Know the Opponent: North Texas

Harry · July 25, 2019

BleedTechBlue.com caught up with North Texas beat writer Brett Vito of the Denton Record-Chronicle to preview the 2019 North Texas Mean Green.

Seth Littrell is entering his fourth season in Denton and has certainly put the program back on the map. That said, the Mean Green fell short of expectations a year ago. Is 2019 a year in which Littrell needs to get his team at least to the conference championship for it to be considered a success?

I don’t think it’s nearly that simple.

UNT has three bowl wins in its entire history and hasn’t won 10 games in a season without the benefit of a forfeit since 1947.

There are also huge opportunity games out there in nonconference play for UNT against Cal and Houston.

What if UNT beats Houston, gaining a ton of publicity for the program in the process, slips up in a game in C-USA play that prevents the Mean Green from winning the conference title and rebounds to win a bowl game?

A 10-win season with a bowl win could be considered a success even if UNT doesn’t win the C-USA title.

With OC Graham Harrell moving on to USC in the off-season, is there a concern within the program that the offense could take a step back?

I don’t sense that concern at all. Head coach Seth Littrell has always been highly involved in UNT’s offense and planned to be even more involved this year, regardless of who the offensive coordinator is.

Harrell did a great job at UNT and melded his offense with Littrell’s.

UNT changed one part of that equation when it added Bodie Reeder, who spent last season as the offensive coordinator at Eastern Washington. Reeder’s approach more closely mirrors what Littrell wants to do in terms of playing at a faster pace and making tight ends a more prominent part of the scheme.

UNT has a lot of talent returning and has C-USA’s best quarterback in Mason Fine.

There is more curiosity about what UNT’s offense will look like than concern that the Mean Green will take a step back.

read more: https://latech.rivals.com/news/know-the-opponent-north-texas

NorthTexan95 · July 25, 2019

Vito is an idiot.

Quote

UNT fans are desperate to develop a conference rival outside of UTSA. The Mean Green faithful believe having a rivalry with a school as new to the scene as UTSA is below them, as crazy as that sounds.

This entire quote is wrong. First, UTSA isn't a rival. UTSA doesn't get the fans riled up. The UTSA game isn't circled on the calendar when the schedule comes out. Many, including Vito, have tried to verbally strong arm the rest of us into calling it a rivalry when most fans just do not care. Rivalries are created over time which our history with UTSA doesn't have.

Let me repeat ... UTSA IS NOT A RIVAL. It could develop into one but it isn't at this time. If you believe UTSA is our rival then understand that you are significantly in the minority.

Edited July 25, 2019 by NorthTexan95

Wag Tag · July 25, 2019

Win the damn Championship! Now!

MGNation92 · July 25, 2019

1 minute ago, NorthTexan95 said:

This entire quote is wrong. First, UNT isn't a rival. UNT doesn't get the fans riled up. The UNT game isn't circled on the calendar when the schedule comes out. Many UNT FANS have tried to verbally strong arm the rest of us into calling it a rivalry when most fans just do not care. Rivalries are created over time which our history with UNT doesn't have.

Let me repeat ... UNT IS NOT A RIVAL. It could develop into one but it isn't at this time. If you believe UNT is our rival then understand that you are significantly in the minority.

- A common SMU fan

If UTSA isn't our rival, who is? It's gotta work both ways. I hate them, I hate SMU. One hates UNT, and the other could care less.

LaTech would be a welcome rival. Until then, UTSA(whether you want to admit it or not), is the closest thing we have to a rival.

NorthTexan95 · July 25, 2019

24 minutes ago, MGNation92 said:

If UTSA isn't our rival, who is? It's gotta work both ways. I hate them, I hate SMU. One hates UNT, and the other could care less.

LaTech would be a welcome rival. Until then, UTSA(whether you want to admit it or not), is the closest thing we have to a rival.

A rivalry doesn't necessarily have to work both ways. Just about every team in the B12 considers Texas to be a rival but they only reciprocate to Oklahoma. SMU is a rival since most fans circle that on the calendar each year. UTSA is just another conference team and no more a rival than anyone else. Honestly, we have no real rival that goes both ways.

MeanGreenTexan · July 25, 2019

33 minutes ago, NorthTexan95 said:

Vito is an idiot.

This entire quote is wrong. First, UTSA isn't a rival. UTSA doesn't get the fans riled up. The UTSA game isn't circled on the calendar when the schedule comes out. Many, including Vito, have tried to verbally strong arm the rest of us into calling it a rivalry when most fans just do not care. Rivalries are created over time which our history with UTSA doesn't have.

Let me repeat ... UTSA IS NOT A RIVAL. It could develop into one but it isn't at this time. If you believe UTSA is our rival then understand that you are significantly in the minority.

Some gullible fans on here were goaded into hatred of them based on some of their moronic fans coming on gmg.com and talking nonsensical trash. Then, they happened to beat us in 2013, which was a punch to the gut for a great NT team that was cruising towards a Western Division title that year. THE DRIVE happened to occur against them too. I wouldn't call Rice a "rival" because of THE STAND though.

That's it. That's the history between these two teams and our "rivalry". There's nothing else.

greenminer · July 25, 2019

I think it is simple, Vito.

Our current financial, administrative, and facility resources put our program in a vastly different position compared to any other era in UNT history. We can keep looking at our past for some historical perspective, but not in terms of expectations.

I expect us to be in the CUSA title game and be competitive against UH/Cal. 7+ wins are good. But if we fail to appear the title game and/or get whipped by UH/Cal, I will be disappointed....I will be happy about a good season, and no less a fan of all things Mean Green, but feel we failed expectations.

EDIT: IMHO, those are realistic expectations. Personally - whether it’s realistic or not - I dont’ want to just be competitive. I want us to go to Cal and Houston and clock their asses by 20+ points. I’m ready for some Mean Green Koolaid and T25 appearances.

Edited July 25, 2019 by greenminer

DeepGreen · July 25, 2019

nutsak wouldn't know a rival if it bit them in the ass.

GrandGreen · July 25, 2019

It is technically correct that the ten game winning season included a forfeit.

However, this was a very close game and certainly could have been swayed by the use of one or more ineligible players.

It is not like Miss State steamrolled NT and the only way NT could have won is by forfeit.

This was a SEC team, NT played away that was as dirty as they come. As I remember they put Walter Chapman out of two of the games using crack back blocks.

TheColonyEagle · July 25, 2019

this question of "who is our rival" comes up a lot.

No UTSA is not our rival. If a school that's only been around a few year is our rival...that's sad.

Rivals have to develop naturally over time.

I'll say this....it seems the past few years, our game vs La Tech has had conference implications....that is a recipe for a developing rivalry. This season should be no different

Tyler Maryak · July 25, 2019

I have a feeling that some of y'all weren't in the student section the first two times that UTSA played at Apogee. If you were, you'd probably better understand why I, and many people I know, do circle that game on the calendar. Polling regular visitors of GMG.com isn't exactly a conclusive sample size for determining who our rival is or is not.

MGNation92 · July 25, 2019

9 minutes ago, Tyler Maryak said:

I have a feeling that some of y'all weren't in the student section the first two times that UTSA played at Apogee. If you were, you'd probably better understand why I, and many people I know, do circle that game on the calendar. Polling regular visitors of GMG.com isn't exactly a conclusive sample size for determining who our rival is or is not.

^That is exactly where my seething hatred for that school began.

Texas Stranger · July 25, 2019

If we were not in a Conference with UTSA, would we schedule them for an OOC series? We all know the answer to that.

MrStrange18 · July 25, 2019

4 hours ago, NorthTexan95 said:

Vito is an idiot.

This entire quote is wrong. First, UTSA isn't a rival. UTSA doesn't get the fans riled up. The UTSA game isn't circled on the calendar when the schedule comes out. Many, including Vito, have tried to verbally strong arm the rest of us into calling it a rivalry when most fans just do not care. Rivalries are created over time which our history with UTSA doesn't have.

Let me repeat ... UTSA IS NOT A RIVAL. It could develop into one but it isn't at this time. If you believe UTSA is our rival then understand that you are significantly in the minority.

Sounds like UTSA is getting you riled up right now...

letsgiveacheer · July 25, 2019

3 hours ago, GrandGreen said:

It is technically correct that the ten game winning season included a forfeit.

However, this was a very close game and certainly could have been swayed by the use of one or more ineligible players.

It is not like Miss State steamrolled NT and the only way NT could have won is by forfeit.

This was a SEC team, NT played away that was as dirty as they come. As I remember they put Walter Chapman out of two of the games using crack back blocks.

True. Mississippi State was ranked 16 at the time and we lost the game by only two points 17-15. The only other game we lost that year was to 20th ranked Florida State. The other point to make is that there were 11 games in those days rather than the 12 played today.

DallasGreen · July 26, 2019

2 hours ago, letsgiveacheer said:

True. Mississippi State was ranked 16 at the time and we lost the game by only two points 17-15. The only other game we lost that year was to 20th ranked Florida State. The other point to make is that there were 11 games in those days rather than the 12 played today.

Might make the same point that Ramsey and Thompson set their records in 3 seasons while Fine is getting four to set his records.. Crack back on Walter Chapman was a clip out of bounds. Drew a flag but ended most of his season. Would have loved to see him later that year vs. Earl Campbell. Those Fry teams always were in the game no matter who they played. Seith L. should look at some of that film.

emmitt01 · July 26, 2019

43 minutes ago, DallasGreen said:

Might make the same point that Ramsey and Thompson set their records in 3 seasons while Fine is getting four to set his records.. Crack back on Walter Chapman was a clip out of bounds. Drew a flag but ended most of his season. Would have loved to see him later that year vs. Earl Campbell. Those Fry teams always were in the game no matter who they played. Seith L. should look at some of that film.

Fine has already broken pretty much every record...in three seasons

All About UNT · July 26, 2019

1 hour ago, emmitt01 said:

Fine has already broken pretty much every record...in three seasons

Right? Smashed the record books in 3 years and it isn't even close. Not to mention his injuries during these 3 years that kept him out of games

GrandGreen · July 26, 2019

10 minutes ago, All About UNT said:

Right? Smashed the record books in 3 years and it isn't even close. Not to mention his injuries during these 3 years that kept him out of games

You may not realize that Ramsey only played in 29 games in his career. Fine has already played in 40.

However, Fine is a much superior QB to Ramsey. Ramsey was a high risk thrower with a comparative low completion percentage and record number of interceptions. His teams were 22-6-1 versus Fine at this point 23-17.

All About UNT · July 26, 2019

No I know he was a high risk passer due to his 24-31 TD-INT record his last year... might be due to the type of offense that was prevalent back in the day

Here is Steve Ramsey's record:

and here is Mason's (well it shows Mason's first)

SilverEagle · July 26, 2019

19 hours ago, TheColonyEagle said:

this question of "who is our rival" comes up a lot.

No UTSA is not our rival. If a school that's only been around a few year is our rival...that's sad.

Rivals have to develop naturally over time.

I'll say this....it seems the past few years, our game vs La Tech has had conference implications....that is a recipe for a developing rivalry. This season should be no different

First of all, North Texas needs a rivalry. That's how you maintain some semblance of interest in the Football season from year to year. I used to say that I don't really care who our rivalry is with, just as long as we have one, but that's not true.......anymore. If we can continue to develop a rivalry with La Tech, that would be great! It's a manageable day drive down there. It's a very pleasant drive. And the La Tech fans are great! After our last home game there, FFR and I went to the La Tech fans favorite Bar in downtown Ruston, and were treated like real guests.

MeanGreenTexan · July 26, 2019

26 minutes ago, SilverEagle said:

First of all, North Texas needs a rivalry. That's how you maintain some semblance of interest in the Football season from year to year. I used to say that I don't really care who our rivalry is with, just as long as we have one, but that's not true.......anymore. If we can continue to develop a rivalry with La Tech, that would be great! It's a manageable day drive down there. It's a very pleasant drive. And the La Tech fans are great! After our last home game there, FFR and I went to the La Tech fans favorite Bar in downtown Ruston, and were treated like real guests.

It's because they've been fans of the football program at LATech for more than 8 years, and understand football fandom etiquette, unlike a certain school in San Antonio.

NorthTexasWeLove · July 26, 2019

If you want to BEAT a team as bad as they do not want to LOSE to you then they are a rival -- SMU.

Cr1028 · July 26, 2019

SMU will always be our rival in our minds but they would likely say TCU is there’s. I understand UTSA is a newcomer but for whatever reason our games with them have always been heated. We beat them when they should beat us, we beat them when they should beat us. They (out of nowhere) beat the best North Texas team I have seen with my own eyes and cost us a conference title. There was debate over who hired the better coach, them or us. They had a all conference linebacker from lake Dallas that we snubbed that added to the storyline. There is a reason we get the whole “would you rather beat UTSA and SMU or just Arkansas type polls”.

To some of us they are a rival, to others they don’t deserve to be out rival. Whether you want to give them credit or not, they are a bunch of annoying little shits that won’t go away and every one of us wants to beat the piss out of them every time we play. Whether we admit it or not, they are every bit a rival to us as we are to SMU.