DRC (updated with story): UNT picked to win C-USA West Division in preseason poll

Brett Vito · July 16, 2019

DRC: Can UNT handle that role of favorite after coming up short in a similar spot last season?

https://dentonrc.com/sports/north-texas-a-near-unanimous-pick-to-win-c-usa/article_c51213c8-0c74-50a1-ad40-af43fa25b58b.html

Edited July 16, 2019 by Brett Vito

TheColonyEagle · July 16, 2019

C-USA Media Members Predicted Order of Finish

WEST DIVISION

North Texas (20)
Southern Miss (4)
Louisiana Tech
UAB (2)
UTSA
Rice
UTEP

EAST DIVISION

Marshall (14)
FIU (9)
Florida Atlantic (3)
Middle Tennessee
WKU
Old Dominion
Charlotte

Southern Miss is getting a lot of love...but I think it's pretty right on. I think they nailed the east.

Tough schedule, we play USM and LaTech on the road....

MeanGreenTexan · July 16, 2019

2 minutes ago, TheColonyEagle said:

C-USA Media Members Predicted Order of Finish

WEST DIVISION

North Texas (20)

Southern Miss (4)

Louisiana Tech

UAB (2)

UTSA

Rice

UTEP

EAST DIVISION

Marshall (14)

FIU (9)

Florida Atlantic (3)

Middle Tennessee

WKU

Old Dominion

Charlotte

Southern Miss is getting a lot of love...but I think it's pretty right on. I think they nailed the east.

Tough schedule, we play USM and LaTech on the road....

Looks like 2 people are living under a rock. Either that, or they think Spencer Brown is about to have a Devin Singletary-type year. Probably living under a rock though. At least most of the media members were paying attention to what UAB had last year VS what is returning. They can definitely still jump up and bite someone though. Glad we have them at home this year.
Every year, SoMiss gets a lot of love in the preseason, and then they underperform spectacularly. Not worried about them at all.
I think it's odd that LATech didn't get a single 1st place vote.

I actually like FIU in the East. Davis has them trending up.

Wag Tag · July 16, 2019

Champ game at an oversold Ap on Natl TV with a win against Marsh or FIU. Would be sweet!! GMG

greenjoe · July 16, 2019

Lucccccyyyyyyy.....You've got some 'splaining to do.

Sports Illustrated just came out with their preseason top 25. They have Florida Atlantic at 25. And the CUSA writers have FAU at 3rd in the east.

6 for Heisman

GO MEAN GREEN

UNTLifer · July 16, 2019

I don't get the love for Southern Miss and UAB. I think La Tech is right there this year in the West with us. I think FIU is on the way up and FAU will be down this year. The East, to me, is an easy pick with the West a little more wide open.

97and03 · July 16, 2019

“Mean Green return most of their key players from a team that finished 9-4 after ending the regular season in a three-way tie for second in the West Division in 2018.”

Lost 6 on Defense but most key players return? I guess only offense counts.

jennifer lawrence ok GIF

FirefightnRick · July 16, 2019

3 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

I don't get the love for Southern Miss.

Defense.

Rick

97and03 · July 17, 2019

44 minutes ago, FirefightnRick said:

Defense.

Rick

And, like us, a very accurate QB.

TheColonyEagle · July 17, 2019

1 hour ago, FirefightnRick said:

Defense.

Rick

Agree to a point. But that defense has been touted for 2-3 years. Last time we went to Hattiesburg, it’s all we heard about and then we put it on them fairly well.

Sig381 · July 17, 2019

top gun yes GIF by Hollywood Suite

SigmaGreen · July 17, 2019

MeanGreenTexan · July 17, 2019

1 hour ago, 97and03 said:

And, like us, a very accurate QB.

“Like us”?

97and03 · July 17, 2019

48 minutes ago, MeanGreenTexan said:

“Like us”?

USM’s QB was #1 in D1 with a .731 completion percentage. Mason was .646.

Mason is a BETTER QB but in most modern offenses, accuracy is a strong indication of success. They didn’t score against us much last year (7) but their QB had 318 yrds and that one TD was to Watkins for 44 yrds. Watkins returns.

And they held us to “only” 30 points - which is pretty decent but below our season average.

Let’s see how the season plays out because our Defense will need to grow up fast before we meet up again. We play them on the road the week after Houston. We lost most of our playmakers on D.

I have them as the West favorite, for the above reasons. But I do absolutely believe we can beat them. I do wish it was a little later in the season.

Edited July 17, 2019 by 97and03

FirefightnRick · July 17, 2019

2 hours ago, 97and03 said:

USM’s QB was #1 in D1 with a .731 completion percentage. Mason was .646.

Mason is a BETTER QB but in most modern offenses, accuracy is a strong indication of success. They didn’t score against us much last year (7) but their QB had 318 yrds and that one TD was to Watkins for 44 yrds. Watkins returns.

And they held us to “only” 30 points - which is pretty decent but below our season average.

Let’s see how the season plays out because our Defense will need to grow up fast before we meet up again. We play them on the road the week after Houston. We lost most of our playmakers on D.

.... I do wish it was a little later in the season.

Agree,...but history says earlier in the season favors us. We don’t do well late.

And for whatever reason they just didn’t match up well against us last year considering we scored the most points on them than anyone...including Auburn.

.Hopefully....this season will be similar but anytime you play a top 5 defense you know it’s gonna be a battle.

Rick

Edited July 17, 2019 by FirefightnRick

untjim1995 · July 17, 2019

10 hours ago, FirefightnRick said:

Agree,...but history says earlier in the season favors us. We don’t do well late.

And for whatever reason they just didn’t match up well against us last year considering we scored the most points on them than anyone...including Auburn.

.Hopefully....this season will be similar but anytime you play a top 5 defense you know it’s gonna be a battle.

Rick

I agree—USM, like La Tech and UAB last year, will have a physical defense. Those type of teams have given us fits during the SL tenure.

We will have tough road games at both LT and USM. I suspect that the CUSA West winner comes from whoever can split between the three of us and then avoids an upset against the rest of the league.

UNT Mean Green · July 17, 2019

16 hours ago, FirefightnRick said:

Defense.

Rick

Averaging 37 points per game against them in the last two meetings...

TIgreen01 · July 17, 2019

If we didn't have to play both LaTech and SMiss on the road I'd feel better about this prediction.

I just need to see this year's defense get on the field before I am comfortable with this team. When Garner and EJ went out of games last year we gave up points quick and in big bunches. When Kemon was also out we were swiss cheese. I'm less worried about the secondary, but our backup LBers were not ready. Hoping an off-season of first team reps has changed that.

MGNation92 · July 17, 2019

15 hours ago, 97and03 said:

Watkins might return

https://www.sunherald.com/sports/college/conference-usa/university-of-southern-mississippi/article231723678.html

Sounds more likely than not but there's a possibility he may still be ineligible for the fall if his grades aren't up

MeanGreenTexan · July 17, 2019

The offense seems to have issues with transcendent pass-rush players.
Davenport, Lawler, Ferguson, Garcia-Williams & Ximines come to mind over the last 2 years.

So, even though Hemby is a really good secondary player, we've been pretty successful recently in scheming to confuse those guys or play away from them with success. Amik Robertson was schemed out of the LATech game pretty well until he friggin blocked that game-winning kick (but that's a ST's play), and he's the best overall defensive player in C-USA IMO.

I know USM has Jaques Turner as an all-conference DE, and he's pretty good, but if trending continues, the Charlotte defense will likely do better against us than USM's because Alex Highsmith is one of those players.

NorthTexasWeLove · July 17, 2019

3 hours ago, UNT Mean Green said:

Averaging 37 points per game against them in the last two meetings...

This right chere.

Some like to point out their D as the leading reason for their hype-train. UNT has had no problem scoring points vs them and that is unlikely to change.

And the 30 points dropped on them last year was a rainy home game with minimal to no energy in the stands. Felt like a practice and they still dropped 30.

Color me unimpressed.

FirefightnRick · July 17, 2019

1 hour ago, NorthTexasWeLove said:

This right chere.

Some like to point out their D as the leading reason for their hype-train. UNT has had no problem scoring points vs them and that is unlikely to change.

And the 30 points dropped on them last year was a rainy home game with minimal to no energy in the stands. Felt like a practice and they still dropped 30.

Color me unimpressed.

Their defense IS the reason for their hype. What else would it be?

And our last two games have been a struggle against them until a few plays were made for us by some exceptional players we now no longer have.

Two years ago we had to overcome two 14 point deficits to win,....and last year the game was 33 seconds from going into the 4th quarter as a 3 point game.

So go ahead and discount them if you want but their defense is why I’ll continue to “paint” them as a challenge.

Rick

NorthTexasWeLove · July 18, 2019

4 hours ago, FirefightnRick said:

Their defense IS the reason for their hype. What else would it be?

And our last two games have been a struggle against them until a few plays were made for us by some exceptional players we now no longer have.

Two years ago we had to overcome two 14 point deficits to win,....and last year the game was 33 seconds from going into the 4th quarter as a 3 point game.

So go ahead and discount them if you want but their defense is why I’ll continue to “paint” them as a challenge.

Rick

I'm not disagreeing with you that their defense isn't good. But their current brand of football leaves no margin for error, by either offense or defense. Their offense can't put their defense in precarious situations and vice versa. If they do, they'll fold. Sure, they could beat us. But they'd have to play a turnover free game, while having sustainable and consistent success on offense all while holding us to under 20-24 points. Good luck.