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I promised myself I would move on to Tulsa after 24 hours but there is one thing I need to get off my chest. The reason that UTSA won that ball game is because they played to win. Even when they were up by two TD's they never took their pedal off the metal...they kept throwing the ball on first down and going for our throat. UTSA played with a sense of urgency even when they had a comfortable lead. We on the other hand played not to lose. We took very few chances until late in the game. We were satisfied to run the ball on every first down even though they knew we would. It is as if we expected them to turn the ball over. You shouldn't build an offensive strategy that requires turnovers from the other team. We dig a hole and expect to start getting aggressive but our defense couldn't stop them. We aren't comfortable playing in a hurry, from behind and it showed at the end. So hats off to UTSA for playing BALANCED and using an AGGRESSIVE gameplan. We have been so strong all year defensively and on special teams. Our offense was our weakness and it was exposed on Saturday.

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

North Texas linebacker Zach Orr could hardly believe the subject his defensive coordinator brought up earlier this year. Orr and his teammates have always marveled at the breadth of John Skladany’s knowledge when it comes to football and a whole lot else. The senior just never expected the 65-year-old college football lifer to bring up pop-culture sensation Miley Cyrus. “He mentioned that she did something crazy,” Orr said. “We all thought, ‘What? How does he know about her?’ “That’s what makes him so special to play for — he has that connection with us. He knows the rappers we listen to and can relate to us. That’s what we find too funny. We are like, ‘Coach knows about this kind of stuff?’” UNT’s players realized long ago that Skladany knows a lot about football — particularly defense — in addition to what might be on their girlfriends’ MP3 players. It’s Skladany’s football knowledge and his ability to connect with his players that have allowed him to lead a defensive renaissance at UNT that is at the heart of its turnaround season. UNT hasn’t allowed more than 16 points in a game while ripping off five straight victories heading into a game against Texas-San Antonio on Saturday at Apogee Stadium. That run has the Mean Green rolling at 7-3 and well on its way to ending an eight-year bowl drought. The journey has been a rewarding one for Skladany, who has rebuilt UNT’s defense while working with Mean Green head coach Dan McCarney for the second time in his career. Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20131120-football-staying-connected.ece

Read more: http://www.arlingtonvoice.com/story/education/11/21/2013/uta-veteran-set-be-next-unt-president

UTSA junior tailback David Glasco II, who leads the Roadrunners in rushing this season, will miss Saturday's key Conference USA game against North Texas with a foot injury, head coach Larry Coker said Wednesday after practice. Glasco was at the workout but did not practice. "He will not make the trip," Coker said. UTSA, 5-5 overall and 4-2 in the C-USA West Division, plays North Texas at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Denton. The Roadrunners trail North Texas and Rice, both 5-1 in Conference USA, by one game in the West Division race. Glasco hurt the foot in practice on the Thursday before UTSA's game against Tulane on Nov. 9, and did not play in the Roadrunners' 10-7 victory. Coker had hoped last week's bye would give Glasco extra time to recover from the plantar fasciitis he is suffering in the foot, but he hasn't been able to return to full workouts since getting injured. Coker said a decision hasn't been made on who will be the starting tailback against North Texas, but indicated senior Evans Okotcha, No. 2 at the position on the depth chart, probably will get the nod over junior Brandon Armstrong. Read more: http://www.kens5.com/news/FONT-color000099BDAVID-FLORESBFONT-232700641.html

FACTS & STATS: Site: Apogee Stadium (30,850) -- Denton, Texas. Television: Time Warner Cable. Home Record: UTSA 2-3, UNT 5-0. Away Record: UTSA 3-2, UNT 2-3. Neutral Record: UTSA 0-0, UNT 0-0. Conference Record: UTSA 4-2, UNT 5-1. Series Record: First-ever meeting. GAME NOTES: Just one win behind Rice for the top spot in the West Division of Conference USA, the North Texas Mean Green try to run their home win streak to six in a row as they clash with the Texas-San Antonio Roadrunners on Saturday afternoon. Since losing back-to-back games against Georgia and Tulane, the Mean Green have rattled off five straight victories, the latest of those coming on Nov. 9 versus Texas-El Paso in a 41-7 final. North Texas is now 7-3 on the season overall which makes it eligible to take part in the postseason. As for the Roadrunners, they too are playing well of late with three consecutive wins, on the heals of three straight defeats. In addition to victories over UAB and Tulsa in what were spirited offensive outings, UTSA also pulled out a 10-7 win versus Tulane on Nov. 9 in order to move to 5-5 on the season overall and 4-2 in league play. With this being just the third season for UTSA football, it should come as little surprise that this is the first-ever meeting between the two teams. The starter at quarterback in all 10 games for the Roadrunners this season, Eric Soza has completed 61.4 percent of his pass attempts for 217.4 ypg and 11 touchdowns, but at the same time he has tossed nine interceptions. Kam Jones might be the top receiver in terms of catches with 29, but he has just a single TD while starting only five of the nine games in which he has appeared. Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/11/20/4636202/texas-san-antonio-5-5-at-north.html#storylink=cpy

We are fortunate today to have Jerry Briggs of the San Antonio Express-News on the blog with us to discuss UNT’s game against UTSA this weekend. Jerry is the go-to guy for coverage of the Roadrunners. Case in point, Jerry is reporting that UTSA will be without its leading rusher David Glasco II this weekend. One can find Jerry’s stories that appear in the paper on the Express-News website’s UTSA section.Here is a link to Jerry’s UTSA blog 1. UTSA seems to be on a bit of a roll late in the season. What has changed? The UTSA defense has started to force turnovers and the offensive line has played well. UTSA had forced only two turnovers during the 2-5 start. The defense and special teams have now forced ten during a three-game win streak. A veteran offensive line led a pretty potent rushing attack against Rice in a loss, and then again in wins against UAB and Tulsa. Limited to 126 rushing yards against Tulane, UTSA nonetheless broke a 68-yard TD run by Brandon Armstrong. UTSA won 10-7. Read more: http://meangreenblog.dentonrc.com/2013/11/qa-with-jerry-briggs-of-the-san-antonio-express-news.html/

"I like how unt calls us out for not having our own stadium, well I did a little research and found some interesting things about Apogee Stadium..." "For the spring 2002 student election, UNT Student Government Association (SGA) senators held a referendum on whether to recommend that the University of North Texas SystemBoard of Regents increase the student athletics fee by $4.50 per credit hour, $1 of which would be dedicated to "facility improvements".[9] The referendum was rejected by UNT's voting students, with 1,023 voting for the proposal and 1,265 voting against it. After the vote, however, school administrators lobbied senators to increase the fee as a way to help the university's athletics program achieve Title IXcompliance. The student senators then approved a student fee increase of $3 per credit hour, which the Board of Regents implemented immediately.[10] Consequently, students mounted a recall election campaign, supported by documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, which resulted in the removal of 14 student senators from office.[11][12]" More... http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/...th61067/m1/38/ http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/...h61067/m1/187/ http://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/675...th145604/m1/1/ "The Alamodome might not be ours, but at least we didn't steal from students to pay for the cost of using it. Stay classy c-UNT, stay classy." Read more: http://www.rowdytalk.com/showthread.php/4164-Apogee-Stadium-the-dark-story

SAN ANTONIO — Decked out in hand casts, wrist tape and full pads, the UTSA Roadrunners summoned the type of enthusiasm Tuesday that has carried them through a long and successful season. Players sprinted from station to station. Coaches barked, ‘Let’s win a championship.’ Feeling the fever of the Conference USA title race, 65-year-old UTSA head coach Larry Coker executed a flying body bump with running back Evans Okotcha just after the team hit the practice field at 7:15 a.m. “The guys had good energy today,” Coker said. ”Of course, we had a shorter practice. The guys had a day off yesterday, which I think was good. I think our guys are going to be ready to play on Saturday.” Read more: http://blog.mysanantonio.com/utsa/2013/11/utsa-feels-the-championship-fever-leading-into-north-texas/

UTSA is working to sign head football coach Larry Coker to a long-term contract extension, athletic director Lynn Hickey said Tuesday night. Coker’s contract runs through the 2015 football season. Hickey declined to comment on financial terms or the duration of the proposed deal. “Just say that we’re working on the details and that we need to move it to the (UT System) Board of Regents before we release any of those details,” she said. ”But we are working toward that and certainly want him to be with our program for several more years.” Read more: http://blog.mysanantonio.com/utsa/2013/11/hickey-says-utsa-coker-in-contract-extension-talks/

Major Division-I college football powers like the University of Alabama and Louisiana State University football sustain decades of success and bowl game appearances, but the UNT football team hasn’t reached that level yet. For the first time in nine years, the team is projected to go to a bowl game with hopes of winning one for the second time in school history. The last UNT bowl-winning team comes from 2002, where the Mean Green came out victorious at the New Orleans Bowl. The bowl win came in the midst of four consecutive Sun Belt Conference titles and four New Orleans Bowl appearances. Those teams provide many similarities to this year’s squad, with each bringing its own specialties to the gridiron to be successful. “Both teams have provided all of us with so many good memories. It is eerie how much these teams are alike and yet they are still so different,” Athletic Director Rick Villarreal said. “I’ll say one thing – it is impossible to favor one of these teams over the other.” Read more: http://ntdaily.com/current-football-squad-draws-similarities-to-former-bowl-teams/

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/

UTSA running back David Glasco II hasn’t been ruled out for Saturday’s game at North Texas. But UTSA coach Larry Coker on Monday acknowledged concern over what he described as a case of plantar fasciitis in one of Glasco’s feet. The plantar fascia is the tissue that connects the heel to the toes. A strained plantar fascia can result in swelling in the tissue, which makes it hard to walk or run, according to information on webmd.com. Glasco, the team’s leading rusher, hurt the foot two days before UTSA’s Nov. 9 home game against Tulane. Because of the injury, he sat out the Tulane game, his first miss of the season. “He did a little bit yesterday (in practice),” Coker said. ”The rest of the guys are fine. (Running back) Evans (Okotcha) was fine. (Defensive end) William Ritter was good. Everyone was there. But David, I’m a little concerned about. He practiced, but he was not full speed.” Read more: http://blog.mysanantonio.com/utsa/2013/11/utsas-coker-a-little-concerned-about-david-glasco-ii/

http://www.meangreensports.com/allaccess/?media=421270

http://www.goutsa.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?&db_oem_id=13100&id=3104626&DB_MENU_ID=&SPSID=315549&SPID=34919&DB_OEM_ID=13100

http://www.rowdytalk.com/showthread.php/4143-UTSA-vs-UNT-Stat-Analysis

5. North Texas (7-3, 5-1, next game Saturday vs. UTSA) — Dan McCarney’s coaching job with the Mean Green has to rank among his most satisfying and best in his career. North Texas took Saturday off and can take care of the C-USA West Division title by winning out. They already have the tiebreaker over Rice and can take another step to the championship game when upstart UTSA visits. 9. UTSA (5-5, 4-2, next game Saturday @ North Texas) — The Roadrunners had the week off to prepare for a huge upcoming challenge at North Texas with a share of first place in the C-USA West Division at stake. Larry Coker no doubt spent a lot of time during his preparation telling his offense how to protect against UNT LB Zach Orr, who has become the conference’s top defender. Read more: http://blog.mysanantonio.com/big12/2013/11/baylor-still-sitting-at-no-1-in-this-weeks-dirty-dozen/

In the heat of the summer, when the temperature soared into triple digits and times were at their toughest during workouts, Aaron Bellazin kept reminding his fellow North Texas defensive linemen about the perception of how they would impact the Mean Greens season. UNT had a veteran quarterback in Derek Thompson, a stable of good running backs, a veteran offensive line and potentially one of the best linebackers in Conference USA in Zach Orr. What it didnt have was a lot of certainty on its defensive front. Defensive end Brandon McCoy and defensive tackle Ryan Boutwell missed spring practice with injuries, while Richard Abbe, the anchor of UNTs defensive front, was suspended most of the summer after he was charged with DWI. Those players were part of a unit that lost its best player in end K.C. Obi to graduation following last season, when the Mean Greens line was considered average at best. Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20131117-football-unt-making-big-noise-up-front-on-defense.ece

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

In the Mean Green football team’s 41-7 win against the University of Texas-El Paso on Saturday, the UNT defense held an opponent to 16 points or fewer for the fifth straight game. But in particular, it was a breakout game for the defensive line. The Mean Green defense finished the game with eight sacks – a UNT single-game record. But in a season where the UNT defense is ranked among the top teams in the nation, the defensive line still feels like it’s being overlooked. “That’s what drives me personally,” senior defensive end Aaron Bellazin said. “I play with a chip on my shoulder every Saturday.” The defensive line has become the forefront of the system that has helped UNT win seven games and become bowl eligible for the first time in nine years. The UNT defense allows an average of 18.6 points per game, tied for the 11th fewest points allowed in the nation. “Obviously, it all starts up front,” head coach Dan McCarney said. “To control the game, we need to be strong on the line.” Read more: http://ntdaily.com/defensive-line-leads-charge-for-surging-mean-green-football-team/