North Texas 2012 Recruiting

2012 North Texas Mean Green ... Head Coach: Dan McCarney

North Texas Mean Green

2011 Record: 4-7

Sep. 1 at FIU L 41-16
Sep. 10 Houston L 48-23
Sep. 17 at Alabama L 41-0
Sep. 24 Indiana W 24-21
Oct. 1 at Tulsa L 41-24
Oct. 8 Florida Atlantic W 31-17
Oct. 15 at Louisiana L 30-10
Oct. 22 ULM W 38-21
Oct. 29 at Arkansas St L 37-14
Nov. 5 OPEN DATE
Nov. 12 at Troy W 38-33
Nov. 19 WKU L 31-21
Nov. 26 OPEN DATE
Dec. 3 Middle Tenn.

2010 CFN Prediction: 3-9
2010 Record: 3-9

Sept. 4 at Clemson L 35-10
Sept. 11 Rice L 32-31
Sept. 18 at Army L 24-0
Sept. 25 at Fla Atlantic W 21-17
Oct. 2 Louisiana L 28-27
Oct. 9 Arkansas St L 24-19
Oct. 16 FIU L 34-10
Oct. 23 OPEN DATE
Oct. 30 at WKU W 33-6
Nov. 6 Troy L 41-35
Nov. 13 at MTSU W 23-17
Nov. 20 at ULM L 49-37
Nov. 27 Kansas St L 49-41
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The Entire 2012 Recruiting Class

Top 5 North Texas Recruits To Care About
Player writeups by Scout.com

1. CB David Busby
5-11, 179, Scout.com 116th ranked, three-star corner. Busby finished his junior season with 105 tackles and seven interceptions. He says he can bench 245-pounds, squat 335 and has a 32-inch vertical jump.

2. QB Andrew McNulty
6-2, 190, Scout.com 126th ranked, two-star quarterback.

3. CB D.Q. Johnson
5-11, 185, Scout.com two-star JUCO transfer.

4. OG Boone Feldt
6-3, 275, Scout.com 118th ranked, two-star guard.

5. DT Dylan McDorman
6-2, 290, Scout.com 140th ranked, two-star defensive tackle.

The 2012 Class Was Heavy On... The defensive front. Dan McCarney is a defensive coach by nature, and while his group made strides last year, now he wants to improve for the next few years especially at tackle. This will be a class based on variety with a sprinkling of bodies for all spots except for linebacker, which will be the focus in 2013.

Team Concerns For 2012: The secondary needs to replace three starters, but former head coach Todd Dodge saw this coming and brought in loads of defensive backs over the last few classes. The JUCO ranks were hit hard a few years ago, and those players are gone meaning last year’s class has to play a big role. Finding a running back to take over for Lance Dunbar, who carried the offense, is a must.

Looking Ahead To The 2012 Season: Dan McCarney is one of the Sun Belt’s better coaches, and he showed why by starting to revive the program last year. He’ll have to go on without RB Lance Dunbar to work everything around, and little-used reserve Brandin Byrd has to prove he can handle the work. Derek Thompson is a big passer who should be better with a decent receiving corps returning. The defense made a little bit of improvement, and it should make great strides up front with six starters back in the front seven. However, all four starters are gone from the secondary.

The 2011 Class Is Heavy On … Defensive backs. Dan McCarney likes linemen and wants to load up on the offensive front, but with little time to work, he didn’t do much of anything for the lines. There’s no star power whatsoever in this group, and for the second straight season the program has gone strongest in the secondary with corner Freddie Warner the best of the bunch and Kerry Swarn a long, tall safety with good upside. There isn’t much immediate help from the JUCO ranks.

2010 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 117. That Class Was Heavy On ... Defensive backs. North Texas hasn't played defense in several years, and while the team is still growing and still needs big seasons out of previous classes, head coach Todd Dodge is looking for a big impact from the JUCO ranks with safeties Jamison Hughes and Ryan Dowling and corners Steven Ford, D'Leon McCord and DeAndre Wood to all see time immediately.

2009 CFN Recruiting Ranking: 118. That Class Was Heavy On ... Receivers. If you’re going to run the offense head coach Todd Dodge wants to run, you need targets. The Mean Green passing game got an influx of receivers with two JUCO transfers for right now in Jamaal Jackson and Mike Outlaw, while freshman Daniel Mayberry might be the most talented of the lot.

Nov. 19 Western Kentucky 31 … at North Texas 21

Nov. 12 North Texas 38 … at Troy 33

Oct. 29 at Arkansas State 37 … North Texas 14  

Oct. 22 at North Texas 38 … ULM 21  
 
Oct. 15 at Louisiana-Lafayette 30 … North Texas 10
CFN Analysis: The Mean Green got up early with ten points in the first quarter, and then the offense fell flat the rest of the way. There’s no passing game with Derek Thompson and Andrew McNulty combining for 144 yards on just 14 of 25 passes, and that allowed ULL to load up against the run to stop Lance Dunbar and keep him to 53 yards and an early score. With the defense not coming up with enough stops, even with a decent pass rush, if Dunbar isn’t rolling, the Mean Green attack isn’t going to go anywhere against ULM or Arkansas State. 

Oct. 8 at North Texas 31 … Florida Atlantic 17
CFN Analysis: Amazingly, North Texas was able to come away with the win over the Owls without Lance Dunbar going nuts. The 24 third quarter points came from a defense that forced big play after big play and ended up with four takeaways. Zachary Orr was a monster making 12 tackles with two sacks, while Royce Hill was terrific with four broken up passes, four tackles, and a pick. The play of the defense masked an offense that didn’t work, but no matter how it happened, UNT has won two of its last three games going into a huge game at Louisiana-Lafayette. The O line is playing well enough to keep the hot Ragin’ Cajun D line from dominating.  

Oct. 1 at Tulsa 41 … North Texas 24
CFN Analysis: The momentum of the Indiana win is long gone. Andrew McNulty and Brent Osborn did what they could in place of the injured Derek Thompson, and Lance Dunbar was a workhorse with 127 yards and a score on 40 carries, but the big mistakes – the two interceptions for scores – were too much to overcome. The offense held on to the ball for close to 41 minutes, and the defense came up with some nice plays behind the line, but the UNT offense had to press too much. The Florida Atlantic game will be a real test. At home, the Mean Green has to overcome the injury issues in the backfield and the defense needs to be stronger from the start. The more pressure and the better the pass rush, the more the Owls will buckle. 

Sept. 24 at North Texas 24 … Indiana 21
CFN Analysis: North Texas had the best player on the field and it started to get him the ball on a regular basis to finally get a win. Lance Dunbar got the offense out of the doldrums with 127 rushing yards and seven catches for 152 yards including an 83-yard score, and now the Mean Green has finally gotten the Dan McCarney era off and running. The defense stuffed the awful IU offense, with Brandon Apunku leading the way with seven tackles and two sacks, and the pressure has to continue. With Tulsa up next, the offense has to keep getting the ball in Dunbar’s hands, and the secondary has to tighten up just a wee bit to have a chance.  

Sept. 17 at Alabama 41 .. North Texas 0
CFN Analysis: Alabama stuffs everyone, and this is hardly a good test for the rebuilding attempt. Lance Dunbar has yet to do anything this year, and his season wasn’t going to start against the Tide defense gaining 16 yards on 17 attempts, and now it’s time to get him going. On the plus side, Will Atterberry had a nice game punting the ball, averaging 44.3 yards per try, but he’s getting way too many chances. Indiana should be more UNT’s own size, but it’s going to be a few games – the date with Florida Atlantic on October 8th – before there’s a real shot at a win. The key is to keep getting better, and it starts with a defense that ranked last in the nation in yards allowed. 

Sept. 10 Houston 48 … at North Texas 23
CFN Analysis: North Texas has to get the ground game moving and Lance Dunbar has to find room to move. The Mean Green secondary was torched by Houston, but Case Keenum will rip up everyone. UNT hasn’t generated a pass rush and hasn’t gotten enough from the passing game to make up for the lack of problems up front, with Dunbar not getting any room and only rumbling for 62 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. And now comes Alabama. The running game is only averaging 107 yards as is, and it might be asking for too much to get positive yards against the Tide brick wall. (AP) DENTON, Texas -- Case Keenum threw for 398 yards with five touchdowns, three in a nine-minute span of the third quarter when the Houston Cougars finally broke away in a 48-23 victory Saturday night to spoil North Texas' first game in its new stadium. 

Sept. 1 at FIU 41 … North Texas 16
CFN Analysis: North Texas is in trouble. If it couldn’t handle the FIU passing game, what is it going to do against the Houston air show? The offensive line didn’t get any sort of a push against the Golden Panther defensive front, and Lance Dunbar didn’t get any room to move with just 43 yards on 18 carries. Derek Thompson has to make defenses pay for keying on Dunbar and the ground game, and he didn’t partly because he didn’t get any time. This wasn’t what head coach Dan McCarney was looking for in his debut, and while he needs to work on his offense, after this game, the focus will likely be on the defense. With Alabama to follow the date with the Cougars, improvement might be hard to find. 

The 2011 Class Is Heavy On … Defensive backs. Dan McCarney likes linemen and wants to load up on the offensive front, but with little time to work, he didn’t do much of anything for the lines. There’s no star power whatsoever in this group, and for the second straight season the program has gone strongest in the secondary with corner Freddie Warner the best of the bunch and Kerry Swarn a long, tall safety with good upside. There isn’t much immediate help from the JUCO ranks.

Five North Texas Recruits You Should Care About
Player writeups by Scout.com

1. CB Freddie Warner
5-11, 175, Scout.com’s 112th ranked cornerback

2. S Kerry Swarn
6-2, 190, Scout.com’s 129th ranked safety

3. DT Micah Thompson
6-5, 295, Scout.com’s 145th ranked defensive tackle

4. QB Cooper Jones
6-4, 183, Two-star recruit

5. TE Andrew Power
6-5, 262, Two-star JUCO transfer. Offers from Nevada and Memphis

2011 Entire Recruiting Class

Derek Akunne LB 6-0 230 Garland, Texas (North Garland HS)
Terell Brooks DT 6-4 293 Dallas, Texas (Duncanville HS)
Travis Ellard OL 6-3 270 Deer Park, Texas (Deer Park HS)
Jamone Greer DB 5-11 165 Sugar Land, Texas (Kempner HS)
Antoinne Jimmerson RB 5-9 205 Dallas, Texas (DeSoto HS)
Cooper Jones QB 6-4 195 Lone Oak, Texas (Lone Oak HS)
Laramie Lee DB 5-10 180 Tyler, Texas (Chapel Hill HS)
Cyril Lemon OL 6-3 320 Marble Falls, Texas (Marble Falls HS)
Alexander Lincoln DL 6-2 255 Cibolo, Texas (Steele HS)
Daryl Mason DE 6-3 210 Garland, Texas (Rowlett HS)
Andrew McNulty QB 6-1 200 Iowa City, Iowa (Iowa City HS)
Austin Orr DE 6-4 245 Seabrook, Texas (Clear Lake HS)
Chad Polk LB 6-0 215 Dallas, Texas (Woodrow Wilson HS)
Chaz Sampson WR 6-5 191 Grand Prairie, Texas (Mansfield Timberview HS)
Grant Shaw OT 6-5 280 Forney, Texas (Forney HS)
Kerry Swarn DB 6-2 182 Dallas, Texas (Lincoln HS)
Micah Thompson DT 6-4 300 Jones, Oklahoma (Jones HS)
Freddie Warner DB 5-10 178 Dallas, Texas (Pinkston HS)
Zac Whitfield RB 5-9 185 Sherman, Texas (Sherman HS)
Brent Osborn QB 6-4 210 Northwest (Miss.) CC
Andrew Power TE 6-5 258 Arizona Western CC
Michael Stojkovic LB 6-2 215 Valley Forge Military Academy