Know the Opponent: North Texas
Over the next several weeks, BleedTechBlue.com will preview each of Tech’s 12 opponents for the upcoming season.
Up next, North Texas.
Louisiana Tech will host North Texas on November 9th in Ruston. Kickoff is set for 3 PM on Stadium.
Head Coach: Seth Littrell (23-17 overall record in 3 years, 23-17 at North Texas)
2018 Record: 9-4 (5-3) – lost 52-13 to Utah State in the New Mexico Bowl
Key Returners: QB Mason Fine (3,793 yards, 27 TDs), RB Deandre Torrey (977 yards, 15 TDs), WR Rico Bussey Jr (68 catches, 1017 yards, 12 TDs), WR Jaelon Darden (48 catches, 575 yards, 4 TDs), S Khairi Muhammad (67 tackles, 4 INTs), DE LaDarius Hamilton (33 tackles, 11 TFL, 7.5 sacks)
Key Losses: OC Graham Harrell, WR Jalen Guyton (54 catches, 805 yards, 6 TDs), LB E.J. Ejiya (121 tackles, 25.5 TFL, 9 sacks), CB Nate Brooks (67 tackles, 4 TFL, 6 INTs), LB Brandon Garner (66 tackles, 18 TFL, 6.5 sacks), CB Kemon Hall (48 tackles, 5 INTs)
2019 North Texas Schedule:
· August 31st – Abilene Christian
· September 7th – @ SMU
· September 14th -- @ California
· September 21st – UTSA
· September 28th – Houston
· October 12th – @ Southern Miss
· October 19th – Middle Tennessee
· October 26th -- @ Charlotte
· November 2nd -- UTEP
· November 9th -- @ Louisiana Tech
· November 23rd -- @ Rice
· November 30th -- UAB
BleedTechBlue.com caught up with North Texas beat writer Brett Vito of the Denton Record-Chronicle to preview the 2019 North Texas Mean Green.
Seth Littrell is entering his fourth season in Denton and has certainly put the program back on the map. That said, the Mean Green fell short of expectations a year ago. Is 2019 a year in which Littrell needs to get his team at least to the conference championship for it to be considered a success?
I don’t think it’s nearly that simple.
UNT has three bowl wins in its entire history and hasn’t won 10 games in a season without the benefit of a forfeit since 1947.
There are also huge opportunity games out there in nonconference play for UNT against Cal and Houston.
What if UNT beats Houston, gaining a ton of publicity for the program in the process, slips up in a game in C-USA play that prevents the Mean Green from winning the conference title and rebounds to win a bowl game?
A 10-win season with a bowl win could be considered a success even if UNT doesn’t win the C-USA title.
With OC Graham Harrell moving on to USC in the off-season, is there a concern within the program that the offense could take a step back?
I don’t sense that concern at all. Head coach Seth Littrell has always been highly involved in UNT’s offense and planned to be even more involved this year, regardless of who the offensive coordinator is.
Harrell did a great job at UNT and melded his offense with Littrell’s.
UNT changed one part of that equation when it added Bodie Reeder, who spent last season as the offensive coordinator at Eastern Washington. Reeder’s approach more closely mirrors what Littrell wants to do in terms of playing at a faster pace and making tight ends a more prominent part of the scheme.
UNT has a lot of talent returning and has C-USA’s best quarterback in Mason Fine.
There is more curiosity about what UNT’s offense will look like than concern that the Mean Green will take a step back.
Mason Fine is back for his senior year. Obviously he has put up spectacular numbers during his time in Denton, but I must ask, just how much will he mean to this program when his time is done at North Texas?
Fine will go down as one of the best players in program history.
He will own all of UNT’s passing records. More importantly, he played a key role in the program’s rise.
Littrell took over a program that won one game in the season before his arrival and has turned the Mean Green into a C-USA power.
That performance will earn him not only a spot in the UNT Athletic Hall of Fame, but also the rare distinction of being a player associated with a key era in program history.
Outside of Rico Bussey Jr and DeAndre Torrey, who are some skill players that fans should keep an eye on?
UNT has a few other wide receivers and tight ends who will play key roles this fall, including slot receivers Jaelon Darden and Michael Lawrence.
Darden is one of the more physically gifted receivers UNT has due to his speed and quickness. Lawrence is a terrific possession receiver who enters this senior season with 1,268 receiving yards.
UNT also plans to make tight ends a more prominent part of its offense this fall. That change should benefit Kelvin Smith, a senior who has caught 63 passes in his career.
The defense is talented but did lose some key pieces at linebacker and in the secondary. What’s the outlook for 2019?
UNT has recruited well over the last few years and will count on several young players and transfers to fill the voids in its lineup.
The Mean Green lost a pair of linebackers who combined for 189 tackles and both of its starting cornerbacks.
Those players were a big reason UNT allowed 24.2 points per game last season, down from 35.0 last season.
It’s hard to imagine UNT not taking a small step back, but the Mean Green have enough options in terms of young players and transfers to find competent players to plug the holes in its lineup.
La Tech and North Texas have developed a nice rivalry over the past couple of years. Is this a game that fans in Denton are beginning to look forward to every year?
UNT fans are desperate to develop a conference rival outside of UTSA. The Mean Green faithful believe having a rivalry with a school as new to the scene as UTSA is below them, as crazy as that sounds.
UNT views Louisiana Tech as a solid program in the region with a good history that would be a great rival. We all know that Louisiana Tech’s big conference rival is Southern Miss, but that doesn’t mean UNT fans don’t view UNT’s series with the Bulldogs any differently.
The 2019 North Texas Mean season will be a success if…??
Littrell set the goal of winning a bowl game when he arrived at UNT before the 2016 season. The Mean Green have gotten to a bowl game in three straight seasons and lost every time.
There are a host of milestones UNT can reach to make the 2019 season a success, including winning the C-USA title and beating Houston.
Doing either would be huge for UNT, but a bowl win would mean more to the Mean Green than anything.
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