DENTON (11/15/03) -- North Texas claimed its ticket for a return trip to New Orleans with a 58-14 handling of Arkansas State at Fouts Field Saturday that earned the Mean Green its third consecutive Sun Belt Conference championship and third straight trip to the New Orleans Bowl.
The win, NT's eighth this season that extended the longest conference winning streak in the nation to 17 games, sets up the Mean Green to represent the Sun Belt in the 2003 New Orleans Bowl, which will be played Tuesday, Dec. 16, at the Superdome and be nationally televised live by ESPN2.
"This was a perfect way for this group of seniors to go out at home," said NT head coach Darrell Dickey. "To earn the three straight conference championships and New Orleans Bowl bids is a tremendous accomplishment for a bunch of guys who came here when this program wasn't very good."
North Texas (8-3, 6-0) overpowered the Indians (5-6, 3-3) from the start behind yet another work-horse performance from sophomore running back Patrick Cobbs and the big-play tandem of tight end Andy Blount and quarterback Scott Hall.
Cobbs extended his school record of consecutive 100-yard rushing games to seven by racing through the Indians' defense for 228 yards and three rushing touchdowns of 28, 35 and one yards. He also scored a fourth TD on a pass reception from Hall -- upping his point total for the season to 108, a new school single-season record.
By surpassing the 200-yard mark in rushing yardage, Cobbs also became the first running back in North Texas history to register three 200-yard games in the same season.
Blount, meanwhile, connected with Hall for scoring pass plays of 28 and 48 yards on North Texas' first two possession of the game. The junior tight end wound up setting career highs for receptions in a game (5), receiving yards (104) and touchdowns (2).
North Texas scored on its first three series in the game and broke out to a commanding 30-0 lead by halftime. The Mean Green also scored touchdowns on its first four possessions of the second half to open the game up to a 58-7 margin by the time backup running back Kevin Moore broke loose on a 58-yard scoring run to finish NT's scoring for the night.
"I was really proud of the way this team came prepared to play," said Dickey. "We knew coming into the game what we had to do and we knew that we were going to play a very good Arkansas State team. But we jumped on them early and took the momentum from the start."
The Mean Green ended with a season-best 522 yards of offense. The 58 points were also a season high for NT.
Cobbs rushed 30 times for his 228 yards, averaging 7.6 yards per carry for the game. He now has 1,354 yards for the season, with one final regular-season game to be played. Moore finished with two carries for 60 yards while Roy Bishop added 30 yards on eight carries and James Mitchell had nine yards on three rushes.
Hall engineered the dominating offensive performance by throwing for three touchdowns and connecting on 10 of 16 attempts for 185 yards. In addition to his two scoring passes to Blount, Hall also hit Cobbs on a 24-yard touchdown pass reception midway through the third quarter.
The Mean Green defense also played a key role in the title-clinching victory. NT forced and recovered two ASU fumbles, and senior defensive tackle Brandon Kennedy tackled Indians quarterback Nick Noce in the end zone for a second quarter safety. It was Kennedy's second safety this season and the team's fourth of the year.
North Texas will close out the regular season on the road with a 6:00 p.m. game at New Mexico State on Tuesday, Nov. 25. The game is scheduled to be televised on ESPN2.
