University of North Texas Athletics
Mean Green Drops Season Opener at No. 1 Oklahoma
8/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
NORMAN, Okla. (8/30/03) The North Texas football team suffered a 37-3 setback at the hands of the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners in front of a record crowd of 83,073 at Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
The crowd is not only the largest to ever see a North Texas team play, but also the largest to ever watch an Oklahoma game. The previous largest crowd to ever witness a Mean Green game was 83,051 at Texas in last year’s season opener.
While North Texas played both Andrew Smith and Hall at quarterback, Hall was responsible for 71 of the Mean Green’s 79 yards passing. In his first collegiate game, Johnny Quinn led the North Texas receivers with two catches for 37 yards. Sophomore Roy Bishop led the Mean Green rushing attack with 53 yards on nine carries, while starter Patrick Cobbs gained 38 yards on the ground.
“They are a very good defense,” said North Texas head coach Darrell Dickey. “And at times we got frustrated on offense and made some mistakes. We left our defense on the field entirely too long and offense we must be more effective.”
The Sooners got the ball at the North Texas 34 after Matt McCoy intercepted a pass on the Mean Green’s first possession of the second half and with 5:52 remaining in the third quarter, were able to extended their 23-0 first half lead off a 13-yard Jason White scoring pass to Travis Wilson.
North Texas held OU scoreless from that point until 4:49 in the fourth quarter. During that time, the Mean Green mounted its only scoring drive of the game. With junior Hall under center, North Texas moved the ball from the NT 17 to the Sooners’ 17 before Nick Bazaldua converted a 34-yard field goal that brought the score to 30-3 with 9:03 remaining in the fourth quarter. Hall connected on 3-of-6 Passing for 65 yards during the drive, including a 28-yard pass to Roy Bishop.
The Sooners last score came at the 4:49 mark of the fourth quarter when Paul Thompson hit Jejuan Rankins on a seven-yard TD pass to cap a 10-play drive.
While North Texas had trouble moving the ball against a tough Oklahoma defense, the Sooners were able to finish with 391 yards of total offense. OU forced two North Texas turnovers and its defense held the Mean Green to 154 total yards of offense.
During the first possession of the game it began to rain heavily, but Oklahoma was able to put together a 10-play drive that ended with a 37-yard field goal by Trey DiCarlo with 10:37 remaining in the first quarter. The scoring drive marked the first time in seven games that North Texas allowed a score on the opening drive.
The Mean Green defense forced the Sooners to punt on their second possession, but Derrick Strait forced a Ja’Mel Branch fumble right after he fielded the punt and OU pounced on the loose ball at the North Texas 24-yard line. Oklahoma capitalized on the turnover, scoring on a three-yard pass from Jason White to Jejuan Rankins.
The score remained 10-0 until White was able to connect with Brandon Jones on a 64-yard pass at the 13:26 mark of the second quarter. DiCarlo was able to tack on two more field goals before halftime.
The Mean Green return home to Fouts Field next Saturday to host Big 12 opponent Baylor at 7:05 pm in its 2003 home opener
