College Football News Preview 2020: North Texas Mean Green

College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, looking ahead to the North Texas Mean Green season with what you need to know.

College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the North Texas Mean Green season with what you need to know.


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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
Schedule Analysis
– North Texas Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015

2019 Record: 4-8 overall, 3-5 in C-USA
Head Coach: Seth Littrell, 5th year, 27-25
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 116
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 111
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 82

No one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.

5. College Football News Preview 2020: North Texas Mean Green Offense 3 Things To Know

– The offense that was suppose to be among the nation’s most statistically dangerous never quite got going. New changes at offensive coordinator might be able to do something to boost up an attack that was fine – it finished third in Conference USA – but didn’t do what it was supposed to.

Where has the bar been set for offensive production under head coach Seth Littrell? North Texas was second in the league averaging 283 passing yards per game, and it still wasn’t enough.


CFN in 60 Video: Texas A&M Preview
North Texas at Texas A&M, Sept. 12
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After 19 years as the Mean Green starting quarterback – at least it seemed like it – Mason Fine is finally done. All he did was throw for 12,505 yards and 93 touchdowns in his career, but he was never quite in one piece last season.

Kentucky transfer Amani Gilmore is an interesting option with his running ability, but sophomore Jason Bean and former Arkansas transfer Austin Aune will get the first cracks of the gig after serving as Fine’s backups. Bean was the No. 2 – it’s his job to lose.

They’ll all be without Rico Bussey, the top receiver of 2018 who missed most of last year – he took off for Hawaii. 5-9, 172-pound senior Jaylon Darden is back after leading the way with 76 touchdowns and 12 scores, but he was a midrange target. 6-3 junior Greg White adds some size, and Jason Pirtle is a decent veteran tight end who caught five touchdown passes.

The offensive line is going to be an early issue. The Mean Green wasn’t great in pass protection and only paved the way for 135 rushing yards per game. Almost everyone needs to be replaced, but 6-1, 292-pound Manase Mose is back at guard – everything else has to work in around him. A slew of JUCO transfers will give it a shot.

The backs are there to do more for a ground game that averaged over four yards per carry, but only came up with 11 scores and 1,623 yards.

5-8, 200-pound scooter Tre Siggers led the way with 853 yards and six scores, and 5-7, 191-pound DeAndre Torrey – who ran for 15 scores in 2018 – was second with 380 yards and two scores.

NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: North Texas Mean Green Defense 3 Things To Know

2020 CFB season countdown: 81 days until Georgia football

Join us for our countdown until Georgia kicks-off in Atlanta vs. Virginia Sept. 7.

There are 81 days left until Georgia kicks-off versus Virginia in Atlanta Sept. 7.

Former Georgia wide receiver Reggie Davis (2013-2016) is most remembered for his school-record 98-yard touchdown catch from Aaron Murray versus North Texas in 2013.

Davis finished his Georgia career with 38 catches for 618 yards and two touchdowns while adding 998 total kick-return yards. Now, Davis is currently with the Chicago Bears’ practice squad.

Sleeper QB prospect worked out with Drew Brees, interviewed with Saints

The New Orleans Saints met with North Texas quarterback Mason Fine, a sleeper prospect in the 2020 NFL Draft who worked out with Drew Brees.

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It almost feels like a certainty that the New Orleans Saints will add a quarterback at some point around the 2020 NFL Draft. Saints coach Sean Payton admitted as much in a recent conference call with local media, clarifying that while Taysom Hill is expected to back up Drew Brees this year, the team wants to bring in another passer who will be active on game days, ensuring Hill can continue to block, catch, and run with the best of them. One name to watch on draft day: North Texas quarterback Mason Fine.

Per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the list of interested teams to contact Fine recently includes the Saints. Additionally, Fine’s workout partner (before national lockdowns were enacted due to the novel coronavirus) was none other than Brees, whose longtime personal trainer Todd Durkin put them both through their paces.

So, that’s interesting. Fine is a dark horse in this year’s draft class, an unheralded prospect who might be picked in the final rounds if at all. That puts him in a similar boat to Florida International’s James Morgan, Hawaii’s Cole McDonald, and Colorado’s Steven Montez.

What sets Fine apart from those other late-round prospects is his sky-high college production. He put the team on his shoulders at North Texas with over 1,000 pass attempts in four years, leaving school with a solid 62.8 completion percentage and with 93 touchdowns thrown against 34 interceptions (15 of those coming in 2017, his first full year as a starter). He’s shown he can handle a high volume of dropbacks, a responsibility some collegiate passers struggle with.

Snubbed by this year’s NFL Scouting Combine, Fine instead traveled to San Diego to work out with Brees and Chase Daniel, under Durkin’s tutelage. While he tips the scales at just 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, Fine put in the work to max out his frame and pack on muscle mass. And it was enough for others to take notice.

“So, yeah, Drew Brees said I was too jacked to play quarterback,” Fine joked to Tulsa World’s Dekota Gregory. “I will say I have a little bit more of a muscular build than him, but that doesn’t mean anything when you’re holding the career passing yards and touchdowns record like Drew.”

It’s easy to envision the Saints taking a late-round flier on Fine (their final pick in this year’s draft is near the end of the sixth round, at No. 203 overall) or maybe signing him afterwards as an undrafted free agent. They’ve taken an interest in these NFL longshots before while padding out the roster, ranging from Daniel himself to Sean Canfield and J.T. Barrett. But maybe Fine can carry over the poise that’s set him apart at the college level, and thrive where others didn’t.

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