Best and Worst Moments as a UNT fan

untjim1995 · August 28, 2017

What are your best and worst moments to endure as a UNT Football fan?

For me, my favorites will always be the NO Bowl win over Cincy in 2002, the HoD Bowl win over UNLV in 2103, and the demolition of Baylor in 2003 at a packed Fouts. Those three still remain my favorites to this day, although the Old School "See Ya Later, McNeese State" game in the rain that basically put us in 1st place in the old I-AA SLC in 1994 was great, too...

Worst moments can be hardest loss and most annoying or most embarrassed. Obviously, Portland State would be at the top for many, but for me it will always be the LaDarrin McLane fumble at the 5 yard line with under a minute to go that would have seen us beat Tech again in Lubbock. The FIU 7-OT game was a win, but I think we all lost after it was over, since it was beyond embarrassing to witness two putrid teams wail at each other and just flail.

Ben Gooding · August 28, 2017

Best in no order - 2013 Halloween game vs Rice, HoD Bowl win, HoD Bowl loss, comeback win vs a pretty good Ball St team (underrated game that was the springboard to success in 2013), Firing of DM, Firing of RV, and the Portland State loss for UNT was actually a win for us all.

Worst in no order - Watching the team get their faces pushed in on a consistent basis. 2016 loss at UTEP rubbed me the wrong way and I still haven't gotten over that.

greenminer · August 28, 2017

Best: Bowl wins are easy choices and rightfully so. I would put a couple games from 1999 in there: The Tech game at Texas Stadium and the first NO Bowl appearance vs. Colorado State. Thinking of those halftime shows and the things the band did to remember 9/11 still makes me emotional. At Texas Stadium we placed an amazing arrangement of American the Beautiful, and in NO we got to hold a field-sized flag shaped like the continental US. I think in both cases we shared the field with the other school band.

Since this says "moments" and is not football-specific, I'm also grateful to @FirefightnRick for inviting me to the team awards/dinner many years ago. Rick is a good man, and also introduced me to the greatness of @SilverEagle/Bill!

Worst: 7-OT win vs. FIU. An absolutely freezing game vs. WKU on Thanksgiving weekend, I believe. Just miserably wet and cold. And I think WKU was still new and they came in and acted like children, thumping their chests on our midfield logo and trying to start a fight every time the whistle blew.

Also, keeping Benford around that extra year was an embarrassment.

MeanGreenTexan · August 28, 2017

4 minutes ago, untjim1995 said:

What are your best and worst moments to endure as a UNT Football fan?

For me, my favorites will always be the NO Bowl win over Cincy in 2002, the HoD Bowl win over UNLV in 2103, and the demolition of Baylor in 2003 at a packed Fouts. Those three still remain my favorites to this day, although the Old School "See Ya Later, McNeese State" game in the rain that basically put us in 1st place in the old I-AA SLC in 1994 was great, too...

Worst moments can be hardest loss and most annoying or most embarrassed. Obviously, Portland State would be at the top for many, but for me it will always be the LaDarrin McLane fumble at the 5 yard line with under a minute to go that would have seen us beat Tech again in Lubbock. The FIU 7-OT game was a win, but I think we all lost after it was over, since it was beyond embarrassing to witness two putrid teams wail at each other and just flail.

Best moments:
Defensive 2nd half against UT in 02 (decked out in my burnt orange gear in the stands at DKR with some high school friends: turned me into a Mean Green fan)
Goalpost game in 02
Trouncing Baylor in 03
The Stand 13
HOD Bowl 2013

Worst moments:
The entire 2008 season
The entire 2015 season
The great Tulsa Nut-kick of 05. We had just beat MTSU, and looked to be on our way to another SBC championship.
The blur that was 2005 - 2012.
Andrew Smith

untjim1995 · August 28, 2017

6 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

Best moments:
Defensive 2nd half against UT in 02 (decked out in my burnt orange gear in the stands at DKR with some high school friends: turned me into a Mean Green fan)
Goalpost game in 02
Trouncing Baylor in 03
The Stand 13
HOD Bowl 2013

Worst moments:
The entire 2008 season
The entire 2015 season
The great Tulsa Nut-kick of 05. We had just beat MTSU, and looked to be on our way to another SBC championship.
The blur that was 2005 - 2012.
Andrew Smith

The 2005 Tulsa game was just awful...then the 2008 Rice loss was even worse...then the 2015 Portland State quit was the worst

MeanGreenTexan · August 28, 2017

1 minute ago, untjim1995 said:

The 2005 Tulsa game was just awful...then the 2008 Rice loss was even worse...then the 2015 Portland State quit was the worst

I debated between that Portland St. game and Andrew Smith. But with the buzz going into the Portland St. game, I had to give it to the more shocking loss.

As for Rice, I had to include it in the whole 2008 year, which was just 1 gut punch after the other.

untjim1995 · August 28, 2017

6 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

I debated between that Portland St. game and Andrew Smith. But with the buzz going into the Portland St. game, I had to give it to the more shocking loss.

As for Rice, I had to include it in the whole 2008 year, which was just 1 gut punch after the other.

The 2008 and 2015 seasons are remarkably similar in their suckitude...both teams won 1-game by miracle circumstances. 2008 at WKU, we beat them on a last second INT at the goal line to keep them from winning. IN 2015, it took UTSA being down to its 5th string QB in the 2nd half for us to score a late TD and win the game. Both suffered losses of catastrophic magnitude--Rice (the SWC doormat) could have scored 100 points on us EASILY if they had wanted to that day. Portland State gave us the worst loss in modern college football history.

But in 2008, we still had two more season of DodgeBall because we felt that a buyout of an extra $300k was gonna be too high to pay. By 2015, we decided that $2.1 million was a buyout that was both allowable and necessary. I just pray we never go back to the old days of not buying out contracts until its deemed financially advantageous first.

DeepGreen · August 28, 2017

We can all share our moments of North Texas' greatest and worst moments in football history at our beloved University. Mine go back to the late 1960's, the MVC days with Joe Greene, Steve Ramsey, etc., and a cast of other great players. And I'll never forget the win over Cincy in the NO Bowl.

For me, although not a particular game, the worst moment in UNT football history was the day we dropped down to D1AA in 1983. Nothing will come close to that disaster of a decision by North Texas. Nothing.

untjim1995 · August 28, 2017

1 minute ago, DeepGreen said:

We can all share our moments of North Texas' greatest and worst moments in football history at our beloved University. Mine go back to the late 1960's, the MVC days with Joe Greene, Steve Ramsey, etc., and a cast of other great players. And I'll never forget the win over Cincy in the NO Bowl.

For me, although not a particular game, the worst moment in UNT football history was the day we dropped down to D1AA in 1983. Nothing will come close to that disaster of a decision by North Texas. Nothing.

I wasn't around for it, but that has to be the worst moment...it cost us generations of fans, those who were fans before and the fans that we lost by not giving them any reason to want to care for another 20 years...

Mean Green 93-98 · August 28, 2017

Some of the best that come to mind - N.O. Bowl win, H.O.D. Bowl win, win over McNeese St. in '94, comeback win over Oregon State in '95 (I think), high scoring win over Utah State in '96 (I think), wins over Ball State in '09 and '13, beatdown of Tulsa in '13.

The worst - OU Dodge's first year, Rice Dodge's 2nd year, Portland State debacle.

oldguystudent · August 28, 2017

Best -- The Stand, HOD against UNLV, smacking down SMU resulting in June Jones' firing

Worst -- My first two and a half seasons with Todd Dodge as head coach. Watching Dan McCarney turn into an utterly uncaring, uninspired coach who clearly loved Florida more than UNT. Certain twitter posts from a player and a member of the AD.

Green P1 · August 28, 2017

Best: Few

Worst: So so so many

Harry · August 28, 2017

3 hours ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

The great Tulsa Nut-kick of 05. We had just beat MTSU, and looked to be on our way to another SBC championship.

That one sticks out in my mind as well for some reason. It just completely deflated everyone. You would have thought we were playing Ohio State or something. Loss to UTSA at home in our first game against them was a toughie. The last road loss against Houston really stung me because I felt we had a good crowd and should have been more competitive. Dickey, Mac and Dodge were really horrendous on the road. And then there is Portland State although as one fan reminded me PSU had beaten WSU and was no push-over.

There are plenty of good ones as well, mostly around Bowl Games. The 1st bowl game in New Orleans will always be special but the 1st win against Cincy was amazing. The turn-out of fans for the 1st C-USA bowl game at Fair Park may be my top moment though. That was awesome to see. Beating Boise on their blue turf was one of my favorite away games along with the Miracle in the Desert.

Cr1028 · August 28, 2017

Best: Woody Wilson '06 SMU

Worst: Black jerseygate or '09 Ohio 2OT loss in a monsoon

golfingomez · August 28, 2017

Best is Halloween over Rice, might be the only time that i felt UNT portrayed all the necessary elements of a serious program on gameday.

Worst is the 2009 2OT loss to Ohio, which was a the perfect example of 'whatever can go wrong, will go wrong' during those years.

James · August 28, 2017

The 2013 Rice game. I was a student at the time and it was the first moment I felt goosebumps as a Mean Green fan. A night I could brag about to all my non-Mean Green friends.

BTG_Fan1 · August 28, 2017

Fav.--- Was during the New Orleans Bowl run and we had won and the students struggled to break down the upgright, then had trouble getting it out the stadium down the tunnel where the team came out of..

Worst- the delay between RV leaving and WB coming in... We would be much farther along if he had an entire summer to plan/review things before the season (I believe)

Side Show Joe · August 29, 2017

Best- Halloween 2013. That morning I delivered the bronze bust of "Mean" Joe Greene to the athletic office. ESPN trucks were already on location preparing for that night's game with Rice. Security was tight around the athletic center. That evening I lost my voice while cheering my Mean Green on to one of the great all-time victories in the program's history.

Worst- The Portland State game, and it's not even close. By the time this game came around, I was already quite frustrated with the direction, or lack there of, our program had taken. I was devastated that McNulty had earned the starting QB job, and just didn't see an improved team take the field to start that season. I no longer had confidence in the leadership of McCarney, or RV. If you go back and look at the old threads leading up to the game, I was questioning if we could win it. I stayed home on Homecoming and listened to the game on 88.1. I was disgusted by the outcome of that game.

AustinFromUNT · August 29, 2017

Best Time: 2015 UTSA win. Everyone else had given up yet I was still in the stands cheering for the guys. I got the student section fired up and truly feel like I got the crowd back in, and played a small part in helping the win.

Worst Time: Watching everyone give up on the team in 2015. That was beyond depressing to see people give up on the team.

badnewspears · August 29, 2017

Best: The Stand against Rice, the HOD win in '13 and feeling like we still had a shot last year, the feeling of being so dominant in the beginning of the Sun Belt era, Dunbar's record setting day in 2011 to cap our first Apogee year, the announcement of the SOW and later the adoption of it on the helmet

Worst: The Portland St. game, the feeling of being utterly pathetic outside of conference during the Sun Belt run, the realization of losing what felt like an upward trajectory with Dickey and knowing it soon into Dodge's tenure.

shootermcgavin44 · August 29, 2017

Best UNT sports moment- TIE being in Lafayette at the Belt Hoops Tourney punching a ticket to the big dance/ rushing the floor after beating Oklahoma State at the Pit

Best football moment- smoking Baylor at Fouts

Worst- Not even close, Portland State was the worst moment in UNT athletic history

Edited August 29, 2017 by shootermcgavin44

North Texas Shep · August 29, 2017

Portland State= Worst

Best= That Goal Line stand against Rice (2012 I think? You remember). One of the best defensive stands I have seen... EVER!

There are games that were also cool, but that is my favorite moment. Don't remember much from going to games when I was young. All a drunk'n blur.

golfingomez · August 29, 2017

1 hour ago, badnewspears said:

Best: The Stand against Rice, the HOD win in '13 and feeling like we still had a shot last year, the feeling of being so dominant in the beginning of the Sun Belt era, Dunbar's record setting day in 2011 to cap our first Apogee year, the announcement of the SOW and later the adoption of it on the helmet

Worst: The Portland St. game, the feeling of being utterly pathetic outside of conference during the Sun Belt run, the realization of losing what felt like an upward trajectory with Dickey and knowing it soon into Dodge's tenure.

Dang... forgot about the Dunbar game... that was unbelievable.