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Dan McCarney made what I thought was a pretty telling comment about the situation at North Texas earlier today. I mentioned it in my press conference notes, but this deserves its own post and its own discussion because I think McCarney really provides some good insight here This isnt the easiest place in the world to recruit to. This isnt the easiest place in the world when you have a track record and a lot of years of losing. Just because you put up some cement and some bigger stands, that doesnt make it easy." Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2014/10/mccarneys-candid-remarks-about-the-situation-at-unt.html/

Here are five quick thoughts after UNT’s 30-20 loss to Southern Miss at Apogee Stadium: 1. The move to McNulty seemed to pay off UNT turned to Andrew McNulty at quarterback, its third starter this season. The move seemed like it came out of desperation to a certain degree after Josh Greer and Dajon Williams didn’t prove to be the right fit for UNT’s offense. McNulty drove the bus effectively. He didn’t make many mistakes, which is what head coach Dan McCarney wants. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2014/10/five-quick-thoughts-2.html/

http://www.meangreensports.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2014-2015/nt07.html

DENTON - It was a perfectly-executed third-quarter fake punt that ignited the Southern Miss offense in the second half, but it was a game-long inability by the North Texas defense to get off the field that sent the Mean Green to its third-straight loss. The Golden Eagles converted seven of their first 11 third-down chances, fueling a 506-yard total-offense onslaught in a 30-20 win over North Texas Saturday night at Apogee Stadium, a loss that drops the Mean Green to 0-3 in league play for the first time under head coach Dan McCarney. "We've struggled all year on defense," McCarney said after his team slipped to 2-5 on the season. "We're not even close to playing Mean Green defense. We don't do that, we're not going to win games." For the first time in a season in which the Mean Green has been floored by double-digit deficits in all four of its losses, North Texas fought back, rallied, and overcame an early 10-point Southern Miss lead to take a 13-10 lead in the second quarter. But the Mean Green could not sustain the momentum, allowing a tying field goal before halftime and surrendering two third-quarter touchdown drives, the first of which was made possible by the successful fake punt from the North Texas 42-yard line. "They just out-lasted us, made more plays, and were better on third down," McCarney said. "That's been an issue all year long." USM went up 10-0 in the first quarter and rolled up 288 yards total offense in the first half, but interceptions by the Mean Green's Kishawn McClain and Lairamie Lee, both deep in North Texas territory, kept the Mean Green close. After Lee's pick, the North Texas offense began to move, led by quarterback Andrew McNulty, in his first start of the year, and wide receiver Carlos Harris. The McNulty-to-Harris combination was good for a 45-yard pass to set up a two-yard Antoinne Jimmerson touchdown run, a 36-yard pass to set up a 36-yard field goal, and a 27-yard pass to set up a 27-yard Reggie Pegram touchdown run to level the game at 20-20. But USM controlled the game from that point on, gouging the Mean Green on the ground to the tune of 136 yards rushing in the second half alone, and 201 yards rushing for the game. The Golden Eagles went up 30-20 early in the fourth quarter, then held off two late Mean Green threats. What They Said "We've got what we've got. Coaches got to coach better, players got to play better." --North Texas coach Dan McCarney, summing up his team's situation at 2-5 on the year. "We still have a chance to get to 7-5." --Linebacker Derek Akunne on the outlook for the rest of the season. "I don't like musical chairs at quarterback. But because of inconsistency at quarterback, we had to open it up." --McCarney on going with his third different starting coach this year. Quick Hits • With his start Saturday, Andrew McNulty became the third player to start at quarterback for North Texas this season. It's the first time the Mean Green have used as many as three different starting QBs since 2009, when North Texas used four different starters. This year, Josh Greer started the first three games and Dajon Williams took over the next three games. • Junior wide receiver Carlos Harris had a monster night Saturday. He had a career-high 15 receptions for a career-high 216 yards, the most receiving yards by a Mean Green player since Casey Fitzgerald's 231-yard performance in 2008. • True-freshman Kishawn McClain, in his first career start, grabbed his first career interception, picking off a USM pass in the first quarter. He also had a career-high nine tackles. • The connection of McNulty to Carlos Harris has been responsible for three of the Mean Green's five longest pass plays this year, including a 45-yard completion at the end of the first quarter to set up the first North Texas score. • In his first game back after missing the UAB game due to injury, senior defensive back Lairamie Lee had his second interception of the season to turn back a USM scoring drive. A Golden Eagle pass, from the North Texas eight-yard line, was broken up by Anthony Wallace, and Lee caught the deflected ball in the end zone. It was Lee's sixth-career interception. • True-freshman place kicker Trevor Moore, who was six-for-six in field goals coming into the game, made 36- and 24-yard field goals in the second quarter before finally missing on a 34-yard attempt in the fourth quarter. • Senior linebacker Derek Akunne continued his tremendous play, following up his 17-tackle effort a week ago by recording 14 tackles against Southern Miss. • North Texas is now 0-5 when the opponent scores first. • The Mean Green has been repeatedly bitten by early mistakes this year, and Saturday was no different. On USM's opening drive, North Texas stuffed the Golden Eagles on third and three, but a facemask penalty gave USM a first down. On the next play, the Golden Eagles went deep for a 40-yard touchdown pass. • Saturday's game was even, 13-13, at halftime, the first time North Texas has been tied at intermission since the Heart of Dallas Bowl. Up Next The Mean Green travels to Houston to play the Rice Owls next Saturday, Oct. 18. Kickoff is slated for 11 a.m. The game will be telecast on Fox Sports Southwest. Read more: http://www.meangreensports.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/101814aaa.html

Derek Akunne fondly remembers the heights North Texas reached defensively last season, when the Mean Green held pretty much everyone they faced in check. UNT made big play after big play in key spots, which had a lot to do with the Mean Green winning seven of their last eight games, including a victory over UNLV in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. That experience has made the last two weeks tough on the senior, who wants nothing more than to see UNT return to form, beginning with a Conference USA game tonight against Southern Mississippi (2-4, 0-2 C-USA). UNT (2-4, 0-2) enters that game riding a two-game losing streak after allowing a total of 105 points in blowout losses to Indiana and UAB. The fact that 21 of those points came directly off UNT turnovers last week against the Blazers doesn’t make Akunne, or anyone else in green for that matter, feel much better. The Mean Green allowed just 17.8 points per game to rank eighth nationally in scoring defense last season and allowed 102 points in their last eight games of 2013 combined. That performance is quickly becoming a distant memory for UNT, which is allowing 32.3 points per game this year. read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/sports-headlines/20141018-football-struggling-unt-defense-faces-southern-miss.ece

Southern Miss at UNT, 6 p.m. Saturday, Apogee Stadium, Denton Records: North Texas 2-4, 0-2 C-USA; Southern Miss 2-4, 0-2 C-USA TV: American Sports Network: Ron Thulin (play-by-play), Keith Moreland (analyst), Evan Nemec (sidelines) Radio: KHYI-FM 95.3, KNTU-FM 88.1, KGAF-AM 1580 On the line: UNT’s chances of playing in a second consecutive bowl game have taken a bit of a hit the last couple of weeks when the Mean Green lost consecutive games at Indiana and UAB. UNT fell to 0-2 in Conference USA play last week with its loss to the Blazers, a set back that was particularly costly. UNT’s hopes of making a run at the C-USA West Division title are dim at best now, especially considering one of its losses came against Louisiana Tech, which appears to be the odds-on favorite after jumping out to a 2-0 start in league play. The Bulldogs have the tiebreaker over UNT in addition to a two-game lead. What the Mean Green are hoping now is that they can make a late run at becoming bowl-eligible with six wins, a goal that is still well within the realm of possibility. UAB is in essentially the same position with a 2-4 overall record and an 0-2 mark in league play. The Golden Eagles have a brutal schedule coming up after their game against UNT with games against C-USA division leaders Louisiana Tech and Marshall coming up with a game at UTEP in between. Saturday’s game could be Southern Miss’ best shot for a win for a while. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2014/10/prediction-unt-will-right-the-ship-with-win-over-southern-miss.html/

Not a lot but a couple are pretty good. http://eaglepost.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=38241

North Texas will face Southern Miss at 6 p.m. on Saturday at Apogee Stadium in Denton. Here’s a quick scouting report of the Golden Eagles: Southern Miss: 2-4, 0-2 in Conference USA (Lost to Middle Tennessee 37-31 on Oct. 4) Key number: Four (Games this season in which UNT has allowed at least 38 points, including last week’s 56-21 loss to UAB in which the Blazers padded their offensive output by returning two interceptions and a fumble for touchdowns. Southern Miss is averaging only 18.8 points a game). Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2014/10/five-things-people-need-to-know-about-southern-miss.html/

Little has gone the way North Texas had hoped this football season. The Mean Green have been blown out more than once and blew an opportunity to get off to a quick start in Conference USA play. Coach Dan McCarney and his players were adamant this week that they still have a chance to rally and won’t back off in terms of their push for a second straight bowl berth, no matter how dire the circumstances appear. They certainly don’t appear particularly favorable heading into a game against Southern Mississippi on Saturday at Apogee Stadium. UNT (2-4) fell to 0-2 in C-USA play Saturday when UAB blew past the Mean Green 56-21. “I don’t sense anyone wanting to throw in the towel because we are not where we want to be,” McCarney said. “I would have loved to have won more games, but this season is not over. I don’t sense any of that. I sense a real dedication from all of our guys — coaches and players alike — to getting back to doing some really positive things.” Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20141014-notebook-unt-not-ready-to-throw-in-the-towel.ece

1). Our kicking game has been pretty solid. Keena boomed a 69 yard punt and the freshman kicker has been perfect thusfar. 2). Special teams is still doing a pretty decent job of covering kicks and punts. 3). Derek Akunne has been very good and got his. 4). Jim-Jim seems to be coming on strong albeit mostly in garbage time. Also has been pretty good about protecting the pill lately. 5). Zero Wallace seems to be improving as noted in Vito's article 6). Weather seems to be cooling down should make for good tailgating 7). Tight End Marcus Smith has done some nice things.

North Texas is right back where it has spent a whole lot of time since the end of its breakout season of a year ago. The Mean Green are once again evaluating their options at quarterback, this time in the days leading up to a game against Southern Miss on Saturday at Apogee Stadium. UNT went through that process in spring practice and fall drills before settling on Josh Greer as its starter. The Mean Green switched to Dajon Williams and found some success before a flurry of key turnovers in a blowout loss to UAB on Saturday has once again put UNT back where it started. This time around Williams and career backup Andrew McNulty will compete for the starting job at a time UNT is looking to rebound from a 2-4 start. Whoever starts will get the next crack at replacing Heart of Dallas Bowl MVP Derek Thompson and bringing the Mean Green out of a two-game slide to open Conference USA play. Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/sports-headlines/20141013-football-unt-qb-situation-back-to-drawing-board.ece