North Texas Implodes In Second Half For Fourth-Straight Loss

[Harry]

HOUSTON - North Texas spent the first half of Saturday's game at Rice Stadium digging out of two early deficits before taking control of the contest. The Mean Green offense moved the ball on the ground and through the air, the defense made some big plays in the secondary and controlled the line of scrimmage, and special teams contributed a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

But it all came apart in first few minutes of the third quarter, and the game - a game North Texas desperately needed to keep its bowl chances viable - unraveled from there.

North Texas surrendered a momentum-gutting fumble on the kickoff to open the second half, then threw an interception that Rice returned 60 yards for a touchdown to overturn a 21-14 Mean Green halftime lead and ignite Rice to a 41-21 victory. It was the Mean Green's fourth loss in a row, and spills the NT record to 2-6.

"We did a lot of good things, and it was anybody's game at halftime," North Texas coach Dan McCarney said. "But you can't start the second half any worse than a fumble on the kickoff. They jumped on it, capitalized, and did a lot of really, really good things.

"There's no place in our program to give free touchdowns," he added. "Until we figure that out, we're going to continue to get our butts beat."

North Texas fell behind just 18 seconds into the game when Rice scored on an 88-yard pass on the game's first play. But where the Mean Green had collapsed previously this year, this time North Texas struck back with a 51-yard touchdown pass from Andrew McNulty to Carlos Harris.

The Mean Green went down again, 14-7, but took control of the game after a 100-yard kickoff return by Darvin Kidsy tied the game. From there, the North Texas pass rush, absent much of the season, began to its toll. Defensive end Daryl Mason, who missed the first four games due to injury, recorded six tackles in the first half alone, a career high.

Midway through the second quarter, that control paid off with a 10-play, 62-yard scoring drive, capped by Harris scoring on a reverse from a yard out on fourth and goal from the Rice one-yard line for a 21-14 lead at halftime.

But following the two critical mistakes to open the second half, a reinvigorated Rice took advangtage of its sudden 24-21 advantage, while North Texas simply did not answer the bell. The Owls threw a shutout in the second half, allowing North Texas just 45 yards total offense in the half, while padding their lead with back-to-back-to-back 11-, 11- and 10-play scoring drives. McNulty was hounded throughout the second half, sacked four times but knocked down many more.

What They Said

"Really, really disappointing. You have to make plays, you've got to rise up, and Rice did and we didn't."

--North Texas coach Dan McCarney on his team's second-half performance

"We've got to put our heads together and find out exactly who we are, what's our identity, and how we want to finish these next four games. I want to find out about the soul of this team, the passion and mental toughness of this team."

--McCarney on what he wants to accomplish in the upcoming off week

Read more: http://www.meangreensports.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/102514aaa.html