Brett Vito

One could hear it in the tone of Jamaal Jackson’s voice outside of the North Texas locker room on Saturday night.

Jackson was talking about what went right during UNT’s 35-10 loss to Clemson on Saturday at Death Valley and sounded optimistic — maybe even confident — about the Mean Green’s future heading into this week’s home opener against Rice.

“We need to clean up some of the penalties and dropped balls,” Jackson said. “If we can do that, we will be good going into the Rice game at home this week. We have a lot of confidence. We saw a lot of good things from our offense and our defense. We showed today on television that we can move the ball against an ACC team.”

That might have been the best news to come out of UNT’s game against Clemson.

UNT showed that while it didn’t get exactly what it wanted in the form of a monumental upset win over the Tigers, it got what it needed, and that was a huge shot of confidence heading into a game that could well determine this program’s immediate future.

Even after losing its opener, UNT still has a shot at winning seven games, making a run at the Sun Belt Confer-ence title and ending its season in a bowl game.

If that run is going to happen, it will probably have to start this week against Rice in what is a monster game for UNT for a variety of reasons, beyond the fact that it seems like a potential gateway to a turnaround season.

In one of those little facts of life that doesn’t make any sense, UNT is a Texas team that plays an in-state rival once every two years or so. The last time came in 2008, when UNT traveled to Rice and was drilled 77-20.

This time has to be different for many reasons, from the edge it will give one team in recruiting to the chance UNT has to improve its profile in the state.

A win over Rice would also make a run at seven wins seem possible with the full Sun Belt slate left on the docket.

UNT needs that boost of optimism, especially with the move to a new stadium on the horizon.

Getting on a roll seems possible after one of the Mean Green’s best performances in recent years against a big-time opponent.

Nathan Tune made a couple of mistakes in UNT’s loss to Clemson, but looked like a competent FBS quarterback while throwing for 240 yards.

Lance Dunbar, was, well, Lance Dunbar.

The junior running back rushed for 116 yards against a Tigers defense loaded with future NFL draft picks.

UNT’s much-maligned de-fense made some plays against a talented batch of Clemson playmakers, including quarterback Kyle Parker, who never got on track. Parker threw for 170 yards, but 70 of those yards came on one play.

“I am proud of our team,” UNT head coach Todd Dodge said. “We battled and battled and battled.”

By the end of the night, UNT had earned the respect of Clemson coach Dabo Swinney.

“North Texas played us tough throughout the game,” Swinney said. “They hung in there and gave us a challenge.”

What was even more important was the confidence UNT’s players gained heading into their game against Rice and the rest of the season.

“It didn’t turn out the way we wanted it to, but we got a lot accomplished scheme-wise, showing that we can do the thing we practice in a game,” UNT linebacker Craig Robertson said. “We just have to do it a little better.”

There are no more teams like Clemson on the schedule — at least not until the final week of the season when Kansas State comes in to close down Fouts Field. That opens up the possibility that UNT can mount the run this program desperately needs this season.

After Rice, UNT has games against the likes of Army and Florida Atlantic, the first team the Mean Green will face on the Sun Belt slate.

UNT has lost all six times it has faced FAU and lost a game it should have won against Army last season.

After a solid performance against Clemson, UNT’s players and coaches feel like this season could be different.

A win this week in a key game against Rice would go a long way toward proving that it will be different.

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com .