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Brett Vito: Mean Green still making parity absent

07:19 AM CDT on Monday, October 11, 2004


Utah State coach Mick Dennehy sounded like he had been run through a wringer after the Aggies took on North Texas on Saturday night.

For the second straight year, Dennehy and the Aggies thought they had the Mean Green on the ropes, only to see UNT pull away for a win.

"I’ve been in a lot of tough ones, but this is about as tough of one as I have ever been a part of," Dennehy said after the Mean Green rallied to beat the Aggies 31-23 in Logan. "I feel horrible for the kids; they fought their hearts out. I thought we lost some critical guys and that hurt us a ton."

The sentiment is understandable for Dennehy and the rest of the coaches and players in the Sun Belt Conference who have seen UNT coach Darrell Dickey and his players repeatedly find a way to beat them every week for four years.

The Mean Green have won 20 straight games in conference play, and, after a slow start, don’t seem to plan on letting up any time soon.

That streak has inspired a speech that is so often uttered after UNT games that it might as well be taped and replayed every week.

It’s the one where coaches in the league talk all about how UNT isn’t really all that much better than anyone else. That parity dominates the league. That on any given Saturday anyone can beat anyone else.

It’s a nice theory until one gets down to the reality that parity is just the party line. For the league to have true parity, someone is going to have to beat North Texas.

At this point I don’t think anyone should hold their breath waiting.

The story before the beginning of conference play, according to the league’s coaches, was that everyone in the conference is getting better. True enough. But when league play started, UNT seemed to get better too, which is one reason the Mean Green keep right on rolling.

UNT played one of its best games of the season defensively against the Aggies on the road and maintained their impressive offensive pace of the last few weeks.

As a result, UNT sits atop the Sun Belt standings with a 2-0 record. Everyone else has at least one loss, including Troy, a team that appeared to be the Mean Green’s chief rival for the Sun Belt title and a berth in the New Orleans Bowl when the season started.

UNT is back in control of the league race again and appears to be hitting its stride at the right time. The Mean Green made a series of key defensive plays against Utah State, including a 100-yard fumble return by defensive back T.J. Covington.

UNT also picked off four passes.

It turned out to be just enough to hold off a Utah State team that was fighting to hang onto its last thread of hope of making a run at the Sun Belt title.

Some will point to the close games UNT has played against Middle Tennessee and Utah State the first two weeks of the Sun Belt season as a sign of weakness in the Mean Green.

UNT has shown a habit of playing close games at times during its winning streak, but that is going to happen during a four-year winning streak.

Fortunately for the Mean Green, close doesn’t count in football, even when it comes to making hollow claims of a parity parade in the Sun Belt. Football is about winning, and that is just what UNT has done over and over again the last few years.

The Mean Green appeared as if they would be vulnerable this season, especially after struggling in non-conference play. Those doubts seem to be fading as a team that has undergone critical changes – both planned and unexpected – has found itself.

Running back Jamario Thomas has filled in for injured starter Patrick Cobbs and has already rushed for 739 yards, more than any freshman in the history of UNT football.

Covington has made key defensive plays in each of the last two weeks and appears to be developing into the defensive standout UNT’s coaches anticipated he would be when they signed him out of Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College.

UNT’s young starting linebackers combined 19 tackles in a second consecutive solid performance.

That proved to be enough for the Mean Green to pull out another win, extend their Sun Belt streak and cause another round of backhanded compliments.

"They are the one team in our league that competes and does a good job of not making any mistakes that would absolutely kill them," Dennehy said. "Therefore, you can not kill yourself against North Texas. That is why they win."

Actually, there is a little more to it than that. UNT seems to improve its talent level on a yearly basis thanks to success on the field that has impacted recruiting. And those players do what it takes to win, whether it is a making key play here or there to pull out a close game or scoring an avalanche of points make a point. The Mean Green followed that course last year in a 58-14 win over Arkansas State after the team’s players and coaches questioned UNT’s dominance of the league.

So far this season, UNT has made the key plays and pulled out a pair of close wins.

When it comes right down to it those victories are what matters – in the standings and as a reminder of which program is the dominant squad in the Sun Belt.

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870.
10-11-2004 09:32 AM
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