coach like Fort Worth does for TCU?

Someone will win 10-7 . . . . . . after 7 OTs

For what it's worth, there's an even bigger spread for the Alabama-West Virginia game.

Let me clarify one point about my above comment. When I say that we need a "more than competent QB" in order to have a chance against Texas, I fully believe that either McNulty or Greer could potentially be that QB who could lead us to a win. But, we need to acknowledge that we will be asking a lot of a relatively inexperienced QB in hostile territory, if the ground game isn't consistently working.

Solid points. I don't think many teams will be able to run the ball effectively against UT's DL this year. A really good, experienced OL will not be enough to open up running room without a formidable passing threat as a complement. That's what worries me. If McNulty/Greer and a revamped WR corps don't play over their heads, then we are conceivably looking at around 100 yards of total offense and probably between 0-6 points. I don't even want to think about their point total in that scenario. I'm not saying that this is what will happen, but this is a plausibility if we don't come in with a well-crafted, balanced game plan led by a more than competent QB.

Sorry, meant to +1 you and accidentally hit -1.

This is one of the most objective previews of this game that I have seen.

I agree. However, I suppose that is the risk when coach speaks runs amok.

This thread was derailed in record time. Happy Fourth!

Well, we're moving up the CUSA preseason rankings on this list. At worst they have North Texas as 3rd in the West and 4th overall.

Very true. And, for those who think this list is being unusually forgiving to the good old Mean and Green, keep in mind that he very well may still place us below both UTSA and Rice. Predicting us to finish third in the West and fifth overall in CUSA seems plausible, no? These write-ups are pretty meaty and well-informed. I too was surprised to see Vanderbilt appear before North Texas, considering the similarities in record and personnel losses shared by the two. But, if you notice, he places a heavy emphasis on the coaching change and consequent whole-scale shift in defensive philosophy as being the factors that will hinder Vandy even more than their player turnover.

I would love to be 64 or better, but that's not going to happen. Right now I'm primarily interested in where we'll be in relation to UTSA, Rice, Indiana, and Texas (the opponents that also haven't yet shown up in the ranking). Obviously Texas will be quite high, but the others are more of a mystery, and I could see a justification for them landing just about anywhere short of the top 25.

I have a feeling that RV's hands are tied on this matter.

If DT was merely an average QB, then 95% of North Texas QBs over the years were god awful.

I just reached my third "cooling off" period. Electioneering is hard.

Amazing how quickly things changed. McCarney literally is falling behind by another tenth of a point every single minute.

If a P5 school wants one of these two badly enough, a "bag man" will make an offer he can't refuse.

I don't know...I have kind of a different impression than some others. The Green team quarterbacks (McNulty and Greer) combined to throw for 369 yards at 62.5% completion with one touchdown and no interceptions. Considering that they played 48 minutes instead of 60, that extrapolates to 461 yards in a normal length game. Both were out of synch with their receivers at times, but that's to be expected at this stage of the offseason. So, I thought they actually exceeded expectations.

Abandoning the 16th largest city in America, which just happens to sit 37 miles from Denton, feels like a terrible strategy. If coaches caravan events there in the past have been sparsely attended, then it seems like improving the event and increasing visibility would be better than giving up. However, I have a feeling that we are over-reacting and that some sort of similar event will eventually get scheduled for Cowtown.

"Coach Benford barring some natural disaster is going to coach this team next year. That is the way it is." This means we are either broke or are exercising horrible, horrible judgment. Either way, it's depressing as hell. I'm starting to understand why so many NT alumni have just given up on athletics over the decades. "They both stuck it through this year and we had a relatively good time watching NT basketball with way lowered expectations." "Lowered expectations" appears to be the only prescription for the Benford blues. Some fans (such as most on this site) can enjoy the Mean Green whenever, wherever. I'm proud to say that I'm in this group. The vast majority of NT students and alumni, however, just go back to watching Big XII teams when it looks like we're not taking things seriously. That is the way it is.

I don't think Texas is going to be easier than usual. We might be better than usual, but let's not undersell the difficulty of such a game.

TCU and Boise State may not always excel at every major sport, but when they're good at football they're REALLY good at football. Also, they don't necessarily suck at everything else. Boise State has won over 20 games in basketball three of the last four years and went to the NCAA tournament last year. TCU is pretty damn good at baseball.

I'm starting to think USM is headed to the tournament one way or another at this point.

Good god . . . we just never learn from our mistakes, do we?