ForneyGreen

The concept is more along the lines of the perception that many people in the workplace have concerning various universities. Basically, universities with large athletic programs are considered "large" schools, and many associate "large" schools with being "good" schools. Universities with small athletic programs are considered "small" schools. In the case of UNT, we are obviously a big university with many quality programs, but we are still referred to as a "small" school by most in the marketplace, and that is primarily tied to the association of athletic program size to university size. That's just the way it is in America. If you are not an Ivy League school or one of the few nationally-recognized tech-based schools like MIT or CalPoly, then the size of your athletics programs (men's football and basketball in particular) along with the commitment level to those programs often weighs heavily toward the perception of the school.

The renovations are good news - I want the Cotton Bowl to look nice when the Mean Green gets their bowl invite in a few years

I was VERY glad to see Riley get playing time. Even at receiver, he is one of the most talented guys on the field. Notice how the offense seemed to "click" a little better with Riley on the field? I'm glad that the offense did finally show signs of life in this game. Tulsa has one of the best offenses in the nation, so the big points against us don't bother me too much - except that I hated to see some really poor tackling at times. Give TD some time - he's playing a ton of youngsters right now - that will pay off later this year in Sun Belt play (and into the following years).

Wasn't that the game that Scott Davis had to make a freaky 50+ yard 4th down throw into the end zone to get us the lead, only to see K-State drive in the last minute to win? I can't remember who caught that pass in the end zone from Davis, but I remember it was a pretty cool looking play. Scott had a funny hitch to his throwing motion but could really get the ball downfield. Just another coulda, woulda, shoulda from our I-AA days...

#1 and #15 Wish I had more time to know much more about the goings-on with UNT Athletics, but my career just doesn't allow for it. I still believe UNT can be the major college sports force in the DFW Metroplex - gotta believe!

Also, don't we have Cam Montgomery coming in at running back (another highly-regarded transfer from 1 year ago)?

When we were I-AA, I remember all too well watching our 1-2 top recruits get cherry-picked by other programs (like old SWC schools) just before signing day. At that time, it seemed like many SWC schools would swoop in and snatch the top I-AA recruits at the last minute if they had 1 or 2 scholarships to fill at the end of the recruiting period. Some of the recent threads about "stealing" recruits got me to wondering... do we ever go after the top recruits for local I-AA programs? I never hear anything like "UNT received a commitment from Player X who was at the top of Sam Houston State's recruiting list". Anyway, it seems like we always paint ourselves as a waiting victim when it comes to snatching recruits - why can't we be the predator and make use of other schools' research into little-known players?

Getting Deloach back would be *huge* for this program. I wouldn't have any specific expectations for his first year regarding the rank of our defense, but I can guarantee that it would be noticeably better. Just having a slightly better defense last year results in a much different W/L record. A Deloach defense after a couple of recruiting years could be very special. I wonder what Mendoza made last year (salary) and just how much of an increase would be required to secure Deloach?

I was really surprised to see that Colorado St. and Wyoming, two MWC schools, both averaged under 23,000 for the year. Northwestern from the Big 10 averaged under 25,000. Western Kentucky went over 15,000 (I guess that's still a requirement for going IA) - they had 16,488

Wow - never thought that I would see Notre Dame, Minnesota, and Marshall all on the Bottom 10 list - I'm sure their supporters would never have thought this would happen as well!!!

My gut feeling is that we would be 0-5 with Dickey Ball - we would just be losing these games 23-13 instead of 38-29 Nothing about Dodge's coaching ability causes a receiver to drop a ball in the end zone or to not have the speed to run past a cornerback. We don't "yet" have all of the right players to run Dodge Ball - even so, this offense is pretty fun to watch!!! Dodge was the right choice.

Vizza is definitely a D1 QB and will only get better going forward. Actually he reminds me a bit of Scot Hall in his freshman year with his grit and the fact that he presses a little with the ball (Hall threw his fair share of ill-advised balls his freshman year). He looked good in the 2nd half after he settled-down a bit. The competition between Vizza and Dodge next year will be fun to watch. Our biggest problem is that we have other guys starting that are not really D1-level players. I don't say that to bash anyone because I know that our guys play hard and do their best. Hell, I wouldn't be able to sniff the 3rd string of a JUCO team. But, facts are facts, and we've had a few bad recruiting years at gool 'ol UNT. Let's hope that we are getting a lot of speed in the upcoming recruting classes...

Well, he's right - we can all now see that we are a slow team on both sides of the ball. Not to say that Fitzgerald and Jackson aren't nice receivers - they both make some incredible catches, and Jackson had an outstanding game. But, we do not have speed to really stretch the defense. Jamario has speed when he's not hurt, but this type of offense isn't going to feature his speed anyway. When watching on TV, it is really amazing to see just how slow we are on defense. We looked pedestrian against OU, but I chalked that up to us playing some of the nation's best athletes. But even against ULaLa, we just looked very slow... maybe the old defensive schemes "hid" this lack of speed by playing more of a "bend but don't break" style. Of course, the old offense definitely hid our lack of speed. It may take a few recruiting classes to get real speed on this team.

That's pathetic - our defense is on the field for less than 20 minutes but looks like their completely spent trying to contain a hurt running back. Geez... I honestly can't imagine this defense giving us any chance to win this year. Thank goodness we didn't schedule a I-AA team like ULaLa did - I would hate to see Texas State or McNeese State hang 50+ points on us this year...

I seriously cannot figure out this defense!!! Any play that develops 7+ yards down field is likely to go all the way against us. What is the deal? Are we that slow, or maybe just way out of position, or is it the scheme?

If I remember correctly, the I-35 frontage road upon TxDOT expansion will run right through the current home-side stands - Fouts is going away, one way or another... But, I kinda like the Kelly Green grass - we would rival Boise's blue grass! (which gets a lot of publicity, even before Boise was good)

Well... their team stunk, but they have attracted some decent athletes at QB down there in NMSU land. Back in their Sun Belt days, I always thought that they were a few good defenders away from being a pretty special team.

Hmmm... I think Plumm Stadium has a nice ring... The color scheme of the stadium would be very interesting - and AC/DC's HellsBells would be a mainstay on the speakers

I have no problems with Riley's quotes - I think they are right on in that he will have the opportunity to play early. Vizza will also have that opportunity. I also have no problems with his quotes about his love for UT - his Dad played there, and he's been a surrogate member of that family for his whole life. I grew up a big fan of... SMU basically because their merchandise was sold at my little-town Wal-Mart and because I liked their school colors. Of course, I attended UNT (NTSU at the time) because it was the right choice and I have had Green running through my veins since that time - but I never think anything negative about how kids in high school think of college programs. Bottom line is that Coach Dodge will play the best QB that he has available. As fans, this is really great to see that we'll have a high-level QB competition at UNT. Wouldn't mind seeing Tre come to UNT at all - would make for a wonderful RB competition at some point! When you have high-level competition at all of your skill positions, then you know that you're getting much closer to that level that we all want to see for UNT. I also don't have a problem with the quotes on the UT board that were posted below because I think they were right-on as well. Riley would have been competing with a crop of athletes that are among the best in the nation at UT - that's just a fact of life. At UNT, he most definitely has a much greater chance to be the starting QB.

Exactly! The bottom-tier bowls will continue to come and go, so there will always be an opportunity to start a new bowl game. If Dallas is really that serious about getting more teams to play in a renovated Cotton Bowl, then this is a wonderful opportunity to partner with the City of Dallas to get a new bowl game - possibly with hard tie-ins to the Sun Belt and CUSA.

The site also shows our very unfortunate record against the Terrell Academy (TX) - I sure hope we get to play them again soon so we can even the score... North Texas vs Terrell Academy (TX) Record: 0-1-0 Date: 1914 PF: 0 PA: 6

I think the MUTS have a very nice stadium. Not quite as nice as Fouts, but a close second...

Favorites: 1) Boomer cannon - simply greatness 2) And that's good for another Mean Green FIRST DOWN!!! 3) NORTH --- TEXAS!!! 4) "Fly Like an Eagle" by the Green Brigade 5) Dominating the Belt! Least Favorites: 1) Polka-style fight song toward the end of the game (BTW - I love most everything else about the Green Brigade) 2) Students tailgating and not coming into the stadium 3) Running a QB draw on 3rd and 25 (I think this one has been officially abolished) 4) Changing uniforms/logos every 4 years

Emmitt - our prayers go out to you and the family of the fallen officer. Stay strong!!!

Wow - I truly believe that this team really overachieved this year - which is a helluva lot better than underachieving. What a great ride - we really appreciate how JJ and his team represented UNT this year!!! Finally, the future looks bright for UNT basketball!!!