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Mean Green football started spring training Wednesday and one of the biggest questions for the upcoming season is who will be the starting quarterback. Last season, UNT averaged 219 yards a game No. 74 in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The Mean Green offense was run by then-redshirt junior quarterback Derek Thompson who threw 14 touchdowns and 14 interceptions for 2,649 yards. Thompson returns for his final season, but Kansas University sophomore transfer Brock Berglund and sophomore Andrew McNulty are both gunning for the starting position. Berglund has played limited college football, but is the highest-rated high school prospect for the Mean Green. He transferred last year, but wasnt eligible to play. McCarney and offensive coordinator Mike Canalas both said his work with the practice squad made the defense work. McNulty is returning from a broken hand and, like Berglund, adds a running threat. Head coach Dan McCarney said every position is open for the taking. He said there is no distinction between walk-ons and scholarship players in the spring because it is just open season. Read more: http://wordpress1.cws.unt.edu/?p=3265

Arguably the top 2 headline names from this "low-ranked" class were Brock Berglund and Dajon Williams. Two facts you hear a lot are that we haven't had an all-conference quarterback since Scott Hall's last season in 2004, and that we haven't had a winning season since 2004. This is not a coincidence and you shouldn't fool yourself to think it is. Quarterback has one of the strongest correlations, there are still exceptions, to team success out of any position in any team sport. I know this might be beating a dead horse, but our quarterback play must improve and can make a huge difference. Whether it's DT or Berglund this year, the success of this team will ride largely on the success of our quarterback play. Looking farther down the road, even if DT comes out and has a good senior year, Coach Mac's job security will be greatly tied to the play of Brock Berglund and Dajon Williams. Finally, I want to ask you guys a question. What do you think about us starting the season with a two-quarterback rotation between DT and Berglund? Mccarney seemed open to the idea in his presser. I would rather not, but like he said, whatever gives us a better chance to win.

DerekThompson_7 I've changed my lifestyle and that's why I'm gonna be so much better this year. I got one shot left and I'm gonna make it count. 3 minutes ago · reply · retweet · favorite

Derek Thompson @DerekThompson_7 This one hurt. about 2 hours ago

Unfortunately I missed the game today due to my club baseball games, so I was relegated to tracking it on my phone. I saw DT was having a bad game at least statistically so I wanted to see what the reactions would be like on here. I'll be honest, I am not a fan of DT's quarterback play at all but I was a little surprised to see how harsh people were on here. That being said, as someone who has been heavily in favor of starting Berglund over DT next year, I wanted to point out that DT had a bad day throwing so he could minimally impact the game in a positive way for us. Even if Berglund starts and plays great for us he is going to be off every now and then, even if just for a half. That's just part of football. The thing is, as a true dual threat qb he can make plays with his legs any game and still make plays for us if he is off passing. You can be off throwing but unless you're injured you don't really have an off day athletically. Just some food for thought. Hope he can pick it up for the rest of the year and at least complete the short passes.

Hope you have a good one DT!

Derek Thompson seemed like he couldn’t miss a week ago during North Texas’ loss to Kansas State. On Saturday, Thompson and the Mean Green moved the ball during their Sun Belt Conference opener against Troy at Apogee Stadium. UNT just couldn’t cash in when it mattered during a 14-7 loss. The Mean Green pushed the ball inside Troy’s 30-yard line six times but only cashed in once. UNT’s kicking game was the major problem. Zach Olen missed a pair of field goals and backup Zach Paul missed another. UNT’s offense didn’t help much either. “We moved the ball all over the place,” Thompson said. “Third down just killed us. Going 2-of-14 is unacceptable. We know that when we get into the red zone we need to score, and we just didn’t do it.” UNT went for it twice on fourth down deep in Troy territory in the fourth quarter and failed to convert both times. Thompson said he felt like he could have fit the ball in to wide receiver Ivan Delgado on fourth-and-11 from the Troy 17-yard line on the first of those opportunities. Thompson also couldn’t connect with Brelan Chancellor on fourth-and-16 from the Troy 30 on what turned out to be UNT’s final chance of the night. He missed Drew Miller in the end zone in the second quarter. “It was a TD,” Thompson said of the play when Miller broke free. “I just missed it. It won’t happen again, I guarantee it.” Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20120923-notebook-mean-green-fails-to-cash-in.ece

There were not as many bright spots for UNT in its win over TSU in terms of throwing the ball. “DT just misfired on some throws,” McCarney said. “He would be the first one to tell you that. He missed on some throws that he makes every day in seven-on-seven and in situational drills. He has made those throws countless times when we were open.” One way in which UNT will look to adjust this week is finding a way to get Chancellor more involved in the offense again. The junior had four catches for 114 yards against LSU but didn’t have a reception against TSU. McCarney said that UNT’s coaches talked immediately after the game about how Chancellor wasn’t involved the way the Mean Green needed him to be against TSU. “Any time you can get the ball in Brelan’s hands, he can make a play,” Thompson said. “We absolutely have to get him the ball.” UNT’s coaches and players believe they will be able to get back on track by making a few adjustments. “We didn’t make some of the throws, complete some of the passes or execute like we need to,” McCarney said. “We were not as crisp as we needed to be on some routes. It’s all those things, but we are not looking for a new quarterback, we are not looking for a new system, and I am not looking for a new offensive coordinator or a new wide receivers coach. We know what we have, and we can fix it.” Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20120911-unt-notebook-unt-sees-need-to-improve-passing-game.ece