Side Show Joe

Clemson's players are bigger, faster, and stronger. Our defense made several stops, and I think they are continuing to improve. Yes we missed too many tackles, but Clemson didn't beat us because they were able to control the ball. Most of their points came from big plays, and quick strikes. North Texas controled the time of possession because Canales called a good game, our players fought from start to finish, and the defense made stops.

Dunbar should be the Sun Belt player of the Week. Just my opinion.

I'm very proud of our team. 35-10 much better then many of us could have hoped for. Were we perfect? No, but we can build on this game. We never quit. Under Canales, our offense had success. The defense looks improved. No blocked punts or kicks. Take away the TD Clemson got by using the ref as a pick. Don't throw 2 int's in the endzone. The final score could have easily been 28-16. Rice played Texas better then I hoped they would. "Next Saturday Rice vs. North Texas could end up being one of the greatest games ever played at Fouts". Be sure to tell your friends that. We need a big crowd.

In addition to my 52-14 lose prediction, I'll predict that we will continue to struggle on field goals, if Olen kicks the ball low. He's got a strong leg, but that won't matter if he can't get it over the line. Clemson's players are big and tall. Attereberry will have a great day, and may end up being the SBC Player of the Week.

No. I'm willing to admit when I am wrong. I thought the WAC was an option for North Texas if we were overlooked by C-USA, but it is very obvious that the WAC is now on life support. I think if a spot in C-USA opens up, we get in. If not, we now have no choice but to "Build the Belt". Maybe in a few years BYU might take another shot a BCS glory by trying to create a new conference, comprised of the top non-AQ teams, and we will make the list.

After reading the two deep roster for the Clemson game, we appear to be extremely thin a the DT position. I think our starters are going to be fine, but I think our backup DTs will have trouble. Runs up the middle will probably give us trouble by the 3rd quarter. If this happens, it will be disastrous for us in short yardage situations, and allow Clemson to control the clock. I think our lack of depth at the DT spot combined with our green field goal kicking, will stop us from keeping this one close. On a positive note, I believe Atterberry (punter) will make sure Clemson has to march the length of the field for all of those scores, and I think the offense will play well under Canales, and with Tune at the QB spot. 14 points in Death Valley, with a very shaky kicking game, and a serious disadvantage in the time of possession is not bad. North Texas- 14 Clemson- 52

I agree.

Forlando Johnson has really impressed me. His sideline to sideline speed and tackling should get him playing time. I could see Robertson moving to MLB, and Johnson, and Phillips playing the outside spots in passing situations. Kicking game still scares me. Olen made his kicks after Atterbery started holding, but I feel he is still kicking too low and some of those will end up being blocked. I hope they are coaching him up. This team will only be successful (7-5 or better) if we have a solid kicking game. I feel confident in Atterberry, and the punt game. Kick return and punt return should be ok, but I'm not sold on extra points, field goals, and kickoffs.

The Denton Target has a nice Mean Green section near the back to school stuff. T-shirts, sweat pants, folders, book covers, number 5 (Dunbar) football jerseys, baby clothes, notebooks, binders, and more. It was a nice surprise.

The one handed catch by Ross was really nice. I thought he had a good day at TE.

Atterberry has changed his punting technique. Last season he used a mult-step punting technique. I noticed during spring practices that he had switched to a one step technique. This allows him to get the ball out faster. Sometimes a punter will lose distance with the one step, Atterberry's leg actually looks stronger. I was very pleased with his play, and I think he will help us win the field position battle in many games this season. In my opinion, the All Sun Belt Team is a real possibility for him.

Atterberry did look great. Even when he got bad snaps or didn't get a spiral on the ball, he was still getting 50 yards on his punts. His best punts were around 60 to 70 yards.

Not sure if this has been posted, but over on cbssports.com, North Texas has 6 players listed on their All SBC Team. Offense- Dunbar, Jackson, Santiago, and Drake Defense- Robertson, and Akpunku (listed as playing for MTSU) Can't add a link to it. Maybe some one else can. One guy there picked us to finish as high as third in the conference.

I can't wait until Saturday's scrimage to see how the added weight effects our DE and LB play.

Good article. I agree, it's not right to kick some kid off the team, if you made a commitment to him and he is doing everything expected of him. That QB- Chris Garrett, was he someone we looked at when LSU dumped him?

I think these camps are great. We really need to overturn every stone and find those gems other schools may have overlooked. Plus it's a great opportunity to reach out to high school coaches and communities to really develop strong relationships, because it allows a coach to tell his players and parents, "North Texas is coming to town and there will be an opportunity to earn a FBS scholarship". It also creates an opportunity to get the North Texas name out there in areas of Texas where communities may not normally hear much about us. I'd like to see North Texas add camps in Oklahoma and Louisiana. I hope the staff had scrappy playing UNT promo videos down at the town square, and the prospective players were drinking those "Mean Green" bottle waters when they left the camp. If North Texas is going to win new fans, this type of grassroots effort would be a great start.

Had to go with the Navy game. The MNSU game was great, but the atmosphere at the Navy game, with the fly over, combined with the record breaking offensive performances put it number one in my book for most "memorable" game. If we are talking the greatest win at Fouts in the last ten years, then the wins over Baylor and smu rank at the top. I hope the Sept.11 Rice game will merit being added to next season's list.

That is ugly. I guess in the land of Eastern Washington the color blind man is king.

I like our basketball uniforms the way they are. I think it's a shape look.

The Snake Pit is a nice atmosphere and I like the noise you get in there, but those bleachers are too uncomfortable, and it's too hard to get in and out of your seat to go to the concession stand or restroom. I can imagine the trouble fans with small kids have. I will wait for the first game at the Super Pit as well.

Great pod cast. RV is doing a great job, and I really feel this program is on the way up. I was very pleased to hear about the lighting in the new stadium. 100 foot candles is very good. I did a little research and found out that the NCAA requires a site to have 125 foot candles of lighting to host the National Championship game. Going from 20 fc in Fouts to 100 fc in the new stadium is big. We are really going to be up there with the quality of images broadcast from the new stadium.

I played this game on NCAA the other day, and North Texas won 30 to 3. Tune put up 289 yards with 1 td and 1 int. Carey finished with 127 yards and a td. Jackson had 74 yards. Dunbar only had about 40 yards on the ground but was able to get a td in our goal line set. I ran Dunbar on a lot of sweeps. Mosley also got a td in short yardage as a full back. Prior lead the team in tackles. He played most of the game due to an injury. Chris Neal had 6 sacks from running corner blitzes. The only time he was in the game was when I was running a nickle package. Atkenson also had a sack, and a few tackles for loses. Robertson had a Sack, a pick, and several tackles. Olen was perfect in the kicking game (3 for 3 fg, 3 for 3 extra pts). His longest field goal was from 43. Atteberry only had one punt but it went for 48 yards. Jackson average 22 yards on kick returns, and Carey averaged about 4.5 yards on punt returns. If we can do this for real, it's goin to be one great season.

I hope that's not a misprint. We'll find out in a few days.

Our first game in Fouts was a win against South Dakota. I'd like our first game in the new stadium to be a win also. The Cowboys first game in the Cowboys Stadium was a lose to the Giants.

I want to play Houston. I'm not saying that we shouldn't. I wish we played Houston every year. I'm from Houston. I'll make that trip every time. I'm saying we shouldn't make that game the first one in our new stadium. I'm not scared to play Houston. I'm being realistic. We've won five games in three years. A new stadium isn't going to change that over night. If we have another bad season, Houston is going to embarrass us. I don't want my first memories of a game in the new stadium to be a disaster like the Tulsa or the last Rice game. Based on our recent performance, the most likely opportunity opening against Houston presents is receiving a beat down as we open the new stadium on national T.V. No thanks. We play WKU at home in 2011. Finish the stadium on time and move the WKU game to Sept. 3. If we don't, odds are we will regret it.