North Texas Loses At UTEP
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EL PASO – North Texas came to the Sun Bowl Saturday looking to keep alive its pursuit of six wins and a potential second-straight bowl berth. Instead, they watched UTEP become bowl eligible by dismantling the Mean Green, 35-17.
The loss, the seventh North Texas defeat this year by double figures, officially ends the Mean Green’s chance of being bowl eligible.
“You can try to sugar coat it if you want,” North Texas coach Dan McCarney said, “but we got our asses kicked. They dominated the line of scrimmage.”
The game could not have started worse for North Texas, or been more lopsided in the first half. UTEP drove at will through the Mean Green defense, pounding NT with its ground game, scoring on its first four drives, and out-gaining North Texas 288-53 in a first half that saw the Miners post a 28-0 lead.
North Texas (3-7 on the year, 1-5 in Conference USA play) finally put together a drive early in the third quarter, culminating in a Trevor Moore 37-yard field goal to cut the margin to 28-3. But UTEP (6-4, 4-2) answered with a 54-yard touchdown run by Aaron Jones to extinguish any hope of a Mean Green comeback.
For the game, North Texas managed just 201 yards total offense – 118 of them in the fourth quarter – and allowed 438, the second most the Mean Green has surrendered this year.
