Quartet of elders hungry for winning season

[Harry]

Hardly a day goes by when the last four men standing from the class of 2008 don’t sit around and talk about all that has transpired in their five seasons at North Texas.

Coleman Feeley, Aaron Fortenberry, Jeremy Phillips and Tevinn Cantly never have a shortage of topics to mull over.

There are the big wins and losses, close ones and blowouts, near misses and a coaching change.

The quartet seems to have experienced about everything there is in college football with one notable exception — a winning season with a trip to a bowl game.

Their final opportunity essentially begins Saturday with UNT’s Sun Belt Conference opener against Troy, a game that might be the most important league opener of their careers.

UNT is 1-2 with losses to national powers LSU and Kansas State already in the books and a two-game road trip coming up following its game against Troy.

A loss to the Trojans wouldn’t kill UNT’s chances to end a string of seven straight losing seasons, but it would leave the Mean Green a tough road to travel to get to the bowl game those fifth-year seniors have never experienced.

“It’s hard to go through a college career and never experience a bowl game,” Feeley said. “None of us want to get out of here and say, ‘I played college ball and played hard, but we didn’t win.’ Nobody wants to do that. Nobody wants to leave college without any hardware.”

No one has left UNT with hardware in a long time, not since the freshmen who took a redshirt season when the Mean Green won the Sun Belt title in 2004 completed their five years in the program in 2008.

Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20120920-football-quartet-of-elders-hungry-for-winning-season.ece

[UNT Mean Green]

Hopefully the veteran leadership of these guys will lead this team where it wants to go in Conference play. I can't remember a Sun Belt race that seems this wide open.

[Stix]

Has Vito been watching Necessary Roughness again?

Manumana: Where I come from, Mr. Blake, we're taught to respect our elders.

Paul Blake: Oh yeah? Well, I'm not that *eld*, alright?

[H-towngreen]

4 players left from 08......thanks Dodge. That number is astounding

[MeanGreenTexan]

4 players left from 08......thanks Dodge. That number is astounding

Do you notice a trend with these 4? They were all redshirts.

Among the same class, graduated last year:

Brandon Akpunku

Lance Dunbar ...... thanks Dodge.

Royce Hill

James Hamilton

John Shorter

Time to let the Dodge bashing go folks. We're in year 2 of McCarney.

[UNT90]

The amazing thing is that not one wide receiver is among the 5 left.

You would think one of the 20 woulda made it.

[Mean Green 93-98]

The amazing thing is that not one wide receiver is among the 5 left.

You would think one of the 20 woulda made it.

That was his first class . . . the 2007 class . . . when he went crazy signing WRs. Breece Johnson actually made it 5 years.

[H-towngreen]

Do you notice a trend with these 4? They were all redshirts.

Among the same class, graduated last year:

Brandon Akpunku

Lance Dunbar ...... thanks Dodge.

Royce Hill

James Hamilton

John Shorter

Time to let the Dodge bashing go folks. We're in year 2 of McCarney.

Typically you hope to have more then 4 RS Seniors. That's a horrible number.

[oldguystudent]

Do you notice a trend with these 4? They were all redshirts.

Among the same class, graduated last year:

Brandon Akpunku

Lance Dunbar ...... thanks Dodge.

Royce Hill

James Hamilton

John Shorter

Time to let the Dodge bashing go folks. We're in year 2 of McCarney.

In two days, in his sixteenth game, coach Dan McCarney will secure his seventh win at North Texas, something the previous regime never achieved in 43 tries. I love watching this new coaching staff. I love having confidence that they find ways to win. I love watching players who walk into the stadium with pride rather than resignation.

Let it go? Absolutely. As soon as the last of the bare cupboard defenders have stopped lobbying for that man's retention.

[Mean Green 93-98]

Let it go? Absolutely. As soon as the last of the bare cupboard defenders have stopped lobbying for that man's retention.

Wait . . . what? Is there anyone on this board who wishes Todd Dodge were still our coach?

[MeanGreenTexan]

Wait . . . what? Is there anyone on this board who wishes Todd Dodge were still our coach?

I think I've been called a Dodge supporter before, but my answer is a resounding NO!!

No doubt he was not ready to HC at this level. Period. He's gone now, and has been for a while now.

I was also a Dickey supporter. I'm glad he's not still here as well.

[bstnsportsfan3]

2008 was my first year as a Resident Assistant at Victory Hall (athletic dorms). Freely, Fortenberry and Cantly were all freshman residents of mine. Good Guys. I hope to see em do this university proud and bring home the hardware.