The loss this past Saturday to the Trojans of Troy stung a bit more than normal. The highlight of the night would be the lone scoring play in the first quarter when Mean Green QB Derek Thompson hooked up with WR Brelan Chancellor on a 50-yard pass play resulting in a touchdown. From that point on it would be a long night. There were missed field goal opportunities, missed scoring chances, muffed trick plays and the inability to execute inside the red-zone. One might say that Troy didn’t win the game in as much as North Texas found ways to lose it.
Upon reflection of the Mean Green’s most recent outing, head coach Dan McCarney summed it up best: “It’s a tough loss. Before you start winning you have to stop losing. It has nothing to do with preparation or effort or any of that. We’ve just got to execute better. When you lose, everybody has to share the blame. It sickens me to lose tonight. How we handle the adversity of this game will go a long way in showing what this team is all about.”
It was a long night for starting QB Thompson who completed 12 of his 28 passing attempts for 236 yards and a TD. WRs Ivan Delgado and Chancellor were the recipients of all but two passes. The ground game was handled by the two-headed attack of Antoinne Jimmerson (who is coming into his own) and Brandin Byrd. Together they had 31 carries for 131 yards.
Next up are the Florida Atlantic Owls who with a matching 1-3 record will provide another test for the Mean Green. They are more of a ground and pound offense that will rely on the legs of sophomore Damian Fortner. He has yet to break the century mark and only has one rushing TD for the season. Senior QB Graham Wilbert is mediocre at best and will target WRs William Dukes and Byron Hankerson. The Owl defense gives up plenty of points and the Mean Green must take advantage of this weakness to get back in the win column.
Game Info:
NORTH TEXAS vs FLORIDA ATLANTIC
SAT. SEPT. 29 – 4PM / ESPN3
FAU FOOTBALL STADIUM