Sloppy Play Leads To Rare Sun Belt Loss

MeanGreen61 · October 5, 2005

Russ Goodall: Sloppy play leads to rare Sun Belt loss

09:36 AM CDT on Wednesday, October 5, 2005

North Texas fans had to know that it was going to end someday, and that someday came on Tuesday at Fouts Field.

When Troy pulled out of Denton late on Tuesday night, the Trojans took with them a tough road victory over the Mean Green, 13-10, a Sun Belt Conference ‘W’ and UNT’s 26-game conference win streak with them.

Four years in the making, UNT (1-3, 1-1) used a blend of miscues, penalties and early offensive ineptitude to kiss its win streak goodbye.

“It came down to turnovers and missed opportunities,” UNT head coach Darrell Dickey said. “I’m disappointed we made a lot of mistakes again and that prevented us from scoring.”

And that conference win streak wasn’t the only streak to go by the way side. The loss is the first conference home loss since Idaho came to Denton and knocked off the Mean Green, 16-14, on Nov. 11, 2000, in a Big West tilt.

Officially, the Mean Green turned the ball over five times, with a fumble in the first quarter that led to Troy’s first and only touchdown of the game.

“We are kind of young offensively and we can’t make those kinds of mistakes, and a bunch of them, during the course of a game and give ourselves a chance to win,” Dickey said. “That is part of the game though. Some were forced, some were on our own errors, but they happened.”

When Troy (2-3, 1-0) returned the favor in the second quarter, UNT could not take advantage.

UNT had first-and-goal from the Troy 5-yard line, but that was as close as the Mean Green would get, as they settled for a Nick Bazaldua field goal — the first offensive points at home this season for UNT.

“When we get that kind of field position, it should be automatic,” UNT running back Patrick Cobbs said about not turning the fumble into a touchdown. “Sometimes it’s not when you play a good team. We should have found a way, but we didn’t.”

When the Mean Green found themselves down 10-3 in the third, they began to march down the field. But the turnover bug bit again. Quarterback Daniel Meager was intercepted at the Troy 12, and the Mean Green were turned away again.

“We’d drive it down the field and then have a turnover,” Meager said. “That killed us. That was the ball game.”

While the turnovers hurt, so did the penalties.

UNT was penalized five times for 45 crucial yards, with the most painful one coming during the Trojans’ second drive of the third quarter that resulted in points.

After stopping Troy on a third down in its own territory, UNT defensive back Roderick Cotton was flagged for a dead-ball personal foul that bailed out the Trojans’ offense.

“We had a couple of penalties that kept their drives alive and gave them a chance to capitalize on some things,” Dickey said. “I’m not questioning the penalties, but ours came at critical junctures when they either kept a drive alive or got them in scoring position. It is something we have to work on to improve.”

Troy had new life at its own 45 and from there marched down within the UNT 5 and kicked a field goal to give the Trojans a touchdown lead.

Put the turnover and penalties together and it is no wonder UNT is sitting with a win and loss in SBC play.

The Mean Green gained just 229 yards in the game, 51 of those yards coming in the first half.

UNT had a chance in the fourth quarter to get back in the game after a long punt return by Johnny Quinn set up the Mean Green at the Troy 45. But, just three plays later, Jamario Thomas fumbled the ball and Troy was back in business.

“Our defense gave us a lot of chances to win this game, but we didn’t come through,” Cobbs said.

From there, the Trojans used another personal foul penalty, this one on T.J. Covington, to march down the field and put the final nail in the win streak’s coffin.

“Our streak is over, but our season is not,” Dickey said. “We just need to remember that and get ready for our next game.”

When it was all said and done, it was another loss for the Mean Green punctuated by another meaningless fireworks show after the game.

Eagle1855 · October 5, 2005

If it had to come to any team in the sun belt, Im glad it was Troy.

At least Troy has had some national respect.

Better than losing to U La Pick Em or F_U.

Of course this still sucks, but hey, we suck and we still beat MTSU. Thats gotta burn the Blue Raiders up.

Looking for a bright side...

meangreendork · October 5, 2005

The bright side is that there's still the rest of the season. Troy may still stuble this season, our guys may still turn it up and roll the rest of the season, inluding LaTech.

I still think that the fireworks shouldn't be set off unless we win. We might as well announce that the fireworks are for the opposition since they seem to be the only ones enjoying the show.