RUSTON, La. — The North Texas Mean Green clinched an appearance in a bowl game this season after coming away with a nail-biting 24-23 victory over Louisiana Tech at Joe Aillet Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 4.
It’s the second year in a row that the Mean Green (6-3, 5-1 C-USA) has become bowl eligible, both coming under the tenure of head coach Seth Littrell. With one more win, North Texas will clinch the West division and compete in the Conference-USA championship game for the first time in school history.
“We’ve only accomplished the first half of our mission,” Littrell said after the game, via the team website. “We did become bowl eligible, but that’s not our ultimate goal. Our ultimate goal is to win our bowl game.”
The win marks yet another week in the trend of close games for North Texas this season. Kicker Jonathan Barnes had a chance to give Louisiana Tech (2-3, 4-5) the lead with 2:39 remaining but missed wide left on a 53-yard attempt. North Texas was then able to run out the clock with the help of senior running back Jeffrey Wilson, who finished with a game-high 165 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
Wilson carried the load for the Mean Green offense while the passing game was held below season average performance. Sophomore quarterback Mason Fine finished 22-of-36 for 203 yards and a touchdown. His day also included a pivotal interception thrown in the opponent’s end zone early in the second quarter, squandering away a chance to put six points on the board. Not a single receiver for North Texas finished with more than five catches or more than 50 yards.
“There’s a lot of things we need to address and fix in order to be a much better football team next week,” Littrell said.
The matchup projected to be high-scoring, but both defenses did a good job of holding their opponents in check. Despite not forcing a turnover the entire game, the Mean Green managed to allow only two plays of more than 25 yards. Allowing big chunks of yardage has been an area of concern for North Texas all season, especially in the passing game. Louisiana Tech quarterback J’Mar Smith went 16-for-28 finished with 168 passing yards.
Ultimately, the ability to close out games proved to be extremely valuable for North Texas. Wilson scored what proved to be the game-winning touchdown with just over six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. It was a familiar situation for the Mean Green – they have trailed in all but one of their games this season.
“Finding a way to win is great,” Littrell said. “Eventually, you never know when that time is when it’s going to get you beat.”
It was the first time North Texas has beaten Louisiana Tech since 2013. That happened to be the last season the Mean Green won a bowl game.
Louisiana Tech will remain home next week to face Florida Atlantic University. Meanwhile, Littrell and North Texas return to Denton to face UTEP, who has yet to win a game this season.
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