University of North Texas Athletics
Green Gang: One Of The Toughest To Stomach
10/11/2009 12:00:00 AM | Return to Play
By Steven Bartolotta, October 11, 2009, 6:32 a.m.
They don't come any harder than that ladies and gentleman. The Mean Green's wounds are going to take some time to heal after dropping arguable the toughest game in five seasons, maybe longer. The last-second loss to Louisiana-Lafayette will represent setbacks for some, doom for some, or panic for others.
For me I'm taking away two things from this game. One, North Texas again has only itself to blame for this loss. Two, Todd Dodge and this program are not light years away from turning this program around; they are sitting on the lip of the cup.
To dissect this one it doesn't take a football guru. The three big mistakes of the night, the pick six by Riley, the penalty on the fake punt, and the penalty on the 4th down call to keep the Cajuns drive alive is where this game was decided. Cry and moan all you want fans, I've already done so myself about whether or not a penalty should have been called or not, but the bottom line is North Texas put itself in that situation for a call like that to happen.
Those plays are going to overshadow the best rushing performance since the great Jamario Thomas year of 2004 by Lance Dunbar. His four TD's and near 200-yard performance got North Texas back in the game but also put it in a position to win it.
The common denominator about those plays are that North Texas is the one that self destructed. After getting down 24-10, it appeared as if Louisiana-Lafayette might run away. 24 straight points later North Texas were the one's on the verge of running away from the Cajuns.
But the same demons that haunted North Texas against Ohio and Middle Tennessee snuck up on the Mean Green at the worst times. Penalties, and not just penalties, the timing of them is the hardest part. No face-mask on K.C. Obi on the fake punt, the drive is stopped and the game is probably over. Hard to fault Obi though, he read the play, made a play, but made a mistake that overshadowed it.
The pick six on Riley, just a case of the Cajun defender jumping the route. Hard to stomach at times, but he is still learning out there. Instead of coming completely unglued, Dodge rebounded and actually showed played well after the back-to-back picks.
The penalty on Kylie Hill on 4th down? Tough call no matter how you look at it, but the Mean Green had a chance to put the game away before it came to that.
For Coach Dodge and company.....what can you say? The frustration has to be unbearable at times if you replay that game in your head. But progress is measured in only one way in football, wins. Without wins, the talk about improvement is nothing more than window-dressing for some.
With this team, it isn't. Through five games, this team has losses to a 4-2 Ohio team in double OT, a 3-2 ULL team at the gun, and a 3-2 MTSU team that should be near the top of the league (I'm not counting Bama). In each game you have things that make you feel really good about this team. And others will make you wish you were on board the NASA mission to bomb the moon.
Sometimes you can make your own bounces, sometimes you can't. Right now this North Texas team seems to be on the wrong end of that stick and can only look to itself for the answers.
