5 Most Painful Losses That I Can Recall

[Harry]

1). Ohio game, home opener 2009 - UNT loses a 31-30 double overtime heart breaker in a major rain storm. It was a game they could have easily won and the loss affected the entire season.

2). Tulsa Game home opener 2005 - UNT loses 54-2 - September home opener against Tulsa, perhaps the beginning of the end for DD. Huge crowd, great atmosphere and the team lays a big egg.

3). Loss to Monroe on the road 2001 - UNT lost a heartbreaker 19-7 to go 0-5 for the season. Dickey would then lead the team back from the dead to win the Sun Belt and go to a bowl. There was a bus ride back from the game that will be remembered for decades.

4). Road loss to Rice 2008 - UNT loses 77-20. UNT heads to a rare visit to H-Town only to be dismembered by Rice in a televised game. UNT had a good showing of fans who suffered a long drive home.

5) Road loss to Arizona in 2002 - UNT loses 14-9. Patrick Cobbs was stopped on 4th down just 2 yards away from the end zone and George Marshall fumbled a reception on the Arizona 10-yard line in the fourth quarter which could have put UNT ahead for good.

[GreenMachine]

5) Road loss to Arizona in 2002 - UNT loses 14-9. Patrick Cobbs was stopped on 4th down just 2 yards away from the end zone and George Marshall fumbled a reception on the Arizona 10-yard line in the fourth quarter which could have put UNT ahead for good.

I remember watching that play over and over and over and it sure appears that not only the ball broke the goal-line but half his body as well before getting pushed back. This was definitely a tough loss because NT played a great, hard-nosed game.

[drex]

How about the Texas loss in '88 and the Arkansas loss in '68? Screwed both times by SWC refs.

[CMJ]

Harry said in the last 10 years.

Not sure it makes the cut...but there was a game against Idaho back in 1999 or 2000 where we had the game won. Even held on a 4th down late(with like maybe 3 minutes to go). The Vandals got the ball back with like...under a minute remaining, deep in their own territory. Had to go the length of the field with no timeouts. They completed a 70 yard pass play or so and kicked a FG as time expired to win.

Even though we were only about 3-8 that season, so the loss should've been expected, that was one of the most gut wrenching things I ever witnessed. I felt like puking.

Edited August 4, 2010 by CMJ

[jtm0097]

Man these are bringing back bad memories.

[emmitt01]

I remember that game well. We were in prevent...and you all know how that goes. Rudy and I were standing there ready to run on the field with the flags victoriously...looong walk back with those heavy things.

Harry said in the last 10 years.

Not sure it makes the cut...but there was a game against Idaho back in 1999 or 2000 where we had the game won. Even held on a 4th down late(with like maybe 3 minutes to go). The Vandals got the ball back with like...under a minute remaining, deep in their own territory. Had to go the length of the field with no timeouts. They completed a 70 yard pass play or so and kicked a FG as time expired to win.

Even though we were only about 3-8 that season, so the loss should've been expected, that was one of the most gut wrenching things I ever witnessed. I felt like puking.

[CMJ]

I remember that game well. We were in prevent...and you all know how that goes. Rudy and I were standing there ready to run on the field with the flags victoriously...looong walk back with those heavy things.

But prevent is supposed to STOP that sort of thing. Prevent D doesn't stop a QB nickle and diming you down the field(which happens often as we all know), but it is supposed to stop the long pass play. The first rule is like...don't let a reciever get behind you(!), so it utterly failed.

Edited August 4, 2010 by CMJ

[Huff]

I'll add the 2009 Army game to the list. Late in the fourth quarter I turned to my wife and said "if we don't find a way to F**** this up, we just won a football game". Well, I'll be darned if we didn't find a way to do exactly that.

[All About UNT]

5) Road loss to Arizona in 2002 - UNT loses 14-9. Patrick Cobbs was stopped on 4th down just 2 yards away from the end zone and George Marshall fumbled a reception on the Arizona 10-yard line in the fourth quarter which could have put UNT ahead for good.

a link to the recap of that game says Cobbs was stopped inside the 1 yd line. Recap

Everyone has a down year....but AZ really stunk that year and we were robbed of joining with teams (almost the entire Pac 10) in establishing our dominance over the Wildcats that year

Wildcats 2002 Season Schedule

[ForneyGreen]

Another one that wasn't exactly within the last 10 years, but since we are strolling down a painful memory lane...

1994

Boise St 24

UNT 20

First round of the I-AA playoffs in a year that I think we could have gone very deep (maybe even one the thing) had we been able to get out of the first round. If memory serves, I believe we were ahead for most of this game until things fell apart late as Boise started blitzing on about every play.

[foutsrouts]

The Rice game was extremely painful because we honestly looked like we were a high school team vs. the BCS champion. They could have easily beat us by 100. Ditto goes for the last OU game.

[TheTastyGreek]

Limited to the ones I've seen in person, they've all come in the past 5 years. Outside of that, the Tulsa home loss and the road loss to Akron were pretty miserable watch/listen experiences. The loss to Oklahoma wasn't as terrible, though it wasn't fun watching it at Pluckers near SMU and having to listen to everyone in the place mock us. I'm also glad that FilmerJ and I elected to go to Stillwater for the OSU-NT basketball game last year instead of watching Army at home, or that game would probably be on this list. We heard the meltdown on the radio during the drive back and got the immediate recap from 4 different people who sounded like they'd just been through a car wreck.

My list:

Kansas State - 2008 opener. Kept the faith through the Mendoza year, got excited about the DeLoach return, believed the cowstool about "Fight 'till the last whistle" and "crush your opponent's will to compete". Went to see the game in person with my brother and FilmerJ. Night before, we watch the new look June Jones Mustangs get throttled on national TV by Rice. Spirits are high.

Day of the game, we go out and lay an even bigger egg than the one we saw in 2005 at the same stadium. A few days later, the coach admits he gave up trying after just a few series. I still get angry thinking about this one.

Rice - 2008 road game. Stayed with my girlfriend's parents, and they still had no power in the aftermath of the hurricane. Half the d-line goes down with injuries, and when we can't keep pace with the Rice offense we just start running up the middle before halftime to kill the clock. First play of that last halftime drive, Vizza fights his way through a pile and picks up something like 20 yards. The coaches suddenly have to actually make an effort on the drive again, and I think Rice gives us up some yardage (pretty much the only yardage we gain) on penalties. But we don't score any points (then or at any point thereafter in the game), Rice continues to dominate and effectively starts kneeling on the ball in the 3rd quarter.

So many fumbles, miscues, turnovers... Wind up diffusing a near fight after the game, then go home to an un-air conditioned house with no lights to wash the failure off in the dark.

Louisiana Monroe - 2008 road game. Anyone who calls Giovanni Vizza a "quitter" wasn't at this game. His coach quit on HIM. We go down 28-0 in the first 17 minutes of the game. Vizza leads the team down inside the ULM 10... Field goal attempt. A visibly agitated Rick V leaves the sideline, shaking his head.

Last possession of the half, down 35-3. We get the ball with 2:36 remaining and 2 timeouts. We waste a LOT of time getting plays called, but Vizza connects twice with Stickler for 44 yards and once with Cam Montgomery for another 20 to put us on the ULM 11 yard line. With 18 seconds left and us 11 yards from the end zone... Dodge sends in the kicking team AGAIN. RV is already long gone from the sidelines, and this call prompts several players' parents to leave the stadium. Only one came back to our section... If the rest watched the 2nd half, they did it from somewhere other than our section.

First drive of the 2nd half, down 35-6, the offense drives down to the ULM 27. 4th and 6, down by FOUR SCORES... Dodge sends in the kicking team AGAIN. Again, disgusted parents get up and leave the stadium. Kick is good, so now the 4 score deficit becomes a slightly lower 4 score deficit.

3rd quarter, 6:39 left. Offense drives to the ULM 24 yard line. 4th and 4, 21 minutes left in the game, down by 26 points (FOUR TOUCHDOWNS)... Dodge sends in the kicking team AGAIN. No good. Still down 35-9.

36 seconds left in the 3rd quarter, down by 26. 3rd and 1 on our side of the field. Incomplete pass. 4th and 1 - Dodge sends out the punt team. A shocked Vizza runs off the field and screams "What do we have to lose?!??" Answer: The game. We score 2 TDs in the 4th quarter, but at that point all it does is make a more respectable 35-23 final score loss.

Whenever I hear people start with the "we were only X points away from Y more wins!", I think of this game and the ULL home game from the same year when we were kicking field goals in their red zone in the 2nd half. Ineptitude and godawful decision making like what we saw in this game are why we've been "X points away", not bad luck.

Ohio - 2009 home opener. Aside from what's already been mentioned and the terrible weather, my main memory of this game is doing overtime play-by-play on the phone for Quoner, who was out of town. From the agonizing dropped TD by Outlaw to the even more agonizing 4th and 15 TD conversion to the Bobcats changing their mind and deciding to go for two (if I recall correctly, they changed their mind after WE called timeout) it was like narrating the end of our season. When they connected on the 2 point conversion, I was so sick I couldn't even get the words out. He figured out we had lost by the crowd noise.

Louisiana Lafayette - 2009 road game. Everyone remembers the meltdown against Ohio, but nobody seems to remember this one as the final nail in the coffin of a season that was still only 1-3 and very salvageable.

We start the 4th quarter up by 10 points. We stop ULL on 4th down, only to give them 15 yards on a facemask penalty. They drive the rest of the way down the field and convert the TD on 4th and goal from the 1 yard line.

We get the ball back on our own 42 with less than 9 and a half minutes remaining. Riley illegally completes a pass to himself for a loss of 18 yards (the loss was worse than the penalty on that play). Under heavy pressure (a declined running into the kicker penalty), we get off a 34 yard punt to Lafayette. Lafayette starts with good field position... But the defense holds.

We start with the ball on our own 21 and 6:20 remaining. A few first downs, and ULL burns all their time outs. With less than 2:30 remaining, on the 48 yard line... ULL brings heavy pressure again and we kick a 10 yard punt. Literally a 10 yard kick; it went out of bounds and there was no return.

Lafayette starts at midfield with zero timeouts and less than 150 seconds in the game. Again, the defense forces a 4th down and ULL throws an incomplete pass... But we get called for defensive holding. ULL converts a TD, and we're down 38-34.

Royce Hill gets a nice return and we start near midfield with 30 seconds and 2 timeouts left... But we throw a pick on the first play of the drive and the game is over.

Everyone remembers Ohio as a stunning blow that stopped the season in its tracks, but I think the ULL game was the knockout punch.

[TheTastyGreek]

One other note about painful losses- MeanMag and I were working together through the last two years of the Dickey era, and it was very rare that either of us (never both, because we were the only guys trained and able to do our specific job) could get a Saturday off to see games in person.

We would set up a little transistor radio or just sneak out of the building for 90 minutes at a time to listen to games on a car radio.

Most of those weren't very fun to listen to at all.

[GreenFlag]

I can list 4 games that hurt in 2009 alone.

1) Ohio - Well chronicled. I remember thinking many times they just needed to close them out but we never did.

2) ULL - Crazy in the turnover department, stupid penalty late on defense, and a Cajun TD late by a WR we wouldn't look at in the recruiting process (icing on the cake). I had lunch with that kid and his Father this summer - nice family.

3) Army - lost again late but what made this so painful was just how bad I thought the Army squad was. That was the worst team to grace Fouts since Samford.

4) ULM - This one hurt because ULM is a school we "should" ALWAYS beat. Their coach had a good gameplan for us they they soundly whipped us. It finally hit home with me just how far and how bad our program had fallen. They were just better than us.

Edited August 4, 2010 by GreenFlag

[MeanGreenTexan]

Fitzgerald's & Meager's record-setting game at Ford Stadium in 2007 was a heartbreaker too. After we started quick, SMU took over for 2 quarters. We tied it back up in the 4th. Then let it get away at the end.

If your QB throws for over 600 yds and you don't win, that's just a kick in the nads.

[bstnsportsfan3]

every home game since my first year on campus in 07....still haven't seen a home win (out of town for both WKU games and the ULM game in 07)...im graduating in december so this is my last shot at seeing a home win....god those ohio and army games hurt

Edited August 4, 2010 by bstnsportsfan3

[KRAM1]

Would it be more fun to talk about most memorable wins??????

[TheTastyGreek]

Would it be more fun to talk about most memorable wins??????

Not tough to pick the top 5 wins of the current era.

[Censored by Laurie]

Not tough to pick the top 5 wins of the current era.

How about the top 5 almost wins?

[All About UNT]

How about the top 5 almost wins?

AS in Ohio?

[TIgreen01]

I wish I could give negative points to everyone that posted in this thread! I would rather have stuck a fork in my eye than relived this junk....but I couldn't turn away! Damn you all!!

[NT80]

I wish I could give negative points to everyone that posted in this thread! I would rather have stuck a fork in my eye than relived this junk....but I couldn't turn away! Damn you all!!

Agree, that was painful.

[Green Mean]

Fitzgerald's & Meager's record-setting game at Ford Stadium in 2007 was a heartbreaker too. After we started quick, SMU took over for 2 quarters. We tied it back up in the 4th. Then let it get away at the end.

If your QB throws for over 600 yds and you don't win, that's just a kick in the nads.

This is a good one. With that game being talked about then we can also put the NT/Navy game in there. It's just wheels off when you say yup we scored 62 points at home but we still lost by 12. Just a kick in the gut.

[EagleMBA]

The MOST painful thing about this thread is realizing that I witnessed every one of them but two. Both of THOSE I listened to every minute on the radio.

I'm a friggin' masochist!

[Green P1]

2). Tulsa Game home opener 2005 - UNT loses 54-2 - September home opener against Tulsa, perhaps the beginning of the end for DD. Huge crowd, great atmosphere and the team lays a big egg.

This. The beginning of the dark ages. I still have nightmares of Garrett Mills making our defense look like.... our defense.