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  1. One area where UNLV really jumps out in terms of its performance this season is in pass defense. The Rebels lead the Mountain West in passing defense with an average of 214.5 yards allowed a game, more than 10 yards less allowed a game than any other team in the league. The Rebels opponents are completing just 51.7 percent of their passes. UNLV is also plus-6 in turnover margin and also ranks second in the Mountain West in penalty yards at 386 on the season. Kenneth Penny, a junior from Lancaster, ranks second in the Mountain West in passes defended with an average of 1.33 per game. In a lot of ways, UNLV sounds a lot like UNT. And the Rebels are loaded with Texas players. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/12/a-look-at-unlv.html/
  2. More than three weeks have passed since North Texas had its last chance to show that it can hold its own against a nationally renowned opponent. UNT hung early with Oklahoma on Nov. 11 before falling 95-82. The Mean Green has been on an upswing since and has won its last three games. UNT (5-3) knows that streak will mean much more if it can have another good showing tonight at BYU, its second high-profiled opponent of the season. “We have not had as many chances to show people how good we are,” UNT forward Colin Voss said. “That makes this game more important for us. If we can go over there and get a win, it would be a statement game before conference play.” UNT won’t open Conference USA play until the second week of January. UNT wants nothing more than to enter its first season in what looks like it will be a tough C-USA with momentum and has moved toward that goal in the last few weeks. UNT broke a two-game losing streak with a double-overtime win over Portland in its final game in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic on Nov. 23 Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20131202-men-s-basketball-another-high-profile-opponent-awaits-unt.ece
  3. A lot of UNT fans are down in the dumps following a loss to UTSA over the weekend. Its important to remember that all is not lost. The sun will come out tomorrow. I have that on good authority from multiple sources. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/11/the-sun-will-come-out-tomorrow.html/
  4. Derek Thompson and Zach Orr trudged in to a meeting room and plopped down behind a microphone for the final time at Apogee Stadium on Saturday with looks of disappointment etched on their faces. This was supposed to be their last hurrah, a time when Thompson, Orr and the rest of North Texas’ seniors could talk about one more good time in careers that are ending in a way they always hoped. UNT is all but assured of heading to a bowl for the first time since 2004, despite a 21-13 loss to Texas-San Antonio, largely because of those seniors. Those players clung to the reality that there is still something out there for them in the postseason after falling short of their goal of going 6-0 at home for only the second time in school history and seeing their shot of winning the Conference USA West Division title go up in smoke. “We wanted to be a part of history and finish 6-0 at home and came up short,” UNT head coach Dan McCarney said. “My respect for the seniors does not change. They have done some things amazingly well and helped turn this program around. They leave a great legacy.” UNT’s seniors arrived during arguably the darkest era in the history of the program, when two- and three-win seasons were the norm and the Mean Green was the laughing stock of Texas college football. Those times are over now. read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20131124-brett-vito-despite-loss-seniors-still-leave-a-great-legacy.ece
  5. I shot a little video this week with UNT quarterback Derek Thompson. We cover the UTSA game this weekend and some of his thoughts as we head toward the end of the regular season. Thompson and a whole lot of other seniors will play their final home game on Saturday. Brelan Chancellor and Zach Orr will also look to go out on a positive note. UNT is on a heck of a roll late in the season with five straight wins. UNT will have its annual Senior Bowl this week. The Mean Green has responded really well to the concept over the years. Win and the team photo is displayed in the office all year. Lose and the team shot ends up in the trash. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/11/derek-thompson-talks-unt-utep-notes-thoughts.html/
  6. A few days before North Texas took on UTEP on Saturday, head coach Dan McCarney talked about how much he liked the way the end of the Mean Green’s season was set up. UNT had a little extra time to prepare for its game against the Miners after a Thursday night win over Rice and now will have a whole extra week to take a breather before its game against Texas-San Antonio on Nov. 23. McCarney has emphasized all season that bye weeks are not off weeks. UNT will try to get a lot done in the next few days while trying to heal from nagging injuries. The Mean Green’s players echoed their coach’s sentiments Monday, when they began to capitalize on their open week. “This is going to be good for us,” wide receiver Brelan Chancellor said. “This will give our bodies time to recover.” UNT had several players nursing injuries after its win over UTEP, including wide receiver Darnell Smith and running back Rex Rollins. Chancellor and linebacker Zach Orr said the recovery time this week allows will be critical for the Mean Green. Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20131112-notebook-unt-tackles-bye-week-work-list.ece
  7. We mentioned last night on the blog that there are some eligibility concerns with Greg Wesley. After asking around, here is the story. The freshman forward is awaiting word from the NCAA on whether or not he will be academically eligible this season. The NCAA has the case in its hands. There were some rumblings dating back to the summer about whether or not Wesley would qualify. Those questions are still lingering. Benford acknowledged them after UNT beat Southeastern Oklahoma State at home on Monday. Wesley has not played in either of UNTs exhibition games. Right now we are still dealing with some eligibility issues, Benford said. We are waiting to hear back from the NCAA. Read More: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/11/the-story-on-greg-wesley.html/
  8. The last month of the college football season is about to begin for UNT, and there is a lot to like about the way it sets up. While most of the rest of the college football world was hard at it on Saturday, UNT had a couple of days to regroup after a big win over Rice on Thursday. UNT faces UTEP, which is just 1-7 on the year, on Saturday at Apogee Stadium. The Mean Green then has a week off before facing UTSA and then Tulsa to close out the regular season. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/11/the-last-month-sets-up-well-for-unt.html/
  9. There were a few interesting tidbits as usual from the Dan McCarney press conference. McCarney was particularly animated today and reiterated his frustration that UNT can’t seem to sell out Apogee Stadium. UNT is getting better, there is no doubt about it, and McCarney called on fans to show up. I will have quotes for the paper tomorrow. And in other news: – Quenton Brown and Daniel Prior will likely practice this week and could play against UTEP. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/11/mccarney-presser-notes-video-coming-2.html/
  10. We have been talking a lot over the last few days about the importance of UNT’s game against Rice on Thursday, and justifiably so. The Mean Green can become bowl-eligible for the first time in seemingly forever with a win over the Owls. It would be a milestone in program history and, in theory, a huge momentum boost. But there is a lot else going on around the UNT athletic department on Friday. Consider: Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/10/thursday-shaping-up-to-be-big-across-the-board.html/
  11. For the first time in a long time, North Texas seems to have something going when it comes to its football program. One could feel it on Saturday night after the Mean Green knocked off Louisiana Tech. UNT’s players gathered in the corner of the field at Aillet Stadium and started familiar “North … Texas” back-and-forth cheer with a pretty sizable crowd of fans who made the trip. The celebration in the locker room was a little more spirited as well, judging by what UNT’s players and coaches had to say. And why not? UNT has won back-to-back games for the first time since 2004 and has a pretty clear path to a bowl game, which would be its first since the Mean Green played in the New Orleans Bowl that same year. Everything seems to be lining up for UNT this season, from the schedule to the way the Mean Green has remained relatively healthy to the way a host of key veteran players have performed. Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20131020-brett-vito-its-all-about-closing-the-deal-now-for-unt.ece
  12. Sean Isabella of the Monroe News Star is our special guest on the blog this week to talk about UNT’s game against Louisiana Tech. Isabella covers Tech for the News Star. You can find his work on the paper’s website that includes a Louisiana Tech section. Here is what Isabella had to say about Saturday’s game. 1. What happened to Scotty Young? He’s a former Denton Ryan standout that a lot of people in Denton were looking forward to seeing play this year. Simply lost his job. Young started the first two games of the season then injured his ribs against Tulane. Redshirt freshman Ryan Higgins finished the game with mixed results, but played well against Kansas, then followed that up with another solid outing against Army and has kept the job. Young hasn’t seen the field since, except for Tech’s last game against UTEP when Higgins injured his ankle and couldn’t finish the game. The ankle isn’t a concern and Young will be relegated back to backup duties. 2. Tech has gotten off to a bit of a slow start. What has been the issue? No issues, per say. A slow start was expected, but probably not to this extent. Tech lost 32 seniors last year, including its quarterback and two wide receivers, both of whom are on NFL rosters. The offense was among the best in the country in 2012, so it was somewhat unrealistic to expect the same. Having said that, Tech could easily be 4-2. Turnovers cost the Bulldogs in losses to Tulane and Kansas — the only games they were outplayed in were North Carolina State and Army. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/10/qa-with-sean-isabella-of-the-monroe-news-star.html/
  13. UNT head coach Dan McCarney had his weekly press conference today, and as always there were a few interesting tidbits. Here were some of the highlights: – McCarney thanked UNT’s fans for showing up for the Mean Green’s game against MTSU. He also mentioned that getting the fan base back has been a longer and more difficult process than he anticipated. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/10/mccarney-press-conference-notes-video-coming-2.html/
  14. The last time North Texas was in New Orleans before its showdown with Tulane on Saturday, the Mean Green was in the midst of a remarkable run of success, and not just as a team. The year was 2004, and Jamario Thomas won the national rushing title while leading UNT to the New Orleans Bowl just one season after his friend and teammate, Patrick Cobbs, reached the same milestone. That duo was part of a remarkable run of great running backs that powered a rushing attack that never seemed to stall — at least not until the last couple of weeks. There is little question now that UNT is stuck in neutral on the ground following a 24-21 loss to Tulane at the Superdome, where both Cobbs and Thomas were focal points for a pair of Sun Belt Conference championship teams. UNT managed just 7 rushing yards three weeks ago in a loss to Georgia. That was understandable. The Bulldogs are a national powerhouse. UNT followed that tough outing up by inching out 34 yards in its loss to the Green Wave, and 19 of those yards were picked up by quarterback Derek Thompson. That’s a cause for concern, and maybe a shift in focus. We might have seen the early stages of that change on Saturday. “It’s hard when we can’t run the ball,” Thompson said. “It feels like we are beating our heads into the wall at times.” UNT is getting beaten in the process and is now nearing desperation time at 2-3 and 0-1 in Conference USA play after dropping its last two games. read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20131006-brett-vito-unt-might-need-to-take-a-pass-on-run-game.ece
  15. Brett Vito covers North Texas football for the Denton Record-Chronicle and the Dallas Morning News. He answered five key questions about the Mean Green in advance of Saturday's 2:35 p.m. game against Tulane in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. Q: North Texas' special teams appear to be a great strength. Breakdown Brelan Chancellor's skill set and what chance Tulane has of stopping him. Vito: Chancellor is one of the unique players to come through UNT over the last few years. He’s a tiny guy by major college football standards at 5-9, 186 (a listing no one believes, including head coach Dan McCarney), but he is really fast, elusive and surprisingly strong. Chancellor is at his best when he gets the ball in space. When that happens, he can take it all the way in a hurry.Look out for him on kickoff returns. He’s in his element when he gets the ball in that situation and took one back 99 yards in UNT’s loss to Georgia. Q: How likely is it that LT Antonio Johnson plays? Do you think the off week gave him enough time to recover and return to the line? The protection seems to have been good even without him — what other strengths on the line are there? Vito: McCarney is notoriously tight-lipped about injuries and closes practice in the fall. He might have clued us in, though, when he said that no one has been ruled out among UNT’s offensive linemen this week. UNT’s offensive line is arguably the team’s best unit. The Mean Green led the nation with six sacks allowed last year and lost just one full-time starter from that group, along with one guy who rotated at right tackle. The group is just really solid overall and most all of those guys have a lot of experience. Johnson, Mason Y’Barbo, Cyril Lemon and LaChris Anyiam have all played a lot of football for UNT through the years. Read more: http://www.nola.com/tulane/index.ssf/2013/10/north_texas_football_beat_writ.html
  16. We are fortunate today to welcome Tammy Nunez of The Times-Picayune to the blog to provide a little insight on Tulane in advance of UNT’s Conference USA opener against the Green Wave down in New Orleans. You can find Tammy’s work on the Times-Picayune website, which is the place to go this week for all your Tulane news. Here’s her take on the UNT-Tulane matchup: 1. How much did Saturday’s win over Louisiana-Monroe mean to Tulane, especially following a win over Louisiana Tech? The ULM victory was key particularly in light of losing to the Warhawks 63-10 the season before and right on the heels of the 52-17 thrashing Tulane took at Syracuse in the previous week. It showed that Tulane could make corrections on special teams and in pass protection and win on the road. It also kept Tulane’s bowl hopes viable. The Green Wave hasn’t been to a bowl game since 2002. Three wins before October showed a program on track for a bowl game. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/10/qa-with-tammy-nunez-of-the-new-orleans-the-times-picayune.html/
  17. When we last left Conference USA — or at least talked about how the league might shape up a few weeks ago — there were a few safe assumptions one could make. Rice, which won five of its last six and then beat Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl a year ago, would be pretty darn good after returning nearly all of its key players. Tulsa would be at the top of the league just like it always is. Louisiana Tech lost pretty much everyone, including head coach Sonny Dykes to Cal, but has a recent history of success and didn’t seem to be headed for much of a drop-off. And UNT? The Mean Green was largely overlooked and projected to finish in the middle of the pack. Five weeks and a few stunners later, it’s tough to come to any conclusions about C-USA, especially when it comes to the West Division. That’s good news for the Mean Green, which will dive into league play after a much-needed bye on Saturday at Tulane. UNT handled its buy-a-win game at home against Idaho and showed a lot of guts to come back from an 18-point deficit to beat a pretty good Ball State team. A 2-1 start was UNT’s best since resuming playing on the Football Bowl Subdivision level in 1995. What might have been even more encouraging was UNT’s performance last week at Georgia, when the Mean Green was locked in a 21-all tie with the ninth-ranked team in the country early in the third quarter. Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20130929-brett-vito-mean-green-could-be-key-player-in-c-usa-race.ece
  18. We are now a few days away from the beginning of the Conference USA season for UNT, which brings up an interesting question: Have expectations changed? I ask because so far this year we have seen an interesting swing of emotions when it comes the Mean Greens fan base, at least from where I sit observing it all go down. A quick recap: UNT beats Idaho 40-6, which led to the inevitable: Oh, man. UNTs going to win nine. UNT then falls to Ohio 27-21, which led to: UNT will never get over the hump. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/09/a-look-at-unts-slate-the-rest-of-the-way.html/
  19. Anthony Wallace, a former high school All-American who began his career at Oregon, said Tuesday that he will likely enroll at UNT within the next few weeks. “UNT is my No. 1 right now,” Wallace said. “That is where I’m going to end up going. I am trying to enroll and schedule a sit-down with the coaches.” Wallace, an inside linebacker, was a three-year starter at Skyline and played in the Under Armour All-America Game. He was a consensus top 150 players nationally in the Class of 2011 and signed with Oregon. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/05/breaking-news-former-skyline-all-american-lb-likely-to-enroll-at-unt.html/
  20. I’m about to head to the airport for an afternoon flight to Atlanta, which will be a nice change, getting to go in a day early. I used up most of the material I wanted to get in the paper or in the blog, but I will leave you with some final thoughts. Before we get to those thoughts, a quick note: The UNT soccer team’s game against Baylor has been rained out. UNT is 2-1 and is looking for the stunner and just the second upset of a ranked team in program history. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/09/parting-thoughts-on-the-way-to-the-airport-notes.html/
  21. We have a special guest with us today in Marc Weiszer of the Athens Banner-Herald. Mark covers Georgia. You can find his stories that appear in the paper at the newspaper’s website, where you can also find links to his blog and Twitter feed. Mark agreed to stop by and answer a few questions about Saturday’s game: 1. How does Georgia approach this game? Given that Georgia just had a week off, I think they go out there Saturday wanting to be crisp on offense and show improvement on defense. Any hangover from the South Carolina win is probably gone by now and the team wants to build momentum for a top-10 LSU team next week. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/09/qa-with-mark-weiser-of-the-athens-banner-herald.html/
  22. UNT rallies from 18 down to beat Ball State By Brett Vito / Staff Writer Published: 14 September 2013 11:49 PM Derek Thompson came up holding his right hand after a push from a Ball State player sent him sailing over the North Texas bench and out of the game Saturday at Apogee Stadium. Fortunately for the Mean Green, the senior quarterback was able to get up off the deck and help UNT do the same in a 34-27 come-from-behind win over the Cardinals. The Mean Green had a grand opportunity in its second home game of the season to reach a host of milestones and take a big step toward the six-win mark that is its stated baseline goal for this season. That opportunity appeared to be slipping away after UNT got off to a horrible start and trailed 27-9 in the second quarter. There were several players who helped the Mean Green recover, from hard-hitting safety Marcus Trice to Zach Orr, the anchor of UNT’s defense. Just don’t forget Thompson, who scored the game-winning touchdown to cap a run of 25 UNT points to close the game after his ill-fated flop over the bench. The resolve Thompson and the Mean Green showed while recovering from some down times gave UNT a 2-1 start — its best since it resumed playing in the Football Bowl Subdivision in 1995. “This is a great win for our program,” UNT coach Dan McCarney said. “We showed great resolve, heart and courage. When you dig a hole like we did for ourselves, it’s hard. But we were able to make enough big plays.” Thompson made several while throwing for 274 yards against the Cardinals (2-1). The former Glen Rose standout isn’t known for his speed but scored the winning touchdown on a 26-yard run. Thompson made that play after safety Martez Hester shoved him out of bounds on the UNT sideline, sending him over the Mean Green’s bench. “My thumb locked up on me and started cramping,” Thompson said. “I wasn’t sure what was wrong. I couldn’t move my thumb, which scared me a little.” Thompson quickly recovered and returned to finish a solid performance, one UNT needed after falling behind. Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20130914-football-resolve-heart-and-courage.ece
  23. Joining us today on the blog is Ben Breiner, who covers Ball State for The Star Press in Muncie, Ind. The paper is the go-to place to catch up on what is going on with the Cardinals. You can find his work that appears in the paper on its website here. You can also follow him on Twitter Brian provided us a couple of real good news tidbits in this Q&A that he also covered in the paper, including the fact that star running back Jahwan Edwards remains questionable for Saturday’s game after missing the Cardinals win over Army, a story he covered in the paper. Do you think the heat affects Ball State? It’s supposed to be about 95. I can’t see how that doesn’t have some effect, especially since the temperature was only 82 at kickoff last week with what I assume will be comparable humidity. Cardinals coach Pete Lembo sounded a bit concerned about that aspect during his weekly press conference. It will certainly force Ball State to use their depth on defense. That’s an area the staff has focused on since it arrived, and while that depth is one the younger side, it’s certainly there more than in past seasons. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/09/qa-with-ball-state-beat-writer-ben-breiner.html/
  24. DENTON UNT head coach Dan McCarney said the Mean Green must improve its efficiency offensively following a 27-21 loss to Ohio last week. UNT converted just four of its 14 third downs, turned the ball over four times and averaged just 2.7 yards per rushing attempt. Read more: http://collegesportsblog.dallasnews.com/2013/09/mccarney-unt-needs-to-improve-efficiency.html/
  25. UNT will face one of the nation’s most productive pocket passers — at least at this point of the season — on Saturday when the Mean Green takes on Ball State and Keith Wenning. Wenning has thrown for 665 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions in two games. Yeah, he’s pretty good. He’s 6-3, 220, and will sit in the pocket and try to pick UNT apart. And that begs the question: Just how well has UNT fared against top pocket passers the last few years. I went back through the record books and came up with a rundown. Now, I might be splitting hairs here on who counts as a pocket passer and who is more of a dual-threat guy, but the list still worth looking at: UNT has faced Idaho’s Chad Chalich and Ohio’s Tyler Tettleton so far. Both are dual-threat kind of guys, so we have to dig a little deeper. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/09/unt-vs-top-pocket-passers-a-look-back.html/
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