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This picture is me, in May of 2008, about to board a plane that would eventually take me from Iraq, to Kuwait, Germany, Maine, and eventually back to DFW. The flag on my back was sent to me in a care package by my grandmother, hung up in my can and occasionally carried on convoys. Immediately after this, it would unfortunately get a lot dirtier when I staged the backpack next to the C-130, and the Californians who were tossing and loading our stuff didn't know what a good flag was if it slapped them in the face. Anyway, 3 shorts months later, I was enrolled at UNT, living in the best dorm ever (Kerr), and watching UNT play through a 1-11 season. And since the one UNT win that year was on the road (if I recall correctly), I didn't even get to see it! Anyway, after having muddled through some terrible seasons during my time at UNT, I sent this to Rick Villarreal last year, with a note about this story. I wanted UNT to have it because I feel like we are as legitimate in Texas as any other team and any other institution. Especially during games like this weekend, I wanted UNT to know that we have every bit as much right to claim Texas as our state as all of the big traditional powerhouses. When I see a Texas flag, I'm not thinking about UT, or A&M, or anybody else. I'm thinking about UNT. I inquired about my flag a few months ago to Rick, and he informed me that it's hanging up in Coach McCarney's office, much to my delight. Go Mean Green! This post has been promoted to an article

Anyone who openly roots against their alma mater at the stadium on game day in full swag of a university they never attended should be shamed by any self respecting college football fan, even of they are wearing your university's swag. They can't be trusted around women or children and shouldn't be allowed to vote. Pathetic.

Who gives a $#1t?

"Sir, you've stuck this crap out for decades and saw the team drop a division, suck new levels of suck at many different points in time and once went three years without a home win." "Yes, yes. All that was tough, but the breaking point for me was when we went 14-0 by an aggregate score of 98-84."

Eh, I like North Texas. It seems more prestigious than an acronym. Especially up next to Texas. North Texas vs. Texas looks way better than UNT vs. Texas.

Someone attending a university and not liking football is acceptable. Rooting for another school against your own alma mater that you earned a degree from, that is the unacceptable part. I get the UT-Tyler, UT-Dallas, UT-Arlington grad that feels a kinship to UT and financially support them, since they didn't have football. But to go to a UNT game anywhere and cheer against us, while holding a degree from here, is just wrong in my book...

What... is your name? What... is your quest? What... is your favorite color? What... is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?

I have no interest in their hype videos and propaganda. Screw ut.

Georgia State - Exhibit B for why market isn't "all that." FIU is Exhibit A.

You guys are soft. I'm going to find that man and burn down his house.

Beat Texas on Saturday with the SOW on the helmet and MEAN GREEN on the jersey and you'll never have to worry about our identity again. Rick

I say UNT. I say North Texas. I say NT. I say my alma mater. I say all of them because they are all good, solid names. Use them interchangeably. Branding recommendations be damned.

My friend Jim talked to guy who used to sell Twizzlers wholesale but dabbled in extra large women's underwear. He didn't wear it mind you just sold it. At least as far as I know. Who knows what people do in their homes. None of my business. Anyway, Twizzler man said he knew a guy that used to play frisbee golf next door to a lady whose ex-husband had a t-shirt stand in Guada-la-jara, Mexico who had a cousin who worked at the Subway accross from the CLC, satellite office. Says this deal is a raw one. Until we get out of it we are never going to reach our full pot-ential.

Those were dark, dark days, my friend. You also rarely saw NT clothing on students. You saw alot of Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and OU. Not much NT pride...and, really, it was tough to muster back then. Even back then, most of us came from high schools whose stadiums rivaled Fouts. And, that is one of the reasons I understand little about the Darrell Dickey hatred. That the guy could string together three winning seasons in a row with only that dump to sell recruits? I mean seriously recall going to Fouts - the concession stands and bathrooms, the track around the field - and compare it to Apogee. Not just Dickey, but every coach before McCarney had to show recruits, "This will be your home field for four years! Ready to sign up?" So, what do we do now that we've had a coach take us to a bowl game - while coaching some record breaking players? We bitch about the players who set the records, along with their coach and his philosophy? What the hell is the matter with us? And, honestly, when I think about being dive-bombed by crickets on my way to the dilapidated bathroom at old Fouts, I have to admit that Rick Villareal would have to rape and murder a convent of nuns to move my needle to negative about him. How anyone can look from Fouts across I-35 with all of the new facilities we have for football and damn near every other sport and complain about Rick...it's just nuts. Is it just the Generation Selfie posters who are complaining? Those of us who endured NT during the post-Corky I-AA run should never, ever, ever, ever complain about how we win.

God Bless you, sir! And God Bless Texas.

I live in Lewisville. Whenever I want to watch a road game, I hop on the A-train and go to East Side. I tried finding places in Lewisville last year, and it really sucked. East Side is where it's at, brother.

Perhaps not a University but Im pretty sure Navarro is a college.

"A few things here, if you're curious what we're likely to see on Saturday. I didn't do a huge statistical breakdown, but as usual I did dig into the team enough to develop some expectations and help me chart the game (if I'm able). 1. Their offense was driven by a smart, senior QB and pretty decent running game. That QB has moved on and the JUCO QB behind him has some talent but isn't expected to be as good by the end of the season and will be very green running their offense on Saturday. 2. I actually think their OL and DL play, last year, was a huge driver in their success. That coach really got those guys to play at a higher level than you would expect. The OL and running game will give our defensive front a decent opening test. But their DL lost a lot of seniors and there's a very good chance that we could run for a lot of yards against them if we can bottle up their LB (a talented returning player). 3. They were pretty good last year at forcing turnovers. If we get sloppy that could cause some trouble. 4. Their passing game attacks the flat and midfield a lot, with RBs and TEs releasing into open areas. Lots of misdirection. A fair amount of power formations. 5. They didn't run much up-tempo and will likely use most of the play clock. 6. Their secondary are not particularly fast or capable. Not bad, but it wasn't their strength. In fact, they gave up a lot of plays until they got into the redzone and the defense compressed, allowing the front 7 to play a bigger role in stopping plays. 7. The things that they really leaned on to win so much last year, well, much of that is changed this year. Their defensive front was wiped away, and their capable team-leader QB has moved on. They'll try to run the ball a lot, and they'll be breaking in the JUCO QB so I'd expect a lot of misdirection runs, some power formations, and short screen plays that exploit our defenses' (anticipated) aggressiveness. I'd also expect to see this JUCO QB try and test our young secondary players early. If he finds softness, we could see more long passes out of them than you'd think looking at their play last year. Assuming we can perform capably against those early long balls tests, I think we will see a much more imbalanced offense from them on Saturday than they played last year. I'll guess 5 out of every 7 plays will be in that run/screen/hot read theme. 8. Hicks, as the MLB, will need to be keyed to both his primary run duties as well as to showing patience in reading the screens. If he does that, it could be a very long day for their offense. Wrap up: I'd put them in the West Virginia/ Iowa State category of teams this year--generally well-coached teams with average talent that can certainly beat you if you don't take them seriously, but mostly they'll be a danger if you help them beat you. This is not the same team as last year, and they won't be nearly as good by all indications. But some of their success was the product of improved coaching and those things will still be there. We need to be careful not to turn it over. We need to shove the ball right down their throats with Brown and Gray and wear that inexperienced front seven down. That will open up our passing game and as inexperienced as we may be in WR depth, Shipley, Harris, and Johnson are not guys you want to give too much room to..."

Accurate,

If we win every game 7-6, I'll be happy. It's about winning. How we get there is irrelevant to me anymore. These coaches (unfortunately for some of you), have been in the business for decades and whatnot. So, all of this, "well, we passed more against this team and ran more against that team"...that's the coaches understanding where the opposing defense can be had on that particular afternoon. I don't care if we whip 'em by one point or a hundred, as long as we continue winning. I want our coaches to be slaves to winning, rather than slaves to a system. "It doesn't matter where you've poked the pie, you still have it on your fingers after the deed is done, okay?" - Bill Parcells, two time Super Bowl champion coach and full time, sandwich eating, mouth breather.

Translation: I'm a lazy writer. I'm going to babble off as much BS off the top of my head, slap a headline on it and call it an article.

The schools that go by their initials have national reputations. Unfortunately, we do not and I do not see us achieving a national reputation any time soon. I work in New York City and am faced with blank stares every time I tell someone other than a musician where I went to school. This story will sound "big-headed" and I apologize in advance but it actually happened: I was having dinner with our board chair and his wife at his club. I knew the board chair quite well but this was the first time I had met his wife. Both were Harvard grads. We were making small talk and the wife asked me where I went to school. I told her I had done my undergrad work at North Texas. She did not respond and changed the subject. As dinner progressed and more wine was consumed, she then asked, "if you went to North Texas, how did you get to be so smart?"

UC Berkeley goes by California, or "Cal" for athletics. There's no reason we can't continue to be North Texas for athletics, even if the administration prefers UNT. We've always been North Texas... North Texas Normal College North Texas State Teachers College North Texas State College North Texas State University University of North Texas

Whoa whoa whoa...like what? I need examples...and then a name and address. Depending on the seriousness of these slights, I have a follow up question: what's the last thing you'd like Mr. Eberts to see before he meets his end? I'd like to make this one special.

Note that this year's game will feature the following: "Airing of Grievances" (see 1988) and "Feats of Strength" (coach Wentrich results)

untdoublealum, thank you for your service and sacrifices. From a fellow Veteran.

I can't be bothered to learn too much about such a scenario

Yes. Me and ZeMartino are the North Texas writers for Underdog Dynasty.

Seems to me that is your problem, not Baylor's!

What a Superior pun!

Let's not talk about Wall Street, let's talk about Main Street

This game is exactly why we need to thank our lucky stars that SMU chased their Big East dreams and left CUSA. Otherwise, we are still in the SBC, but without MUTS, WKU, or the Florida Airport schools. Imagine how fun that would be--to tell your buddies that we have an exciting team this year that will host Georgia State, South Alabama, Idaho, Arkansas State, and New Mexico State for our 5 games at Apogee...

Ha, that's exactly what I thought. Every time someone said they were predicting the good guys to win, I wanted to say, "You're rooting for UNT too???"

This was retweeted by Mean Green Athletics. SIAP. TXA doing the Nicholls State, UAB (road game), Southern Miss, and FIU games this season.

Here's to not being as bad as Kansas, apparently.

Hostile Environment? I thought the game was at DKR. Bunch of quiche-sucking Milquetoasts.

They need to buy Fouts from NT.

Rated a 73 on ESPN. Good for a rating of 3-stars.

Jordan Case wasn't a Juco transfer but came here by way of Sul Ross. Had to wait his turn behind the great Ken Washington but he clearly comes to mind as the top transfer QB

parting shot at the end was a bit tasteless... we all know why Mac wears shades indoors. if they found out about him, they would know too!

A line you surely won't repeat hundreds of times at the tailgate Saturday?...

Our team is too disciplined to allow a blowout. So those of you predicting UT scoring 40+ points and UNT only in the teens or less are very wrong. The mismatch in talent is big enough for a comfortable UT win but not a blowout with the way our guys will play. We will scare this team and their fans: UT 31 UNT 21 I hope I'm proven wrong and wonderfuly surprised with a victory over Texsa.

Very good, those were the Sinclair games. Dandy Killeen is the Executive Sports Producer at channels 11/21 and a UNT alum, happy to have alumni in high places.

Big Game! Huge for North Texas to pull off the projected impossible win! All the whorns say North Texas is just a cow patty left over from bevo. I like over confident teams -- to lose! North Texas 27 Univ of austin a-holes 24

Ha Ha. Yes. I try to stay in there during office hours if anyone needs help with tickets. I know a lot of people are at work and can't call in and I try to help them via chat if they want so they can get questions answered. It's worked really well this season.

For anyone wanting to take a bus down to the game and back, Metzlers has arranged for a bus. They are leaving from the Londonderry location in Denton at 12:30 and will return around 2AM Sunday. The cost is $70. There are approximately 5 seats left. You can reach Roy Metzler at 940-383-3663 to secure a seat.

bookmarked.

If we run for over 200 yards against Texas, I'll get a tattoo of the flying worm on my ass, next to the final score of our victory.

no... he's actually pretty well known composer

I visited Rally House Texas in Plano yesterday... PLEASE GO GIVE THEM YOUR BUSINESS!!! They also had North Texas lanyards, car emblems, tailgating chairs, and decals.