Football: SBC football now a 4-team race

Mean Green riding 20-game conference winning streak


08:36 AM CDT on Tuesday, October 19, 2004


By Brett Vito / Staff Writer




The race for the Sun Belt Conference football title appears to be down to a four-team contest, one that will take a dramatic turn this weekend when North Texas takes on New Mexico State at Fouts Field.

UNT (2-4, 2-0) is the last unbeaten team in the Sun Belt, while New Mexico State and Arkansas State are both 2-1. Louisiana-Monroe is also lurking in the middle of the league standings with a 1-1 record.

The consensus among the league’s coaches is that two losses all but eliminate a team from contention for the league title and a berth in the New Orleans Bowl. UNT has gone unbeaten in Sun Belt Conference play the last two years and earned its first of three consecutive New Orleans Bowl berths with a 5-1 record in 2001.

"There is no doubt this is a must-win situation for us," Louisiana-Monroe coach Charlie Weatherbie said of the Indians’ game against Florida Atlantic in a designated conference game this week. "I don’t see the conference champion having two losses."

Two losses serving as the unofficial elimination point for teams in the Sun Belt is not a surprise, despite the fact the league expanded with the addition of Troy this season. What has been a shock is the list of teams that are already all but out of the conference race. Troy was picked to finish second in the Sun Belt’s preseason poll and turned heads with upset wins over Missouri and Marshall early on.

The Trojans (3-3, 1-2) failed to maintain their momentum in Sun Belt play and lost to Arkansas State, 13-9, last week in what appeared to be an elimination game in the conference race.

"We are not ready to throw in the towel, but we have put ourselves in bad position," Troy coach Larry Blakeney said.

UNT has been able to avoid a similar fate by building the nation’s second-longest conference winning streak at 20 games. Only Boise State’s 21-game winning streak in the WAC is longer.

UNT’s streak has put the Mean Green in position to grab a fourth straight Sun Belt title in the closing weeks of the season.

"We try not to get caught up in the standings too much," UNT coach Darrell Dickey said. "Everyone is still in the race. The league is more competitive this year. You have to be at your best every week to win."

UNT handling the ball in Sun Belt

One of the reasons UNT has gotten off to a quick start in Sun Belt Conference play has been its ability to take care of the ball over the first two weeks of the league season.

UNT has turned the ball over just twice on fumbles, while forcing nine turnovers. The Mean Green lead the Sun Belt with a plus-7 turnover ratio.

"Turnovers have been very important for us," Dickey said. "Part of what hurt us early in the year was turning the ball over on our end of the field. We didn’t get the ball much on our opponent’s side of the 50 and turned the ball over in our end of the field. As we have gained confidence we have turned the ball over less and forced more turnovers."

Some of those turnovers have come at key times. Linebacker Phillip Graves intercepted a pass in UNT territory to stop a Utah State drive in UNT’s last game. The Mean Green were trailing 13-3 in the second quarter when Graves came up with the diving interception.

UNT took over and drove 71 yards in five plays for a touchdown that helped the Mean Green rally for a 31-23 win.

Defensive back T.J. Covington intercepted a pass from Middle Tennessee quarterback Clint Marks in the end zone in the final minute of UNT’s conference opener. The turnover sealed the Mean Green’s 30-21 win.

"Those plays build confidence," Dickey said. "The four interceptions we had last week came at a time when we needed them. We didn’t take advantage of all of them, but they were important plays."

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870.