North Texas Loses To UTEP
DENTON – The North Texas defense forced six fumbles, recovered five, returned one for a touchdown and allowed a season-low 256 yards total offense. And it still wasn’t enough to earn a victory.
The Mean Green offense generated just 205 yards, produced just 10 first downs and accounted for only three points. Dependant on their defense and special teams for scoring, the Mean Green saw a fourth-quarter lead slip away in a season-ending 20-17 loss to UTEP on a raw, soul-chilling evening at Apogee Stadium.
The season ended on an equally raw note when a drive deep into UTEP territory late in the game was scuttled by 30 yards in penalties on the Mean Green, 15 for a targeting penalty on Carlos Harris – who launched his shoulder into the head of a UTEP defender, resulting in Harris’s ejection from the game – and 15 more for unsportsmanlike conduct on the same play. The penalties wiped out a 40-yard scramble by quarterback DaMarcus Smith, and the drive was extinguished a few plays later when NT could not convert a fourth and eight from the Miner 45-yard line.
“I thought we could overcome the first 15, but the second was too much,” North Texas head coach Mike Canales said.
“It’s the story of this season,” he added. “It’s worn me down. We were so close at times, but we
just couldn’t get over the hump. We just can’t make plays when we need to make plays.”
North Texas finishes the year 1-11, tying for the worst record in program history. UTEP moves to 5-7.
The Mean Green defense was suffocating the entire opening half, allowing just 84 yards total offense, throwing a shutout in the opening half for the first time since the SMU game in 2014, and coming up with three takeaways, all in UTEP territory. Kishawn McClain forced the first fumble, recovered by NT’s Fred Scott; Jarrod Lynn jarred loose a second fumble, recovered by NT’s James Gray; and Jarrian Roberts knocked the ball loose from UTEP quarterback Ryan Metz as he was being sacked by NT’s Chad Polk, and Roberts fell on the loose ball.
But the Mean Green offense turned just one of those turnovers into points, a 28-yard field goal by Trevor Moore. North Texas generated just 128 yards total offense in the first half, despite starting four of its eight first-half possessions from its own 44 or better.
With its offense sputtering, North Texas found the end zone in the second half after a 63-yard punt by NT’s Eric Keena left the Miners starting at their own eight. The defense forced a Miner punt, and Tre Johnson returned the kick 53 yards for a touchdown and a 10-6 North Texas lead.
The teams then exchanged the lead on defensive touchdowns. UTEP went back in front on an interception of the Mean Green’s third quarterback of the night, Josh Greer, which was returned for a TD, but North Texas went back up, 17-13, on the fifth fumble recovery of the evening, a scoop and score by Courtney Finney of a UTEP lateral.
The Miners, however, managed a scoring drive late, a 72-yard march capped by a 32-yard touchdown toss with 7:51 to play, and North Texas could not answer.
