Running game key for uNT turnaround

[MeanGreen61]

Russ Goodall: Running game key for UNT turnaround

10:19 PM CDT on Tuesday, September 5, 2006

The outcome in Austin certainly wasn’t what North Texas head coach Darrell Dickey had in mind when the Mean Green opened up against No. 3 Texas on Saturday.

He knew it was going to be tough. He knew it was going to be a monumental challenge for both his offense and defense.

And he knew that he probably wouldn’t garner too much information about his team’s on-field performance -- thanks to the talent level of the Longhorns.

But now just three days removed from the 56-7 loss, Dickey and his troops have to turn their attention to SMU, which is coming off a 35-3 loss at Texas Tech.

They have to put the loss to Texas in the rearview mirror, and look toward the Ponies -- a squad against which Dickey can get a true sense of his team’s abilities.

To get in the win column, the Mean Green will have to get production out of the running game.

“As our entire offense comes along, that tailback person has the opportunity to shine,” Dickey said. “It was tough for everybody on Saturday, because we were playing against a good defensive team and we weren’t executing very well.”

While it might be a bit unfair to look at the numbers from the Texas game and throw up your arms and declare the season is over, there is some cause for concern.

That concern might not be so much with running back Jamario Thomas (14 carries for 38 yards), but the offensive line.

“Jamario looked pretty good at times on Saturday, taking the ball and running north and south and making some cuts,” Dickey said. “But at times there was no place to run. He didn’t get frustrated with anybody, he just wants to do well. He is used to having more success, obviously, but I don’t think anybody is down on what Jamario can do.”

From missed assignments to just getting beat, the UNT offensive line struggled for most of the 60 minutes on Saturday.

Yes, they did help lead UNT on an 80-yard drive that produced the Mean Green’s only points of the contest, but this is a unit that has now struggled for 12 straight games -- going back to the beginning of the 2005 season.

The Mean Green are 2-10 in that span, and, quarterbacks aside, the offensive line is one of the main reasons for that.

“It has taken our offensive line, and our tight ends, a while to come together so that they know each other and know their assignments,” Dickey said. “We always want it to come together faster than it seems to happen. As our unit gets better, our tailback will become more productive.”

If UNT is going to return to the glory days of four-straight Sun Belt Conference championships and four consecutive berths in the New Orleans Bowl, then this is the week to show it.

It’s a game that will test the focus of the Mean Green, especially with all the hoopla surrounding it.

-- UNT offensive coordinator Ramon Flannigan quarterbacked SMU to a win over UNT in 1992 -- the last meeting between the two schools.

-- SMU starting quarterback Justin Willis is a Ryan graduate, and led the Raiders in their last deep playoff runs -- a loss to LaMarque in triple-OT of the Class 4A Division II state title game in 2003 and a regional final loss to Southlake Carroll in 2004.

-- Hayden Fry coached at both UNT and SMU, while current UNT wide receivers coach Chip Garber coached at SMU under Ron Meyer.

Those are just the tip of the iceberg.

The UNT players will have to put all this out of their minds, as they get ready for the biggest game at Fouts Field since Baylor came calling in 2003.

A win is definitely in the realm of possibility.

And it will all begin with the offensive linemen and the holes they create for Jamario Thomas and the time they give for whomever starts at quarterback.