In the preview I wrote this:
Defense:
Best Case Scenario: NT forces some third and longs and can keep Baylor Hayes’ scrambles to ineffective 5-yard gains on 3rd-and-10.Worst Case Scenario: We let Tulsa find a rhythm like they did vs OSU, getting some veer action going and finding the edge.
Offense:
Best Case Scenario: Tayven Jackson is able to pick apart the Tulsa defense easily. Jaheim White is able to run to daylight.Worst Case Scenario: Tulsa is able to get push along the line, force NT into third and longs (with help from our penalty-prone line) and cause punts and turnovers.
Little did we know it would be both. Tulsa was held under 400-yards and ultimately the defense came up with the stop — by half-an-inch — to win the thing and take the team to 1-0 in league play. But they also drove the field and got the game-tying touchdown, and one more in overtime to score 44 points on the night.
The Mean Green offense exploded for 559 yards including 219 rush yards on 32 carries for Jahiem White. But Tayven Jackson also had 3 turnovers (2 INTs and 1 fumble). The Mean Green came back from down 14-3 to take a big lead in the third quarter. Then they gave that away, and needed overtime. Tayven Jackson’s forced throw on third down set up Tulsa for their final drive. Oh and the fake field goal frustrated everyone.
If you thought the defense played well, you aren’t wrong. If you thought they left a lot of meat on the bone, you are right. If you thought the same of the offense, you are right.
Okay some reactions:
1. Tayven Jackson Played His Worst Game
Three turnovers including the back-breaking one late are not winning football. But four touchdowns through the air and one on the ground (in OT) is winning football. You learn the most when adversity strikes and we learned plenty from Tayven Jackson. He’s thrown 10 scores against four interceptions and ran for two more scores. We can rely on him to move the ball, keep his eyes downfield, and he’s developing some rapport with a couple of guys on the squad to come up with clutch throws.
Tulsa didn’t really have an answer, and Jackson started getting happy feet when pressured after taking a few hits.
2. The OL Is Mistake Prone
We’ve mentioned that the offensive line is prone to getting beat on zone runs, and we had too many penalties for movement up front. Add to that the delay penalties and we have a situation where the offense is producing in spite of themselves sometimes.
Against Texas State it was holding. Tonight it was false starts.
3. Jahiem White Is Very Good But You Knew That Already
White had a great first half against HCU but Neal Brown wanted to save him for conference play. That’s now. He had a workhorse kind of game with 32 totes and did it on a bum ankle for most of the night. That probably explains why his 84-yard run wasn’t a touchdown run. But he continued a North Texas tradition of 80+ yard runs in Chapman stadium. Brandin Byrd had his famous 91-yarder there in 2013. By my calculation that puts White in the top-10 of longest runs in NT history.
(shout out Byrd with three 80+ yarders. Underrated back at NT).
He found spaces, he was the only one making plays (seemingly) in the first half. He single handled converted a 3rd-and-9 and later another third-and-long. He was the pre-game hyped player for the broadcast and he came through with flying colors.
He’s making his case as the best player in the league, and tonight will go a long way toward making a case for league player of the year.
4. The Defense Had Some Moments
We wanted an improvement over the Texas State debacle, and we saw that vs HCU, but this was an opportunity to do so against an opponent of the same division. The Tulsa run game was held to sub-4 yards per carry, and they were 3/17 on third downs. Still, Tulsa scored 44 points. There were at least four dropped interceptions by my unofficial count, including the one that resulted in the controversial David Wells touchdown that should have been ruled out.
Tulsa was 4/4 on fourth down, including the TD mentioned, and one big conversion in overtime that set up the QB run. It is hard to complain about the pass defense when the secondary is so depleted, but it is concerning that a Tulsa squad that only managed 23 ppg on the season exploded for so many.
Overall
Hey, a win is a win and they are precious. We will enjoy the 10-days off and heal up for Charlotte in Denton on the 10th. Here’s hoping the injured roster will heal up in time for the difficult part of the conference schedule.
NT moves to 3-2 (1-0) on the season. Tulsa was a tough matchup, and we saw that tonight. So many things can happen in a season that we cannot say where this game fits in the conference deciders — I mean we thought USF had basically eliminated NT last year but that turned out not to be the case. We’d rather be in the win-column than not.
Neal Brown won his first road game and his first league game as head coach. North Texas faces all their toughest opponents on the road — at Navy, at UTSA, and tonight at Tulsa on a short week.
Charlotte shouldn’t put much of a challenge, FAU is improving but still not super scary, and Rice and UAB are in that same boat — dangerous but not scary. Therefor North Texas took a huge step towards one of the season’s goals: a league championship.
GMG