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DENTON -- As part of his job rebuilding the North Texas football program, coach Dan McCarney and his staff have witnessed firsthand the growing pains that go along with raising a young football team, one of the 10 youngest in the FBS. So it's no wonder if one continually hears the coach exclaim, speaking about any particular unit of his team, "We got to get better." One of the most difficult jobs coming into 2012 was replacing running back Lance Dunbar, who has now graduated to the NFL. Though there's certainly room for improvement, McCarney's by-committee coalition of junior Brandin Byrd, redshirt freshman Antoinne Jimmerson and senior Jeremy Brown -- a former walk-on -- has done its job behind the holes opened by an offensive line that includes three sophomores. "It's really come to fruition, what I said last spring," McCarney said last week. "We liked all three of those guys. You're seeing they all complement each other well. "There's no drop off when any of them come into the game." The runners faced one of their stiffest tests on Tuesday against Louisiana-Lafayette's stingy run defense. The Ragin' Cajuns were ranked 18th nationally in rush defense, allowing 107.2 yards per game, including fewer than 70 yards in each of their four victories entering the game against North Texas. Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/10/16/4340930/north-texas-rushers-face-lafayettes.html#storylink=cpy'>http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/10/16/4340930/north-texas-rushers-face-lafayettes.html#storylink=cpy Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/10/16/4340930/north-texas-rushers-face-la Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/10/16/4340930/north-texas-rushers-face-lafayettes.html#storylink=cpy'>http://www.star-telegram.com/2012/10/16/4340930/north-texas-rushers-face-lafayettes.html#storylink=cpy

DENTON, Texas – Derek Thompson threw a 78-yard touchdown on a screen pass to Antoinne Jimmerman with 1:54 remaining to break a 23-all tie and give North Texas a come-from-behind win over Louisiana, 30-23, in front of a crowd of 17,055 Tuesday night in a live nationally broadcast game on ESPN2 at Apogee Stadium on the North Texas campus. The loss snapped UL’s win streak at two games and put the Ragin’ Cajuns at 4-2 overall and 2-1 in Sun Belt play. UNT improved to 3-4, 2-1. All looked good for the Cajuns after they stretched the lead to 20-6 just three minutes into the second half. But the North Texas offense, which totaled 242 yards and 524 yards of total offense, wore down the Cajuns defense. UL had entered the game ranked second in the Sun Belt and 19th nationally allowing 107.2 yards rushing per game including just 60 yards or less in all four wins. “I am terribly disappointed because I feel like we let one get away,” UL head coach Mark Hudspeth said. “We did everything we were supposed to do in the first half and then something just got away from us. We didn’t make any plays defensively and didn’t take advantage of field position.” Trailing 23-20 late in the game, the Cajuns came to life. After Brett Baer’s punt pinned the Mean Green back inside the one and led to a three-and-out series, UL was able to generate enough offense for Baer to tie the game with a 47-yard field goal with 3:01 left. With the Mean Green facing a third-and-eight from their own 22, Thompson found Jimmerson on a short screen pass on the right side. Jimmerson burst through a hole and broke a couple of tackles on the way to the go-ahead touchdown. “We had them pinned back and needed just one stop to get off the field and give the ball back to our offense,” Hudspeth said. “But we let them break a big play and take the lead.” The Cajuns had a chance to rally. However, on the first play from scrimmage following the kickoff, Terrance Broadway completed a seven-yard pass to Effrem Reed over the middle that was fumbled and Marcus Trice recovered for UNT to effectively end the game. “We needed to make some plays when we had the opportunity and we didn’t,” Hudspeth lamented. “Our goals are still intact. We need to just head back to Lafayette, practice hard and get ready for Arkansas State next week.” The Cajuns played the game without starting running back Alonzo Harris, who was ill all week and was unable to practice. In addition, starting receivers Harry Peoples (shoulder) and Javone Lawson (wrist) each missed good portions of the game due to injury. “We knew coming into the game that this was going to be a physical game, so injuries are no excuse,” Hudspeth admitted. “They are a good football team whose record is deceptive. They played two teams in the top 10 in the nation this year which goes to show you the level that they are capable of playing.” Read more: http://www.ragincajuns.com/news/2012/10/17/FB_1017125900.aspx

Go ahead and cast your vote on how North Texas does in the 2012 Football Season! We are going to pin this up top so that end of season we can see who was correct.

http://theadvocate.com/multimedia/photos/3518268-93/photos-lsus-first-day-of

There were times last season when UNT looked pretty good offensively. The Mean Green exploded for 59 points in a season-ending win over Middle Tennessee and scored 38 in wins over Troy and Louisiana-Monroe. And then where were the times UNT looked pretty bad, including five times the Mean Green scored 21 points or less. Ask UNT’s coaches where they need to improve so the former is more common than the later and the topic of speed and explosive play from the wide receiver spot always comes up. UNT finished with just 11 pass plays of 30 or more yards last season and two of them were to running back Lance Dunbar. Offensive coordinator Mike Canales joked at UNT’s football banquet that Derek Thompson had an 83-yard touchdown pass. He threw it about 15 yards to Lance, and he did the rest. Dan McCarney has said on numerous occasions that UNT has to get faster as a team. That includes the wide receiver spot. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2012/05/post-spring-football-series-part-4-wide-receivers.html/