College football’s preseason bottom 10 of 2010: #7 North Texas

With the exception of the University of Southern California, success on the gridiron has been damn near unattainable for directional schools. If you think of Michigan, you think of a school steeped in football tradition. Now put an “Eastern,” “Central” or “Western” ahead of the word Michigan. Suddenly you’re not conjuring up images of gridiron glory.

Sure, East Carolina wins a bowl every now and then, while Central Florida and South Florida are by no means pushovers.  But most other directional schools aren’t even big enough players to be on the FBS level. And hell, even in the FCS, schools like Eastern Kentucky, Southern Utah, Western Carolina and Southeast Missouri State aren’t exactly burning it up.

Which brings me to North Texas, a team mired in a period of mediocrity that’s become the hallmark of most directional schools.  Since Darrell Dickey directed the Mean Green to back-to-back Sun Belt titles in 2003 and 2004, the bottom has pretty much fallen out on the program. Since that last league title, North Texas is 10-49. YOWZA.

There was a glimmer of hope back in 2007 when current Mean Green coach Todd Dodge convinced his son Riley to come play football for him.  At perennial Texas high school superpower Southlake Carroll, Riley was the state’s most decorated quarterback recruit that year. But injuries during his North Texas career have not only eroded his arm, but to a large part the hopes of the school’s fan base.

With Riley being shifted over to wide receiver, the quarterback job is now in the hands of senior Nathan Tune.  He appeared in seven games last season and didn’t put up horrible numbers, completing 64.5% of his passes while only throwing two picks.  However, if the offense sputters, sophomore Derek Thompson might get the call. Unfortunately for the Mean Green, neither one possesses the younger Dodge’s dual threat ability.

That will put a crimp into the play calling ability of new offensive coordiator Mike Canales.  Hell, North Texas can only hand it off to Lance Dunbar so many times.  The junior ran for nearly 1,400 yards and 17 TD’s last season. However, without a true running threat at quarterback to give opposing defenses more to think about, Dunbar’s effectiveness could be undermined this season.

Most of UNT’s problems will be on defense, where a bend-but-don’t-break philosophy hasn’t yielded much success.  The Mean Green front seven was damn near passive last year, only registering 12 sacks and yielding nearly 6 yards a carry to the opposition. Coach Dodge is hoping an influx of eight junior college signees on the defensive side of the ball might generate immediate results.

Why North Texas is in the bottom 10: The question marks at quarterback are a huge concern, but the inability of the defense to make big plays is the more pressing problem. Also, three of the first four games this season are on the road. Under Dodge, North Texas is 2-17 in away games.

How North Texas can avoid the bottom 10: While three of those first four are away from home, two of them are against teams (Army and Florida Atlantic) that aren’t much better than North Texas.  The home opener is against Rice, which is another team that will by no means line up with vastly superior athletes. If the Mean Green steal a couple early, a 5-win campaign isn’t outside the realm of possibility.

Preseason bottom 10 of 2010: #8 New Mexico

Preseason bottom 10 of 2010: #9 Washington State

Preseason bottom 10 of 2010: #10 UL Monroe