– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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DENTON, TEXAS — Before the start of today’s contest, the rains and lightning passed through DATCU Stadium and, after the weather delay was over, North Texas fell behind just three plays into the game. However, the Mean Green unleashed their own version of thunder and lightning on the field to propel itself to an easy victory and bowl eligibility.
Redshirt freshman Drew Mestemaker threw for four touchdowns and ran for another as the Mean Green rolled to a 55-17 victory over UTSA on Saturday afternoon. True freshman running back Caleb Hawkins ran for 133 yards as the Mean Green rebounded from their primetime defeat last week against No. 24 South Florida to record its third game of scoring at least 50 points this season.
“I’m fired up right now for our kids,” head coach Eric Morris said. “We got punched in the mouth last week. The way we responded and played incredible team football was great. We ran super effectively, threw the ball super effectively and our defense was great getting turnovers down the stretch. “We had tough week of practice. We had to get this team reset some how, some way. I believe in this team and know how good we can be.”
It took just three plays for the Roadrunners to take the early lead, as Robert Henry Jr.’s 72-yard run on the first play from scrimmage lead to an Owen McCown 3-yard touchdown pass to Houston Thomas two plays later.
The Mean Green responded with 17 straight points, starting with a Kali Nguma 28-yard field goal midway through the first quarter. On the ensuing drive, North Texas went for a fourth-and-3 from the Roadrunners’ 20-yard line and scored on a 20-yard pass from Mestemaker to Wyatt Young to take the lead. Another Mestemaker-to-Young scoring connection, from 16 yards, was the last play of the opening frame and gave the Mean Green a 17-7 lead.
Henry Jr., who came into the day as fourth in the FBS in total rushing yards and third in rush yards per game, gained 66 yards on 11 carries after his opening jaunt, but his effectiveness throughout the game was limited as the Roadrunners were playing catch-up as the Mean Green dominated possession and the field position battle. North Texas amassed 584 yards of total offense, converted all three of their fourth-down attempts and forced three UTSA turnovers.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Saturday afternoon’s game, with photos taken by ALOST photo editor Ross James. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 36 pictures in total.
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