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Read more: http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=8&f=1376&t=12511708

https://twitter.com/coachcanales/status/514117085257940992?lang=en

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2014/09/08/smu-football-june-jones-resigns/15301473/ Boom.

If you thought that you heard a familiar name called in the week 2 University of North Texas route of the SMU Mustangs, you certainly did! Reggie Pegram set fire to South Dallas as a member of the Trojans of James Madison High School. A multi-sport star, Pegram lettered in both football and track and field. On the gridiron, Pegram finished his high school career with 1,394 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns and caught seven passes for 65 yards; an improvement of X yards and X TDs from the season before. Pegram was also a first team all-area team selection and received an honorable mention in all-state selection. Read more: http://www.dallasweekly.com/sports/article_55e4016c-382b-11e4-8c00-001a4bcf6878.html?mode=jqm

The Mean Green is two games in, with two completely different results. A drubbing by Texas in the opener, and an absolute blowout of SMU leaves us wondering: How good is this 2014 edition of North Texas football actually? With the BYU blowout of Texas, there's even more question for this team. Make no mistake, SMU is heading for an 0-12 season. But Texas could be at anywhere from 5-7 to 9-3, which makes one wonder how good the Mean Green actually are, due to the fact that the same Texas D who allowed 28 points in the 3rd quarter to the Cougars, forced North Texas QB's into a negative quarterback rating. Some observations: Read more: http://www.underdogdynasty.com/2014/9/8/6119897/north-texas-will-go-as-far-as-the-defense-will-carry-it

As before, I will continue to bring on the levity. This week's edition, SMU BEATDOWN STYLE! Who knew SMU grads made the best garbage engineers? One of the best Hit-Interception combos we'll see this year I imagine. What even is happening here? JIMMMERSON! No! Now is not the time for that! Beer lines... The McConnell Tower lighting is sooooooo much better. Self explanatory. ^All credit to laxtonto BONUS! Old school Booger Sack-ForcedFumble-FumbleRecovery-GymnastTumble Gif!

Aug. 19th Friday Night in Austin, Tejas - THE SILO 5:30 to 8:30 PM https://www.eventbrite.com/e/unt-vs-ut-austin-alumni-rally-tickets-9815467327 http://www.siloonseventh.com/ "Join the UNT Alumni Association at The Silo on 7th in Austin for an Alumni Rally. Come and network with other UNT alumni and friends as the Mean Green gets ready to take on the Texas Longhorns in the opening season football game! Complimentary hors d'oerves and cash bar available. The game takes place on Saturday, August 30, at 7 p.m. Come and cheer on the Mean Green!" This WILL be the place to be and you can expect a ton of green in attendance. Owners are UNT Alums and HUGE football fans. http://www.meangreensports.com/sports/mg-club/spec-rel/082014aab.html Aug. 20, 2014 Mean Green Pregame Tailgate in Austin The Mean Green Club will host a tailgate and pep rally in Austin prior to North Texas' season-opening football game against Texas on Saturday, Aug. 30. Admission is $10 for members of the Mean Green Club or members of the North Texas Alumni Association, and $15 for non-members. Food and drink will be provided. The tailgate will begin at 4:30 p.m. The tailgate will end at 6:30, with kickoff slated for 7 p.m. UPDATE: The site of the tailgate has been moved to west of Darrell K. Royal Texas Memorial Stadium, on the west side of San Jacinto Blvd. A map of the new location is below. For more information, contact the Mean Green Club at 940-369-7284.

Reggie Pegram could sense that there was something wrong with his knee as soon as he hit the turf during a win over Southern Mississippi last season. What happened next is perhaps the best illustration of why the North Texas running back is highly respected by coach Dan McCarney and his teammates, who describe him as one of the toughest players in the program. Pegram got right back up and carried the ball again, plowing into the end zone from a yard out. I limped off and told Mac that my knee was hurt, Pegram said. My adrenalin was pumping. I knew it was messed up, but it wasnt really painful. I just knew something was wrong. Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20140822-football-pegram-100-percent-back.ece

North Texas is in unfamiliar territory, no longer trying to right the ship but instead build on momentum. Best-case scenario: UNT finds a quarterback to adequately replace Derek Thompson and enough playmakers emerge on both sides of the ball for the Mean Green to continue its upward trend. UNT posts its second straight winning season and heads to another bowl game, giving the Mean Green consecutive postseason berths for the first time since its four-year run as Sun Belt Conference champions from 2001-04. Read more: http://collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/08/step-forward-or-step-back-best-caseworst-case-scenarios-for-north-texas-in-2014.html/

Jarrian Roberts watched carefully during his first two seasons at North Texas, picking up the tricks of the trade from some of the better defensive players in recent Mean Green history. The sophomore defensive end saw how Aaron Bellazin perfected his pass rushing technique and how Brandon McCoy held the edge the last two seasons, including last year when Roberts earned a small amount of playing time. UNT hopes that the lessons Roberts — and other young players like him — learned pay off heading into its season opener at Texas on Aug. 30. read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20140819-football-young-unt-line-out-to-be-the-baddest.ece

Read more: http://www.underdogdynasty.com/conference-usa/2014/8/19/6043779/three-north-texas-guys-you-should-know

DENTON — Sheldon Wade, a senior who transferred to UNT from Austin Peay, is in position to start at safety in place of departed All-Conference USA selection Marcus Trice, head coach Dan McCarney said Tuesday. read more: http://collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/08/austin-peay-transfer-in-line-to-start-in-north-texas-secondary.html/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

There are a few traditions like no others when it comes to UNT football the cannon and Scrappy the mascot come to mind. Of course there is also our own little tradition here on the blog. Yep, its time for the Get Your Rear on the Record contest. We usually trot this out there about two weeks before the start of the season. Here are the ground rules: Each year we take guesses via e-mail: bvito@dentonrc.com on what UNTs final record will be. We keep a running tally on the blog and then dig them up to see who made the right call at the end of the year. The exercise was born out of the annoying process of watching people predict that each year would be the big turnaround year for UNT for reasons based on faith and little else. No one would remember at the end of the year or point out who was right and who was wrong when it came to preseason predictions. The MGB never forgets. You might be wondering how last years contest turned out. Well, I have the answer. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2014/08/its-time-for-a-unt-tradition-get-your-rear-on-the-record.html/

DENTON — Turner Smiley has made a positive impression early in fall drills and is in position to compete for playing time this season, coach Dan McCarney said Thursday “Turner is young, but is not brand new,” McCarney said. “He is showing up already. We like him. He is doing some really positive things.” Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/college-sports/unt-mean-green/20140807-ex-frisco-wakeland-wr-turner-smiley-showing-up-already-at-unt-fall-camp.ece

UNT opened fall practice today. The workout was closed, as are all fall drills, but Dan McCarney and a few players talked after practice. McCarney called UNT’s performance quite possibly the best for the first day of fall drills during his tenure with the Mean Green. We go into the reasons in the paper tomorrow, but a big part of it is the work strength coach Frank Wintrich and his staff put in over the summer with the players. read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2014/08/mason-ybarbo-talks-about-the-opening-day-of-practice-recruiting-notes.html/

Every season has turning points and key plays that define success and failure. The 2013 North Texas football team faced long odds, but managed to make the plays that won nine games and let them lift the Heart of Dallas Bowl trophy on New Year’s Day. Today, MeanGreenSports.com wraps up a weekly countdown of the five moments that we think define the resilient nature of last year’s Mean Green squad – and we want to hear from you. Let us know what moments/plays best defined the Mean Green. No. 5 – Rebels Without A Cause Thousands of new Mean Green fans in attendance at the Cotton Bowl and watching on TV nationwide were probably pretty disheartened by UNLV’s opening drive. Pinned at his own five-yard line, talented dual-threat quarterback Caleb Herring led the Rebels on a three-minute, 95-yard campaign that had the North Texas defense looking like it was out-manned and a play behind. Herring, who completed his first nine throws, accounted for 59 yards through the air and 10 yards on the ground on that drive, which culminated in a nine-yard touchdown pass. It appeared as if he and the UNLV offense were simply picking up where they left off in the regular season when they averaged 31.2 points and 423 yards per game. Read more: http://www.meangreensports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/080414aab.html

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UNT will begin fall practice Monday afternoon. Workouts are closed, but there are several key story lines that can be tracked through what the Mean Greens coaches and players have to say. Here are a few issues of interest heading into the opening of a new season. 1. What does UNT's offense look like with so many new players at key spots? UNT will continue the search for a new starting quarterback today when Andrew McNulty and Josh Greer will alternate snaps with the first and second teams. McNulty, a career backup, and Greer, a JUCO transfer, appear to have the best chance to win the starting job. Head coach Dan McCarney has been careful to say that Dajon Williams and Connor Means are not out of the hunt yet, though. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2014/08/unt-opens-fall-camp-monday-here-are-a-few-key-issues-to-watch.html/

Tough, tenacious, relentless – and fast. That's how Head Coach Dan McCarney describes Mean Green football's Derek Akunne when he's on the field. "Some guys run fast, but they don't play the game fast," McCarney says. "Derek Akunne plays one speed -- and that's full speed, all the time." This summer two magazines -- Athlon Sports and Phil Steele's College Football Preview -- listed Akunne as a pre-season all-conference first team linebacker. In 2013, he also made honorable mention all-conference linebacker, and he finished last season tied for second on the team with 90 tackles. Those who know Akunne say in addition to his passion for the game, he also has incredible character and a standout work ethic on and off the field. "He's been a model citizen, model football player, model student," McCarney says. "Any North Texas fan or alumnus would really enjoy having this young man in their home." Mean Green fans can see Akunne's hustle and drive in action when the 2014 UNT football season kicks off next month. The first game of the season is Aug. 30 in Austin against the University of Texas Longhorns. The home opener against SMU is Sept. 6. As Akunne prepares to start his senior year, he's hoping the team can build on the momentum it generated last year during a winning 9-4 season that was capped off with an emotional 2014 Heart of Dallas Bowl win. Those nine wins were the most in a single season for the UNT football team since 2003. "We know the past, and we want to keep improving," Akunne says. "We want to just keep improving and make North Texas a constant contender every year. That's the goal." Family support Akunne was born in Dallas to parents who came to the United States from Nigeria for better opportunities and "so that we could have a better life," Akunne says. That heritage shaped him and his siblings -- two of whom are pursuing degrees in the medical field. "My parents are always on us hard to study," Akunne says. "They're always talking about the things they did in Nigeria and how they had to struggle. I think that really pushed us. We didn't want to make it so they came over for no reason. So we all wanted to be successful. That really pushed us and motivated us." Akunne's older sister is in nursing school at Prairie View A&M University near Houston, and his older brother attends pharmacy school at Texas Southern University in Houston. While Akunne hopes to have a shot at the NFL after graduation, he also is preparing for a future career in physical therapy. "I know they're really proud of us," he says. "They're really excited about what we're doing and our futures." It was his older brother, Clinton, who he looks to as a role model, who first turned him on to football after he spent most of his childhood playing soccer. "Usually whatever he liked, I liked too, or tried to do," he says. Aside from his brother's influence, he also enjoyed the physicality of the sport -- it was a nice change of pace from soccer. It was around the ninth grade when he knew he'd fallen for football. "I started realizing that I was actually pretty good," he says. "It started becoming really fun. At a certain point, when the majority of time football's on your mind in some type of way, that's how you know you really love it." He played for North Garland High School before graduating and enrolling at UNT in 2011 as part of McCarney's first recruiting class. Read more: http://northtexan.unt.edu/content/continuing-winning-culture-unt?homepage=1

Kevin Sparkman stakes out a spot near the gates at Apogee Stadium each Saturday during football season, searching for that little edge that might mean enjoying a better view at kickoff. Once Apogees gates swing open, the North Texas senior races with the most enthusiastic of his fellow students to reach the best spots in the open-seating student section, just a few yards behind the visitors bench on the east side of the stadium. Thats where Sparkman cheered for UNT during a key goal-line stand in a win over Rice last fall and felt like he had an impact on games all season. Sparkman and his fellow students will have to cheer a bit louder to have that same feeling again this fall, when a change in seating policy will make their sprint to the student section shorter and the seats they claim a little farther from the prime spot near the 50-yard line. Conference USA rules dictate that the seats behind the visitors bench be reserved for anyone other than students like Sparkman because they often create a hostile environment for opposing teams. Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20140719-football-new-rules-same-atmosphere.ece

Dave Campbell’s Texas Football is out again. I received an advance copy since I wrote for the magazine again this year. Before we get to our overarching question of the day, a few highlights: – UNT came in at No. 9 in the state among the 12 FBS schools in the magazine’s power poll. The Mean Green ranks ahead of SMU, which checked in at No. 11. – Marshall is the consensus pick to win C-USA in the writer’s poll. – Rice was the magazine’s pick to win C-USA’s West Division with UTSA coming in second and UNT third. read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2014/06/dave-cambells-texas-football-out-lets-talk-expectations.html/