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North Texas is coming off its worst performance under second year head coach Seth Littrell in a loss to Florida Atlantic Owls in Boca Raton, FL. The Mean Green will be looking to bounce back against the Old Dominion Monarchs, who come to Denton, TX at 2-5 overall and are win-less in Conference USA action.
This is the first ever meeting between the two schools on the gridiron.
North Texas still controls its own destiny in the West Division with Southern Miss close behind where the Golden Eagles also have 3-1 conference record. North Texas defeated USM 43-28 on Sept. 30th and thus has the head-to-head advantage over the also Eagles. The West is still up for anyone to take which makes every game meaningful for LaTech, Southern Miss, UTSA, and UAB fans in addition to North Texas fans. Rice and UTEP at this point have no real chance at the Conference USA crown.
2017 C-USA Standings
| WEST | CONF | OVR |
|---|---|---|
| North Texas | 3-1 | 4-3 |
| Southern Mississippi | 3-1 | 5-2 |
| UAB | 2-2 | 4-3 |
| UT San Antonio | 1-2 | 4-2 |
| Louisiana Tech | 1-2 | 3-4 |
| Rice | 1-2 | 1-6 |
| UTEP | 0-3 | 0-7 |
Old Dominion Vitals (2-5 0-3)
| First season | 1930 (restarted in 2009) |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Bobby Wilder 9th season, 69–34 (.670) |
| Location | Norfolk, Virginia |
| Conference | Conference USA |
| Division | East |
| All-time record | 111–68–4 (.617) |
| Bowl record | 1–0 (1.000) |
| Playoff appearances | 2 |
| Playoff record | 2–2 |
University of North Texas Vitals (4-3 3-1)
| First season | 1913 |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Seth Littrell 2nd season, 9–10 (.474) |
| Stadium | Apogee Stadium (Capacity: 30,850) |
| Year built | 2011 |
| Field surface | Field Turf |
| Location | Denton, Texas |
| Conference | Conference USA |
| Division | West |
| All-time record | 493–490–33 (.501) |
| Bowl record | 3–6 (.333) |
| Conference titles | 24 |
Offense
Advantage: North Texas. North Texas still ranks near the top (Second in CUSA) for scoring offense. Mason Fine and the Mean Green offense will be looking to get the train back on the tracks and posting X-Box style yards and points against the ODU defense. I look for Jeffery Wilson to be a big part of the offensive attack and Jalen Guyton has been increasingly become a bigger and bigger piece to the offensive puzzle.
The Old Dominion offense has been shut out once (38-0 vs. Virginia Tech) and has only managed 19.0 points per game. The Mean Green defense has been struggling so the unit will be looking to stop running back Jeremy Cox and force the young quarterback into making mistakes by applying pressure and force him out of the pocket.
Defense
Advantage: Old Dominion. Old Dominion has a so-so defense but from a statistical standpoint the ODU unit is better than the Mean Green’s unit. ODU will have its work cut out for itself as the North Texas offense will be looking to get back on track and lighting up the scoreboard.
The North Texas defense is last in Scoring Defense and Pass Defense and had a poor showing last weekend against the FAU Owls on the rushing defense front. The ODU offense isn’t very strong on either the run or the pass, so I would look for the defensive line to try to apply pressure to force the young quarterback into making mistakes. The Mean Green D. has only recorded three total interceptions so far in the season and this game might be a good chance to add to that number.
Special Teams
(Slight) Advantage: Old Dominion. The Monarchs are a moderate team when it comes to punt returns (9.9 yards/game) and kick-off returns (22.7 yards/game) and has returned one kick-off for a touchdown. The Mean Green Special Teams unit has allowed the occasional big return for both punts and kick-offs so it’s possible the Monarchs could get a good return or two.
North Texas has its rock solid Kicker Trevor Moore who is 11 of 12 on Field Goals and perfect on the season on PAT kicks he has attempted. North Texas has had some Special Teams miscues throughout the season though. ODU only has eight kickoff touch-backs and averages 44.2 yards per kick-off so maybe the Mean Green kick-off unit will try to break out some big returns to set up the offense with a shorter field.
Media
TV: 
Radio: KNTU 88.1, KHYI 95.3 FM, KGAF 1580 AM, and TuneIn Radio
Stats: Mean Green Sports