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UNT Tennessee BOX Score and Stats Link KNOXVILLE, TN - North Texas may look back on Saturday's game at Neyland Stadium as a missed opportunity for a repeat of history. The Mean Green, which upset SEC-power Tennessee 40 years ago, dominated time of possession for most of the game and got a season-best performance from their defense. What North Texas could not find was the big play on offense to ignite its scoring, so instead left town with a 24-0 loss to the Vols. "What a great job by our defense," North Texas head coach Mike Canales said. "It's unfortunate we didn't put the ball in the end zone. We had our chances." On an absolutely glorious, sunny, cool day in Knoxville, the Mean Green had some early successes but could not capitalize: a stop on defense followed by a failed drive on offense; a 16-yard Willie Ivery run followed by a quarterback sack; an NT punt downed at the Vol one-yard line wiped out by penalty; three drives across midfield that immediately stalled. But the North Texas defense took away opportunities from the Vols. Twice the Mean Green failed to convert on fourth down in their own end of the field - including once on a fake punt - to give Tennessee excellent field position, but the NT defense surrendered only three points. And, after a 22-yard punt return set up Tennessee at the Mean Green 45, North Texas defensive back Chad Davis picked off a Vol pass to deny another scoring chance. The North Texas defense allowed just 409 yards total offense - their second-lowest total of the year - and had seven tackles for loss in holding the Vols below their season averages in yards and points. Anthony Wallace had a team-high 11 tackles, Zac Whitfield had 10 tackles (1.5 for loss loss) and forced a fumble, and Calvin Minor blocked a Tennessee punt. North Texas, however, could find precious little offense against the Vols. NT had just 199 yards total offense, and each time the Mean Green crossed midfield, they were immediately rebuffed, either by the Vol defense or by a penalty or by a dropped pass. What They Said "You've got to be aggressive and take chances against teams like this." --NT coach Mike Canales on going for it on fourth down and trying a fake punt "Do not fear them. Go play the way we can." --Canales message to his team prior to Saturday's game against Tennessee Quick Hits • DB Chad Davis had his second interception of the season for North Texas and his second of his career. • Jarrian Roberts recorded his 10th-career sack and sixth of the season. • Redshirt freshman WR O'Keeron Rutherford made his third catch of the season. • Garrett Gunter played center for the first time this season in place of Kaydon Kirby who left in the second quarter with an injury. • North Texas was outscored 7-0 in the first quarter, and for the year the Mean Green has been outscored 108-6. NT has failed to score a first quarter touchdown this season. • Punter Eric Keena completed a pass to Andrew Tucker on a fake punt. He is the fifth different player to thrown for a completion this season for NT. Keena had a 62-yard punt on the day, his second-longest of the season and third longest of his career. • NT was shutout for the first time since 2011 at Alabama. The Mean Green fall to 3-36 all-time against teams from the SEC. • The Mean Green has dropped 12-straight games on the road and 14-straight non-conference road games. • Carlos Harris had two receptions and is only nine away from becoming just the second player in school history with 200 career receptions. • Now at 1-9 on the season, the Mean Green need wins in their final two games to avoid double-digit losses this year. In the program's first 91 seasons, North Texas had just one campaign (1972) with 10 or more defeats. But with a loss in either of the final two games this year, North Texas will have its fourth double-digit-loss season in the last 10 years. What's Next North Texas returns to the Volunteer State again next week for its final road game of the season when the Mean Green face Middle Tennessee on Saturday, Nov. 21. Kickoff is 11 a.m. central time.

I noticed that some of you have been joining us lately and wanted to formally welcome you. Sorry that we could not be more engaging in conversations about the game itself. We have been in somewhat of a funk here lately as you can probably tell.

Tennessee technically has only one open date this football season. But facing North Texas on Saturday is the next best thing. The Vols need to take advantage of it. In a word, “rest.” And who’s more deserving than quarterback Joshua Dobbs, who in his first full season as a starter has become the second best quarterback in the SEC. He doesn’t need to inflate his statistics against the 1-8 Mean Green to prove that. So why not let him sit this one out? UT coach Butch Jones acknowledged after Saturday’s 27-24 victory over South Carolina that Dobbs “had been banged up.” But why press your luck against an opponent that you can beat easily without him? My guess is he would excel against an opponent of North Texas’ caliber. read more: http://www.knoxnews.com/govolsxtra/columnists/john-adams-north-texas-the-perfect-chance-to-rest-starters_13502814

North Texas at a glance: Head Coach: Dan McCarney (22-27 through 5 years at North Texas) Conference: Conference USA All-time record: 493–478–35 2014 results: 4-8 (2-6 C-USA) Returning starters: 12: 6 (offense), 6 (defense) 2014 Overview: Coming off a nine-win season in 2013, the Mean Green looked like a team heading in the right direction under Dan McCarney. In 2014, North Texas learned that one successful year doesn’t guarantee another, however, and the Mean Green returned to the uncomfortable four-win mark that it experienced in 2012 as well. Finding the bright spots is somewhat of a futile effort. A 4-2 mark at home is respectable, but those four wins came over an FCS opponent and three FBS foes that had a combined eight wins in 2014. The road was an absolute disaster for North Texas. The Mean Green lost all eight contests aways from Apogee Stadium by an average of 21 points per game. Their two games against Power 5 schools came against programs that were mediocre, at best, in 2014 in Texas and Indiana. UNT didn’t put too much resistance up in those games either, falling 38-7 to Texas in the opener and 49-24 to Indiana. The final numbers were a reflection of UNT’s struggles. The Mean Green finished 11th in Conference USA in total offense, eighth in scoring offense and seventh in scoring defense. Three early questions for the 2015 matchup: 1. Will Tennessee be focused? It’s natural to think that Tennessee, coming off six SEC games, and with a potentially important game in the SEC East race against Missouri coming up the next week, could have a hard time getting up for this one. This will be the first time since 2012 that Tennessee has played a non-conference foe in the second-half of the schedule – a time that, if Tennessee is as improved as many predict, the Vols will be thinking about their positioning in the SEC East. There’s a lot of margin for error in this one, but it will be interesting to see if UT goes out and slams the door early or lets North Texas stick around a bit. read more: http://www.rockytopinsider.com/2015/07/29/2015-opponent-look-ahead-north-texas/

Darnit don't those Vols reporters know that we actually beat them way back when??? No respect!

Man we picked a bad time to stop sniffing glue, I mean play the Vols... they are going to be loaded. Had we had them a couple of years ago it would have been a different story... here's a good breakdown of their program in case you haven't been following them. ------------------------------------------------------- Tennessee's football program appears to be on the cusp of returning to national relevance. Two straight Top 10 recruiting classes and a lot of preseason hype going into the fall are proof of that. It wasn't long ago that the Vols were at their lowest point in the program's 124-year history. The hiring of Derek Dooley, and the 36 games that followed (2010-2012), will be remembered for an Orange Dog, the growing of bamboo, shower discipline, "Opportunity is Nowhere," a Vols' loss when Tennessee had 13 men on the field and a Vols' loss when their opponents had 18 men on the field. Outkick spoke to Tennessee players, alumni and media to get their comments on that tumultuous time in Knoxville. So sit back, grab a beverage of choice, and find out what happens when people stop being polite, and start looking for Rommel. Unless otherwise noted, positions listed are those held by the interview subjects for at least part of the time when Derek Dooley was head coach at Tennessee. read more: http://www.foxsports.com/college-football/outkick-the-coverage/story/derek-dooley-era-at-tennessee-an-oral-history-070615

On today's News Sentinel Sports Page radio show, North Texas football coach Dan McCarney joined Vince Ferrara and Dustin Dopirak to discuss the Mean Green and their matchup with Tennessee. UT takes on North Texas on Nov. 14 at Neyland Stadium. "No question one of the most athletic teams that we saw on tape last year," McCarney said of the Vols. "(UT coach) Butch (Jones) has done a phenomenal job." McCarney, an assistant head coach at Florida from 2008-2010, says he knows a talented SEC team when he sees one and believes Tennessee fits that mold. "They'll be really hard to beat, no matter who they play, next year," he said. "There's speed, there's talent, there's depth. ... You see playmakers all over the field." McCarney said he's "not real wild" about playing a team like Tennessee late in the season, and noted that the matchup was already set when he came aboard at North Texas. "The game's scheduled, we're going to play, (and) we're not going to walk in with a white flag and surrender," he said. Listen to audio here: http://www.knoxnews.com/govolsxtra/football/gvx-audio-north-texas-coach-looks-ahead-to-matchup-with-the-vols