Quick Reaction: North Texas 45 UAB 42

NT ends the season on a two-game win streak, 3K, 1K, 1K club

So this reaction post isn’t so quick. The fam and I finished up the game and then immediately had to head over to a thing tonight. Then we had to do a scheduled family movie night. We had a great time and I hope you and yours are enjoying this holiday weekend. This “quick reaction” will be a little longer than normal. Just a heads up in case you were planning to read this quickly before doing something else.

The 2023 season is over. The Mean Green finished 5-7 after escaping vs UAB at home on Senior Day. There is no bowl game so this offseason will be longer than they have been for most of the last decade. Eric Morris will have plenty to correct and maintain but he closed the season strong with a couple of wins vs Tulsa and UAB. This one was very emblematic of the of the season. NT went down early (trailed in the fourth quarter) and came back. The offense had the ball with a chance to win on the final drive. The only difference was that they did so this time.

Chandler Rogers had another very good game — 404, 3 scores 1 INT on 30/53 passing. He was sacked or pressured a ton and had some wayward passes but threw the ball well in the most important moments. What does that mean? Well he completed 8/13 on third and fourth down for 7 first downs (one was for 15 yards on 3rd and 19 and then converted the 4th and 4 following) and 1 score vs one interception. That touchdown was the one that put NT within three of UAB near the end of the third quarter.

That’s big time stuff.

The offense had a big day, totaling over 600 yards for the first time this season but over 500 yards for the seventh time, which extends a program record. The 643 was the most since last year’s 671 vs Tech. The team averaged 495.8 total yards per game, which is second-most in program history behind the 2020 team’s 513.2. Morris has come in and done the job we wanted on that side of the ball. Rogers has played the best QB since Mason Fine, and the offense has been great. We’ll get to that a big later where we run down the accomplishments. For now, let’s talk about this game.

Adeyi and Adaway combined for 243 yards rushing, with each of them getting over 100. Adey had two scores. He passed 1,000 yard rushing on the season. Maclin had 9 grabs (on 12 targets) for 118, putting him over 1,000. Rogers’ 404 passing put him over 3,000. Yes, NT had a 3k, 1k, 1k trio. That’s the first time it has been done in school history. It is a big deal.

This was the first time NT has had two 100-yard rushers and two 100-yard receivers in the same game, as true freshman Landon Sides had six grabs for 100 and two scores. It was incredible stuff that would have more people excited if the defense didn’t allow 42 points on 8.9 yards per play.

Yes, UAB put up 10+ points in three of the four quarters. They had six scoring drives, including a one-play, 75-yarder in the fourth that allowed UAB to tie things up at 35. So for all the good the offense did — eight scoring drives including five touchdowns out of a possible thirteen or 62% — UAB scored on 50% of their drives. All touchdowns. Five of them covered 70+ yards.

The social media, the super secret MGN slack, the substack chat, and the message boards were all dominated with the same feeling of despair about the defense. I mean, watching the game I couldn’t enjoy how well the offense was playing because it was all very necessary. It wasn’t total domination like the La Tech victory was last year.

So if you came away feeling 1) happy about the win and 2) still hurting and concerned about the defense, that is normal. Mercifully, the time for real change is here. Coaching swaps, roster changes, and real development and/or scheme change can take place.

I checked on the season preview before writing this to remember what my feeling was about the defense:

The question is the defense. While there were some bright spots, the rankings were all in the 100s and in the championship game NT could not get the stops that were required to win the game.