Welcome to the weekly college wrap-up at Dave Campbell’s Texas Football. This is your one stop to quickly get up to date with all the FBS happenings in the state Texas from Week 1.
The Mean Green have arrived
UNT had national expectations heading into 2018 for the first time in a long time. There were plenty of questions – including from me – about whether it would be a distraction
Consider that test passed with flying colors.
North Texas absolutely demolished SMU in one of the biggest games in the history of the program. The 46-23 final score wasn’t remotely indicative of how dominant the Mean Green were against their cross-Metroplex rival.
SMU mustered just 46(!) offensive yards through three quarters, and scored zero points. All 23 of its points came in garbage time, when many of UNT’s starters were already out of the game. It was an embarrassing display in new coach Sonny Dykes’ first game at SMU.
North Texas quarterback Mason Fine made his All-America case with a blistering performance. He completed 40-of-50 passes for 444 yards, 3 touchdowns and zero turnovers. His numbers could have been better, but Seth Littrell pulled Fine early in the fourth quarter.
Remember, SMU has historically been a much more successful program than UNT. The Mustangs were a cool 31-5-1 against UNT heading into the matchup on Saturday in Denton. They also play in the American Athletic Conference, which is considered by most to be a step above Conference-USA.
UNT couldn’t care less. They wiped the floor with SMU in every aspect of the game.
The timing couldn’t have been better. Conference-USA favorite FAU and headline-grabbing coach Lane Kiffin faced Oklahoma in its opener. The Owls were obliterated 63-14, and struggled to get anything going against a young Sooner defense.
UNT was a fairly large step behind FAU last season. That may no longer be the case. And if the Owls have taken a step back, the Mean Green suddenly might have a real chance to win the conference this season – and maybe more.
Look at the schedule. There are two games that seem especially concerning: vs. FAU and at Arkansas. If Saturday’s record crowd of 29,519 at Apogee Stadium is any indication, the FAU game should be raucous. Beating Arkansas will be harder.
This is still a program that has two 10-win seasons in history, and only one at what is now the FBS level. The expectations are still there, but killing SMU is a great way to start.
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