DENTON, Texas – The goal was to get a stop. Instead, Western flinched and surrendered its third straight contest to North Texas in a 68-49 loss on Saturday.
In a game that saw the Mean Green tie a school record for points scored and a combined 1,008 yards of total offense, Head Coach David Elson said one play – one momentum swing – would be the deciding factor.
“That was what we kept saying on our sideline to the defense – get one stop, get one stop, and that will be the difference on the game,” Elson said. “We couldn’t, and they did.”
The teams entered the fourth quarter tied at 49, but the Toppers’ offense stalled, while the Mean Green continued to pile on the points.
If the Toppers had any momentum left at that point, it disappeared with just over 14 minutes left in the fourth quarter. On a key third-and-17 play, redshirt freshman quarterback Kawaun Jakes threw an interception straight into the hands of Mean Green freshman linebacker Jeremy Phillips.
Five plays later, North Texas freshman quarterback Riley dodge fell into the end zone for one of his seven touchdowns on the day and put the Mean Green up 56-49. North Texas added a field goal and two points on a safety to seal the win, only Head Coach Todd Dodge’s fifth in three years. Three of those victories have been against Western.
Senior receiver Jake Gaebler, who caught nine passes for 58 yards, said the Toppers just didn’t pull through when it mattered the most.
“It just came down to who was going to make the most mistakes,” Gaebler said. “I thought we fought hard – we just didn’t finish.”
Another key momentum swing occurred just when it appeared Western might be able to put the game away.
The Toppers had pushed their lead to 14 with under a minute left in the second quarter, but the Mean Green returned with a kickoff return deep into Western territory. Dodge managed the clock and the Western defense, eventually scoring on an 11-yard touchdown pass to junior receiver Jamaal Jackson with 6.5 seconds left in the half.
Sophomore defensive back Mark Santoro said the late touchdown brought down the mood of the team heading into the locker room.
“I think that gave them a lot of momentum going into the half,” Santoro said. “We would have loved going into halftime up 14, but it definitely hurt going into halftime up seven.”
Statistically, Western’s offense achieved a number of milestones.
Senior running back Marell Booker rushed for eight times for 107 yards – a career high – and both Booker and senior running back Tyrell Hayden scored their first touchdowns of the season. Redshirt freshman receiver Marcus Vasquez and freshman tight end Jack Doyle found the end zone for the first time in their college careers on passes from Jakes.
Elson noted the offenses’ prolific abilities, but said that the team still needs to eliminate certain lingering mistakes.
“Our offense played great, but we just didn’t finish the game the way we needed to to win the game in the fourth quarter,” Elson said. “They stepped up and created those turnovers, and we did not. We did not stop them.”
The Toppers have now lost a Football Bowl Subdivision-leading 16 games.
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