untjim1995

That’s not a limb you’re going out on…it’s more of a sequoia branch.

Highly doubtful. The more likely scenario is SL coaching until a 7th loss occurs.

Absolutely true on UTEP. When they are good, that place turns out for the Miners. Great stadium and strong citizen pride in the Miners when they are good. The problem is that is very, very infrequent. Last time I remember them being good, they got ranked under Mike Price. Maybe about 15-20 years ago?

Since Graham Harrell left Denton, we have gone 14-24 against FBS teams. On the road, we have won exactly 6 road games, against this unbelievable collection of awesomeness: MTSU, UTEP twice, Rice, Southern Miss, and FIU. In 2020, that MTSU team went 3-6 and UTEP went 3-5. In 2021, Rice went 4-8, USM was 3-9 and FIU went 1-11. And, so far, in 2022, UTEP is 3-4. Absolutely nothing suggests we win this game. Hell, very little suggests this game will even be close. But if we do win, SL probably is well on his way to getting his 7 wins and his extension for a few more years here.

They will have a good crowd for us...guaranteed. Look at the boxes this game checks: In state public school opponent Revenge game for ruining their season last year Their Super Bowl Their Homecoming Game is for first place.

UTSA wins by 2 TDs…

Hell, we can have 12 rivals…but only one of them cares enough to call us their rival.

That’s much worse than considering UTSA a rival. NMSU is barely FBS… usually with UMass for worst program in FBS. We played in the worst conference back then (like now) and we beat NMSU one year to win that conference. NMSU lost and didn’t go to a bowl. That’s not a rival to 99.9% of the CFB world. NMSU joined the WAC in 2004, IIRC, meaning we shared a conference with them for about 9 years…which is exactly try the same time, so far, that we’ve been in a conference with UTSA.

I just don’t get our fanbase. Until UTSA came around, absolutely nobody in this state cared about playing us…ever. When we beat Tech, Baylor, or SMU, the rest of the state laughed at them for losing to us. Absolutely zero respect or care. And now, we act like UTSA hating us is not a rivalry…because we are so much older than them? I’m still in amazement that we are ANYONE’s Super Bowl. UTSA gives Apathy some competition for our biggest rivalry…that’s saying something. Look, we did this to ourselves. That we are rivals with UTSA is because we gave up in the 80s and 90s, confirming to all of the SWC schools that we were spare and not anything to be concerned with. SMU ain’t never gonna look at us like we look at them until we beat them like they beat us…and even then, TCU will always be their rival. Would SMU care more about us if we could, you know, compete with them? Maybe…but getting our asses pounded before halftime every F’ing year doesn’t exactly create hatred and rivalry. It creates laughter and smugness. Ending an undefeated season or costing someone a championship creates hatred, though. And within that sentence, I’ve seen UTSA ruin our 2013 CUSA West title and we ruined their perfect season last year. Those are both examples of a rivalry, to me. And the Drive will forever be in UNT lore for greatness and for causing much UTSA pain.

This. We won’t slow them down at all.

This will be footage of the Lovelace home if we beat UTSA

IIRC, We got bad Derek Thompson that day and we couldn’t move the ball.

Not at all

I don't get why calling UTSA a rival is bad but acting all bent out of shape when SMU doesn't call us a rival is good...

This is exactly the same talk from 2001-2004

Harris will be QB at some P5 next year…

I bet they will get close to it…

I bet we could see statements of how much SL thought of Frank Wilson, too…while their program imploded.

To go even further, it’s not out of the realm that we could’ve been the top G5 program that year if we don’t lose that game. If we pull that out, it’s possible that we are playing in a BCS bowl game that year. Not saying it would’ve happened, but I doubt we lose to Old Dominion. At UAB was always gonna be tough that season and it turned out to be their welcome back to the CFB world. But that LT loss was a gut punch—one we really haven’t recovered from.

This is how most fans outside of the usual homers look at our situation. For decades, a big win involves beating some team with a weird directional name or that sounds like an airport. One of my history professors once said we play Semi-circle Louisiana this week, drawing laughter from the room so loud that you’d have thought Seinfeld was performing IOW, playing teams that don’t move the needle won’t get people out to Denton to watch—-UNLESS we have given them a reason (see wins over SMU, Tech, Baylor, Arkansas, even Army). The students and faculty take no pride at all in our program because we don’t play or beat anyone for them to care about. It’s why the SMU game has become our season, basically. Then we get crushed, the students don’t come back to watch, and the circle continues. Lather, rinse, repeat. What does amaze me on here is just how many people think it’s gonna change around here with the level of commitment we don’t have here. It cannot change unless you get a charismatic coach who wins here. That’s why Gary Patterson is the shining hope for me. Like Hayden Fry, a fired SWC private school gave him his credibility and he could come here and make things happen here like he did when he first started at TCU. But he has to know a commitment is there to take this on. And he may look at this entire situation and say, “Nope—not for me, thank you”, but it might also just be the perfect place for him to finish out his coaching career, too.

Wanna make people care? Beat someone they care about…like SMU or any other SWC team that we can get to Denton besides Rice. Then, after that, beat the teams in conference and get a bowl victory. Most popular teams we have rolled out in 45 years beat teams like Texas Tech, Baylor, Cincy, Arkansas, and SMU. It’s achievements like this that get people to finally come watch a football game at Apogee. Getting drilled by those same teams just reinforces that we are spare.

I’ve been told by many that Denton and UNT are completely different these days from the past that encompassed so many of the exact same issues that have plagued us for decades…it’s almost as if some people just want to wish things were different than they really are.

Can we start with actually competing with them? I mean these games are almost always over by halftime.

🙄

In before several homers and younger alums so this is Old Denton and that there is just no reason we can’t win here, too, and be ranked, just like Boise State, UCF, USF, UTSA, Appy State, Coastal Carolina, James Madison, Georgia Southern, Louisiana, Troy, Marshall, WKU, and any MAC team that has gotten ranked while we have knocked the ball out of the park at .382 winning percentage since we made it back to FBS in 1995.