Photo Courtesy: Dominic Ceraldi
By DaVince “Dino” Wright
American Athletic Conference
This will be the first AAC conference game for both schools. North Texas is sitting in 3rd place right behind Army and Navy (Go figure). Tulsa is 4 spots behind UNT in the 7th spot. Keep in mind anything can happen since the season just started a month ago. North Texas is in the driver’s seat right now with some nice wins over Wyoming, Stephen F. Austin and South Alabama. Tulsa has wins over Northwestern State and Louisiana Tech with losses to Oklahoma State and Arkansas State. This game will be huge for both schools deep in the heart of Texas.
UNT is 3-1
UNT will need to keep the momentum at home this week. Last week they beat Wyoming at home by 27 points 44-17. For the past 5 season UNT would earn 5 wins at some point and then it seemed like they would hit the proverbial wall and battle to earn a bowl berth. This year will be different because the defense is playing some solid ball. This will be the coming out party for some of the young guys on both sides of the ball.
Game Info
Tulsa Golden Hurricane vs North Texas Mean Green
Saturday – September 28 – 6:00. p.m.
TV: ESPN+
DATCU Stadium – Denton, TX
Tulsa Golden Hurricane (2-2, 0-0 American)
The Golden Hurricane are led by freshman quarterback Kirk Francis. He has 879 passing yards with 6 touchdowns and 2 interceptions so far this season. He’s only going to get better over the next 2 or 3 years. He has a big arm and has complete control over the offense. Running back Anthony Watkins has 37 carries with 186 yards and 3 touchdowns. He gets those tough yards between the tackles and Tulsa will feed him the ball this week. Keep an eye on wide out Kamdyn Benjamin. He has 359 receiving yards on 25 receptions and 2 touchdowns while averaging 1404 a catch. The x-factor for Tulsa will be their defense.
North Texas Mean Green (3-1, 0-0 American)
Last season quarterback Chandler Morris played at TCU. He will be the x-factor for the Mean Green until he leaves this program. He has the most experience on the offense and can excel in any situation. His play can lift this team. If Morris gets off of his game it’ll cause this team to struggle. Running back Damashja Harris will need to find his groove. He will need to carry the ball at least 15-20 times to establish the running game. Keep an eye on the entire defense this week. They will need to create turnovers and get the ball to the offense.
Prediction
ESPN has the Mean Green with a 66.2% chance of winning at home for this one. UNT can make some waves in conference with a solid win. I’m taking the Mean Green by 10!
Final Score
Mean Green – 40
Golden Hurricane – 30
