Mean Green drops ball in Sun Belt opener 14-7

In its first Sun Belt Conference game of the season, the Mean Green fell to the Troy Trojans 14-7.

Going 0-2 in the red zone on offense, a 14 percent third down conversion rate and poor execution from the kicking team were all factors in UNT dropping to 1-3 on the season.

“Before you start winning, you have to stop losing,” head coach Dan McCarney said. “Frustration is an understatement.”

In a postgame press conference, McCarney said that the practice week prior to the Troy game was the best in two years, but the Mean Green could not translate that success to game day.

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The special teams unit also didn’t translate its practice success into the game. Junior kicker Zach Olen and freshman kicker Zach Paul struggled in the game.
After making a 57-yard field goal in practice last week, Olen, who missed an extra point and had a 45-yard field goal blocked against KSU, missed 40 and 47-yard field goals on back-to-back drives in the second quarter. After halftime, Paul came on as a replacement and missed a 27-yard attempt.

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The next two games for the Mean Green will take place on the road, as the team travels to face Florida Atlantic and Houston.

“It sickens me to lose that game the way we did tonight, but the good news is we do have two-thirds of a season in front of us,” McCarney said. “There are a lot of opportunities out there, and how we handle a setback like this will be a real measure of where we go with this football team.”

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