College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the North Texas Mean Green season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– North Texas Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2019 Record: 4-8 overall, 3-5 in C-USA
Head Coach: Seth Littrell, 5th year, 27-25
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 116
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 111
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 82
No one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.
5. College Football News Preview 2020: North Texas Mean Green Offense 3 Things To Know
– The offense that was suppose to be among the nation’s most statistically dangerous never quite got going. New changes at offensive coordinator might be able to do something to boost up an attack that was fine – it finished third in Conference USA – but didn’t do what it was supposed to.
Where has the bar been set for offensive production under head coach Seth Littrell? North Texas was second in the league averaging 283 passing yards per game, and it still wasn’t enough.
CFN in 60 Video: Texas A&M Preview
North Texas at Texas A&M, Sept. 12
– After 19 years as the Mean Green starting quarterback – at least it seemed like it – Mason Fine is finally done. All he did was throw for 12,505 yards and 93 touchdowns in his career, but he was never quite in one piece last season.
Kentucky transfer Amani Gilmore is an interesting option with his running ability, but sophomore Jason Bean and former Arkansas transfer Austin Aune will get the first cracks of the gig after serving as Fine’s backups. Bean was the No. 2 – it’s his job to lose.
They’ll all be without Rico Bussey, the top receiver of 2018 who missed most of last year – he took off for Hawaii. 5-9, 172-pound senior Jaylon Darden is back after leading the way with 76 touchdowns and 12 scores, but he was a midrange target. 6-3 junior Greg White adds some size, and Jason Pirtle is a decent veteran tight end who caught five touchdown passes.
– The offensive line is going to be an early issue. The Mean Green wasn’t great in pass protection and only paved the way for 135 rushing yards per game. Almost everyone needs to be replaced, but 6-1, 292-pound Manase Mose is back at guard – everything else has to work in around him. A slew of JUCO transfers will give it a shot.
The backs are there to do more for a ground game that averaged over four yards per carry, but only came up with 11 scores and 1,623 yards.
5-8, 200-pound scooter Tre Siggers led the way with 853 yards and six scores, and 5-7, 191-pound DeAndre Torrey – who ran for 15 scores in 2018 – was second with 380 yards and two scores.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: North Texas Mean Green Defense 3 Things To Know
4. College Football News Preview 2020: North Texas Mean Green Defense 3 Things To Know
– New defensive coordinator Clint Bowen comes in from Kansas, where his defenses over the last six years were able to take the ball away – at least before last season – but struggled to do a whole lot more on a consistent basis.
Now he gets a D that was 11th in Conference USA overall, struggled against the run, and had a hard time getting off the field.
There’s enough experience returning to potentially be a whole lot better.
– The linebacking duo of KD Davis and Tyreke Davis finished 1-2 on the team in tackles, respectively, combining for 168 stops. They’re not all that big, but they can get around.
Tyreke Davis was one the best in the conference at getting behind the line, and after missing time last year, 238-pound senior Ozougwu should be able to do more from his Jack position.
The line loses all-star LaDarius Hamilton – the team’s top pass rusher – but 6-4, 315-pound senior Dion Novil is back on the nose, and there’s enough experience returning to make up for the other losses on the front three.
– The secondary needs some work after losing three of the team’s top five tacklers. The former group could hit, but it couldn’t pick off passes – North Texas generated just four interceptions.
Senior Cam Johnson is back at one corner, and there’s help from the young parts returning along with Purdue transfer Jordan Rucker. Makyle Sanders – who made 38 tackles – and Keelan Crosby to come through at safety.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Top North Texas Mean Green Players
College Football News Preview 2020: Top North Texas Mean Green Players
Best North Texas Mean Green Offensive Player
WR Jaelon Darden, Sr.
The passing game lost its quarterback, but without Mason Fine, it’ll be up to the good receivers to carry things for a bit.
The 5-9, 172-pound Darden should do his part, coming off a 76-catch, 736-yard, 12-touchdown season. ultra-quick, he can be used as a return man and a runner, but he’s too fast and athletic to average fewer than ten yards per catch again.
2. RB Tre Siggers, Jr.
3. RB DeAndre Torrey, Sr.
4. PK Ethan Mooney, Jr.
5. OG Manase Mose, Jr.
Best North Texas Mean Green Defensive Player
LB Tyreke Davis, Sr.
The Mean Green have a good group of defensive players to build around, but it needs more big playmakers. The 5-10, 209-pound Davis was second on the team with 80 tackles from his spot in the middle, but he was at his most dangerous getting into the backfield with 4.5 sacks, a team-high 14 tackles for loss, and with seven quarterback hurries.
2. LB KD Davis, Jr.
3. DT Dion Novil, Sr.
4. LB Joseph Ozougwu, Sr.
5. CB Cam Johnson, Sr.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: North Texas Mean Green Keys To The Season
College Football News Preview 2020: North Texas Mean Green Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The North Texas Mean Green Offense
Start running the ball more. That hasn’t been a big part of the North Texas mindset in the Seth Littrell era – the passing game has been too good to not use as the main mode of transportation – but with a change at quarterback and with so many other tweaks, it’s time to use the running backs.
Tre Siggers and DeAndre Torrey are very good, very productive backs who can carry the offense and ease in the new quarterback and offensive coordinators. Get them going, get the offense to 160 rushing yards, and good things happen.
The 2018 offense ran for 160 yards five times, and won all five games. The 2019 attack only hit the mark twice, and it one once, and lost to SMU.
Under Littrell, North Texas is 16-1 when it gets those 160 yards.
Biggest Key To The North Texas Mean Green Defense
Start taking the ball aways. The Kansas defense only came up with eight takeaways last year and eight in 2017, but it generated 27 in 2018 and 22 in 2016.
Clint Bowen had a big hand in the KU defense in all four seasons, and now he has to get the Mean Green D to be more like the last few Kansas even years.
The 2018 North Texas defense was fantastic at forcing mistakes, coming up with 22 takeaways. The 16 in 2017 weren’t bad, and the 22 in 2016 were great.
The 13 from last year’s defense were the fewest in Conference USA and 115th in the nation.
There were two interceptions in the win over UTSA. and just two in the other 11 games. There were two fumble recoveries against the Roadrunner, two against Rice, and five against everyone else.
Get to 20 takeaways, and the program rebounds in a hurry.
Key North Texas Mean Green Player To A Successful Season
QB Jason Bean, Soph.
Is Bean ready to take over for a star?
Mason Fine was the North Texas offense over the last four years, and even though he was down and banged up last year, he was a Second Team All-Conference USA performance.
The 6-3, 189-pound Bean adds more of a rushing threat than Fine did, and he has a little bit of experience completing 22-of-35 passes for 176 yards and three scores with three picks last season.
The running game can add a little more help, but if Bean is ready to keep the passing game going, North Texas should bounce back in a hurry.
Key Game To The North Texas Mean Green Season
Southern Miss, Oct. 3
After a down year that was never able to turn around, the 45-27 loss at Southern Miss was one of the rougher performances.
The Louisiana Tech game is at home, and going to UAB will be important, but the home game against USM is the one that has to kickstart the improved year. UNT won three straight in the series before last season.
– North Texas Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 North Texas Fun Stats
– Rushing TDs: Opponents 31 – North Texas 11
– Passing TDs: North Texas 33 – Opponents 14
– Time of Possession: Opponents 31:52 – North Texas 28:08
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: North Texas Mean Green Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
1. College Football News Preview 2020: North Texas Mean Green Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
Was 2019 just a blip, or did the 4-8 run signal a slide as the Seth Littrell era rolls on?
Littrell got the program to a bowl game in his first three seasons, but as soon as the offense stopped putting huge numbers and points on a regular basis, the losses started to mount.
On the plus side, there were a whole slew of injuries and inconsistencies, and four of the losses were by a touchdown or less and were very, very winnable. It’s not fair to do this, but if just two of those flipped the other way, the team is 6-6, off to a bowl, and the season was a mere dip.
Set The North Texas Mean Green Regular Season Win Total At … 6.5
Bet at BetMGM Win Total Line: 5.5
This year’s team needs the offensive line to crank up quickly, the quarterback situation has to be settled, and the defense has to be better and more consistent, but this is still a good enough program to expect nothing less than a bowl season.
Houston Baptist, Charlotte, at UTEP, Rice, at UTSA. Not all of those are layups like they were in past seasons, but winning at least four of those is a must.
Putt off a victory at home over a Louisiana Tech or Southern Miss, and pull off an upset somewhere on the road like at Middle Tennessee or UAB, and getting to six or seven wins shouldn’t be a problem.
At least, getting there had better not be a problem, or else the 2019 drop really wasn’t an aberration.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Schedule Analysis
