UNT Football: Catching a break

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North Texas needed a bit of a break after opening the season with a tough trip to LSU, where the Mean Green lost its opener and took a physical pounding against one of the nation’s elite teams.

A game against Texas Southern turned out to fit the bill perfectly.

UNT’s defense turned in a dominating performance, and the Mean Green got its running game rolling in a 34-7 win over the Tigers in front of a crowd of 22,259 on Saturday at Apogee Stadium.

The Mean Green struggled at times to throw the ball effectively and didn’t pull away from a team that competes in the Football Championship Subdivision, a step down on the college football ladder, until late.

None of that mattered to UNT, which won its home opener for the first time since knocking off SMU in 2006.

The Mean Green (1-1) had lost its first game at home in seven of the last eight seasons.

“It was real big,” UNT linebacker Zach Orr said. “We have not won a home opener in a long time. This is another milestone that we talk about in building this into a championship program.”

UNT reached that milestone largely because of its defense that held in check a TSU team that had scored 44 points in a season-opening win over Prairie View A&M.

Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20120909-football-catching-a-break.ece