Harry

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Utah State was exactly as advertised. The Aggies, ranked No. 23 in the nation, used a balanced, up-tempo offense and a ball-hawking defense to overwhelm North Texas in Saturday's New Mexico Bowl, 52-13. In a game that quickly turned into a shoot-out, North Texas was without its biggest weapons. Quarterback Mason Fine, UNT's all-time leading passer and two-time Conference USA Offensive Player of the Year, sustained a hamstring injury in the first quarter, returned later in the first half but was left virtually immobile and was forced out of the game before halftime. The Mean Green's top receiver, Rico Bussey, Jr., was injured in the regular-season finale and was unavailable Saturday, and leading rusher DeAndre Torrey left the game with a leg injury in the third quarter. The North Texas defense, meanwhile, held Utah State quarterback Jordan Love under his normal completion percentage, came up with a turnover against an Aggie attack that does not turn the ball over and had a sack against the best pass-protection in the nation. But Utah State hit big plays again and again, on the ground and through the air, scoring on plays of 72, 26, 37 and 67 yards in the opening half to take control. "The reason this hurts so much is the expectations have changed at North Texas," Mean Green coach Seth Littrell said. "We expect to be in games and compete and win championships. "We just made way too many mistakes." North Texas finishes the year 9-4, posting back-to-back nine-win seasons for the first time since 1977-78. "I can't say enough about this group," Littrell said. "I love them. I'm proud of these seniors, and they'll be a part of my family for the rest of their lives." The Mean Green kept pace with Utah State (11-2) through most of the first quarter. North Texas trailed 7-0 when it lost Fine to an injury suffered as he scrambled for yards. Fine, limping noticeably, returned to lead a scoring drive capped by a 2-yard DeAndre Torrey touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7, and defensive back Nate Brooks thwarted an Aggie scoring threat with his sixth interception of the year, a pick of a Love fade pass into the corner of the UNT end zone, to keep the game close. But the Aggies relentless attack kept piling up yards. By the 12:08 mark of the second quarter, Utah State had more than 100 yards passing and rushing and built a 21-7 lead, the first time North Texas has trailed this year by more than one score. "We came out hoping to execute the way we're supposed to," UNT senior defensive back Kemon Hall said. "But they just out-executed us." North Texas narrowly avoided turnovers on bad shotgun snaps, the second of which aggravated Fine's injury sending him to the bench and forcing UNT to punt from its own end zone. Utah State quickly took advantage of good field position and struck again, this time on a screen pass turned into a 37-yard touchdown and a 28-7 lead. The Aggie lead grew to 38-7 by halftime, matching the most points North Texas allowed in a game this year. In Fine's absence, North Texas used three quarterbacks, redshirt senior Quinn Shanbour and true freshmen Jason Bean and Kason Martin. Martin had the most success, completing 7 of 12 for 110 yards and opening the second half with the fastest scoring drive in New Mexico Bowl history when he hit Jalen Guyton for a 75-yard touchdown. It was Martin's first career TD throw, and the North Texas defense followed with stops on consecutive Utah State drives to give rise to thoughts of a comeback. But the rally hopes didn't survive the third quarter. Torrey and Martin limped off with a leg injuries, the Aggies came up their fourth interception of the game, and Utah State grabbed another big chunk of yards on a 38-yard pass to set up a 3-yard touchdown run and a 45-13 lead. Quick Hits In his final game at UNT, senior linebacker E.J. Ejiya (Blaine, Minn.) had two tackles for loss, giving him 40.5 for his career, the second most in program history. Ejiya passed Brad Kassell (1998-2001). The all-time lead remains in the hands of Brandon Kennedy (2000-03) with 61.0. Ejiya also moved into the top position for single-season tackles for loss with 25, exceeding Kennedy's 2002 total of 24.0. The Mean Green were without junior wide receiver Rico Bussey, Jr., UNT's leading receiver with 1,017 yards and 12 touchdowns, out with a hamstring injury suffered in the final regular-season game against UTSA. This was the first time North Texas has trailed a game at the end of the first quarter this season, and the first time the Mean Green trailed by more than one score. North Texas was the last team in the Football Bowl Subdivision to not trail by more than one score. Senior defensive back Nate Brooks (Whitehouse, Texas) stopped a Utah State scoring threat with his sixth interception of the year. That ties Brooks for eighth for most interceptions in a season all-time at North Texas. Redshirt sophomore running back Nic Smith (Arlington, Texas) had 48 yards rushing to top 1,000 for his career with 1,047. Freshman quarterback Kason Martin (Manvel, Texas) threw the first touchdown pass of his collegiate career, a 75-yard strike to Jalen Guyton. Freshman quarterback Jason Bean (Mansfield, Texas) made his collegiate debut Saturday. North Texas has lost three bowl games in a row, the second three-game bowl skid in program history. The Mean Green lost consecutive bowl games in 1948, 1959 and 2001. This is the most points North Texas allowed this season. Utah State's 556 yards total offense are the most North Texas allowed this year. This was the most points North Texas has allowed in a bowl game, surpassing the 50 surrendered a year ago to Troy in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl link: https://meangreensports.com/news/2018/12/15/football-wounded-mean-green-fall-in-new-mexico-bowl.aspx

1). When did you start supporting Utah State as a fan? My folks met at Logan HS. I was raised on Aggie songs crossing the Nevada desert when we were kids, and tales of Aggie FB [my dad played there right after WWII, and his granddad was the first music prof at USU]. 2). Where does Utah State sit in the hierarchy of the other major Utah colleges? Who are your main rivals in terms of bigger and smaller schools? Who is your arch rival? The parochial stench in Provo is our biggest rival. The pukes in Salt Lake won't play us any more [after 100+ years of playing]. 3). Utah State and North Texas have a past both in the Big West and the Sun Belt conference. How is Utah State's current conference affiliation working out in the Mountain West? Do you see the Mountain West as a long term conference home or are you looking for potential realignment opportunities? The MWC is the ideal conference with the regional rivalries. It was a struggle in the BWC days with the WAC poaching programs. Alas, the USU/UNT series was only a marriage of convenience. I like where you folks ended up landing as well. 4). What region does Utah State typically recruit players from? We recruit locally [Wyo/Ariz/Colo/Utah/Ida], as well as Pacific NW, California, Texas and Florida. We try to keep about 40%+/- local. 5). How is the reception of the fanbase on Gary Anderson returning as head coach? His biannual breakdowns are concerning, but his success in raising USU back to '60s era dominance in the region was a huge, huge thing for us. The "Raiders of the Rockies" are back! 7). Utah State had a fantastic season, ranked in the top 25 and only losing to Boise and Michigan State. Where does this season rank in terms of your time in following the program? Maybe 3rd or 4th ['72, '60-62 teams were better]. 8). How would you describe the Aggie squad this season for those who have not seen them play? They seem to have good size on the lines and talent at running back. The two-headed monster at RB ( Darwin Thompson - 132 carries for 951 yards and Gerold Bright - 125 carries for 785 yards) has been a pleasant surprise. We were worried when we'd be relying on a JC (Thompson transferred from Northeastern Oklahoma) so much. The new OL coach [poached by Tech] made all the difference. The kids weren't much different in talent, size, etc. 9). Please tell us more about your impressive QB Jordan Love. He took over about 1/2 way through last season as a redshirt frosh and led the Ags to a bowl after a miserable 3-9 season the year before. He showed up 6'2 185 and is now 6'4 225. When he's right, I've only seen 4ish QBs better since I started watching in person in the '60s. 10). I believe you had a special teams returner who is garnering All American status. What can you tell us about him. [Savon] Scarver ran one back against the NewMags in last year's bowl game and ran back two this season. He's some kinda fast. Good blocking this season. 11). Is USU's offense run first than pass? How would you describe their offensive identity. Same for defense. Pass to set up run [contrary to my own preference]. Defense is pressure, pressure, pressure. Lots of guys flying around. With all the risk taking, people occasionally pop one. It's hard leaving those poor DBs on those islands. 12). How does the average USU fan perceive North Texas heading into this bowl? Most prolly don't remember the many years of conference affiliation. The hard-core guys sure do. And your somewhat gaudy record will catch people's attention. 13). USU is being listed as an 8-9 point favorite in this game. How do you see it playing out? I have a numbers analysis I do. I see this as a USU win by 5, 35-30. Lots of offense by two really nice QBs. If I were a bettor, I'd be taking UNT to cover and the over. 14). What is your greatest USU football memory in your years of following the program or top 3? Beating Southern Miss in 1972 on a blocked punt with no time left in a sleet storm in Logan: Ray Guy was their punter. We had a guy die of a heart attack right after, he got so excited. What a way to go! Beating Utah in Logan by about 30 in the same year, where our QB Tony Adams passed for 561, setting an NCAA record. Beating Wisconsin at Wisconsin in 1968.

DENTON – There is only one team in the Football Bowl Subdivision that has not trailed by more than one score in 2018, and it's not anyone playing in the College Football Playoff. It's the North Texas Mean Green. Three short years ago, the outlook was not so rosy. North Texas saw itself trailing by multiple scores routinely during 1-11 season that saw a coach relieved of his duties midway through the year. Members of the senior class have seen quite a bit in their time in Denton. Quarterback Quinn Shanbour, who is finishing his sixth season on campus, has a unique view of the changes at UNT. In his first season, the Mean Green win nine games and the Heart of Dallas Bowl; in his third, UNT went 1-11; now, he's been part of two straight nine-win seasons. "I was very lucky to be a part of the 2013 season and obviously the 2018 season, and it feels like two mountain peaks and a real deep valley in between," Shanbour said. "Going out on a high is really big for me." That valley was a major low point for a program in desperate need of a reset. Enter Seth Littrell. The former North Carolina offensive coordinator brought his high-flying Air Raid attack to Denton and made significant changes across the board to lift the program out of the doldrums. The 2015 campaign was tough on everyone. Fans, coaches, administration, but, most of all, the student-athletes. Perspective, however, helped them climb out of it. "I don't really look at 2015 as a tough year as much as it was a lesson," defensive lineman Ulaiasi Tauaalo said. "We came back the following spring and the biggest thing was that everyone bought in (with coach Littrell) quickly. Throughout the years there have been a lot of highs and lows, but everything has happened for a reason." Littrell instilled a set of core values, and he and his staff transformed the culture. When Littrell told the room of 100-plus players on report day that their goal in 2016 was to win a bowl game that year, no one batted an eye, despite the fact that those outside that room would meet that statement understandably, with a whole lot of skepticism. Littrell created a family-oriented environment. He made sure it was a true level playing field upon his arrival, and gave everyone the opportunity to compete for jobs and roles within the team. Shanbour, a walk-on when Littrell arrived in Denton, impressed his new head coach with his work ethic and attitude, becoming the first player that earned a scholarship under Littrell's guidance, which is a source of pride for the Oklahoma City native. After a 5-7 regular season, the Mean Green earned a berth in the Zaxby's Heart of Dallas Bowl thanks to a strong Academic Performance Rate. "You can attribute a lot of the success to the change in culture," cornerback Nate Brooks said. "Before this coaching staff got here, the culture was just bad. There was no other way to describe it. It was a lot of players just doing what they wanted and not buying into the team and playing for themselves. Once this staff got in and changed the culture, it changed our team's mindset. Them changing the culture is a large part of how successful we've been." The culture is built on family and accountability, and it started to take shape in 2016 and continued to grow as 2017 approached. North Texas saw a massive jump in 2017, improving on its win total by four games, thanks in part to a breakout performance by quarterback Mason Fine and the offense that scored 35.5 points per game. Close wins were a calling card, as five of those nine wins were decided by one possession or less. There were a lot of times, however, where the team found itself trailing. It was really good at climbing out of holes, but found themselves in that situation far too often. But 2018 felt different. Expectations were sky high heading into the season and the Mean Green answered the bell early, opening at 4-0 with a landmark win at Arkansas. The standard was raised. That meant fan and media expectations were high as well, so when some losses came, so too did the criticism. "We felt like the better team at all times this year," Shanbour said. "Thinking about never trailing by more than a possession, it means we are always in the game, which gives us a great chance every week. Unfortunately in the losses the opponents got that last drive on us." It shows just how far the program has come in three short years that some were disappointed with a 9-3 season. Now, with an opportunity for a 10th win staring the Mean Green in the face, this group sees the chance to leave its legacy. "The biggest thing is that the foundation is set now," Tauaalo said. "This is normal now. Knowing when we step out there that we're the better team, we know we built that from our workouts, from our summers, to spring, how everyone does the little things. Accountability for something small makes a big difference. Everyone takes care of business in a professional way like it should be. "My biggest takeaway from my time here is that I can leave here knowing that the foundation is set. That will keep me at peace. I'm walking away knowing that there's great things ahead for the program, and I'm just glad to be a part of the journey of what is next for this program." Heading into this week's New Mexico Bowl against a very talented Utah State team, there is a lot at stake for North Texas. It can win 10 for the third time in 103 years of North Texas football, it can knock off a ranked opponent for the second time ever and first time in 44 years, and it can accomplish the mission set forth by Littrell in that meeting in August of 2016. What would winning Saturday's New Mexico be like? "That'll be my Super Bowl for right now," Brooks said. "It will probably be one of the greatest moments of my life up to this point." Link: https://meangreensports.com/news/2018/12/12/football-how-did-we-get-here.aspx