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UNT’s players and coaches will be available to the media again tomorrow, so I should have some more info (video, a story and a blog or two) late tomorrow, but until then, here are a couple of interesting tidbits of note I have been holding to fill the dead day. I am working on a series of stories for our annual football magazine and asked about one senior who will be featured. Dan McCarney went on to mention two other seniors who have impressed so far in camp — cornerback Hilbert Jackson and defensive end Aaron Bellazin. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/08/wednesday-night-notes-2.html/

Over the course of a season, there are always turning points or highlights one looks back on. Last season, on the positive side, there was Antoinne Jimmerson’s long catch-and-run for a touchdown that gave UNT a win over Louisiana-Lafayette on national TV and Hilbert Jackson breaking up a fourth-down pass late in the fourth quarter that gave UNT a win over Florida Atlantic. On the other end, UNT blew a ton of chances, missed three field goals and failed to convert two red zone opportunities in a 14-7 loss to Troy. And that brings us to question No. 6 in our off-season series: Can UNT improve its efficiency offensively? A look across the board shows that UNT didn’t resemble a well-oiled machine at times last year. UNT ranked ninth out of 10 teams in the Sun Belt in completion percentage (57.1), passing efficiency (121.0 rating), third-down conversion percentage (33.1) and was last in red zone offense (71.4 conversion percentage). The easy thing to do is place all the blame on the offensive coordinator and the quarterback. I’m sure both Mike Canales would like to change a call or two and Derek Thompson a throw or two, but UNT’s problems were deeper than that. read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/06/post-spring-questions-series-no-5-can-unt-improve-its-efficiency-offensively.html/

BATON ROUGE — It was a much more frightening hit to the Capital City than Hurricane Isaac delivered. Newly crowned LSU starting quarterback Zach Mettenberger looked like he was blindsided when the back of his head snapped back and he hit the Tiger Stadium grass. But he was actually sacked from the front side by blitzing North Texas cornerback Hilbert Jackson in the first quarter Saturday night of No. 1 LSU's 41-14 season-opening victory. Mettenberger, a junior from Watkinsville, Ga., should have seen the whole thing coming, but he did not until it was too late. The next thing he knew, he was flat on his back and motionless. Gradually, he got up and walked to the sidelines, but he was visibly groggy. He soon returned to the game after being checked for a concussion that he apparently did not suffer, but LSU coach Les Miles wants to make sure his quarterback has his head on straight in the future. "I prefer that we protect our quarterback," Miles said. "But that being said, that's one of those things that he has to learn — to get the ball out and to recognize the defense that's being played." Jackson blew untouched by right tackle Alex Hurst, who was blocking a lineman. No running back offered any resistance either because Mettenberger did not check into the right protection before the third-and-three play. "Coach called the blitz for me so I just came off, and I saw him there and I stuck him," Jackson said. Read more: http://www.lohud.com/article/DG/20120903/SPORTS01/209030314/Mettenberger-survives-scary-hit?odyssey=nav|head