Two football programs in Texas kicked off their respective
football seasons as The University of North Texas took a trip down to the
states capital to square off against the The University of Texas in Charlie
Strong’s head coaching debut for the Longhorns.
This game was hardly a contest as the Longhorns dominated
the Mean Green in every way possible. On the opening drive for the Mean Green
offense, quarterback Josh Greer mishandled a shotgun snap. The woes continued
as the Mean Green totaled NEGATIVE two yards rushing after their first three
possessions and the only pass that did not hit the ground for quarterback Josh
Greer was an interception to Dylan Haines.
Through the offensive woes, the UNT defense was stout early
on, despite losing much of their front seven from last year’s squad. All of
that changed on the Longhorn’s third drive when cornerback Sheldon Wade drew a
personal foul penalty on a third down incomplete pass for a late hit. That
ignited the first scoring drive in the Charlie Strong era, as David Ash made a
masterful escape on a blitz from the Mean Green defense and connected with John
Harris for a 27-yard gain down the sideline. Longhorn’s running back then
exposed the Mean Green box with three straight runs that ended with a one-yard
touchdown finish.
The Mean Green finally got a tone-setting productive play
from defensive end Jarrian Roberts who bull rushed up the middle for a sack on
David Ash. The good feeling did not last long as quarterback Josh Greer threw
his second interception of the game, this time to Jordan Hicks. Greer lead
Hicks right to the ball by keeping his eyes glued to the intended receiver the
entire way.
David Ash turned right around and completed a pass to John
Harris again deep down the right side of the field to bring them to the one.
Malcolm Brown once again finished the scoring drive with a one-yard touchdown
right up the middle as arguably the best Mean Green defender Derek Akunne was
the last line of defense and could not make the stop.
After a quick three and out by the Mean Green offense, the
Longhorns exposed the Mean Green defense again, this time Johnathan Gray taking
a run 42 yards down the left sideline to the one yard line. The Mean Green
defense looked like they were primed for a momentum shift as they stopped the
Longhorns on three straight plays, but UT decided to go for it and Ash ran a
bootleg in at the right pylon.
Mean Green head coach Dan McCarney made a quarterback change
to Andrew McNulty hoping for a spark. Instead, it was much of the same as
McNulty overthrew a wide-open receiver in the middle, right into the waiting
hands of Longhorn safety Adrian Colbert for the interception in the waning
minute of the first half.
The second half started off with both teams struggling to
put up points and Coach McCarney again switching back to Greer. Arguably the
best play for the Mean Green came in the fourth quarter, and it was punter
Blake Macek who delivered it. Following a Greer sack, he delivered a booming punt,
which was downed at the one-yard line. A couple plays later, Ash mishandled a
snap from his backup center, and the Mean Green got on the board by recovering
it in the end zone.
On the ensuing Mean Green possession late in the fourth
quarter, the musical chairs continued at quarterback and McNulty was back in
the game. On 3rd down, he threw a touchdown…. to the other team as
his pass was intercepted and taken the other way by Demarco Cobbs.
Longhorns beat the Mean Green by a final score of 38-7.
The Mean Green have their home opener next week on September
6th at Apogee Stadium versus SMU.
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