North Texas Wins First Game Of Season

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Sep 13

2:30 PM CT

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vs Washington State

Sep 20

11:00 AM CT

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at Army

Sep 27

TBA

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vs South Alabama

Oct 10

6:30 PM CT

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vs South Florida

DENTON, Texas (9/24/11) - The North Texas football team won its first game at Apogee Stadium, defeating Indiana by a score of 24-21 on Saturday night in front of a crowd of 21,181. The win was the first under first-year head coach Dan McCarney.

North Texas improves to 1-3, while Indiana falls to 1-3. The Mean Green won its first home game since 2009, a span of eight games. The Mean Green also won its first game against a BCS automatic qualifying team since the 2003 win against Baylor.

"This win is so meaningful to so many people," said North Texas head coach Dan McCarney. "It's a reward for the hard work done by a lot of people. This is about as good as it gets on gameday."

The game was one of two halves as North Texas outscored the Hoosiers in the first half, 21-0, but Indiana showed up in the second half, outscoring the Mean Green, 21-3. Zach Olen's 40-yard field goal at the start of the third quarter proved to be the game-winner.

For the first time since 2009, North Texas held its opponent scoreless for the first half. The Mean Green held a 10-0 lead against Ball State in the 2009 season opener. The last time North Texas opened a game 21-0 was against ULM in 2009.

Lance Dunbar recorded 229 all-purpose yards in the first half alone, which is more than his first three games combined. He finished with 279 all-purpose yards for the night. Dunbar posted his 17^th 100-yard rushing game of his career and the first this season. He finished with 127 rushing yards and 152 receiving yards. With his 152 receiving yards, Dunbar set the North Texas single-game receiving yards record for a running back.

North Texas quarterback Derek Thompson set a host of personal bests against the Hoosiers, including passing yards, passing touchdowns and rushing yards (53). He completed 10-for-20 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns.

After North Texas jumped out to a 24-0 lead, Indiana came back with three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to three points with 1:05 to play in the game. Brandin Byrd recovered the on-side kick to seal the win for the Mean Green.

Indiana scored its first touchdown off a 31-yard interception return by Mark Murphy at 11:04 in the fourth quarter. Thompson was intercepted on NT's first play of the fourth quarter. The Hoosiers added to their score on their next drive with a 44-yard touchdown pass from Dusty Kiel to Jamonne Chester. Kiel followed that up with a 67-yard pass to Kofi Hughes with 1:05 on the clock.

A Royce Hill interception at the start of the third quarter led to a 40-yard field goal by Olen, extending NT's lead to 24-0. Indiana and North Texas exchanged punts for the rest of the third quarter.

After a turnover-plagued first quarter, North Texas scored touchdowns on all three possessions of the second period. Dunbar caught a 10-yard outlet pass, slipped a tackle and ran for the endzone, ending up with an 83-yard touchdown play to put the Mean Green ahead, 7-0.

With the touchdown, Dunbar passed Patrick Cobbs for the most career touchdowns in school history at 39. The catch was the longest of his career and was the sixth longest passing play in school history.

After Indiana was forced to punt, Chris Bynes fought for his first career touchdown reception. Thompson lofted a pass into the endzone that Bynes had to go up and wrestle the ball from an Indiana player to give North Texas a 14-0 lead at 6:37.

Mike Outlaw caught the Mean Green's third touchdown pass, a 32-yard reception at the back of the endzone with 55 seconds left in the first half.

Three of the game's first four possessions led to turnovers.

The Mean Green's first three drives all went into Indiana territory but all three led to North Texas turnovers. The first drive stalled at the Indiana eight-yard line but the Mean Green could not handle the snap for the field goal attempt. The ball was turned over to Indiana, which were forced to punt. Dunbar fumbled on both of NT's next two possessions. Zach Orr recorded his second career fumble recovery after Indiana turned over the ball on its second possession.

As a team, North Texas rushed for 226 yards. The Mean Green defense held IU to 50 rushing yards. The Hoosiers passed for 354 and finished with 404 total yards.

North Texas returns to action when it faces Tulsa on the road on October 1 at 6 p.m.

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Team Stats

Derek Thompson

Players Mentioned

Brandin Byrd

Lance Dunbar

Royce Hill

Zach Olen

Zach Orr

Derek Thompson

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