Saturday, November 28
San Antonio, TX
2 p.m.
University of North Texas
3-4 , 2-3
17
at
49
UTSA
7-4 , 5-2
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
North Texas
0
7
3
7
17
UTSA
7
21
7
14
49
Photo by: Manny Flores
Mean Green Fall in San Antonio
11/28/2020 5:36:00 PM | Football
SAN ANTONIO – Riding a two-game win streak with a short week upcoming, the North Texas football team had a chance to build some more momentum against rival UT San Antonio on Saturday in the Alamodome.
But with a chance to further stake their claim for the Conference USA West Division title, the Roadrunners had other plans.
The Roadrunners used a huge day from running back Sincere McCormick and a stifling defense that gave the Mean Green fits all day to roll to a 49-17 win.
The Mean Green entered the game averaging 559.5 yards per game (fifth nationally in all of FBS) and 37.2 points per game, which was second in Conference USA, but managed just 401 total yards in the loss. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Jason Bean was replaced in the final minutes of the first half by redshirt sophomore Austin Aune before re-entering the game late, but neither signal-caller had an answer for the Roadrunners' defense. The Mean Green pulled to within 14-7 four minutes into the second quarter and didn't find the end zone again until there was 3:40 left to play in the game when Bean hit Jason Pirtle for an 8-yard touchdown. Bean had two costly first-half interceptions that led to 14 points for the Roadrunners (7-4, 5-2).
UNT (3-4, 2-3 C-USA) did have two bright spots offensively, highlighted by senior wide receiver Jaelon Darden, who continued his assault on the program record book and kept his national FBS lead for receiving touchdowns this season with his 75-yard catch-and-run touchdown in the second quarter – his 12th of the season in just seven games. He finished the day with eight catches for 143 yards and is now tied for the all-time career receiving touchdown lead with 31.
Another bit of silver lining for the Mean Green, offensively, was seeing redshirt freshman running back Oscar Adaway III crack the century mark for the third time this season in his four appearances with 101 yards on 15 carries.
"We had some individual performances, I guess, but again, there's way too many mistakes and it was across every position group," UNT head coach Seth Littrell said. "We have to get back and clean this up as quick as possible on a short week with another great team coming to our place."
It was another rough day for the Mean Green defense after two games of progress in a revamped system. The Roadrunners rolled up a school-record 624 total yards, including a school-high 443 on the ground, led by McCormick's 23 carries for 251 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Frank Harris threw for 144 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown.
The Mean Green will have a quick turnaround for their next game, as they return home to Apogee Stadium for a game against Louisiana Tech on Thursday night at 5 p.m., in a game that was originally scheduled for Nov. 7, before it was postponed due to COVID-19.
Louisiana Tech (4-3, 3-2) hasn't played a game since a 37-34 double-overtime win against UAB on Halloween – the week before the Bulldogs were supposed to come to Apogee, which was the first of four straight games for the Bulldogs that have been postponed or canceled.
"It'll affect us some," Littrell said of the short week of preparation. "We'll be on a short week. Good news is we've already game-planned. They haven't played since we game-planned them so there's nothing new. We just have to get back on the practice field and get to work."
QUICK HITS
But with a chance to further stake their claim for the Conference USA West Division title, the Roadrunners had other plans.
The Roadrunners used a huge day from running back Sincere McCormick and a stifling defense that gave the Mean Green fits all day to roll to a 49-17 win.
The Mean Green entered the game averaging 559.5 yards per game (fifth nationally in all of FBS) and 37.2 points per game, which was second in Conference USA, but managed just 401 total yards in the loss. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Jason Bean was replaced in the final minutes of the first half by redshirt sophomore Austin Aune before re-entering the game late, but neither signal-caller had an answer for the Roadrunners' defense. The Mean Green pulled to within 14-7 four minutes into the second quarter and didn't find the end zone again until there was 3:40 left to play in the game when Bean hit Jason Pirtle for an 8-yard touchdown. Bean had two costly first-half interceptions that led to 14 points for the Roadrunners (7-4, 5-2).
UNT (3-4, 2-3 C-USA) did have two bright spots offensively, highlighted by senior wide receiver Jaelon Darden, who continued his assault on the program record book and kept his national FBS lead for receiving touchdowns this season with his 75-yard catch-and-run touchdown in the second quarter – his 12th of the season in just seven games. He finished the day with eight catches for 143 yards and is now tied for the all-time career receiving touchdown lead with 31.
Another bit of silver lining for the Mean Green, offensively, was seeing redshirt freshman running back Oscar Adaway III crack the century mark for the third time this season in his four appearances with 101 yards on 15 carries.
"We had some individual performances, I guess, but again, there's way too many mistakes and it was across every position group," UNT head coach Seth Littrell said. "We have to get back and clean this up as quick as possible on a short week with another great team coming to our place."
It was another rough day for the Mean Green defense after two games of progress in a revamped system. The Roadrunners rolled up a school-record 624 total yards, including a school-high 443 on the ground, led by McCormick's 23 carries for 251 yards and two touchdowns. Quarterback Frank Harris threw for 144 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown.
The Mean Green will have a quick turnaround for their next game, as they return home to Apogee Stadium for a game against Louisiana Tech on Thursday night at 5 p.m., in a game that was originally scheduled for Nov. 7, before it was postponed due to COVID-19.
Louisiana Tech (4-3, 3-2) hasn't played a game since a 37-34 double-overtime win against UAB on Halloween – the week before the Bulldogs were supposed to come to Apogee, which was the first of four straight games for the Bulldogs that have been postponed or canceled.
"It'll affect us some," Littrell said of the short week of preparation. "We'll be on a short week. Good news is we've already game-planned. They haven't played since we game-planned them so there's nothing new. We just have to get back on the practice field and get to work."
QUICK HITS
- The Mean Green loss evened the all-time series at 4-4 against the Roadrunners. The Mean Green are now 1-3 all-time against the Roadrunners in San Antonio.
- Redshirt sophomore QB Jason Bean (Mansfield, Texas) finished the day with 102 yards on 5-of-14 passing with two touchdowns.
- Bean's 75-yard touchdown pass with 10:57 left in the first half was a new career-long pass.
- Redshirt sophomore QB Austin Aune (Argyle, Texas) entered the game with 1:22 left in the first half after UT San Antonio took a 28-7 lead. He finished the day with 115 yards on 9-of-19 passing.
- Senior WR Jaelon Darden (Houston) had eight catches on the day for 143 yards and a touchdown, giving him 12 touchdown receptions through seven games this season – the most in all of FBS.
- Darden entered the game with 206 career receptions, and his eight catches puts him at 214 for his career. He is in second place on the program's all-time receptions list and trails the all-time leader, Casey Fitzgerald (2005-08), by 15 catches after he finished his decorated career with 229 catches.
- The 143-yard performance was Darden's third 100-yard receiving game of the season and the sixth of his career.
- His 75-yard touchdown reception with 10:57 left in the first half was the 31st of his career, putting him in a tie for the program's all-time career lead with Ron Shanklin (1967-69). It was also his 12th of the season, which tied his output from 2019 and is one shy of Shanklin's single-season program record of 13 in 1967.
- That 75-yard touchdown catch was also the 32nd career touchdown (rushing/receiving/returns) for Darden, tying him for third with Jeffery Wilson (2014-17) on the program's all-time list.
- The 75-yard reception also moved Darden from seventh into a tie for fifth on the program's all-time receiving yards list to tie him with Carlos Harris (2012-15) with 2,406 yards. He later passed Shanklin and is now fourth all-time in career receiving yards with 2,474.
- Redshirt freshman RB Oscar Adaway III (North Little Rock, Arkansas) finished the day with 15 carries for 101 yards – his third 100-yard game of his career.
- Senior RB DeAndre Torrey (Gautier, Mississippi) had 54 yards on 12 carries.
- Senior DB Cam Johnson (Houston) finished the day with a team-high 10 tackles, including nine solo stops.
- Senior safety Makyle Sanders (Tyler, Texas) finished the day with seven tackles, including five solo stops.
- Junior LB KD Davis (Ennis, Texas) finished the day with eight tackles and one tackle for-loss.
- Redshirt junior DB John Davis (Euless, Texas) had a career-high seven tackles, including six solo stops, and two pass breakups.
Team Stats
UNT
UTSA
Total Yards
401
624
Pass Yards
217
181
Rushing Yards
184
443
Penalty Yards
20
40
1st Downs
19
26
3rd Downs
8
8
4th Downs
1
0
TOP
24:19
35:41
1st Quarter
UNT 0, UTSA 7
UTSA - HARRIS, Frank 19 yd run (DUPLESSIS, H. kick), 9 plays, 80 yards, TOP 2:47
2nd Quarter
UNT 0, UTSA 14
UTSA - CEPHUS, Joshua 8 yd pass from HARRIS, Frank (DUPLESSIS, H. kick) 9 plays, 78 yards, TOP 3:50
UNT 7, UTSA 14
UNT - DARDEN, Jaelon 75 yd pass from BEAN, Jason (MOONEY, Ethan kick) 1 plays, 75 yards, TOP 0:12
UNT 7, UTSA 21
UTSA - McCORMICK, S. 65 yd run (DUPLESSIS, H. kick), 2 plays, 71 yards, TOP 0:32
UNT 7, UTSA 28
UTSA - CLARK, D. 15 yd pass from HARRIS, Frank (DUPLESSIS, H. kick) 5 plays, 51 yards, TOP 2:16
3rd Quarter
UNT 10, UTSA 28
UNT - MOONEY, Ethan 23 yd field goal 15 plays, 78 yards, TOP 4:21
UNT 10, UTSA 35
UTSA - BRADY, Brenden 4 yd run (DUPLESSIS, H. kick), 3 plays, 74 yards, TOP 1:17
4th Quarter
UNT 10, UTSA 42
UTSA - McCORMICK, S. 18 yd run (DUPLESSIS, H. kick), 6 plays, 65 yards, TOP 4:08
UNT 10, UTSA 49
UTSA - DANIELS, B.J. 9 yd run (DUPLESSIS, H. kick), 7 plays, 69 yards, TOP 5:42
UNT 17, UTSA 49
UNT - PIRTLE, Jason 8 yd pass from BEAN, Jason (MOONEY, Ethan kick) 11 plays, 87 yards, TOP 3:32
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
9
TD
0
YDS
115
INT
0
CMP
5
TD
2
YDS
102
INT
2
Players Mentioned
RB
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QB
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WR
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DB
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WR
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RB
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