North Texas rides early lead to 47-27 win over LA Tech

DENTON, Texas – Louisiana Tech suffered its first conference loss of the season, falling 47-27 to North Texas on Saturday afternoon at Apogee Stadium.

LA Tech (2-4, 1-1 C-USA) got behind 21-3 just 17 minutes into the game. However, behind the arm of Parker McNeail, the Bulldogs managed to claw their way back in by making it a one-possession game at 34-27 with one quarter to go.

However, North Texas (4-3, 2-0 C-USA) continued to pound the ball on the ground in route to outscoring the ‘Dogs 17-0 in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.

The Mean Green scored early and scored fast, taking just 10 total plays to amass 21 points (included a 51-yard touchdown reception and a 92-yard rush).

While a 46-yard field goal by Buck Buchanan were the only points LA Tech could muster in the first stanza, McNeil started carving up the UNT defense. He found Tahj Magee for a 34-yard grab as well as a 74-yard catch-and-run by Smoke Harris that set up a 1-yard rush up the gut from Greg Garner to make it a 27-17 game at halftime.

Jonathan Barnes converted a 23-yard chip shot to make it a seven-point deficit at 27-20. The Bulldogs would get back to within a touchdown again after they converted a fourth-down conversion that resulted in a 58-yard TD by Tre Harris, making it 34-27 with 1:19 to go in the third quarter.

That was all the points LA Tech could register as North Texas tallied four sacks in the fourth quarter while also getting a pair of field goals and another long rushing touchdown.

LA Tech did not turn the ball over and was able to record 504 yards of total offense, 424 of that through the air by McNeil. Smoke Harris (156 yards) and Tre Harris (129) did much of the damage from the skill position.

Meanwhile, UNT racked up 671 total yards of offense with 475 of that coming on the ground. The Mean Green were a perfect 3-for-3 on fourth-down conversations and 5-for-5 in the red zone.

QUOTABLES
Head coach Sonny Cumbie

“You have to give credit to North Texas. We have to learn how to tackle better and get takeaways. We played the third quarter a lot better than we have all season long. Our execution was not where we needed it to be though. We had to finish the game with it being a one-possession game going into the fourth quarter and we were not able to do that.”

NOTABLES
• LA Tech now leads the all-time series over North Texas, 13-8 (have won four straight).The Bulldogs had their four-game winning streak over the Mean Green snapped.
• Bulldogs are now 44-28 all-time in C-USA games.
• Parker McNeil passed for a career-high 418 yards, the most by a Bulldog since Ryan Higgins in 2016.He became the 11th quarterback in program history to throw for over 400 yards in a single game (45th 400-yard game in school history).
• Smoke Harris registered career highs in reception (10) and receiving yards (156).It was his second career 100-receiving yard game.He became the first Bulldog since Adrian Hardy in 2018 to record double-digit receptions in a single game.
• Smoke Harris extended his streak of catching at least one pass to 26 straight games.
• Trey Harris had his second consecutive 100-yard receiving game with 114 yards on five catches.
• Tahj Magee caught a touchdown pass for the second straight game, this one being a career-long 34-yard reception.
• For a second straight game, Jaiden Cole anchored the Bulldogs in tackles.He tallied nine.
• BeeJay Williamson notched his seventh career interception (first of the season).
UP NEXT
LA Tech is back at Joe Aillet Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 22 when they face the Rice Owls. The Homecoming game will kick off at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.

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