By: Anthony Miller
After losing their first two games of the season, the North Texas Mean Green pick up their first win of the year defeating the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs 40-37.
North Texas got off the gates fast scoring points on their first three possessions with two field goals and a touchdown. It was running back Ayo Adeyi who got the touchdown scoring on the ground from 13 yards out. The Mean Green had a 13-0 lead in the second quarter.
Louisiana Tech fought back in the second quarter though scoring two touchdowns in the quarter. North Texas wouldn’t completely let them back in the game though responding with a field goal and a touchdown pass from Chandler Rogers to Damon Ward with 14 seconds left in the half. The Mean Green went into the locker room with a 23-14 lead.
After forcing a failed fourth down conversion to start the second half, North Texas scored on a Adeyi touchdown run to put them up 30-14. Louisiana Tech failed to convert another fourth down on their next drive, but a North Texas fumble opened up a string of scores.
The Bulldogs took advantage of the North Texas turnover scoring a touchdown to make the score 30-21. On the next North Texas drive, Rogers connected with Ja’Mori Maclin on a 36-yard touchdown pass to make it 37-21. Louisiana Tech would end up scoring 16 unanswered points to tie the game at 37-37 late in the fourth quarter.
With just a minute and four seconds left in the game, North Texas conducted a nine-play, 61 yard drive to help set up their kicker Noah Rauschenberg with a potential game-winning field goal. It was a short 31-yard attempt for Rauschenberg as he became the hero nailing the last second field goal. The Mean Green pulled off a 40-37 win over Louisiana Tech.
North Texas improved to 1-2 on the season winning their first game of the season. It is the first win of the Eric Morris era for the Mean Green
Initial Thoughts On North Texas Win
The quarterback change for North Texas seemed to have made the difference in the game. Chandler Rogers made his first start with the program throwing for 313 yards and two touchdowns. The most important stat he provided compared to Earle Stone was zero turnovers in the game.
North Texas got heavy production from Adeyi who ran for 148 yards and two scores. It seemed with every touch he had, Adeyi was picking up good yards on the ground.
It was the most complete performance of the season for the offense. They had 562 total yards, 32 first downs and only one turnover.
The biggest concern for North Texas was the amount of penalties they had. They had nine penalties for 115 yards which is not a good stat for the team. North Texas will have to clean that up moving forward.
Defensively, it was their best performance of the season allowing a season low 37 points and 432 total yards. Only one turnover and one sack for the defense though, but they had more stops than fans have been accustomed to seeing. Improvement is needed, but there’s no doubt it’s only getting better.
North Texas will be getting a bye week and can hold on to the winning momentum to their next game. They will have a home game against Abilene Christian on September 30 as they look to get to a .500 record before conference play in October.
Featured Image via X (@MeanGreenFB)