North Texas Daily

Brett Medeiros / Senior Staff Writer

It has been 16 years since the Mean Green won its last home opener, and to start the new 2013 campaign, the team will have a chance to reset the counter as the University of Idaho Vandals travel to Apogee Stadium for the first game of the season.

Last year, Idaho finished the season with a 1-11 record, going 1-5 in conference play. The Vandals lost its final six games of the season and fired its old coach Robb Akey giving first-time head coach Paul Petrino the chance to take over.

Idaho is dangerous through its unpredictability because of its unproven head coach and its new system under Petrino.

“Idaho is coming in with a lot that we don’t know about, but we do anticipate much improvement over the game tapes that we watched on them last year,” head coach Dan McCarney said. “We know very little about them.”

Defensively, the Mean Green has an upper edge on Idaho. Last year, the Mean Green defense held each of its opponents to 30 points or less where the Vandals defense allowed, on averaged, 42.4 points a game.

“We are going to be prepared for anything going in to the game,” junior linebacker Derek Akunne said.

Last year the Vandals were at its best in the red zone, capitalizing on 21 of 26 opportunities to score either a field goal or a touchdown.

“Right now we’re going to come out and do our thing against them and work out all different kinds of situations that we need to,” junior left guard Mason Y’Barbo said. “We feel that playing as long as we have been together there’s not a whole lot of new things that can be thrown at you.”

Because of the 100 years of football celebration, the team will be honoring UNT players of the past by playing in a special throwback jersey to pay tribute to some of the best years in Mean Green football.

Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m at Apogee Stadium, where the Mean Green has won seven of 11 games since 2011.

Feature photo courtesy of meangreensports.com