University of North Texas
1-1 , 0-0
SMU
2-0 , 0-0
Mean Green Falls Short at SMU
9/11/2021 10:36:00 PM | Football
UNIVERSITY PARK – After a promising first half led by a stout defensive effort had the Mean Green trailing SMU by a point at halftime, North Texas saw Saturday's game at Gerald J. Ford Stadium slip away and fell 35-12 to the Mustangs.
The Mean Green defense forced five punts, had two interceptions and a fumble recovery in nine first-half possessions for SMU, but the tide turned in the second half as the defense allowed a few big plays and got put in bad spots on the field.
"I thought they went out and fought really hard and did a lot of sound things early on and got takeaways and were getting to the ball," UNT head coach Seth Littrell said of his defense. "They played physical. After a while when you can't score and put your defense out there that much, it gets challenging. They played extremely hard. I liked their mentality."
The Mean Green forced four turnovers (two interceptions and two fumble recoveries), marking the third time in the last four games (dating back to last season) they have forced four turnovers. Entering Saturday's game, Littrell's teams were 9-0 when forcing at least three turnovers, but that streak came to an end.
Sophomore quarterback Jace Ruder started off slowly, going 12-for-20 for 152 yards in the first half, but found a groove in the second half completing 20 of 31 passes for 214 yards and a 23-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Johnson to finish the night with 366 yards on 32-of-51 passing for his first 300-yard passing game. The Mean Green racked up 509 yards of total offense.
Despite the four turnovers the Mean Green defense forced, they were only able to turn that into six points as the Mean Green had to settle for two short Ethan Mooney field goals in the first half of 19 and 22 yards. Those gave the Mean Green a 6-0 lead until the Mustangs were able to get on the board with under four minutes to play in the half on a 62-yard catch-and-run touchdown pass from Tanner Mordecai to Rashee Rice. The Mustangs took the 7-6 lead into halftime.
The Mean Green had two receivers hit the 100-yard mark for the first time since a win over UTEP last season on Dec. 11, 2020. Sophomore wideout Roderic Burns set new career highs in catches (12) and yards (141) for the second straight game after setting career highs in last week's season-opening win over Northwestern State.
Fellow sophomore wide receiver Jyaire Shorter had a career-high six catches for 107 yards – four yards short of a career high. It was also his second career 100-yard game.
Despite some of the big offensive numbers, critical mistakes proved crucial in key moments, as the Mean Green had 12 penalties for 99 yards and finished the night converting four of 18 third downs. The Mean Green rushed for 125 yards after rolling up 345 yards on the ground last week.
"We played hard," Littrell said. "We just didn't play smart at all times. We didn't handle their front-seven very well. It cost us in the run game and it puts strain on the passing game when you're not running the ball well. We have to do better.
"We had too many critical mistakes in scoring areas with penalties and turnovers. I thought the effort was there but we had far too many mistakes, and we have to run the ball better."
The Mean Green (1-1) will look to bounce back on Sept. 18, when they return to Apogee Stadium to open Conference USA play against UAB (1-1).
QUICK HITS
- The Mean Green loss extends SMU's all-time series advantage to 34-6-1, and their last win in Dallas came in 1933.
- The loss puts head coach Seth Littrell at 32-32 in his Mean Green tenure, and he is in sixth place on the program's all-time wins list – behind fifth-place Hayden Fry (40). He falls to 1-5 in his career against SMU.
- The Mean Green entered the game 9-0 all-time under Seth Littrell when forcing three or more takeaways, and the Mean Green forced four turnovers on Saturday.
- Sophomore QB Jace Ruder (Norton, Kansas), who transferred from North Carolina, made his second collegiate start and finished the day 32-for-51 for 366 yards and a touchdown.
- Ruder's 300-yard game was the first of his collegiate career and the first time a UNT quarterback has reached the mark since the Mean Green win over UTEP on Dec. 11, 2020 (Austin Aune).
- Senior RB DeAndre Torrey (Gautier, Mississippi) had 71 rushing yards on 16 carries and a catch for 10 yards give him 81 all-purpose yards.
- Torrey's 81 all-purpose yards on the day moved him past Jamario Thomas (2004-07) to claim sixth on the program's all-time career list with 3,731 yards after he entered the game 20 yards shy of Thomas' mark.
- Torrey's 71 rushing yards put him at 2,328, just 89 yards shy of sixth all-time on the career rushing list (Kevin Galbreath, 2001-02, who had 2,417 yards).
- Freshman RB Isaiah Johnson (Lubbock, Texas) finished with six carries for 11 yards and three catches for 32 yards and a touchdown.
- Johnson's 23-yard touchdown reception from Ruder with 6:12 left in the third quarter put the Mean Green within two points at 14-12, and it was Johnson's third career touchdown and first career scoring reception.
- Sophomore WRs Roderic Burns (Houston) and Jyaire Shorter (Killeen, Texas) each eclipsed the 100-yard mark receiving, marking the first time UNT has had two 100-yard receivers in a game since the Mean Green's win over UTEP last season on Dec. 11, 2020.
- Sophomore WR Roderic Burns finished the day with a career-high 12 catches for 141 yards.
- Burns is the first UNT receiver to have double-digit catches in a game since Jaelon Darden on Oct. 17, 2020, against Middle Tennessee.
- Burns' 42-yard catch at the end of the third quarter put him over the 100-yard mark receiving for the second time in his career and the second time season after his career-high 114-yard game in the season-opening win over Northwestern State.
- Burns' previous career highs were six catches and 114 yards against Northwestern State.
- Sophomore wide receiver Jyaire Shorter finished the game with six catches for 107 yards. His 45-yard reception late in the first quarter was his first catch of the season.
- Shorter's 29-yard reception on third-and-long with 3:58 remaining in the third quarter gave the Mean Green a first down and put him over the 100-yard mark in receiving yards for the second time in his career.
- Shorter's six catches set a new career high, breaking his previous high of five catches against California in 2019. His 107 yards was four yards shy of his career high of 111 against Charlotte in 2019.
- Freshman TE Jake Roberts (Norman, Okla.) set new career highs for catches (three) and yards (24) after eclipsing his previous career marks of two catches and 19 yards, set against SMU and Louisiana Tech, respectively, last season.
- Freshman wide receiver Loronzo Thompson (Friendswood, Texas) had his first career rushing attempt and took it 31 yards on an end-around.
- With the Mean Green's four forced turnovers, it marked the third time in the past four games, dating back to last season, to reach the mark. The Mean Green had an interception and three fumble recoveries in last week's season-opening win over Northwestern State and four interceptions in a win over UTEP on Dec. 11, 2020.
- The seven points allowed in the first half was the fewest allowed by a Mean Green team since that same game against UTSA, when they allowed three points in the opening half.
- The Mean Green totaled 10 tackles for-loss, which was the highest total since they tallied 12 against Rice on Nov. 21, 2020.
- Junior LB KD Davis (Ennis, Texas) finished the day with seven tackles, including two solo stops and a fumble recovery.
- Senior defensive lineman Dion Novil (Abilene) finished the game with a solo tackle and had his first career interception with just more than 11 minutes to play in the first quarter. He returned it 17 yards to the SMU 42-yard line.
- Junior defensive back John Davis Jr., (Euless, Texas) finished the game with a tackle and his first interception with 5:46 to play in the second quarter to give UNT the ball at its 6-yard line and kept SMU off the scoreboard.
- Sophomore LB Kevin Wood (Converse, Texas) finished the day with eight tackles, including six solo stops.
- Senior LB Tyreke Davis (Denton, Texas) finished the day with six tackles, including five solo stops, one tackle for-loss and a forced fumble.
- Junior DB Quinn Whitlock (Pinola, Miss.) finished the day with six tackles, including five solo stops, a tackle for-loss and a forced fumble.
- Senior safety Makyle Sanders (Tyler, Texas) finished the day with eight tackles, including six solo stops.
- Junior kicker Ethan Mooney (Fort Worth) made both of his field goal attempts on the day, making good on kicks of 19 and 22 yards.
Team Stats
UNT 3, SMU 0
UNT - Mooney,Ethan 19 yd field goal 6 plays, 25 yards, TOP 01:33
UNT 6, SMU 0
UNT - Mooney,Ethan 22 yd field goal 10 plays, 81 yards, TOP 03:28
UNT 6, SMU 7
SMU - Rice,Rashee 62 yd pass from Mordecai,Tanner (Mazza,Blake kick) 2 plays, 63 yards, TOP 00:41
UNT 6, SMU 14
SMU - Gray,Danny 58 yd pass from Mordecai,Tanner (Mazza,Blake kick) 3 plays, 81 yards, TOP 00:55
UNT 12, SMU 14
UNT - Johnson,Isaiah 23 yd pass from Ruder,Jace () 13 plays, 78 yards, TOP 04:58
UNT 12, SMU 21
SMU - Calcaterra,Grant 29 yd pass from Mordecai,Tanner (Mazza,Blake kick) 4 plays, 77 yards, TOP 01:06
UNT 12, SMU 28
SMU - Bentley IV,Ulysses 19 yd pass from Mordecai,Tanner (Mazza,Blake kick) 8 plays, 80 yards, TOP 03:10
UNT 12, SMU 35
SMU - Bentley IV,Ulysses 85 yd run (Mazza,Blake kick), 1 plays, 85 yards, TOP 00:14
