Saturday, September 25
Ruston, LA
6:00 p.m.
University of North Texas
1-3 , 0-2
17
at
24
Louisiana Tech
2-2 , 1-0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
North Texas
0
7
0
10
17
Louisiana Tech
14
10
0
0
24
Photo by: Manny Flores
Second-Half Rally Falls Just Short At LA Tech
9/25/2021 10:01:00 PM | Football
RUSTON, La. – The UNT defense pitched a second-half shutout on Saturday night against Louisiana Tech but a late rally fell short in a 24-17 loss to the Bulldogs.
The Mean Green trailed 24-0 with 10 minutes left in the first half before DeAndre Torrey's 3-yard touchdown run with 34 seconds left in the half got UNT on the board and sent the game to the halftime break at 24-7. It was Torrey's 27th career rushing touchdown, which moved him into a tie for fifth on the program's all-time list with Jamario Thomas (2004-07).
The Mean Green cut the lead to 24-17 when sophomore quarterback Austin Aune found redshirt freshman wide receiver Damon Ward, Jr., for an 8-yard touchdown pass with 5:39 to play. On the Bulldogs' ensuing drive, North Texas held them to a 50-yard field goal attempt that sailed wide right to give the Mean Green the ball at their 36-yard line with 1:37 to play. The Mean Green then went four plays and out to end the rally.
"It's a game of momentum and they got some early and got us back on our heels defensively a little and got us to press," UNT head coach Seth Littrell said. "We had some busts that turned into explosive plays. Then you get one stop and more stops and you have the momentum and they're back on their heels."
The Mean Green out-gained Louisiana Tech 333-286. The Bulldogs were held to just 81 yards of offense in the second half.
Some defensive stars included senior defensive lineman Dion Novil, who had three tackles, a fumble recovery after a Gabriel Murphy sack and a blocked punt. That fumble recovery was UNT's ninth takeaway of the season, which tied last year's 10-game total for the defense. Sophomore linebacker Larry Nixon III had a career-high 12 tackles, including 10 solo stops and a tackle for-loss. Gabriel Murphy had a season-high five tackles, while Grayson Murphy had four tackles and tied a career-high with two tackles for-loss.
Torrey continued his standout year for the Mean Green offense, as the senior tallied his second 100-yard rushing game of the year with 119 on 26 carries. It was his eighth career 100-yard game, and he moved into sixth all-time on the program's career rushing yards list with 2,529, passing Kevin Galbreath (2001-02). Sophomore quarterback Austin Aune, who relieved sophomore Jace Ruder to start the fourth possession of the game, rushed for a career-high 56 yards, including a pair of key first-down pickups.
"We faced a lot of adversity with too many missed opportunities offensively, but we came out of it a little bit," Littrell said. "La Tech came out hot offensively and hit some big plays. They shut us down but the kids kept battling and fighting, and we just kept trying to put one drive together at a time, it just wasn't enough."
The Mean Green will enjoy a bye week before returning action on the road at Missouri on Oct. 9.
"We'll get the guys that are just nicked and injured back and there's obviously some guys who are out for the season, but we'll just try to get what we get and get rolling," Littrell said.
QUICK HITS
The Mean Green trailed 24-0 with 10 minutes left in the first half before DeAndre Torrey's 3-yard touchdown run with 34 seconds left in the half got UNT on the board and sent the game to the halftime break at 24-7. It was Torrey's 27th career rushing touchdown, which moved him into a tie for fifth on the program's all-time list with Jamario Thomas (2004-07).
The Mean Green cut the lead to 24-17 when sophomore quarterback Austin Aune found redshirt freshman wide receiver Damon Ward, Jr., for an 8-yard touchdown pass with 5:39 to play. On the Bulldogs' ensuing drive, North Texas held them to a 50-yard field goal attempt that sailed wide right to give the Mean Green the ball at their 36-yard line with 1:37 to play. The Mean Green then went four plays and out to end the rally.
"It's a game of momentum and they got some early and got us back on our heels defensively a little and got us to press," UNT head coach Seth Littrell said. "We had some busts that turned into explosive plays. Then you get one stop and more stops and you have the momentum and they're back on their heels."
The Mean Green out-gained Louisiana Tech 333-286. The Bulldogs were held to just 81 yards of offense in the second half.
Some defensive stars included senior defensive lineman Dion Novil, who had three tackles, a fumble recovery after a Gabriel Murphy sack and a blocked punt. That fumble recovery was UNT's ninth takeaway of the season, which tied last year's 10-game total for the defense. Sophomore linebacker Larry Nixon III had a career-high 12 tackles, including 10 solo stops and a tackle for-loss. Gabriel Murphy had a season-high five tackles, while Grayson Murphy had four tackles and tied a career-high with two tackles for-loss.
Torrey continued his standout year for the Mean Green offense, as the senior tallied his second 100-yard rushing game of the year with 119 on 26 carries. It was his eighth career 100-yard game, and he moved into sixth all-time on the program's career rushing yards list with 2,529, passing Kevin Galbreath (2001-02). Sophomore quarterback Austin Aune, who relieved sophomore Jace Ruder to start the fourth possession of the game, rushed for a career-high 56 yards, including a pair of key first-down pickups.
"We faced a lot of adversity with too many missed opportunities offensively, but we came out of it a little bit," Littrell said. "La Tech came out hot offensively and hit some big plays. They shut us down but the kids kept battling and fighting, and we just kept trying to put one drive together at a time, it just wasn't enough."
The Mean Green will enjoy a bye week before returning action on the road at Missouri on Oct. 9.
"We'll get the guys that are just nicked and injured back and there's obviously some guys who are out for the season, but we'll just try to get what we get and get rolling," Littrell said.
QUICK HITS
- Captains for the game were OL Manase Mose, LS Nate Durham and LB KD Davis
- Senior running back DeAndre Torrey finished the game with 119 rushing yards to give him 2,529 and move into sixth in UNT history, passing Kevin Galbreath (2001-02).
- In the third quarter, UNT recovered a fumble for its ninth takeaway of the year (four games), which ties last season's total (10 games).
- In only his second game of the season, sophomore linebacker Larry Nixon III posted a career-high 12 tackles, including 10 solo stops and a tackle for-loss.
- Freshman defensive back Upton Stout tallied two kick returns at LA Tech, the first two of his UNT career. Stout had one punt return for 10 yards in 2020.
- Senior running back DeAndre Torrey had a rushing touchdown Saturday night to give him 27 for his career, which moves him into a tie for fifth all-time in program history with Jamario Thomas (2004-07).
- On Saturday kicker Ethan Mooney was 2-for-2 on PATs. He's made 69 straight PATs and is 88-for-89 on PATs for his career.
- Senior center Manse Mose has now made 38 straight starts. He's never missed a start.
- Quarterback Austin Aune had a single-game career high 56 rushing yards Saturday night at LA Tech. He entered the game with just 33 career rushing yards.
- In the second quarter running back DeAndre Torrey scored his 31st career touchdown, which tied him for fifth all-time with Ron Shanklin (1967-69).
- In the third quarter defensive lineman Enoch Jackson Jr. had his first career sack
- In the third quarter senior defensive lineman Dion Novil had his first career fumble recovery after Gabriel Murphy had a sack and his first career forced fumble.
- Junior linebacker KD Davis finished Saturday with eight tackles to give him 203 for his career. He and Tyreke Davis are the only active Mean Green student-athletes with over 200 career tackles.
- In the third quarter, defensive lineman Dion Novil had his first career punt block. It was the first blocked punt UNT has had since Deion Hair-Griffin blocked a punt at UTEP in 2020. This was Novil's second straight game with a blocked kick.
- Kicker Ethan Mooney made a field goal in the fourth quarter to give him 29 for his career.
- Running back DeAndre Torrey ran for 119 yards Saturday. It's his eighth career 100-yard rushing game.
- UNT running back Ayo Adeyi made his collegiate debut and finished with 18 rushing yards.
Team Stats
UNT
LAT
Total Yards
333
286
Pass Yards
92
207
Rushing Yards
241
79
Penalty Yards
60
55
1st Downs
24
21
3rd Downs
7
7
4th Downs
1
0
TOP
29:25
30:35
1st Quarter
UNT 0, LAT 7
LAT - Williams Jr.,Marcus 2 yd run (Barnes,Jacob kick), 9 plays, 65 yards, TOP 02:51
UNT 0, LAT 14
LAT - Williams Jr.,Marcus 42 yd run (Barnes,Jacob kick), 5 plays, 60 yards, TOP 01:56
2nd Quarter
UNT 0, LAT 21
LAT - Emilus,Samuel 34 yd pass from Head,JD (Barnes,Jacob kick) 7 plays, 67 yards, TOP 02:44
UNT 0, LAT 24
LAT - Barnes,Jacob 21 yd field goal 4 plays, -1 yards, TOP 00:47
UNT 7, LAT 24
UNT - Torrey,DeAndre 3 yd run (Mooney,Ethan kick), 12 plays, 63 yards, TOP 03:59
4th Quarter
UNT 10, LAT 24
UNT - Mooney,Ethan 33 yd field goal 7 plays, 17 yards, TOP 02:02
UNT 17, LAT 24
UNT - Ward,Damon 8 yd pass from Aune,Austin (Mooney,Ethan kick) 12 plays, 85 yards, TOP 03:39
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
12
TD
1
YDS
79
INT
0
CMP
3
TD
0
YDS
13
INT
0
Players Mentioned
QB
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LB
/ Football
DS
/ Football
WR
/ Football
DL
/ Football
K
/ Football
OL
/ Football
DE
/ Football
DE
/ Football
LB
/ Football
DL
/ FootballQB
/ Football
DB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
WR
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