North Texas Daily

North Texas vs The University of North Texas at San Antonio

In the blossoming rivalry between North Texas and the University of Texas at San Antonio, another chapter – and a thrilling one at that – was written in Denton Saturday night.

North Texas (4-2, 3-0) was the author of this year’s addition to the school’s history books after stealing a win from UTSA (3-2, 0-2) with a game-winning touchdown that came with just 10 seconds left. It gave the Mean Green 29-26 win.

The touchdown capped off a 98-yard scoring drive captained by sophomore quarterback Mason Fine.

Fine began with short routes to receivers sophomore Michael Lawrence and sophomore Rico Bussey Jr. After an incomplete pass, Fine rolled out to his left, set his feet, and launched the ball down field to Lawrence, who came down with the ball and was able to get his feet in bounds.

After a short gain and a spike, Fine found Bussey cutting across the field, but ran out of time to let the play develop with all kinds of pressure from UTSA looming. He let the ball go to Bussey and was drilled, but Bussey hauled it in and took the ball around the corner and into end zone with just 10 seconds to go.

The drive showed the firepower the Mean Green offense had been lacking since they scored 16 points in the first quarter. After the hot start, North Texas stalled in the second and third periods and gained just 27 total yards.

UTSA took advantage of the struggles and took a 20-16 lead heading into the fourth quarter. But Fine found Jalen Guyton early in the fourth to regain the lead, for a short time, at 22-20 after the team’s second bad snap on a PAT.

The Roadrunners’ senior quarterback Dalton Sturm answered by finding Jalen Rhodes near the sideline, scoring a go-ahead 46-yard TD with 3:29 left in the game. UTSA then held a 26-22 lead on the road.

After a North Texas punt, the defense came up with a game-saving three and out by the UTSA offense. The Roadrunners had a perfect punt that pinned the Mean Green at their own 2-yard line with 1:07 remaining.

Cue the drive that will go down in history at North Texas.

Fine finished with 354 yards on 20-of-34 attempts for three touchdowns and one interception. His favorite target was once again sophomore wide receiver Jalen Guyton, 182 yards on 8 catches and two scores.

Despite Guyton having another huge game, the offense as a whole put up its second lowest total of the year with 29 points. A large part of that was due to the play of UTSA senior defensive lineman Marcus Davenport, who posted eight tackles with 2.5 sacks.

The Mean Green allowed Fine to be sacked three times, and senior running back managed 88 yards on 16 carries – 45 yards fewer than his average on the year.

Featured Image: The Mean Green football team celebrates after a 29-26 win over the University of Texas at San Antonio on Oct. 14 at Apogee Stadium. Sara Carpenter