Spring practices are in the books and
fall camps will be here before you know it so that means
getting an early jump on the 2006 NCAA football season.
Knowing the teams now will save you time in August and Matt
Fargo is here to help you get a grasp of what to expect this
upcoming year. We go from worst to first in this 2006
College Football Preview.
Fargo’s Take Last year was a tough pill to swallow for the
Mean Green faithful as it went from being the four-time
defending Sun Belt champion to finishing in last place in
the conference with a 2-5 record. Total offense and total
defense were equally as bad but things should definitely be
better in 2006. The running game is healthy and a defensive
switch to the 3-4 will improve its horrid rushing defense
from last season. Everything will depend however on the play
of the quarterback and the bad news is that there is no set
starter in place yet. Of its five conference losses in 2005,
three were by a field goal, another by four points and the
last by a touchdown. It shows that while competitive, it
didn’t have what it takes to win those close games and that
comes back to the quarterback. Things can only get better
for North Texas as it should use last season as a learning
experience and go from there.
Returning Starters on Offense – 9The running game
was a huge disappointment last season as the offense had not
only one but two former national rushing champions with
Patrick Cobbs and Jamario Thomas. Cobbs is gone but Thomas
is back and he is back healthy as hamstring problems limited
him to only 361 yards last season. In order for the offense
to prosper, the running game needs to regain its 2004 form
because the quarterback situation is not getting any better.
Daniel Meager started all 11 games last season but threw for
only 941 yards and four touchdowns. Another sophomore, Matt
Phillips, will be pushing him for the starting nod. The
receivers are some of the best in the conference but it
won’t matter much if no one can get them the ball which is a
big reason we won't be taking them too many times with our
college football
picks.
Returning Starters on Defense – 6While the offense
couldn’t run last year, the defense couldn’t stop the run as
it allowed 220.9 ypg which ranked 114th in the nation. The
linebackers are the strength of the defense this season so
those rushing numbers should decrease as long as a
formidable defensive line is put into place. The new scheme
alone should knock a good chunk of those yards off. In the
defensive backfield, things could be a little dicey. Teams
didn’t need to throw much on the Mean Green last season for
obvious reasons but that could change this year and with an
unproven and extremely young secondary, we could see a
reversal of what occurred last year. Overall, the defense
isn’t going to improve that much.
Schedule The three top teams in the Sun Belt from last
season all host North Texas and that is discouraging news
for the Mean Green. They do however get Middle Tennessee,
Florida International and Florida Atlantic at home to make
up for it. This team never shies away from a tough
non-conference slate and that is the case again this season
with games at Texas, Tulsa and Akron. The last two might not
look intimidating but both should win their respective
divisions within their conferences. Home games against SMU
and Louisiana Tech round out the non-conference schedule.
You can bet on… North Texas will try and re-establish itself
as one of the best running teams in the country simply
because it has no other choice. Run and you win, if you
don’t you lose plain and simple. If the young quarterback(s)
can take a big step this year, North Texas can win the SBC
but that is a big if and that is why this is still a middle
of the conference team. Fouts Field used to be an
intimidating place but a 0-5 SU record and 1-4 ATS mark last
year took away a lot of luster. Thus, we could see some
small numbers in home games once again but possibly see the
results reversed this season if they can rediscover the
formula for winning.
