Dunbar Rushes For 270 Yards

DENTON, Texas (11/27/10) - Lance Dunbar rushed for 270 yards and three touchdowns, but the Mean Green could not keep pace with the Wildcats as Kansas State defeated the North Texas football team, 49-41, on Saturday afternoon at Fouts Field.

The Mean Green ended its 2010 season with a 3-9 record. Kansas State improved to 7-5 this season and 5-1 in the series against North Texas. The Mean Green played its final game at Fouts Field after 59 seasons of football.

The announced crowd of 21,952 was the second largest of the season and the sixth largest in school history.

Down 49-41 with 55 seconds left on the clock, the Mean Green offense had a final opportunity to drive down the field but ran out of time on its own 48-yard line. Chase Baine threw an interception in the endzone to end the game. Starting quarterback Riley Dodge left the game in the fourth quarter with an injury.

The Mean Green held a 20-7 lead in the first quarter but was unable to hold off the Wildcats for long. Kansas State responded with two scores in the second quarter to take a halftime lead, 21-20, and then scored early in the third quarter to stay ahead of the Mean Green for the rest of the game.

Dunbar finished the game with 270 yards, a career single-game best and the second-best single-game performance in school history. He finished his junior season with 1,553 rushing yards, the third-best single-season performance in North Texas history. Only Jamario Thomas and Patrick Cobbs have rushed for more yards in a single season.

Craig Robertson had a career-best 16 tackles for the Mean Green and finishes his career with third-most tackles in school history.

KSU's Daniel Thomas kept pace with Dunbar, rushing for 269 yards and two touchdowns.

The Wildcats did not take its first lead of the game, 21-20, until five seconds left in the first half. The Mean Green held a 20-7 lead after the first quarter, but the Wildcats came back with two touchdowns in the second quarter to take the lead.

Dunbar rushed for 161 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter alone. He carried the ball for longs of 63, 52 and 43 yards. The 63-yard touchdown run was Dunbar's third-longest run of the season and the team's fourth longest. The 161 yards also gave Dunbar exactly 3,000 for his career. Following the game, Dunbar finished with 3,109 career rushing yards.

With his three rushing touchdowns, Dunbar moved into sole possession of second place on the career rushing touchdowns list with 31. Patrick Cobbs holds the record with 36. Dunbar also had a touchdown reception in the game.

Kansas State scored three touchdowns in the third quarter to regain control of the game. The Mean Green did end the third period on a high note; Brelan Chancellor returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown. It was his second straight game with a kickoff for a score.

North Texas took a 7-0 lead on its opening possession for only the third time this season. The Mean Green used only four plays to march 80 yards down the field and into the endzone. Jamize Olawale caught a 30-yard pass from Dodge, and Dunbar took a handoff for 52 yards.

Dunbar had his second long run of the game on the Mean Green's second possession. The junior scampered for a 43-yard rush, setting up a Jamaal Jackson 15-yard touchdown reception. Jackson has caught a touchdown pass in each of the last three games.

The touchdown gave North Texas a 13-7 lead after Olen missed his second extra-point of the season.

A.J. Penson forced a Kansas State fumble that resulted in another Mean Green touchdown two plays later. Dunbar scored his second touchdown on a 63-yard run. North Texas held its largest lead of the game, 20-7.

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Team Stats

Riley Dodge

Chase Baine

Players Mentioned

Chase Baine

Brelan Chancellor

Riley Dodge

Lance Dunbar

Jamaal Jackson

Jamaal Jackson

Jamize Olawale

Jamize Olawale

A.J. Penson

A.J. Penson

Craig Robertson

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