The surprise headliner was J. White. The North Texas back carried 21 times for 139 yards and 3 touchdowns, and that changed what kind of game this was. The preview expected the Mean Green to throw over the top of Rice. Instead they had a back wearing down a defense that came in having allowed 51 the last time out, and the 2nd half is where that showed up.
The 1st half was the version of this game Rice wanted. North Texas scored 10 in the 1st quarter, then got shut out in the 2nd while the Owls put up a touchdown to make it 10-7 at the break. That's 1 half of football in which the Mean Green, who had scored 45 or more in 5 straight games, managed just 10.
It fell apart in the 3rd quarter. North Texas scored 21 in the period and Rice answered with 10, so it was 31-17 going into the 4th. That's a 2-score game, but Rice's defense had nothing left. The Mean Green added 21 more in the 4th quarter, and Rice's 6 points the rest of the way only made the final look less lopsided. Over the 2nd half the Owls gave up 42 points. The preview asked whether Rice could get North Texas off the field, and the honest answer is that it managed it for 1 quarter.
Rice had scored 49 at FAU, and getting to 23 in Denton isn't nothing against a North Texas defense that had allowed 39 or more in 3 of its previous 4 games. This time that defense gave up 23. That's the most encouraging thing the Mean Green showed Saturday. They held a Rice offense led by a quarterback with 1 start on tape to a touchdown in the 1st half, and they did it while their own offense was stuck.
That leaves the 2 programs going in opposite directions. North Texas is 7-2 overall and 5-0 in the American, with 6 straight wins in Neal Brown's 1st season. Rice is 1-8, 0-5 in the league, and has lost 6 in a row. The Owls at least know what Ochoa looks like over 2 starts now. They still have to find a defense that can hold up for 4 quarters.
