University of North Texas Athletics
Mean Green Falls To South Florida
9/29/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Tampa, Fla. (9/9/01) Outscored 21-3 over the final three quarters, the North Texas football team (0-4) suffered a 28-10 setback against South Florida (2-2) at Raymond James Stadium on Saturday in its final game before beginning Sun Belt Conference play.
South Florida accounted for the first score of the game at the 7:44 mark of the first quarter off a one-yard run by Clenton Crossley on fourth down. However, the Mean Green fought back to tie the score off a 33-yard pass from sophomore Scott Hall to freshman wide receiver Ja’Mel Branch with three second remaining in the quarter.
The only other score of the first half came at the hands of the South Florida defense, returning a North Texas fumble 52 yards for a touchdown and a 14-7 advantage. Hall was stripped on a quarterback sneak on fourth down that Maurice Jones scooped up and took the distance.
The Mean Green came out strong to begin the second half, scoring on a 22-yard field goal by Jason Ball just 2:40 into the third quarter. However, that was the final score of the night for North Texas as South Florida put up 14 unanswered points for the victory.
Two South Florida scores were touchdown runs on fourth and goal situations at the Mean Green one yard line. South Florida had one other fourth down conversion in the game, while UNT couldn’t convert one fourth down in four attempts. UNT’s fourth-down struggles coupled with its woes in the red zone were the story for North Texas. The Mean Green came away with only three points in two different trips inside the South Florida 20 in the second half.
UNT had a season-high 321 yards in the game, running for 118 and throwing for another 203. Junior Kevin Galbreath charged the Mean Green ground attack, rushing for 95 yards on 25 carries. Hall completed 18 of 33 passing attempts for 203 yards and one touchdown. Branch caught a game-high seven passes for 94 yards and a touchdown.
Linebacker’s Taylor Casey and Brad Kassell and defensive back Jonas Buckles led the North Texas defensive attack. Casey had a team-high seven tackles, while Kassell had six. Buckles also had six tackles and came away with one interception.
