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Football: First Down

UNT gets defensive, beats ULM to end skid

08:27 AM CDT on Sunday, October 14, 2007

By Brett Vito / Staff Writer

North Texas head coach Todd Dodge pointed to the little things his defense had done right during the last few weeks as a sign the Mean Green was about to turn the corner heading into its game Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe.

UNT kept doing those little things against the Warhawks, and a whole lot more, to help give Dodge the first win of his tenure as the Mean Green’s head coach. UNT scored two defensive touchdowns and shut out ULM in the first half of a 31-21 win on Saturday night at Fouts Field in front of a crowd of 18,973.

UNT’s performance represented a dramatic turn for the Mean Green, which came into the night ranked last nationally in both scoring defense and total defense with an average of 51.6 points and 547.0 yards allowed a game.

“Our defense stepped up against a quality Sun Belt offense,” Dodge said. “I am so proud of the way our defense played. I felt all along that before this journey is over that our defense is going to be strong. We took some shots, but we are doing a much better job.”

UNT (1-5, 1-2) made a few changes in its lineup against ULM to try and break out of its season-long funk, including moving redshirt freshman linebacker Craig Robertson into the starting lineup in place of senior Brandon Monroe.

The Mean Green came up with its best defensive performance of the season. ULM (1-5, 1-2) scored two touchdowns in the final 1:30 to make the game appear closer than it was.

Defensive end Montey Stevenson and defensive back Dominique Green both returned interceptions for touchdowns, while Robertson intercepted a pass from ULM quarterback Trey Revell and returned it to the Warhawks 9-yard line to set up a Thomas Moreland 20-yard field goal.

“It set the tempo for the game when I got that interception for a touchdown,” said Stevenson, whose return gave UNT a 7-0 lead. “That got things going our way.”

UNT’s performance defensively against ULM running back Calvin Dawson kept the game going in the Mean Green’s favor. Dawson came into the night leading the Sun Belt with an average of 134.0 rushing yards a game and had the nation’s longest streak of consecutive 100-yard rushing games at 10. Dawson had rushed for 100 yards against Clemson and Texas A&M earlier this season, but only managed 65 yards against the Mean Green, which was allowing 255.2 rushing yards a game.

“It was really important to stop Dawson,” UNT defensive lineman Joseph Miller said. “We knew coming into the game that he is one of the best running backs in the conference.”

UNT’s defense held ULM scoreless in the first half, allowing its offense to overcome a slow start and get on track behind quarterback Giovanni Vizza. The freshman threw for 202 yards, rushed for 66 and threw a 99-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Casey Fitzgerald in the second quarter that gave UNT a 14-0 lead. It was the longest completion in school history.

The Mean Green maintained a comfortable lead the rest of the night.

“This is exciting,” Fitzgerald said. “We’ve been working hard for and finally got a win. … It’s a big weight off our shoulders.”

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

bvito@dentonrc.com.

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