Notebook: Mean Green fails to cash in

[Harry]

Derek Thompson seemed like he couldn’t miss a week ago during North Texas’ loss to Kansas State.

On Saturday, Thompson and the Mean Green moved the ball during their Sun Belt Conference opener against Troy at Apogee Stadium. UNT just couldn’t cash in when it mattered during a 14-7 loss.

The Mean Green pushed the ball inside Troy’s 30-yard line six times but only cashed in once. UNT’s kicking game was the major problem. Zach Olen missed a pair of field goals and backup Zach Paul missed another.

UNT’s offense didn’t help much either.

“We moved the ball all over the place,” Thompson said. “Third down just killed us. Going 2-of-14 is unacceptable.

We know that when we get into the red zone we need to score, and we just didn’t do it.”

UNT went for it twice on fourth down deep in Troy territory in the fourth quarter and failed to convert both times.

Thompson said he felt like he could have fit the ball in to wide receiver Ivan Delgado on fourth-and-11 from the Troy 17-yard line on the first of those opportunities.

Thompson also couldn’t connect with Brelan Chancellor on fourth-and-16 from the Troy 30 on what turned out to be UNT’s final chance of the night.

He missed Drew Miller in the end zone in the second quarter.

“It was a TD,” Thompson said of the play when Miller broke free. “I just missed it. It won’t happen again, I guarantee it.”

Read more: http://www.dentonrc.com/sports/colleges/north-texas-headlines/20120923-notebook-mean-green-fails-to-cash-in.ece