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I’m back in town after a quick night and an early return flight from UNT’s loss to Ohio. Here are a few thoughts. First a few quick-hitters: – Ohio really shut down UNT’s running game, limiting the Mean Green to 104 yards on 38 carries, an average of 2.7 yards a pop. UNT’s longest run from a running back was 10 yards. Considering the running game is supposed to be a strength, that has to be a concern going forward. – One has to wonder if the book isn’t out on UNT offensively, especially after Ohio limited Brelan Chancellor to one catch for 33 yards. Take Chancellor away, stack the line and make someone else beat you. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/09/morning-after-thoughts.html/
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ATHENS, Ohio — North Texas followed up one of its finest offensive performances in recent years last week with a tough night in a loss to Ohio. UNT struggled early in Saturday’s game to cash in on key opportunities and couldn’t quite finish a comeback in a 27-21 loss to the Bobcats. UNT turned the ball over four times and finished with 299 yards just one week after rolling up 591 yards in a 40-6 win over Idaho. Ohio linebacker Javon Johnson intercepted a pass from UNT quarterback Derek Thompson and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown. That was just one of a few mistakes that came back to haunt UNT. “We made some critical errors and big mistakes and a couple of turnovers,” UNT head coach Dan McCarney said. “The interception for a touchdown, if we get a little more air under it we might have had a touchdown. It was a 14-point swing. A little better throw, it could have been a touchdown.” Thompson finished with 195 yards and two touchdowns on a night UNT struggled to run the ball, finishing with 104 yards on 38 carries. Ohio limited Brelan Chancellor to one reception for 33 yards just one week after he finished with six catches for 135 yards against Idaho. Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/20130908-early-struggles-cost-mean-green.ece
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North Texas football coach Dan McCarney couldn’t remember a night quite like the one the Mean Green put together Saturday in a win over Idaho — at least not when it comes to special teams performance. UNT came up with its best outing in more than a year returning punts and was solid in every other special teams facet except for kicking extra points. The Mean Green missed two, but even that major concern couldn’t completely spoil a performance that marked a step forward for UNT heading into a game Saturday at Ohio. “Our kicking game was better on Saturday than it has been the first 22 games I was here,” McCarney said. “A lot of things were much better.” The performance of wide receiver Brelan Chancellor in the return game topped the list. The senior finished with 111 yards on three punt returns and exceeded UNT’s punt return yardage total from all of last season on his first attempt, when he picked up 48 yards. UNT finished 117th out of 120 teams nationally last season with an average of 2.13 yards per return. The Mean Green posted just 17 punt return yards on the year. Chancellor recorded 283 all-purpose yards on the night and took back the only kickoff he returned 28 yards. Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20130903-notebook-unt-special-teams-play-solid-across-many-areas.ece
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One of the side benefits of being out from under our football magazine is that I have had a chance to chase a few other items of interest in other areas of the UNT athletic department. First item on the list: The rumor that UNT is hosting a men’s basketball tournament this year. Tony Benford said that is not the case. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/08/thursday-afternoon-basketball-notes-no-home-tourney.html/ -
A few days ago, I had started to second-guess my assumption that somehow, some way, Derek Thompson was going to end up starting the season at quarterback for UNT. Dan McCarney talked about freshman Dajon Williams like he might be the second-coming of Scott Hall (and he still might be). No one would rule Brock Berglund out of the race (at least not publicly) and I kind of wondered if UNT might shock everyone and roll Andrew McNulty out there. Well, its looking more and more like my original assumption and the guess of a lot of people is coming to fruition. McCarney said today that Thompson answered the bell in the key scrimmage of fall practice and (in so many words) indicated that he is in position to start the season as UNTs starting quarterback. Let the gnashing of teeth begin. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/08/thoughts-on-derek-thompson-back-on-top.html/
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We are headed toward the beginning of a new season when it comes to UNT football. For those of us on the sports staff here at the DRC, it feels more like we have crossed the finish line. Our football preview magazine will be in the paper tomorrow. This year’s edition is 120 pages and there isn’t an iota of non-local content in it. None. I know. I designed every single page with content (those not taken up completely with ads) in the whole thing. Granted, this is a UNT blog followed by a lot of readers who are interested only in the Mean Green. Even when one takes that into account, there are still around 30 pages of straight UNT in there. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/08/football-preview-magazine-out-tomorrow.html/
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If it seems like I have dropped off the radar a bit it’s because I have been pretty busy putting together our annual football preview magazine. This year’s edition is going to be our biggest yet at 120 pages. It comes out on Thursday. If your’re a fan of UNT and the local high schools it will well worth 50 cents. Trust me. We have been working on it for months. As far as what is going on, it’s officially game week … Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/08/sunday-night-notes-and-thoughts-game-week-soccer-scrimmage-et-cetera.html/
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UNT has made a point of emphasizing its walk-on program and talking a lot about it this fall. It’s a smart move. UNT has had a lot of success with walk-ons through the years and has become something of a safe haven for second-chance (transfer) and no-chance, at least not out of high school, players (walk-ons). It’s one area where UNT really has an advantage. It’s a whole lot cheaper for a player to pay his way at UNT as opposed to SMU and TCU, the two other Dallas area FBS teams. UNT has a huge plaque in the football offices recognizing walk-ons that have earned scholarships. It’s pretty cool. I bring it up because I ran across a list of the this year’s CBS Sports Preseason All-America Team that goes through where those players were ranked coming out of high school. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/08/thoughts-on-the-importance-of-highly-rated-players-walk-ons-and-a-gyrotr-update.html/
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We have talked a lot about the quarterback situation at UNT over the last couple of days and with good reason. Derek Thompson is taking the snaps with the first team and is in position to begin the season as UNTs starter, although Dan McCarney hasnt totally ruled out Dajon Williams. With practice closed, its hard to get a really good read on what UNTs plans are, which is part of McCarneys plan. Nothing wrong with that. What I will be very interested to see is how the depth chart looks behind Thompson, who I am pretty sure at this point is going to be UNTs starter. UNT has already said it wont redshirt Williams. Will UNT stick with that plan? Is he going to start the year as UNTs backup quarterback? Will he see time this year? While the focus is on this year, the answers to those questions could tell us a lot about UNTs plans for the future. Thompson is gone after this year, which will leave a pair of juniors in Andrew McNulty and Brock Berglund. Williams will be either a sophomore or a redshirt freshman and Connor Means will be a freshman. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/08/thoughts-on-what-the-depth-chart-will-tell-us-at-qb.html/
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North Texas knows exactly what it has heading into the season with Brelan Chancellor. The senior is about as proven as a player can be at the college level after three seasons of highlight-reel catches and consistent production that has put him at the top of the scouting report for all of the Mean Green’s opponents. The concern for UNT heading into its Aug. 31 season opener against Idaho isn’t Chancellor — it’s the wide receivers the Mean Green is depending on to complement him. What wide receivers coach Mike Grant has seen during a little more than a week in fall practice has him and his players feeling better about the situation. Darnell Smith, who essentially fell into UNT’s lap last season after walking on following two years at Ellsworth Community College in Iowa, has emerged as a leader and likely starter. The return of Carlos Harris and the addition of transfers Darius Terrell and Carl Caldwell will provide UNT depth, while freshmen Darvin Kidsy and Turner Smiley are players whom UNT plans to develop. “We are going to be a strong group,” Grant said. “Brelan is the center of it, but we have some guys who are coming on.” Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20130813-football-unt-working-to-take-heat-off-chancellor.ece
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NT wrapped up its first week of camp with its first scrimmage on Saturday. Practice is closed except for the first few minutes when media members can come in and grab a little video or shoot photos. Scrimmages are closed as well, which makes it tough to draw any hard-and-fast conclusions about how UNT is faring. We are essentially relying on the word of the coaches and players. With that being said, there were some interesting developments over the first six days of workouts: The quarterback race is still wide open for competition. Derek Thompson, Brock Berglund and Andrew McNulty (in no particular order) are all still in the hunt. Ironically, the player who seems to have helped himself the most is Dajon Williams, a freshman who seems destined for a redshirt year. Williams could be the future. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/08/first-week-of-camp-thoughts-record-picks-update.html/
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UNTs players report for the beginning of fall camp tomorrow with practice and media day to follow on Monday. We have been talking about how UNTs roster shapes up and some of the key issues the Mean Green faces heading into the fall since the end of spring practice. There is a feeling around UNT that this could be the year the Mean Green turns it around, and that maybe its UNTs last good chance to turn it around after eight straight losing seasons. With so many seniors in key spots, its easy to see why. And that does not even take into account the one-time chance to get off on the right foot in Conference USA. Practice will be closed up tighter than a drum again this year, which means we wont see much, OK any, of the Mean Green before the season opener against Idaho. What issues will UNT be working on behind the scenes? Here are some thoughts: Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/08/unt-players-report-tomorrow-thoughts-notes-entering-camp-part-i.html/
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Brandon Garner heard from UNT’s coaches on a regular basis up until he committed to Purdue during his junior season. Once he backed out of that pledge, Mean Green’s staff picked up its efforts again and saw them pay off Wednesday afternoon when the Mansfield Timberview linebacker committed to play for the Mean Green. Garner decommitted from Purdue three weeks ago. read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/07/brandon-garner-talks-unt.html/
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I said a couple of days ago that I would post some thoughts on my series on UNT’s 100th football anniversary on the blog. Here’s all three parts. After talking with more than a dozen people over the course of several months, I came away with the feeling that there is a lot of excitement among UNT officials, boosters and fans about the future of the program. There is also a sense of trepidation. UNT is on the cusp of arriving at the Promised Land in terms of a conference home with its move to Conference USA. In one way or another, UNT has spent around a decade trying to make that switch from the Sun Belt. The question now is how UNT will take advantage of all its has in place. You never get all your good quotes into a series like that, even one that runs three days and more than 6,000 words. I had 24 pages of single spaced material to work with. This is one comment from UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal that I didn’t find a place for that stuck with me: “You don’t make this investment to just have a nice place for people to come. When you build [a new stadium], you expect to recruit better players and draw more fans. There needs to be a payoff. In what we do, it’s measured in wins and losses.” Villarreal went on to make that point that the investment UNT made in other programs like tennis paid off eventually. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/08/unt-100-series-wrap-up-thoughts-top-25-out-recruiting-tidbit.html/
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Conference USA endured more than its fair share of changes to arrive at the lineup commissioner Britton Banowsky spent a lot of time talking about during the league’s media day last week. SMU and Houston led a league exodus before North Texas joined along with former Sun Belt Conference members Middle Tennessee, Florida International and Florida Atlantic, not to mention Texas-San Antonio. Tulsa and Tulane will depart after one more year, leaving a void that Western Kentucky — another Sun Belt school — will help fill. Banowsky helped guide C-USA through those changes and said he couldn’t be happier with the result or more confident in the stability of the league going forward. UNT officials have echoed that sentiment, despite recent talk of some elite college football programs moving into a separate division. “I am delighted,” Banowsky said. “I think we are very well positioned. We have a lot of new energy and a new excitement. You want to avoid becoming stale. We are staying fresh.” A host of schools benefited from the latest round of conference realignment. There is little doubt that UNT was among them after landing in a league with three other Texas schools — Rice, UTEP and UTSA. UNT spent 12 years as the only Texas school in the Sun Belt. “It’s a phenomenal opportunity,” UNT football coach Dan McCarney said. “This league has great respect from around the country because of what teams in the league have done in recent years. There have been some real tremendous seasons, in conference wins, out-of-conference wins, bowl wins. When you put it together with the leadership of Britton Banowsky, you can see why this league is respected around the country.” Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20130731-football-c-usa-confident-in-its-stability.ece
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EDITORS NOTE: The following is the second story in a three-part series on the 100th anniversary of the North Texas football program. Todays story examines the programs history. Joe Greene kept trying to correct the people he ran into who called him Mean Joe Greene after he joined the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1969, fresh off a standout career at North Texas. The UNT football teams mascot is an Eagle, and at the time so was its official nickname, one that was starting to fade away with the rise of the moniker Mean Green. The Mean Green was our defense, but people kept calling me Mean Joe, Greene said. The name elevated me in the minds of people who might not have remembered me as well otherwise. Its not uncommon for football players to have nicknames like that, so I stopped fighting it. Joe Greene was known as Mean Joe from that point on during a career that earned him a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. UNT held out a little longer, but eventually adopted Mean Green as the nickname for all its sports teams as well. The rise of the Mean Green nickname is a part of the colorful history of UNT and its football program that will celebrate its 100-year anniversary this fall. UNT played its first season in 1913 and has left its mark on the college football world. UNT was one of the first schools in the Southwest to integrate its football team in 1956 when Abner Haynes and Leon King joined the freshman team. Greene helped elevate the program in the late 1960s before legendary coach Hayden Fry put it on the national map in the 1970s. UNT will celebrate that history throughout the 2013 season and unveil throwback jerseys in the next few weeks for its season opener against Idaho. Those uniforms will incorporate elements of the jerseys worn in the Greene and Fry eras. The school announced a 100th anniversary team at its spring game. Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20130728-football-eras-of-success.ece
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UNT had 417 players at Friday Night Lights tonight. Dan McCarney had a smile from ear to ear afterward. It was a great turnout for UNT, which had a couple of good days on the recruiting trail. UNT picked up a commitment from South Oak Cliff wide receiver Fonzale Davis and also landed Deer Park quarterback Connor Means. Thursday night’s Talon Talent camp was when UNT had most of its top targets in, including Davis, who committed afterward. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/07/10347.html/
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UNT will quickly turn the page from Conference USA media day over the next week or so. Practice will start, and with it, there will be a whole new set of storylines with players who are moving into the two-deep and injuries that could impact the roster. We will talk about the race for the starting quarterback job — and we’ll talk about it a lot. The point that linebacker Zach Orr brought up that I didn’t delve into beyond mentioning it is that UNT is loaded with seniors, and they are not just minor contributors. Orr might be the best linebacker UNT has had since Cody Spencer, who was the last player the Mean Green had drafted in 2004. Brelan Chancellor is arguably UNT’s best playmaker. Derek Thompson hasn’t played at an all-conference level yet at quarterback, but was solid last year. By UNT quarterback standards that makes him look like John Elway, considering some of the guys the Mean Green has run through there since Scott Hall graduated in 2004. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/07/orrs-comments-raises-the-argument-is-this-a-make-or-break-year.html/
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After wrapping up a couple of stories for both newspapers and editing a little video, I’m back with some thoughts from Conference USA media day. Before we get to them, the video above features a few thoughts on UNT’s move to Conference USA and the upcoming season from Dan McCarney and linebacker Zach Orr. We went over the news tidbits of the day earlier, but here were the highlights (it wasn’t a huge news day from the UNT end of things): – Defensive tackle Richard Abbe is back on the roster and could be back in the lineup by the season-opener after working his way back into the good graces of UNT’s coaches after his brush wit the law a few months ago. UNT really needs Abbe, one of the few defensive tackles with size on the roster, to play and play well. – The quarterback pecking order of Derek Thompson, Andrew McNulty and then Brock Berglund hasn’t changed since the end of spring practice. With only two major scrimmages in the fall, it seems unlikely that anyone other than Thompson starts the season-opener against Idaho. – Defensive end Quenton Brown and running back Konockus Sashington are the only two players who will not be ready for the start of two-a-days. read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/07/conference-usa-media-day-wrap-up.html/
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And so it begins. The buildup toward the kickoff of UNT’s 2013 season starts tomorrow with Conference USA Media Day down in Irving. This will be UNT’s first season in the reconstituted league after 12 years in the Sun Belt. So what are the storylines this year? Here are some thoughts: 1. How does UNT fit in? The big benefit of the move to C-USA for UNT is it will finally be in a league with three other Texas schools in Rice, UTEP and UTSA. It will be an interesting mix, especially for the first few years because there really hasn’t been any kind of pecking order established, nor a feeling of how those teams will match up nor an idea of how they will approach competing for recruits in the state. UNT has struggled since 2004. Does the move to C-USA provide the boost it needs? Can new head coach Sean Kugler give UTEP a boost and make the Miners competitive right away? And what about Rice? Do the Owls have an edge now as the lone Texas private school in the league after the departure of SMU and the impending departure of Tulsa and Tulane? There are always a handful of players who prefer the private school environment and it seems like more and more top players are gravitating to private high schools. UTSA has a huge local base to draw from in San Antonio, but has little history. Can the Roadrunners ramp up their program that fattened up on lower division teams and do it quickly due to some inherent advantages? Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/07/conference-usa-media-day-primer.html/
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UNT’s summer camp circuit has already paid dividends in the form of early commitments from DeSoto defensive tackle Shaquel Jackson and defensive end Johnavhon Grahm. UNT made stops in Duncanville, Arlington and Katy, among other cities. UNT head coach Dan McCarney said before he and his staff began their statewide tour that the effort they made over previous summers has helped improve the team’s talent level. That improvement has paid dividends on the field, where UNT has won nine games in McCarney’s first two seasons, exceeding the eight total wins the Mean Green posted the previous four years combined. “We have more guys who can play Division I and play on Sundays,” McCarney said. “We have more guys who want to take a look, and when they do, we have a shot.” UNT has lined up another shot to make an impression on some of the players it is targeting the class of 2014 this week, when the lights at Apogee will shine a day early. Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20130722-football-camps-highlight-busy-week-for-mean-green.ece
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Maurice Aniefiok enrolls (updated with complete story)
Harry posted a topic in Mean Green Basketball
When Tony Benford looked back on his first season at North Texas, he saw two areas where the Mean Green needed to improve — shooting and the ability of individual players to create for their teammates. Benford felt like he took one final step toward addressing both concerns on Tuesday when former Ole Miss guard Maurice Aniefiok enrolled at UNT and became the last addition to the Mean Green’s 2013-14 roster. The 6-foot-5 former Huntington (W.Va.) Prep standout spent one year with the Rebels in 2011-12 season, when he averaged 1.4 points a game. Aniefiok left Ole Miss and enrolled at Collin County Community College last season but did not play. He will have three years of eligibility remaining with UNT beginning this fall. Aniefiok completed his two-year degree at Collin County. “He’s a great addition,” Benford said. “We recruited him a little while I was at Marquette. He is a good all-around player who can play the one [point guard] through the four [power forward] because he has good size. He can really shoot the ball and create for himself and his teammates.” Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/07/maurice-aneifolk-enrolls.html/ -
UNT has undergone some overhauls over the years in various programs. Outside of the years in which teams have changed head coaches, the evolution of the UNT men’s basketball team this off-season might take the cake. To review (deep breath): Players returning Jordan Williams — 14.2 points, 3.7 rebounds a game, 46 3s Alzee Williams — 11.1 points, 3.4 rebounds a game Chris Jones — 9.2 points a game, 74 assists Keith Coleman — 1.3 points, 1.6 rebounds a game Brandan Walton — Missed last season, 8.8 points a game in 2011-12 season Additions Division I transfers Kelvin Gaines — Former Cincinnati forward is 6-10 and has high-end athletic talent Vertrail Vaughns — Averaged 5.0 last season at George Mason as a combo guard T.J. Taylor — Former Oklahoma signee who spent a short time at Marquette Maurice Aniefiok — Former Ole Miss signee who sat out last season JUCO transfers Armani Flannigan — Athletic 6-8 forward who averaged 14.2 points and 6.6 rebounds a game at Central Wyoming State Colin Voss — A tank of a 6-7 forward who was a JUCO All-American last season at Northern Oklahoma. High school signees Greg Wesley — A 6-7 forward and one of the top players in the state and a steal for UNT Josh Friar — Freak 6-8 athlete who played sparingly in high school and could be a project type player Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/07/what-does-unts-roster-look-like-now-a-rundown.html/
