Houston Cougars (2-3) 44, North Texas Mean Green (2-4) 21
Saturday, October 6, 2012, 6 p.m.
Robertson Stadium, Houston, Texas
NEXT GAME: ESPN2 For Tuesday - North Texas hosts Louisiana-Lafayette on Tuesday, October 16, at 8 p.m. at Apogee Stadium in a game nationally televised by ESPN2.
Houston brought a large, vocal group of fans to Denton a year ago, and North Texas returned the favor Saturday. Based in part on ticket sales, an estimated 1,000-plus Mean Green fans attended the game, including the Green Brigade marching band, which performed at halftime.
Night of the long drives - seven of the first eight scoring drives of the game were 75 yards or more. The shortest drive of the night was 64 yards.
Houston's 623 yards of total offense was the most allowed by North Texas this season, topping the 508 LSU had in the season opener, and the most yards allowed by the Mean Green since the 690-yard performance by Houston a year ago.
North Texas allowed a touchdown just 1:15 into the game. It was the first time in three games that the Mean Green allowed a first-quarter touchdown and the fastest touchdown by a North Texas opponent this season.
North Texas quickly got into a 14-point hole in the first quarter when Houston scored its second touchdown at 7:48 of the first quarter. It is only the second time this season that the Mean Green faced a 14-point deficit in the first quarter with the other being in the season opener against LSU.
The first two touchdown drives by Houston took only 1:15 and 1:49. North Texas had only allowed two touchdown drives in less than two minutes in the last four games. LSU had four TD drives in under two minutes against the Mean Green in the season opener.
The 17-0 deficit after the first quarter was the most points that North Texas has trailed by after the first quarter since it trailed FIU 28-0 after one quarter in the 2011 season-opener.
The 226 yards North Texas allowed in the first quarter was the most yards that North Texas has allowed in a quarter since Houston had 309 vs. North Texas in the third quarter last year.
North Texas running back Jeremy Brown recorded his second career touchdown for North Texas when he went 48 yards for a score in the second quarter. That scoring run was also the longest rush of his career.
The 31 points by Houston in the first half is tied for the most points allowed in a half by a Dan McCarney-coached North Texas team. The Mean Green also gave up 31 to FIU and Arkansas State in the first half last year.
The 424 yards allowed by North Texas in the first half was more than the Mean Green allowed in every game this year except the LSU game (508).
North Texas forced the first Houston punt at the 9:40 mark of the fourth quarter.
North Texas cornerback Hilbert Jackson had already broken his career-best performance for tackles by the end of the third quarter. Jackson had 15 stops at the end of the third which broke his previous-best of nine which he had earlier this season vs. LSU.
