After having his team’s rear end handed to them by Sun Belt Conference member Arkansas State(ASU), North Texas Head Football Coach Dan McCarney stated ASU executed their game plan like a championship team has to and that is the reason they took North Texas to task winning 37-14. He felt ASU was the toughest Sun Belt team North Texas has faced all season long.

ASU threw some different things at them as “it was their style.” We have to “expect the unexpected” every Saturday, according to McCarney. North Texas has to be ready for it and when a surprise appears the team has to communicate to each other and make adjustments.

Even being down at halftime 0-31, McCarney said he did not see any quit in the team. He felt the team has a lot of resolve stating there was “character on this team.” He saw that when they took the field after halftime as they came out to fight back but it was “too little, too late.”

There were a lot of good things he saw in the second half like “how hard we played and how (Q Andrew McNulty got out there and executed.” He liked the way the defense went out and got turnovers. He wanted to see the kids fight, scratch and claw “and show some grit” which they did.

McNulty came in during the second North Texas series after Derek Thompson was knocked out of the game during the first series with a concussion. McCarney believes Thompson will be ready in two weeks when North Texas visits Troy on Nov. 12.

McCarney felt the week off will help the team heal and for them to get ready for the Trojans.

North Texas falls to 3-6, 2-3 in the conference.  Don’t totally write them off, with three conference games left there still is an outside chance of a 6-6 season and a 5-3 conference record. While it’s still early to tell, depending on what happens around the country, a 6-6 season could get North Texas a slim chance for a bowl.