DMN Sun belt opener awaits UNT

OldTimer · September 30, 2006

Sun Belt opener awaits UNT

10:29 PM CDT on Friday, September 29, 2006

By BRETT VITO / Denton Record-Chronicle

DENTON – North Texas coach Darrell Dickey was riding a wave of momentum with four consecutive Sun Belt titles and a 25-game winning streak in conference play before the 2005 season.

Those days seem a distant memory a little more than a year later as the Mean Green prepares for its Sun Belt opener today against Middle Tennessee – a game at a key point in Dickey's nine-year tenure at North Texas.

For the first time in four seasons, Dickey enters conference play looking to get UNT (1-3) back on track instead of defending its status as the top team.

Colleges

Preview

"Anybody can beat anybody now," Arkansas State coach Steve Roberts said.

UNT has lost 12 of its last 14.

"We are still working under very difficult circumstances, trying to survive, get into the league and be in contention at the end of the season," Dickey said. "Four out of the last five years we have been, and we were close last year."

UNT lost to defending national champion Texas and a pair of conference champions in Tulsa (Conference USA) and Akron (Mid-American) on the road.

UNT posted its fourth win in its 32-game series with SMU.

The win over the Mustangs could prove to be a crown jewel in a successful season if the Mean Green can make a run in an improved Sun Belt.

UNT was picked to finish fourth in the eight-team conference in the preseason coaches' poll, despite returning 17 starters.

"The teams have gotten better," UNT junior linebacker Brandon Monroe said. "It has gotten tougher to win conference games."

UNT wasn't far off last season, despite its 2-9 record. The Mean Green dropped five conference games by a touchdown or less while playing with what Dickey called one of his youngest and most inexperienced teams.

The Mean Green appears to be in better shape, even though it has struggled at times.

Junior college transfer Woody Wilson has taken over at quarterback and solidified a position that was a weakness a year ago.

Former national rushing champion Jamario Thomas showed signs of returning to his old form by rushing for 120 yards against Akron, and UNT's defense held SMU to six points in its second game under new coordinator Fred Bleil.

"I don't see this year as being any more important than any other year," Dickey said. "The pressure I feel comes from within myself because I want to do the best I can for the kids in this program."

E-mail bvito@dentonrc.com

Middle Tennessee (2-2) at North Texas (1-3), 6 p.m. Saturday, Fouts Field (Ch. 52, KWRD-FM 100.7, KNTU-FM 88.1)

JayDub · September 30, 2006

UNT has lost 12 of its last 14.

Wow, that's...depressing.

eulesseagle · September 30, 2006

Awwwww come on coach......

"We are still working under very difficult circumstances, trying to survive...."

"I don't see this year as being any more important than any other year......"

Can't you be a little more positive for all who read this seemingly defeatist attitude?

Can't you at least say:

1. "I am excited about the program and we have now turned the corner again to once again take control."

2. "This year is going to be our year in the Belt."

If you talk like a defeatist then you have already lost!

BIG DAWG · September 30, 2006

Can't you at least say:
1. "I am excited about the program and we have now turned the corner again to once again take control."
2. "This year is going to be our year in the Belt."

Yes, say this so that everyone can put up in their locker rooms, and make every game that much more tougher on a very young team who already has its work cut out for them.

Lets say all these things so that the fans on gomeangreen.com can get a warm fuzzy feeling in their bellies

Some of guys really whip me sometimes.