NT 21 KSU 35

And so it goes. As I said in the first half recap,

Kansas State came into this game as a 28.5-point favorite. Here at MGN HQ there wasn’t the same feeling of resignation going into Manhattan as there was going into Baton Rouge. This isn’t just because BR is a crazy, scary place as it is that K-State isn’t a scary team.

My favorite play of the game probably was this:

Other than that, the team was undone largely by self-inflicted wounds. That blocked kick? 3 points. That missed extra point? 1 point. That KO return? 7 points.

How about those calls that gave two touchdowns to K-State?

Eh. No one wants to play the what-if game. It hurts too much. This was a winnable game that could have been a really special night. For those of you looking for progress? We didn’t allow 40 points against a top-15 ranked opponent for the first time in forever.

Let’s see. How about Antoinne Jimmerson showing his shiftiness? Dude is a playmaker. How about the offensive line? How about the defense holding that K-State machine to long enough to make an upset seem possible? How about the offense looking capable?

Seriously, a slightly more explosive offense, with a slightly more stout defense (maybe with Chad Polk, Jeremy Phillips and a couple of other injured guys) we could have had ourselves a game.

Of course, the most terrible phase was the third phase: special teams. Two missed kicks and a TD allowed.

Whatevs. As much as we’d love for a dramatic turn around from those terrible Dodge years, we’ll have to just be patient. Former players, older fans, and anyone who saw the team “play” under that regime notice the huge change and recognize the difference. This team plays like a real college football team as was so aptly put by @martinezgrl during the game.

Every game has gone according to the script. Losses to the two ranked teams and a win against the Texas Southern.

We still have an entire Sun Belt slate to face and outside of that ULM squad that is giving the SEC West fits, I don’t see a team that I think is out-and-out better than this team.

Troy, who comes to Apogee next week, has been the class of the league for the last few years. It’ll be a good test to begin the real season.

Player of the Game: Brelan Chancellor/Ivan Delgado/Offensive Line/Antoinne Jimmerson. I honestly can’t choose between them.

Play of the night: Deuce Deuce with the cutback. So shifty.

Tweet of the night:

@meangreennation ready for the game?! #gomeangreen #MeanGreenNation

— Ashley C. Byers (@ashleycbyers) September 15, 2012

 

Why? Well because that let me know the A&M-SMU terribleness was over and the game was on.

Frustrated fan of the night: Chad Polk. Dude really wanted to be out there.

Issue of the night: It was between the refs sucking and Marcus Allen not knowing we are North Texas and not North Texas State. Twitter let him know what is what though.

Stat of the night: 21 points. We scored 14 against LSU and now 21 against #15 Kansas State. We had 34 in that warm-up game against TSU where the passing game was basically non-existant. I think we can hit 40 vs Troy. #drinkingthekoolaidalready

PS: If you can tweet your pictures of you and your buddies in your UNT game day gear I can keep this little collage bit running. Thaaaaanks.

Go Mean Green.