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MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) - North Texas almost beat No. 15 Kansas State at its own game Saturday night. Using a ball-control offense devised by former Iowa State coach Dan McCarney - no stranger to matching wits with Kansas State's Bill Snyder - the Mean Green managed to keep Collin Klein, John Hubert and the rest of the Wildcats' potent offense standing on the sideline most of the night. It wasn't until Klein and Hubert scored on late touchdown runs that Kansas State finally squeezed out a 35-21 victory Saturday night. "It goes right back to your offensive line,'' McCarney said. "If you can sustain blocks and sustain some drives, you've got a chance to do that against a really outstanding Kansas State team, but in the end we just did not make enough plays. "You get into a game with Kansas State, and you don't want many three-and-outs,'' McCarney said. "We had a couple, three of those in the second half, gave that offense another chance to put a drive together and go score points.'' The Mean Green nevertheless held their Big 12 opponent to 143 yards rushing - Kansas State entered the game sixth nationally at better than 300 yards per game - while holding the ball an astonishing 37 minutes, 4 seconds, which prevented the Wildcats from getting into a rhythm. "They made more plays,'' McCarney said. "They made more big plays in the second half. That was the difference in the game.'' Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/football/ncaa/wires/09/15/2010.ap.fbc.t25.n.texas.0852/index.html#ixzz26eJSBMdv

“Coach Fry did such a good job of unifying the staff and keeping us humble, we were always on edge and I don’t mean that in a disrespectful way at all,” McCarney said. “It was an around-the-clock job, and you never felt like the work was quite done. “Bill was immensely organized and he had such a tremendous attention to detail. In the 10 years we spent coaching together, every last night Bill was the last one out of the office. He was always looking for another idea that might help us win, and he never lost that work ethic. That’s why he’ll be remembered as one of the best to ever coach the game … how could you not remember somebody like that?” McCarney faces a rebuilding project at North Texas, where he went 5-7 in his first season. But he has $78 million Apogee Stadium, which opened in 2011, and a move to Conference USA in 2013 to aid his cause. “I think it was just a terrific hire by North Texas,” Snyder said. “The time we spent together, I got to know him really well. He’s a good guy, a good coach who comes from a good family.” A good guy and a good coach who might be in for a rough day when he brings his 1-1 team into Snyder Family Stadium on Saturday in front of a sellout crowd of 50,000. “I’ve told my players they’re getting ready to go into one of the great atmospheres in college football, which makes it one of the worst places to go and play,” McCarney said. “That’s the truth. I don’t need to recruit for Bill, that’s just the facts. “But isn’t that what you want as a player and as a coach? To go and play against the best?” Reach Tony Adame at 316-268-6284 or tadame@wichitaeagle.com. Read more here: http://www.kansas.com/2012/09/13/2488050/k-states-snyder-north-texas-mccarney.html#storylink=cpy

"Bill Snyder has meant so much to college football for a long time and thanks to the administration at Kansas State they got him back on the sidelines where he belongs," McCarney said Tuesday during his weekly news conference. "He's left an amazing imprint in college football for generations to come." Snyder and McCarney know each other well and go further back than just their days on opposite sidelines in the Big 12 where Snyder was 9-2 against McCarney. The former Iowa State coach and Snyder were both assistants on Hayden Fry's staff at the University of Iowa — working together from 1979-89. "When I went to Iowa with Hayden Fry, Dan was there at the time and Hayden hired him," said Snyder, who was an assistant at North Texas from 1976-79. "We were all impressed with him. He was our defensive line coach at the time and stayed with us throughout the period of time I was there. He's an excellent recruiter and awfully good with the players, very focused and a very intense football coach, and really a good guy." McCarney, who is 6-8 at North Texas, remembers his time coaching along Snyder fondly. Read more: http://www.themercury.com/K-StateSports/article.aspx?articleId=1c40af7174314d1bbfd09336aeda7761

It’s a simple case of cause-and-effect for North Texas quarterback Derek Thompson once he enters Snyder Family Stadium on Saturday. If he can’t show he can throw the ball effectively against No. 15 Kansas State, the Wildcats will, undoubtedly, stack the box on defense. And that could mean trouble for the Mean Green, already four-touchdown underdogs. “I know (Kansas State defensive coordinator) Tom Hayes,” North Texas coach Dan McCarney said. “And he’ll be grinning out the side of his mouth if he sees our passing game isn’t working.” Through two games, the Mean Green’s passing attack has indeed struggled. Thompson, a 6-foot-4, 226-pound junior, was eight of 21 passing for 143 yards and one interception in a season-opening loss to LSU, and 11 of 24 with 145 yards and one interception in a 34-7 win over Texas Southern last Saturday. He threw for 1,759 yards, 11 touchdowns and six interceptions in 2011, his first year as full-time starter. “(Thompson) has just misfired on some throws he usually makes,” McCarney said. “We don’t have draft picks all over the place on the offensive side of the ball, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be successful. Our first two games left a lot to be desired.” Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/09/12/3812151/north-texas-knows-it-must-pass.html#storylink=cpy'>http://www.kansascity.com/2012/09/12/3812151/north-texas-knows-it-must-pass.html#storylink=cpy Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/09/12/3812151/north-texas-knows-it-must-pass.html Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/09/12/3812151/north-texas-knows-it-must-pass.html#storylink=cpy'>http://www.kansascity.com/2012/09/12/3812151/north-texas-knows-it-must-pass.html#storylink=cpy

“They are an athletic team. I think Coach (Dan) McCarney, you guys are well aware of what he did at Iowa State, and they are a team that plays fast, plays tough and plays hard. They are not going to give you anything. It is going to be a battle. I know that it is only his second year there and they are still trying to develop a little bit, but they were able to go down to LSU and put up a fight. They are going to come in here and they are going to fight, and they are going to play hard, and that is kind of what we expect.” On what he has seen from North Texas’ defense… “They have a lot of guys that can run. Obviously, they are in a good spot down there in Dallas where a lot of athletes come out of, and I think they get a lot of good athletes. I know one of their defensive backs is a transfer from Oklahoma. They definitely have some speed, they have some size, and they have a pretty solid defensive line. They got talent across the board. They definitely have playmakers.” On Dan McCarney’s coaching stop at Iowa State giving a look at conference play… “I don’t think so. I used to coach with Dan over at the University of Iowa. I think that Dan is a tremendous coach, very talented, very bright. He knows that they are going to do what it is that best suits the young people that they have in their program. Not that we have not, but I don’t think that it is a great benefit to spend too much time invested in what took place at Iowa State or what took place when Dan was in Florida or any of the other coaches, which he has some very talented coaches on his staff. The defensive coordinator was with him at Iowa State. He has a couple of coaches on his staff that was here with us at Kansas State. You take all of that into consideration, but the bottom line is that they do what they do. If there is carry over, than yes, there is carry over, but they have made changes over the course of the years that may antiquate a little bit of what they were doing.” Read more: http://www.wibw.com/sports/headlines/K-State-Football-Prepares-For-North-Texas-169389586.html?ref=586

North Texas is 1-1, losing at LSU and beating Texas Southern. “As I've said to our players,” Snyder said, “it wasn't about Miami, it's not about North Texas and it's not about anybody we play in the future. It's all about our youngsters, our coaches, our team and what we do day in and day out in prepration. “It really is about us. If we don't make the whole-hearted investment to become a better football team now and down the road, then you have no chance. The bottom line is if you play poorly against North Texas, you lose. If you play poorly against Miami, you lose. If you play poorly against Missouri State, you lose. You've got to prepare yourself well enough to play well, and there are no guarantees after that.” So, despite being a 28-point favorite, this week is more than a simple tune-up for the Big 12 season. “Every day is fine-tuning for us,” Snyder said. “It's a matter of trying to be better at what we do. Is it a matter of trying to get everything in order before conference play? I'm trying to get everything in order for our practice today. That's what I'm concerned about.” OFFENSIVE LINE TAKING SHAPE Snyder did not address the status of injured offensive linemen Nick Puetz or Cody Whitehair — who are listed Nos. 1-2, respectively, at left guard on this week's depth chart — but is pleased with how the unit is performing. Read more: http://cjonline.com/sports/2012-09-11/wildcats-maintain-focus-north-texas

Kansas State coach Bill Snyder is pleased with his team's progress through the first two weeks of the season. North Texas coach Dan McCarney knows his squad needs to improve or it could be in for a long Saturday night in Manhattan, Kan. The 15th-ranked Wildcats will try to close out their season-opening homestand with a sixth straight victory over the Mean Green, who are going for their best start since rejoining the FBS 17 years ago. Disappointed at his team's slow start in a 51-9 season-opening win over FCS opponent Missouri State on Sept. 1, Snyder was glad to see the Wildcats (2-0) get on the board early in last Saturday's 52-13 victory over Miami. Senior quarterback Collin Klein had two of his three rushing touchdowns in the opening 12:08 and led Kansas State to scores on its first four series. The Wildcats also registered their first five sacks of the season while holding the Hurricanes to 262 total yards, 156 fewer than Kansas State allowed in the opener. "We're a work in progress," Snyder, a former North Texas assistant, said after the Wildcats' 10th consecutive September victory. "But we're vastly improved." If Klein can continue to improve as a passer, the Wildcats could make some noise when Big 12 play begins Sept. 22 at Oklahoma. Arguably one of the best running quarterbacks in the country, Klein completed nine of 11 passes against Miami for 210 yards, including a 27-yard TD to sophomore wide receiver Curry Sexton. Read more: http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/gametracker/preview/NCAAF_20120915_NTEXAS@KSTATE/north-texaskansas-st-preview