The North Texas Mean Green fresh off of their 41-14 shellacking to LSU look to rebound in their match up with SWAC opponent Texas Southern this Saturday for their home-opener. The porous Mean Green defense gave up 508 yards and 26 first downs to LSU in the ESPN nationally televised game. The offense fared a tad bit better. The highlight was an 80-yard touchdown pass from QB Derek Thompson to Brelan Chancellor. Later in the game they would connect again on a 15-yarder. That was about it for offense. Lance Dunbar replacement Brandin Byrd had 14 carries for 40 yards. He has a long way to go in making the Mean Green faithful forget about Lance Dunbar. Second year head coach Dan McCarney summed things up succinctly saying “I just thought we’d hang in there better.”
Last season brought new life to the Mean Green program with a new head coach and a new stadium. The team defended its home turf by winning four of six games and look to win the home-opener by taming a different tiger, the NCAA Division I TSU Tigers. Look for North Texas to be the “Goliath” in this match up. This game should be easy pickings for QB Thompson if the o-line does their job. Look for the receiving corps to run wild with lots of easy completions. Brelan Chancellor should have a breakout game of his own. The jury is still out on RB Byrd considering last week’s poor performance. The defense will be out for blood in this one. In essence this game should be a confidence builder for the Mean Green as long as they remain focused on the task at hand.
Texas Southern University is a year removed from winning its first SWAC title in 42 years. They won last week’s game against Prairie View A&M 44-41 at Reliant Stadium with a field goal in the final minute. The Tigers split quarterback duties between seniors Riko Smalls and Dantavious Parker. Running back Edward Perkins-Loving is a workhorse and will look to carry the load.
Game Info:
TEXAS SOUTHERN vs. UNT
SAT. SEPT 8 – 6PM
APOGEE STADIUM