Mean_Green09

Ohio Bobcats vs. North Texas Mean Green http://tmgbr.com/2013/09/06/the-breakdown-9/ Date: September 7, 2013 Time: 6:00 pm CT Location: Athens, OH Line: Ohio -4.5 What They’re Saying: USA Today: “Ohio should be able to bounce back with the home field advantage working in its favor. The Bobcats were embarrassed last week which means they will come out with a chip on their shoulder. However, another stellar outing by Thompson could keep North Texas in contention. Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Ohio 35, North Texas 31. Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/game/preview/l.ncaa.org.mfoot-2013-e.39207/ ESPN Pick Center: TEAMRANKINGS - Ohio 30 – North Texas 27 numberFire - Ohio 32 – North Texas 29 AccuScore.com Game Forecast Preview: Ohio is a solid favorite with a 69% chance to beat North Texas. Beau Blankenship is projected for 112 rushing yards and a 67% chance of having at least 1 rushing TD. In the 31% of simulations where North Texas wins, Derek Thompson averages 2.43 TD pass. http://accuscore.com/game-forecast-previews/college-football/9-7-2013/north-texas-eagles-ohio-bobcats-51 Odds Shark: North Texas Mean Green Trends: When playing in September are 4-6 When playing on turf are 5-5 After outgaining opponent are 1-9 When playing outside the conference are 3-7 Ohio Bobcats Trends: When playing in September are 8-2 When playing on turf are 5-5 After being outgained are 6-4 When playing outside the conference are 8-2 http://www.oddsshark.com/ncaaf/bobcats-vs-mean-green-betting-preview-september-07-2013 What to Expect When_______________. UNT has the Ball: UNT is coming off an offensive explosion. They tore into a weak Idaho team last week. UNT should still be able to find success on offense this week, but not quite the same results. Look for UNT to do many of the same things it did versus Idaho. UNT is going to spread the field with 3 WR and 4 WR sets. The use of the short to intermediate passing game will be in full force. Unlike last year UNT has shown that it has playmakers at the WR position other than star Brelan Chancellor. Guys like Carlos Harris, Darvin Kindsy, Carl Caldwell, Darnell Smith, and Lynrick Pleasant all flashed the ability to make plays after the catch. While Darius Terrell showed his talents to be a guy who can attack the middle of the field. Brelan Chancellor proved that he again is the Mr. Everything for UNT. He was all over the field and will be a big part of the game plan. Expect all the WR’s to get in on the action on Saturday. The new threats in the passing game are a big bonus to the already talented backfield. UNT will employ a committe of RB’s again on Saturday. Expect to see Brandin Byrd, Antoinne Jimmerson, Reggie Pegram, and Rex Rollins all get touches. It’s this running game that gives UNT a chance to pull off a huge win on Saturday. Finally, you will see an improved QB for the Mean Green. Senior Derek Thompson silenced his critics……….at least for one week. He really played well and efficient. UNT will need that same type of effort on Saturday to have a chance. He doesn’t have to put the huge numbers again, but he can’t turn the ball over and he has to be accurate. Ohio is basically hitting the restart button after week one. They were just over matched versus Louisville. That won’t be the case here. I expect their secondary to have a much better day. Against Louisville they were often confused and out of position. Why? Well they tried to get too cute. Give them credit for thinking they had a game plan to stop Teddy Bridgewater, but it wasn’t even close to being successful. This week is totally different. They will be able to really press the Mean Green WR’s and in turn force them to throw it over the top. The one problem facing Ohio in this match-up of Green will be the Offensive Line. I think you will really see the Defensive Line from Ohio having a tough time getting Mean Green QB Derek Thompson on the ground. Also, I think Ohio will have a tough time stopping the Mean Green ground attack. Ohio has the Ball: Ohio is a spread team who has the run first mentality. The zone read and dive play will be very prevalent on Saturday. Ohio wants to establish the run up the middle with the fire plug RB Beau Blankenship. Once he gets established Ohio will branch out into the zone read with a capable runner in QB Tyler Telleton. Now against Louisville Ohio was not able to establish any type of running game and it really made the Bobcat offense in-effective all day. The Offensive Line really struggled to win any battle or even create a stalemate. You could tell that the O-Line play really made Telleton un-easy in the pocket. He rushed a lot of throws and was very in-accurate. You can expect to see that change. Apart from the two cogs of Telleton and Blakenship look for WR’s Donte Foster, Chase Cochran, and Matt Waters to make plays. Each one of those guys flashed some ability to make plays against Louisville. Donte Foster is the prime target of Telleton, Ohio really wants to get him involved. Cochran is a speedy WR whom they are going to get involved in the screen game. He should have plenty of opportunities because North Texas likes play off the ball. Also, don’t think that Blankenship is just a pounder, he has great ability to make plays as a receiver out of the backfield. Ohio tries to get him involved with swing passes out their 4 wide stacked set. UNT is going to face a much better and dynamic offense on Saturday. The key for the Mean Green will be to stop the running game and force the Bobcats to throw the ball. That will free up that pass rush to make some plays. UNT’s pass rush is the best in C-USA right now, they came away with 5 sacks last week. If UNT is un-able to stop or slow down the running game, it will be a long day. The biggest concern would be the play-action over the top. UNT safeties have a knack for biting on the run read and letting the receiver run right past them. Marcus Trice and Lairamie Lee can ill afford to play out of position in this game. The entire UNT defense will need to play solid disciplined football. Giving up a few big plays is understandable, but it’s more important that they keep those big plays from turning into TD’s. Impact Players: Ohio: QB Tyler Tettleton I’ve said it before already, but Tettleton is not going to play bad again like he did last week. I think he is going to have a solid game and Ohio will need it to win. I think he will be efficient in the passing game and is going to make a few plays with his feet. He is too good a QB for the Mean Green to keep him bottled up. STAT PREDICTION: 20-30 289 yards 2 TD’s 1 INT. 35 yards rushing North Texas: WR Brelan Chancellor UNT would be wise to do everything it can to force feed its best player. Chancellor has that ability to turn a simple play into an amazing play. He almost had a Sports Center Top 10 play last week on his last punt return. Ohio is going to try to take him away, but you can only do so much. UNT will find a way to get him involved. STAT PREDICTION: 7 rec 110 yards 1 TD, 3 carries 32 yards, 120 return yards Game Prediction: This game doesn’t get any bigger for the Mean Green. It’s a chance to really get momentum building. It’s a chance to take a huge step in the right direction. A chance to prove that they can go on the road and win a big game. Coming into the season most UNT fans chalked this game up as a loss, but now not so much. There is a general belief that UNT can not only compete, but can win this one. Why not? It's not a crazy thought. I've gone back and forth over this game since about Tuesday. I'm really torn on who I think will win. I just think that the level of talent and execution will be pretty close. On one hand you can see that Ohio has better starters, but UNT can go deeper. To me this game boils down to a couple of key points. UNT has to stop the run on defense and has to move the chains on offense. Converting 3rd downs and keeping drives alive will allow that depth to be a factor. It will also keep that crowd quite. A crowd that is predicted to be pretty rowdy. If I went with my heart I would pick UNT. If I go with my head I would pick............... UNT! The time is now for the Mean Green, no better place to prove to me and all the fans that this is a team to be reckon with in CUSA. Going through all the history and the stats and watching the tape and looking at who is playing the game I came out thinking that UNT is the better team on Saturday. Ohio has one to many issues to overcome and while the crowd and black uniforms will give them a boost of energy I still don't think that they can win this game. This is not your past UNT teams. They are not going to roll into Athens Saturday and play undisciplined football. This is a focused team. Its a team with great senior leadership. That leadership has gotten everyone to buy into the program. Now you add in talent to that and UNT has what it need to win this game and it will win the game! North Texas 33 – Ohio 28 Go Mean Green! Read More: http://tmgbr.com/2013/09/06/the-breakdown-9/ New this is week is a segment called "Inside the Film Room. We give you a look at what formations Ohio likes to run. We also have the Projected Starters Listed, Positional Advantages, & Game Play Advantages added. Check it out.

This isn’t a must win for UNT, but it certainly could be a defining and a statement win. North Texas hasn’t had many chances in recent years of having a win that could help make a season. I think a win at Ohio would be a huge shot of momentum in the arm of this team. Which QB plays the best? How could you not love how Derek Thompson played if you’re an UNT fan? On the other side it couldn’t be much worse for Ohio starter Tyler Tettleton. I have a feeling that Tettleton is going to rebound this week. He is too good not to rebound. I’m more intrigued on how well Thompson will play. He lit up an awful Idaho secondary, but now he is on the road against a formidable foe. Also Ohio’s secondary is looking to rebound. After watching both teams play last week I’m convinced UNT has the best player out of each team. His name is Zach Orr. He is a monster making plays all over the field. He will be playing on Sunday book it. Key to the game for UNT is stopping the run. I think Ohio’s offensive line is hurting with injuries and if the Mean Green can stuff the run and force the pass well then they will increase their sack total (5). Key word here is FORCE them to pass. If Ohio is running pass plays off play action look out. UNT does itself no favors against the play action. The Mean Green safeties love to bite. UNT will also need to survive the early rush of emotion. Weather the storm. Ohio is going to come out playing like a bunch rabid bobcats. Ohio forgot about the Louisville game as soon as the clock struck 00:00. They will be looking to get the fans involved early. It’s a good thing those same fans haven’t quite forgot Louisville yet. Here is to hoping UNT keeps them quite from the opening kick-off Love to see the depth come into play again on Saturday. I think Ohio has better talent in their 1’s, but I think UNT is deeper. I’m looking for the same cast of characters we saw last week to get involved. Does Dajon play? Just wondering if there is a package we see for him this week. I do think that he can make this team better by just playing a few snaps. It’s going to be a nice change of weather for UNT players. Game time temperatures should be in the low 80’s upper 70’s. I hope they bring back the W and the Weather with them. 

North Texas Mean Green vs. Idaho Vandals http://tmgbr.com/2013/08/30/the-break-down/ Date: August 31, 2013 Time: 6:00 pm CT Location: Denton, TX Line: North Texas -15 What They’re Saying: USA Today: “Youth and inexperience will be the death of the Vandals for the foreseeable future and it doesn’t help that the squad is having to begin the season on the road. However, North Texas is far from a juggernaut which means Idaho still has a fighting chance in this encounter.” North Texas 35 – Idaho 23. Read more here: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaaf/game/preview/l.ncaa.org.mfoot-2013-e.39206/ Idaho Statesman: “This might be the boldest prediction, but I’m putting some faith in Petrino and his offense. The best chances for Idaho wins come at North Texas on Saturday, at Wyoming (Sept. 7), versus Texas State (Nov. 2) and Old Dominion (Nov. 9) in Moscow and at New Mexico State in the season finale on Nov. 30. Redshirt freshman QB Chad Chalich and the offense are going to have to score some points to reach three wins (that’s how many games Idaho won in 2011 and 2012 combined), but Petrino has added speed and pizzazz on that side of the ball. He’s also added some optimism” Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/08/25/2724673/bold-predictions.html#storylink=cpy Phil Steele: “The Vandals are 1-12 in road openers (only win in ‘09 at NMSt, avg loss by 27 ppg). These 2 were SBC foes and NT won the last 4 meetings by an avg of 34-18 although theylast met in ‘04. Idaho will play this year as an Independent so new coach Petrino has a tough situation with just 10 ret st’rs and no real shot at a bowl. NT moves up to CUSA and has McCarney’s best team yet with 17 ret st’rs. Idaho on the road LY lost by an avg of 51-12 (-243 ypg) and Idaho kids also have not experienced the type of Aug heat that they will deal with here in Texas.” North Texas 38 – Idaho 17. http://www.philsteele.com/ What to Expect When_______________. UNT has the Ball: There is no secret to UNT’s game plan. It’s pretty simple, they want to run the ball and wear down the Vandals. With game temperatures up in the 100’s I would look for the Mean Green to use the ground and pound early and often. The Mean Green are returning 5 or 6 offensive linemen to go along with the talents trio of running backs. Running backs Brandin Byrd and Antoinne Jimmerson return, but look for transfer Reggie Pegram to make impact. Pegram is most likely going to be the short yardage hammer of the trio. He has a decisive running style, one cut and get up the field. Also the Mean Green will look to try and open things up a bit more with an improved passing game. Senior Brelan Chancellor returns from a shoulder injury that kept him out the last few games of 2012. Look for him as well as fellow WR Carlos Harris (or mini Chancellor) to help QB Derek Thompson make some plays in the passing game. Don’t be surprised to see the freshman Dajon Williams to get some early playing time. UNT may try and get him looks in read option scenarios. Idaho had trouble stopping anything that moved last year. Just think about the fact that they nearly gave up more points in the first quarter than their offense scored all year! Well most of that defense is gone, and to be honest that maybe the best news. Their primary strength if there is one would be their defense line. They might be able to slow down the Mean Green, but I don’t see them being able to fully stop them. Even if Idaho does some how stop UNT from the running the ball, they still will have trouble defending the pass. Last year Idaho had some serious issues defending the pass. Now UNT wasn’t lighting the world on fire last year with its passing game, but I think it will be improved enough to make some big plays against the Vandal D. Idaho has the Ball: Expect the Vandals to line up in 3 wide and 4 wide sets under center. They are going to lean heavily on QB Chad Chalich and the passing game to make this a game. New Head Coach Paul Petrino wants “to score a whole bunch of points, be explosive on offense.” That being said I think the Vandals would be wise not to push things too hard to early. Pushing in this game may only leave their defense on the field for more snaps. I think the Vandals will have some success against UNT early on. Why? Well UNT has no real idea of what Idaho is going to try and do. One would expect them to come out slinging the ball around, but you never know until they start playing. Once adjustments have been made I think UNT will slow down Idaho’s passing game.(http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2011/08/25/ncaa-football-preview-idaho-vandals/#ixzz2dOD42kVB ). I fully expect for Idaho to try and use motions and shifts to create favorable match-ups in the passing game as well as the running game. To UNT’s advantage they should be able to do a good job defending the pass. The strength of their defense is in the back seven. They have the depth to rotate multiple guys on the field which will be key in the heat. The only issue that maybe of concern is what type of pass rush UNT will be able to generate. DE Chad Polk has rapidly developed in to a pass rushing specialist, look to see him on the field early and often. I also am looking for big things from SR. Aarron Bellazin its his time to shine and he will have plenty of chances to do it on Saturday. Impact Players: Idaho: QB Chad Chalich FR (RS) The redshirt freshman has been impressive in the Vandal fall camp. He snatched up the starting job with strong performances in their scrimmages. He threw for 414 yards in their August 10th scrimmage. Idaho is going to lean on Chalich and the passing game to make this a game. I would expect for him to make a few plays against UNT. He does have some weapons surrounding him in Lovett (WR) and LaGrone (TE). UNT will need to do a good job in coverage and pressuring the young QB. I wouldn’t want him to get into a rhythm early. STAT PREDICTION: 20-35, 247 Yards 2 TD’s 2 INT’s North Texas: RB Brandin Byrd SR The senior running back is coming off a very productive year where he put up 860 yards and 4 TD’s. He is not the quickest or shiftiest RB that the Mean Green has, but he is the most consistent. He is also the best rounded of the bunch. He can do a little bit of everything. UNT should be able to wear down the Vandal’s in the trenches, so I look for Byrd to have a solid opening game. Byrd should eclipse the 100 yards total and come away with a score or two. STAT PREDICTION: 21 Carries 116 Yards 1 TD Game Prediction: Cincinnati head coach Tommy Tuberville said it best in an ESPN article that I recently read “There’s so much unknown in college football. The first game is a roll of the dice. You just don’t know what you have. It doesn’t matter if you have all 22 starters back. It’s a different team.” That’s pretty much how I view this game. I think I know how UNT will look, but you just never know until Saturday night. This North Texas team is probably the most talented team in recent years. Again though who knows how that talent translates on Saturday. As for Idaho its all speculation on what exactly they will look like. Its always tough to scout a team with a new coach in its first game. I do think Idaho will be improved from last year, but I don’t think they will have improved enough to beat a hungry North Texas team. I think UNT will start slow by establishing the run game and may even go down by a touchdown or field goal early. As the game wears on the Mean Green will start to really grind on the Vandals. The big ugly’s that UNT has up front on the offensive line will start to open up holes. I think by halftime UNT will have the lead and will begin to pull away in the second half. In the Texas heat that is forecast for Saturday the Vandal’s just don’t stand a chance. I have the Mean Green coming out on top. North Texas 35 – Idaho 17 Go Mean Green! Read More: http://tmgbr.com/2013/08/30/the-break-down/ Starters Listed, Positional Advantages, & Game Play Advantages added. Check it out.