NT80

As of last Friday at noon, no midfield logo.

UNT reaches judgment time 11:29 PM CDT on Monday, October 3, 2005 By BRETT VITO / Denton Record-Chronicle DENTON – Just a few weeks ago, North Texas was on course to roll into its first nationally televised game at Fouts Field tonight. UNT won its opener against Middle Tennessee and appeared as if it had a shot at carrying that momentum into a 6:30 p.m. game against the Trojans with wins – or at least competitive showings – against Tulsa and Kansas State. That opportunity slipped away when UNT gave up 108 points in a pair of lopsided losses that left the Mean Green scrambling to get back on track heading into a Sun Belt Conference game against the Trojans on ESPN2. "It would help us to get a win after what we have been through the last two weeks," defensive end Eli Hutchinson said. "It would lift everyone's spirits, but we don't have our heads down. There was a lot of good that came out of those games. We saw a lot of wrinkles that we need to take care of." Those flaws became apparent when UNT needed a late interception return for a touchdown to knock off MTSU. The Mean Green then lost to Tulsa (54-2) and KSU (54-7) in its last two games. A pair of landslide losses raised questions about UNT's ability to top Troy and extend its 26-game conference winning streak that is tied with Boise State of the WAC for the longest in the nation. Victories have been elusive for UNT, which is trying to win a fifth straight league title but has struggled to execute on both sides of the ball. "Our biggest problem right now is that we are making too many mistakes to beat anyone," UNT coach Darrell Dickey said. "The ability of our team is not hurting us as much as knowing what to do play after play, down after down." Patrick Cobbs has rushed for 100 yards twice and broke the school's career rushing record against Kansas State. That milestone has been one of the lone highlights this season for the Mean Green, which has scored just two offensive touchdowns. Cobbs is averaging 79.0 yards a game while Thomas is posting 44.3. Both totals are well off the averages each player tallied while winning the national rushing title the last two seasons. Cobbs averaged 152.7 yards a game in 2003 before Thomas posted 180.1 yards a game last season. "We have shown improvement every week running the ball," Cobbs said. "Last week we had some chances against K-State, but missed some holes and missed some blocks." UNT won't be able to afford the same types of mistakes against Troy. The Trojans were competitive against Missouri and South Carolina and rank second in the Sun Belt in total defense, averaging 374.2 yards allowed per game. Troy's defense led the Trojans to the Silicon Valley Football Classic last season when the Sun Belt sent two teams to bowl games for the first time in its history. UNT won the league title and played in the New Orleans Bowl. The winner of tonight's game will sit atop the Sun Belt standings and have an inside track on a trip to the New Orleans Bowl. That advantage and the glaring lights of national television make tonight's game a critical juncture for UNT. UNT to recognize Fry: The UNT athletic department will honor Hayden Fry during tonight's game. Fry was the head coach at UNT from 1973-78. He led the Mean Green to the 1973 Missouri Valley Conference title and posted 40 wins at UNT, including an upset of Tennessee in 1975. Fry went on to coach Iowa for 20 seasons and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003. E-mail bvito@dentonrc.com Troy (1-3, 0-0) at North Texas (1-2, 1-0) 6:30 p.m., Fouts Field, Denton (ESPN2, KWRD-FM 100.7, KNTU-FM 88.1) WHAT'S ON THE LINE UNT –A win would extend the Mean Green's Sun Belt Conference winning streak to 27 games and give UNT a boost in pursuit of a fifth straight league title. Troy –The Trojans would become the favorite to win the Sun Belt title. WHO'S HOT UNT –Sophomore safety Aaron Weathers ranks 27th nationally with an average of 10.3 tackles a game. Troy –Sophomore Leodis McKelvin won the Sun Belt Conference's Special Teams Player of the Week honor for the third time this season after returning a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown against South Carolina last week. WHO'S NOT UNT –UNT's receivers dropped five passes last week in a loss to Kansas State in which UNTfinished with 74 passing yards. Troy –Senior running back Joel Whinghter rushed for a career high 102 yards, but lost a pair of key fumbles last week in a loss to South Carolina. STAT THAT TELLS THE STORY UNT has had 17 possessions in its last two games that have lasted three plays or less. The Mean Green's average drive in its last two games has lasted 3.8 plays covering 8.9 yards. KEY MATCHUP: UNT'S offensive line vs. Troy's defensive front. UNT's offensive line has struggled to create any running room for running backs Patrick Cobbs and Jamario Thomas this season. Cobbs has two 100-yard games, but the Mean Green is averaging just 103 yards rushing per outing. UNT WINS IF: Cobbs and Thomas can get UNT's running game rolling to take pressure off redshirt freshman quarterback Daniel Meager and the Mean Green's defense. TROY WINS IF: They can overcome turnover problems. Troy has turned the ball over 10 times in its last three games while not forcing a turnover. PREDICTED FINAL SCORE: UNT 24, Troy 21

Congrats Harry! I remember us talking about her and my sister-in-law attorney during our long walk before the Cincy game in New Orleans.

Yes. Why couldn't they have advertised this 3 weeks ago to get the students interested in it for awhile, then put out a reminder about it all of last week and today? Nice promotion, but way late in getting the word out about it.

Baylor is still like 0-37 in Big12 road games, not a good team yet in that conference.

The last time we were favored we got beat by 52 points.

We won't get much respect losing 54-7. Until we beat someone other than lowly SunBelt schools this will continue.

Tuesday: Sunshine. Highs in the low 90s and lows in the mid 60s.

BBA - Admin. Management, but never used it. Air Traffic Controller for 25 years now; got into it thru the Co-op program at NT so school did pay off.

It's all about image. First, is he talking about the school in general or the football team or which criteria? Is Penn State a great school...in accounting? How about Western Kentucky...would they be a "joke" too if you had their screensaver up? Everyone has co-workers that say the same about not only UNT but any school they don't think measures up to their "image" of a successful school or team. Usually I just assume they are saying "UNT is misunderstood" then try to educate them on the good points. But I raze others when their school does poorly in sports too so it all goes around. We just need to win some OOC games and get some respect around here!!

Coach Fry autographed my Flying Worm helmet the last time he was in Denton before the Baylor game. I also had a photo made with Coach Fry, Coach Blakeley and myself...those were great sports times at NTSU!

Hey, we resemble that remark!

"Goodall, you're benched!" We need some new local writers that have a clue as well as offensive linemen.

Football: UNT faces tough challenge with Tulsa 09:20 AM CDT on Saturday, September 17, 2005 By Brett Vito / Staff Writer Johnny Quinn was in the locker room before North Texas’ game against Middle Tennessee last week when a score on a nearby television caught his attention. Tulsa was in the middle of a nip-and-tuck game with No. 21 Oklahoma, a national powerhouse that handled the Mean Green in their 2003 season opener. UNT will host the Golden Hurricane in its home opener tonight at Fouts Field. “We didn’t get to see the game, but we watched the ticker while we were waiting to play,” said Quinn, a junior wide receiver. “It was a close game, so we know Tulsa will be a challenge. I’m glad we will get them at home. It will be great for us and our fans.” Quinn’s assessment is one several UNT coaches and players share because of the unusual situation the Mean Green are in heading into the weekend. UNT’s season-opening game against LSU was postponed due to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, forcing the Mean Green to open their season at MTSU. UNT took advantage by knocking off its Sun Belt Conference rival to move to 1-0 on the season for the first time since beating Illinois State to open the 1996 campaign. The win has created a buzz for UNT’s home opener against Tulsa (0-2). Not only are the Mean Green 1-0, they are taking on a regional rival and could see running back Patrick Cobbs break the school rushing record. The senior has 2,999 career yards after posting 103 against MTSU and is just 121 yards short of the 3,120 yards Ja’Quay Wilburn rushed for in the 1997-2000 seasons. UNT ticket manager Gabe Kirkpatrick said his office has been swamped with single game and season sales, although he couldn’t provide an exact count of the number of season tickets that have been sold. The top four crowds for UNT games in the history of Fouts Field arrived for non-conference games against Texas teams, including a record 29,437 for a game against Baylor in the 2003 season. Capitalizing on the opportunity that facing a regional rival at home presents could be a challenge for the Mean Green. Golden Hurricane quarterback Paul Smith threw for 246 yards against Oklahoma while tight end Garrett Mills caught 13 passes for 152 yards. Mills’ totals were career highs. Tulsa’s performance against Oklahoma was a dramatic improvement over a 41-10 loss to Minnesota to open the season. “Minnesota jumped on them early, but they turned around last week, went to Norman and played Oklahoma off its feet,” UNT head coach Darrell Dickey said. “They looked like an entirely different team.” UNT is hoping to make a similar jump between its first and second game. Blue Raiders quarterback Clint Marks completed 21 of 27 passing attempts and finished with 195 yards last week against UNT. The Mean Green tallied 274 yards of total offense, their lowest total in a Sun Belt game since a win over New Mexico State in their 2003 regular season finale. UNT overcame those shortcomings by intercepting three passes and coming up with just enough big plays on offense to pull out the victory. “We were very fortunate to come out with a win,” Dickey said. “We are going to have to improve a bunch to win again.” Cobbs and fellow running back Jamario Thomas will be among the players UNT leans on in an attempt to improve to 2-0. Cobbs won the 2003 national rushing title and was solid in his return against MTSU despite missing the final 10 games of last season with a knee injury. Thomas, the 2004 national rushing champion, is still rounding into shape after recovering from a hamstring injury, but gained 58 yards on 10 carries against the Blue Raiders. A game against Tulsa could be a chance for both players to thrive. The Golden Hurricane gave up more than 200 yards rushing to both Minnesota’s Laurence Moroney and Oklahoma’s Adrian Peterson. “They’re a great 1-2 punch,” Tulsa head coach Steve Kragthorpe said. “North Texas has more depth in their offensive backfield than any team we’ve played thus far. It’s going to be a real challenge for us.” UNT will look to complement its running game with a more effective outing from quarterback Daniel Meager. The redshirt freshman was an efficient 10-for-15 for 122 yards last week, but struggled to get the Mean Green into the right plays in his first college game. UNT will need to make those adjustments consistently against a Tulsa team coming off an impressive outing against Oklahoma. “Tulsa is a really good football team,” UNT defensive end Jeremiah Chapman said. “They played Oklahoma close. It definitely caught our attention. If they can hang with those guys, they are doing something right.”

Is that unusual? I've been discouraged about the lack of marketing in the other 50 DFW subburbs for many years.

Nice crowd, entertaining game. I'm impressed how Price has turned UTEP around. Smack SMUt when you play them.

I'm all for that! A new stadium might help too, ay Plumm?

He had the info before the Athletic site...it was a Great post! and win!

great! good first post.

DMN/DRC Preview..... Preview: Tulsa (0-2) at North Texas (1-0) 08:46 PM CDT on Friday, September 16, 2005 6 p.m., Fouts Field (KWRD-FM 100.7, KNTU-FM 88.1) Line: North Texas by 4 WHAT'S ON THE LINE UNT – The Mean Green can pick up a key nonconference win in its home opener and go 2-0. TULSA – The Golden Hurricane is looking for its first win after a season-opening loss to Minnesota and a tough 31-15 defeat against Oklahoma. WHO'S HOT UNT – Running back Patrick Cobbs rushed for 103 yards and scored the game-winning touchdown against Middle Tennessee State last week in his return after sitting out the last 10 games of the 2004 season. TULSA – Tight end Garrett Mills established career highs for a game with 13 receptions for 152 yards against Oklahoma last week. WHO'S NOT UNT – Running back Jamario Thomas is still working his way back from a hamstring injury and carried the ball only 10 times against Middle Tennessee State, rushing for 58 yards. TULSA – Defensive back Jeff Thibodeaux posted six tackles against Minnesota but didn't have a tackle against Oklahoma last week. STAT THAT TELLS THE STORY North Texas is 1-5 against teams that were members of Conference USA at the time of the game. KEY MATCHUP: UNT LINEBACKER PHILLIP GRAVES VS. TULSA TE GARRETT MILLS In some of UNT's defensive sets, Graves will have the challenge of covering Mills, one of the top tight ends in college football. NORTH TEXAS WINS IF: The Mean Green can slow Tulsa quarterback Paul Smith, who threw for 246 yards against Oklahoma. UNT gave up 195 passing yards to Middle Tennessee State quarterback Clint Marks last week. TULSA WINS IF: The Golden Hurricane can shut down UNT running backs Jamario Thomas and Patrick Cobbs. UNT wants to use its running game to keep Tulsa's offense off the field. PREDICTED SCORE: North Texas 28, Tulsa 24 Brett Vito

"It was a pleasure to have so many of our great supporters here at the new athletic building," said Dickenson. "The back patio area behind the weight room is a terrific place for an outdoor gathering. This event gave us a chance to continue to sell the vision of a new stadium to prominent members of the business community in Denton."

I drove through campus today and noticed many more students wearing UNT shirts than ever before up there. Probably half that I saw walking had on something North Texas or Mean Green, a very good sign! NT - 23 TU - 13 crowd = 20,455

PM Green Grenade II, he can get you a seat on the 40 yd line. (warning: he may want you to wear a blonde wig and mini-skirt)

There is no Metroplex football...it's Big 12 first, then SMUt and TCU if they're doing well or have a big win, then if all else is bad...then UNT may get some pub.

Nice. I would like to also have one like our old flying worm days where the Eagle is above and holding the words Mean Green in it's talons.