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I posted this after the UTEP loss and, unfortunately, the events of the rest of the season seemed to back it up. “For the last two years Fine, the receivers, the coaching staff, and a few other stalwarts have hid the fact that, from a talent standpoint, this roster has not been built up to the level that their record would indicate This offensive line still does not have all conference guys, and has been exposed. The defense has played well but we’ve also seen lack of depth hurt the team in recent games.  This is a good team, and a solid roster, but this was never a UCF type, 13-0 roster. That’s why it’s not just “oh we barely beat one of the worst FBS teams, that’s not good.” It’s that there are some concerning trends and some weaknesses that we were always winning in spite of to begin with being exposed more recently.” The question I keep seeing asked is why can’t Seth Littrell win “big games?” Well, other than Fine and a few other key players, do we really have the roster to? Who are the best teams that we have actually beaten under Littrell? This year and last year, who are the best teams we beat? Two 6-win teams in Liberty and Southern Miss this year? Last year, UAB and Army at home on last-second field goals? Whenever we would win I kept seeing the “I thought this staff couldn’t recruit” comments, but this roster as a whole was made up of lower-half CUSA recruiting classes and McCarney classes that understandably failed to stay intact through the coaching change. It really isn’t that surprising that teams who are actually good seem to take us to the woodshed. The good news is that we are finally set to sign a number 1 in CUSA recruiting class this Wednesday, and I would expect something similar for the 2020 class. The bad news is, Fine is a senior and we don’t know what we have behind him. Plus, most players from this class won’t be able to help next year and most of those that will are going to be a downgrade from the guys they’re replacing (i.e. Ejiya, Garner, Brooks, Hall). Also, we have enough guys coming back next year where we absolutely can take that next step. Gonna be a huge offseason for this program to make sure they capitalize on the last year of Fine and make sure they are setup well for life after him.

No, that’s not shell shocked. That’s annoyance at being asked to answer asinine questions. “Coach, if your all-conference QB doesn’t go down early in the game, do you think your offense would have looked better?” “Kemon, when they scored 31 straight do you think there may have been defensive mistakes?” ”Coach, if Rico Bussey and other starting players weren’t hurt, do you think they may have helped?” “Coach, if you had scored more points than Utah State, do you think you may have won?”

I rewatched some of the game this morning from my hotel room. Here is what I noticed, and it won't make any of our fans happy. We made mistakes...true. Our QB went down early...true. But we were outmatched by a better team. Their lines were better. When they wanted to get pressure on our QB they did...when we wanted to send pressure we were mostly stonewalled. They ran with pretty good success both when we expected it and when we didn’t...it was tough sledding for our backs all night. Their secondary was better. Save a few breakaway plays (like the Guyton tD) there was a defender all over our receivers when we caught the ball...they ran a 7 on 7 game against our secondary AND got open deep with little problem. They were just a quality team, and we are not yet. But here is the other thing to think about. We have yet to really put a quality recruiting class on the field. The same players that went 1-11, with the key additions of some skill position players have turned in back-to-back 9 win seasons. There are guys with D1 size (and speed) that we brought in last year and didn’t play yet (guys like Jaxon Williams, KD Davis and Reggie Williams), we brought in guys like Dayton Leblanc and Derrick Shaw who have real DL size. And this year’s class (still #1 in CUSA) will bring more of an upgrade in talent. We are not a “great” team yet, but we have managed “good” with culture, duct tape and bailing wire.

I wish people would lay off beating up on Guyton. This kid was absolutely incredible at catching the football before the concussion. In fact, he made Fine’s numbers look good catching many off target passes from Fine. The hit Guyton took against Army was nothing short of an “assault” and was meant to take him out. It did. It was a serious injury. True he hasn’t been at the same level since, he’s more tentative and from a health standpoint he probably shouldn’t be out there at all. Even so, he is still a very good receiver.

My thoughts: USU was a much more talented team There was nothing in NT's recent games that suggested any other than a bad loss NT's run defense was exploited Fine demonstrated once again how tough and committed he is The freshman QBs' performances bode well for the future NT lost a lot of their offense with Bussey out Littrell's lack of getting other QB's involved in the season hurt USU's team is very low on the character scale Littrell still has a lot to prove as a coach Nothing changed my belief that NT is going to be better next year

Vito had a pretty fair write up. UNT does have a lot to be proud of. The Mean Green beat rival SMU and beat Arkansas on the road. UNT also posted its second straight nine-win season, a milestone the Mean Green had not reached since the days of Hayden Fry. Being blown out in a bowl game was a tough deal for UNT, but the Mean Green have a lot to be proud of.

I noticed a team that hasn't played well in a very long time, like most of the second half of the season. Today's lack of performance was no different. A Tale of Two Seasons: Unbeaten Hype to Bowl ****Show

First I hope everyone made it home from Albuquerque safe and sound. UNM is easily one of the easiest drive-to destinations you could ever ask for. Cheap gas and hotel stay made it that much better. Including stops for food and gas we got back home in 9 1/2 hours. The New Mexico Bowl is a nice event. The city of Albuquerque and the University Of New Mexico greatly supports it. The UNM fans love having this game in their stadium, ....and it’s a damn nice stadium btw. (The dumbass that ranked it as one of the worst stadiums doesn’t have a $&@#ing clue what he’s talking about). The UNM fans were out tailgating early yesterday morning, some brought in RV’’s and big smoker pits. Their fans picked a team and sat on that team’s side of the stadium and cheered for them. There were a lot of corporate and local businesses present all throughout with lots of give-away stuff. The local radio and TV stations covered it really well also. The UNT Alumni Association, AD and University put on another great blowout for us all and we had a good turnout. Good food, good drinks and great fans. Overall this is easily the best bowl North Texas has participated in from my perspective. It’s GREATLY supported in all facets by the city that hosts it and they go out of their way to show their appreciation for both schools and their fans. Rick

Imagine if you were an Arkansas or SMU fan watching this game...and you realize that this same North Texas team curb stomped you

This was not those who will sign with us on Wednesday's team that played in the New Mexico Bowl yesterday. Those kids who sign Wednesday will see personal opportunity from that game Those recruits we sign this week will (officially) become a significant part of the Mean Green future and then it will become their team. Some of the talent we sign this Wednesday will probably start on the 2019 version of our favorite school's football team. HELP WANTED: We need JUCO linemen who can enroll for the Spring semester & play in this Springs Green & White game. That's about it. GMG! PS: Again, a very impressive UNT crowd & the Green Brigade at yesterdays New Mexico Bowl game.

This game perfectly encapsulates my Mean Green fandom since 2002. It doesn’t get any better or worse than this. This is it.

In three of the four, we looked like we shouldn't have been on the field. We forced Army into overtime in the HOD bowl - pretty much the definition of evenly matched. We clearly need to improve, but we are also complaining about our post-season results when we previously weren't even sniffing at getting to the post season. We have just had the best two seasons on success we've had in the last 40 years. Seth has built NT into a good program, but we aren't great yet. Seth still has a lot of work to do but that doesn't mean he hasn't done more than any coach in 40 years. He's got us about half way to where we need to be.

Unless you are as old as I am, you did not play on a better NT team. DD's teams would have been blown out. Utah State was a much better team no doubt. Attendance, no one expected a big crowd. I guess if NT can't play within the metroplex, they should just stay home. NT got clobbered by a much better team, the only slim chance NT had was a heathy Fine and Bussey having outstanding games. As for Martin, I love his enthusiasm and I am sure not worried about what other people think. It was a bad day for NT against a superior team. True, NT's performance in big games has to be improved to get the program moving forward. However, two years ago; beating any team was problematic. (Can't wait to hear all the old Denton references) This is a relatively young team with about 45 players that will return getting playing time. This plus the best rated recruiting class in fifteen years should spell next year success. I was disappointed as you were in the score, however I certainly was not surprised.

I'm just glad we decided not to waste the money on the trip.

We very nearly won his first bowl game in year one when he wasn’t going anywhere. The next two years when he was a hot coaching prospect we got worse as P5 coaching jobs began to open. Coincidence? For me it is a question of commitment level at this point. Are you about building a program or are you about making your early season resume look good for P5 coaching vacancies? If your heart isn’t truly with taking this team to the next level, say so and move on. If your heart is truly with taking THIS team to the next level, stop flirting with every P5 that comes sniffing around and PROVE it.

We went to overtime with Army... we belonged.

4 Bowl games in the last 5 seasons!

Maybe we should win our conference once or twice, before we think we are ready to jump ship to a better conference. Being the bottom dweller of anything is not a good place to be. We are on our way there, but we aren’t there yet.

The uniforms looked really, really good.

I agree to the point we had a decent season and have some things to be proud of. We were on to next season before this game. Fumbles, poor snaps, failing to tackle. We lacked preparation and just purely didn’t come to play.

Just Chasing Rabbits ❇️ First of all: Kudos to all Mean Green fans who were at this bowl game today. Y’all looked darn good on TV & were the best part of this game today; especially those from DFW who made the 9 hour drive. Impressive. (1) After the Arkansas win with all the national publicity from the fake Fair catch I think Littrell’s sports agent’s put it in overdrive with his job to get SL a new gig. Overall team play seemed to go south soon after that trip to Fayetteville, then the LaTech loss was a major kick in the gut. (2). Today? We’re not ready for prime time Top 25 competition & others close to such rankings. • SL needs 3 strong recruiting classes in a row with more speed to even compete for a CUSA championship. Linemen? Can we pray for recruiting miracles? Has Fine played behind even 1 All CUSA lineman yet? UNT can’t keep waiting for the conference we’re in to be down in overall quality before we can win a championship. Last year (2017) FAU set a new standard of speed & strength that in CUSA was not duplicated this year—not even by UAB or....FAU. (3) Today? Our franchise QB & best receiver out with hamstrings😳 dramatically reduced our chances to be competitive or have a chance to pull an upset. Not sure we win with both in but the final score I believe would have been much closer. Some were not that impressed with USU’s QB compared to Fine when he’s mobile & on his game. ❇️ Turn off the lights for 2018, and without using the “P” or “M” word our upside is still so much brighter than it’s ever been. GMG!

This staff is a joke. About 49% of me was hoping they were all going to Manhattan. 51% of me wants this signing class. Want to pad your QB stats game after game for the sake of your own resume, this is the fire that burns you. Hope he enjoys it. He was out coached by a bunch of bums making peanuts on the dollar to him. He should be ashamed. I'm never going to another bowl games unless it's in a 4 hour window. Bunch of hodge podge bs.

Call it the "June Jones Disorder" Listen if a wife tells a husband over and over how much she love's him and then out of the blue gets up and runs off taking the kids with her for a taller better looking guy don't tell me it wouldn't affect you emotionally. Likewise, if a coach tells 17-20 year old kids over and over again and again that they are family and then decides to not only walk out for a better family but also take their entire coaching staff with him as well, leaving them high and dry, I don't care who you are this will affect you emotionally. You may not believe it but it does and it will if you are human. The fact that it didn't come to fruition doesn't matter. The damage was done. The trust was broken. The family is broken and whether the trust will ever be restored is yet to be seen. We played like a bunch of lost confused kids today and no one should hold them at fault. Period. I am very proud of our team!!!! I hope we recover. Go Mean Green.

https://newsok.com/article/5617854/the-oklahomans-2019-super-30-rankings 3 of our commits listed in the top 30 players in Oklahoma

I guess this is the glass half empty thread. I too am disappointed in our performance. It comes down to this. Our last two bowl opponents were simply better than us, especially on the O and D lines. We were getting manhandled at the point of attack all day and as we all know, that is where games are won and lost. Every team has injuries, but losing Easly, then English (again) and then Bussey hurt a lot.The bottom line is, we have to get bigger, faster and stronger across the line of scrimmage. We can have all the skill players we want, but if you don't have time to execute your plays, then forget it. Face it, Utah St. was a better team yesterday and probably everyday. Love had all day to stand there and find an open receiver. Our incoming recruiting class will help us achieve our goals and hopefully for years to come. Random thought; lets see how Texas fares against Georgia. That game could have a similar outcome.

In each of our 4 post season games under Seth, we looked like we had no business on the same field as our opponents.

The recruiting class come Wednesday! GMG

Bean showed promise? I mean, I think he's got ability and I'm all in on the guy if it's him, but what from today showed promise?

Those are your Top 10 things about this year?

It could be worse. It could be raining.

There were some great memories this season. Lots of highs and lows. Let’s hope that this is the beginning of something special.

FYI, they've been to bowls 7 of the last 8 years. This suggests that when you have a good system/program in place, you can play through staff turnover. I'm not really surprised that UTST knew exactly how to handle things. Just still frustrated at the whipping we took in the trenches. We need to figure out recruiting there. I'm not asking for all-world G5 recruits year-in-and-out, just some decent looking youth and depth that can help us compete for conference and bowl titles.

DRC: https://www.dentonrc.com/sports/five-thoughts-on-unt-s-loss-to-utah-state-in/article_c914b232-8d86-5998-88ab-a3c946182fcd.html

Thanks, as always for the good words, Emmitt. It's just hard to swallow...kinda like dict tape.

Sargin rates CUSA West as worst division in D-1 football,behind the Belt and Missouri Valley Conference.

Back to back 9 win seasons are good and I am proud of our team but Utah was just a better team and they were very well coached. We are getting there and as stated above our best recruits have not even hit the field. Things will only get better. GO MEAN GREEN!!!

Yeah. If you've ever had one, you know it can take a while to get over. Good thing is that it's not an injury that has future impacts to performance (like a knee injury). Now, if he had a history of this, I'd be concerned.

We were the team that played like we had just lost our Head Coach. Actions have consequences.

I think the fact that Littrell himself went out to visit many of the top recruits just recently was huge. I imagine we will hold on to most if not all of them.

Judy does need to go. The conference is sliding backwards under her leadership. Like byu we don’t want to go back to a strong conference that we have already been in. Just weather the storm. gmg

That hammy had been bothering him all season. It's not surprising it was re-aggravated with the time off. Hamstring injuries take a while until they can get right. They definitely took some cheap shots on Fine though, without a damn doubt. Littrell has much more composure than I do because I'd come out swinging if they hit my qb the way they did. But their whole team was undisciplined throughout the game. It was obvious they didn't have a head coach. Just rabid damn dogs.

I think there was some impact to preparation but I don’t think it was the main reason for the loss. NT would’ve had to play a perfect game to beat USU. They were more talented and it showed.

Mason is an awesome player. And he very may well be once in a lifetime/generation. I do think we need to see a couple more QBs play in this system before stating that conclusively. It’s unlikely we find another QB that presents the type of awesome story Mason does. Maybe I’m in the minority, but I’m not willing to resign myself (yet) to a reality where we will never find someone that can match his production, as impressive as it is.

If I watched today's game and I am a lineman, where do I sign I could be starting tomorrow.

What’s Denton? Not the only reason but it matters!

He has already redshirted. So the fact that he wasn't the automatic 3rd QB after Quinn doesn't look good for him. I think the 2 guys who played today are better. They showed their inexperience today but I think you saw the raw potential from both of them. It is unfortunate that Guyton stopped on that route that lead to an interception. I wanted to see a little more Bean. Also that give up on the last drive made me sick. Live action snap are priceless. And you should try to end the game on a positive note.

Thank you. It seems to me this staff is often more worried about padding stats than getting experience for backups

Logan, UT is at an elevation of 9,710 feet above SL. Albuquerque is at an elevation 5312 feet above SL. Denton is at 640 feet above SL. I think if you take two evenly matched teams or maybe one is slightly better than the other. The one that is slightly better comes from Logan the other comes from Denton. They meet in Albuquerque. That team coming from Denton will be gassed in the first few minutes. The team from Logan will feel like they have oxygen for days. I believe that happened here. Three days is not enough time to acclimate to that elevation change. I had the same thing happen to me. I arrived in Bagram AB Afghanistan. Felt okay. One week later they move us to the mountains at FOB Airborne. I thought I was going to die running 100 yards with no load. After three months there, we close that FOB and went to TB Dwyer which was a change of about 5000 feet. I thought I could run forever. I had not run a 5:30 mile in years, but I did after being at that altitude and coming down 5000 feet. I am not saying we would have won, but I am convinced that change in altitude crushed us. If Utah was coming from somewhere around 640 feet above SL like Denton, then this would be embarrassing.

Not disagreeing. But why did Utah State, who actually did lose their head coach, look far more focused and prepared?