Mean Green Looking to Bounce Back Against UTSA

DENTON – The UNT football team will look to bounce back from a heartbreaking loss as the Mean Green return to DATCU Stadium on Saturday to face UTSA at 2 p.m. The game can be seen on ESPN+ with the radio broadcast set for 97.1 The Freak/The Varsity Network.

Head coach Eric Morris and selected players spoke to the media on Tuesday and discussed, among other things, the importance of faster starts, the running game rebounding last week but facing a stiff test this week, junior running back Ayo Adeyi approaching 2,000 career rushing yards and Morris' favorite Halloween treats.

Team looking for faster starts
The Mean Green have now faced steep halftime deficits in the past two games against a pair of the top teams in the conference only to fight back but ultimately fall short in losses to Tulane and Memphis.

In those two games, UNT was outscored 52-10 in the first half but went on to outscore its opponents 60-28 in the second half and losing the games by a combined 10 points.

"We're six or seven plays away from having a great record but we don't," head coach Eric Morris said. "We've only won three of them. We haven't gotten over the hump to find a way to win these tight ballgames. But I think if you ask some of the other coaches, we're a dangerous 3-5 team. But, that's the last thing I want to be known as is a dangerous 3-5 team. We have to be better. Our fans and alumni deserve better. They deserve to come watch a winning program."

With a tough matchup coming up Saturday, Morris said he has preached to his team the importance of improving consistency across the roster with the exception of the kicking game, which he praised for its consistent effectiveness.

"The consistency piece of it isn't there yet," Morris said. "That's what we're striving for. Any time you play an opponent as good as this, you better come out on Tuesday and Wednesday and work to even have a chance to win this game. This is a big, fast, physical team we're about to face and they played a lot of games and won a lot of games with this quarterback (Frank Harris). He's super talented and smart and makes plays with his feet and arm. We have a tall task ahead of us."

Rejuvenated rush attack faces big test in UTSA
After putting up just 83 yards on the ground in a 35-28 loss to Tulane two weeks ago, UNT's vaunted ground attack rebounded last Saturday against Memphis with 180 yards on 24 carries while the passing game posted a season-high 411 yards.

After that good rebound effort against Memphis, the ground attack faces a stiff test on Saturday in the form of a UTSA defensive front with size and strength that has allowed just 131.4 yards per game on the ground and 3.6 yards per carry.

"These guys are super stout inside," Morris said. "They're 340 (pounds), 320 (pounds) inside, and not many people have had success moving them inside. We have to figure out how we're gonna run the ball. We've had some success running inside and outside this year so we have to figure out a way to get it established early. We're gonna have to pick what that looks like. If it's a more outside or inside zone type of day. We have both of those in our arsenal. Coach Cobbs and coach Cooper do a great job in the run game and we have two great backs we trust there."

Adeyi closing in on 2,000 yards
Ayo Adeyi never thought he'd be in this position when he arrived in Denton a few years ago.

He quickly earned All-Freshman honors in Conference USA and has seen his role grow with each year. Now, he's leading the American Athletic Conference in yards per carry (7.54), third in yards (611), fourth in yards per game (76.4) and 10th in rushing touchdowns with four. He's just 76 yards shy of becoming the 13th player in program history to reach 2,000 career rushing yards and is 288 yards shy of cracking the top-10 list in program history.

"I didn't know that," Adeyi said when told of the nearing milestone. "That's pretty cool to know knowing where I started when I first got here. I just think God I was put in an opportunity to play as early as a I did and be able to contribute as much as I have. It's easy to say yes, I expected this, but truthfully I don't think I did. I just came here looking to be a role player and help however I could."

Morris also said he didn't know of Adeyi's career total, but praised Adeyi for his perseverance and for getting to this point.

"These kids getting these achievements and accomplishments makes you happy after the fact," Morris said. "It's nothing to take away the feeling of losing, but the kids would tell you the same thing. I'd rather have a bunch of Ws stacked up then a bunch of 2,000 yards this and that. It'd be a cool thing to tell a wife one day on a date or tell his kids about."

Quotable

Morris on his favorite Halloween treats…

"Yeah, I'm not a big candy guy. I'm not a sweets guy. I'm a big, big chip guy. So my wife won't even keep them in the house. Hot Cheetos are my favorite. And so at lunch, you know back at Shallowater High School, sometimes the lunch menu wasn't great and so I'd get some Hot Cheetos and then a cup of some nacho cheese and dip my Hot Cheetos in the cheese there, which sounds disgusting. Though don't hate it until you try it. But no, I'm not a big fan of candy. If I had to pick anything, which is crazy, like I like Paydays, which is probably an unpopular choice. I saw a commercial the other day for Payday and it fired me up a little bit. I hadn't had one in a while and I got one on the way home – a big king-sized Payday, but if I had to go with any candy it'd be Payday. I'm with (Mike Leach) on this, I hate candy corn, I hate licorice, I hate all those different things. But yeah, Payday, Hot Cheetos is the way to go on that one."

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