Boise proves why a signature win is so necessary

[DirtySavage]

Given the turnover, I think it safe and more reasonable to just aim to hit 6.

My only fear with hitting 6 is that it doesn't necessarily get a mid-major with attendance issues into a bowl game.

[Travis]

My only fear with hitting 6 is that it doesn't necessarily get a mid-major with attendance issues into a bowl game.

Yeah, I know that is a possibility that we would miss out on. I hope we go bowling, but there are just too many unknowns to make that an expectation of mine.

Here is to hoping for the best!

[GrandGreen]

Signature wins would be great, but mean little unless the good play continues. Did ULM's win over Alabama boost their program? Boise was consistently good against both good and bad competition for a long span of time. That is what it takes to really change the perception of the program.

[Ben Gooding]

Signature wins would be great, but mean little unless the good play continues. Did ULM's win over Alabama boost their program? Boise was consistently good against both good and bad competition for a long span of time. That is what it takes to really change the perception of the program.

Exactly. I could care less what happens in Austin. Don't get it wrong, I would be ecstatic if we pulled out the W. However, if we can simply win more games than we lose the next 10 years as we lost more than we won the past 10 years I would be beyond thrilled and that alone would throw us on the national landscape of college football.

[untjim1995]

Similar "signature win"...

TCU 17, Oklahoma 10, 2005: This win, more than any other, put TCU football back on the map. The Sooners had not lost a home game since 2001 and had never lost in September under Bob Stoops going into this game. The Horned Frogs dominated defensively, holding Adrian Peterson to just 63 yards on 22 carries.

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/top-25-college-football-upsets-bcs-era-160500150--ncaaf.html

Could August 30th be our turn?

Similarities:

The 2005 Sooners were replacing a Heisman Trophy winning QB (Jason White)...

The 2014 Horns are replacing a National Championship winning HC (Mack Brown)

The 2005 Horned Frogs were commonly projected to finish middle of the pack in the MWC...

The 2014 Mean Green are seen as an improving squad with too much turnover to compete for the CUSA title

Key Difference:

The 2005 Horned Frogs followed up their victory with a loss at SMU the following week...

The 2014 Mean Green will thrash SMU at Apogee 9/6/14

I watched that entire game and remember that OU had a brand new QB in Rhett Bomar, who looked lost. They committed a lot of turnovers that day and TCU just physically whipped them. What's amazing to me about that TCU team is that if you looked at the SI College Rankings they did that year of all the teams in FBS then, you will find something rather humorous--we were exactly one spot behind TCU in those preseason rankings. TCU went on to finish 11-1, winning their bowl game over Coach Mac's ISU team, and ranked 10 in the final poll. We went on to lose to a team from Oklahoma (Tulsa) at home in a heartbreaker, 54-2...leading to a 2-9 season that basically led to Dickey's demise. How quickly these two programs moved in opposite directions from where the folks at SI thought they would be at the beginning of the year...

[TheWestie]

So beating the crap out of a Big 12 team for OUR home opener during the middle of a multi-year conference championship and bowl game run doesn't count towards anything? By the terms y'all have stated that's abouy as damn close as we've gotten in a long time.

[untjim1995]

So beating the crap out of a Big 12 team for OUR home opener during the middle of a multi-year conference championship and bowl game run doesn't count towards anything? By the terms y'all have stated that's abouy as damn close as we've gotten in a long time.

We beat Baylor at Fouts in 2003. They were the dregs of the Big XII for many years, until Art Briles and RG III came along.

TCU beat OU in Norman in 2005. The Sooners had won the Big XII in 2002, 2003, and 2004.

Take that for what it is worth--that win against Baylor at home was my favorite moment ever at Fouts. Its not even close, either. Beating a SWC team at home by 38 points seemed unfathomable for decades, mostly because we sucked or because they wouldn't play us in Denton. But even I recognize that TCU's win over OU in 2005 was about 100x more meaningful to their program and where they went from that point than what we got from beating Baylor 52-14.

Edited May 8, 2014 by untjim1995

[Arkstfan]

Signature wins would be great, but mean little unless the good play continues. Did ULM's win over Alabama boost their program? Boise was consistently good against both good and bad competition for a long span of time. That is what it takes to really change the perception of the program.

No because of the context.

I don't consider AState's TAMU win to a be signature win because we staggered down the stretch and dropped two games with two score leads at the start of the fourth to finish 6-6.

You have to win AND have a season to match to provide some context other than "they were overlooking them" or "it was just a fluke".

[UNT90]

No because of the context.

I don't consider AState's TAMU win to a be signature win because we staggered down the stretch and dropped two games with two score leads at the start of the fourth to finish 6-6.

You have to win AND have a season to match to provide some context other than "they were overlooking them" or "it was just a fluke".

This. A win over Texas and a 6-6 season really gets us nowhere (except for finally being able to talk about a win over a meaningful opponent, as opposed to waxing nostalgic over a 22 point loss).

Beat Texas, go undefeated in league, and win the HOD bowl against a Big 10 opponent, and you have the recipe for transitioning the program to a much higher level.

[Arkstfan]

This. A win over Texas and a 6-6 season really gets us nowhere (except for finally being able to talk about a win over a meaningful opponent, as opposed to waxing nostalgic over a 22 point loss).

Beat Texas, go undefeated in league, and win the HOD bowl against a Big 10 opponent, and you have the recipe for transitioning the program to a much higher level.

Why would you want to go to the HOD Bowl??????

If you beat Texas run the table in CUSA you need to set your vision a bit higher and go to the Access Bowl and face a name team. Post-season wins carry far greater value than September wins because there is less noise around them.

[UNT90]

Why would you want to go to the HOD Bowl??????

If you beat Texas run the table in CUSA you need to set your vision a bit higher and go to the Access Bowl and face a name team. Post-season wins carry far greater value than September wins because there is less noise around them.

Of course, but the HOD bowl is where the conference champion goes. Lets not go crazy and say we will go undefeated, which we would need to do to get to an access bowl. Even if we did go undefeated, our strength of schedule this year would most likely preclude a top 15 ranking (??), especially when Texas loses 4 or 5 games (which they will if we beat them).

[Arkstfan]

Of course, but the HOD bowl is where the conference champion goes. Lets not go crazy and say we will go undefeated, which we would need to do to get to an access bowl. Even if we did go undefeated, our strength of schedule this year would most likely preclude a top 15 ranking (??), especially when Texas loses 4 or 5 games (which they will if we beat them).

Don't need to be top 15. Just above the Sun Belt, MAC, MWC, and AAC champs.

[UNT90]

Don't need to be top 15. Just above the Sun Belt, MAC, MWC, and AAC champs.

If last year's team was playing this year's schedule, maybe...

[rws69]

Looking at these predictions and remembering what many predicted about the 2013 season that exceeded most expectations, it may take a "signature" win to boost GMG optimism.

[rws69]

Tennessee was nice, but it was in the Stone Age of college football.

Oh, you forty-somethings have so little appreciation for the teams (or students) from the sixties and before!

Edited May 7, 2014 by rws69

[UNT90]

Oh, you forty-somethings have so little appreciation for the teams (or students) from the sixties and before!

Has nothing to do with that.

It was pre-BCS, which is the Stone Age of college football. Us beating Tennessee probably wasn't even that big of an upset at the time. I would love to know what the line was for the game.

[Ben Gooding]

I don't know what that line was, but the line in Austin as of right now is Texas -14.

[Harry]

I don't know what that line was, but the line in Austin as of right now is Texas -14.

That seems low.

[GOMG2013]

Beating Texas would be great, but it will not be a program changer. If will bring a lot of fans out of nowhere though.

being ranked is what will build the most hype. Some say beating big opponents is what gets you ranked, but that is not nessessarily the case.

We may have been one win fron being ranked last season. That is what should be one of the prorams next goals. If we beat up on this weak schedule and go 10-2, we will have that number in front of our name. That is what gets a mid major noticed.

[Harry]

I just respectfully disagree - beating Texas would be the best and biggest win we could have!! Even if they are down!!

[Mean Green 93-98]

I just respectfully disagree - beating Texas would be the best and biggest win we could have!! Even if they are down!!

Agreed. It would be huge. We still talk about the 1988 game that we didn't even win--at least not officially--and that was a bad Texas team that went 4-7, 2-5 in the SWC.

[Ben Gooding]

A ranking is what gets a mid major noticed. But not a one week stint. It has to be relatively consistent. Fresno State I believe cracked the top 25 this year as did NIU. My personal perception of either team has not changed. They had fantastic QB's that are both gone now. If Fresno or NIU is ranked this year then I will take notice. It would prove to me they have a good team and not just one great player.

[Mean Green 93-98]

A ranking is what gets a mid major noticed. But not a one week stint. It has to be relatively consistent. Fresno State I believe cracked the top 25 this year as did NIU. My personal perception of either team has not changed. They had fantastic QB's that are both gone now. If Fresno or NIU is ranked this year then I will take notice. It would prove to me they have a good team and not just one great player.

I don't think anyone was specifically talking about what would get Ben Gooding's attention. If we beat UT, it will be all over the DFW news, and it will be discussed nationally. And people with even the slightest connection to UNT will remember it for a long, long time.

Edited May 7, 2014 by Mean Green 93-98

[MeanGreenTexan]

I think people are trying to shoe-horn a separate argument in here.

I think a win against UT in Austin would be the biggest win in UNT football's cap. Period.

Some are trying to argue though, that they would rather lose the UT game (as expected) if it would guarantee some other scenario with more wins.

I think most would fall into this camp.

I'd rather have a 10-win season with a UT loss, rather than a 6-6 season with a UT win. But, the UT win would still be the biggest in program history.

[Ben Gooding]

But we could talk about what would get Ben Gooding's attention. I was referring to more along the lines of perception change, not a national headliner.