I am a little nervous about a major letdown from WKU this week. We really owe UNT a major ass-thumping for the last 2 seasons but not sure if we will show up. It is our HC and the Green would like nothing more than to spoil the mood by handing us ANOTHER defeat. I am being HOPEFUL for a WKU victory 24-21 in a nasty ugly game.

Who ya got?

(10-28-2010 10:01 AM)WKULooseCannon90 Wrote:  I am a little nervous about a major letdown from WKU this week. We really owe UNT a major ass-thumping for the last 2 seasons but not sure if we will show up. It is our HC and the Green would like nothing more than to spoil the mood by handing us ANOTHER defeat. I am being HOPEFUL for a WKU victory 24-21 in a nasty ugly game.

Who ya got?

WKU goes for two...

when i think of a wku-unt 'battle' it makes me think of a skinny @ssed wide receiver and a 5'8 cornerback having a slapfight 40 yards away from the action of the play.

it has no impact on the play.....

but those two coños is goin' at it......lol.

Who gets the start at QB for UNT this week? I'm trying to figure out my lineup for my All Sun Belt fantasy league. Ryan Aplin is on a bye, so my choices are Chase Baine or Brad McGuire . Riley Dodge is a WR in CBS leagues.

(10-28-2010 12:03 PM)USACoN2012 Wrote:  Who gets the start at QB for UNT this week? I'm trying to figure out my lineup for my All Sun Belt fantasy league. Ryan Aplin is on a bye, so my choices are Chase Baine or Brad McGuire . Riley Dodge is a WR in CBS leagues.

Actually Riley may start at QB this week.:odie:

Yeah, this is a hard one to call.

Has the dam broken for WKU now? Will WKU go back to sucking?

Will UNT be broken after the firing of thier coach? Will they be looking to vindicate him? Will they feel like a lot of pressure has been lifted since they don't have to fight for his job any more? Will the return of Riley make a big improvement? Will he be rusty?

Lots of variables here.

The Sports Network Preview

North Texas (1-6) at Western Kentucky (1-6)

DATE & TIME: Saturday, October 30th, 3:00 p.m. (et)

FACTS & STATS: Site: L.T. Smith Stadium (22,113) -- Bowling Green, Kentucky. Television: None. Home Record: UNT 0-4, WKU 0-2. Away Record: UNT 1-2, WKU 1-4. Neutral Record: UNT 0-0, WKU 0-0. Conference Record: UNT 1-3, WKU 1-2. Series Record: North Texas leads, 3-0.

GAME NOTES: The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers return home after snapping the nation's longest losing streak last week, as they play host to the Mean Green of North Texas in a Sun Belt Conference showdown at L.T. Smith Stadium.

North Texas comes in looking to put an end to its second three-game skid of the season, as the Mean Green fell in a 34-10 decision at home to FIU on October 16th.

Western Kentucky avoided its 27th consecutive loss last week as the Hilltoppers finally ended the nation's longest run of futility with a 54-21 triumph over league foe Louisiana.

The Mean Green has handled Western Kentucky in all three previous meetings between the teams, the most recent being a 68-49 triumph on Halloween last year.

North Texas has been in turmoil all season due to the revolving door at quarterback, as three different signal-callers have fallen prey to the injury bug. Chase Blaine started his first game at the position in the recent loss to FIU. Blaine connected on 13 of his 28 pass attempts, good enough for 142 yards while being sacked four times. Running back Lance Dunbar remains the lone standout weapon on the Mean Green offense as he averages 97 yards per contest on 4.3 yards per carry, and he has scored three touchdowns this season.

The Mean Green have started slowly in most games this season, allowing 58 total points in the first quarter, more than any other quarter. North Texas has given up 108 points in the first half, while allowing its opponents to put up just 50 points after the break. In the recent defeat to FIU, everything followed suit as the Mean Green allowed 27 first-half points, including 17 in the opening quarter, while only giving up seven points the remainder of the way. Overall, opponents score 26.7 points while amassing 357.7 yards per clash.

In the 54-21 victory over Louisiana, Western Kentucky quarterback Kawaun Jakes completed 18-of-22 passes for a season-high 262 yards. Jakes also rushed for 28 yards, and scored on a pair of one-yard touchdown dashes. Junior running back Bobby Rainey still paces the way for all rushers in the Sun Belt Conference, leading the way as he averages 119.7 yards per game, ranking 11th in the nation. Rainey gains 4.8 yards per carry and has reached the end zone seven times this season while sitting just 162 yards away from his first 1,000-yard rushing campaign.

The WKU defense has allowed an average of 36.9 points and 400 yards of total offense per contest. The run defense is still the glaring issue as opponents churn out more than 183 yards on the ground each time out. Western Kentucky has given up an embarrassing 24 rushing touchdowns in seven games, two of which came in last week's win over Louisiana. However, the Hilltoppers improved tremendously in that victory, allowing the Ragin' Cajuns a mere 96 rushing yards on the day.

This matchup looks to be a rather high-scoring affair as both defenses have struggled all season. Look for the Hilltoppers to gain their second straight win and first ever victory over North Texas behind a big day from Rainey.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Western Kentucky 45, North Texas 34

10/27 10:38:26 ET

Man this is a tough one to call, but I think WKU continues their winning ways!

Anxious to snap our home losing streak....Only natural for a letdown after everyone has patted the back of our players all week....Should be another wild game as we seem to always have crazy games against UNT....

WKU 34

UNT 32

gotta take WKU in this one.. they play hard. back to back wins for the toppers?... who knew?

:towel:

North Texas at Western Kentucky, 2 p.m. – Houchens-Smith Stadium
This has easily been the most entertaining series for WKU football since the 2007 transition.

2007 in Denton: WKU takes a 20-7 lead before halftime and proceeds to do “the bomb” in the endzone. UNT storms all the way back in a driving rain monsoon in the 2nd half behind Jamario Thomas, eventually going up 27-26. WKU has one last chance, but standout kicker Chris James pushes a 38-yarder to the right – resulting in the entire Mean Green team to circle at mid-field and do their rendition of “the bomb,” beginning a shoving match between both sides after the final horn blew.

2008 in Bowling Green: WKU comes all the way back from a 31-14 second-half deficit to take a 40-39 edge with under five minutes to play on homecoming. The Hilltoppers then ACTUALLY get the ball back with a chance to eat clock, but former WKU quarterback David Wolke gets picked, the Mean Green return it to the WKU 19 and eventually strike again to take a 45-40 lead with 2:27 to play. Wolke wasn’t done, however, as he uses a huge kick return by Stephen Willis to get WKU all the way down to the UNT one-yard line with 14 seconds remaining.

Former coach David Elson and former offensive coordinator Kevin Wright opt not to put Wolke under center, the quarterback takes a shotgun snap, attempts a play-action fake, gets blasted by an unblocked UNT blitzer and throws an interception to Mean Green linebacker Tobe Nwigwe that was returned 97 yards for a touchdown on the game’s final play. Elson would later say the call was “100 percent on him,” as WKU would lose 51-40.

2009 in Denton: Maybe the most ridiculous in all of these three – WKU needed just one stop defensively, just one.

But it never came.

The Hilltoppers and Mean Green combined for 1,008 yards, five ties and 16 touchdowns in a game that would make the creators of Tecmo Bowl blush.

WKU held a 35-21 first-half lead in this one, but like the other two meetings, wouldn’t hang on.

North Texas would go on to outscore WKU 47-14 the rest of the way to win 68-49.

The lasting image for me was the fact that UNT very well could have broken the 70-point mark in this one, but quarterback Riley Dodge eventually lined up in the ‘victory formation’ deep in WKU territory.

And true to form in this crazy, wild rivalry – he did so out of the shotgun.

2010 in Bowling Green: ????

– If I was going to get to one game at home this season, this one might be it. It’s Halloween, it’s North Texas, God only knows what might happen.

Give me the Toppers minus the points.

WKU, 34-17.

Unless UNT can effectively unleash Dunbar and the running game, I can't see the Mean Green pulling this one out. We do have a couple of starters coming off the injured list but who knows how effective they will be.

But.....................being the UNT homer that I am, I predict UNT 35, WKU 21.