Home Field Advantage

North Texas Football has gone 16-7 over the three years McCarney has coached at Apogee. This is no unimpressive feat considering the era: Post Todd Dodge, the worst coach in North Texas history. In 2013, the Mean Green nearly went undefeated at home, barely losing (on the scoreboard, not in game control) to UTSA in the final – cold-as-hell – game. This season the team went 4-2, only losing to Southern Miss and Louisiana Tech, albeit in disgusting blowout fashion in both cases.

There is something to be said for taking care of business in your house. It helps to make a case for fandom to the Casual Fan.¹

Home Record in Apogee:

• 2011: 4-2. Wins: Indiana, FAU, ULM, Troy. Losses: Houston (opener), WKU
• 2012: 3-2. Wins: Texas Southern (FCS), ULL, South Alabama Losses: Troy, ArkSt
• 2013: 5-1. Wins: Idaho, Ball State, MTSU, Rice, UTEP, Losses: UTSA
• 2014: 4-2. Wins: SMU, Nicholls State (FCS), FAU, FIU Losses: La Tech, Southern Miss

Record at home: 16-7. Record against FBS at home: 14-7.

Next year we likely will play five at home. I’m ambivalent about this considering there was an unofficial promise to never play less than six at home once we got the shiny new stadium, and the fact that about 200 people showed up for the finale. It is difficult to cry about the number of home games when the Metroplex doesn’t show up for them. Might as well take the cash from an SEC school or something.

That said, without buying a game from the likes of Texas Southern or Nicholls these last couple of years, we wouldn’t have had at least two wins. I’d love to see more home-and-homes with the Houstons and Indianas of the world. The new College Football Playoff puts a CUSA school in an ideal payday situation. FCS games don’t win you many CFP points, apparently. Surely a lower-tier Big 5 squad would swing though DFW to boost their schedule?

This is the difficult part about being in a desirable area. Thanks to the Death Star, other colleges have a place to show their wares to the highly-ranked high school football recruits here. They don’t need to swing through Denton.

I mention all this in an effort to say that I appreciate the difficulty presented to Athletic Director Rick Villarreal. I still don’t like having only one game on schedule. Here’s hoping we use some of the money Iowa and Tennessee are paying to squeeze in a last-minute FCS squad. Every one loves blowouts you know.

Post Script:

The dirty secret is that UNT has been absolutely atrocious on the road. Dan McCarney says that’s because we play good teams (meaning money games). To that I’d respond with UTEP, Rice, and UAB this year, along with Tulane & Ohio last year. Not exactly your college football glory programs. This poor record on the road is partly the reason UNT is a six-point underdog to an absolutely awful UTSA team on Saturday.