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I re-watched the game again last night and it was somewhat shocking how long we stuck with the standard 4 man rush... You have to take some chances against a team like Iowa especially on defense. Perhaps they were trying to keep it hidden for conference play? I honestly have not seen us give an opposing QB that much time. They had like 7 sometime 8 guys blocking 4 and their QB seemed to have an hour to throw the ball.

1. This is North Texas’ 100th season of playing football, but it’s the first time it’s facing Iowa. 2. North Texas hasn’t won a nonconference road game since 2009, and is 1-37 in them since 2001. 4. North Texas has been in eight different football conferences. 6. The Mean Green are last in the nation in time of possession, with an average of just 21:10 per game. Iowa averages 32:51. 11. North Texas tight ends coach Nick Quartaro kicked seven field goals for Iowa in both 1975 and 1976, read more: http://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/fun-facts-north-texas-iowa-flavor-flav-20150924

There are signs of life for North Texas. Early in the second quarter, with North Texas leading 3-0, Rice recovered a muffed punt from North Texas and, three plays later, was in the end zone with a 7-3 lead. Sitting on my couch, I’ll admit that I fully expected the Mean Green to crater from there — after all, their showing against SMU in their opener last week did not inspire much confidence. But instead, North Texas QB Andrew McNulty marched the Mean Green down the field, completing 4 of 5 passes (plus getting a big run from Willie Ivery along the way) and capping it with a 33-yard touchdown strike to Carlos Harris to regain the lead. Yes, North Texas lost; yes, the Mean Green’s defense has major issues; and yes, there’s still lots of work to do all-around in Denton. But at least we saw signs of life from the Mean Green, which is a promising sign for the remainder of the season. read more: http://www.texasfootball.com/rice-38-north-texas-24-what-we-learned/

http://www.kntu.com/2015/09/21/dan-mccarney-show/

“I have a pretty good perspective when you talk about going from the worst in college football (Iowa was 0-11 when McCarney played there in 1973), to the top of the mountain, and everything in-between.” He is in his fifth season at North Texas of Conference USA, and it isn’t easy. His team is 0-2, having suffered double-digit losses to SMU and Rice. As you would expect, he calls the fans, students and administration at North Texas “phenomenal.” “I just want them to be proud that they brought me here as the head football coach.” He took over a program that was 8-40 over the four years before he arrived. The Mean Green are 22-29 since, including a 9-4 season in 2013 capped by a win in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. “The day-to-day stuff is really no different than it is whether you’re in a Power 5 conference or not,” McCarney said. “You’re trying to leave the office at night and make sure your program is better than when you got there in the morning. You’re trying to teach young people how to win on and off the field.” To learn about resilience and positive attitude, North Texas’ players need only to look as far as their head coach. read more: http://www.thegazette.com/hlas-dan-mccarney-is-a-portrait-in-resilience-20150922

IOWA CITY — North Texas’ football past resembles Jello in the summer heat. There’s a slight formation at first but there’s little to mold into something of substance. The Mean Green’s history begins with consensus All-American and Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive tackle “Mean” Joe Greene. There also are connections with Iowa, which is important this week when North Texas comes to Kinnick Stadium. Hayden Fry coached the Mean Green from 1973-78 and led the squad to 10-1 and 9-2 seasons before accepting the job at Iowa. Fry’s former defensive coordinator, Bill Brashier, still holds school records for interceptions in a season (10) and career (19). He played from 1949-51. North Texas quarterback Andrew McNulty led Iowa City High to the 2009 Class 4A state title. North Texas Coach Dan McCarney played for the Hawkeyes in the early 1970s and coached under Fry in the ‘80s. He guided Iowa State from 1995-2006 and became head coach at North Texas in 2011. Two games into his fifth season, McCarney has compiled a 22-29 record at North Texas. In 2013, he directed the Mean Green to a Heart of Dallas Bowl victory and a 9-4 season. It was just the sixth time in 100 football seasons the school won at least nine games. Half of those seasons have come from either Fry or McCarney. North Texas’ journey from FCS after 1994 to its current home in Conference USA featured one season as a Division I independent and three conference shifts. That has fed a stereotype that the program doesn’t match the stature of its larger Texas competitors or even the history of comparable in-state foes like Rice, UTEP, SMU or Houston. “When I got here the perception was it was just a small-time program,” McCarney said. “It’s one thing rolling up your sleeves and working like crazy, and it’s another overcoming that perception. You’re I-AA, you’re Division I, you’re big time, you’re small time, you’re making a commitment, you’re not making a commitment. We heard all that stuff as soon as I took the job here.” read more: http://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/north-texas-battles-perception-inconsistency-20150921

UNT has lost safety Cedric Fernandes for the season due to a knee injury. The redshirt freshman went down in the Mean Green’s loss to Rice on Saturday. “He tore his knee up pretty good,” McCarney said. Fernandes, a former walk-on, was awarded a scholarship before UNT’s spring game in April and was listed as the top backup for starting strong safety James Gray heading into UNT’s game against Rice. Fernandes is tied for eighth among UNT players with six tackles. Losing Fernandes only adds to the Mean Green’s injury issues early on in its defensive backfield. Starting cornerback Kenny Buyers was lost for the year due to a back injury before the season began. “Two of our top five defensive backs are out for the year,” McCarney said. “That never helps when you are trying to build consistency and depth. It’s the next guy up. The next player has to do it, whether he is on scholarship or is a walk-on.” read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/sports-headlines/20150921-football-unt-looking-for-new-faces-on-defense-to-mesh.ece

Dan McCarney doesn’t plan to sneak off for a pizza at Pagliai’s or grab a burger down the block at the Hamburg Inn when he returns to his hometown this week. This will strictly be a business trip for the Iowa City native, whose North Texas football team visits unbeaten Iowa on Saturday. “I have great memories of growing up in Iowa City and of Kinnick Stadium as a player and a coach. I’m proud of my Iowa City roots, proud to be an Iowan,” McCarney said Monday before quickly adding, “but this week we’re working to give our players a chance to create a special memory of their own.” With Iowa City native Andrew McNulty starting at quarterback, the Mean Green will take the field for the 2:30 p.m. game looking for their first win of the season following double-digit losses to SMU and Rice. The oddsmakers list Iowa as a 26.5-point favorite this week. McCarney rates the task as “daunting challenge,” but that is not totally foreign territory for the 62-year-old coach who has made a career out of overcoming the odds. From forging ahead as the head of North Texas’ program after suffering a stroke in 2012 and undergoing open heart surgery a year later, to being a part of unexpected successes on the field, first as a player and assistant at Iowa and later as a head coach at Iowa State, McCarney repeatedly has found a way. read more: http://globegazette.com/sports/north-texas-mccarney-ready-for-business-trip-to-iowa-city/article_bf0fdaad-efbc-54e2-aa64-df83080a49e7.html

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/iowa/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2015-16/release/release_20150921aaa.pdf

Good overview of Iowa's win over Pitt... North Texas stuff comes at the end. http://www.hawkeyesports.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/092015aai.html

That was a big win for Iowa over Pitt today. This will be a tough test for the Mean Green on the road against a Big 10 team. BTW - Southern Miss is 2-1 after beating Texas State today. They have Nebraska next week before us. Portland State had a bye, and they are now 2-0 at the top of the Big Sky standings. They are at Western Oregon and North Dakota prior to our game.

Last year, I had a countdown. I ranked the games on Iowa’s football schedule by how much I was looking forward to them, 12 through 1. It took 12 posts, 12 days. That was smart of me. Or not. Don’t look back in anger. My 12-through-1 last year: 12. Ball State, 11. at Purdue, 10. Northern Iowa, 9. Iowa State, 8. Indiana, 7. at Illinois, 6. at Pittsburgh, 5. at Minnesota, 4. Northwestern, 3. at Maryland, 2. Nebraska, 1. Wisconsin. I was right about No. 1 and 2, anyway. The Wisconsin-Iowa game, a 26-24 Badgers win in Iowa City, was the game of the year. And Nebraska’s 37-34 overtime victory over the Hawkeyes the following Friday in Kinnick Stadium was No. 2. What would you have said was the third-most interesting game Iowa played last season, assuming you agreed with the first two? The 17-13 squeaker over Ball State? The 24-20 comeback win at Pitt? Something else? This year I’ll knock it all off in this one post, and you can tell me how wrong I am. Just like Iowa State fans did last August when I said the ISU-Iowa game didn’t grab me. They were right. The game bore no resemblance to a classic, but Iowa State’s 20-17 win was definitely interesting. So let’s do this from 12 to 1 this year in one swoop. 12. North Texas (Sept. 26 in Iowa City): The only hook is it’s the return of former Iowa player/assistant coach and former Iowa State head coach Dan McCarney. McCarney got the Mean Green to a bowl win two seasons ago, then they dipped to 4-8 last season. They are 5-20 in road games under McCarney and 1-6 against teams from Power Five conferences. This should be Iowa’s easiest win, but I said the same thing about Ball State last year. read more: http://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/ranking-iowas-football-games-1-through-12-20150827

Would the University of Iowa fork over more cash for a nonconference football game than would the biggest financial behemoth in college football? Absolutely. The Hawkeyes are paying North Texas $900,000 to compete in a 2015 football game at Kinnick Stadium, according to the game contract. The Longhorns will write a check to the Mean Green for $875,000 for this season's Aug. 30 season-opener in Texas' Texas Memorial Stadium. Of course ... North Texas will bus to Austin, a four-hour ride from Denton — not including Texas Interstate 35's 24-hour traffic jam. So the $875,000 will seem like a lot more, considering there won't be an expensive chartered plane to rent. And of course ... The first guy off the Mean Green charter when it lands in Cedar Rapids on Sept. 25, 2015 will be coach Dan McCarney, who's probably not bringing a bunch of patsies into the stadium in which he once played and worked as an assistant coach. Win or lose, McCarney's program receives a $900,000 check from Iowa. Read more: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/college/2014/06/04/iowa-hawkeyes-north-texas-dan-mccarney-texas-longhorns-ncaa-football/9969567/