Monroe, La. (11/25/06) - The North Texas offense was unable to get untracked and was forced to play from behind, losing the season finale at Louisiana-Monroe, 23-3, on Saturday night. North Texas finished the season 3-9, including a 2-5 mark in the Sun Belt Conference. Louisiana-Monroe improved to 3-8, 2-4.
The game was the final game in the nine-year North Texas career of head coach Darrell Dickey and the final game for 16 Mean Green seniors. Among those seniors was wide receiver Johnny Quinn who concluded his career as the school’s all-time leader for receptions and receiving yards.
Louisiana-Monroe outgained North Texas 409-137 in total yards of offense which was the Mean Green’s fewest yards of offense since the third game of the season when it had just 89 yards against Tulsa. Johnny Quinn concluded his career by catching at least one pass in every game that he played in. Quinn’s streak of 47 consecutive games with at least one catch will finish the season as third-longest active streak in the nation.
North Texas went three-and-out on its first two possessions while Louisiana-Monroe got on the board on its second possession of the game. The Warhawks went 60 yards on just five plays to score the game’s first touchdown on a 1-yard run by Calvin Dawson. The Warhawks were aided on their first scoring drive by a 54-yard pass from Kinsmon Lancaster to tight end Zeek Zacharie. The first quarter ended with Louisiana-Monroe leading 7-0, which was the eighth time in 12 games this season the Mean Green was shutout in the first quarter.
Louisiana-Monroe went up 10-0 after going on a 7:45 drive that began late in the first quarter and ended with a 33-yard field goal with 8:41 to play in the first half. The Warhawks second scoring drive of the game covered 64 yards on 15 plays.
The North Texas offense was again ignited when the “Green Team” was inserted midway through the second quarter. The Green Team moved the ball into Louisiana-Monroe territory for the first time in the game when it drove the ball from the North Texas 35-yard line down to the ULM 20, where it was forced to settle for a 37-yard field goal to cut the lead to 10-3 with 2:58 to play in the first half.
After leading 10-3 at the half, Louisiana-Monroe took the opening drive of the second half and drove to the North Texas 32-yard line where it extended the lead to 13-3 with a 49-yard field goal.
After forcing the North Texas offense to a three-and-out, the Louisiana-Monroe offense took the ball 82 yards on eight plays and kicked its third field goal of the game from 21 yards out to take a 16-3 lead with 6:30 to play in the third quarter.
The fourth quarter began with a bang when Johnny Quinn took a punt at the North Texas 30-yard line and went 35 yards to the Louisiana-Monroe 35-yard line to begin a drive that ended when Phillips threw his second interception of the game in the end zone.
Louisiana-Monroe added a late fourth-quarter touchdown for good measure when Erroll Hogan ran through the Mean Green defense for a 24-yard score. North Texas was led in rushing by Deavin Cox with 37 yards on 12 carries and Phillips who completed 9-of-18 passes for 66 yards. Defensively, North Texas was led by safety Roy Loren with seven tackles.
