UNT football sharp decline top story of '05

[MeanGreen61]

End of a streak

UNT football’s sharp decline is top story of 2005

05:21 PM CST on Sunday, January 1, 2006

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

The landscape of North Texas athletics underwent a dramatic change between the Mean Green’s first loss in Sun Belt Conference play and their second.

UNT played in four straight New Orleans Bowls, Patrick Cobbs and Jamario Thomas won national rushing titles and the Mean Green Athletic Center opened.

All told, just short of four years went by between UNT’s win over Middle Tennessee on Oct. 13, 2001, that started its 26-game Sun Belt Conference winning streak and a 13-10 loss to Troy on Oct. 4 this season that ended it.

In a year that saw several milestone moments in Denton sports, no story was bigger than the end of UNT’s conference winning streak that ranked as the second longest in the country when it concluded.

“I don’t think anyone thought it would last forever,” UNT head coach Darrell Dickey said after the loss that ended the Mean Green’s run. “I wish we’d have played a lot better than we did tonight when we lost it.”

UNT had several opportunities against Troy to turn the tide and keep the streak alive, but squandered most of them.

UNT’s loss to the Trojans turned out to be just the first misstep in a season that saw the Mean Green plummet from the top of the Sun Belt Conference to the bottom. UNT, which had gone undefeated in conference play in three straight seasons, finished in a tie for last place in the league with Florida Atlantic at 2-5.

The Mean Green had a chance to win nearly every conference game, but never were able to get over the hump, lost five games by 21 points combined in league play and finished 2-9 overall.

Some games, it was a lack of offense that sent UNT to a loss. At other times, it was the Mean Green’s inability to come up with a key stop.

Part of what made the season so frustrating for the Mean Green was that it began with high expectations.

UNT was a near unanimous choice in the Sun Belt’s preseason poll to win a fifth straight league title. The school also received unprecedented publicity in the preseason when Cobbs and Thomas became the first pair of former national rushing champions in NCAA history to return to the same backfield. The duo even appeared together in USA Today and ESPN The Magazine.

Those preseason accolades were just a few of the benefits that could be attributed at least in part to the streak. UNT’s attendance at home games improved in three of the four seasons the Mean Green won the conference title.

UNT also received a $1 million donation for the Mean Green Athletic Center from Houston businessman Jim McIngvale, who named his friendship with Dickey and respect for what the Mean Green had accomplished in football as the reasons behind his donation.

Seeing the streak that had done so much for the athletic department come to an end caused Dickey and athletic director Rick Villarreal to take a hard look at the program during the offseason.

“We have a lot of evaluating to do, both from a coaching and players’ perspective,” Dickey said. “We have a lot of work to do between now and the beginning of next season, and it begins with me.”

Dickey vowed to improve the Mean Green’s focus during the offseason and make the changes necessary to get UNT back on track after a large step backward with what he called one of his youngest teams in recent years.

“I feel good about a lot of the kids on this team and what we can accomplish in the future,” Dickey said late in the season. “We have a good future ahead of us.”

For the first time in years, UNT will face that future after a season that ended without a conference title and a trip to the New Orleans Bowl. The change made the end of the Mean Green’s winning streak the biggest story in Denton sports this year.

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

The Top 10 of 2005

The Denton Record-Chronicle’s voting for the Top 10 local stories of 2005, with rank, story, total points and first-place votes in parentheses:

Rank, Story Points

1. UNT football’s Sun Belt Conference winning streak ends at 26 games 57

2. Pilot Point suffers through an e-mail scandal in its athletic department 52

3. Guyer opens as the new high school athletic program in Denton 46

4. Argyle and Liberty Christian both reach football state championship games 32

5. Patrick Cobbs sets UNT’s all-time rushing yards record 31

6. UNT women’s soccer qualifies for the NCAA Tournament 26

7. Lake Dallas’ Lauren Espinosa wins the state golf tournament again 18

8. Denton boys soccer goes deep into the playoffs, while the Lady Broncos miss the playoffs 15

T9. Denton’s boys and girls basketball teams both make playoff runs 13

T9. Ryan’s Austin Jackson forgoes his Georgia Tech scholarship to sign with New York Yankees 13

Other stories receiving votes: Ryan suffers worst football season under Joey Florence, 7; Four Ryan baseball players get selected in MLB draft, 5; Denton Outlaws win TCL title, 3; UNT men, women lose first games in Sun Belt basketball tournament as hosts, 3; Sanger boys hoops makes regionals for first time since 1978, 3; Tina Slinker wins 200th game at UNT, 3; UNT’s Korey Willliams qualifies for NCAA track meet, 2.

THE REST OF THE TOP 10

5. Patrick Cobbs sets North Texas’ all-time rushing yards record

Patrick Cobbs came back for a second shot at his senior season in 2005 and completed his remarkable career as North Texas’ all-time leading rusher. Cobbs appeared poised to break UNT’s rushing record in 2004, but a series of injuries forced him to take a medical redshirt. Cobbs came back from his year off with a vengeance and finished with 1,154 yards on the season and 4,050 for his career. Cobbs’ total shattered the previous UNT rushing record of 3,120 yards set by Ja’Quay Wilburn from 1997-2000. Cobbs cleared the 100-yard mark in nine games and posted some of his best performances at the end of the season. Cobbs was named first-team All-Sun Belt Conference and was also named to ESPN The Magazine’s Academic All-America Football Second Team.

— Brett Vito

6. North Texas women’s soccer qualifies for the NCAA Tournament

North Texas advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year in 2005, when the Mean Green continued to establish their program as one of the best in the region. UNT knocked off SMU during the regular season and also dominated the Sun Belt Conference, winning the regular season title and the league’s tournament championship for the second straight year. The tournament championship sent the Mean Green into a rematch with SMU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Kimber Bailey ensured that the Mustangs would avenge their earlier loss to the Mean Green by tallying a hat trick in a 3-0 win. UNT (16-4-2) tied the school record for wins in a season and posted the best winning percentage in school history.

— Brett Vito