NT80

That photo is from the 1982 season against Northeast Louisiana (now ULM). It was our last season before dropping to 1-AA and a change of helmet/uniforms for 1983. The mesh jerseys were popular then and it seems like I remember Bob Tyler liking them when he coached at Miss St so he had UNT wear them too, first in 1981. It was a very dark green, even darker than hunter green, but we kept the old helmets with the kelly green. Not many liked the garage-sale mismatched look so Corkey Nelson changed everything for the drop to 1-AA and joining the Southland Conference in 1983.

Here is an interesting two-part column on why/when the Big East should expand. Of course I think the writer is pushing for East Carolina to get a bid too: http://www.bonesville.net/Articles/DennyOB...1107_OBrien.htm But hey, I'm all for CUSA losing a member or two also...

Those are dark green jerseys, just looks black on that particular schedule card. Note the similar color in the helmet stripe, it too is a dark green.

A. Beat Zero-U. We would be in the Top 25 for one week, all highways to Denton would be snarled because of the media frenzy trying to interview Dodge, and finally we would replace Tennessee as the all-time biggest win. Beat SMUT? Great for a week or two; go to N.O. Bowl? Fun, but hard to remember after Burbon Street. Give me big wins over big programs; Boise-us upwards!

"*stats included only 2 qbs, 3 rushers, and 3 receivers total for each year" DCTF says Meager and Vizza will throw 14 and 10 tds each, while Jackson catches 8, Fitzgerald 4, Washington 3, and *others catch the remaining 9.....

I'm sure some of you may have noticed the "Stats Corner" chart included with the NT writeup in Dave Campbell's Texas Football magazine out recently. But for those that didn't...WOW, according to the DCTF Staff projections we are in for some major offensive changes this season at UNT! A brief overview of 2006 stats vs the projected 2007 stats (DTCF also breaks it down by individual players): Passing: 2006 = 107/190, 1045 yds, 8 tds, 14 ints 2007 = 275/475, 3100 yds, 24 tds, 12 ints Rushing: 2006 = 317 att, 1253 yds, 4 tds 2007 = 275 att, 1250 yds, 11 tds Receiving: 2006 = 86 rec, 917 yds, 5 tds 2007 = 160 rec, 1750 yds, 15 tds *Totals: 2006 = 2298 yds, 12 tds 2007 = 4350 yds, 35 tds *stats included only 2 qbs, 3 rushers, and 3 receivers total for each year So, from this, assuming the defense plays at least as well as last year (10 starters return) you could say the record will greatly improve just from the offense improving by at least 23 tds = ~14 more points per game scored by UNT this coming season than last year!

June 21, 2007 Football Writers put out preseason All-American list The Football Writers Association of America recently put out its 2007 All-American Checklist, which included seven players from the Sun Belt Conference among 347 total selections. None of the players are from North Texas. Defensive back Damon Nickson and offensive lineman Franklin Dunbar of Middle Tennessee made the list and were joined by running back Calvin Dawson and offensive lineman Kyle Cunningham of Louisiana-Monroe, Troy quarterback Omar Haugabook, Arkansas State defensive back Tyrell Johnson and Louisiana-Lafayette running back Tyrell Fenroy. The list is just one of several that has come out in the last few months naming the top players in the Sun Belt that is short on UNT players. The lists will be long forgotten in a few months, but they do illustrate just what a tough road Todd Dodge could face in his first season with the Mean Green. When Sun Belt play begins, UNT will be a decided underdog in the race for the league title. Posted by Brett Vito at 9:52 PM

I visited him a couple weeks ago. On his computer he can read the board fine but when he goes to post it gives the ole "you have performed an illegal operation..." and closes his computer down. I couldn't fix it but maybe someone here can give him some computer suggestions?

The great Green Grenade, in all his stadium renderings, always named it "Fry-Mitchell Stadium" in honor of both legends.

In the modern era of NT football (1960 to present) only ONE coach had a winning record.... That's who should have an NT athletic building named after them!

From what I can gather Big12 schools (OU) only have to allocate around 3000 tickets to us (not sure if league teams get more) but the SEC (Arkansas) allocates 8000 to visitors. Anyway, the band, player's parents, staff, admin, etc. and some student reserved also have to come out of this amount. SMUt may have just limited the size of their visitor's sideline section (sorta like we do), but I'm sure endzone non-reserved will be available at game time (hey, it's a SMUt home game...always plenty of empty seats!).

Maybe Zero-U will finally be on probation when we play them. Nah, they have the NCAA paid off too. I'm going to go watch the Boise game again...

1994 was NT's last year of 1-AA. Southland Conference champs that year under new coach Matt Simon and our great QB Mitch Maher. In 1995 NT played in 1-A as an Independent and probably the toughest schedule in our football history. In 1996 we were in the Big West; and the rest is history....

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- College football to kick off with unique matchups By Craig Bennett, USA TODAY The first Division I-A college football game is Aug. 30, but it's never too early to start making plans. USA TODAY's Craig Bennett offers insight into this season's schedule. Notable debuts •Sept. 1, Neil Callaway (Alabama at Birmingham) and Mark Dantonio (Michigan State) are the only Division I-A coaches making their debuts at their respective schools against each other. •North Texas' Todd Dodge, who has never been a college head coach and has been a college assistant for only three seasons in the early 1990s, makes his debut Sept. 1 at Oklahoma. Gerry Faust, hired out of Moeller High in Cincinnati, won his Notre Dame debut 27-9 vs. LSU in 1981. •Coach David Elson and Western Kentucky begin the first of two years of transition from I-AA on Sept. 1 at defending national champ Florida. The Hilltoppers, who will play in the Sun Belt, face five other I-A schools this season. •Florida International's Mario Cristobal has his first game as a I-A head coach Sept. 1 against Joe Paterno, who began his head coaching career at Penn State in 1966 — four years before Cristobal was born. FIU enters that game having lost 12 in a row. •Temple plays its first official Mid-American Conference game Sept. 8 at home against Buffalo. BCS business Non-BCS schools will host BCS schools 31 times this year (schools from the Big Six leagues traditionally don't travel very often to schools in the other five I-A conferences). It was 24 last year after being at 26 in 2005 and 2004. In 2002 and 2003, there also were 31 such matchups. The rest of the history: 1997 (year before BCS instituted), 27; 1998, 29; 1999, 26; 2000, 22; 2001, 21. Counting the days Longest span of games goes to New Mexico State and Oregon State at 93 days, from Aug. 30 to Dec. 1. They each had 93 days last year as well. Something extra By rule, teams playing at Hawaii are allowed a 13th game. Washington and New Mexico State are the only I-A schools doing so. Both teams will use a bye, however. Hawaii also is allowed 13 games but was not able to fill an open date and will play 12. Also worth noting •Michigan opens at home Sept. 1 against two-time defending I-AA champ Appalachian State. It's the first time the Wolverines have played a I-AA team since the classification was created in 1978. •Akron takes on Army on Sept. 1 at Cleveland Browns Stadium. The Greater Cleveland Sports Commission said it hopes that is the first of a series of games it will call the Patriot Bowl and feature a MAC school and one of the service academies in the season opener every year. •For the second year in a row, no Big Ten school will use a bye. Others with no bye weeks: Baylor, Eastern Michigan, San Diego State, Texas Tech and Tulane. •New coach Jim Harbaugh and Stanford won't leave the state for a game until Oct. 20 at Arizona. However, all six of those games are against teams that played in bowls last season. •Tennessee, which opens Sept. 1 at California, is the only SEC school playing outside the league's "footprint," meaning beyond the Central and Eastern time zones. By contrast, Pac-10 schools will be in six such games (Southern California at Nebraska, Washington State at Wisconsin, Oregon at Michigan, Washington at Syracuse, Washington at Hawaii, Oregon State at Cincinnati). •Florida International, involved in a brawl during a 35-0 loss at Miami (Fla.) last season, visits the Orange Bowl again Sept. 15. Neither team will have the same head coach. New FIU coach Mario Cristobal was an assistant at Miami last year, as was new Miami head coach Randy Shannon. Cristobal has a Cuban background, and Shannon is African-American. Thus, the game also is one of only two in I-A in the regular season matching minority head coaches. UCLA-Washington is the other. •Duke is on a 20-game losing streak. The I-A record is 34 (Northwestern, 1979-82). Duke visits Northwestern on Sept. 15.

son of worm on the side of ring...click on "additional photos" ... http://www.meangreensports.com/ViewArticle...p;ATCLID=926553

Fry's teams would have wiped up the newbie SunBelt more than 4 straight years. He was not in a conference that had a built-in Bowl invite like the SunBelt; only about 10 bowls back then, only a couple spots for at large teams. Fry did have NT in the Top 20 out of all colleges (no 1-AA back then). Dickey had NT in the Top 70 of 115 once. To compare Fry to Dickey is uncomparable.

Would Cowboy fans and Jerry Jones mind if the coach sent the team out in black practice jerseys for a home game? FSU has a black game jersey and it just doesn't look right. Southlake had black pants with their green/white combo jerseys and they looked sharp. But the stunt DD pulled was a slap at the school, AD, and fans. Florida State's black jerseys...... http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...%3D10%26hl%3Den

I very much appreciated the 4 Bowl games, and very much disliked the Black Jersey ending. Maybe history can overlook it.

Kickoff Cookout at the AC is Sat. Aug. 4

Most of the SMUt players aren't the ones with the ego attitudes, they were recruited from normal places. It's the rich alums and snob HP kids with the Paris Hilton eliteisms.

Denton's support of it's own college team is about the poorest I can think of in 1-A..... except Dallas' for SMUt....

No way. We would be in the Big 12 today if we had kept that helmet!

View of the field bleachers at Eagle Park at North Texas State College. Trees dot the foreground and tall, electric lights line the edges of the playing area. The field was constructed in 1913, and in 1927 steel stands were constructed to seat 2,200 on the west side of the field. The football field was part of "Eagle Park." http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-12434:1 Back of the finished "bricked" Eagle Park bleachers (labeled as unknown, but you can tell it's the same bleachers as first photo): http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-21792:1 1920 football team. Coach T.J. Fouts, finished 7-1: http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-5208:1 North Texas State Normal College football players (date?): http://texashistory.unt.edu/permalink/meta-pth-5209:1 1968 Mean Green team photo (finished 8-2); advance photos to next pages to see more 1968 pics: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...%3D10%26hl%3Den

Go to the link, in left column select SunBelt, scroll down to all the historic North Texas helmets. Sorry, but 1973-82 (flying worm) are still the best looking helmets we ever had! http://www.nationalchamps.net/Helmet_Project/

A very good trip. Beats trying to drive in that traffic yourself. For newer Mean Green fans, if you have never been to a NT road trip to a large BCS stadium you must do this. Can't beat this price and hassle free. Reserve a spot.