UNT Mean Green

I honestly believe Derek Thompson will be a pleasant surprise for Mean Green fans in the future. Riley has me optimistic about this year, and what he brings to the offense in general, but Thompson provides nice depth to that position and is somewhat 'raw' at this point, though he flashes good tools. Once D. Thompson grasps everything, I think he could push Riley. When that happens, who knows? In the meantime, Riley has me anxious to see what he can do in leading the offense.

LINK Five games to fear in the SEC July 13, 2009 12:06 PM Posted by ESPN.com's Chris Low The SEC has done a better job lately of scheduling marquee nonconference games. Case in point: Alabama opens the 2009 season against Virginia Tech in Atlanta in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Classic, while Georgia travels to Oklahoma State to open its season. Talk about some serious testers right out of the gate. But where are those nonconference games that aren't necessarily against big-name foes that will still cause SEC coaches some sleepless nights? You know, the kind of game no head coach would schedule because you don't get enough credit for winning it, but get ripped if you lose it. Here are the five "scariest" nonconference games involving SEC teams this season: Louisiana Tech at Auburn, Sept. 5: Mississippi State knows all too well what it's like to open the season against Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs lost 22-14 in Ruston, La., last season. Auburn at least gets Louisiana Tech at home, but first games with new coaching staffs are always scary. Plus, Derek Dooley will bring a Louisiana Tech team into Jordan-Hare Stadium that returns 17 starters from a year ago. The Bulldogs won eight games last season, including their bowl game, and won't be intimidated. They should also be better on defense in 2009. Florida Atlantic at South Carolina, Sept. 19: The timing of this one isn't real good for South Carolina, which will be coming off back-to-back trips to open the season against North Carolina State and Georgia. Despite what happens in those first two games, you just wonder if the Gamecocks will be ready to play. They better be. Florida Atlantic has athletes and is plenty capable after winning seven games a year ago. Quarterback Rusty Smith has thrown 56 touchdown passes the past two seasons, and the Owls get tight end Jason Harmon back after he was hurt all of last season. Ohio at Tennessee, Sept. 26: Who knows where Tennessee will be emotionally coming off the much anticipated trip to Florida. The Vols will return to Knoxville to find an Ohio team that should be one of the most-improved clubs in the country after going 4-8 a year ago. The Bobcats lost a bunch of close games last season and played Ohio State into the fourth quarter before losing. They have two talented quarterbacks and throw the ball all over the park. If their defense steps up with some added experience and they take care of the ball better than they did a year ago in most games, this could be a tough one for the Vols. Mississippi State at Middle Tennessee, Oct. 17: This is what head coaches refer to as an athletic director's game, because no SEC head coach in his right mind would agree to play a Sun Belt Conference team on the road. It's the ultimate everything-to-lose, nothing-to-gain situation. Rewind to last season. The Bulldogs played at Louisiana Tech to open the season, lost the game and never recovered. Troy at Arkansas, Nov. 14: With the way Troy scores points and moves the ball in rapid-fire fashion, who wants to play the Trojans at any point in the season? But Arkansas will be playing its ninth straight game in as many weeks, which includes trips to Alabama, Florida and Ole Miss. Troy will again be the class of the Sun Belt Conference after winning eight games a year ago and coming within an eyelash of upsetting LSU in Tiger Stadium. The Trojans should also be better on defense this season. Troy vs. Middle Tennessee: Troy is the undisputed favorite to win the Sun Belt this season, but it's going to get a lot more competition than it did a year ago, especially from its archrival. MTSU's addition of offensive coordinator Tony Franklin, who used to be Troy's offensive coordinator, was genius. He's already changed the Blue Raiders' offense to invoke more scoring and he's going to be able to help gameplan against the Trojans and perhaps give the Blue Raiders their first win over their rival since 2005. Arkansas State at Louisville, Oct. 31: Hey, this is the same Louisville program that has lost to Syracuse the past two years and scuffled by Middle Tennessee State in 2007. Arkansas State is a respectable Sun Belt outfit that upset Texas A&M on the road to open '08. Given that the game is on Halloween, this could be the scariest possible upset of all.

Short Yardage fullback maybe?

Agree 100%. Though I don't like some of the posts TFLF places on the board, he does cut to the chase and tell it like it is, most of the time.

love how on the color palette, they have all these different greens (South Fla, UAB, Baylor, Oregon, Marshall, Ohio U, Eastern Michigan, Colorado State, Hawaii, etc), and all of a sudden I come across one that reads "Northern Texas"! Gotta love that!

Do you not think any of that had to do with the athletic ability and/or speed of the WR's? There's no way to stretch a defense when your fastest WR is a 4.6 or 4.7 40 guy. And a few long balls per game were attempted last season only to fall well ahead of the WR's because of their lack of speed...it was a lost cause. There is improved speed at WR this year, and that should help, and would expand the passing game playbook quite a bit.

In reality, it wouldn't take much work to make our softball stadium, Lovelace Stadium, look very similar to the one at Texas State or make it even better.

How many years of eligibility does Rusty Smith have? Goodness gracious he's been there forever. Like the schedule, and think there are some barometer games like people have mentioned. I really hope we can win the majority of conference games. I also hope for a flyover for the Army game!

no kidding. Isn't that the coolest name?

Snelly runs out of the I formation with 1 TE and 2 WR. He also will remove the fullback and utilize another TE as a slot receiver (his definition of TE is an extra large, extremely athletic WR). They are under center probably 90% of the time. It's not the most explosive offense in the country, but it does work. FIU is a spread team with 4 WR and 1 RB.

This is an impressive group. Not only are the constructing Jerry's World, they have done Reliant Stadium in Houston, the expansion at Oklahoma State, Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, the New Orleans Sports Arena, and others. It looks like many of the HKS designed ideas get completed by Manhattan.

He was a US Army All-American and a 5 star recruit named Ben Habern of Argyle. He is a Center at Oklahoma.

Fitzgerald is the RB from Liberty the past 2 seasons. He had an incredible career and is a physical specimen. He's a lot like Mitchell in the fact that he's a hard worker and would be a valuable asset to any program, except he's 6'1" 210, and Mitchell was 5'8" 190 or so. That school produces good athletes and good young people, like James Mitchell.

If you only knew the real story, then you would understand why people are saying that. The Vizza's wanted certain things promised that were unable to be by the coaching staff.

Does it do anyone any good to say things like 2012 does such as: Dodge planned to wait to go after Junior College WR's after his son had the probability of becoming the Quarterback? Regarding that particular post, my question is that he intentionally had one really good WR last season in Casey Fitzgerald? He intentionally had no deep threat at the position because he was waiting to give that to his son? Does 2012 believe that everyone just wants to go 1-11, so they can go 11-1 with their son the next year? The fact is Mike Outlaw and Jamal Jackson were recruited well before Giovanni decided to quit the team because he was not guaranteed playing time. No one is guaranteed anything on the team, and that's how people should want things. It has nothing to do with genetics, race, any of that. I'm basically just stating that making false assumptions, and attacking a coach's or players personal integrity is not good for a fanbase, and that is what 2012 is doing. Soapbox=over (I know Quoner & TG will be happy).

Have I said this type of thing to anyone on here? Once, to TFLF. These types of people are absolutely worthless to a fanbase. It's not about the "get off my lawn" approach, and it's not about profiling younger types. In fact, younger people often bring a breath of fresh air to idea sessions, etc. Rather, the issue lies in that 2012 makes ridiculous, false comments (similar to TFLF), and they don't do anything but actually hurt the fanbase and hurt the integrity of this board, where many avid North Texas fans are active. Thanks for the advice on how not to build a fanbase. I'll keep that in mind.

well, dang. That's okay though.

No Jackson wasn't just a backup plan. He and Weber were recruited at the same time in a sense. We will see about Shavod Atkinson. Keep your fingers crossed, but it sure is cold in Morgantown, WV.

Wow a youngin'. I seriously doubt anyone gives a rats ass if you post on this board again either, considering you're what 18?

Great post. We are very lucky to have a player like Riley Dodge on this team, and the fact that he is most likely going to be leading this offense is very comforting to myself and many people involved in the North Texas football program.

This post is absolutely ridiculous. If you only knew why Vizza really left, and I'll give you a big hint...nothing in life is guaranteed, and someone felt a little threatened by the depth chart. It has nothing to do with offensive strategy, playcalling, etc. And the funny thing is, the team is much better off because of this exit.

I'm right there with you Big Dawg. It's unbelievable, and it gets me optimistic that '09 will be a fun season, and there will be good progress on the field. As far as emmit's list, all of those are so true. I however, would put the pass rush ahead of the inability to cover (but they go hand in hand). I don't care if you have 4 All-Americans in the back end, if you can't rush the QB and force him to throw the ball early and out of rhythm, you might as well forget it...no one can consistently cover for more than 4-5 seconds.

Are you saying that's bad logic on my part, Quoner? Yes, yes it is, but I just had to throw that fact out there. And I'd be right there with you placing my bet.

Arkansas State?!? Beat A&M by 4 points at Kyle Field. Beat UNT by 5 points at Fouts Field.