North Texas Daily

1. Mason Fine improves: Freshman quarterback Mason Fine started the game a perfect 15-for-15. He finally threw an incompletion on his 16th pass, a heave down the sideline that was broken up. After a rough outing last week at the University of Texas at San Antonio, where he committed three turnovers, Fine made good decisions and did not force anything for most of the first half. In the second half, Fine was less than perfect, throwing an interception on the first play of the third quarter. He finished 23-of-34 with 207 yards and one touchdown.

2. Penalty after penalty: North Texas was flagged nine times for 84 yards in the first half, including a critical targeting call that ejected junior defensive back KiShawn McClain. On a broken play, McClain came flying in and hit Louisiana Tech’s quarterback in the head as he was sliding, resulting in the ejection. Before the half ended, senior defensive back Chad Davis was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after celebrating a pass break-up. The Apogee crowd groaned and booed in disagreement with the call, which set the Bulldogs up for a field goal before intermission.

North Texas wide receiver Terian Goree (3) catches a pass in the red zone against Louisiana Tech. Colin Mitchell

3. Defense struggles: Louisiana Tech scored on five of its six first half drives, as the North Texas defense was not able to do anything to get the Bulldogs off the field. This trend continued in the second half, with the Mean Green completely unable to do anything to slow down Louisiana Tech. The Bulldogs’ mix of run and pass left North Texas on its heels all night, with the Mean Green unable to apply any pressure or disrupt plays in the backfield. Louisiana Tech ended the night with 479 total yards of offense.

4. Safe offense: The Mean Green took minimal shots downfield, and mainly relied on an underneath game of screens, wheel routes and half back sweeps. When they fell behind, North Texas abandoned the run and exclusively passed, which proved to be completely ineffective. Without an even mix of plays, the Bulldogs began to drop more defensive backs into coverage and brought pressure on Fine, who was sacked five times.

5. Compromised bowl hopes: With the loss, North Texas drops to 4-5 on the year. Six victories are required to become bowl eligible, so the Mean Green will have to win two of its final three games to make it to the postseason. North Texas has one home game remaining against the University of Southern Mississippi and two road games against Western Kentucky University and the University of Texas at El Paso.

Featured Image: North Texas freshman quarterback Mason Fine (6) throws a pass against Louisiana Tech. Colin Mitchell