I know, it's a long season and this was only one game, but it's finally great to see the Mean Green getting some respect. It's been a tough 5 years and hopefully this year will see more Mean put back into the Green !:odie:

Green Gang: NT Earned Respect From Clemson

Courtesy: University of North Texas
Release: 09/05/2010

By Stephen Howard, Sept. 5, 2010 - 12:13 p.m.

I wouldn't say that anyone was satisfied on the plane ride back to Dallas on Saturday night, but there was certainly a sense of accomplishments among the inner circle of the Mean Green football team on that Boeing 737.

And why not? North Texas had just battled Clemson, the ACC Atlantic Division champs, to a 35-10 score, racking up 25 first downs, 462 yards of offense and a time of possession of 41:52 (The game's only 60 minutes long!). They also had a ton of questions entering the game, many of which were answered in front of the 75,000 at Memorial Stadium.

Could Nathan Tune handle the pressure of starting at QB for the Mean Green? Yep. He completed 19-of-29 passes for 240 yards and a score against one of the country's top defenses.

Was Lance Dunbar's '09 performance a fluke? Nope. He was an animal, blowing past the Clemson defense for 178 all purpose yards - 116 rushing and 62 receiving. At 5.0 yards per carry, the junior kept the Tigers off balance all afternoon.

It got me wondering what the Clemson folks thought of the little 'ole Mean Green? So, I looked up the local paper this morning and it looks like the Tigers' players and beat writers left the stadium pretty impressed with NT. All of these quotes can be found in Sunday's online Greenville News.

- Clemson defensive end Da'Quan Bowers on the NT offensive line - "I am not sure what it was. Maybe they were getting push on the defensive tackles. Maybe I wasn't in my right spot, the defensive ends weren't in their right spots."

- Linebacker Corico Hawkins on Lance Dunbar - "Dunbar can definitely play in the ACC any night, the SEC, the PAC 10, the Big 12, anything you want to call it. He is an exceptional running back. He will have a great season this year and I see why he is one of the top candidates for the Doak Walker Award."

- Hawkins on the NT offense's success - "I don't think they ran the same play twice. We have seen it in camp against our offense here and there. It wasn't an everyday thing."

- Defensive tackle Jarvis Jenkins on Dunbar - "Man, that guy is a good running back. He is very strong, very quick on his feet and what impressed me is he always runs after contact. Those guys said he was a good back and we slept on it. He showed us. He had about 120 yards rushing and that's a credit to him."

- Safety DeAndre McDaniel on the Mean Green offense keeping Clemson off balance - "There isn't too much we can say. The proof is in the pudding. We didn't do what we were supposed to do ... We were prepared. There was nothing they showed us that we didn't see this week in practice."

- Receiver Brandon Clear - "What can you say about North Texas? They grinded it out until the end. I'm proud of their effort. They're gonna be fine. They have a very talented running back as well."

- Bart Wright, columnist for the Greenville News - This was a team from the northwest suburbs of Dallas expected to do very little, that came in with an offensive and defensive game plan that kept Clemson guessing all day long, on both sides of the ball. You could say Clemson was out coached and chances are nobody on the Tigers' coaching staff would put up much of an argument.

I watched almost all of that game.

UNT looked really good.

Im worried because you guys are SO overdue for a win against FAU.

(09-05-2010 06:47 PM)OwlFamily Wrote:  I watched almost all of that game.

UNT looked really good.

Im worried because you guys are SO overdue for a win against FAU.

Ya think??

Yep, it's one game but gotta say that after 5 years in a funk I am enjoying the first game effort of my Mean Green vs a quality ACC team.

Off the Clemson Tiger board.
after a good night's sleep I've come to this conclusion: There is NO way to put a positive spin our defense's performance. period. It's not how many yards North Texas gained, it's how they gained them. From the opening kickoff to the closing whistle they controlled the clock and dragged our defense up and down the field methodically carving out yards. They had quick slants, posts, passes up the middle and Dunbar ran at will. Our D Line looked soft, our LB's non-existent and our D-backs asleep at the wheel. If you take away our 3 longest plays we end up with minimal yardage. If you take away their 3 longest plays, it's still a 400+ yard game for North Texas. With TOP 3 times longer than Clemson's, it's obvious that we did not have a single answer on D. Are they well coached? Hell yes, I give North Texas a lot of credit. However, it wasn't our second string defense that they had their way with. I don't want to be all doom and gloom after the first week but the fact is that the score of this game does NOT reflect how close this could have been. North Texas was devastated by penalties all game whereas they worked in our favor throughout. This could easily have been a 21-17 victory

I watched most of the game as well, and agree.....UNT looked pretty darned good.

(09-07-2010 07:58 AM)Fanof49ASU Wrote:  I watched most of the game as well, and agree.....UNT looked pretty darned good.

I agree! Out of all of the SBC teams I watched this past weekend, UNT looked the best. They have speed and size on defense, and their offense was clicking when it needed to.

I agree as well. It did look like UNT truly 'belonged' on the field with Clemson, and at times were outplaying and looking at least as good as Clemson. Congratulations on such a strong showing, and it now looks as if UNT has turned the corner.

(09-07-2010 11:52 AM)FIUFanatic Wrote:  I agree as well. It did look like UNT truly 'belonged' on the field with Clemson, and at times were outplaying and looking at least as good as Clemson. Congratulations on such a strong showing, and it now looks as if UNT has turned the corner.

For those that didn't get to see the game, it really, really was impressive how many 3 and outs their offense had and how our offense marched up and down the field on them then proceeded to throw two picks inside their ten.

However, I want you all to look back at Ball State, after that game it was lolwtfomgz UNT IS BACK! and look what happened. BSU went 1-11 if I'm not mistaken, although Clemson and Ball State is night and day you should all remember this is just week one. Now if we stomp Rice this weekend, then be scared, I'd hold off based on just one game though, I can't get too excited, history has a way of repeating itself although I think we're due for more than a few w's this year.