What Was The Greatest Football Season...

Side Show Joe · January 10, 2010

We all know we're down right now, and we all have our opinions on how to get back on track, but I'd like to know about the better times. North Texas has been playing football since 1913, and we had some good years in there. What were our best seasons? What were we doing that made those seasons so sucessful?

Edited January 10, 2010 by Side Show Joe

NM Green · January 10, 2010

Since 1986:

1. Our first bowl year. The loss followed by the run with the win in Idaho to get the New Orleans Bowl bid was awesome. THough we were not a great football team that year the moments such as the Miracle in the Desert and rounds of beer with every touchdown at Ellingtons made it very special. I also never thought I would see UNT in a bowl game. Bowl games were for big programs, those old SWC schools and Pac 10 schools...SO to join that company was fun and exhilarating.

2. The Bowl win year over Cincy. Most of all because our win was unexpected. It was a bit deflating ending on a loss so to win in surprising fashion was awesome!

3. Though we never had the success we expected in the 1AA playoffs, the year we were ranked number 1 and beat Texas Rice and Texas Tech was fantastic! Talk about thumping our chests and walking around with Mean Green pride that year!

MY top 3 since 1986

GMG

VideoEagle · January 10, 2010

Hard to say. Everyone is going to have their biases.

Here are my top 4:

Forth: 1975 7-4 with win over Tenn. But, too many loses to less than great teams to be higher

Third: 1968 8-2 with a 2 point loss at Arkansas. Probably Rod Rust's high water mark

Second: 2002 8-5 with a win over Cincy in the New Orleans Bowl

First: 1977 9-2 (officially 10-1, but Miss State forfeited for using ineligible players) Ranked in Coaches poll

Edited January 10, 2010 by VideoEagle

NTSUEagle · January 10, 2010

We all know we're down right now, and we all have our opinions on how to get back on track, but I'd like to know about the better times. North Texas has been playing football since 1913, and we had some good years in there. What were our best seasons? What were we doing that made those seasons so sucessful?

Personally, to myself, I would have to say the 1977 Season. There were two losses in that Season, one to Florida State in Tallahassee, and another one that became a win after Mississippi State had to forfeit. And even though we were a 1-A Independent, this Team showed they could play. Plus the 320 Points scored were the third most for a Season, at that time. That, and having a Win against SMUT doesn't hurt! And to think, Dodge STILL hasn't accomplished 320 points scored for a Season!

shaft · January 10, 2010

Wasn't 2003 the year we blew up Baylor and Cobbs won the rushing title.

NT03 · January 10, 2010

It hasn't happended yet , it will be 2011

EagleD · January 10, 2010

Since 1986:
1. Our first bowl year. The loss followed by the run with the win in Idaho to get the New Orleans Bowl bid was awesome. THough we were not a great football team that year the moments such as the Miracle in the Desert and rounds of beer with every touchdown at Ellingtons made it very special. I also never thought I would see UNT in a bowl game. Bowl games were for big programs, those old SWC schools and Pac 10 schools...SO to join that company was fun and exhilarating.
2. The Bowl win year over Cincy. Most of all because our win was unexpected. It was a bit deflating ending on a loss so to win in surprising fashion was awesome!
3. Though we never had the success we expected in the 1AA playoffs, the year we were ranked number 1 and beat Texas Rice and Texas Tech was fantastic! Talk about thumping our chests and walking around with Mean Green pride that year!
MY top 3 since 1986
GMG

Ditto

UNT_playmaker · January 10, 2010

The 24,000 people at Fouts to watch us barely beat a good NMSU to go on to the New Orelans Bowl and tear down the goal posts.

And also the big bowl win over Cincy....

From four straight bowl appearances to four straight losing seasons, something is not right....

UNT90 · January 10, 2010

I'm partial to the 88 season, but that's because I was on campus to experience it, I suppose.

MeanGreenEagle · January 11, 2010

it will be 2010

This

Edited January 11, 2010 by MeanGreenEagle

Cr1028 · January 11, 2010

My first year following the Mean Green was 2005 so we haven't won more than 3 games in any season I've followed. Having said that, I'd say my favorite season was 2007 mainly because the forward pass was a welcome change for me and Giovanni Vizza really had me excited about the future.

NTSUEagle · January 11, 2010

I'm partial to the 88 season, but that's because I was on campus to experience it, I suppose.

Hell, I was 'On-Campus' in 1988, and more peeps went to the NT Basketball Games then than the Football Games!! Guess being good in 1-A means something, unless you're Todd Dodge!

NT80 · January 11, 2010

1988 was an excellent year for NT football overall. Although we were in 1-AA, we were ranked #1 in 1-AA for the first and only time I believe. We beat Rice, Texas Tech, and unofficially Texas that season, all on the road.

Edited January 11, 2010 by NT80

Shuke-D · January 11, 2010

By a long shot, the 1995 season was not a good one, nor worth consideration for the greatest season. It was our first one back as a I-A. A lot of the faculty were against the move, and there was a lot of concern too because we had lost some of the most explosive offensive players the year before (Maher, Silva, Brown). We went 2-9, with one of those wins against I-AA Idaho State (that needed a kickoff return for a TD and a late 98 yard run from Cromer to seal it).

I'm still fond of it though. We got Oregon State to visit Fouts, and Mills hit the fade pass to Redwine to win the game. And as bad as losing was, it wasn't all that bad considering we had been I-AA the year before:

7-28 ( 3 - 8 - 0 73) Missouri

10-27 ( 10 - 2 - 0 12) Kansas

30-27 ( 1 - 10 - 0 106) Oregon State

10-51 ( 5 - 5 - 1 46) Oklahoma

24-56 ( 9 - 3 - 0 56) Nevada Reno

14-19 ( 1 - 1 - 0 100) Alabama Birmingham

7-49 ( 7 - 4 - 1 25) LSU

19-38 ( 8 - 3 - 0 19) Alabama

24-34 ( 2 - 9 - 0 113) UNLV

41-38 ( 0 - 1 - 0 0) Idaho State

14-57 ( 7 - 4 - 0 55) Louisville

And as NTSUEagle mentioned, before this time, it was pretty common to have more people at basketball games than football. As bad as things are now in some ways, there's still interest and hope. I think this has to do with the bold vision of the administrators who made the push leading to the 1995 season.

NT80 · January 11, 2010

By a long shot, the 1995 season was not a good one, nor worth consideration for the greatest season. It was our first one back as a I-A.
7-28 ( 3 - 8 - 0 73) Missouri
10-27 ( 10 - 2 - 0 12) Kansas
30-27 ( 1 - 10 - 0 106) Oregon State
10-51 ( 5 - 5 - 1 46) Oklahoma
24-56 ( 9 - 3 - 0 56) Nevada Reno
14-19 ( 1 - 1 - 0 100) Alabama Birmingham
7-49 ( 7 - 4 - 1 25) LSU
19-38 ( 8 - 3 - 0 19) Alabama
24-34 ( 2 - 9 - 0 113) UNLV
41-38 ( 0 - 1 - 0 0) Idaho State
14-57 ( 7 - 4 - 0 55) Louisville

The schedule in 1995 was definately the toughest ever in UNT football.

FirefightnRick · January 12, 2010

Hell, I was 'On-Campus' in 1988, and more peeps went to the NT Basketball Games then than the Football Games!!

We had some good crowds in the Super Pit for sure then, but we had our largest crowds prior to the stadium expansion, a near sellout against SFA in '88 for homecoming, and then an over capacity game against SMU in '90. In '88 we traveled between 3,000 to 4,000 to the tU game in Austin.

Next to the bowl winning season of '02, the '88 season was one of my more memorable seasons to date.

Rick

Edited January 12, 2010 by FirefightnRick

ForneyGreen · January 12, 2010

We had some good crowds in the Super Pit for sure then, but we had our largest crowds prior to the stadium expansion, a near sellout against SFA in '88 for homecoming, and then an over capacity game against SMU in '90. In '88 we traveled between 3,000 to 4,000 to the tU game in Austin.
Next to the bowl winning season of '02, the '88 season was one of my more memorable seasons to date.
Rick

Definitely 2002 was the best season in my book. 1994 was fun because we won the SLC in our last year as I-AA and were good again after some lean post-Corky years.

1988 is probably the most bittersweet year. It was a sweet year versus UT, TTech, and Rice, but it was also bitter because we lost the SLC race (never should have lost the conference that year) and then got beat in the 1st round of the playoffs - all after being ranked #1 in I-AA for much of the year.

Also, I'm still partial to the 1988 uni's and helmet - probably my favorites.

the real grad88 · January 13, 2010

For me, it was 1988, my senior year. What a gifted team that was and the offense so fun to watch. The trip to Austin was the best NT game I have seen in person, period. It was pure joy hearing the silence all over that huge stadium as the Mean Green led throughout the whole game, until the very last! Of course, the win was stolen from us at the end by the catch OUT of the back of the endzone. Our offense literally took everyone's breath away that day, passing for some 500 yards, I believe. Even the TV Sportcasters down there knew that NT really deserved the win. After beating Rice and Tech and then to go from that Texas game and not go deeper in the I-AA playoffs was very much a letdown, however.