Another Slow Start Dooms Mean Green In 56-13 Loss

[Harry]

RUSTON, LA - North Texas has been out-scored 101-6 in the opening period this season, and that disastrous trend continued to leave its inevitable results Saturday on a cold, rain-drenched afternoon.

The Mean Green fell behind 21-0 in the first quarter to Louisiana Tech, the fifth time in nine games NT has trailed by double digits in the first 15 minutes this year, en route to a 56-13 defeat. North Texas lost three fumbles in the first half and was out-gained 573-316.

"You can't have turnovers," North Texas head coach Mike Canales said. "If we take care of the ball maybe it's a 7-7 or 14-7 game. They did a nice job keeping us from running the ball, but the big part was the turnovers. They're a good football team, and you can't do that against a good football team."

Any momentum from last week's emotional 30-23 victory over UT-San Antonio was as insubstantial as a sand castle at high tide, pounded by waves of Louisiana Tech big plays on both sides of the ball. The Bulldogs (7-3 on the year at 5-1 in Conference USA) rolled up 200 yards in the first quarter while allowing the Mean Green (1-8, 1-5) just 46, and the total-offense margin was 509-199 at the end of the third quarter.

Doing most of the damage was Bulldog running back Kenneth Dixon, who shredded the Mean Green to the tune of 195 yards and six touchdowns, the most TDs by a Football Bowl Subdivision player this season and the most in Conference USA history. The performance moved Dixon into second place in NCAA history with 81 career touchdowns, trailing only Monte Ball of Wisconsin on the all-time list.

However, NT trailed just 7-0 and was in business when it drove into Bulldog territory and appeared to earn a first down on run by quarterback DeMarcus Smith to the Louisiana Tech 20-yard line. But a penalty wiped out the play and pushed North Texas out of field goal range, forcing North Texas to punt. The snap sailed over punter Blake Macek, Louisiana Tech recovered and returned the loose ball for a touchdown, and the rest of the game simply melted away in the steady, chill downpour as the Mean Green never again threatened the Bulldog lead.

What They Said

"They're a big, strong football team that has great speed, and we don't. We're going to have to develop to give ourselves a chance in this conference."
   --North Texas coach Mike Canales on Louisiana Tech's physical advantage over the Mean Green

Quick Hits

• Carlos Harris had five receptions on the day and passed Johnny Quinn with 189 career catches to move into second all-time at North Texas.

• Zac Whitfield had his second interception of the year and the ninth of his career. He needs one more to become the eighth player in school history with 10 interceptions for a career.

• Tre Johnson notched his second-straight punt return of more than 30 yards with a 37-yard return in the second-quarter. Johnson also had a 53-yard kickoff return, the longest of the year for NT.

• Turner Smiley caught his first touchdown of the season and second of his a career with a five-yard catch in the fourth quarter.

• North Texas had a season-high three fumbles on the day and finished the game tying a season-high with four turnovers.

• North Texas forced a first-quarter fumble, marking the first time this season NT has had turnovers in back-to-back games.

• North Texas trailed at halftime for the ninth-straight game this season.

• North Texas failed to score a first-quarter touchdown for the ninth-straight game this season, and hasn’t in 10-straight games dating back to 2014.

• The Mean Green dropped its 11th-straight road game dating back to 2013.

What's Next

North Texas returns to Knoxville for the first time since its 1975 upset of Tennessee to face the Volunteers next Saturday, Nov. 14. Game time is 11 a.m.

read more:  http://www.meangreensports.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/110715aaa.html

 

[GrandGreen]

A slow start that lasted 60 minutes.  

[Eppie96]

Exactly...a slow start that lasted 60 minutes.  We NEVER got started.  Trash points in the 4th quarter against the 2nd/3rd team DON'T count.

 

Canales is starting to sound like Mac- we are not big enough, strong enough, or fast enough to compete.  What a disaster.  I will say that on TV we looked slower and smaller then La Tech.  Just can't believe how terrible our defense looks given the fact that we had a DEFENSIVE head coach the lsat 5 years.

[SilverEagle]

Exactly...a slow start that lasted 60 minutes.  We NEVER got started.  Trash points in the 4th quarter against the 2nd/3rd team DON'T count.

 

Canales is starting to sound like Mac- we are not big enough, strong enough, or fast enough to compete.  What a disaster.  I will say that on TV we looked slower and smaller then La Tech.  Just can't believe how terrible our defense looks given the fact that we had a DEFENSIVE head coach the lsat 5 years.

I hope we are not stuck with an old problem that we had to live with in our Southland conf. days, where our entrance standards were much different than the Louisiana schools. Thus always putting us in a recruiting hole against them. 

[wardly]

WE are not big enough,strong enough, of fast enough to compete in either CUSA or Sun Belt. We have NO players. Our new coach must start from scratch. Why  anyone thinks he will be able to win immediately is beyond me. This will be a major rebuild which will take at least 4 years just to get us semi-respectable. Of all the 25 to 30 programs that will be replacing their head coach the UNT job is at the bottom of the barrel. EVEN New Mexico State University just beat Texas State for their 2nd win of the season. Goals must be reasonable and obtainable with a little pie in the sky. If anyone thinks that filling our opening with the coaching qualifications that most of us feel is necessary[Texas high school recruiting connections, high octane offense, etc.] is going to be easy, I have some land in East Texas that gets wet twice a year I would like to show you. If it is hard to recruit players to North Texas,[looking at our roster it must be], then it stands to reason that it will be hard to recruit a coach that will take a chance on us, not us on him.Bottom line: In my opinion this is going to be a difficult position to fill regardless of athletic facilities and DFW location.

[greenit]

When I walk outside this morning there was some sky laying on my lawn. 

[UNT90]

WE are not big enough,strong enough, of fast enough to compete in either CUSA or Sun Belt. We have NO players. Our new coach must start from scratch. Why  anyone thinks he will be able to win immediately is beyond me. This will be a major rebuild which will take at least 4 years just to get us semi-respectable. Of all the 25 to 30 programs that will be replacing their head coach the UNT job is at the bottom of the barrel. EVEN New Mexico State University just beat Texas State for their 2nd win of the season. Goals must be reasonable and obtainable with a little pie in the sky. If anyone thinks that filling our opening with the coaching qualifications that most of us feel is necessary[Texas high school recruiting connections, high octane offense, etc.] is going to be easy, I have some land in East Texas that gets wet twice a year I would like to show you. If it is hard to recruit players to North Texas,[looking at our roster it must be], then it stands to reason that it will be hard to recruit a coach that will take a chance on us, not us on him.Bottom line: In my opinion this is going to be a difficult position to fill regardless of athletic facilities and DFW location.

Question is, will the new coach say UNT is "the slowest, smallest team in FBS"?

And then proceed to go to a bowl with Mac's leftover players? 

Edited November 8, 2015 by UNT90

[EagleMBA]

The UTSA effect has been confirmed after yesterday's disaster and what is to follow.

"In finance, a dead cat bounce is a small, brief recovery in the price of a declining stock.^[1] Derived from the idea that "even a dead cat will bounce if it falls from a great height",^[2] the phrase, which originated on Wall Street, is also popularly applied to any case where a subject experiences a brief resurgence during or following a severe decline."

[aztecskin]

Can't believe the guy that helped buy the groceries and cook the meals is complaining about the ingredients, and the cooking. GTFOH with that. 

 

 

[KingDL1]

They had to wait for Tech's 3rd string to be completely in the game before they could pick up trash stats and points. 

[wardly]

Ryan, nobody likes to be told their baby is ugly, but ours is. With luck and a great hire we might make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

[GrandGreen]

WE are not big enough,strong enough, of fast enough to compete in either CUSA or Sun Belt. We have NO players. Our new coach must start from scratch. Why  anyone thinks he will be able to win immediately is beyond me. This will be a major rebuild which will take at least 4 years just to get us semi-respectable. Of all the 25 to 30 programs that will be replacing their head coach the UNT job is at the bottom of the barrel. EVEN New Mexico State University just beat Texas State for their 2nd win of the season. Goals must be reasonable and obtainable with a little pie in the sky. If anyone thinks that filling our opening with the coaching qualifications that most of us feel is necessary[Texas high school recruiting connections, high octane offense, etc.] is going to be easy, I have some land in East Texas that gets wet twice a year I would like to show you. If it is hard to recruit players to North Texas,[looking at our roster it must be], then it stands to reason that it will be hard to recruit a coach that will take a chance on us, not us on him.Bottom line: In my opinion this is going to be a difficult position to fill regardless of athletic facilities and DFW location.

A way over pessimistic, this team definitely has some very good building blocks.  As far as coaching, that always a dice throw; but $1m dollars HC jobs are going to get plenty of applicants   

It was hard for McCarney to recruit to NT, there is no other evidence that others can't.  In fact, even Dodge and Dickey in their first few years recruited much better than McCarney with a hell of a lot less to sell than McCarney.