MeanGreenTexan

You know, it would be great if an employee of the A.D. (I dunno, maybe a Sports Information Director) would clear this up for us. I wonder if any of those guys have accounts on GMG.com and maybe read the board from time to time?

I hope CJ reads this.

I can't tell if you're describing Patton or Franklin. I think Patton will be a great 'glue guy' and should contribute, like you're saying, all over the floor. Sounds like most people have these same types of expectations of him, so if he meets them, he won't really be surprising anyone. BUT, this poll is for who the surprise player will be. I think I have to give that to Coleman. Sounds like most people around here are hoping for lots of rebounds and alleviation of foul trouble for T-Mitch, with minimal scoring as his expectations. I think he'll surprise those people. Tony was challenged by coach Benford to lead the nation in boards. I think he can do it, but he may wind up having a hard time leading his own team. And if the formations during the Tip-off scrimmage are any indication of how the team will play, Mitchell is going to be on the ball at the top and on the wings often and I'm assuming Keith will be the main post player (couldn't really tell because he was the only guy defending Mitchell in the scrimmage, so he was pulled out to the periphery to guard him). I think he'll score more than just a few points per night. I'll say he'll average around 8/night getting his down low (put backs and massive jams).

You're right. But for the past few seasons, we've seen our beloved program take 1 step forward, followed by 2 steps back. It's hard for general population to jump on board without consistency. Macrocosm: In 2007, we bring in Todd Dodge and tons of people around DFW get excited about the Mean Green. Little did we know the catastrophe awaiting. Microcosm: This year, we play LSU & K-State to somewhat respectable losses (if there is such a thing), and smash little TXSouthern at home, allowing us to drum up a little support. We then crap the bed when Troy comes to town, followed up by a gut punch in Houston, and the general population starts saying, "Same ol' North Texas..." again. Those of us who are on GMG.com will ALWAYS show up. We're the core. The football program needs to get some consistency going so the general population (re: disconnected UNT alumns and Denton area residents) will jump on board. I don't think promotions, band/cheer/spirit, etc... can help, yet.

I'll back this sentiment, if Tony Mitchell is not on Women's Soccer 1st team All-conference.

If you've been around for at least the past 10 years (which I know both of you have), you would know that it's not either/or here. It has to be a combination of all of the above. 4 NO Bowls in 4 years. One of those years, a 9-3 year. Winning alone does not cure attendance woes when you play in a dilapidated, non-excitable venue with a standoffish coach, and have no tailgating festivities. Fast forward 8 years later... a new, accomplished, like-able coach, a brand-spankin new, state-of-the-art stadium... and a 5-7 team. We need all 3 to work together. I think EVERYONE can agree we have the facility. MOST agree we have the coach. FEW agree we are where we need to be in the winning column... for now.

I think there are 2 different conversations happening in this thread. 1. A body-bag "away" game held at the Cotton Bowl/JerryWorld. This would be a FANTASTIC idea... if we did not already have our body-bag games scheduled out 7 years. I would love to have an "away" money-game against Okie St. (for example) at the Cotton Bowl/JerryWorld rather than Stillwater. 2. A neutral site game with a team on our level (SMU/LATech) at the Cotton Bowl/JerryWorld. This is plain dumb...unless it is considered an "away" game and we would play there rather than at Ruston or Ford.

Wow! So far, I'm the only one to pick big Keith...

I think UNT caught a break with Cunningham out for this game. If there is a game that UNT wins going away, it would be this one. Or, MT could circle the wagons and make this thing tight. If it's a close game, I would not be surprised if they willed-out a win to avenge last year's season finale.

Thank you for your service to this great nation.

Awesome. This isn't stereotypical of Tennesseans at all...

I'm proud of you, son.

I think our fan base is actually pretty level-headed for the most part. Threads after the losses to LSU and K-State were cheerful for the good parts (ahem, moral victories), as they should be when our rebuilding team is up against VERY established programs. The loss to Troy was completely unacceptable and the vitrol on GMG.com was well deserved. Worst performance I've seen from a McCarney coached team. Threads after the Houston loss were insightful, and mostly derailed by the Cougar Troll. Threads after the win against TXSouthern were partly praise, and partly concern, as they should have been. Threads after the win against FAU were tame. We beat a bad team we were supposed to beat. Now, this week, we beat the reigning SBC champ at home on national TV! We should be elated. Only a few zealots, or trolls were here to poo-poo the performances of the team so far this year.

... and the undersized recruits/bare cupboard talk. Shoot me now.

Read the whole article... It could have been the writer putting spin and editing comments, but there was no credit to our team whatsoever. Sounds like they (mainly coach Hudspeth) are saying they beat themselves. He gave himself an out with their injuries. If that is the way they truly feel, I hope they lose the remainder of their games. If that's the writer's spin, shame on him!

it's gotta be Beth Maries. Although, as the weather gets colder, my view will change to Super Nachos.

But I think what everyone is trying to tell you is that ULL IS the point. Students can over-run them if they, corporately, really want to. Obviously, the students didn't really want to... and I'm so glad they chose not to. If it were UT or A&M, I doubt anyone would have cared if security was in front of the gates, and in that scenario they probably would have been blocking the same way because that is their job. It's probably standard CSC policy that Rick V. or McCarney cannot trump.

Gotta go with my boy Zach Orr, the D's leading tackler and a key 1st half interception that led to a FG. not to mention, he's my adopted player, so I gotta show him some love...

Although his stats aren't as great as the other two, I like Byrd. ALOT. I like the idea of him pounding the middle of the defense to start the game and wear down the opposing D-Line & LB's. Then, Jimmerson and Brown can make the big plays in the second half... In my opinion, because he doesn't break the huge runs, Byrd is taken for granted. I like Brown running off-tackle or sweeps, but I don't really like him running up the middle. He's not very effective up the middle, but he has the jets to get outside and turn the corner in a hurry. Jimmerson... what can you say? The guy is not speedy, he gets run down from behind often, but in order to get run down from behind, he must be shifty enough at the LOS to get by the D-Line & LB's. Then, as he proved 2 times on the long TD RACs, he can shift and make guys miss once he is caught from behind. A perfect 3-headed monster.

I was one of those who came down hard on Olen for the debacle that was the Troy game, but he has certainly redeemed himself lately. Hoping he doesn't get complacent and the kicking game stays reliable for the remainder of the season. We're really going to miss Atterbury next year.

We stayed as long as we possibly could, which was halfway through the 2nd quarter (we heard the long Broadway run for a TD as we were walking out of Apogee). When weather apps and the news says it's going to be low 70's - high 60's, but instead with the wind it feels like high 40's, and your 2-year-old daughter is wearing a t-shirt and leggings, weather is certainly a valid excuse. We did not want to leave, but we had to. So thankful that game was broadcast on ESPN2, so we could watch at home! On our drive home, I had to listen to Jub and Hank sound defeated when Smith jumped on the 4th & 1 at the 2. That play was absolutely maddening, but not once did I ever think to give up and go to bed. Once again, if the scanners are saying only 17k, they are VERY broken. The student section was probably fuller than I've seen it since the Houston game, and the Alumni section looked fuller than normal as well.

If he actually returns it.

Nice writeup! What's your score prediction?

Still got his stroke (although it was off during the 3pt competition). He and Overlander traded 3's last night. He still has a nice handle as well. He was on the White team, so he didn't really get a chance to shine since they were loaded with Tony, Jordan, and Alzee.

2 words: Keith Coleman. The guy is an absolute physical specimen. Rubit will have his hands full, and not with Tony Mitchell. Dude is huge and a freak athlete. VERY quick/explosive for a 6'10" 260lb guy. I think his addition takes UNT to a different level. I know this was a fun scrimmage for the fans, so I doubt they were playing at 100%, but some other observations... Tony Mitchell just does what he wants, when he wants, we know what we're getting with this guy. He can be at the top of the key, then 2 steps & 1 second later, he's dunking. Insane. Chris Jones just decided at times to take over the game, and he did. No one could stop him. Inside, outside, it didn't matter. I was probably most impressed with him last night out of all the guys. Jordan Williams looks bigger than he was last year. He still doesn't move to the basket with the ball unless he's on the baseline. No one better on our team in transition though. He just knows exactly where to be at the exact time to be there either for an open jumper, or an electrifying ally-oop dunk. Justin Patton plays with hustle. I like him. This was the first time I got to see him play. Alzee Williams wasn't really clamping down on CJ, so I know he wasn't giving his full effort, but I thought it was odd they put him at the point on the green team instead of P.J. I wonder if P.J. is hurt? Jacob Holeman is improved. He was making some great decisions with the ball, rather than just chucking up a shot. Roger Franklin was kindof exposed last night. He is the vocal leader of the team, but he was having a hard time with Jordan. Then, he wasn't hitting any of his jumpers. Hopefully just a bad night. For the White team: I was surprised to watch Alzee bring the ball up with Tony next to him, not already set in the block. Then, there were several times when Tony took the ball at the top and directed the offense. When he did, the offense was so dangerous. He pulled Keith out there with him which left no one in the middle to clog the lane leading to some crazy dunks by Jordan when Coleman was not in there. Or Tony would take 2-3 steps right by Coleman and throw down himself. That is scary. There are so many options to put the ball in the basket on this team... For the Green team: Again, it was the Chris Jones show. Whenever the White team would start to open up a lead, he would push the ball and create a shot for himself or for an open man, which a few times was a wide-open Overlander. Money. He was looking for Coleman often, and when Chris found him within 8ft of the basket, he was unstoppable if Tony wasn't guarding him. Laura McCoy was on fire during the 3pt competition. Like I said in a previous post, Coleman threw down some killer dunks, but since he's so big, it didn't look like he was flying as high as Jordan or Tony, so his dunks were not as "impressive". But they really were... I think the scrimmage wore-out the dunkers as you could tell they were just out of gas. Jordan rightfully won, but if Tony would have got the dunk he was trying with CJ passing it off the rim, it would have been no contest... he was just tired. So pumped for the Creighton game and the rest of the season!