Coach Mac and Players Speak after Tulane Loss

[Harry]

NORTH TEXAS QUOTES

HEAD COACH DAN McCARNEY

On the lack of production in the first half

We didnt execute on third downs in the first half, but I want to give credit to Tulane. They really did some good things. We didnt handle the blitzes as well as we could have in the first half. We didnt come out and start revamping our offense in the second half. We simply executed and came back and played much better in the second half. My hat is off to Tulane and the job they did to finish the game. They had two huge, game changing plays - a block field goal and an inception for a touchdown. But, you still see the character of this team to come back and tie it up at 7-7, 21-21, when we are down by 14 points in the second half. There is a lot of fight and character in this team, but not enough in the end.

On the number of penalties in the game

The pre-snap issues are inexcusable. You just cant have the false starts. We have to do a better job coaching it. Defensively, I thought a couple of the calls were aggressive and close to being a personal fouls. But, our guys played with aggression. They played with heart. They played with toughness.

On the loss of Cairo Santos father

I understand that the kickers father was killed in a plane accident. My heart and all of our deepest sympathy goes out to that young man. There is a lot more that goes into this than just football when something like that happens. All of us in the Mean Green football family send out our deepest sympathy to him and his family.

On the blocked field goal for a touchdown

It was a protection issue, all the way. We have to do a better job protecting. They did a great job and we didnt. We work on it all of the time and take great pride in it. It rarely ever happens to us in practice or games, but it did today. They did it and we didnt. The technique was real poor by one of our guys and they got the big play.

On the inception for a touchdown

I just saw a guy that didnt rush. And that was a great time not to rush with the play that we had called. Whether he read it or just didnt rush, he didnt get any push in the pocket and made a great play.

On the offense in the second half

There are a lot of positive things in the second half. To come back and tie it up, when we were down by 14 points going into the fourth quarter, you again see the resolve of this team and how bad they wanted to win. They put so much into trying to come back. I saw a lot of good things by D.T. (Derek Thompson) and our receivers. We gave up ten points today on defense. Many times that will get you a victory. But, it didnt today because of many of those big plays Ive already talked about. It is one game. But, it is one that we wanted badly. We will digest it and hurt for 24 hours, and then we will put it behind us and get ready for a home game against Middle Tennessee State.

QB DEREK THOMPSON

On the last touchdown

Theyd been sitting there, and we tried to throw the out ball the whole game. Darnel was the one who made the call. He calls it the double move, the out and up. He made a great move. I knew we had a free play because they were offsides. I had to stand in their tough. They were coming pretty hard so we had to make that throw. He made a great play, and it tied up the ball game.

On the Game

When you play like we did in the first half, we were lucky to even be in the game. We played just about as bad as we could in the first half. Things didnt go our way. When we competed in the second half, we gave ourselves an opportunity to be there at the end. Good job by them; they had a great scheme against us.

On the interception returned for a touchdown

It was a screen. We had run it earlier. Number 94 is a big tall guy; he got his hands up and just tipped it up in the air. Six just came in and made a play. It happens. Thats life, thats football. Its frustrating. Its upsetting. We worked so hard. We had two weeks to prepare for this team. No excuses, obviously. Its frustrating, but well go back to work this week. We seem to play well at home, and well try to do that.

On the offenses overall play

Its hard when we cant run the ball very well. Theyre stacking the box, and sometimes it feels like were just beating our heads against the wall. I dont know what we have to do to get it solved, but we got to start being more balanced on offense. Weve got to make it a mindset, and get it back to where we can run the football.

LB DEREK AKUNNE

Opening Statement

We didnt do what we needed to do to get our offense back on the field and win the game for us. They made plays on the last drive, and we didnt make the plays we needed to make. Thats how the game was won. We felt that we had things going our way. We thought we would go back out, and get our offense back on the field. When it was a close game, losing sucks all the time, but losing a close game like that really hurts.

On the success early

We stopped them on their run, run and pass. We were getting off the field quickly too, and thats what we were doing at the beginning of the game.

- See more at: http://www.sportsnola.com/sports/tulane/600463-tulane-finds-way-to-win-over-north-texas.html#sthash.nibiP22t.dpuf

[Rudy]

Keep your heads up and kick MTSU's asses.

[NT03]

Please , no more threads about the Tulane game. Thanks

[JRock]

I agree. Move forward and kick MTSU's teeth in and send them home.

[Green Dozer]

At least we still have a team with 30+ players that have a GPA of 3.0 or higher.

[UNT90]

So Darnell has to figure put the defense is jumping an out route??? Really? After their DB almost had a pick six on one a couple of plays before?

Sure Mac. Nothing changed on offense in the second half. That is complete bullshit. We all saw what changed. We have eyes. Tell me again how the offense is going to be explosive like you did all spring and summer. I'll believe you. Really.

[Harry]

#94 is Chris Davenport a LSU transfer who is listed at 6-4 340.

[greenminer]

Its hard when we cant run the ball very well. Theyre stacking the box, and sometimes it feels like were just beating our heads against the wall.