The Blueprint To Defeat Clemson

[UNT90]

We roll into Clemson with new QB Derek Thompson at the helm (hey, he's my adopted player this year). Dunbar in the backfield. A defensive line with two 300 pound tackles and two 250 plus defensive ends that have been putting pressure on Thompson, Tune, and Baine all fall camp. The linebacking corp has speed to burn and has been tough on Dunbar all camp. The special teams have learned to keep opposing players out of the backfield on punts and field goals and Olen has been money from inside 45 yards all fall.

On offense, Dunbar is healthy, the questions about Stradford's hands have been positively answered, and Riley has taken to the slot receiver position like a beaver to a dam. Thompson won a fiercely contested battle at the QB position with Tune, during which both had to throw many passes on the run due to the newly found pass rush. Coach Chico has shown his college coaching chops all fall and has the offense chomping at the bit for this game.

UNT wins the toss and drives immediately down the field. Clemson's suspect run defense is just that, as Dunbar and Thompson both have early success on the ground. The passing game is only used in this drive to keep Clemson honest against the run. UNT drives to the Clemson 20 before stalling. Olen comes in and puts a 37 yarder straight through the uprights. Equally as important, he feels no pressure during the kick. There is now 8:15 left in the 1st quarter. 3-0 UNT

Clemson comes out thinking that they can do what everyone else did to UNT last year. Run the ball straight down our throats. Second and 8 leads to third and 7. Forced to pass, Clemson QB Kyle Parker is sacked by a blitzing outside LB, a new wrinkle in the UNT defensive game plan. Although he holds onto the ball, Parker is shaken up on the play. Clemson punts the ball to UNT with 6:05 left in the 1st.

On the first play from their own 28, Thompson fakes the zone read and looks deep for Stradford, who hauls in a long gainer to the Clemson 30 yard line. A steady dose of Dunbar and Stratford runs sets up another shotgun playaction from the 5, with Carey catching the 1st Mean Green touchdown of the season with 2:40 left in the first. 10-0 UNT

Death Valley sounds like, well, the real death valley as shock rolls through the stands and the Clemson sideline. After receiving the kickoff, Clemson, now fully awake, begins to drive the ball down the field on the arm of Park using mainly the short passing game. Clemson attempts to run the ball lead to few successes. The drive stalls at the UNT 15 and Clemson is forced to kick a field goal with 11:10 left in the second. 10-3 UNT

UNT takes possesion on their own 30 after a nice kickoff return. After 2 first downs through the air, Dunbar breaks one, going 42 yards for the touchdown. The large amount of crickets that made the trip with UNT from Fouts can now clearly be heard in Death Valley. 8:00 left in the 2nd. 17-3 UNT.

Clemson has a nice kickoff return of their own, which sets them up on their own 35. Park is sacked on 1st down by Brellazin, causing Park to fumble. Big Shavod recovers and it's UNT ball at the Clemson 30. A steady stream of Dunbar runs takes the ball to the Clemson 8 yard line before Thompson hits Riley for Riley's 1st receiving touchdown at UNT (I think) with 4:30 left in the 2nd. 24-3 UNT

Clemson starts form their own 30 yard line. With the fans chanting WTF, Clemson moves quickly downfield, again through the short passing game. UNT, trying to get to the locker room, backs off the aggressive play on defense that had helped lead to this shocking lead. Clemson scores a touchdown on a 6 yard run with 30 seconds left in the half.

Halftime score UNT 24 Clemson 10

Clemson gets the ball to start the 2nd half. UNT's defense is seemingly in the same non-aggresive mode from the end of the first half as Clemson uses a combination of short passes and power running to drive methodically down the field. The defense suddenly looks like the bend-don't-break defenses of the past that are oh so frustrating. Clemson scores a TD on a Park 8 yard pass with 8:00 left in the 3rd. The UNT defense has now been on the field for 12 1/2 straight minutes. 24-17 UNT

A well rested UNT offense takes over at their own 22. Thompson continues to show maturity beyond his years and prove that the ASU game was no fluke. He is getting consistent pressure, but continues to hit receivers while on the run. It appears that Clemson is selling out to stop the run as Dunbar, who had 105 yards at the half, has a tough go of it in this series. UNT moves the ball to the Clemson 45 before being forced to punt. Atterberry pins Clemson at their own 5 with a beautiful kick. More importantly, Clemson came with a rush that was unsuccessful. 5:30 left in the 3rd.

Clemson's offense plays it conservative so deep in their own territory, running on three staight plays and coiming up a yard short of the 1st down. They punt back to UNT with 3:55 left in the 3rd.

UNT takes back over at their own 45. Chico adjusts immediately to the 8 in the box strategy that Clemson has begun to employ and Thompson hits Jackson for a big gainer down to the Clemson 20. UNT is really smelling blood now. A couple of Dunbar runs and UNT is at the 7 yard line. On 2nd and goal from the 5, Thompson sees Stradford open in the endzone, unfortunately, his pass is tipped at the line and intercepted by Clemson at the 3 and returned out to the 15 yard line as time runs out in the third. End of the third. UNT 24 Clemson 17.

Clemson comes out firing and moves quickly down the field, again with short passing and power running. UNT's defense is starting to look a little worn out, although the pass rush has continued to harass Park. The UNT defense stiffens at their own 15. Clemson kicks a field goal with 9:00 left in the the 4th. 24-20 UNT

UNT gets the ball at their 28. Thompson continues to throw the ball well under pressure as UNT moves down the field. Mathis has a couple of nice runs, although everyone in the Mean Green Nation wonders why Dunbar stands healthy on the sidelines. Their wonders cease when Dunbar re-enters the game and immediately rips off a 25 yard run that takes UNT down to the Clemson 25. A re-energized Dunbar picks up another first down on a couple of runs taking UNT to the 13 yard line, where the drive stalls. Enter Olen and another flawless field goal later UNT is up 27-20 with 5:50 left in the game.

Panic has set in at Death Valley, which is now very loud as Clemson receives the kick. Starting from their own 33, Clemson again starts to march downfield against a tired UNT defense. The ability of Clemson to roll in 300lb talented offensive linemen is starting to take it's toll on the defense, which has spent most of the second half on the field. Clemson passes and runs thier way down to the Mean Green 10 with 2:10 left to play. Park throws an out route to the front corner of the endzone, which Royce Hill jumps. Hill makes the interception before stepping out of bounds in the front corner of the endzone. But wait.... the officials rule that Hill did not get a foot down in bounds and rule the pass incomplete. Replays show that Hill got both feet down a clear foot in bounds. On the next play, Clemson scores to make it 27-26. 1:50 left in the game.

Clemson, feeling the momentum, decide to go for two. Such a stupid, no sense decision. especially at home. Unless you make it, of course, which Clemson does to go up 28-27.

UNT receives the squib kick and gets it back out to the 30. Thompson, under heavy pressure, continues to hit his receivers. RIley has a nice run and catch down to the Clemson 45 with 1:10 left. A Dunbar draw catches Clemson off-guard and moves it down to the 36 with 55 secs left. Clemson calls a time out. UNT has an incomplete on 1st down, a Dunbar run for 5 yards (followed by CLemson's second timeout), and another incompletion leave UNT looking at 4th and 5 from the 31 with 39 secs left. Enter Zach Olin, who calmly nails a 49 yarder to give UNT a 30-28 lead. The only cheering that can be heard comes from the 150 UNT fans that made the trip.

Clemson gets the ball at their 35 after a squib kick. 33 seconds left and one Clemson timeout. UNT plays the deep zone. A 15 yard gainer over the middle followed by a timeout leaves Clemson at midfield with 26 seconds left. Two incompletions run the clock down to 14 seconds. On 3rd down, Park goes to the sideline, where Smith lays a vicious, but clean, hit on the WR, breaking up the pass and forcing an apparent 4th down at midfield with 18 seconds left.

But wait... A late flag comes in for unnecessary roughness for the hit on the receiver. It seems the Big 12-2 refs are doing their usual stand up job. The penalty takes the ball to the North Texas 35 with 18 seconds to play. The UNT defense looks completely demoralized. On first down, Park hits a 5 yard out on which the receiver steps out of bounds with 13 seconds to play. Clemson, out of time outs, decides to run one last play. Park again goes for the quick out. This time Hiil is sitting on it, jumps it, and makes the interception so far in bounds that a whistle can't blow it dead. Hill races 70 yards untouched into the endzone as time expires, giving UNT an unbelievable, highly improbable 37-28 victory over the Clemson Tigers. The UNT sideline goes wild as the UNT fans in the stands storm the field, having no idea of proper behavior after a big win. Since there were only 150 of them, authorities didn't even notice, allowing the fans to escape sure arrest.

Thompson 22-33-1 260 yards 2 TDs Dunbar 29 - 160 1 TD

This is what happens when a thundstorm blocks your satellite reception.

Edited August 7, 2010 by UNT90

[Harry]

I Love it!!! Great read, would be awesome to see happen!!

Ps you need to write some game stories on the blog and 90 was a great year to graduate from UNT, as me and the Firefighter got our sheepskins that year! GMG!!

[Mean Green 93-98]

That is a thing of beauty. If it fits, I might make it my new sig.

[UNT 90 Grad]

Ps you need to write some game stories on the blog and 90 was a great year to graduate from UNT, as me and the Firefighter got our sheepskins that year! GMG!!

True dat.

[Side Show Joe]

I played this game on NCAA the other day, and North Texas won 30 to 3. Tune put up 289 yards with 1 td and 1 int. Carey finished with 127 yards and a td. Jackson had 74 yards. Dunbar only had about 40 yards on the ground but was able to get a td in our goal line set. I ran Dunbar on a lot of sweeps. Mosley also got a td in short yardage as a full back. Prior lead the team in tackles. He played most of the game due to an injury. Chris Neal had 6 sacks from running corner blitzes. The only time he was in the game was when I was running a nickle package. Atkenson also had a sack, and a few tackles for loses. Robertson had a Sack, a pick, and several tackles. Olen was perfect in the kicking game (3 for 3 fg, 3 for 3 extra pts). His longest field goal was from 43. Atteberry only had one punt but it went for 48 yards. Jackson average 22 yards on kick returns, and Carey averaged about 4.5 yards on punt returns.

If we can do this for real, it's goin to be one great season.