Saturday, October 3
Denton
6:30 p.m.
University of North Texas
1-2 , 0-1
31
vs
41
Southern Miss
1-3 , 1-1
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Southern Miss
17
3
7
14
41
North Texas
3
7
7
14
31
Photo by: Manny Flores
Slow Start Too Much For UNT To Overcome
10/3/2020 11:02:00 PM | Football
DENTON – A shorthanded defensive unit stood tall in tough times, but the North Texas offense and special teams faltered too often on Saturday night at Apogee Stadium, as the Mean Green fell 41-31 to a previously winless Southern Miss team after committing three turnovers and several other miscues.
Despite missing several key contributors on defense, the Mean Green allowed just 10 points off three North Texas turnovers and also played with its back against the wall on several occasions due to special teams miscues. The Golden Eagles started three drives inside the Mean Green 25-yard line and another at the North Texas 35.
"I thought it was a very undisciplined game," UNT coach Seth Littrell said. "We had three turnovers offensively and two turnovers on special teams and a blocked field goal. We just didn't play very disciplined. That's a reflection on coaching, make no mistake about it. We have to get back to the drawing board this weekend and make sure we're improved and coach our guys the right way."
Two key special teams miscues gave the Golden Eagles (1-3, 1-1 C-USA) momentum seizing scores. After UNT (1-2, 0-1) opened the scoring with a field goal, Southern Miss took a 7-3 lead just a minute later. The ensuing kickoff was a short, high kick and wasn't covered by a North Texas player before being pounced on by a Golden Eagle. That led to a second Southern Miss touchdown in just more than a minute of game time and a 14-3 lead that was pushed to 17-3 before the first quarter ended, thanks in large part to a fourth-down stop by Southern Miss when Tre Siggers was stopped on fourth-and-1 at the Southern Miss 6-yard line.
"Defensively, we played well enough to win," Littrell said. "They had a lot of short field [situations]. They had some gutty performances from different guys and a lot of guys giving it everything they had playing positions they normally don't play. That's part of the world we live in. Unfortunately, we didn't play well enough on offense and special teams to give ourselves a chance to win, to be honest with you. You turn the ball over that many times and shoot yourself in the foot, you're not gonna win games."
The final blow came near the end of the third quarter with Southern Miss holding a 10-point lead. The UNT defense forced a short punt that was unknowingly touched by a North Texas player and recovered by Southern Miss at the UNT 22-yard line.
Four plays later, Darius Maberry found the end zone for Southern Miss to give the Golden Eagles a 34-17 lead with 14:54 left in the game.
"The depth issues hurt your special teams, as well," Littrell said. "When you have that many guys out, you're plugging different guys in on special teams. You rep guys there throughout the week and then come gametime, they aren't here. But I'm not going to make excuses. We made too many mistakes – and again, that's coaching."
The Mean Green offense put up numbers, totaling 483 yards, including 339 through the air in what was redshirt sophomore quarterback Austin Aune's first 300-yard passing day in his first collegiate start. The Mean Green also converted 11-of-19 third-down tries, but the 17-3 first-quarter hole was ultimately too much to overcome.
"Southern Miss is a good team, so you have to give them credit," Aune said. "They came out ready to play. It was the second week in a row the offense came out a little slow. We're gonna fix that. We played better as the game went on. We just have to capitalize and can't turn the ball over when the defense makes stops. I had two lost fumbles. This one hurts, but we just have to get better."
When asked to grade his first start, Aune quickly answered and then went on to vow improvement before the Mean Green return to action at home on Saturday against Charlotte at 7 p.m.
"We lost, so it wasn't very good," Aune said. "For me, it's win and losses. I don't care if we run for 500 yards and throw for zero. I came here to win football games.
"We all believe we're a great football team, and I believe that, as well," Aune added. "If we come out of the gates offensively like we did in the second half, I really believe we're a great team and can get a lot of wins. We're going to figure it out. Each week is a chance to play another game and we just have to continue learning and maturing at each position. I believe we have a great football team, and we're gonna win a lot of games."
QUICK HITS
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Austin Aune and senior linebacker/defensive back Makyle Sanders' postgame press conference
Despite missing several key contributors on defense, the Mean Green allowed just 10 points off three North Texas turnovers and also played with its back against the wall on several occasions due to special teams miscues. The Golden Eagles started three drives inside the Mean Green 25-yard line and another at the North Texas 35.
"I thought it was a very undisciplined game," UNT coach Seth Littrell said. "We had three turnovers offensively and two turnovers on special teams and a blocked field goal. We just didn't play very disciplined. That's a reflection on coaching, make no mistake about it. We have to get back to the drawing board this weekend and make sure we're improved and coach our guys the right way."
Two key special teams miscues gave the Golden Eagles (1-3, 1-1 C-USA) momentum seizing scores. After UNT (1-2, 0-1) opened the scoring with a field goal, Southern Miss took a 7-3 lead just a minute later. The ensuing kickoff was a short, high kick and wasn't covered by a North Texas player before being pounced on by a Golden Eagle. That led to a second Southern Miss touchdown in just more than a minute of game time and a 14-3 lead that was pushed to 17-3 before the first quarter ended, thanks in large part to a fourth-down stop by Southern Miss when Tre Siggers was stopped on fourth-and-1 at the Southern Miss 6-yard line.
"Defensively, we played well enough to win," Littrell said. "They had a lot of short field [situations]. They had some gutty performances from different guys and a lot of guys giving it everything they had playing positions they normally don't play. That's part of the world we live in. Unfortunately, we didn't play well enough on offense and special teams to give ourselves a chance to win, to be honest with you. You turn the ball over that many times and shoot yourself in the foot, you're not gonna win games."
The final blow came near the end of the third quarter with Southern Miss holding a 10-point lead. The UNT defense forced a short punt that was unknowingly touched by a North Texas player and recovered by Southern Miss at the UNT 22-yard line.
Four plays later, Darius Maberry found the end zone for Southern Miss to give the Golden Eagles a 34-17 lead with 14:54 left in the game.
"The depth issues hurt your special teams, as well," Littrell said. "When you have that many guys out, you're plugging different guys in on special teams. You rep guys there throughout the week and then come gametime, they aren't here. But I'm not going to make excuses. We made too many mistakes – and again, that's coaching."
The Mean Green offense put up numbers, totaling 483 yards, including 339 through the air in what was redshirt sophomore quarterback Austin Aune's first 300-yard passing day in his first collegiate start. The Mean Green also converted 11-of-19 third-down tries, but the 17-3 first-quarter hole was ultimately too much to overcome.
"Southern Miss is a good team, so you have to give them credit," Aune said. "They came out ready to play. It was the second week in a row the offense came out a little slow. We're gonna fix that. We played better as the game went on. We just have to capitalize and can't turn the ball over when the defense makes stops. I had two lost fumbles. This one hurts, but we just have to get better."
When asked to grade his first start, Aune quickly answered and then went on to vow improvement before the Mean Green return to action at home on Saturday against Charlotte at 7 p.m.
"We lost, so it wasn't very good," Aune said. "For me, it's win and losses. I don't care if we run for 500 yards and throw for zero. I came here to win football games.
"We all believe we're a great football team, and I believe that, as well," Aune added. "If we come out of the gates offensively like we did in the second half, I really believe we're a great team and can get a lot of wins. We're going to figure it out. Each week is a chance to play another game and we just have to continue learning and maturing at each position. I believe we have a great football team, and we're gonna win a lot of games."
QUICK HITS
- The Southern Miss win breaks a series tie and gives the Golden Eagles and 8-7 advantage in the all-time series.
- The Mean Green win puts the program record at 19-8 in Apogee Stadium under head coach Seth Littrell. The Mean Green are 1-2 at home this season.
- Redshirt sophomore QB Austin Aune made his first career start and finished the game with 339 yards on 28-of-47 passing and two touchdowns.
- His 5-yard touchdown run with 8:44 left to play in the third quarter was the first rushing touchdown of his career.
- Aune completed passes to seven different receivers.
- The game marked Aune's first career 300-yard passing day.
- Senior WR Jaelon Darden (Houston) had 13 catches on the day for 104 yards and a touchdown, giving him six touchdown receptions through two games this season.
- Darden's 17-yard touchdown reception from Aune with 9:23 remaining in the third quarter was his 25th career receiving touchdown, putting him six behind the program's all-time leader Ron Shanklin, who had 31 from 1967-69. It was his 26th career touchdown (receiving/rushing/returns), and he is now one behind Jamario Thomas (2004-07) for seventh on the all-time list.
- That 17-yarder was Darden's sixth touchdown of the season, which is tied for the most in the country.
- Darden's 13 receptions give him 179 for his career – three shy of moving into a tie for fourth place on the school's all-time list with David Brown (1991-94).
- Sophomore WR Deonte Simpson (Beaumont, Texas) caught five balls for 113 yards and a touchdown.
- His 37-yard touchdown reception from Aune with 5:16 remaining was his second touchdown of the season and his second in as many games.
- The game marked the first 100-yard receiving day of Simpson's UNT career.
- Senior RB DeAndre Torrey (Gautier, Mississippi) had 82 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown.
- Torrey's 34-yard touchdown run with 13:11 left in the game tied him for eighth in all-time North Texas rushing touchdowns with 19. He's now tied with Michael Jones (1974-77) and Abner Haynes (1957-59). He's one touchdown shy of tying Terrance Brown (1992-93) with 20.
- The touchdown scamper was also his 23rd career touchdown (rushing/receiving/returns), tying him with Antoinne Jimmerson (2011-15) for ninth on the all-time career touchdown list.
- Redshirt junior RB Tre Siggers (Duncanville, Texas) finished the day with 54 yards on 13 carries and a touchdown. His 1-yard TD plunge with 1:54 to play in the first half was his first touchdown of the season.
- Redshirt freshman TE Asher Alberding (Houston) had his first career reception, going for 12 yards, late in the first half
- Junior linebacker KD Davis (Ennis, Texas) finished the night with 14 tackles and a sack to break his previous career high of 13 stops last year at California.
- Freshman DB Upton Stout (Houston) finished the night with 11 tackles, breaking his previous career high of eight stops against SMU earlier this season.
- Senior safety Makyle Sanders (Tyler, Texas) intercepted Southern Miss quarterback Jack Abraham on third-and-10 to give possession to North Texas at its 41-yard line with just under eight minutes to play in the third quarter. It was the first takeaway of the year for North Texas and Sanders' second career interception.
- Junior kicker Ethan Mooney (Fort Worth) made a 49-yard field goal to open the game's scoring with 12:36 left in the first quarter was two yards shy of his career long of 51.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Austin Aune and senior linebacker/defensive back Makyle Sanders' postgame press conference
Team Stats
USM
UNT
Total Yards
437
483
Pass Yards
235
339
Rushing Yards
202
144
Penalty Yards
10
20
1st Downs
22
27
3rd Downs
8
11
4th Downs
1
1
TOP
35:16
24:44
1st Quarter
USM 0, UNT 3
UNT - MOONEY, Ethan 49 yd field goal 10 plays, 24 yards, TOP 2:24
USM 7, UNT 3
USM - JONES, Demarcus 22 yd pass from ABRAHAM, Jack (BOURGEOIS, B. kick) 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:06
USM 14, UNT 3
USM - GORE, Frank 11 yd run (BOURGEOIS, B. kick), 3 plays, 24 yards, TOP 1:04
USM 17, UNT 3
USM - BOURGEOIS, B. 31 yd field goal 4 plays, 6 yards, TOP 1:26
2nd Quarter
USM 17, UNT 10
UNT - SIGGERS, Tre 1 yd run (MOONEY, Ethan kick), 14 plays, 80 yards, TOP 4:30
USM 20, UNT 10
USM - BOURGEOIS, B. 46 yd field goal 9 plays, 46 yards, TOP 1:10
3rd Quarter
USM 27, UNT 10
USM - BROWNLEE, Jason 68 yd pass from ABRAHAM, Jack (BOURGEOIS, B. kick) 3 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:23
USM 27, UNT 17
UNT - DARDEN, Jaelon 17 yd pass from AUNE, Austin (MOONEY, Ethan kick) 12 plays, 70 yards, TOP 4:14
4th Quarter
USM 34, UNT 17
USM - MABERRY, Darius 4 yd run (BOURGEOIS, B. kick), 4 plays, 22 yards, TOP 1:59
USM 34, UNT 24
UNT - TORREY, DeAndre 34 yd run (MOONEY, Ethan kick), 8 plays, 74 yards, TOP 1:43
USM 41, UNT 24
USM - MABERRY, Darius 14 yd run (BOURGEOIS, B. kick), 12 plays, 75 yards, TOP 6:55
USM 41, UNT 31
UNT - SIMPSON, Deonte 37 yd pass from AUNE, Austin (MOONEY, Ethan kick) 3 plays, 71 yards, TOP 1:00
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
28
TD
2
YDS
339
INT
0
Players Mentioned
TE
/ FootballQB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
K
/ Football
S
/ Football
S
/ Football
WR
/ Football
DB
/ Football
RB
/ FootballEric Morris Weekly Press Conference vs. Army | Mean Green FB
Tuesday, September 16
Glory To The Green: Recap vs Washington St | Mean Green FB
Monday, September 15
Broadcast Highlights vs Washington State | Mean Green Football
Sunday, September 14
Postgame Press Conference | UNT vs. Washington State
Sunday, September 14