University of North Texas Athletics
No. 99: Fitzgerald Goes The Distance
6/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Return to Play
No. 99 - Six games into the Todd Dodge era, North Texas was in need of a big play in a bad way. Off to an 0-5 start and nursing a 7-0 lead on its Sun Belt rival, the Mean Green was backed up to its goal line after a fantastic 47-yard punt from ULM's Scott Love rolled out of bounds on the 1-yard line midway through the second quarter.
As the sun set on a beautiful Fouts Field evening, a hush fell over the crowd of nearly 19,000 as Giovanni Vizza led his offense to the line. Casey Fitzgerald, a former walk-on who smoked SMU four weeks earlier with a school-record 327 yards receiving, lined up wide to the left.
The next 16 seconds will forever live in Mean Green lore as one of the most dazzling plays to ever grace the record books. Vizza found Fitzgerald on a quick hitch pattern and the junior receiver raced 99 yards for his second school record of the season - the longest offensive play in NT history.
North Texas held ULM scoreless for the rest of the half and held on to win, 31-21, for Dodge's first win as a head coach.
It suddenly became evident that the program that had spawned "P ... UNT" (a nod to the great Mean Green punters of the late '90's and early '00's) and "Running Back U" (for its back-to-back national rushing champions of '03 and '04) was now a national threat to light up defenses and destroy every passing/receiving record in sight.
After catching five passes for 92 yards in his first two seasons combined, Fitzgerald was suddenly an All-American (Sports Illustrated, Honorable Mention). He would go on to catch 111 passes for a school-record 1,322 yards and 12 touchdowns that year. He backed that up with a school-record 113 catches for 1,119 yards and six scores as a senior.
One of the most humble and hard-working players to ever suit up at NT, Fitzgerald still ranks third at NT with 2,567 yards, and set the career receptions record with 229 in basically two seasons.
Previous Entries and Schedule
| No. 100- | 100-yard fumble return for TD | No. 75- | Monday, June 27 | No. 50- | Friday, July 22 | No. 25 | Tuesday, August 16 |
| No. 99 | Fitzgerald Goes The Distance | No. 74- | Tuesday, June 28 | No. 49 | Saturday, July 23 | No. 24 | Wednesday, August 17 |
| No. 98 | Saturday, June 4 | No. 73- | Wednesday, June 29 | No. 48 | Sunday, July 24 | No. 23 | Thursday, August 18 |
| No. 97- | Sunday, June 5 | No. 72- | Thursday, June 30 | No. 47 | Monday, July 25 | No. 22 | Friday, August 19 |
| No. 96- | Monday, June 6 | No. 71- | Friday, July 1 | No. 46 | Tuesday, July 26 | No. 21 | Saturday, August 20 |
| No. 95- | Tuesday, June 7 | No. 70- | Saturday, July 2 | No. 45 | Wednesday, July 27 | No. 20 | Sunday, August 21 |
| No. 94- | Wednesday, June 8 | No. 69- | Sunday, July 3 | No. 44 | Thursday, July 28 | No. 19 | Monday, August 22 |
| No. 93- | Thursday, June 9 | No. 68- | Monday, July 4 | No. 43 | Friday, July 29 | No. 18 | Tuesday, August 23 |
| No. 92- | Friday, June 10 | No. 67- | Tuesday, July 5 | No. 42 | Saturday, July 30 | No. 17 | Wednesday, August 24 |
| No. 91- | Saturday, June 11 | No. 66- | Wednesday, July 6 | No. 41 | Sunday, July 31 | No. 16 | Thursday, August 25 |
| No. 90- | Sunday, June 12 | No. 65- | Thursday, July 7 | No. 40 | Monday, August 1 | No. 15 | Friday, August 26 |
| No. 89- | Monday, June 13 | No. 64- | Friday, July 8 | No. 39 | Tuesday, August 2 | No. 14 | Saturday, August 27 |
| No. 88- | Tuesday, June 14 | No. 63- | Saturday, July 9 | No. 38 | Wednesday, August 3 | No. 13 | Sunday, August 28 |
| No. 87- | Wednesday, June 15 | No. 62- | Sunday, July 10 | No. 37 | Thursday, August 4 | No. 12 | Monday, August 29 |
| No. 86- | Thursday, June 16 | No. 61- | Monday, July 11 | No. 36 | Friday, August 5 | No. 11 | Tuesday, August 30 |
| No. 85- | Friday, June 17 | No. 60- | Tuesday, July 12 | No. 35 | Saturday, August 6 | No. 10 | Wednesday, August 31 |
| No. 84- | Saturday, June 18 | No. 59- | Wednesday, July 13 | No. 34 | Sunday, August 7 | No. 9 | Thursday, September 1 |
| No. 83- | Sunday, June 19 | No. 58- | Thursday, July 14 | No. 33 | Monday, August 8 | No. 8 | Friday, September 2 |
| No. 82- | Monday, June 20 | No. 57- | Friday, July 15 | No. 32 | Tuesday, August 9 | No. 7 | Saturday, September 3 |
| No. 81- | Tuesday, June 21 | No. 56- | Saturday, July 16 | No. 31 | Wednesday, August 10 | No. 6 | Sunday, September 4 |
| No. 80- | Wednesday, June 22 | No. 55- | Sunday, July 17 | No. 30 | Thursday, August 11 | No. 5 | Monday, September 5 |
| No. 79- | Thursday, June 23 | No. 54- | Monday, July 18 | No. 29 | Friday, August 12 | No. 4 | Tuesday, September 6 |
| No. 78- | Friday, June 24 | No. 53- | Tuesday, July 19 | No. 28 | Saturday, August 13 | No. 3 | Wednesday, September 7 |
| No. 77- | Saturday, June 25 | No. 52- | Wednesday, July 20 | No. 27 | Sunday, August 14 | No. 2 | Thursday, September 8 |
| No. 76- | Sunday, June 26 | No. 51- | Thursday, July 21 | No. 26 | Monday, August 15 | No. 1 | Friday, September 9 |
