[Tuck4Bama]

FAYETTEVILLE - It's not the hours that have been tough on North Texas Coach Todd Dodge. He got used to working 15-hour days long ago.

It's not the challenge of implementing a hurry-up, Spread offense on the Division I level. Dodge has installed his philosophy just fine as the Mean Green's 442. 0 yards per game average suggests.

It's the lack of scoring and not, coincidentally, the lack of winning that has really worn on the former high school coach four weeks into his first season at the helm of North Texas (0-3 ). The Mean Green faces Arkansas (1-2 ) on Saturday, and it looks to improve a scoring offense that ranks among the bottom third of Bowl Subdivision teams.

So far, the Todd Dodge experiment has yielded mixed results in Denton, Texas. Dodge brought increased expectations and fan interest with him from nearby Southlake Carroll High School.

What Dodge, 43, hasn't brought just yet is the success he enjoyed during a five-year run at the prep football factory. Dodge compiled a 79-1 record and four state championships before making the jump to Division I football. He was hired Dec. 12, 2006, to replace Darrell Dickey.


"It's been a good transition," said Dodge, a former University of Texas quarterback. "We're not winning as many football games as we'd like to, but I see us improving."

NORTH TEXAS AT ARKANSAS : Getting his points across