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Rice looks good. Also UTEP up 17-7 in 3rd over FIU.

Opening statement HEAD COACH Bill Blankenship: All right. I guess first of all, I wish to apologize to our homecoming fans and the folks that have been a part of this, because we surely did not represent Tulsa football very well today. Q. This is obviously a big recruiting time. How do recruits look at this? Do they shake their head and walk out early or do they say they can play for this team? Is this a good thing? HEAD COACH Bill Blankenship: Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. That's certainly a challenge for us right now. Hopefully they can see us in the worst of times and see if they want to be a part of it. Q. I'm curious, on recruiting, with that many guys here, can you even what's your mindset afterwards about that, like an opportunity lost? HEAD COACH Bill Blankenship: It's a huge opportunity lost. We had a lot of opportunity with potential recruits to try to continue to make good impressions. You really don't want to live on, "We need you to turn this thing around." That's not really the way you want to recruit. You'd rather recruit to your strength. And what we'll continue to do is hope and work on those guys experiencing what we are, who we are, a look at the facts of who's out there and who's not. And see for yourself. Q. Recruiting is a 16 month process. You don't win or lose a guy on the basis of one outcome, do you, though? HEAD COACH Bill Blankenship: Hopefully not. I think what you do is you have to understand this was a bad experience. And so what you do in reality with your players and parents and everybody that's here, fans and all, you get to see us at our worst. This is it, warts and all. But now you can decide if this is where you want to be. Read more: http://www.tulsahurricane.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/110213aal.html

4. North Texas (5-3 Record // 3-1 in Conference // W @ Southern Miss) [5th] Notes: UNT took care of business by smoking a terrible Southern Miss team. That said, their 3-1 record in conference leaves the Mean Green on the outside looking in. In the West division, both Tulane and Rice hold 4-0 records at this point without many opportunities to falter ahead. read more: http://fearthewave.blogspot.com/2013/10/conference-usa-football-power-rankings_27.html

Trending Up North Texas – Don’t look now, but the first-year conference member Mean Green is just a game behind West Division co-leaders Tulane and Rice. The Green Wave hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over UNT, but North Texas still has Rice on the schedule. And even if a surprise division championship might be out of reach, UNT is just two wins away from bowl eligibility in its inaugural C-USA season … and still has Southern Miss and UTEP to play. Trending Down Southern Miss – The new leader in finding trap doors at rock bottom. Apparently, there’s a quarterback controversy, as freshman Nick Mullens won the gig after two fourth-quarter touchdowns versus ECU. But does it really matter? The touchdowns didn’t really matter. USM was down 55-0 before the Pirates called off the dogs in the fourth. It remains absolutely mind-boggling that a team that was so good just a couple of seasons ago has fallen so far so quickly. Read more: http://blogs.dailymail.com/marshall/2013/10/22/conference-usa-in-review-post-vacation-edition/

"Really curious about the fan breakdown vs UNT. We owned SMU in football and basketball at games here in DFW (Don Haskins and Sun Bowl - East) - hope it's the same way againts UNT. Haven't been to a UNT game, but they have the 3rd largest enrollment in the state (behind only UT and A&M), but, don't think that translates to a rabid fan base for them, at least that's what my Brother-in-Law tells me who works at the University and has gone to some games........hopefully, this works in our favor." read more: http://utep.rivals.com/showmsg.asp?fid=509&tid=192254682&mid=192254682&sid=991&style=2

Looks like a defensive struggle.

5. [61 pts] North Texas Mean Green (2-2) Last: (L) @ #9 Georgia 45-21, Up Next: BYE The Mean Green put up a good showing on the road, in SEC country over the weekend, hanging with nationally ranked Georgia for about three quarters. In fact, the game was knotted at 21 early in third, before the Bulldogs finally ran away with it. It wasn't an overly impressive performance statistically, but the North Texas defense played well for the majority of the game, and the offense was able to make the most of its opportunities. If they put up efforts like that in C-USA play, they'll definitely be a team that competes in the west. This week they've got a bye, before heading to New Orleans for what many will consider a must win. Ze Martino says: "Beat a bad Idaho team, nearly knocked off Ohio after shooting selves in the foot. Comeback win vs Ball St and scrappy showing vs #9 Georgia. Offense is methodical, defense is aggressive but/and gives up big plays" Read more: http://www.minerrush.com/2013/9/25/4768554/conference-usa-football-power-rankings-week-5

Final/3OT Va Tech 29 Marshall 21 9:16 3rd Qtr UAB 38 NW State 21 Halftime Houston 17 Rice 13 UTSA at UTEP tonight at 7PM Final FIU 0 Louisville 72 Final La. Tech 10 Kansas 13 Final Syracuse 52 Tulane 17

North Texas 2012: 4-8 (3-5 Sun Belt) Worth watching: QB Derek Thompson returns after throwing for 2,649 yards and 14 TDs, although competition from transfer Brock Berglund will certainly push Thompson to hold onto his position. Brandin Byrd (860 yards) returns as the feature back. Bottom line: Expectations aren't necessarily high based on the move to what most view as a stronger conference. Idaho, Texas-El Paso, Texas-San Antonio, Ball State, Rice and Middle Tennessee are the teams traveling to Denton, Texas, and all six of those are very winnable games. The favorable home schedule could go a long way toward awinning record and more important confidence within the team. Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/cusa/2013/08/18/2013-conference-usa-football-preview/2667573/

1st team: Cyril Lemon, North Texas 2nd team Zach Orr, North Texas 3rd Team Antonio Johnson, Zac Whitfield - North Texas read more: http://www.collegesportsmadness.com/article/6886

Season Recap: Sometimes when writing these previews, I have a glance at last season’s effort to see how the team looked in preseason. The prediction was for UNT’s lack of playmakers to limit them to another five win season, and lo and behold, that is what happened. It’s a pity too, as the offense had a lot going for it. The offensive line was outstanding, not just making holes for the backs, but allowing just 6 sacks all season! That’s tops in the country, for those making notes. This raises a question though – if QB Derek Thompson had all day to throw, how come he struggled to get the ball down the field? The junior was in his second year, and had some good targets, such as Brelan Chancellor (25-450-5 in 8 games). Thompson passed for 2691 yards, but threw just 14 TDs against 14 interceptions. The Mean Green often moved the ball between the 20s before bogging down when it mattered. Byrd, Antoinne Jimmerson and Jeremy Brown were a fine trio of backs, but found the going tough in the redzone with no aerial attack to back them up. The defense was tougher than its rankings suggest, but suffered due to the anemic offense, as well as its own lack of playmakers. With only 19 sacks and another 19 turnovers, UNT found it difficult to get opponents off the field, particularly late in games as the unit wore down. DEs Aaron Bellazin and KC Obi combined for 10.5 sacks, but there was little pressure from anywhere else. Between the four regulars at DT, they managed 10.5 TFLs and 4 sacks – that just isn’t good enough. Their lack of push up front made life harder for a good group of linebackers. MLB Zachary Orr was the leader in the middle, and I don’t just mean his 108 tackles – he was the glue that held them together. Akunne was a playmaker, while Jeremy Phillips missed some time with injury, but his experience made him a factor. The secondary suffered from the lack of pressure, but was a better unit than the stats suggest. Freshman corner Zac Whitfield showed he has a bright future after leading the team with 3 interceptions and 12 PBUs. The safety pairing of Laramie Lee and Marcus Trice was pretty good, but the team as a whole needs to make more plays. Zach Olen hasn’t matched the kicking heights of his freshman year, hitting just 11 of 16 FGs, but punter Will Atterberry was a gem. If he had one flaw, he let too many punts get into the endzone. The punt return game was one of the worst in the country (2.1 ypr?), and the kick return unit wasn’t much better. Both coverage units allowed a score. Read more: http://thenewsportsguru.com/college-fb/the-state-of-play-conference-usa-north-texas

Brett McMurphy ‏@McMurphyESPN FAU & Middle Tennessee leaving Sun Belt year early, will join C-USA this fall, sources told @espn Collapse Reply Retweet Favorite More https://twitter.com/McMurphyESPN/status/292314229996920832 This post has been promoted to an article