Eric Morris was still bitter at his Tuesday press conference, three days after a 27-24 loss to Navy.

"One that got squandered," Morris said. "One that will haunt me for a long time."

The game itself was disappointing. North Texas surrendered eight sacks, two of which resulted in forced fumbles. Quarterback Chandler Rogers took so many hits behind the line of scrimmage he finished with 33 net rushing yards despite ripping a 75-yard rushing touchdown. Navy's triple option attack, modified to accommodate the NCAA's cutblocking outlaw, still racked up 331 yards on the ground.

But the implications of the game were disheartening. Navy, at 1–3 entering the contest and picked ninth in the American Athletic Conference preseason poll, is a team North Texas could've and probably should've beaten. For as woeful as the 0–2 start to the season was, Morris's squad had adapted admirably in wins over Louisiana Tech and Abilene Christian. After getting gashed on the ground, they'd switched to more defensive packages with four down defensive linemen. They'd inserted Rogers into the starting lineup to kickstart the offense. The Navy loss squandered that momentum and put them at 0–1 in conference play. 

Morris emphasized staying present when asked about his team entering the thick of its conference slate. He's not concerned with what any other program is doing because he's still trying to build his own in Denton. His staff's instilling a growth mindset, improving every week.

After all, Temple, even at 2–4, will be a tough out. The Owls jumped on UTSA early last week and put up 542 yards in an eventual loss. Quarterback EJ Warner went an astounding 42-of-65 for 472 yards and five touchdowns. North Texas can't afford to look past them.

"I don't even know who the next four games on our schedule are," Morris said. "We've got to do a good job focusing on Temple." 

He's exactly right. Coaches and their teams in this position can't look ahead. But we can.

The Temple game is a must-win for North Texas because it'll be difficult for the Mean Green to scrape a win in any of the four ensuing games. Immediately following Temple is a road trip to New Orleans to face Tulane, the reigning Cotton Bowl champs. The Green Wave were picked atop the conference in the preseason poll and are 4–1 despite playing two games without veteran quarterback Michael Pratt. Then they've got 5–1 Memphis, whose only loss this year is to a surprisingly explosive Missouri team. They round out the daunting four-game stretch hosting UTSA, now with a healthier Frank Harris and boasting a 20–3 conference record over the last three seasons, and visiting SMU, considered by many the most talented team in the conference. 

It's a gauntlet - four games against the top four ranked teams in the conference preseason poll. North Texas needs to win four of its final seven games to reach a bowl game. They've already dropped a game to Navy, ranked ninth in the preseason poll to UNT's seventh. They can't drop this week's one to a Temple team ranked lower than them as well, at 10th.

North Texas is already in danger of falling out of bowl contention a year after it fired head coach Seth Littrell when he reached the Conference USA Championship game and a fifth bowl in seven seasons. The Mean Green weren't happy with the program's stagnation. Now, they could take a step back. That doesn't mean the Morris hire won't be successful in the long run. It's only his first year. He dealt with several defections to the portal, lost two of UNT's top tacklers, and is facing stiffer competition than Littrell did in the program's first year in the American. Nevertheless, missing out on a bowl game would be a disappointing result.  

Correction: The article originally stated Navy was picked 10th in the AAC Preseason Poll. They were picked ninth. DCTF regrets this error.