GoTigers247's Behind Enemy Lines Ep 4: MeanGreen247's Reed Smith

Tigers in 20: A Memphis Tigers Athletics podcast

In episode 4 of Behind Enemy Lines, GoTigers247 is joined by Reed Smith, the site manager and beat writer for MeanGreen247.com, the 247Sports affiliate for the University of North Texas. North Texas enters the game against the Tigers with a record of 2-2, while the Tigers come in at 2-1.

Reed shares that the mood and vibe around UNT is not good right now. Coming off of a miserable second half against UNLV, fans of the Mean Green are upset with the play of the team and more specifically the play calling.

One of the main storylines coming into the year for UNT was the quarterback competition coming in to spring camp. Obviously the UNT quarterback competition and Memphis quarterback competition has one tie that runs through both of them: Grant Gunnell. After leaving Memphis in the spring, Grant transferred to UNT and immediately became the main challenger for the quarterback position against Austin Aune. Austin has been the starting quarterback at UNT for two years, but most fans were extremely upset that Austin was named the starter. Austin has performed well this year so far, so he looks to be the starter moving forward the whole year. Austin's story is unique in college football. He spent six years in the Yankee farm system, and is now a 29-year old, junior for the UNT Mean Green.

Reed goes into detail about how UNT has been a tale of two halves. Their record is 2-2, with all four games ending differently each time. But not only do the Mean Green struggle to find consistency from game to game, Reed mentions that they struggle finding consistency from half to half. The UNLV game was a perfect example. The game was close in the first half, but something happened at halftime where the play calling became bland and the defense struggled from the start.

Reed mentions that a big stat line he is looking to is whether or not UNT can convert on third and long plays on offense. Obviously this has been a major storyline for the Tiger defense this year as well. UNT has struggled to convert third downs and the Tigers have struggled to get off the field. This statistical point will be huge for both teams on Saturday.

Reed believes that the game will either be an offensive shootout or Memphis will run away with the game. He expects Seth Henigan to have a huge game due to the fact that UNT has struggled to stop any quarterback they have played against.

About Behind Enemy Lines

Behind Enemy Lines is a GoTigers247 audio podcast where we interview beat writers that cover Tiger opponents. The podcast is recorded the week prior to the game so listeners will get the most up to date information for the specific matchup.

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