Messy or not FIU win was huge for UNT

[MeanGreen61]

Brett Vito: Messy or not, win over FIU huge for UNT

08:33 AM CDT on Monday, October 17, 2005

A few seasons ago, squeaking past a team like Florida International would have been a cause for concern rather than celebration for North Texas.

The Golden Panthers are, after all, not exactly a juggernaut when it comes to the world of college football. FIU has only fielded a team since 2002 and has yet to win a Division I-A game in nine tries.

None of that mattered to UNT after it rallied from a 10-point deficit for a 13-10 win at FIU Stadium on Saturday night.

UNT came into the season with high expectations, but is now looking for a way to win from week to week and get back on track. Right now, a win is a win.

“Our kids came into the season with a lot of expectations,” UNT coach Darrell Dickey said. “We haven’t played at the level we’re accustomed to. There’re a lot of reasons for that. This is the youngest team we’ve had in about five years, but we hung in there, kept playing hard and made just enough plays to win.”

The win not only put UNT back on track after seeing its 26-game Sun Belt Conference winning streak end with a loss to Troy last week, it also put the Mean Green back in control of their destiny

Troy had the chance to run the table and claim the Sun Belt title outright after beating the Mean Green, but slipped up against Louisiana-Monroe. The Trojans’ 27-3 loss to ULM left the Indians as the only unbeaten team remaining in the Sun Belt.

The Mean Green still have a date with ULM (3-4, 3-0) on Nov. 19 at Fouts Field.

Having their fate back in their hands was far more important than the details of a messy win over FIU for the Mean Green.

UNT (2-3, 2-1) still has four games left in conference play. If the Mean Green win out, they can do no worse than tie for the conference title.

At the beginning of the year, UNT didn’t appear as if it would need the help of the Indians — who just so happen to be a bitter rival – to move into position to claim a share of the conference title.

UNT has some of the best offensive skill position players in the conference and a few key returning players on defense, but has struggled to find its rhythm. That trend continued against FIU.

The Mean Green trailed 10-0 early before a few signs of progress began to show up later in the game.

Running back Patrick Cobbs rushed for a season high 112 yards and UNT’s defense cranked up the pressure on FIU quarterback Josh Padrick, recording four sacks. Redshirt freshman quarterback Daniel Meager took care of the ball, was fairly efficient and tossed a 7-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Johnny Quinn for the first scoring pass of his career.

Those are the types of plays the Mean Green have struggled to make during a 2-3 start and are still too few and far between for a team that features the last two national rushing champions in Cobbs and Jamario Thomas.

The Mean Green came into the game with an average of 102 rushing yards a game and didn’t exactly roll past that total while finishing with 147 yards against FIU.

“They played tough and contained us,” Cobbs said. “They didn’t let us in the open. They hurt us at times and we hurt them at times. It was a chess match.”

Fortunately for the Mean Green, their defense saved the night by forcing eight turnovers.

“We need to keep moving on, progressing and trying to grow these guys up as fast as we can so we can have more nights where we come out in the win column,” Dickey said.

UNT will have two weeks to continue that process before a season-ending run of four Sun Belt games.

UNT will play Louisiana Tech this week and then take on LSU on Oct. 29 before resuming conference play. That extra time will give the Mean Green a chance to find a way to spark a struggling offense and continue the improvement they showed defensively against FIU.

UNT will enter its series of four Sun Belt games to end the season with its destiny in its hands and a one-game winning streak in league play.

After what UNT endured in its last three games, the scenario couldn’t be any better, even if the Mean Green’s performance against FIU could have been.

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com

[Stan R]

EIGHT TURNOVERS? AND WE ONLY SCORED 13 !@#$ing points !?!?

I'm dumbfounded.

[NT80]

A few seasons ago, squeaking past a team like Florida International would have been a cause for concern rather than celebration for North Texas.

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It is very much NOW a cause for concern. The excuse of youth is lame. We are very experienced in many areas on offense. If QB play is the main setback, well, we knew what we had to work with when Byerly was struggling with grades and we didn't sign a JUCO.

Edited October 17, 2005 by NT80

[VideoEagle]

I thought Byerly grades didn't start to be an issue till late Spring. Isn't that too late to sign a JUCO Quarterback?

[pollock]

I'll take Saturday's results over a 54-2 home loss any day. But that's about as far as it goes.

[Cerebus]

So, all we need to do is force 6 or more turnovers a game to win?

I think I just cracked this year's gameplan.

Brilliant!

[SilverEagle]

So, all we need to do is force 6 or more turnovers a game to win?

I think I just cracked this year's gameplan.

Brilliant!

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Don't forget that we had more sacks in that game than we've had in years.

SO! in order to win the rest of our games our opponents must commit a record number of turnovers AND we must have a record number of sacks.

No problem there.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

Can we win if LSU commits 12 turnovers????

Last week on ESPN they showed a game that an NFL QB threw 8 interceptions. (an all-time record, in the 1950's I think). I am amazed they still had him in the game that long..... maybe as punishment.

Edited October 17, 2005 by SCREAMING EAGLE-66

[pollock]

The diet cokes are a nice touch in that pic, BTW.

[Stan R]

The diet cokes are a nice touch in that pic, BTW.

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And nobody caught the game plan sheet in the front of the pants??? BRILLIANT !!

[NCMeanGreen]

Don't forget that we had more sacks in that game than we've had in years.

SO! in order to win the rest of our games our opponents must commit a record number of turnovers AND we must have a record number of sacks.

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OK, and that's a problem becauuussseeee...???

[FirefightnRick]

After this season we will only lose 27% of our starting offense, but within that, we lose 47% of our offensive production in yards gained.

Rick

[SilverEagle]

OK, and that's a problem becauuussseeee...???

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...becauuuuussseeee we did both of those things against a team that has yet to win a D-1 game AND we still only scored 13 points in the process! I seriously doubt that we'll duplicate the sack/turnover numbers that we had in the FIU game in the remainder of our games.......especially LSU.

I will say this. I'm certainly glad that the ULM game was moved to Nov.19th, because whatever "stride" we develop this year....we'll be hitting it about then.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

After this season we will only lose 27% of our starting offense, but within that, we lose 47% of our offensive production in yards gained.

Rick

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---Let's see..... since we have scored 46 points TOTAL , that would be 47% of 46 or almost 22 points for 5 games or about 4 points a game that we lose.

---I wonder how many quarters TxTech have scored 22 or more points? I am thankful we don't play TxTech. They defeated FIU by 53, we lucked out by 3 after they lost 8 turnovers. They defeated KSU by 39, we lost by 47. Yes, we do have something to be thankful for.

---I have no answers, but I never expected us to having such a poor year on offense since we had two outstanding RBs and a couple of good receivers. Never underestimate how important the big guys up front are on either side of the ball. Size and quickness is needed.

---The Houston Texan game against Seattle reminded me a lot of NT games. The QB had little time and the RBs had no holes and only short passes (to the side oftentimes) were completed and then immediately tackled.

[FirefightnRick]

---Let's see..... since we have scored 46 points TOTAL , that would be 47% of 46 or almost 22 points for 5 games or about 4 points a game that we lose.

The 47% is in yards gained, not points. After Cobbs and Bazaldua leave we lose 43% of our points.

Rick