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Okay. 24 hours have passed. Time to move on: Join fellow Mean Green fans to watch North Texas take on the Hawkeyes of Iowa on the big screen TVs in the reserved event room at Sauced Wings in Allen (https://www.facebook.com/SaucedWings). Kickoff is at 2:30 pm on Saturday, September 26th. There will be North Texas Alumni items for you along with a drawing for a couple North Texas prizes! Anyone can come to this open and free event. Sauced Wings is located at 610 W. Bethany Drive in Allen (NE corner of US75 Central Expressway and Bethany Drive behind Starbucks). Go Mean Green!! https://www.facebook.com/events/467986416718211/

Iowa City, IA (KWQC) – For Dan McCarney, Saturday’s trip to Kinnick Stadium will be a homecoming. “My path in life has been so enriched by my time in Iowa City and the University of Iowa,” McCarney said. “If you’ve never worked there or never lived there, you don’t really understand that. But those of us that have do understand that. And it is a pretty incredible place.” McCarney and Kirk Ferentz were both on the same Hawkeyes coaching staff under Hayden Fry. McCarney went on to coach at Wisconsin and eventually become the head coach at Iowa State. When asked if their relationship changed when McCarney coached the Cyclones, Ferentz said “Absolutely. Cats don’t like dogs.” read more: http://kwqc.com/2015/09/23/kirk-ferentz-and-dan-mccarney-reunite/

Some time Saturday afternoon, Dan McCarney will walk through the tunnel into Kinnick Stadium and hear more than 70,000 black and gold-clad Iowa fans roar. He will jog to the sideline and try to prepare his team for a few more minutes before kickoff. And then, almost assuredly, the Hawkeye Marching Band will strike up Iowa's fight song to a fervent crowd. McCarney will know every line. "When they play the Iowa fight song, I still get goose bumps," McCarney said this week. "It's probably not supposed to be that way. But somehow, some way, you never lose that through the years." McCarney's struggling North Texas team (0-2) faces unbeaten Iowa (3-0) at 3:30 p.m. ET. The Hawkeyes are listed as 25-point favorites, and McCarney called his bunch "an unbelievable underdog, and rightfully so." read more: http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/124118/dan-mccarney-prepares-for-iowa-homecoming-with-underdog-north-texas-team

IOWA CITY — North Texas quarterback Andrew McNulty never has seen the pink locker room, but he’s spent hours of his life cleaning up Kinnick Stadium. Like all athletes in the Iowa City Community School District, McNulty cleared sections of cups, peanuts and garbage on Sunday mornings after Iowa football games. That was part of the responsibility for playing football at Iowa City High. “I just remember pulling up and hearing the noises of the leaf blowers and being really early in the morning,” he said. McNulty, a senior, will dress in Iowa’s famous visiting locker room this Saturday as he leads the Mean Green (0-2) against the Hawkeyes (3-0). It’s a challenge he never expected when he left Iowa City to play for Coach Dan McCarney, but it’s one for which he’s prepared. “I’m excited for the opportunity,” McNulty said. “We know that we have a tough opponent, and they’re off to a really great start this year. We have a lot of work in front of us.” It’s an unusual journey from Iowa City High to North Texas, but McNulty has made it work. In high school, McNulty backed up A.J. Derby on the Little Hawks’ 2009 Class 4A title team and then led City High to the 4A title game the following year. As a senior, McNulty was a first-team all-state utility player, passing for 1,438 yards and 12 touchdowns and rushing for 1,137 yards and 14 scores. But there was more to McNulty than just statistics. He had qualities that enabled players to follow him. Iowa junior offensive lineman Steve Ferentz competed alongside McNulty at Iowa City High. In a game against Cedar Rapids Xavier, Ferentz recalled how McNulty completed five of six passes on a 70-yard drive lasting 63 seconds in a last-second victory. “Just the way he orchestrated everything, it was incredible,” Steve Ferentz said. “For a high school quarterback, we didn’t throw the ball very often but at a time we really needed it, he was right on target the whole way down the field. He managed the clock, he managed everything and got everyone in the right places. It was really impressive. “I’d say even to this day, he’s one of the best guys I played with, just as a leader. It really is a privilege to play with a guy like Andrew McNulty. It was awesome.” Read more: http://www.thegazette.com/subject/sports/north-texas-mcnulty-recalls-city-high-roots-20150923

McCarney, 62, used to crawl under a snow fence and sneak into Iowa games at Kinnick Stadium as a kid. Later, he used tickets his mom, June, got through her job at the dental school. "Then they started giving me tickets because somehow, some way, I fooled them into thinking I was a Division I player," said McCarney, who graduated from City High. Growing up in Iowa City had other advantages. Dan's father, Patrick, was a policeman who worked his way up to chief. "I've been known to have a lead foot, and I'd get pulled over for speeding," McCarney said. "(The officer) would tell me, "I can either give you a ticket or call your dad. I always told them, "Hey, call mye dad, will ya?' " McCarney was small by today's standards. He was captain and started his senior season as a 227-pound right guard. Jordan Walsh, who will start at right guard for Iowa against McCarney's team, weighs 290. McCarney stuck around after graduating in 1974 to work as a graduate assistant at Iowa. He became a full-time assistant in 1977 and was one of two coaches Fry retained when he left North Texas to replace Bob Commings at Iowa following the 1978 season. Fry reversed fortunes in a hurry with a staff that included future head coaches like McCarney, Kirk Ferentz, Bill Snyder, Barry Alvarez and Bob Stoops. "You cherish the relationships you have through all these years, the players that you coach, the opportunities that coach Fry gave us," McCarney said. "He saw things in each of us we probably didn't see in ourselves." read more: http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/sports/college/iowa/football/2015/09/23/kinnick-stadium-dan-mccarney-north-texas-iowa-hawkeyes-football/72678916/

Alright, let's get to Freebirds burrito wrapper art gallery level of tinfoil. What if the Iowa set was originally a 1-1, but McCarney pushed for the 2015 game to be in Iowa City, knowing it would be the last opportunity he and Mini could waltz into town together, but then the Hawkeyes couldn't do any other away dates and thus became a 2-0?? That's really the only possible explanation I could think of for the 2-0. Anything more reasonable and I just get angry at RV again. :tinfoil:

I think somebody mentioned this a while back as well, but since Iowa State has an open date the day that we play Iowa, does anyone know if they plan to give us a sort of "home away from home field" advantage and come out to cheer with the Mean Green (and against the Hawkeyes)? Dan sure seems to still have plenty of fans back there, and the fact that we're 1) playing their big in-state rival 2) with their old head coach 3) on a day when they don't play sure seem like 3 great reasons to try to rally some extra support from the Cyclone faithful and get a nice, big, LOUD section helping to give us a little edge against the Hawkeyes, who will likely be heavily favored. Thoughts?