North Texas football wins at home on senior night to keep bowl hopes alive

[Skipper]

With its season on the line Saturday night, North Texas football strapped its fans in for a roller coaster ride.

The Mean Green (5-6, 3-4) jumped out to a 20-0 lead, blew it, allowing the University of Southern Mississippi to score 23 unanswered points, and then came back to get the win 29-23.

Exhale.

With the victory, North Texas is in position for a play-in game next Saturday at the University of Texas at El Paso for a bowl berth. A win, and the Mean Green will go bowling.

But the game did not start well for North Texas. Graduate quarterback Alec Morris’ first pass was intercepted, which forced the Mean Green defense to make a stop. They did just that, though, and a few moments later, the Southern Miss (5-6, 3-4) kicker shanked a field goal to give the ball back to North Texas.

On the ensuing drive, the Allen native shook off his early mistake and heaved a double reverse pass downfield to set the Mean Green up deep in Golden Eagles territory. Unable to find the endzone, North Texas got its first points with a 26-yard field goal by junior kicker Trevor Moore to take a 3-0 lead.

Immediately after, North Texas got the ball back after sophomore defensive back Nate Brooks jumped the route for an easy interception. Morris then linked up with junior wide receiver Turner Smiley for a 17-yard touchdown pass after Morris feathered a pass into the corner of the end zone, with Smiley adjusting to make the catch and give the Mean Green a 10-0 lead.

The Mean Green added another touchdown via Morris to Smiley, this time from 55-yards out after a bit of trickery. On a surprise flea flicker, Morris hit a streaking Smily for a 55-yard touchdown pass to push the North Texas lead to 17-0. Moore tacked on another field goal with 10:42 to play in the half to make it 20-0.

Smiley’s first half outburst was a new career high in receiving, as he finished with six catches for 151 yards and two touchdowns

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