SMU 45, North Texas 31

 

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Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	31	28
Total Yards	613	534
Passing	601	353
Rushing	12	181
Penalties	11-61	9-65
3rd Down Conversions	7-14	5-11
4th Down Conversions	0-2	0-0
Turnovers	4	2
Possession	29:00	31:00

Air/Ground Leaders
North Texas Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Meager 46/64 601 3 3	Southern Methodist Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Willis 30/42 353 2 1
North Texas Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Mosley 12 39 1 7 Meager 8 -4 0 9	Southern Methodist Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Willis 10 82 0 22 Martin 11 54 1 22
North Texas Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Fitzgerald 18 327 2 66 Jackson 10 133 1 38	Southern Methodist Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Lowery 7 160 0 55 Sledge 7 84 1 24

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				UNT	SMU
	TD	05:18	Brandon Jackson 4 Yd Pass From Daniel Meager (Thomas Moreland Kick)	7	0
	FG	01:22	Thomas Morstead 29 Yd	7	3
	TD	00:00	Casey Fitzgerald 25 Yd Pass From Daniel Meager (Thomas Moreland Kick)	14	3
SECOND QUARTER				UNT	SMU
	TD	06:50	James Mapps 5 Yd Run (Thomas Morstead Kick)	14	10
	TD	00:00	Demyron Martin 1 Yd Run (Thomas Morstead Kick)	14	17
THIRD QUARTER				UNT	SMU
	TD	13:22	Emmanuel Sanders 1 Yd Pass From Justin Willis (Thomas Morstead Kick)	14	24
	FG	04:37	Thomas Moreland 29 Yd	17	24
	TD	00:00	James Mapps 29 Yd Run (Thomas Morstead Kick)	17	31
FOURTH QUARTER				UNT	SMU
	TD	12:38	Casey Fitzgerald 26 Yd Pass From Daniel Meager (Thomas Moreland Kick)	24	31
	TD	08:53	Micah Mosley 2 Yd Run (Thomas Moreland Kick)	31	31
	TD	04:19	Zack Sledge 13 Yd Pass From Justin Willis (Thomas Morstead Kick)	31	38
	TD	03:39	Bryce Hudman 49 Yd Interception Return (Thomas Morstead Kick)	31	45

DALLAS (AP) -- Justin Willis completed 30 of 42 passes for a career-high 353 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 82 more yards as Southern Methodist beat North Texas 45-31 on Saturday night.

The Mustangs (1-1) almost squandered a 14-point fourth quarter lead but Willis found Zach Sledge in the corner of the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown pass to give SMU a 38-31 lead with 4:19 left in the game. Then Bryce Hudman returned an interception 49 yards for a score with 3:39 left.

The game marked the first time that North Texas (0-2) has played at SMU since 1992. The schools are separated by only 35 miles but renewed their rivalry just last year after a 13-year break.

North Texas, under first-year head coach Todd Dodge, recorded a school record 613 yards total offense. North Texas quarterback Daniel Meager set school records for passing yards, completions and attempts. Meager finished 46-of-64 passing for 601 yards and three touchdowns and three interceptions. Meager had scoring tosses of 4, 25 and 26. Wide receiver Casey Fitzgerald also set a UNT single-game record for receiving yards with 327 yards on 18 catches with two touchdowns.

The Mean Green tied the game at 31 after Micah Mosley scored on a 3-yard run with 8:53 left in the game to cap nine-play, 99-yard drive that consumed only 1:44.

SMU running back James Mapps gave SMU a 31-17 after he scored his second touchdown of the game on a 29-yard run on the final play of third quarter. Mapps also scored on a 5-yard draw in the first quarter. Mapps finished with 46 yards on 10 attempts.

The Mustangs scored 21 consecutive points and erased an 11-point deficit after Willis threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to Emmanuel Sanders to give SMU a 24-14 lead with 13:22 left in the third quarter.

Devin Lowery led SMU with 160 yards on seven receptions.

Meager gave UNT a 14-3 first quarter lead with touchdown passes of 4 yards to Brandon Jackson and 25 yards to Fitzgerald.

Jackson finished the game with 133 yards receiving on 10 receptions. It was the first time since 1997 that two North Texas receivers had 100 yards receiving in the same game.