North Texas wows Monken, Southern Miss with its poise

[Harry]

HATTIESBURG Forgive the Southern Miss coaches for admiring their opponent. Its just that North Texas is a lot like what USM hopes to become.

Experienced. Confident. Skilled.

They fit things right and they feed off of each other and play for each other, Southern Miss coach Todd Monken, pictured right, said. Thats a sign of a really good football team, something were trying to build here.

Winners of two straight, North Texas comes to Hattiesburg at 4-3 overall, 2-1 in Conference USA play. The Golden Eagles (0-6, 0-2) are still winless this season and have lost their last 18 consecutive contests.

North Texas also knows what is like to be down as a program, going 6-37 under former coach Todd Dodge, including an 0-8 start to the 2008 season. But, those days are behind the Mean Green.

Led by a stout defense, North Texas is 28th in the country in points allowed per game (21.3) and 37th in the nation against the run, allowing 138.1 yards per game on the ground.

Six of 11 starters (on defense) are seniors, Southern Miss offensive coordinator Marcus Arroyo said. Not a lot of true freshmen. Theyve got a lot of guys with a lot of reps to be able to manage (the game) and make adjustments.

Read more: http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20131026/SPORTS030104/310260047/North-Texas-wows-Monken-Southern-Miss-its-poise