It's Bowl Season Eve. Time to get this thing going.

Utah State hold a #23 ranking in the Coaches Poll, and seems to be about a 10 point favorite. But, they lost there coach Matt Wells to Texas Tech. Will the loss of their coach have a negative impact on their performance?

I'll predict a Mean Green upset...

Utah State 34
North Texas 42

Go Mean Green!!!

This game is probably going to be a dogfight. Hopefully our ball hawks go off and have an interception party. That's our best shot to win.

Keys to the Game.

Matching up UNT’s offense vs. Utah State’s defense

UNT has been consistent all season behind quarterback Mason Fine and enters the New Mexico Bowl averaging 36.4 points per game.

Fine has thrown for 3,734 yards on the season while completing 64.6 percent of his passes. He has thrown just five interceptions on 457 pass attempts. Running back DeAndre Torrey also is in the midst of a breakout season.

The sophomore has rushed for 942 yards and 14 touchdowns and has cleared the 130-yard mark in each of UNT’s last four games.

Utah State has held five teams to 20 points or less this season and is allowing 23.0 points per game. The Aggies have made a series of big plays, posting 30 sacks and intercepting 18 passes on the year.

https://www.dentonrc.com/sports/football...c940a.html

Good Luck Mean Green. Pounce on those Aggies. Clearly, CUSA is getting no respect. With Utah State losing their Head Coach (and App State losing theirs) we both should get a little more edge to start and maybe an X factor with second half adjustments. So, I'm gonna say UNT 35, Utah State 31. Of Course, as usual this is not an objective or scientific opinion.

With kickoff 30 minutes away, here are my keys to the game...

1. Get Torrey Going- We have to win at the line of scrimmage. Our o-line has to get the push needed to open holes for the running game, and force Utah State to bring their secondary up to help. That will open up opportunities for our passing game.

2. Be More Physical- Our defense has to bring the fight to Utah State. If we can hit them harder then they like, we can disrupt their offense.

3. Make the Adjustments- UNT blew double digit leads to LA Tech, UAB, and ODU. Our offense all but disappeared after halftime of those games. Littrell and his staff have to make the necessary adjustments after Utah State adapts to slow down our passing game.

Top receiver, Rico Bussey, out with an injury. No good, but we do have an abundance of good receivers. Hope they can all step up.

Not a good start...7-0 Utah State

(12-15-2018 02:22 PM)eaglebeaver Wrote:  Not a good start...7-0 Utah State

Wish I could have seen it. I hate ESPN!

Fine Pulled his Hammy. But is staying in.

Utah State 7
North Texas 7

Looks and sounds like a good crowd for UNT.

YES!!!

Looks like Utah St. has some thugs on their team.

Utah State 14
North Texas 7

That Utah St TD was waaaay too easy. Just a RB draw up the middle for an untouched TD. Yikes!

Pick Utah State, followed by a pick for the Mean Green. Fine is hurt and Shanbour is in the game.

Fine back in the game.

UNT has no run defense. Sheesh. C’mon guys!

I’m sorry, but Fine being in right now is just STUPID. He can hardly walk let alone run.

(12-15-2018 02:41 PM)Side Show Joe Wrote:  Utah State 7
North Texas 7

Looks and sounds like a good crowd for UNT.

Really? Looks like the band and maybe 1000-1500 UNT fans

Our defense looks really bad.

28-7