CFN Prediction

MeanGreenBuzz · September 15, 2005

Tulsa (0-2) at North Texas (1-0) 7:00 PM ET

Why to watch: Tulsa is 0-2, but it's not a bad 0-2. Even though it lost 41-10 to Minnesota in the season opener, the game was still there for the taking after weathering the early storm of Laurence Maroney touchdown runs. With the Conference USA season starting next week for the Golden Hurricane, this has to be a win to get a little confidence before facing Memphis. North Texas didn't play all that well last week in Sun Belt showdown with MTSU, but it got the 14-7 win. This is one of only two home games until late October, so the Mean Green has to take advantage.

Why Tulsa might win: North Texas had problems moving the ball, and that included the running game, on MTSU. The Blue Raiders don't exactly have a brick wall of a defense, but the Mean Green was only able to manage 274 total yards of offense. Forget about the passing game, all Tulsa will have to deal with is the North Texas ground attack. Unfortunately for Tulsa ...

Why North Texas might win: ... stopping the ground game has been next to impossible. To be fair, Maroney and Oklahoma's Adrian Peterson are two of the best backs in football, but North Texas has some good ones of its own in Jamario Thomas and Patrick Cobbs. Minnesota and Oklahoma didn't have much of a passing game and they still won by double-digits. North Texas will have no passing game, but can it still get the job done on the ground?

Who to watch: So how did the gruesome twosome of North Texas share the load in week one? The NCAA's last two rushing champions, Jamario Thomas last year and Patrick Cobbs in 2003, combined to rush for 161 yards with a Cobbs touchdown against MTSU. Cobbs got most of the workload with 28 carries against the Blue Raiders, but Thomas won't be a forgotten man.

What will happen: North Texas will crank out over 200 yards of rushing offense, but the passing game wont' provide enough support. Tulsa's offense will finally get a defense it can score against.

CFN Prediction: Tulsa 24 ... North Texas 17 ... Line: North Texas -4.5 | Make your pick and compete against others

Must See Rating: (5 lock yourself in a room to watch - 1 Dancing with the stars) ... 2.5

Final Score:

North Texas is favored on the line, but CFN is going against it most likely because we are 3-19 in OOC games. They have been right on most of our games over the last 4 years... I hope they are wrong here for our sake. I also hope Cobbs and Thomas produce WELL over 200 yards of offense (300 maybe 4?)

good_ken · September 15, 2005

One of the things I have notcied over the last several years is that UNT's "Must See Rating" has gradually increased. I think that says a lot.

UNTFan23 · September 15, 2005

I like being the underdog though (accordign to CFN). Gives us something to work towards.

MeanGreen61 · September 15, 2005

North Texas is favored on the line, but CFN is going against it most likely because we are 3-19 in OOC games. They have been right on most of our games over the last 4 years... I hope they are wrong here for our sake. I also hope Cobbs and Thomas produce WELL over 200 yards of offense (300 maybe 4?)
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CFN predicted a Tulsa win in their pre-season analysis & possibly doesn't want to go against themselves with a change

Edited September 15, 2005 by MeanGreen61