Southern Miss losing streak hits 19 after defeat to UNT

[Harry]

HATTIESBURG, Mississippi --- Southern Miss' period of good feeling on Saturday lasted exactly one minute and 44 seconds.

That was how long it took visiting North Texas to turn a close game back into a rout. After the Golden Eagles scored on Nick Mullens' 59-yard touchdown pass to Dominique Sullivan to pull within six early in the second quarter, the Mean Green answered with a quick touchdown drive --- and three more before the half --- on the way to a 55-14 victory on homecoming at Roberts Stadium.

The loss was Southern Miss' 19^th straight and dropped the Golden Eagles to 0-7 overall and 0-3 in Conference USA. North Texas improves to 5-3, 3-1.

"We have to find a way to get off the field and we have to find a way to score more," Southern Miss coach Todd Monken said. "That's the bottom line."

Southern Miss has clinched a losing record for the second straight year. The Golden Eagles last had back-to-back sub-.500 seasons in 1933-34, when Babe Ruth was winding down his career with the New York Yankees.

North Texas rolled up 30 first downs, 529 yards and ran 89 plays to 10, 249 and 42 in the same categories for Southern Miss. Derek Roberts passed for 300 yards and two touchdowns for the Mean Green, who were 11 of 17 on third down.

"We had a lot of good, positive things," North Texas coach Dan McCarney said. "A good football team learns how to complement each other. If you get a turnover on defense, take it and go score offensively. If you do a good job on special teams and get good field position, take that ball and go score. I think we are learning how to do that with this football team."

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