Middle Tennessee 41, North Texas 7: What We Learned

Mean Green defense continues to sputter. Entering Saturday’s game against Middle Tennessee State, the North Texas defense was ranked 123 out of 127 FBS schools. Plain and simple: The unit is bad, and that didn’t change against the Blue Raiders in a 41-7 loss. Middle Tennessee State rolled to 18 first downs, 334 yards and 35 points in the first half before taking its foot off the gas pedal in the second half. Middle Tennesee State QB Brett Stockstill carved the North Texas defense up all afternoon long. He finished the game with 322 yards through the air and three TDs. Offense not much better. Unfortunately for Mean Green faithful, the team’s offense is not a whole lot better than the defense this season. The unit was ranked 118^th in the FBS prior to Saturday and mustered just 7 points against Middle Tennessee State. North Texas QB DaMarcus Smith threw for just 80 yards on 10-of-17 passing. He threw an interception. Josh Greer and Andrew McNulty also got snaps in the blowout loss. The Mean Green ground game was effective in many ways — seven different rushers combined for 191 yards on 4.9 yards per carry — but it wasn’t good enough to overcome the passing game’s ineptitude. Morale low. It’s not an easy time to be a North Texas football fan. The team now sits 1-10. In the last 10 years, the Mean Green have suffered four seasons of 10 losses or more. With only UTEP left on the schedule, North Texas will likely finish the year 1-11. It’s becoming clear that big changes need to be made in Denton this off-season if North Texas hopes to become anything more than college football’s punching bag going forward.