Unt Ready To Pick Itself Back Up

[NT80]

UNT ready to pick itself back up

Mean Green trying to put OU loss behind them as they prepare for SMU

07:05 PM CDT on Thursday, September 6, 2007

By BRETT VITO / Denton Record-Chronicle

bvito@dentonrc.com

DENTON – An off-season filled with anticipation after the arrival of former Southlake Carroll head coach Todd Dodge ended with a record-setting performance in North Texas' season-opener against Oklahoma last week.

It just wasn't the record day UNT hoped to produce heading into a showdown with rival SMU on Saturday. The Mean Green set a dubious school mark for points allowed while falling, 79-10, in its first game under Dodge, a coach billed as a savior for the program after posting a 79-1 record in his last five seasons at Carroll.

"What we talked about with our players is that we have to take this defeat and understand that as competitors that it is embarrassing, and it hurts," Dodge said. "We have to make sure that one loss does not cause us to have another because of the hangover from it."

There certainly was plenty to be embarrassed about for the Mean Green, which trailed the Sooners, 49-0, at halftime. Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops said he tried to hold the score down in the second half, even though his team seemingly continued to score at will.

Oklahoma redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Bradford completed 21 of 23 passes in the first start.

"We made a lot of little mistakes, and when you do that against a good team, it makes for a big explosion," UNT senior linebacker Maurice Holman said. "They have some marvelous athletes, but it is what we did to ourselves, plus their marvelous athletes, that made the game turn out the way it did."

Holman is just one of several UNT players who has been through similar experiences before. The Mean Green's game against Oklahoma marked the fifth time in the last six seasons that UNT has been drubbed in its season opener against a Big 12 team.

UNT bounced back the first three times to win the Sun Belt Conference title. In 2004, the Mean Green regrouped after a 65-0 loss to Texas.

One of Dodge's biggest concerns heading into this week was how UNT would respond to its loss to the Sooners under a new staff after receiving an unprecedented wave of publicity heading into the season. UNT was featured in national publications, including USA Today and Sports Illustrated because of the unusual jump Dodge made from being a high school head coach to holding the same title on the college level.

"We have to make sure that we have a bunch of men on our team and not a bunch of boys," Dodge said. "We have to make sure that we have guys who will hold their heads up and get back on the practice field."

There is too big an opportunity looming for the Mean Green to lose focus, and it comes in the form of a game against SMU, a team many of UNT's fans see as their most hated rival. The Mustangs lead the series, 27-4-1, and had an even bigger advantage before the Mean Green stunned the Mustangs, 24-6, at Fouts Field last season.

UNT's win marked the resumption of the longstanding series that had been dormant since 1992.

"The first thing I heard when I came to North Texas was we had to beat SMU," senior wide receiver Brandon Jackson said. "Whatever you do, beat SMU. People who went to North Texas hate SMU."

Holman and Jackson are among the players who have heard stories from UNT fans and alumni about how their neighbor has slighted North Texas in the past.

"All the stories of maybe North Texas being held out of a conference because of a relationship or something that was done by SMU adds to the rivalry," UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal said. "I don't think there is any reality to it, but it builds the story and the animosity toward each other."

Dodge has been pleased with the way his team has remained focused on that rivalry game following an opener against Oklahoma that couldn't have gone much worse.

"You can't get down, because all that does is bring negativity into your next game," senior linebacker Brandon Monroe said. "We are motivated to get a win under our belt. There is no hangover."

[ntmeangreen11]

"We made a lot of little mistakes, and when you do that against a good team, it makes for a big explosion," UNT senior linebacker Maurice Holman said. "They have some marvelous athletes, but it is what we did to ourselves, plus their marvelous athletes, that made the game turn out the way it did."

Am I the only one sickened by this quote?

Michigan has marvelous athletes and look what happened to them. Excuses are like, well, you finish the quote. You have to believe you can beat a team before you even attempt to step on the field with them, I think we were shaking in our boots before the game even started Saturday.

"but they have marvelous athletes" waa waa waa

[island eagle]

Am I the only one sickened by this quote?

Michigan has marvelous athletes and look what happened to them. Excuses are like, well, you finish the quote. You have to believe you can beat a team before you even attempt to step on the field with them, I think we were shaking in our boots before the game even started Saturday.

"but they have marvelous athletes" waa waa waa

I was disappointed in it. With an attitude like that, it will be miles to go before we have the kind of team we want. Maybe TD DOES need to bring in players who accept any excuse for losing.

[island eagle]

I was disappointed in it. With an attitude like that, it will be miles to go before we have the kind of team we want. Maybe TD DOES need to bring in players who accept any excuse for losing.

Should read "won't accept any excuse".

[LongJim]

Am I the only one sickened by this quote?

Michigan has marvelous athletes and look what happened to them. Excuses are like, well, you finish the quote. You have to believe you can beat a team before you even attempt to step on the field with them, I think we were shaking in our boots before the game even started Saturday.

"but they have marvelous athletes" waa waa waa

I don't have a problem with it, and I don't think he's copping out or making excuses. You give credit to your opponent for beating your ass--if he beats your ass. To say otherwise is poor sportsmanship. Maybe I'm missing what you're referring to.

[NCMeanGreen]

I don't have a problem with it, and I don't think he's copping out or making excuses. You give credit to your opponent for beating your ass--if he beats your ass. To say otherwise is poor sportsmanship. Maybe I'm missing what you're referring to.

I think you are missing his point here. Do you honestly believe that Appalachian State University has superior athletes over Michigan? No, there are many factors to a football game...and it was just their day to win.

One of those factors is coming into the game with the mental attitude that you ARE going to win, even if you opponent may be ranked higher than you. That is just a fall-back and a crutch to state that your opponent is "a marvelous" athlete and, therefore, it is not your fault when you get your butts handed to you. The fact is, there is NO excuse for a defeat of that nature. App State has reset the bar...sorry, but using the excuse that a team was bigger or faster than you is no longer a valid excuse. Once they started pounding on Michigan, they realized the Wolverines were human too...not super heroes like we made OU out to be!!!

Now, let's just move on from this and focus on beating SMU. GO MEAN GREEN!!!

[SHOSS]

I don't have a problem with it, and I don't think he's copping out or making excuses. You give credit to your opponent for beating your ass--if he beats your ass. To say otherwise is poor sportsmanship. Maybe I'm missing what you're referring to.

I think you take your ars-beating, compliment the opponent by showing good sportsmanship, and move on... OU does have marvelous athletes. I don't think that is up for debate. What else is he going to say? We are nit-picking because we are embarrassed...

We shall see how nit-picky we get with THE DODGE on his quotes after the smooing this weekend.

[emmitt01]

Am I the only one sickened by this quote?

Michigan has marvelous athletes and look what happened to them. Excuses are like, well, you finish the quote. You have to believe you can beat a team before you even attempt to step on the field with them, I think we were shaking in our boots before the game even started Saturday.

"but they have marvelous athletes" waa waa waa

I'm not the least bit upset by this quote. It's football speak. Nothing more, nothing less. He said OU has marvelous athletes, which is true, but he didn't say "and we don't" or "so we can't compete." Complementing your opponent is not cowering down or making excuses. If you'll note he made a point to say that it was OUR mistakes coupled with their talent that led to the drubbing.

Edited September 7, 2007 by emmitt01

[GreenN'walinsVet]

So what was he supposed to say:

"You know we just didnt play real well, if we would of cut down on our mistakes, I really think we would of come back with a win, because we were really only a play or two from winning that game"

cuz we all know we have that 70 point play in our playbook

[GrandGreen]

"All the stories of maybe North Texas being held out of a conference because of a relationship or something that was done by SMU adds to the rivalry," UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal said. "I don't think there is any reality to it, but it builds the story and the animosity toward each other."

Well did Rick miss that SMU administration publicly supported La Tech for membership in CUSU and then completely in my view make asses out of themselves trying to justify their decision. The truth is their strategy has always been to distance themselves from that state supported school to the North. Makes no difference that SMU hasn't been a major factor in college athletics in decades, and the vast mass of college football fans could not care less about ether school.

Edited September 7, 2007 by GrandGreen

[Green Lantern]

His quote said that WE made mistakes. Couple that with playing a team (OU) that has marvelous athletes and you are bound to be in for a tough day. I don't see what's wrong with what he said.

God, I'm ready to kick the crap out of SMU so we can put OU behind us for good.

[island eagle]

So what was he supposed to say:

"You know we just didnt play real well, if we would of cut down on our mistakes, I really think we would of come back with a win, because we were really only a play or two from winning that game"

cuz we all know we have that 70 point play in our playbook

What I would want him to say is: "we made mistakes, didn't tackle well and generally played way below our expectations and abilities". If he can't say that with a straight face then he doesn't need to be starting, IMHO.

[NT80]

"All the stories of maybe North Texas being held out of a conference because of a relationship or something that was done by SMU adds to the rivalry," UNT athletic director Rick Villarreal said. "I don't think there is any reality to it, but it builds the story and the animosity toward each other."

Well did Rick miss that SMU administration publicly supported La Tech for membership in CUSU and then completely in my view make asses out of themselves trying to justify their decision. The truth is their strategy has always been to distance themselves from that state supported school to the North. Makes no difference that SMU hasn't been a major factor in college athletics in decades, and the vast mass of college football fans could not care less about ether school.

SMU has openly supported other programs over UNT in the past for SWC and CUSA membership. They are like our wicked step-mother!

[Guest GrayEagleOne]

I've said it before and I'll continue saying it...our pettiness and animosity toward SMU will only hurt us in the long run.

The only public statement by SMU that has been derogatory toward North Texas would be their support for Louisiana Tech in the CUSA expansion. We saw their influence when UTEP was accepted over their 'favorite son'. Everything else has been statements by individuals that may, or may not, have any validity. There was never a vote on the SWC to the best of my knowledge (and I talked at length to a former Associate AD at the time). There was 'talk' at the time that the private schools, already in a 4-5 minority, were against another big state school being added. Where is our venom toward TCU, Baylor and Rice?

Another negative is that they have some smart-mouth snobs who fan the flames on their board. They don't even come over to our board with their wiseass comments. Damn, that's unique. We've never done that in our lives and certainly not on their board.

The major negative was the cheating and ultimate 'death penalty' for paying athletes. Yep, they deserve the symbolic back of our hand for such a dastardly deed. Although, it didn't affect us specifically, it gave college football a bad name. That came about as a result of a few monied alumni who thought that would get them past Texas and A&M. One of their arguments was everyone was doing it. There was a lot of cheating going on at the time but nothing as grandiose as SMU pulled. They paid and are still paying for their sin.

That was twenty years ago and we still treat it as if it were yesterday.

At some point, I hope that we get to be big enough to forgive although we can never forget. Conference USA accepted SMU, knowing their past warts, and I don't hear any constant ridicule from their conference members. Is it possible that they have changed?

Would we really want to be in a conference with someone that we despise that much?

As someone from SLC posted, this constant disdain for SMU is a real turnoff and that bitterness won't go away until you let it. It's even possible that you'll feel better about yourself, your alma mater and others.

This has nothing to do with wanting to beat them on the field of play. I hope that the Mean Green can put a world of hurt on them this Saturday!