Story from Southern Miss Athletics
DENTON, Texas — North Texas had built its reputation this season on a high-octane, high-scoring offense.
Saturday, Southern Miss discovered the Mean Green owns a pretty salty defense as well.
The Golden Eagles were limited to their fewest points in 56 games and North Texas blew open a close game by outscoring Southern Miss 20-0 in the second half of a 30-7 Conference USA victory at Apogee Stadium.
“It was a frustrating day for us,” USM coach Jay Hopson said.
Sophomore quarterback Jack Abraham logged his third game of the season with at least 350 yards passing, but only could get the Golden Eagles (2-3, 1-1 C-USA) on the scoreboard once.
He threw a touchdown and interception.
Junior receiver Jordan Mitchell posted a career day, with 12 catches for 135 yards, both personal bests.
“I’m glad to be back and healthy,” Mitchell said. “I was fortunate (Saturday) to be able to take advantage of what they gave us in the passing game.”
Mitchell was one of two Golden Eagles with 100-yard receiving days, and three USM players had seven catches or more.
Junior Quez Watkins grabbed seven passes for 100 yards and Southern Miss’ lone touchdown on a 44-yard reception. It was his seventh TD catch of the season and he and Abraham have hooked up for at least one touchdown in all five of Southern Miss’ games.
Sophomore Tim Jones had seven catches for 69 yards, both career bests.
Even the Southern Miss’ running game perked up a bit, with freshman Trivensky Mosley running for a career-best 75 yards.
But Mosley also was stripped of the football at the North Texas 11-yard line in the third quarter when the Golden Eagles were trailing by only three points.
Southern Miss place-kicker Parker Shaunfield missed a 45-yard field goal in the meat of the game and the Golden Eagles came up short on a fourth-and-1 opportunity.
“Each of those opportunities could have changed things,” Hopson said. “But credit North Texas. They are a good football team.”
And, eventually, North Texas (6-1, 3-1) broke through, with running back DeAndre Torrey collecting all but one yard of his game-high 95 yards and three touchdowns over the final two quarters.
Torrey had scoring runs of 6 yards and 8 yards that pushed the Mean Green from a 10-7 edge into a more commanding 23-7 lead. He then capped the game with a 34-yard touchdown run with less than a minute to play.
Southern Miss will welcome Texas-San Antonio at 6 p.m. Friday to M.M. Roberts Stadium for homecoming.
