Andrew McNulty has spent most of his career standing on the sideline watching a long line of quarterbacks take their turn guiding North Texas’ offense.
The junior sat while Derek Thompson led UNT to the Heart of Dallas Bowl last year and saw the Mean Green turn to Josh Greer for the first three games of the season and then Dajon Williams for three more.
McNulty finally got his shot Saturday night, but he couldn’t bring UNT out of its funk in a 30-20 loss to Southern Mississippi at Apogee Stadium.
The Iowa native didn’t make many mistakes, which is what UNT coach Dan McCarney wanted after seeing his team commit seven turnovers in its last two games. The problem was McNulty and the rest of the Mean Green (2-5, 0-3 Conference USA) didn’t make many plays either.
Those struggles left UNT treacherously close to falling out of contention for a second straight bowl berth following its first three-game losing streak in conference play in four seasons under McCarney.
“They outlasted us and made more plays,” McCarney said. “It’s hard. Those are tough locker rooms. It’s not like anyone quit or anyone didn’t practice and prepare well.”
The bottom line for UNT at this point is that despite all that effort and all the different ways the Mean Green have tried to spark their offense, nothing seems to be working.
Turning to McNulty in its game against Southern Miss (3-4, 1-2) was the latest move UNT made in an effort to get something going.
McNulty has made just one start in four years in the program, and that was in 2011 in a loss to Tulsa when Thompson was injured.
McNulty had his moments while throwing for 287 yards without turning the ball over. He just couldn’t get UNT over the hump.
“I tried to relax and lead the offense,” McNulty said. “I have always prepared like I could go in at any time. I got the call this week.”
UNT made the decision to start McNulty on Thursday, but didn’t announce the move until moments before the game.
McNulty brought UNT back from a 10-0 deficit and guided the Mean Green on a seven-play, 86-yard drive in the third quarter that Reggie Pegram capped with a 27-yard touchdown run that tied the game at 20.
That was UNT’s only touchdown of the second half. Southern Miss answered with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Nick Mullens to Casey Martin and a 38-yard field goal from Corey Acosta to pull away.
Mullens threw for 305 yards for Southern Miss, which made a series of big plays and overcame a couple of key mistakes early in the game.
“We’ve struggled on defense all year,” McCarney said. “We’re not close to playing Mean Green defense. It’s not that guys don’t care or that we’re not coaching hard enough. We’re just not there yet.”
UNT started terribly but showed signs of improvement defensively by forcing two key turnovers while rallying from a 10-0 deficit to tie the game at 13 at halftime.
Southern Miss scored first on a 40-yard pass from Mullens to Michael Thomas on a drive that was extended by a key penalty on UNT.
Southern Miss faced a third-and-3 at its own 43-yard line and ran the ball up the middle with Jalen Richard, who was cut down a yard short of the first down. The Golden Eagles got a second chance when defensive tackle Sir Calvin Wallace was called for a facemask penalty that kept the drive alive and seemingly gave Southern Miss momentum.
The Golden Eagles tacked on an Acosta field goal before UNT came to life and scored 13 consecutive points.
Antoinne Jimmerson scored on a 2-yard run and Trevor Moore added field goals of 36 and 24 yards to put UNT up 13-10.
The Golden Eagles tied the game at 13 on Acosta’s 27-yard field goal on the final play of the half.
“We talked about momentum plays and how you try to get that back,” Southern Miss coach Todd Monken said. “That’s it. Go kick a field goal to tie it.”
That field goal gave Southern Miss momentum after UNT turned the Golden Eagles back twice deep in its own end of the field.
Kishawn McClain intercepted a pass from Mullens after Southern Miss reached UNT’s 35-yard line in the first quarter. Lairamie Lee intercepted a second Mullens pass that was tipped by linebacker Anthony Wallace after Southern Miss had reached UNT’s 8-yard line.
Southern Miss made a big play of its own on a fake punt. Tyler Sarazin picked up 11 yards on fourth-and-9 from the UNT 47 on a touchdown drive that put Southern Miss up 20-13 in the third quarter.
UNT came back and tied the game up, but couldn’t stop Southern Miss when it mattered late.
“They made more plays than we did,” UNT linebacker Derek Akunne said. “We didn’t get off the field at the end.”
UNT couldn’t get much going on offense, either, despite turning to a third starting quarterback in McNulty.
“I don’t like musical chairs at quarterback, but because of inconsistency that is where we are at,” McCarney said. “We will evaluate and take a look at it.”
It’s a familiar situation for UNT, which has spent most of the season doing just that without finding a solution.
