University of North Texas
Utah State
New Mexico Bowl Preview
12/14/2018 4:00:00 AM | Football
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Saturday's New Mexico Bowl is a matchup of near mirror-image teams.
- North Texas set a school record for most points per game at 36.42. Utah State set a school record for most points in a season at 566.
- North Texas is fifth in the nation in passes intercepted with 17. Utah State is tied for first with 18.
- Utah State is 19th in the nation in third-down conversions. North Texas is 17th.
- Each team possesses a record-setting quarterback. UNT junior Mason Fine set the school record for career passing yards, while USU sophomore Jordan Love set the school record for passing touchdowns in a season.
- Fine passed for 3,734 yards with 27 touchdowns. Love threw for 3,208 yards and 28 touchdowns.
- Fine threw just five interceptions, the ninth lowest total in the nation. Love also threw just five picks.
- Utah State's 10-1 start was the best in school history. North Texas' 6-1 start was its best since 1988.
So what are the differences, where is this game likely to be decided, and what do the Mean Green have to do to earn their second win over a ranked opponent in school history?
When North Texas Has The Ball
Protect the ball.
Utah State, which enters the game ranked No. 23 in the final Coaches Poll, tied for No. 1 in the nation in interceptions with 18 and is No. 3 in total turnovers with 28. The Aggie defense takes the ball away and gives it back to that high-octane offense, or it just scores on its own: Utah State is No. 2 in the nation in defensive touchdowns with six.
The Aggie defense will surrender some yards. It's ranked 44th in the nation against the run and 84th against the pass, but that pass number may be inflated by opponents forced to throw to attempt to keep pace with the prolific Utah State offense.
Utah State's pass rush is led by linebackers Tipa Galeai, who recorded 8.5 sacks, and David Woodward, who had five sacks. In fact, two thirds of the Utah State's 30 quarterback sacks this year came from its linebackers and secondary.
While the Mean Green needs another big day from Fine, who is the only quarterback in the nation with at least 3,500 passing yards and less than six interceptions this year, UNT could use another strong performance from running back DeAndre Torrey, who took over the starting job in midseason and rushed for 942 yards and 14 touchdowns. Fueling the Mean Green ground game could be pivotal, serving to negate the Aggie blitz and keep the USU offense on the sidelines.
In its season-ending loss to Boise State, Utah State gave up 199 yards on the ground and 310 through the air while forcing no turnovers, and Boise State had a 17-minute advantage in time of possession.
When Utah State Has The Ball
Pick your poison.
Utah State has one of the more balanced offenses in the nation, averaging 203.7 yards on the ground and 288.8 through the air. Both numbers rank in the top 40 nationally, and the combination ranks 11th in total offense at 492.5 yards per game.
More importantly, the Aggies have the No. 3 scoring offense in the nation, averaging 47.2 points per game. And they score fast, recording 24 scoring drives of less than a minute. Utah State topped 50 points six times this year and was held below 30 just three times.
Utah State quarterback Jordan Love is efficient, completing 65.8 percent of his passes with only five interceptions. His top target is wide receiver Ron'quavion Tarver, who had 62 receptions for 676 yards and seven touchdowns. But the Aggies spread the ball around, and six Aggies had 22 or more catches this year.
The run game is built around 5-8, 200-pound Darwin Thompson and 5-9, 195-pound Gerold Bright, who split the workload and combined for 1,736 yards and 22 touchdowns. Love ran for just 127 yards but did score six touchdowns.
The Mean Green must control the run game and pressure Love. The Aggie offensive line protects Love well, allowing just .75 sacks per game, third best in the nation. The Mean Green's pass rush, which comes primarily from linebackers E.J. Ejiya and Brandon Garner and defensive linemen LaDarius Hamilton and Roderick Young, cannot allow Love time in the pocket.
In its season-ending loss to Boise State, Utah State's run game was held to 62 yards and Love was intercepted once and sacked once.
Special Teams
The Mean Green had a good year covering kickoffs, allowing just 18.77 yards per return, 28th best in the nation. They'll need to be very good against the Aggies, who averaged 29.68 yards per kickoff return, best in the nation.
Both teams are solid on punts and punt coverage, but North Texas has a slight edge on field goals. UNT's Cole Hedlund made 86.4 percent of his kicks, 14th best in the country, while Utah State's Dominik Eberle was successful on 77.8 percent of his attempts. Eberle, however, does have range, hitting three 51-yard kicks this year.
Utah State Intangibles
Utah State lost its head coach, offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator at the end of the regular season, hired away by Texas Tech. More members of the staff will head to Lubbock after the New Mexico Bowl.
Utah State has hired a new head coach in Gary Andersen, but he has yet to take control. Instead, an interim head coach and coordinators will run the show. It's not the wholesale evacuation of the coaching offices that hit SMU last year before its bowl game, but there will be new voices making the calls for the Aggies in Albuquerque.
North Texas Intangibles
North Texas head coach Seth Littrell has talked about the mission - winning a bowl game - since he arrived in Denton. After bowl losses the last two years, the Mean Green are hungry for a first postseason victory under Littrell.
Mean Green Keys
Utah State is almost certainly the best team North Texas has faced this season, and winning Saturday will require the Mean Green's best performance of the year:
- Force turnovers: In its three losses, North Texas forced just two turnovers (.67 per game), while in nine wins it forced 19 turnovers (2.1 per game) and scored 62 points off those turnovers. In games in which North Texas forced two or more turnovers, it was 5-0; when it forced just one or no turnovers, it was 4-3.
- Dominate the 8: Littrell emphasizes winning the last four minutes of first half and first four minutes of the second half. North Texas outscored opponents 37-0 in "the 8" in the first four games of the year. Since that time, the Mean Green has been outscored 40-17 in "the 8." In games in which North Texas shutout opponents in "the 8," it was 6-1.
- Get off the field: In three losses this year, the North Texas defense forced only 11 third-and-long situations and opponents converted five of those. In nine wins, the Mean Green forced 47 third-and-longs and allowed opponents to convert just six times.
- Play four quarters: In 720 minutes of game time this year, the Mean Green has only trailed for 96 minutes – just 13 percent of the season - and was outscored in just 12 of the 48 quarters. But in its three losses, North Texas was outscored 48-9 in the second half, during which it had five turnovers and scored only one touchdown in 25 possessions. The Mean Green let double-digit leads slip away in all three losses. They cannot afford a mid-game fade against Utah State.
