Saturday, September 28
Denton
7 PM
University of North Texas
2-3 , 1-0
25
vs
46
Houston
2-3 , 0-1
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Houston
14
3
14
15
46
North Texas
0
6
12
7
25
Photo by: Manny Flores
Mean Green Fall To Houston, 46-25
9/28/2019 11:20:00 PM | Football
DENTON – An early hole for North Texas and a second-half special teams surge by Houston led the visiting Cougars to a 46-25 win over North Texas on Saturday night at Apogee Stadium, in front of a record crowd of 30,123.
Houston jumped out to a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter before North Texas used two Ethan Mooney field goals to close to within 17-6 at halftime, and Houston notched two special teams touchdowns in the second half to pull away.
"We had way too many catastrophic plays in all three phases, whether it was offense getting behind the chains when we got something going, or defensively, giving up way too many explosive plays," UNT head coach Seth Littrell said. "Once (the defense) settled in, we battled, but then special teams took their turn."
After a Tre Siggers touchdown run pulled UNT (2-3) to within 24-12 with 7:12 left in the third quarter, Marquez Stevenson returned the ensuing kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown. Then, after Mason Fine found Jyaire Shorter for a 33-yard touchdown to pull the Mean Green to within 31-18 with 4:13 left in the third quarter, Houston's special teams struck again.
Less than 90 seconds into the fourth quarter, Bryson Smith returned an Alvin Kenworthy punt 60 yards to the end zone to put Houston (2-3) up 39-18 with 13:35 to play in the game.
"We have a lot of things to clean up after tonight," Littrell said, as his team prepares to enter a bye week before traveling to Southern Mississippi on Oct. 12. "I wasn't pleased with any of the phases. There's a lot of things we have to get better at, and I have to get better, too - all the coaches."
Houston, which was without star quarterback D'Eriq King after he announced Monday he would redshirt this season and miss the remainder of the year, turned to sophomore Clayton Tune, who threw for 124 yards and a score on 16-of-20 passing in his first start for the Cougars.
Tune also rushed for 100 yards on nine carries, adding to the rushing pace set by his teammate, running back Patrick Carr, who rushed 16 times for 139 yards and three touchdowns. The tandem was the first to rush for 100 yards apiece against UNT since Nov. 18, 2017, when Army's Ahmad Bradshaw and Darnell Woolfolk each eclipsed the 100-yard mark.
"He's a really good quarterback," Littrell said of Tune. "We recruited him out of high school, and he's very talented. They're an explosive team with a lot of weapons. We knew it was gonna be a battle. We just have to clean things up. We can't have that many catastrophic plays that hurt us."
Senior quarterback Mason Fine set a new career record with 55 pass attempts and ended his night midway through the fourth quarter with 353 passing yards and two touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Michael Lawrence had nine catches for a career-high 120 yards on 15 targets.
Meanwhile, the Mean Green rushed for 96 yards after entering the game averaging 203.5 yards per game on the ground. North Texas went 8-for-22 on third down conversions.
"Mike played good," Littrell said. "He goes out there and battles, and when it's his time step up he always does. Mason was solid. We just have to get our run game better. They were more physical up front than we were, and when you can't get your run game going it makes it harder when you have to drop back and pass so much."
QUICK HITS
Houston jumped out to a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter before North Texas used two Ethan Mooney field goals to close to within 17-6 at halftime, and Houston notched two special teams touchdowns in the second half to pull away.
"We had way too many catastrophic plays in all three phases, whether it was offense getting behind the chains when we got something going, or defensively, giving up way too many explosive plays," UNT head coach Seth Littrell said. "Once (the defense) settled in, we battled, but then special teams took their turn."
After a Tre Siggers touchdown run pulled UNT (2-3) to within 24-12 with 7:12 left in the third quarter, Marquez Stevenson returned the ensuing kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown. Then, after Mason Fine found Jyaire Shorter for a 33-yard touchdown to pull the Mean Green to within 31-18 with 4:13 left in the third quarter, Houston's special teams struck again.
Less than 90 seconds into the fourth quarter, Bryson Smith returned an Alvin Kenworthy punt 60 yards to the end zone to put Houston (2-3) up 39-18 with 13:35 to play in the game.
"We have a lot of things to clean up after tonight," Littrell said, as his team prepares to enter a bye week before traveling to Southern Mississippi on Oct. 12. "I wasn't pleased with any of the phases. There's a lot of things we have to get better at, and I have to get better, too - all the coaches."
Houston, which was without star quarterback D'Eriq King after he announced Monday he would redshirt this season and miss the remainder of the year, turned to sophomore Clayton Tune, who threw for 124 yards and a score on 16-of-20 passing in his first start for the Cougars.
Tune also rushed for 100 yards on nine carries, adding to the rushing pace set by his teammate, running back Patrick Carr, who rushed 16 times for 139 yards and three touchdowns. The tandem was the first to rush for 100 yards apiece against UNT since Nov. 18, 2017, when Army's Ahmad Bradshaw and Darnell Woolfolk each eclipsed the 100-yard mark.
"He's a really good quarterback," Littrell said of Tune. "We recruited him out of high school, and he's very talented. They're an explosive team with a lot of weapons. We knew it was gonna be a battle. We just have to clean things up. We can't have that many catastrophic plays that hurt us."
Senior quarterback Mason Fine set a new career record with 55 pass attempts and ended his night midway through the fourth quarter with 353 passing yards and two touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Michael Lawrence had nine catches for a career-high 120 yards on 15 targets.
Meanwhile, the Mean Green rushed for 96 yards after entering the game averaging 203.5 yards per game on the ground. North Texas went 8-for-22 on third down conversions.
"Mike played good," Littrell said. "He goes out there and battles, and when it's his time step up he always does. Mason was solid. We just have to get our run game better. They were more physical up front than we were, and when you can't get your run game going it makes it harder when you have to drop back and pass so much."
QUICK HITS
- With the loss, North Texas falls to 7-8 in the all-time series lead with Houston, and Houston has now won five of the last six meetings.
- The attendance of 30,123 set a new Apogee Stadium record.
- The loss marks just the second for UNT at Apogee Stadium since November 2016 – the first coming last season against Louisiana Tech.
- North Texas has now won 14 of its last 16 games at Apogee Stadium dating back to 2016 and is 16-5 under head coach Seth Littrell at home.
- Senior QB Mason Fine (Peggs, Oklahoma) extended his own program record for career touchdown passes and now has 75 over his career after entering the game with 73.
- Fine also extended his career passing mark, and now sits at 10,710 career yards after throwing for 353 in the game. Fine is also the active FBS leader in career passing yardage.
- Fine's 353 yards passing gives him 15 games of more than 300 yards passing, which is the most in program history.
- Fine's 55 attempts set a new career high.
- Fine spread the ball around to nine different receivers on Saturday.
- Senior WR Michael Lawrence (Sweetwater, Texas) had nine catches for 120 yards to lead the Mean Green. Both numbers are new season highs for Lawrence, beating his previous marks this year of five grabs for 58 yards. His 120 yards set a new career high, exceeding his 112 yards at Florida Atlantic in 2017.
- Redshirt junior TE Jason Pirtle (Locust Grove, Oklahoma) made his first reception since the season-opening win over Abilene Christian when he had four catches for 88 yards and three touchdowns.
- Pirtle caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Fine, his high school teammate, with 5:06 left to play, which cut Houston's lead to 39-25. It was Pirtle's fourth touchdown reception of the year – good for the team lead.
- Sophomore linebacker KD Davis (Ennis, Texas) had a team-high seven tackles, matching redshirt junior LB Joe Ozougwu (Alief, Texas). He now has the team lead on the season with 48 stops.
Team Stats
HOU
UNT
Total Yards
359
456
Pass Yards
124
360
Rushing Yards
235
96
Penalty Yards
30
57
1st Downs
17
20
3rd Downs
4
8
4th Downs
0
4
TOP
27:02
32:58
1st Quarter
HOU 7, UNT 0
HOU - CARR, Patrick 68 yd run (WITHERSPOON, Da kick), 3 plays, 85 yards, TOP 1:22
HOU 14, UNT 0
HOU - LARK, Courtney 12 yd pass from TUNE, Clayton (WITHERSPOON, Da kick) 9 plays, 81 yards, TOP 4:09
2nd Quarter
HOU 17, UNT 0
HOU - WITHERSPOON, Da 26 yd field goal 6 plays, 41 yards, TOP 1:39
HOU 17, UNT 3
UNT - MOONEY, Ethan 41 yd field goal 9 plays, 42 yards, TOP 3:15
HOU 17, UNT 6
UNT - MOONEY, Ethan 46 yd field goal 7 plays, 27 yards, TOP 0:56
3rd Quarter
HOU 24, UNT 6
HOU - CARR, Patrick 2 yd run (WITHERSPOON, Da kick), 8 plays, 60 yards, TOP 3:41
HOU 24, UNT 12
UNT - SIGGERS, Tre 4 yd run (FINE, Mason passfailed), 11 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:07
HOU 31, UNT 12
HOU - STEVENSON, Marq 82 yd kickoff return (WITHERSPOON, Da kick)
HOU 31, UNT 18
UNT - SHORTER, Jyaire 33 yd pass from FINE, Mason (FINE, Mason passfailed) 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:44
4th Quarter
HOU 39, UNT 18
HOU - SMITH, Bryson 60 yd punt return (STEVENSON, Marq pass)
HOU 39, UNT 25
UNT - PIRTLE, Jason 15 yd pass from FINE, Mason (MOONEY, Ethan kick) 13 plays, 85 yards, TOP 3:16
HOU 46, UNT 25
HOU - CARR, Patrick 12 yd run (WITHERSPOON, Da kick), 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:05
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
35
TD
2
YDS
353
INT
0
CMP
1
TD
0
YDS
7
INT
0
Players Mentioned
QB
/ Football
P
/ Football
WR
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K
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LB
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WR
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WR
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S
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