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Posted

Football: Pushed aside

North Texas holds off Middle Tennessee in Sun Belt opener

09:42 AM CDT on Sunday, September 11, 2005

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

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North Texas running back Patrick Cobbs (43) holds off Middle Tennessee’s Jeremiah Weaver during the Mean Green’s 14-7 win on Saturday in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee had North Texas on the ropes Saturday.

The Mean Green were struggling to get their offense going and appeared to be on the way to their first loss in Sun Belt Conference play since 2001 in the second half at Floyd Stadium.

That was when Maurice Holman came up with one big play that turned the Mean Green’s fortunes in a 14-7 win in their season and Sun Belt opener.

MTSU (0-2, 0-1) was up 7-0 and drove to the UNT 7-yard line in the third quarter when the sophomore linebacker stepped in front of a Clint Marks pass on third-and-two and returned it 99 yards for a touchdown. That mistake was one of several UNT capitalized on while extending its winning streak in Sun Belt play to 26 games, a run that is tied with Boise State of the WAC for the longest conference winning streak in the nation.

“I cannot tell you how proud I am of our entire team,” UNT head coach Darrell Dickey said. “Our style is to hang in there and keep battling. If we do that, at some point we will make a play. Maurice came up with a huge one.”

MTSU had plenty of opportunities to make a similar play and put the Mean Green away, but turned the ball over five times and squandered several scoring chances.

No MTSU mistake was more costly than the interception Holman returned for a touchdown to turn the momentum.

“I was at the right place at the right time,” Holman said. “I read his eyes, he threw it and I made a play. It was just the spark we needed to get going.”

MTSU had controlled the game up to that point, but only led 7-0 on a 6-yard touchdown run by Eugene Gross.

The Blue Raiders drove into Mean Green territory six times without scoring against UNT’s defense, which turned in one of its best performances of the last few seasons.

The Mean Green took advantage of just enough of the extra opportunities MTSU provided.

UNT defensive end Jeremiah Chapman recovered a fumble by Marks at the MTSU 46-yard line in the third quarter. Redshirt freshman quarterback Daniel Meager threw a 42-yard pass to wide receiver Johnny Quinn on the next play to set up a 4-yard touchdown run by Patrick Cobbs that gave UNT a 14-7 lead.

How Cobbs would play was one of several questions UNT was looking to answer heading into the game. The senior played in his first game since spending last season as a redshirt due to a knee injury and rushed for 103 yards.

Cobbs and fellow former national rushing champion Jamario Thomas split time. Thomas rushed for 58 yards on 10 carries.

UNT was also looking to break in a new quarterback against MTSU. Dickey planned to juggle quarterbacks, but stuck with Meager, who threw for 122 yards in his first start.

That was just enough for a win against MTSU because of a standout performance from the Mean Green’s defense.

Marks threw for 195 yards, but failed to toss a touchdown pass, while Gross rushed for 129 yards. Those yards mattered little against the Mean Green’s defense that came up with big plays at critical junctures.

“We expected a little change of pace because we had not had a game yet,” Cobbs said. “We got one today because of our defense.”

BRETT VITO can be reached at 940-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com.

Posted

I think alot of the reason our backs only rushed for 161 yards is the inexperience of the line. Remember that this is the first season with out Brewster at center. Rose definately looked like it was his first start last night. As the season progresses and the line settles in I think we will see the running game open up more and more.

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