DRC Sun Belt not pushover it used to be

[OldTimer]

Brett Vito: Sun Belt not pushover it used to be

07:50 AM CDT on Monday, September 25, 2006

Brett Vito

A few years ago North Texas could take comfort in a situation like the one it is facing now heading into Sun Belt Conference play.

UNT could drop lopsided games to national powers and maybe lose a game or two to a team that runs in the same college football circle safe in the knowledge that even when worse came to worse the Mean Green always rebounded in the Sun Belt.

UNT dominated the league for years, no matter how it fared outside of it.

The Mean Green started 1-5 in 2002, came back to win the conference title and beat Cincinnati in the New Orleans Bowl. In 2004, the Mean Green started 0-4 before running off seven straight wins to finish their season in the New Orleans Bowl again.

That task won’t be as easy this year, no matter how good the league has been to the Mean Green in the past.

This isn’t the Sun Belt of a few years ago when one could assume that UNT could have its way with the rest of the league. It isn’t the Big 12 either, but assuming the Mean Green will walk through the conference on the way to a winning season or even a .500 season isn’t the best of ideas.

Maryland barely beat Florida International on Saturday. Troy put a scare in Florida State earlier this season.

This isn’t the same league whose teams once folded like a cheap tent when they faced UNT. Teams like Troy are better than they were in the past.

The Trojans might even be better than they were last year when they rolled into Denton and ended the Mean Green’s 26-game Sun Belt winning streak, a run that UNT looked to as its milestone of success.

UNT head coach Darrell Dickey said earlier this year that the Sun Belt has continued to improve. UNT certain didn’t keep pace last year while falling back to 2-9, a mark that included five close losses in Sun Belt play.

UNT is no doubt better this season.

Woody Wilson gives UNT a viable quarterback. The Mean Green’s defense has shown signs of being better, despite an off night against a solid Akron team with a great quarterback in Luke Getsy.

Jamario Thomas looked a lot like the player who won the national rushing title two years ago when he rolled over an Akron defense for 120 yards and a touchdown, despite being stuffed on several occasions early in the game.

The question is if Wilson, Thomas and a few other veterans like Johnny Quinn give the Mean Green the firepower they need make a run in an improving Sun Belt. The trio helped UNT knock off SMU.

The fact that Texas, Tulsa and Akron look like they could be elite teams in the Big 12, Conference USA and the Mid-American Conference also make it tough to judge just how good the Mean Green will be in the improving Sun Belt.

Is UNT the team that played well against an Akron team that really had nothing left to play for in the second half Saturday? Will the Mean Green be able to show the form that helped UNT drive nearly the length of the field for a touchdown against Texas in Austin?

Or is the disaster in the first half against Akron a sign of what is to come from the Mean Green?

Four games into the season, UNT still has a lot left to answer and a chance to turn its season around in Sun Belt play.

It’s a familiar scenario for the Mean Green. Judging by what happened last season in the Sun Belt and what has happened in non-conference play this fall just don’t expect it to be easy for UNT to waltz its way to a winning season in the conference it once dominated, especially after the fallout from Saturday’s game against Akron.

Dickey said he didn’t have his team ready to play early. There just isn’t a good reason for that.

Granted, it wasn’t SMU on the other side of the field, but Akron did present a golden opportunity for a big non-conference win. UNT must now look in the mirror and figure out why it has continued to come out so flat week after week.

Dickey has to have his team ready and the Mean Green have to discover the leadership from within its roster to spark this team like Andy Brewster, Chris Hurd and Cody Spencer once did in the Mean Green’s better days.

UNT can’t afford any less, especially with the tougher road the Mean Green will face in the Sun Belt.

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

[Spaceraider]

The timing of that article, at least for the headline, wasn't the best, considering the bad weekend the conference had.

It's a shame that Sun Belt teams are not past the point where fans talked about impressive out-of-conference performances in terms of how close the final scores are.

[untcampbell]

You historians out there:

How many times has Coach Dickey had to (actually did) admit something like this, or "It starts with the Coach," or "We (the Coaches) need to be better prepared, and be better at preparing our team."

“[Akron coach J.D.] Brookhart did a much better job of having his team ready to play than I did,” UNT head coach Darrell Dickey said. “Their team was very focused and intense and ours was not. It starts with the head coach. Their coach did a much better job than I did.”

I know it ranks far behind:

"These are the worst facilities in the NCAA."

"This is the toughest job in the NCAA."

"We know we are going to have to play the defending national championships every year."

But it seems like I hear it a lot. How many times can you go back to your boss and say, "I am not as good as my competition," and keep my job.